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Passages for Icewind Dale 2, platform PC

ICEWIND DALE II faq and walkthrough ================= by kaichern tee teekc@mail.com starts Oct 7 2002 finished Oct 19 2002 last update Nov 24 2002 version 1.4 actual version 1.4.1.031079-zdf-bs/99*25 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have interest in translating this faq and place it in other website, please contact me. We can work together to make it better. If you have any question about this game, i suggest you go first to one of the following forums because i believe people there will be more informative while answering your question. GameFAQs at http://s1.cgi.gamefaqs.com/boards/gentopic.asp?board=15119 Black Isle at http://feedback.blackisle.com/forums/ Socerers net at http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=14 If you want to email me teekc@mail.com, you would need to specify "icewind dale 2" at your title since i receive a lot of junk mails. Be inform that my PC operating system can decode chinese (traditonal and simplified). So if you want to, you can email me in Chinese. Feel free to correct my mistake. Any help from anyone regarding this faq will be credited and none of the email address will be post unless requested. Note that your emails might be quoted in this faq. In the process, i might modify incorrect words. If you feel that i quoted wrongly please inform me. Also, if more then a person telling me the same thing, i will credit everyone but use the expression of my own. Please inform me if i said something wrong. This faq may be posted on any site so long as nothing is changed and you have my permission for doing so. You may not charge for, nor in any way profit from this faq. You will find the most updated version in, http://www.gamefaqs.com http://www.sorcerers.net http://www.neoseeker.com This faq is also posted in the following websites, http://www.gamesover.com http://DLH.Net http://www.ggmania.com http://www.cheatcc.com http://www.edbis.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Document is Copyright 2002 by kaichern tee ICEWIND DALE II copyright 2002 by Interplay Entertainment Corp. All Rights Reserved. The BioWare Infinity Engine copyright by 1998-2002 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale II, Baldur's Gate, FORGOTTEN REALMS, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, Wizards of the Coast are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and are used by Interplay under license from Infogrames Interactive, Inc. Black Isle Studios are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. The BioWare Infinity Engine trademarks of BioWare Corp. All other copyrights are property of their respective owners. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I Introduction ---------------------- ppgint **Please, read this first, it wouldn't be long** II Character Creation ---------------- ppgcre II.1 Race ppgcr1 II.2 Class ppgcr2 II.2.1 Front-line Tanker ppgcr3 II.2.2 Back-row Caster ppgcr4 II.3 Alignment ppgcr5 II.4 Constructing a Band ppgcr6 III Skills --------------------------- ppgskl IV Feats ---------------------------- ppgfet III.1 Weapon and Armor Feats ppgfe1 III.2 Self-improving Feats ppgfe2 III.3 Weapon Fighting Feats ppgfe3 III.4 Spell casting Feats ppgfe4 III.5 Class Feats ppgfe4 V Useful Spells -------------------- ppgspe IV.1 Arcane Spells ppgsp1 IV.2 Cleric Spells ppgsp2 IV.3 Druid spells ppgsp3 IV.4 Spells that Overlap ppgsp4 VI General Strategies -------------- ppgstg VII Known Bugs That Will Hurt You ----- ppgbug VIII Walkthrough --------------------- ppgwlk Prologue ---------------------- ppg01 1.1 Targos Dock ppg02 1.2 Targos Town ppg03 1.3 Targos Palisade ppg04 Chapter 1 ----------------------------- ppg05 2.1 Shaegarne Fort ---------------- ppg06 2.1.1 Somewhere Before Village ppg07 2.1.2 Torak Base ppg08 2.1.3 Somewhere Before Dam ppg09 2.1.4 Dam ppg10 2.1.5 Shaegarne Bridge ppg11 2.2 Horde Fortress------------------- ppg12 2.2.1 Outside Fortress ppg13 2.2.2 Cave to Fortress 1 ppg14 2.2.3 Cave to Fortress 2 ppg15 2.2.4 Fortress ppg16 2.2.5 Inside Fortress ppg17 Chapter 2 -------------------- ppg18 3.1 Foothills ppg19 3.2 Glacier Crevice ppg20 3.3 Ice Temple Upper Level ppg21 3.4 Ice Temple Lower Level ppg22 3.4.1 Battle Square ppg23 3.5 Chapter Ends ppg24 Chapter 3 -------------------------------- ppg25 4.1 Wandering Village ---------------- ppg26 4.1.1 The Missing Children ppg27 4.1.2 The Returning Dead, or Undead ppg28 4.1.3 The Silent Ghost ppg29 4.2 Cold Marshes ppg30 4.3 River Caves ----------------------- ppg31 4.3.1 River Caves Entrance ppg32 4.3.2 River Caves ppg33 4.3.3 River Caves Exit ppg34 Chapter 4 -------------------------- ppg35 5.1 Black Raven Monastery ------- ppg36 5.1.1 Monastery Entrance ppg37 5.1.2 Monastery ppg38 5.1.3 Eight Chambers ppg39 5.1.4 Black Raven's Tomb ppg40 5.2 The Underdark --------------- ppg41 5.2.1 Driders Cave ppg42 5.2.2 Leaving the Underdark ppg43 5.2.3 Z'hinda Citadel ppg44 Chapter 5 ------------------------------- ppg45 6.1 Kuldahar ------------------------- ppg46 6.1.1 Kuldahar Pass ppg47 6.1.2 Kuldahar ppg48 6.1.3 Chult and Yuan-Ti Temple ppg49 6.1.4 Slaying the Guardian and Protecting Kuldahar ppg50 6.2 Dragon's Eye --------------------- ppg51 6.2.1 Dragon's Eye Entrance and Level 1 ppg52 6.2.2 Dragon's Eye Level 2 ppg53 6.2.3 Dragon's Eye Level 3 ppg54 6.2.4 Finishing Dragon's Eye ppg55 6.3 Holy Avenger --------------------- ppg56 6.4 Dragon's Eye Exit ppg57 6.5 Ice temple Revist ppg58 6.6 Fields of Slaughter ppg59 6.7 Saablic Tan ---------------------- ppg60 chapter 6 -------------------- ppg61 7.1 The Plam ppg62 7.2 The Fingers ppg63 7.3 Finishing the Game ---- ppg64 IX Frequently Asked Questions ----------- ppgque X Version History ---------------------- ppgver XI Credits and Acknowlegment ------------ ppgthk --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I introduction ppgint --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, This is the first faq i write. i am a bit old now, and most of the time, i'll wait for an faq to release to buy the game and play according to the faq. However this time, i amazingly played iwd2 without any faq. Sure, i do stuck in somewhere along the course, but i have help from the good and friendly people who visited www.gamefaqs.com IWD2 forum. As time went on, the itch of writting this faq enlarged and i cannot resist it. so there you have it. For your information, i am more a pc gamer then a pnp-er (pen and paper). So, my knowledge about 3ed is very limited. Basic stuff only i know, technical knowledge limited i am. You will notice that for important title in the table of contents, it will be follow by ppgXXX. i did this for the purpose of simple navigation. You can now just look at the table, using "find" function in your wordpad to find ppgXXX and jump to the correspond content. For example, search for "ppgthk' will bring you to the section. In case, ppg means 'Powerpuff Girls'. Don't you just adore them? As you go through the walkthrough, you'll notice that my style and basis of writting change. There are two main reasons behind this. 1st, the game has developed into such a state that i cannot continue with my previous style. 