Icewind Dale The Icewind Dale Series Thread

[Infinitron]

Zed, you forgot - no hard class restrictions!

what do you mean?

Any race can be a paladin, clerics can use blades, etc

 

[Shadenuat]

Half-Goblins critical hitting for 78 pts of damage, Insane is insane.
Fighter/Bard is fun to play when you get Mirror Image and Blur. Surprised me with his amount of kills per party member. He is a dick like Borda from BG1.
Druid, eh, still better without multiclassing.
Fighter 4/Ranger 1/Barbarian runs around killing everything and can take punishment even on Insane.
My halfling Cleric/Thief, I'm gonna re-roll her with lower WIS and STR, more INT, and give her Finesse&Dash perks. And that one which slows enemy by 50% sacrificing damage from backstab
Sorcerer with Mercantile Background is a natural jew! But I'll probably replace him with Wizard just because Wizards are bros and hardcore (and high INT gives some breath space when taking skills).

 

[Varnaan]

Any race can be a paladin, clerics can use blades, etc

I don't see how that can be considered bad unless you're some kind of close minded purist.

 

[Infinitron]

I don't see how that can be considered bad unless you're some kind of close minded purist.

I'm not.

 

[Erebus]

Half-Goblins critical hitting for 78 pts of damage, Insane is insane.

Yeah, that's the kind of things that made me give up on Insane difficulty. Enemies having a chance of killing your fighters in a single hit isn't very fun.

 

[Roguey]

Really? For me the whole beginning in Targos up till the goblin attack is one of the high points of IE gaming. Lots of skill checks, but also unique dialogue lines for classes/races, good combination of various combat/non combat quests with alternative solutions. Unfortunately, the game gets progressively worse after that and completely falls apart around that shitty ice temple.

If you're approaching IWD2 like it's Planescape Torment you're going about it all wrong. It's a combat sim with reactive dialogue for people who enjoy infinity engine combat.

 

[gunman]

all cha 1-2 quests are shit

Really? For me the whole beginning in Targos up till the goblin attack is one of the high points of IE gaming. Lots of skill checks, but also unique dialogue lines for classes/races, good combination of various combat/non combat quests with alternative solutions. Unfortunately, the game gets progressively worse after that and completely falls apart around that shitty ice temple.

That's true. Targos is one of the best intros in any IE games (think about Candlekeep or the dreaded Irenicus Dungeon). Then it goes downhill to fighting copy/paste mobs of sword fodder monsters+backup caster. I hate it most around the orc fort, with those spawning worg riders. Then it starts getting better after you reach the monks monastery.

 

[Jaesun]

I still think the Irenicus Dungeon was fine (but yes Targos is WAY better).

 

[Average Manatee]

Irenicus Dungeon was alright on a pure dungeon design level, but being able to sleep (in fact, the plot expecting you to sleep) in it always annoyed me. Also rocks fall everyone dies everyone's captured intro is always annoying, but whatever.

Would have been really cool if the NPCs other than Imoen you found were imported from your BG party or selected based on character alignment in chargen.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

all cha 1-2 quests are shit

Really? For me the whole beginning in Targos up till the goblin attack is one of the high points of IE gaming. Lots of skill checks, but also unique dialogue lines for classes/races, good combination of various combat/non combat quests with alternative solutions. Unfortunately, the game gets progressively worse after that and completely falls apart around that shitty ice temple.

That's true. Targos is one of the best intros in any IE games (think about Candlekeep or the dreaded Irenicus Dungeon). Then it goes downhill to fighting copy/paste mobs of sword fodder monsters+backup caster. I hate it most around the orc fort, with those spawning worg riders. Then it starts getting better after you reach the monks monastery.

It's the best imo, though I don't think any of the other intros were particularly bad. The force with which the "attempted cashgrab by a dying company" nature of IWD 2 rears its ugly head after Targos is really striking unfortunately.

If you're approaching IWD2 like it's Planescape Torment you're going about it all wrong. It's a combat sim with reactive dialogue for people who enjoy infinity engine combat.

 

[Shadenuat]

Yeah, that's the kind of things that made me give up on Insane difficulty. Enemies having a chance of killing your fighters in a single hit isn't very fun.

Sleep, Fear, Entangle&Stinking Cloud and ranged weapons for everyone carried me till orc fortress so far. Storming bridge to save it from ogres was a blast. Wizard is more flexible for that level of difficulty, you won't pick Sleep for your sorcerer knowing it will stop working few levels after, but Wizzie - no problem.
Starting to enjoy level design, Insane makes all the bridges, narrow gaps, crevices, places for hiding and for ambushes stand out. On Core Rules I usually just go straight forward killing everything.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Insane in IE games is kinda meh. On one hand it's a decent challenge at times, on the other it breaks the class balance even further, making meele characters even more useless than they normally are and making ranged/magic even more vital and op. IWD 2 also severely lacks enemies than can in any way successfully respond to magic, sorcerers just lolrape everything making most other classes seem borderline pointless.

