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Please review my party

Discussion in 'Icewind Dale 2' started by barleycorn, Oct 10, 2004.

  1. barleycorn Gems: 1/31
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    Hi, I have just started IW2 - the new races, classes, and multi-classing makes it look like a lot of fun to build a party. In IW1, I went through with a party of 6 and a party of 3. I was amazed how much easier the game was with a party of 3.

    In this game, I am starting with a party of 6, because I have read that a smaller party gets exp point penalties when the party gets strong early.

    1. Human Paladin_3 Sorceror_x
    role: armoured bombardier
    Str 16
    Dex 18
    Con 18
    Int 3
    Wis 3
    Cha 18
    Why - 3 levels of paladin to get saves, remove disease, and have a tank in the early fighting when spell casting is still weak. Human because int is low, so I get added skill points (but maybe Aasimir is better?)

    2. Tiefling Rogue_2 Wizard_x
    role: thief, bombardier, storehouse of knowledge
    Str 16
    Dex 20
    Con 18
    Int 20
    Wis 3
    Cha 1
    Why - Tiefling is great for rogue/wiz with 20's in int and dex, and 2 levels of rogue gets evasion

    3. ShieldDwarf Fighter_4, Silverstar of Seleune_x
    role: buffer, healer, tank
    Str 18
    Dex 16
    Con 20
    Int 3
    Wis 18
    Cha 1
    Why - Seleune for roleplay reasons, and fighter4, since he is one of my main tanks, and can use the extra feats and weapon specialization.

    4. WildElf Monk_x
    role: tank, boss enemy remover, bait
    Str 16
    Dex 20
    Con 18
    Int 1
    Wis 18
    Cha 3
    Why - WildElf over dwarf was a hard one - since I want him to be bait, I thought the extra dex, AC, and reflex saving throws would be worth more than the extra con and HP, but not sure - the +2 bonus to spell effects for dwarfs is worth a lot too...

    5. Human Ranger_1, Monk_1, Druid_x
    role: tank, backup healer and caster
    Str 18
    Dex 16
    Con 18
    Int 3
    Wis 18
    Cha 3
    Why - Ranger for two handed fighting, monk for wis bonus to armour class when not wearing armour or shapeshifted, druid for healing/casting/buffing

    6. Drow Bard_11, Sorceror_19
    role: Communicator, buffer, backup spellcaster and healer
    Str 10
    Dex 18
    Con 10
    Int 18
    Wis 4
    Cha 20
    Why - Drow seems to have the best abilities for bard/sorc. This char will have exp penalty after level 23, but I am not too worried about that now.
     
  2. The Black Raven Gems: 5/31
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    definately make the pally an aasimar

    deep gnomes make the best monks too...
     
  3. Will Gems: 13/31
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    One less pally level.

    Other than that, fackin laverlee.
     
  4. el timtor Gems: 13/31
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    One more vote for an aasimar paladin, but with a twist--Paladin of Helm_x+fighter_4.

    Why? You'll need more than one uber-tank in the later levels, and it's nice to be able to relieve your cleric if he has to do something other than swing an axe during a fight.

    Also, I take it you plan on playing all the way up to HoF (by looking at your drow's levels). If not, keep in mind that with a 6-man party, you'll probably hit lvl 16-18 at the end of the regular game.
     
  5. barleycorn Gems: 1/31
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    Thanks for the quick replies. I actually do have 2 questions. First of all, I don't have any real tanks - that is a (almost) pure fighter type.

    Instead I have a cleric with 4 levels of fighter, a druid with a mixin of ranger and monk, and a pure monk.

    Do I have enough tanking, or do I need to replace someone with a mostly pure tank?

    Also, why is a deep gnome a better monk than shieldDwarf, halfOrc, or wildElf?

    I figure the important abilities for a monk are wis, dex, con, str. With any of dwarf, orc, or elf, I can get to 18 in all 4, or get to 20 in one, 18 in two, and 16 in the last.

    With deep gnome, I can get to 20 in wis and dex, getting 1 extra AC over my wildElf monk, but then I only have 30 points for the other two abilities - 16, 14 or 18, 12. Presuming the important thing is to make sure I survive, I would have to go 18 con and 12 str, leaving my main tank with really low strength.

