Playing for first time--tips?

[Micah Foehammer]

No. All of the classes bring something to the table. It's simply a matter of personal preference. Some folks like fighters because of the myriad of feats, others like barbarians because of the rage capabilities.

[Magness]

Micah is correct, all classes bring something to the table. However, your playing style and personal preferences should dictate some of your choices.

Personally, I'm not a fan of bards. I don't *hate* them. Just don't have any love for the class.

On the flip side, I really like rangers. I know that they've been a little nerfed in IWD2, but I play my own little mod for rangers that improves them enough to be more fun. I like having a stealthy ranger in my parties to work side-by-side with my rogue.


When designing a party, I always suggest trying to strike a balance between melee, ranged, and magic power. A well balanced party will be able to meet any challenge successfully.


Timber Loftis, if you add a new character later in the game, the character starts at level 1. This is actually an interesting tactic. For one thing, the inclusion of a low level character in the party lowers the average level of the party and actually increases the amount of XP rewarded. Also, such a low level character will level up incredibly quickly, if you can keep him alive. Furthermore, you *have* to keep the low level character alive to get the benefit of him lowering the average level of the party. At times, this can be quite a challenge.

[Assassin]

I've always liked Rogues myself. They're good for the early game if you use them well, but crap later on because everyone and their mother seems immune to Sneak Attack. You'll most like get up to a 10d6 damage bonus for Sneak Attack later on; That's nothing to sneer at. However, you have to be careful not to use him as a tank. He won't soak up damage, but run around and backstab people.

I've been using a Cleric, Sorcerer, Fighter/Barbarian, and Rogue. Sorcerers, IMO, are better than Mages because of two facts; there aren't that many spell scrolls in the game, and there really aren't that many decent spells per level, so you can easily choose the five best. Dwarven Fighter/Barbarian rocks as a tank/damage dealer, and the Cleric provides some battle support/healing ability.

[General Nosaj]

You can't beat the old trusty single class mage. I've complted BG1, BG2 and IWD/HOW with a mage as leader of my party. Nearly completed IWD2 and again you guessed it with a mage at the helm. Great game as well. Enjoy!

[promethius9594]

To start out my party i built the following:

1) Human Paladin (long swords)
2) Dwarven Fighter (Axes)
3) Half Orc Barbarian (Maces and Long Swords)
4) Half Elf (i think) Cleric (Longbow)
5) Halfling Rogue (crossbow)
6) Human Wizard (crossbow)

NOTES:
1) Paladin now carries two enchanted swords. Cross classed with a ranger combination.
2) Dwarven Fighter Cross Classed with a barbarian.
3) Barbarian Cross Classed with a Fighter for added benefits
4) Cleric Cross Classed with Druid. Summons level three beasts of nature and monsters and better for added HP.
5) Rogue cross classed with ranger. Good for added HP, but rogue can never cast spells, so benefits negated.
6) Wizard Cross Classed with Fighter for added HP. Summons Spider Spawn, strong focus on damaging spells (fire, area of effect attacks)

[SpongeBobTheDestoyer]

I'm also going to be a IWDII newbie and I have a question relating to this first time tips thread...

I don' t have any experience with 3e rules and therefore have no knowledge of the feats and skills system. So my questions are - Are there any must haves? Are there just plain useless ones that I should stay away from?

Another dilema I have for my first run is whether or not to install any mods. Undead Targos sounds nice and I'm not opposed to a few Uber weapons via Bonus Merchants. Any advice for me?

Peace. [img]smile.gif[/img]