ID2 is my third RPG, after having played through BG2 and PTorment. I'm asking you, wise members of this board, to help me create a party and answer a few questions I have about 3E rules. :)

Here's the party I created when I was using someone else's PC during the holidays. I'm open to suggestions to make it better, as I know ID2 is a pretty difficult game. (Race, Class, Stats, Skills, Feats, everything :) ) Restrictions : all members of the party are Humans, Aasimar, Moon Elves, or Half-Elves, and I don't want to drop stats down to 3 (you know what I mean :) ). Also, there HAS to be an Elven Ranger, who will primarily use a bow, and 2 weapons fighting when needed.


1====================
Moon Elf - Ranger
Str 16
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 10

Hide 7(4)
Wild. Lore 5(4)
Ambidexterity (?)
=====================

2====================
Human - Fighter
Str 15
Dex 12
Con 13
Int 11
Wis 11
Cha 14

Diplomacy 4(2)
Intimidate 4(2)
Great Sword
Bow
=====================

3====================
Moon Elf - Monk of the Old Order
Str 12
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 14
Cha 12

Disable Device 2
Hide 4
Open Lock 2
Dodge
=====================

4====================
Aasimar - Morninglord of Lathander
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 10
Wis 18
Cha 12

Concentration 9(4)
Combat Casting
Improved Turning
=====================

5====================
Human - Wizard
Str 8
Dex 14
Con 9
Int 18
Wis 12
Cha 15

Alchemy 8(4)
Concentration 7(4)
Diplomacy 3(1)
Knowledge 8(4)
Search 6(2)
Spellcraft 8(4)
Combat Casting
Dodge
Improved Initiative

Magic Missile
Identify
Shocking Grasp
=====================


Some specific questions:
1-If I understand well, any class can have the hide ability, but only rogues do more damage when attacking in this state, right?

2-Do rangers start with ambidexterity and 2 weapon fighting, or only their equivalent restrictions, and then you can add ambidexterity on top of it?

3-I planned on multiclassing the monk to a rogue, but is it worth it? At what lvl should I switch? (same for any multiclass you suggest)

4-I just realized the fighter doesn't really need to be skilled with a bow, as she will always be at the frontline anyway... right?

5-I have completed the bridge quest (chap1). From what I've seen so far, the member involved in a dialogue you don't start is random, am I right?

EDIT

6-Is "wilderness lore" worth it?

7-What should I get as a third spell for the wizard? Getting near enemies to use shocking grasp is pretty dangerous (very low hp!).

[ December 30, 2003, 03:03: Message edited by: Beren ]

1- Correct, AFAIK. Only Rogues get sneak attack in IWD2.

2- Yes, as long as your Ranger is wearing light or no armor. If you want to wear heavier armor, I believe you have to buy the proficiencies on top of that.

3- I would recommend only multiclasses with similar strengths. A monk needs Dex, Wis, and Str to be effective, and a Rogue Dex and Int. I suppose you could, couldn't hurt to try - just beware that your ability points may be spread a bit too thin to be very effective.

4- Wrong. EVERYBODY should be skilled with at least 1 kind of missile weapon. In the Icewind Dale games, many battles can be won and lost at the end of a bow's range. Two words: spell disruption. Enemy spells are devastating in this game, and if you can neutralize the spellcasters at the outset of a battle, the rest is just gravy. Note that being skilled doesn't mean wasting a feat on 2 stars in a missile weapon (it only gives you +1 attack). Just one star will do. The way weapon slots are set up in the interface makes it super easy to switch back and forth mid-battle.

5- Yes. The character initiating dialogue with you will speak to the first in your party who comes within speaking range. So having a party "spokesman" isn't always effective, because sometimes you have no control over who does the talking. Dialogue options won't effect too much of the game as a whole though.

EDIT]
6- NO. ;) One of the least useful skills in the game. Role play value only, IMO.

7- Swap Identify for Shield, and drop Shocking Grasp and pick up Sleep, Chromatic Orb, Frost Dagger or Burning Hands. The last thing on earth a level 1 mage should be doing is walking anywhere near an enemy. You need ranged magic; you'll find the rest later if you need it.

/EDIT

An aside - unless you're roleplaying, try a little more min/maxing with your stat roles. Your monk needs the highest Wiz, Dex and Str he can get, adn has little use for Int and Cha. You can safely drop them both to 8 or less and distribute points elsewhere. Same applies for all characters. Fighters don't need to be smart to kick ass. They have few very few useful skills to choose from. Leave skills to characters like Rogues and Wizards who use Intelligence for their powers.

edit - spelling. Dammit.

