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Location: Games » Icewind Dale 2 » Walkthroughs & Guides
Multiclassing Icewind Dale 2 will use 3E multiclassing rules. Unlike 2nd Edition, in which human characters dual-classed (start in one class, then stop in that class and start in a second, never to return) and demi-human characters split-classed (advance at an equal rate in two or more pre-selected classes), both humans and demi-humans have the same options available to them. All characters start game play with one class. Every time the character advances, the player has the option of advancing in the character's current class, or adding a level in another class. The amount of experience required to advance is based off of total class levels (character level) rather than individual class levels. For example, it takes as much XP to advance a character from level 4 fighter to level 5 fighter as it does to advance a character from level 4 fighter to level 4 fighter/level 1 rogue. Characters gain the full cumulative bonuses of all their levels instead of the "best of" between both classes. For instance, if a character has +4 BAB from his fighter levels and a +2 BAB from his wizard levels, he would have a +6 BAB, not +4. The same applies for saving throws. Hit points are not divided between classes. A character gets the total hit dice for each set of class levels he or she has. E.g., a fighter 7 / rogue 4 / wizard 5 would have 7d10 + 4d6 + 5d4 hit points, modified by constitution. Characters may multiclass to any class to which they do not have alignment conflicts, with the exception of the monk and paladin classes. Paladins and monks each have three orders that allow them to multiclass to one class and back again. For example, paladins of Ilmater, the god of suffering, may multiclass to cleric and back again. Dark Moon monks of Shar may multiclass to sorcerer and back again. No characters may multiclass into the paladin or monk classes after character creation. In theory, a character can take as many classes as a player qualifies for. However, this typically makes the character much less effective than a single or double classed character. In addition, when class levels get out of synch with each other, the character can be penalized XP. Without going into the details of the formula, a character is penalized a small amount of XP whenever one or more of his or her classes is more than one level away from another. There is an exception to this rule: racial favored class. Each race has a favored class which is ignored for the purposes of calculating multiclass XP penalties. For elves, it is wizard. For dwarves, it is fighters. For halflings, it is thieves. For gnomes, it is wizard. For half-orcs, it is barbarian. Half-elves and humans always ignore the highest class level they have. This gives them a range of flexibility that the other classes lack. All races
should be able to select all classes. IWD2 uses distinct armor types to arrive at a total armor class. These bonuses are defined as follows: * Armor Bonus:
bonuses granted by suits of armor or magical bracers. Excepting miscellaneous bonuses, only the highest bonus of any type is applied at any given time. E.g, Alender Kaan puts on a suit of leather armor that grants a +2 armor bonus. He also puts on some bracers that grant a +1 armor bonus and give him a bonus spell slot. The leather armor's higher armor bonus is the only bonus applied. Alender still gets the benefits from the bracer's bonus spell. Armor class is added to 10 instead of subtracted. Generally, bonuses to armor class are the same as they were in 2nd Ed. In IWD2, touch spells ignore armor bonuses. Thus, the caster only needs to overcome shield, deflection, dexterity, and miscellaneous bonuses to hit their target. E.g., Alender attacks a Zhentarim agent wearing a suit of chain armor, a small shield, and a ring of protection +1. Normally, the Zhent would have a 10 + 5 + 1 + 1 = 17 armor class. When Alender's shocking grasp spell homes in, he only has to hit a 10 + 1 + 1 = 12 armor class. However, if you wore two rings of protection, or, for example, a ring of protection +1 and a cloak of protection +2, only the +2 deflection bonus from the cloak would apply. The bonuses on magical armor are considered to be part of the armor bonus. Ergo, you could wear the following for the listed bonuses: Chain Mail
+2 = +7 Armor Bonus IWD2 uses a close approximation of 3E damage reduction rules. This can be broken up into two categories: Elemental Damage Resistance and Weapon Damage Reduction. Elemental damage resistance is represented by a point threshold. This amount of damage is subtracted from every elemental attack of that type directed at the character. E.g., Shikha Lilah has 15 Fire Resistance. She is hit with a fireball for 22 points of damage. She only takes 7 points of damage. Magic damage resistance is the same as Elemental damage resistance. Weapon damage reduction is represented by two numbers, the former representing a physical damage threshold, the latter representing the enchantment level required to overcome that resistance. All WDR follows this pattern: 5/+1 10/+2 means that the first 10 points of damage from any physical attack are ignored unless the enchantment level of the weapon is +2 or better. E.g., Bastine and Pieter are fighting wights with 5/+1 WDR. Bastine's non-magical longsword strikes a beast for 8 points of damage. The creature only takes 3 points of damage. Pieter immediately follows up the attack with a +2 bolt from his crossbow. The attack only does 5 points of damage, but it ignores the wight's WDR. Spells that cause physical damage always ignore WDR. IWD2 uses 3E's Base Attack Bonus instead of the traditional 2nd Ed. THAC0 system. Base Attack Bonus operates in the following manner: each class has a progression rate. Fighters, rangers, paladins, and barbarians have the best rate, followed by monks, clerics, druids, bards, and rogues. Wizards and sorcerers have the slowest progression. As a character gains levels, their BAB increases. Their BAB is applied to their attack roll. When a character's BAB reaches +6, he or she gains an additional attack every round, at -5. Every +5 BAB after that, the character gains another additional attack at -5 beyond that. E.g., Edward Raith has a +16 BAB. He gets one attack at +16, one attack at +11, one attack at +6, and one attack at +1. Spells that increase a character's number of attacks grant an additional attack at the highest BAB. Spells that increase attack bonus should not be confused with the derivation of BAB, which is done solely through class/level. Multiclassed characters use the best BAB between their classes and levels. Monks gain additional unarmed attacks at an increased rate. For monks, they gain an additional attack at +4 BAB, -3. This increases every +3 BAB after that. E.g., Kendel has a +10 BAB. He has four attacks at +10/+7/+4/+1. IWD2 uses 3E saving throws, which are categorized as follows: * Fortitude
-- Protects against physical attacks (poison, disease, death spells, etc.).