2nd, my mood changed. Since you can use 'alt' key to highlight interact-able containers, i guess there is no need for me to indicate each containers in the game. Just press the key often to highlight containers and on ground items so you wouldn't miss a thing. Also, traps are expected everywhere. De-trap wouldn't yield xp like in BG. Plus, i haven't enounter a deadly trap that cost my life, so i wouldn't mention every trap in the game. As the faq goes, i'll use more and more short form. I suppose it would be easy to understand but just in case, STR = strength DEX = dexterity CON = constitution INT = intelligence WIS = wisdom CHA = charisma BGx = Baldur's Gate 1 or 2 IWDX = icewind dale 1 or 2 3ed = 3rd edition rules pnp = pen and paper BIS = Black Isle Studios hp = hit points Enjoy the game, enjoy the faq. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. character creation ppgcre --------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are a lot of discussion going on in several iwd2 related forums, so i would not and could not cover them all. You can always pay a visit to these forums and post your suggestion there for analysis and criticism. What i will cover is very general. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II.1 race ppgcr1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Race gives you an advantage at start and influence you far into the game. The more important aspect the a race would influence is the quests available in the game. Some quests will result in better rewards if you have a specific race to do the job. There will this never ending discussion about which race is best for which class going in every IWD2 forums. Don't be discourage by the level adjusment, it will not limit your level cap, which is 30. Level adjusment simply means that a character needs more experience to level into next. If a character has level adjusment of +x, that means at level 1, that character needs xp needed for level 1+x to level into level 2. As for the 'favored class', it doesn't nessasary means that the race excel in that class. It means that the culture of that race has influenced its people in such way that they will not receive an xp penalty while multiclass into the class. Before i go into it, one thing you have to remember, It is role-playing that counts. 1 >>> Human Humans are all around people. They don't have heredity bonuses but they have the finnest educational system to make them as competitive as other races. So they might not have + on any abilities, but they can be train into any class and do a good job on it. a. Human human is very flexable and general. You get an extra feat at start and extra skill points per level. The best part of a human is the 'favored class: any' bonus that it offers. Thus, the higest class in multiclasses will the the favored class. If you have no idea which race you want to choose, human can't be wrong. b. Aasimar Aasimar has a +2 on WIS and CHA. cleric, paladin and druid will benefit from this stats. c. Tiefling Tiefling has +2 on INT and DEX. Rogue, wizard or even fighter+ wizard combination will benefit from the class bonus. 2 >>> Dwarf Dwarves are very hardcore people. They will slash rather then talk and think. Dwarves give an impression of very hard to damage and kill Generally dwarf makes good fighter for the +2 CON bonus. +2 saving throw against poison is not that crucial. However, +2 against spells is is a big plus. In addition, +2 search will also makes them a good rogue. a. Shield Dwarf Just like human (subrace) to human (race), shield dwarf is the general version of dwarf. The advantages are not to heavy and so is the disadvantage. b. Gold Dwarf It wouldn't be a good idea to make a rogue out of gold dwarf because of the -2 dex disadvantage. gold dwarf is more fighter then other dwarves. They have an +1 attack roll againist underdark creatures. But then, the underdark is just a part of the whole story. c. Gray Dwarf Gray dwarf is more rogue then other dwarves. They have +4 bonus on move silent to go with the default +2 search. So gray dwarf would serve best for a figher+rogue dwarf. 3 >>> Elf Elves are very magical and agile. They are easy to kill, physically, but they are hard to hit. Elves can be great spellcasters, especially using arcane magic (they are very arcane anyway). Elves can be excellent archers as well. you only heard the term 'elven archer' right? have you ever heard of 'orcish archer' or 'dwarven archer'? But, the game does not really promote you to be an archer. so, elves can only show their magical side but not the agile side. All elves will have a +2 DEX bonus. All elves are immune to sleep. All elves have +2 saving throw against enchantment magic (spells that screw up your mind like charm, confusion, hold person, etc). All elves have +2 search check. In addition, elves are proficient with large swords and bows (crossbows are not bows, they are simple missile weapons). Since elves are magical, their favored class will be towards spellcasters. a. Moon Elf general version of elves. receives -2 CON. b. Drow +2 DEX, +2 INT and +2 CHA, you want more? how about 11+lvl spell resistance? Drow does a great job in a lot of classes and multiclasses. To make the game interesting, mixing a rogue and wizard would certainly be fun. the downside is -2 CON so they can't be fighters that take a lot of damage. Also, whenever under bright light, a drow receives -1 on everything. c. Wild Elf just like moon elf, but the penalty is -2 int. 4 >>> Gnome Gnomes are suppose to be very scientific and rational people (rational doesn't mean serious). Ironically, their favored class is illusionist. Generally gnomes are weak at physical fighting. a. Rock Gnome Seriously, i don't know what to do with rock gnome. Because their bonus +2 CON conflicted with their penalty -2 STR. if -2 STR makes you no good at melee, then what's the +2 CON for? b. Deep Gnome +2 DEX and WIS with 11+lvl spell resistance. It