questions before i start playing

[ZFR]

ok some questions...
i intend to start this game and answering them would help me decide with what to start it


1...
xp cap is 1,801,000.....
how does is work for multi-class? is it that for example a thief/mage can be 1801000thief and 1801000mage or is it didvided between the two like it did in BG1?
how does it work for dual class?

2...
same as above for HoW..... (with XP cap being 30th level and NOT aparticula xperience point value??)

3....
what is the Something of Fury mode (the name escaped my mind and i dont have the manual next to me now)....
what is the 'standard' way of playing, with this option on or off? i mean how do most of you play? is it really difficult to reach 30th leve without it?

4...
are the monk, barbarian classes from BG2 availalable for IWD?

5...
are the various class kits like assassin, kensai, blade from BG2 availabe for IWD?

6...
are the monk, barbarian classes from BG2 availalable for HoW?

7...
are the various class kits like assassin, kensai, blade from BG2 availabe for HoW?

[J'aran]

1. Look up my answer to your question about this in the BG2 forum, it works the same in IWD as in BG1/2.

2. Not sure, I don't have HoW myself.

3. See above, but I do know from the faqs, that Heart of Fury mode is the most difficult setting, and as such not the standard. It's intended for high level parties that are exported and re-imported to replay the game.

4./5./6./7. No. No kits, Barbarians, Monks and Sorcerers in both IWD and HoW.

[Micah Foehammer]

Answers to Questions 1 and 2:

(1) The TOTAL xp of all classes in IWD can not exceed 1.8 million. Multi-class characters will have their xp split evenly between classes as they level up. e.g a multi-class fighter/thief would have 900,000 xp for his fighter class and 900,000 in his thief class.

(2) In HOW things are different - each CLASS for a multi class character is capped at 30th level. So its possible to finish the game with a multi-class fighter/mage/thief at 30/30/30.

Just an aside, if you are playing on normal difficulty in IWD only, it is unlikely that you will actually reach the experience cap with a full party of six even if you complete all of the quests successfully. (unless of course you spend a lot of time traversing monster respawning areas). A more reasonable expectation is somewhere around 1.2 million.

[zakharak]

ZFR,
From what i have read here a lot, even though i don't play HOW myself is as follows:

1. High experience levels can be reached by turning Heart of Fury mode on, which makes monsters really powerfull, but 4x as much experience is yeilded, (+ 2000 base? i believe too).

2. I don't know how close to the finish i am, but somewhere half way maybe (IWD only), and i am at level 10 - 11, and i don't expect to get past 18 on my way through.

3. The monk is not available in IWD, but i read a rumor that it is available in IWD 2 which comes out this spring. Once you get yourself addicted to IWD, you will have so many expectations from IWD 2! (barbarian?? i don't know).

quote:

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Micah Foehammer said: unless of course you spend a lot of time traversing monster respawning areas

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Micah: i have not found any respawn areas yet, are they really late in the game? every area i have been to i have depleted all the enemy to the bone. see you

Hope this gets your feet a little wet!!

[Micah Foehammer]

Zak,

I'm not sure exactly where in the game you are but "halfway" would put you short of the area I am thinking of. AFAIK, this particular area is the only one where monsters respawn every time you enter.

You can always try to rest in other areas and have monsters awaken you, but that doesn't always work.

[ZFR]

quote:

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Originally posted by Micah Foehammer:


Just an aside, if you are playing on normal difficulty in IWD only, it is unlikely that you will actually reach the experience cap with a full party of six even if you complete all of the quests successfully.

---

ok.. but you mean that the heart of fury mode is also aailable in IWD only WITHOUT HoW?????
if not that what you mean by 'normal difficulty'?? is there any other difficulty??

also, for a person who finished Baldurs gate 1 and 2 and ToB, will the harder difficulties be too difficult?? ie, should i start playing with Heart of fury mode immediately (I really want to reach highest levels)??

and can Heart of fury mode be switched on/ofgf during the game, or once started you have to continue that way??

[ 03-03-2002: Message edited by: ZFR ]

[ 03-03-2002: Message edited by: ZFR ]

[Micah Foehammer]

Sorry for the confusion. With IWD, you can still modify the difficulty settings between "easy" and "insane", but Heart of Fury mode is ONLY available with HOW installed.

[Micah Foehammer]

As for the rest of your questions:

Heart of Fury mode can be toggled on and off during the game.

If you are playing with a full party of six, it is almost impossible to reach 30th level in any class in IWD alone WITHOUT Heart of Fury mode enabled. A solo character might be able to do it.

Figure it this way - on normal (default) difficulty, a full party of six will reach about 1.2 million xp each playing the entirety of IWD. That would translate to 7.2 million for a SOLO character, which is enough to reach (and surpass)30th level for all single classes except a wizard. On HOF mode, the 1.2 million xp will be roughly 3 to 4 times (more or less) which will get an entire party to 3.6 to 4.8 million each, which will max a thief, but nothing else within the IWD sections. However with the added monster xp from the HOW sections, you should be able to make the entire party.

With TOL added in, you will certainly max out an entire party of single class characters. Multi-class characters are a different story, but I took a party of four (all multi-classed) all the way thru IWD, HOW and TOL on HOF mode. Three of them ended as 30/30 and the fourth (a fighter/mage/thief) almost made 30/30/30 - actually ended as 30/23/30.

If you want some more details, send me a PM. [img]smile.gif[/img]