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...this is perhaps an inane question, but I'm playing Icewind Dale for the first time ever ( bought that sweet "Forgotten Realms Deluxe Edition" that includes all Baldur's Gate games, Icewind Dale I and II and NWN1 + all extension, yum! ). Unfortunately, the games didn't come with manuals.

Is death permanent in this game? I'm still in the very first area of the game and one of my company died fighting a wolf in someone's house. Now, I did find a priest, and I do have a cleric, but I cannot buy a Resurrection scroll, nor is there any dialogue option for me to have the dead character ressed. I assume to have to reload from an earlier save?

To that end, can someone tell me what key the Quicksave is rooted to?

Also... I assume we're meant to fill up all six slots at character creation? No recruiting others later? My party consists of a wizard ( mage ), cleric, thief, bard, fighter and ranger.

Thanks in advance!

If the portrait still exists the character can be restored - just look at the priests' list of services, select the character's portrait and buy the blessing. If the character's body was destroyed (by a critical hit, which is very possible this early in the game) then the character is gone for good.
I recall reading in the manual elves cannot be resurrected. I rarely play elves, so I don't know from experience.

"Q" should be the Quicksave shortcut, but you can manage the keys in the configuration file.

And you don't have to start with a full party, but should you wish to create characters later they will start at level 1. This can be troublesome when your party is fighting some tough baddies later on and your new mage is stuck casting two Magic Missiles per rest.

Yeah, if your character gets "chunked" as we call it, then he/she is dead.

There is one condition when a character's portrait is removed and you might still be able to resurrect him/her: When a character is turned to stone, a scroll called Stone to Flesh will restore him/her back to the normal state.

Elven characters can not be revived by the Raise Dead spell but can come back to life when Resurrection is cast upon them.

Aqua-chan wrote:If the portrait still exists the character can be restored - just look at the priests' list of services, select the character's portrait and buy the blessing. If the character's body was destroyed (by a critical hit, which is very possible this early in the game) then the character is gone for good.

Did Bless also resurrect your characters???
IIRC only spells that could restore you characters were "Raise Dead" and "Ressurect", the first one did not work to elves like as the second did...

He meant "blessing" as the spell services you can purchase form the church, like donations to the church of Ilmater in order for the priest to receive divine power... or blessing... to bring your character back to life. The spell Bless can't revive dead characters.

Crenshinibon wrote:He meant "blessing" as the spell services you can purchase form the church, like donations to the church of Ilmater in order for the priest to receive divine power... or blessing... to bring your character back to life. The spell Bless can't revive dead characters.

As I remembered...

My bad, I understood the post wrongly, but at least I did it clear to every body else who may have or will understand it the same way as I did...

Thanks everyone. This game's a little different than what I've played so far ( took me about twenty minutes to figure out that 'ground' in the inventory, does drop items to the ground... argh. ), but so far it's quite entertaining.

It is a great game. If you have a chance to get the Heart of Winter expansion, I strongly recommend it as it greatly enhances the Icewind Dale experience.

Well, like I said, I apparently bought the all-in-one game pack. It includes:

Baldur's Gate I + Tales of the Sword Coast
Baldur's Gate II + Throne of Baal

Icewind Dale I + Heart of Winter
Icewind Dale II

Neverwinter Nights I + HotU + SOU ( which I've played before, so I'll give them to a friend ).

I guess I'll be busy for a while.

You enjoy yourself.

If you've never played the first half of the list, you'll enjoy it, immensely.

My favorite series to date.

If you decide you like them, I strongly recomend that you get Planescape Torment. It's a wonderful game... but it's no longer sold in stores...

I was lucky enough to get it for two dollars on ebay... with a shipping and handling of five!

I don't know the deluxe edition but it would be the first game pack without manual that I heard of. Usually the manuals are scanned in pdf form. Did you search the discs for pdf files ?

If you really can't find the manuals you can download them from Sorcerer's Place. Sorcerer's Place - Icewind Dale Tips, Tricks & Hints

IWD2 uses 3E rules like the NWN, but Icewind Dale and the Baldur's Gate series use the 2E rules which are totally different. Some examples:

A character with 14 in all stats is fantastic in NWN but will totally suck in 2E for example. In most stats 14 isn't better than 7, only the extreme values make a difference.
Wisdom is totally useless except for clerics and druids, int is only useful for mages and bards and only your party's spokesperson (which should be the bard) needs charisma at all.
In IWD pure thieves are very weak, multiclassed ones are far superior.

If you want to know more about 2E rules then I recommend reading the sections in the manuals or the very well written "AD&D Rules FAQ by Dan Simpson", available at the bottom of this page for example:
Sorcerer's Place - Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough & Guide Index

The default quicksave key is 'Q'. The default quicksave key is 'L'. You can change the defaults in the configuration menu if you choose.

Yes, you are meant to fill up the character slots at creation. Unlike BG, you will not have any NPCs join you. However, there is an in-game option for "Character Arbitration", so you can drop, replace, or add characters as you wish. For example, I've sometimes added a character later in the game when I wanted other characters to get a head start on XP collecting - e.g. when running mostly a party of multi and dual classes, adding a permanently single-classed character (usually bard or paladin) later.

On my version of the game (IWD Ultimate Collection), the manual is on disc 1 in .pdf format. Just search the disc for "manual" and you should be able to find it. The manual is fairly basic, so for tactical strategies etc it's generally better to use forums like this one and search through the archives.

Thanks @ Aerich and kmonster, and yeah, that'll teach me to check the CD contents first before posting. Sorry about that. There really is a manual.

Just in case you did not know Ningengirai, there is also a second expansion to Icewind Dale, called Trials of the Luremaster. They made this expansion because people complained Heart of Winter was not long enough and offered it for free on the Internet. Since Interplay is not offering it anymore, most sites are charging for it, but some still offer it for free. I downloaded mine at ausgamers.com