doesn't not end here. +2 to all saving throw, +2 to search and hide. Now this is much better then the rock gnome. Combination of fighter+illusionist or rogue+illusionist will work fine. Don't worry about the -2 str penalty. Or if you want, For the fun of it, deep gnome can be good druid and cleric. Not many race has +2 WIS. 5 >>> Half-elf i wish i have better things to say about half-elf but there isn't much. Personally, i like half-elf for the sake of role playing. In 2e rules, half-elf offers the widest range of multiclassing. Now in 3e rules, since everyone can multiclass, half-elf loses its most important advantage. Furthermore, 'favored class: any' might seem useful, but human also offer this with 1 bonus feats and more bonus skill points. so which would you rather choose? Ok, the limited advantages of a half-elf. Half-elves are immune to sleep and have a +2 save aganist enchantment magic. This bonus is best apply to a fighter since saving throw against enchantment magic is a fighter weakness. So, to some extend, half-elf fighter is better than a human fighter. 6 >>> Half-orc Most people don't accept half-orc and treat them as babaric half-breed. Most half-orc are either abandoned children or raise by their human single mother without acceptance of the society. (Come to think of it, have you ever come across a half-orc of orcish mother and human father?) Half-orc makes the best hardcore fighter with their +2 STR, the only race with + STR. Who cares about int and cha when being a fighter? 7 >>> Halfling Halfling are, in simple term, sneaky. They just like to play around. The thought of heroic deeds will never come across their minds. Generally, halfling people are almost equal to rogues. Because of their sneakiness nature, they have +2 DEX, +2 move silently and +1 to hit with thrown weapon. Because they are all small, they receive -2 str penalty. One special note is that these people are fearless, +2 morale saving throw against fear. They are not that easy to suffer a morale failure to fear. a. Lightfoot Halfling The key of lightfoot halfling is the +1 to all saving throws. b. Strongheart Halfling The key of strongheart halfling is the extra feat available at start. *p.s. So it's really up to you for choosing between a lightfoot or strongheart. You want +1 saving throws or +1 feat? Personally, i prefer +1 saving throws because its benefit is more long term. c. Ghostwise Halfling Favored class is barbarian. Gains extra ability of setting natural snares. Natural snares work just like entangle, nothing fancy. ==CONCLUSION== Remember what i mention earlier? It is role-playing that counts. Of course, half-orc makes the best fighter. But for the sake of role-playing, pure fun and not following prototypes, why not try half-orc paladin, halfling druid, dwarf cleric? If you have a band of six, the 'not so wise choice' of race and class would not give you much trouble. In fact you can later tell everyone that you finished the game with some most freakish combination. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II.2 class ppgcr2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because of the freedom that 3rd edition rule gives, most of the time, people would not stay in one class and become a fulltimer. So, as i discuss about each class, i will include a little conclusion at the end of each type of class. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II.2.1 front-line tanker ppgcr3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the name suggest, these people are there to take damage and protect your spellcaster. 1 >>> Fighter Fighter is all about feats. You'll get a lot of extra feats so you can pretty much learn every skill that is available to you. The crucial thing is in the early of the game. You only have a few feats, so you'll need to plan well on what to learn first, and what's next. While deciding what should a fighter's abilities be, generally speaking, minimize charisma, and wisdom. STR and CON are equally important. Of course, if you want to pull down DEX to push INT, you are welcome. Because most likely a fighter will wear the heaviest armor in the game which might negates the benefits of having a high DEX. But beware, some feats require high dex, like 'Dirty Fighting', so don't let your DEX drop below 13. You have feats, so use them well. At early of the game, you might want to choose 'Snakeblood' if you have a choice, Since this only available in first level. 'Dirty Fighting'is a must have feat later on. Distribute your weapon feats so that you can attack effectively with slashing damage as well as bludgeoning damage. Some monsters have high resistance to a damage type. However, those are open to piercing damage usually cannot resist slashing as well. p.s. Holy Avenger is a long sword. There is an axe that slay construct in HoF mode. 'Club of Disruption' is a club that destroy undead. 2 >>> Paladin In the name of law, you smite evil. First, paladin will have divine spellcasting ability starting from 4th lvl, which are based on wisdom. so if you want to cast a x level spell, you'll need 10+x wisdom. Second, paladin has 'lay on hand' in 1st lvl. it's a healing spell which determine by charisma. Also, by default, you are immune to disease. At 2nd lvl, you gain 'smite evil' which is also charisma based. It gives you extra damage to evil foes. Also in 2nd lvl, you gain 'aura of courage'. It makes you immune to fear and gives allies +4 saving throws aganist fear. In 3rd lvl, you'll get 'turn undead' which is charisma and lvl based. Also in 3rd lvl is 'remove disease' which can be useful. So basically, you are immune to disease and fear at lvl 3. Third, you have restriction on multiclassing. if you don't multiclass to your order's favored class, you cannot lvl up in your paladin class ever. So, if you want to play a full time paladin, you'll need to distribute your abilities wisely. Well, since i never play a full time paladin before, so i wouldn't give me unwise suggestion here. 3 >>> Barbarian Barbarian is strong but unpolished fighter. By default, a barbarian walks faster then others. Barbarian gains most hit points per level. A barbarian has 'Rage' ability at start. Once cast, it grants you some useful bonuses for fighting. As it wears off, it makes you fatigue and lower your abilities. As you lvl up, your 'Rage' becomes better and at lvl 20, it will become 'Tireless Rage'. At 2nd and 5th lvl, you'll gain 'uncanny dodge'. Respectively, while attacked by invisible foe you apply your dex bonous to armor class, you cannot be sneak attack by rogues unless the rouges is 4 lvl highier