GameBanshee Forums

Ok, so Ive played through BG1/2 a few times, doing the occasional multi-class and whatnot and having no troubles. I come to Icewind Dale II and decide Im not going to multiclass any members, but then realise that this could be troubling in HoW. Anywho. My party consists of a Paladin(aasimar), Fighter(human), Rogue(halfling), Wizard(elf), Cleric(half-elf) and a Monk(human), all level 12, all playing their obvious roles. How will this party go in How?

HoW = Heart of winter right?

Heart of winter is an Icewind Dale expansion, so you should not be able to play it with Icewind Dale II. :mischief:

I assume you mean HoF or Heart of Fury mode, in which case your party will be extremely hard to get along with. Melee in HoF mode is difficult to begin with, since most of your enemies will hit you ever time and they will his HARD. Unlike Baldur's Gate, a melee heavy party is much weaker than a magic heavy party, especially at the end of the game and through HoF mode.

If you insist on not multi classing (which most would advise against not multi classing), then keep one of the fighters, and maybe the thief (really, adding a couple of thief levels to a wizard is the best way to go, bar none). The rest of your party should be arcane casters, with one priest with them.

The idea to have an effective HoF party is to maximize your spellcasting abilities while having only enough fighter/thief abilities to make the characters better.

One more thing. In my experience, monks aren't that good at all for this game.

I wouldn't bother about HoF mode, normal mode is harder.
Monsters get better in HoF mode, but so do your summons. HoF goblins don't stand a chance versus the HoF greater boneguards you can summon from the start. And in HoF you'll even have summoning spells available most players don't even get to cast in normal mode.
Charm spells also work as well as in normal mode and you have even killer spells like mass dominate in HoF mode.

You could start turning every non-caster into a caster because casters are overpowered in the game, but there's no need to do this.
Normal mode yields the real gaming experience, I see no reason to spoil it just because HoF mode gets a little easier then.
If you want a munchkin party for HoF mode, you can just keep only the cleric and wizard and add 4 new level 1 powergaming characters at the start of HoF mode.
This can turn HoF into a walk in the park, but challenges are more fun for most people.
Your party is sufficient as is, there's no need for changing it.

Whoops yeah, HoF is what I meant.

Thankee for the tips and advice everyone, I was just wondering. At the moment, this party is dominating, but I guess the real challenge hasn't started yet(I'm in Kuldahar). but yeah, thanks again.