I purchased it because the internet articles I had read about it. They spoke of the linear progression of the game. This reminded me of the old Paper and pencil AD&D "Against the giants"..."decent into the depts"..."Vault of the Drow"... and "Demon web pits" modules and campaign. To my suprise the the story and game play were better then I could have expected. I have had the game over several years now and still play. 6-8 months ago I purchased BGII and was very disapopinted. With IWD you get familiar with a certain way of running battles. BG2 is totlly different. IWD2 will be the next purchase for sure.

I purchased this for 2 reasons. One, because of Baldurs gate. I love that game.

Second, It brings me back to the original D&D games that I played......the Gold Box games. Anyone remember those? Where you actually created, and played your "own " pc's.

I enjoyed the BG first game and got a deal on IWD(nine bucks). I jumped into IWD and got thru quite nicely. The Pause setup on IWD suites me. I can only play about an hour at a whack. I am however, at the end. Behinet is not a nice fellow. Any tips on taking him on. I got about twenty rounds with him. Nothing in the game came even close to this hard. I have to believe that I'm using a totally wrong tactic. Any tips on using Bards? I tried a couple of them in BG and didn't get the hang of them at all.

Welcome to Ironworks Gage Beefenhunter

[img]graemlins/thewave.gif[/img]

I'm sorry that I can not help you with the ending as this is my first time through the game. I'm sure if you search around this forum there will be tips, if not just be patient and someone will help you soon.

A mod may even cut and paste this question of yours into a new topic so people can clearly see the question. that way you will get better and quicker help.

I hope you enjoy your time on Ironworks. :D

<font color = mediumspringgreen>Gage,

End game spoiler, coming...

~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~

Yes, this is a very hard battle; and there are detailed posts on the subject, so search the forum.

The short version of how I did it: Offensive magic is worthless in this fight; so you need a very beefy party of melee types. Have the Bard playing War Chant. Use lots of buffs AFTER the fight starts (because the fight starts with a universal dispell). Know exactly where the dispell traps are and avoid them (the floor pattern will help you). Big B's attacks are predictable. Use this knowledge to avoid getting fried. Divide and conquer: I concentrated all my firepower on one Iron Golem while the weaker members led the other IG and Big B on a wild goose chase. Then take out the other IG. Finally, Haste all your big guns (hopefully you have AT LEAST 3) and gang up on Big B. You need to have lots of firepower for this last part of the battle, since BB's regenerative powers are nothing short of remarkable: Once you've engaged him you need to make it as short a fight as possible. Of course, during all of this, you need to know the approximate timing of BB's IC spell and dance away just before he throws it. Also, to get uninterrupted buffs in, have your spell caster start his spell just as BB's IC spell starts

Bards: IMHO, these guys are great to have along, ONLY if you have HoW installed. If you have HoW AND a party with AT LEAST: 2 Fighters plus 2 members of the set = (Fighter, Paladin, Druid, Ranger); then a Bard will prove to be an awesome support character. Basically, the Bard sings "War Chant of the Sith" virtually non-stop, and takes short breaks only to fire off a spell (typically before battle) and (rarely) sing one of her other songs as special circumstances warrant. She does not EVER use a weapon after she gets War Chant, unless the all the Fighters, etc., who benefit from her song have fallen. The Bardic Horn of Valhalla, available for purchase in Kuldahar, though pricey, is an excellent buy, and is the first major acquisition I would make for the party.

Here is the party I thumped Big B. with, on the 3rd try (first try after I figured out where the dispell traps were). Though there are definitely things I would change; it nicely illustrates the type of party a Bard can turbo-charge, and the type of party that will do well in HoW:

dc Fighter(10)/Druid
dc Fighter(9)/Thief
dc Cleric(12)/Fighter
dc Ranger(10)/Cleric (Ranger level is IIRC)
Half-Elf Bard
mc Gnome Thief/Illusionist

(On the Cleric(12)/Fighter: You might have a problem getting to Fighter(13) and regaining Cleric skills before meeting Big B., if you don't do HoW, first. This is one of the things I would have changed, making my dc Clerics as follows:

dc Cleric(12)/Ranger
dc Fighter(9)/Cleric . )

</font>--------------------<font color = mediumspringgreen>
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!
</font>

[ 02-26-2004, 02:40 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]

Thanks for the Spoiler. I actually have worked all that out(avoiding the traps by memorizing the pattern and taking down the IGs first). Big B is definitely a hand full. I will try that haste thing. Keeping a battle short with him may be another thing.
I actually think I have a good mix for a party.
2 paladins both 10th Lvl
a fighter/thief 9/9
Cleric (dwarf) 10
Mage 10
and my all important Ranger 10th

Thanks again. This Forum rocks. It's my first time doing anything like this(Chat rooms/forums,etc..) This place has a helpful,friendly, informative tone. And figuring out some of the acronyms can be fun too.

Hello Scoo,
Like most of the other people here, I began with Baldur's Gate. I came across a second hand copy of Icewind Dale II in a game store (learned D&D V3 rules the hard way). I liked it so much I bought the original IWD when I got the chance.

Well I bought IWD because I liked the books so darned much. I also liked BG but I got IWD mainly because of the books. Which I happened upon accidently. SO the ending was a surprise because I didn't expect that particular enemy but I really should have...

Mercc

I bought Icewind Dale because of Salvatore's books and a friend was trying to get me interested in RPGs and told me it was pretty cool and mostly hack'n'slash so I wouldn't get all confused with a hefty plot.

It's always felt to me as if there was more 'magic' in IWD than in BG. A combination of Jeremy Soules wonderful Easthaven and Kuldahar scores, some of the best IE artwork ever (better than BG series IMHO) and a very rich storyline was what got me hooked.

Yes, it was slightly linear. But it never claimed to be 100% RPG oriented. There were a few side quests to keep the naysayers happy and I think an intriguing storyline did the rest. After BG I wanted a good hackfest.