than you. At 11th lvl, you'll gain damage reduction and resistance to all sorts physical damage. STR, DEX, CON max them out. WIS, CHA minimize, whatever left is in INT. 4 >>> Rogue Rogue is about sneak attack. A rogue damage may not be as high as others, but as soon as they are sneak attacking, They deal out extra damage according to 1d6 per 2 lvl. Rogue gains 'uncanny dodge' just like barbarian but in lvl 3, 6. in lvl 2, rogue has 'Evasion' to evade area effetive spells. sucessful reflex save to evade all damage and uncessful reflex save to take half damage. The show starts at 10th lvl. Now the rogue will have access to some rogue-only skills. Since these are strictly availavle to rouge, you might want to pick them as soon as possible, because these skills are very useful, like 'Crippling Strike', 'Improved Evasion', 'Slippery Mind'. Simply put, DEX max. CON, STR, INT are up to you. WIS and CHA, min. Your DEX is going to be highier than you STR, so it would be useful if you pick up 'Weapon Finesse'. Most people will dual wield a rogue so you might want to pick up 'Two-weapon Fighting' and 'Ambidexerity' as well. but there is a better solution to this. please see the conslusion of this part. p.s. 'Hamstring' is also a must pick feat. 5 >>> Ranger Ranger sucks. i know i'll get flamed about this comment. But sadly, it's true. i like ranger also, i started my D&D adventure as an half-elf ranger. and now it turned out that half-elf is the most useless race and ranger is the most useless class. Note that 'most useless' doesn't not mean 'absolutely useless', just 'relatively useless', in this game. Bottom line is, rangers just cannot show their usefulness in the game people called Icewind Dale 2. Though it sucks, ranger has one minor advantage, automatically gain 'two-weapon fighting' and 'ambidexerity' while wearing light or no armor. Now keep this in mind. One important note is while choosing 'favored enemies' and 'weapon focus'. Both are deeply related. Don't do stupid thing like Valygar did in BG2, racial enemy: golem, weapons: katana and spear, like that is going to help? >>according to [Adam Frederick] who built a solo ranger. STR- 16 DEX- 18 CON- 16 INT- 8 WIS- 10 CHA- 8 Every level I put my point into either hide or move silently and because of that I can scout out most maps without getting in a single fight. As for proficient points. I put 2 into martial weapon bow and if you want to get 4 lvls of fighter put 3 in (I did this it helps). After that I just put in Improved critical and improved initiative and after that I just put it into whatever is appealing. And once you get to around lvl 8 I find I can fell most opponents in 2-3 hits and I lure them to my tank so that by the time they get to him 3-4 of the enemies are dead. And this is the build I use for party and solo games. 6 >>> Monk They might be useful If you want to be a monk, be a full time monk. Multiclass a monk will utterly spoil their unarmed damage ability. In simple words, a 20lvl monks will have much much higher base attack then a 20monk/2fighter.Monk has a long list of bonuses while leveling, so i wouldn't list them here. The reason that they 'might be useful' is that, IWD2 don't count unarmed attack as a weapon which they should. Furthermore, in IWD2 unarmed attack will evoke 'Attack of Opportunity' which further de-grade the real power of a monk. Conservatively building is to max out WIS because this is what gives a naked monk Armor Class. CON should be maxed also for high hp. STR and DEX are equally important. INT and CHA can be neglected even if the modifiers go to negative. There is no use of CHA for a monk. INT for a monk will only affect the skill points. Monk don't have any much needed skill to invest so INT can be minimized. >>[Domen Gostincar] defending the usefulness of monks (and nuns). I have made a human monk, with the following starting stats: STR- 16 DEX- 18 CON- 18 INT- 3 WIS- 18 CHA- 3 She gets 2 skill points per level, which I put into hide and move silently, making her an excellent scout. Also good for saving money, as she doesn't need any armor or weapon. For feats, I choose dirty fighting, dodge, great fortitude, iron will and lightning reflex (the last three because I ran out of other sensible feats, and the better ones were still beyond my reach, and because having high saves can't hurt. In the Clack Raven monastery, my monk was level 11, and I had no problem defeating the 8 rooms with her. The only damage she received was via lightning bolt, the spinning blades and the flame strikes - those that were not avoided (high accuracy means a high reflex save). ==CONCLUSION== Except for monk, you might want to multiclass your tanker into at least one other class, simply because you don't really need a fulltimer in any of the above classes. By multiclassing, you'll have bonuses that other class provide which would be really useful. for example, A rogue are bounded to wear light armor. in addition, they are not proficient in shield. So what the hack, multiclass to a lvl 1 ranger to gain 'Two-weapon Fighting' and 'Ambidexerity' by default. In addition, you can further multiclass rogue into fighter for some extra feats. A fulltime paladin would not bring you far also. wWat people usually do is set a low WIS and CHA paladin and stop leveling up after 3rd level, after gaining all the bonuses. Continue to level up in fighter, rogue or barbarian. Doing so, the character not only has some nice bonuses but also the luxury to use 'Holy Avenger' one of the best weapon in the game, well almost every other game. Or you can go the other way around, by building a 4 lvl fighter and every lvl to paladin. Doing so, you'll get the much needed 'weapon specialization' and not letting go the spell casting ability of a paladin. Either way, it works. Further multiclassing rogue into fighter would benefit much also. A lvl 20rogue/10fighter is just slightly worse than a lvl 30 fighter in face-to-face fighting. By multiclassing into fighter, a rogue gain more feats to fully acquire all the needed abilities. Another popular multiclassing pattern is go into 4lvl fighter with any other tanker class. By do so, the character will have access to the ever useful 'weapon specialization'. All these are just multiclassing a tanker class to another tanker class. Because i see that unless you are not playing a band of 6, there is not need to multiclass a tanker into a spellcaster simply because their abilities don't overlaps. If however, you are doing trio, duet or solo, you might need to do so and this would be above my limited knowledge. