I just beat IWD for the first time!

[Klorox]

Originally posted by SpiritWarrior: quote: Originally posted by Kyrvias: I dub thee, necromancer of the three month old thread

Hehe sorry, I'm not used to seeing 1+ month old threads on the first page. In the first 5 posts. Guess this bored is slow. [/QUOTE]This board is bored.

[Ultra Marine]

Boring ....

[Zaleukos]

Finally finished the game and expansions on Insane together with myg. The extra experience really makes a difference compared to my previous attempts (We've never played that far into the game on normal).

The party consisted of:
Human Paladin Longsword, Axe, Flail, Greatsword
Dwarf Fighter/Cleric Hammer, Flail, Mace, etc
Human Fighter(13)/Cleric 5 stars in Mace, 3 in sling
Elf Fighter/Thief Bow/Longsword/Spear
Human Bard (all weapons, but started with crossbow and shortsword)
Human Fighter(7)/Necromancer 3 stars in crossbow and greatsword

The multis reached about level 22-23, the bard maxed out, and the duals and the paladin reached the high 20s.

We completed IWD before moving to HOW and trials of the luremaster. The paladin and the two clerics acted as tanks, with the dualled cleric turning out to be the most effective defensive tank towards the end of the game (entropy shield!). Some turning points were when the necromancer got access to web, and when the clerics got entropy shield.

In the expansion (we were about level 15 by then) my bard and necromancer became more of direct damage spell casters, with lots of acid storms and death fogs/incendiary clouds between them. Death fog must be one of my favourite spells as it acts both as an immobilizer and a damage dealer.

Some observations:

The necromancer was the most effective killer throughout the game, but mainly picked up after starting to use direct damage spells.

Ranged weapons are really a lot more useful than in Baldurs Gate 2 due to the relative lack of enemies that require magical weapons to hit.

The toughest battles: The ogres in the orc cave (pre-web), Yxunomei, the final battle in vanilla, the accidental summoning of cornugons in trials of the Luremaster, and the Luremaster himself.

The most annoying enemy award is shared between Wailing virgins, those axe-throwing sentries in lower dorns, and beholders. Luckily (and cheesily) beholders stay put in a death fog if they havent seen you for long enough.

The final battle in HOW was way too easy the levels gained by the party after doing the game in this order, but on the other hand the Luremaster would have been way too tough for a lower level party...

It's ridiculous that I had to wait for burial isle for the second fireball scroll. I almost considered dalekeeping this fairly standard spell into the bards inventory. The only other spell I used and couldnt find for both arcane casters was death fog, but it would have been overpowered to have two casters of that...