[ December 30, 2003, 00:06: Message edited by: Death Rabbit ]

I agree with Death Rabbit, you should do some more toggling with intelligence and charisma for your fighters. Get only powerful ranged spells for your wizard, and note that enchantment spells (dominate person, chaos, etc.) have an ENORMOUS effect on gameplay. Only impart about 10 ranks to wilderness lore if you want to have an easy time with one of the later parts of the game (only one....). You already have your Monk hiding well, so why your ranger too? And one last thing... Make sure all your frontliners (and also wizards, come to that) have at least 16 in constitution. You'll see how unfair IWD2 is when your party is ripped apart from every side, and HP tends to be more useful than AC, so.... Happy Hunting!

Thanks a lot for your advices!

I assumed ranger would make for the best "sniper" (I used the archer kit in BG2), but isn't fighter a better choice, considering the ability to be even more proficient with bows...?

I'll give you some sound advice.

Change your ranger to this :
moon elf ranger(x)/fighter(4)
str 12
dex 20
con 10
int 12
wis 12
cha 10
Wear light armor so you get the ambidexterity and two handed weapons feat for free. Take the finesse feat so you can use your dexterity , but will limit you to small blades only for that. With the 4 levels of fighter you get a little more feats but can take weapon specialization into crossbows - which do more damage. Since you chose moonelf you will incur a penalty for multi classing.

Change the fighter to this :
aasimar paladin(x)/fighter(4)
str 16
dex 11
con 10
int 14
wis 13
cha 16
Take greatswords or longswords so you can later take the fiendslayer feat. You can upgrade the dex & wis later on , so don't worry about that. She can act as the partyleader -> diplomacy , bluff , intimidate ... .

As for the monk : bah aaaarrrgghh , he is just too weak , take a better race and drop his charisma and intelligence please! Deep gnomes can make very good monks -> read the threads.
(btw take a real thief to do the job)

The cleric more like this :
aasimar morninglord of lathander
str 16
dex 10
con 12
int 12
wis 18
cha 12
Unless you change your mind I would make it a female drow and combine it with 4 levels of fighter.

Finally the wizard:
human wizard
str 10
dex 16
con 14
int 18
wis 14
cha 6
Don't take dodge , impr initiative or shocking grasp -> you'r not into melee (unless you solo). Take combat casting & spell penetration ; magic missile , shield and chromatic orb. You might multiclass into rogue.
Also consider these combo's : male drow wizard / wild elf sorcerer.

Also consider making characters for a specific job and not all-rounders all the time. Roleplay is good but a little more powerplaying could not hurt. Don't stick to those few races either , it's boring! Humans are good if multiclassed , if not take another race.

The only other thing I would have to add to the wise comments above is to consider having a Sorcerer in there somewhere. I think a Sorcerer is pretty much the most useful class there is (even more so if you are going to be taking these characters into Heart of Fury mode later)

I agree with Harbourboy.
Change that wizard into a human wizard(x)/rogue(10) -> supporting role , and take a wild elf sorcerer. Give the sorcerer alot of damaging spells from the evocation school and fire spells. Then give her (greater) spell focus evocation and spirit of flame. She will rock!

1-If I read the descriptions right, only their first attack, too. Sneak attack should work as long as the target isn't attacking the rogue--you don't actually have to hide.

2-You can take those feats later. The ranger substitute for the two feats works only when you have light or no armor. If you take the feats while having light or no armor, they have no effect, but they let you dual wield with medium or heavy armor.

4-All fighting oriented classes start with bow and crossbow proficiency anyway, so you don't have to worry about using any more feats on it. Don't take focus unless you are using it to get fiendslayer or plan to take specialization. Specialization is nice for a sniper, since bow damage is low enough that +2 makes a significant difference, but the two feats and 4 fighter levels is pretty costly.

5-It's not random. For dialogue you don't start, there are three circumstances. One is if someone in the middle of an area will initiate dialogue. This will be with the nearest member, most likely the one who approached first. Two is if you enter a dialogue upon entering an area. This will be with the person with the highest travel speed, using position in the group as a secondary criterion. Three is if your group is forced to walk a little to approach a NPC. In this case, whoever is nearest to the person will talk. This is usually dependent on the position of your members unless you are particularly unlucky and the AI gets your guys stuck.

Some general advice:
Except for very few special circumstances (minimizing to 3, getting to int or dex 13 for feat requirements), don't start with your stats with odd numbers. Hence, shuffle around the stats for your human fighter.

[ December 31, 2003, 00:23: Message edited by: Hojo Jojo ]