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II.2.2 back-row caster ppgcr4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- They provide support to frontline as well as main fire power to damage monsters. In general, you would want to pick up 'Combat Casting', 'Sbuvocal casting, and max 'Spell Penetration' as soon as possible. Although i would not mention, but 'Dispel' is equally useful and important for all spellcaster and should pick up as soon as possible. Throughout the discussion, arcane refers to wizard, sorcerer, bard and it's spells; divine refers to druid, cleric and it's spells. 1 >>> Bard Jack of all, master of none. Bards do have something they are specialize in. A bard provides bard song that will boost everyone's ability, as they gain level, they gain new songs which have different uses according to different occassions. Note that a bard casting ability is based on CHA, so to cast lvl x arcane spell, you need 10+x CHA. The significant level for bard is lvl 11 as this level gives you the final song to sing. You can continue after to level up after this or choose to concentrate in other multiclass. If you are not planning to have highier bard level and cast highier level spells, don't invest too much in CHA then. The major selling point of a bard is bard only items you found along the way. You can get a horn in early Chapter 2 from an evil merchant. This horn will instantly summon some barbarian to fight for you. Handy meat shields instantly. 2 >>> Cleric Heal Yes heal. Of all the spells that a cleric has, heal is the single most important spell you have. It provides instant and full hit point to any character and its casting duration is very short. Other seriously important cleric spell are 'Animated Undead' and 'Tremor'. 'Animated Undead' is the best and the only useful summoning spell. It upgrades as you lvl up. 'Tremor' will instantly damage all enemies and might knock them unconscious. Different domain affects cleric's domain spell. each lvl of domain spell has 1 additional spell over a choice of two. What god you want to worship is totally up to you. I like Demarch of Mask just because of its invisibility spells and 'Executioner's Eyes'. Max WIS for cleric. Max CHA if you want but it is not that crucial. CHA controls your undead turning ability. Have some points in INT and that's it. One important note, you can take 1~2 points intended for WIS and put them to DEX, later into the game, you will encounter a potion that exchange 1 DEX for 2 WIS in Battle Square, not a bad deal. Simply put, cleric strength allies, weaken enemies. 3 >>> Druid Nature's servant awaits - Jaheira from Baldur's Gate A druid do not support that much as cleric, but heal is still available to druid at a highier level. Generally speaking, druid has druid spells which deals some amount of damage and cannot be learn by cleric nor arcane spellcasters. Some might use druid as a support to main tanker(s) but i just use druid as pure spellcaster. Shapeshifting might work but sadly, it looses its usefulness because enemies get stronger faster. >>[Jae Shin] wants to denfend for shapeshifters "It basically allows your druid to become a tank (which is why I use my druid for the Battle Square). The bear you get at 12th level combined with a 'champion's strength' spell is vicious and can easily do over 20 damage per attack. The only problem is that the game seems to have a minor bug in it which causes attack damages and bonuses to get a bit confused whenever you switch between forms. It's easily overcome by unequipping and reequipping weapons, but it can be a bit of a hassle. Then again, having a tank with healing spells is really, really useful. What's even better is that it changes your characters' stats. Bears have no problems with forcing locks open." 4 >>> Sorcerer Keep'em coming The thing about socerer is that they have more ammo to dispose for a particular spell. Therefore, a sorcerer can cast a chain lightning, another chain lightning, another chain lightning and again and again. The hard part is, what spell should they learn, in what order? Different with Neverwinter Nights version, you cannot unlearn learnt spells. so you really need to consider which spells will benefit in a long run and which cannot. Beside casting spells, sorcerer can play an important part as diplomat/speaker of the party. You could give a sorcerer extra INT to gain extra skill points in order to learn all the needed 'talking skills'. Together with their high CHA and the fact that they don't refuse reward like paladins, they are a good choice for speakers. As you adventuring under HoF mode, you'll notice that it is your sorcerer and wizard who do the most damage. Your tankers will be shouting for medic every few hits by enemies. But sorcerer and wizard, they never need to heal. If they die, you can bring them back to life and they can jump into fight without pick back their stuff. Considering a sorcerer abilities is an easy task. First of all, max CHA. then, max INT. adjust other abilities as you like, it is not that crucial. The reason you want a high INT is that it gives you extra skill points to upgrade your skills. 5 >>> Wizard Level 1 summon? Yes i can do that. Different to sorcerer, a wizard offers you versatility and flexibility. You can almost learn any spell under the sun (specialized wizard has restrictions), and you are not afraid of doing so. You wouldn't give a sorcerer to learn 'Summon Creature lvl 1', but you can do that for a wizard. Summon Creature lvl x is always useful until you have animate undead. Furthermore, there are these i called 'one time spell', like 'Mass Haste'. You only need it once (twice at most), before or during a fight. there is no need for you to keep casting mass haste right? so why let a sorcerer to learn 'Mass Haste' which she/he will only use it once before the next rest. For me there is no need to take specialization because my sorcerer is already specialized enough. i'll need a person who can cast every spells rather a person who can cast a kind of spell more times. Distributing a wizard abilities is even simpler. max INT, which is the prime abilities and gives you tons of extra skill points. Then you can distribute other abilities points to anywhere you want. Generally, high CON and DEX. >>[Yorien Dragonard] has another view on sorcerer and wizard. "I usually play with rather specialised casters. Have a main wizard (pure), a main healer (usually pure) and then some support casters (for example a male Drow rogue-wiz with a lot of protection and enhancers learnt) and commonly some other chara with support