starting IWD for first time ever... my party has a ranger (elf, chaotic good) and i dont want to chose bad racial enemy for him so what are your suggestions?

my preference: the racial enemy should be not easy to beat... i dont want to waste it on something which is easy to kill anyway... and racial enemy should appear fairly frequently in the game... i would prefer not undead because i feel killing undead is more paladinish than rangerish...
this is what i think but i want to hear your suggestions

and on a side notice, does iwd have a protagonist character like BG that if he dies the game is over or are all party members equal?

NOTE: I am playing WITHOUT Heart of winter or totlm

[ 10-24-2002, 06:57 AM: Message edited by: ZFR ]

Trolls probably. Yuan-ti maybe, but there rarer late on. Something really tough would be useful, but IWD without HoW dosent include anything really scary. Giant perhaps, but there are none till late on. I would go with trolls all things considered.

Trolls are a good choice. You won't run into any of them until the 3rd chapter (I think). Trolls are always a pain to kill anyway b/c they lay down on the ground and regenerate hit points, then stand up and start fighting again. I chose trolls w/ my Ranger and I would have my entire party fight them until they fell down, then my Ranger would finish them off w/ my other party members would move on to the next target.

vassago, are you implying that racial enemy allows rangers to finsih trolls w/o fire or acid?

In that case its trolls for sure!

no, racial enemy gives a +4 bonus to hit trolls not any special damage, I chose giants, as there are some not too late in the game, and any advantage you can get against them is useful.

<font color = mediumspringgreen>Aaaaacck!!

I just started a ranger last week, and chose cadaverous undead. Am I screwed?

My thinking was close to ZFR's: I wanted racial enemy that was relatively frequently seen and was a real pain in the derriere. Unlike ZFR, I have no qualms about my ranger giving the ginsu treatment to undead. My understanding is that skeletal undead are the most frequently encountered; but they are easy to beat (so far, that is... I am only to the start of 2nd level of Severed Hand). My understanding is that cadaverous undead, on the other hand, though not as frequent as skeletal, are somewhat frequent; and I know from experience that they ALREADY are a real pain.

So, did I choose O.K.?

Oh, ZFR, If you get HoW expansion, you will wonder how you ever did without it, long before you get to the HoW areas. It does wonders for the game.

Party On!</font>

[ 10-24-2002, 10:13 AM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]

I think wrights, zombies, and mummumys, fall in the category of cadaverous undead. Personally I think Skeletal undead would have been preferable just because of frequency, especially at the start when characters are not strong (just my preference). The tougher battles are against cadaverous undead and if you have HOW this type of creature will be much more common in one of the areas.

Besides any type of undead the other choice for me would be Trolls. Yun-ti is a good choice but they are only found in one area.

[ 10-24-2002, 02:29 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

I chose Giants, because I am on HoF mode and I am going to need all the extra damage I can get against them. :eek:

I think cadaverous undead is a good choice - you run into a lot of them along the way.

To answer your other question ZFR, all characters are equal. The game will not stop until all are dead. There is no main character.

Also take NobleNick's advice. If you like the game so far, get HOW. Or at least start looking for it 'cause it's hard to find by itself.

thank you allvery much for the help.....
i think i will chose trolls... but i actuall havent started the game yet... will start it probably on friday... i havent installed it either... well, the thing is trolls arent mentioned in manual as racial enemy... but i suppose its there since many of you mentioned it

i do have How and totlm.... its just that i want to finish the game first without expansoin and then play again with expansion... like i did with baldurs gate 1 and 2...

<font color = mediumspringgreen>ZFR,

If you do, then the game will DEFINITELY have replay value for you!! (But I don't know if it is worth it. It is like beating your face against a brick wall: It feels much better to stop; but it would have felt much, MUCH better to never have started!)

Do you realize that you can play IWD with HoW installed without playing HoW? Then you can play a whole new game including the HoW area. HoW does not affect the IWD storyline. *BUT* ---> The graphics are better. The game controls are better. Game features are better. Yes, gameplay is rebalanced; but you probably won't notice if you don't have a bard or druid (and you DON'T want to play a bard or druid without HoW). And there are, literally, a hundred things that are better about the game (see threads in this forum).

I started playing IWD without HoW, and enjoyed it; but after playing with HoW installed, I can hardly imagine having done without (And I have never yet entered the HoW areas!).

We all get our jollies in different ways; so, *IF* you have a masochistic streak, do as you wish. Just remember, if you end up wanting to kick yourself silly after 2 hours into your first replay: I told you so!!

Party On! </font>