 

[Roguey]

If you're approaching IWD2 like it's Planescape Torment you're going about it all wrong. It's a combat sim with reactive dialogue for people who enjoy infinity engine combat.

That's not a proper rebuttal. It was never meant to be anything other than a sequel to Icewind Dale (which was never meant to be anything other than a combat sim with reactive dialogue for people who enjoy infinity engine combat).

 

[Rake]

Agree that Targos is a very good intro, but i also like Irenicus dungeon and the Mortuary.
I never understood why many people consider Irenicus dungeon so bad, or the Mortuary boring.
And no one complains about candlekeep or easthaven that were terrible...

 

[Surf Solar]

What? Easthaven was nice. Alone that music...

 

[Roguey]

I never understood why many people consider Irenicus dungeon so bad, or the Mortuary boring.

Irenicus's dungeon goes on for too long and doesn't have any interesting combat. The story might hold your interest the first time around but on repeats it's just a linear obstacle preventing you from getting to the more open content in the next chapter.

And no one complains about candlekeep or easthaven that were terrible...

I noted how boring the IWD prologue was in my ~review~.

 

[Rake]

What? Easthaven was nice. Alone that music...

The music and atmoshere were nice. But as a start area i find it boring. They could have had a way better start in the same location. There was absolutely no plot hook.

 

[Rake]

I never understood why many people consider Irenicus dungeon so bad, or the Mortuary boring.

Irenicus's dungeon goes on for too long and doesn't have any interesting combat. The story might hold your interest the first time around but on repeats it's just a linear obstacle preventing you from getting to the more open content in the next chapter.

And no one complains about candlekeep or easthaven that were terrible...

I noted how boring the IWD prologue was in my ~review~.

I can agree with that. But if you know what you are doing you can clear the dungeon in about half an hour. Not too long to be a problem.

 

[Minttunator]

Insane in IE games is kinda meh. On one hand it's a decent challenge at times, on the other it breaks the class balance even further, making meele characters even more useless than they normally are and making ranged/magic even more vital and op. IWD 2 also severely lacks enemies than can in any way successfully respond to magic, sorcerers just lolrape everything making most other classes seem borderline pointless.

IIRC, IWD2 is based on 3rd edition D&D - in which case the situation you described (magic ruling everything and melee being useless) is a fairly accurate implementation of the ruleset.

 

[Minttunator]

And yeah, I also think Chateau Irenicus is not a bad dungeon in itself. I find myself agreeing with Roguey - I believe the main problem is that while the rest of the game is fairly open-ended, Chateau Irenicus is unskippable and pretty linear and going through it for the 50th time on a replay gets tedious if one just wants to get to exploring Athkatla. Hence, mods like this (which I recommend, I've used it and it works well):
http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=content&task=blogcategory&id=98&Itemid=79

 

[Shadenuat]

When you start loading on powerful spells, Insane is not that different from Easy indeed. Unless you go hand to hand with fucks like crystal golems.
I'm gonna kick Sherincal's tail. It's a pity they changed pace of the game from a free spirited adventure to a set of levels with bosses one after another. IWD1 is just better designed in that regard. It has better mood.

sorcerers just lolrape everything

Many years ago I solo'ed IWD2, and my character was a sorcerer. I remember Improved Invisibility being hilariously broken - you can run around and just throw fireballs at monsters who can't do anything to you.

 

[Roguey]

It's a pity they changed pace of the game from a free spirited adventure to a set of levels with bosses one after another.

There's nothing free spirited about IWD. It's a series of "Sorry adventurers, your evil's in another dungeon."

 

[Shadenuat]

It's an illusion of free roaming but it works, because at least you move your party yourself from dungeon to dungeon, instead of scripted events doing it for you. Also dungeons there mostly make sense as (ex)habitable objects with logical borders and architecture. Not like two wooden planks blocking your way through before you free a captive druid who then effortlessly teleports away and becomes a healing bot.

 

[Roguey]

It's an illusion of free roaming but it works, because at least you move your party yourself from dungeon to dungeon, instead of scripted events doing it for you.

The only time that happens is when you move to a new overland map, which happens twice.

Also dungeons there mostly make sense as (ex)habitable objects with logical borders and architecture. Not like two wooden planks blocking your way through before you free a captive druid who then effortlessly teleports away and becomes a healing bot.

Which part are you talking about?

Oh right I remember now. That map is hardly representative of the others. As for the druid, abstraction.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

free a captive druid who then effortlessly teleports away

It's true that this is pretty laughable, the more so when his fiancee does just the same after you free her too. she even declines your escort offer.

Them druids are teh funnay !