spells . That's why I use more disablers than direct damage." "Well, the main idea here is to have a rather specialised spellcaster, whose main role is to cast some party enhacers pre-combat and make a quick first move just before combat by casting one or two area disables before party rushes. As caster is specialised, he'd have skills/feats conveniently arranged so his spell's DC is sufficiently high to connect on many creatures. So, caster's job is to disable lower menaces while party can focus in the big foes (and commonly, you'll find that some big foes also fall to the disabler). Since it uses only a little variety of spells, sorcerers are pretty capable of being disablers." ==CONCLUSION== Keeping a fulltime spellcaster might just be a good idea simply because the highier the level, the more spell slots available. But remember, the game sets the level cap at 30 (which is a lot). By the time a spellcaster reaches level 20 ~ 25, there will be enough spell ammo for any fight. So, starting from level 20 ~ 25, a spellcaster can multiclass to another class for example fighter (for feats), barbarian (for hp), rogue (for evasion). a special case is, monk benefits their armor class from their WIS. You can start your cleric/druid as a monk, then multiclass to cleric/druid after level 1 monk. Take note on the alignment restriction, if you want to do so. Also, similar to this is to start a sorcerer as paladin. Paladin uses CHA modifier in saving throw, so your sorcerer who are weak at saving throws (due to low CON, DEX, WILL) can benefits from this. A druid and a cleric will have similiar ablilities. As i played the game, i found out that during many fights, my cleric was just standing and waiting for anyone who call for medic. By multiclassing and druid to a cleric or vice versa according to 20major/10minor, you'll have a druid that can bring back your fallen members into life and a cleric that can call down lightning to strike enemies. Another lame way to exploit the game mistake would be taking a specialist wizard and take a level in sorcerer. That way, the wizard will have access to all schools of spell. Of course there is this ever popular fighter and wizard combination. Fighter+wizard don't have to worry about armor since a lot of spell will balance off the disadvantage. Useful spells for a fighter+wizard would be 'Mirror Image', 'Blink', 'Fire Shield', 'Tenser's Transformation', 'Antimagic Field', 'Trollish Fortitude', 'Seven Eyes', 'Aegis' and 'Black Blade of Disaster'. Abilities for this multiclass would be max STR or DEx and INT, min WIS and CHA, what is left distribute to CON and DEX or STR. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II.3 alignment ppgcr5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Surprise to see alignment in here? Usually alignment isn't that important because ultimately, alignment is a role-playing thing. But alignment in this game has a very significant effect in a matter of life and death. Spoilers-- At the end of the game when you finally meet the bosses, one of them is able to cast 'Blasphemy', this area effective spell will instantly stuns anyone that is non-evil alignment for 1 turn, which is very long. So, you must have some members as evil alignment, if not all. i would suggest that at least your spellcasters be evil alignment. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II.4 constructing a band ppgcr6 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solo would be challenging but i think IWD2 was initially designed as an adventure for a band. You can have maximum six people in a team, so you can really specialize them. Ultimately, it all falls down to 2 things, a) Playing style Some would find that a certain combination is very strong and they can just 'walk' through the game. But when that combination falls into others hand, it will not work at all. That is why whenever my friends ask me about what is the best character in Diablo, what is the best combination in Final Fantasy N, i would always give them the same answer 'there is no best sword in the world, only best swordman'. Any combination would work. How would the combination works is totally dependent on how you control its members. b) Role playing Some classes are not that usefull in the game. It does not really matter if you have them in your band or not, like bard, druid and ranger. However, there are people out there, insist certain class be included in the band. For me, it is druid. Partly because i am an environmentalist and partly i just don't know how a band without a druid can adventure into the wild. Yes, sure, a durid isn't that useful. There wasn't a time that i am thankful for having to bring a druid along, but there was time when i curse myself for not bringing an extra cleric. But then, i still like druid. If you are not a newbie in the game, you don't have the need to look at the uninspire team suggestion below. A simple combination for newbie, 1 - fighter with paladin 2 - rogue with fighter 3 - wizard 4 - sorcerer 5 - cleric 6 - cleric With a combination like this, you'll have two person for each category of class. Fighter/paladin will be the main tanker and rogue/fighter will be the support tanker. It seems that 2 tankers is rather weak but don't forget that you have 4 summoners which means 4 summons in a time. So most of the time the two tankers would carry the task of protecting the spellcasters rather then dealing damage and take the pain. Rogue is a must because you need someone to detrap, and only rogue can do that. There are traps in the game that will not go away even you triggered it. Paladin is an 'almost must' because the Holy Avenger you get under HoF mode offers +10 enchantment, you don't want to miss that, do you? On top of that, how about the idea of dual-wielding Holy Avengers? A +5 and +10. Sorcerer is the main arcane spellcaster. Sorcerer learns all the main damage spells, all spells that is going to be used again and again. Wizard on the other hand provides the 'clean out' job. Whatever usefull spells that the sorcerer don't or haven't learn, the wizard can help out. Two cleric can carry out two different kinds of job, to make the band looks pretty and to make the enemies look ugly. Above all, you have two people that cast provide quick 'Heal' and crucial 'Resurrection'. Accident happens, if one cleric dies, another can bring her/him back. [Arachree Mae] has a suggestion of a band consisting of all classes, Paladin(mystra)/wizard (8/22) aasimar 8 lvl paladin to get their cavalier (i forget their name) feat (author: the feat is called 'Fiendslayer'), 22 lvl wizard didn't hurt their spell to level 9. Ranger/rogue/fighter (5/21/4) tiefling 5 lvl ranger to get 2 racial enemy, 4 lvl fighter to get weapon specialization, 21 lvl rogue to detrap of course. Barbarian/fighter (20/10) dwarf 20 lvl barbarian to get tireless rage. Monk (30) human They just rock with high wisdom (you could stun 30 wizard a day if you could find that many) just hide them and sneak attack the wizard (throw in some rogue would help (to sneak attack). (author: not too much rogue as it will destroy the basic attack bonus of armed attack, 3 lvl is enough) Bard/sorcerer (11/19) wood elf On my exp with IWD 1 you just need bard that's why i'm putting in a bard, 11 lvl to get their best song. If you think the song didn't that great (on IWD 1 that song could regenerate hp all the time i hardly need a cleric to heal, but IWD 2 ruin it by only activate this regeneration in combat), still you get 2nd healer (from bardic spell). Druid/cleric ((?