Modified by Constitution. Generally, most classes have one or two good saving throw categories and one bad saving throw categories. A few classes, like the monk, have good saving throws across the board. When a character attempts to roll a saving throw, a random number from 1-20 is generated. The character's saving throw bonus, and modifiers, are applied to that roll. If their sum is equal to or greater than the DC (difficulty check) of the attack, they successfully save. While some saving throw DCs are arbitrarily derived (a dragon's breath, for instance), most spells are derived using the following formula: * Spell Level + Caster's Ability Bonus + 10 = Spell DC. E.g., Marfain Vaer casts a fireball. She is a sorcerer with a 16 Charisma. Since fireball is a 3rd level spell, and her ability score modifier is +3, the DC of her spell is 16 (3 + 3 + 10 = 16). In IWD2, ability scores are initially generated using a point-buy system. All statistics start at 10 and the player has 16 points to distribute. Racial modifiers are applied to the initial scores, do not subtract from the point pool, and modify the minimum and maximum value of ability scores. When possible, ability scores follow 3E bonus scaling. In almost all cases, the character gains a higher bonus for every 2 points above 10, a lower penalty for every 2 points under 11. E.g., a character with a 14 Strength would have +2 attack bonus, +2 to damage. A character with a 9 Dexterity would have -1 attack bonus (missile), -1 to armor class, and -1 to reflex saving throws. Here are the things that ability scores modify: Strength:
Melee attack bonus, melee damage bonus, carry weight, bash doors Bonuses granted to ability scores do not stack. The highest available bonus is applied. E.g., a character is wearing a ring of strength that grants a +1 bonus. The party sorcerer casts a strength spell on the character, granting a +3 bonus. The target will only use the +3 bonus. Charisma also affects turning undead and paladin saving throws. In IWD2, some undead creatures will have the ability to bestow negative levels in a manner similar to 3E. When a character gains a negative level, he or she suffers a -1 penalty to hit and saving throws, -5 penalty to max hit points. Negative levels stack. The negative levels persist until the character dies or has a restoration spell cast upon him or her. Unlike 3E, these negative levels do not remove spells, and they will not ever actually drain a character's level. When a caster takes an amount of damage over 0, there is a chance that the caster's spellcasting for the round will be disrupted. Use the following formula on each ROUND in which the character takes damage. The spell disruption difficulty is defined in this manner: 10 + Spell
Level - Caster Level/2 (round down) - Constitution /2 (round down) -5
Spell disruption roll is defined in this manner: Random 1-20 If spell disruption roll >= spell disruption difficulty, the spell is cast successfully. Otherwise, YOU BLEW IT. Concentration
is what is being checked. The idea is that an 18th level mage is so accustomed
to casting 1st level spells that maintaining concentration over such simple
magic under pressure is not difficult. It all depends on the level of the spell being cast. However, a 1 never fails. If you're a 10th level mage (decent level, but not mind-blowing) you can have 13 ranks in Concentration and a 14 Con for a +15 to your roll. Casting a 1st level spell is automatic. Casting a 9th level spell would happen on a roll of 9 or more -- 55% of the time. Those are pretty good odds. Any character with a score above 0 in Use Magic Device may use the skill. Only thieves and bards are allowed to take points in it. A character with points in Use Magic Device can use Scrolls and Wands that are normally not able to be used by their class. The items show up with a yellow tint that indicates they can only be used via use magic device. When these items are actively used, they trigger the skill resolution. Skill is equal to the character's skill + 5([Charisma/2]-5) Difficulty is equal to the level of the power being activated (specified in the spell/item) * 5. Use_Magic_Device_Difficulty is equal to Skill - Difficulty. Use_Magic_Device_Roll is a random 1-100. If Use_Magic_Device_Roll <= Use_Magic_Device_Difficulty, the spell is cast successfully. If Use_Magic_Device_Roll > Use_Magic_Device_Difficulty, the "charge"/item is used, but instead of its intended effect, the user takes 1d6 points of Magic Damage per level of the power being invoked. Only characters who actually have spent points on it (bards and rogues) can use the skill. It can only be used on wands and scrolls, not any old item. Abjurer:
Transmutation & Illusion |
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