    Basically, I have 2 less ability points for my important ability scores, and am also penalized ECL3. Is the extra spell resistance of a deep gnome worth all that, when I get nice spell resistance anyway as a monk, and have great saving throws?

    As for HOF, I might play that - depends on how I enjoy the regular game, and then HOF after - but I'll plan for it for now :)
     
  6. Soren Vracian Gems: 2/31
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    ECL's are actually a boon in a lot of ways, as the average party level is calculated with that character's actual level, rather than his ECL, which means the game thinks your monk is 3 levels weaker.
     
  7. Bloodtitan Gems: 8/31
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    also, the special abilities of the deep gnome make it really worth it (mirror image and blur iirc).

    1. paladin/sorcerer: cant give positive advice here as this build is strange to me. i dont see any relation but sharing CHA as prime attribute... a sorcerer has more spells than a plane wizard and thus i always use them for offensive magic and not as a beef-me-up-caster. if you build it just for the paladin-boni, i think you lost some crucial lvls as sorcerer if you plan to play HOF.

    2. thats a good idea. but if you plan to play HOF i think it would be better to only have one rogue lvl. oh and of course this build would be slightly better as drow ... ;)

    3. yep, good one. if you want to play HOF dont forget to skill maximized attacks (and thus pick concentration... which means you have to cross-lvl and not pick 4 fighter lvls from the start).

    4. a deep gnome is better, and i remember why now .. :) he gets +2dex and +2 wis, thus having 1 more ac point and wis is prime attribute for monks.

    5. this one i never tried out but picking human is right here. deep gnome would suffer too much from tripleclassing.

    6. nice one! bard is the way :) . you could dualclass to a wizardclass if you pick male drow without penalty. this would be your second wizard so i'd recommend to pick 2 opposing schools, i dont think you would have too much scroll problems.


    have fun :)
     
  8. Shire Gems: 4/31
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    And again correct me if I'm wrong, but don't deep gnomes get +4 to AC (generic). That's some boost. Not to mention the Mirror Image, Blur ability.

    ---

    Oh and btw did you try solo on IWD? If you think 3 man party is fast...try solo. I recommend gnome fighter/illusionist. Get the Helm of Trusted Defender and once you find Haste (Vale of Shadows) the game becomes much, much faster.
     
  9. Shrikant

    Shrikant Swords! Not words! Veteran

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    1. Human Paladin_3 Sorceror_x
    So you have choosen the immunities over a spell each of L3, L5 and L7. An Aasimar gets +1DC to spells and +1 to saves due to 20Cha. However Human gets 32 extra skill points. Id say stay Human.

    2. Tiefling Rogue_2 Wizard_x
    Make this a male Drow. MR beats minor elemental resistance any time. Plus you are now free to add any other classes if you find the need for mix-in.

    3. ShieldDwarf Fighter_4, Silverstar of Seleune_x
    This could be female Drow. However you will be limited to 16Con.

    4. WildElf Monk_x
    See post in other topic.
    If you want to give him insane AC then give him a single Rouge level so you can use a certain +3(in HoF) generic AC item. Of course this can be delayed till you actually have bought the item.

    5. Human Ranger_1, Monk_1, Druid_x
    Are you sure?

    Drow Bard_11, Sorceror_19
    Make this one Human. Why invite XP penalties when you needn't.
     
  10. Vassago Gems: 5/31
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    I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that you have your WIS set to 3 on some of your characters. This is bad in most cases because your will saves will be low thus making your members easily charmed.

    I would change to Aasimir, raise WIS by reducing your other stats.
    Tiefling is good choice, I might have gone with male Drow. I would also lower STR & CON and raise WIS. Give him small blades and Weapon Finesse.
    Sounds ok to me.
    I would change him/her over to a Deep Gnome, the benefits the deep gnome get are a good fit for Monks. I have one in my party of three and I love sending him into a large frey and then dropping a fireball on him to eliminate his surrounding baddies while he evades the effect.
    Sounds ok to me.
    I'm not a fan of the Bard, but that's just me. I would drop CHA by 6 and add it to WIS. Also, need to pick a different race or you'll face xp penalties.
     
  11. Soren Vracian Gems: 2/31
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    If you're using a Bard/Sorceror, don't drop the CHA, you'll need it for casting levels, as it stands that character's stats are pretty good, of course though, change it to a human. Just make sure you have another character ready to dispell magic on that character if he gets charmed.
     
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