/?) depends on defensive or offensive playing) female drow this one like i said depends on playing style. i really wish i could split the cleric in to some one else (like monk) but i really like high level monk. and that ruins clerics ability. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- III skills ppgskl --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section is about skills. If feats give you the extra edge fighting enemies, then skills give you an upper hand interact with the NPCs and surrounding. As you level up, you'll gain skill points, how many skill points you gain is dependent on your class and INT. Class provides you the basic skill points each level, INT modifier gives you the bonus skill points. That's why in 3ed rules, INT is generally important. If you really don't want to invest heavily on INT, at least don't let your INT modifier becomes negative value. It will hurts. Beside class and INT, human also gains extra skill point per level. Rule number one in distributing skill points, give them to class skills first. When you distributing your skill points you will notice that some skills require 2 points to move up a level but some only need 1 point. Those that need 1 point would be the class skill for the class that you level up now. Rule number two, give some points to talking skills (bluff, diplomacy and intiminate). You cannot always select who to initiate a conversation. So, you would want all of your members to have some points in major talking skills just in case. And lastly, every skill has association with your abilities. The Ability modifier will affect if you make a successful skill check aganist a situation. The ability followed every skill title incidates that the ability modifier will be applied while throwing a check. Related ability will be indicated after each skill title. 1 >>> Alchemy (INT) You'll encounter a lot of unidentified potions in the game. Alchemy is the skill used to identify these potions. Beside that, Alchemy has a very important role in progressing the story. Whenever the story requires you to perform potion mixing or creation, an alchemist will be required. 2 >>> Animal Empathy (CHA) This skill has potential, but not in this game. You don't need any aid from animals to finish any quest. Also, there will not be a time when you curse yourself for not charming an enemy animal to help you. Animals fighting is very very rare in IWD2. 3 >>> Bluff (CHA) One of the 3 talking skills. Bluff is the cunning way of conversation. 4 >>> Concentration (CON) This one of the best part about 3ed rules. Once upon a time, whenever a spellcaster (especially arcane spellcaster) is being hit, she/he will lose the spell currently casting. Concentration gives you a chance to continue with the spell casting progress when being hit. 5 >>> Diplomacy (CHA) One of the 3 talking skills. Diplomacy is the polite way of conversation. 6 >>> Disable Device (INT) This skill is used whenever a character is required to disable, mostly, trap. Of course whenever you encouter any mechanical device that need to disable, this will be the skill applied. 7 >>> Hide (DEX) This is the skill that makes your character 'poof' into thin air. Hiding in day time is harder then hiding in night. Of course, wearing heavier armor will affect your hiding skill. 8 >>> Intiminate (CHA) One of the 3 talking skills. Intiminate is the violence way of conversation. 9 >>> Knowledge (Arcana) (INT) This stat determines if your character can successfully identify a magical item or scroll. 10 >>> Move Silently (DEX) This skill determines if you can move while maintaining hidden. Heavier armors and some noisy weapons (like fails) will penalize this sill. 11 >>> Open Lock (DEX) As of the name suggest, it determines how good you are at lock picking. 12 >>> Pick Pocket (DEX) Determines if you can steal something from an NPC. While being pick pocketed, the NPC's level and INT modifier act as the saving throw against. So you can see that adventuring under HoF mode, pick pocket is a totally useless skill. There is no way that you can beat the 'saving throw' against pick pocket of an NPC. 13 >>> Search (INT) Determines if your character can spot hidden traps. 14 >>> Spellcraft (INT) When someone not from your band casts a spell, this skill kicks in to see if you can identify that spell. It will show in the conversation box as 'Someone casting -spell-'. It makes life easier if you can identify the spell can counter it. 15 >>> Use Magic Device (CHA) It allows your chatacter to use wands and such that usually can only be used by wizard and sorcerer. 16 >>> Wilderness Lore (WIS) When using this skill (select under 'skills' menu), it will tell you the general information about an area. Information like what kind of monsters are likely to linger around or is there a friendly settlement nearby is always useful if you are adventuring into an unfamiliar area. Ultimately, this skill helps you to get through the Fell Wood maze. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV feats ppgfet --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feat is what makes your character different from my character. Ultimately, especially for spellcasters, feat is all about preference. Some might think this combination will work but some don't. This part of the faq will provide with a general reference on what is good and what is not so good. As you play the game, you'll discover your style, and know what feat you want to choose next. Note that some feats will automatically put in use once you have taken the feat. However some feats don't. This kind of feats give you an extra skill that you have to select it under 'Special abilities' menu to use it. An 'auto' or 'select' will indicates the difference. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV.1 Weapons and Armors Feats ppgfe1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some classes automatically gain proficiency in certain feats fall under this category. Classes noted after every feats indicate that these classes automatically gain this feat. One exception is that elves gain longsword and bow feats regardless of classes. 1 >>> Armor Proficiency (auto) Depend on how many rank you choose/have, you can wear certain kind of armor without suffering heavy penalties. Effect: When you wear a type of armor with which you are proficient at, the armor check penalty applies only to 'Hide', 'Move Silently' and Pick Pocket. If a character who is wearing armor with which she/he is not proficient at, she/he suffers its armor check penalty on attack rolls and on all skill checks that involve moving. Proficiency Types: 1 rank - Light - leather armor, studded leather (babarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue) 2 ranks - Medium - chainmail, splint mail (babarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, paladin, ranger) 3 ranks - Heavy - half-plate, full plate (cleric, fighter, paladin) 2 >>> Shield Proficiency (auto) Effect: You can use a shield and suffer only the standard penalties. (babarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, paladin, ranger) 3 >>> Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization (auto) You are proficient with using all the weapons from the listed category. Effect: One ranks in this feat, you make attack rolls with the weapon normally. Two ranks in this feat is Weapon Focus, which grants +1 to hit. Three ranks in the feat is Weapon Specialization, which grants +2 to damage. Only characters with four or more levels of fighter may take Weapon Specialization. A character who uses a weapon without being proficient with it suffers a -4 penalty on attack rolls. Simple Weapons: Simple Weapon: Crossbow - light crossbow, heavy crossbow (babarian, bard, cleric, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, wizard) Simple Weapon: Mace - heavy mace, morningstar (babarian, bard, cleric, fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer) Simple Weapon: Missile - dart, sling (babarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer) Simple Weapon: Quarterstaff - quarterstaff (babarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, wizard Simple Weapon: Small Blade - dagger, short sword (babarian, bard, cleric, druid, figher, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, wizard) Martial weapons: Martial Weapon: Axe - hand axe, battleaxe, greataxe, throwing axe (babarian, fighter, paladin, ranger) Martial Weapon: Bow - shortbow, composite shortbow, longbow, composite longbow (babarian, fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue, ELF) Martial Weapon: Flail - flail (babarian, fighter, paladin, ranger) Martial Weapon: Greatsword - greatsword (babarian, fighter, paladin, ranger Martial Weapon: Hammer - warhammer, throwing hammer (babarian, figher, paladin, ranger) Martial Weapon: Large Sword - longsword, scimitar (babarian, figher, paladin, ranger, ELF) Martial Weapon: Polearm - spear, halberd (babarian, figher, paladin, ranger) Exotic weapon: Exotic Weapon: Bastard Sword (Bastard) (Actually, no one automatically gains this feat. Keep in mind also that, some bastard swords are two-handed and some are one-handed) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV.2 self-improving feats ppgfe2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Self-improving feats are mostly feats that increase your various saving throws. These +bonus to saving throws are not that crucial and big deal. Because later into the game, you have all kinds of spells that can counter all the bad effects if fail a saving throw. Pick only when there is extra feat and you don't know where to put it. DEX affect reflex saving, CON affect fortitude saving and WIS affect affect will saving. There are also feats that enchance your skill checks and overall performance. 1 >>> Bullheaded (auto) Effect: +1 bonus on Will saves and a +2 bonus on Intimidate checks. Prerequisite: Human or dwarf 2 >>> Courteous Magocracy (auto) Effect: +2 on all Diplomacy and Spellcraft checks. 3 >>> Dash (auto) Effect: Character moves about 15% faster than normal. 4 >>> Discipline (auto) Effect: +1 bonus on Will saves and a +2 bonus on Concentration checks. 5 >>> Forester (auto) Effect: You receive a +2 bonus on all Wilderness Lore checks. 6 >>> Great Fortitude (auto) Effect: +2 bonus to all Fortitude saving throws. 7 >>> Iron Will (auto) Effect: +2 bonus to all Will saving throws. 8 >>> Improved Initiative (auto) Effect: The weapon speed and casting time for all spells is reduced by 1 to a minimum of 1. Note: All of the feats listed under this category, this feat is equally important and useful to everyone IF BIS could fix the fact that this feat isn't working at all. 9 >>> Lightning Reflexes (auto) Effect: +2 bonus to all Reflex saving throws. 10>>> Luck of Heroes (auto) Effect: a +1 luck bonus on all saving throws. Prerequisite: Human Note: If you cannot decide which saving throw you want to enchance, pick this one. Luck will provide an minor extra edge to all your saving throw. 11>>> Mercantile Background (auto) Effect: 5% discount on buying items and a 5% mark up on selling items at stores. Prerequisite: Human, deep gnome, or gray dwarf Note: To maximize the benefit, give this feat to the person with higest CHA. But then, money isn't any real problem in the game. 12>>> Resist Poison (auto) Effect: +4 bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison. Prerequisite: Gray dwarf, half-orc Note: You may only take this feat as a 1st level character. 13>>> Snake Blood (auto) Effect: +2 bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison and a +1 bonus on all Reflex saving throws. Prerequisite: Human Note: You may only take this feat as a 1st level character. 14>>> Strong Back (auto) Effect: Carry weight increased by 50%. Note: If your cleric has problem wearing heavy armor, you might want to sacrifice a feat for this. 15>>> Toughness (auto) Effect: You gain +3 hp each time you pick this feat. Note: A total of +15 hp at the end isn't that big deal. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV.3 weapon fighting feats ppgfe3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you want to fight like the people in

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