Sorry for a newbie ?

[Otto]

Originally posted by Gmmullen: Thanks to all. The armor was the problem with the thief skills. I have the ID spell memorized but it is greyed out right between two other active spells. It also has a number one next to it in the spell box. For Marty here is my party and I chose them without any fore knowledge about the game so they are ones that just struck my fancy at the time. Fighter - Human Fighter/Mage/Thief - Half-elf Fighter/Cleric - Dwarf Cleric - Human Mage - Elf Ranger - Elf Any assistance on making changes would be great.

You have a good party, but I would include a Paladin as my party leader if only to take advantage of the better dialogue options specific to that class. Some of these will lead to extra experience for your party. Also, there's a very good sword that can only be used by paladins.

I personally like physical and highly varied parties with a mix of good and neutral characters (IWD has a lot of race-, class-, & alignment-specific items). Here's my suggestion for a well-rounded party of six... for whatever it's worth...

1) Human Paladin: Party Leader with high CHA and special dialogue options when interacting with NPCs. This guy has good offensive and defensive capabilties: Lay Hands, Turn Undead, Holy Smite, +2 on all saves, very long lasting Prot. from Evil (+2 on AC and Saves). Overall better than a fighter, especially when using the "holy avenger" sword.

2) Half-elf Bard: Every party should have a bard to sing or play instruments during battle. Some of the bard's songs are better than having a cleric for boosting stats and healing. The bard is also very good at picking pockets and can serve as a back-up mage. (Hint: use him for dialogues in Chpt 1).

3) Elf Ranger: Very good fighter/archer with stealth capabilities and some druid spells. Gets an extra attack when not using a shield, +4 to hit & damage against racial enemy, +1 to hit with large or small swords and bows, stealth and druid spells. Give Dex=19 to optimize stealth and missle weapon bonuses.

4) Dwarf Fighter/Cleric: Good tank with healing capabilities and low saves. Not necessarily the "ultimate" fighter/cleric, but a good way to incorporate a dwarf into the party. Fights mostly with maces, hammers & flails. Give CON=19 to optimize HP, and possibly get to regenerate HP later in the

5) Gnome Fighter/Illusionist: A viable specialist mage that can fight and has low saves. The only multiclass in the game that can be a specialist mage (gets 1 extra spell per level). Give INT=19 to optimize spell memorization.

6) Halfling Fighter/Thief: Designated "dungeon rat". Excellent thief with low saves. Place most thieving skill points in find/remove traps and open locks since the ranger can scout and the bard can pick pockets. Give DEX=19 to optimize thief abilities and enable 3E thief rules to allow sneak attacks and evasion. Pick non-good alignment to take advantage of some thief-related alignment-specific weapons.

This is not an "optimal" party in the sense that a power-gamer might enjoy, but all the races are represented, and each more or less according to their traditional roles in D&D fantasy literature (and there are decent IWD portraits for each). Most characters are single class warriors or fighter multi-classes so that there are few "weak links" in the party chain. Most encounters will be physical in nature, so spellcasting and thieving will be ancillary to fighting.

[ 12-02-2004, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: Otto ]

[NobleNick]

Welcome to the IWD forum, Gmmullen!

As has been mentioned, the F/M/T is the only one of your characters that you will probably not be happy with as the game progresses. Other than that, your party looks fine. Everyone has their tweaks that they would make to virtually any party offered up for inspection; and your party is no different. I have lots of ideas; but if I were to allow myself only ONE tweak to your party, it would be to make your F/M/T into a F/T.

It is still not clear to me what your problem with Identify is. IIRC, the buttons that you are talking about are "Spell" and "Scroll." Possible problems (again, IIRC):

1.) You are trying to IDentify (ID) an item that is already identified;
2.) You are trying to ID using ID spell, but your Mage is wearing armor.
3.) You are trying to ID using ID spell, but your Mage has not memorized the ID spell. (To memorize Identify (assuming it is already in your Mage book): Open Mage book. Go to appropriate spell level. LEFT-click on Identify spell on RIGHT page, and verify that it fills an empty box on the LEFT page. Sleep.)
4.) You are trying to ID using ID scroll, but your Mage does not possess the scroll. (Don't ID using a scroll, or the scroll is gone forever! Write the Identify scroll to your Mage book and then memorize it.)
5.) You are trying to ID the item using a character other than a Mage or Bard.

If I understand what you said correctly, you:

1.) Start in the Main screen (that is, the room your party is in fills up the main screen. You are not in the inventory or character attributes screen, etc.)
2.) Your Mage is in possession of the item to be identified.
3.) In the main screen, with your Mage selected, There are boxes on the bottom. When you select the box containing the crescent moon and stars, more boxes appear. One of those boxes is the Identify spell. There is anumber "1" -IN- the Identify spell box. This means that you have "1" instance of the Identify spell memorized and ready for immediate use.
4.) When you go to the inventory screen (Mage still the active character) and RIGHT-click the item, you are given a screen with options "Spell" and "Scroll." Both options are greyed out.

Did I get all that right? If so, then the most likely problem is that you are wearing something that prevents you from selecting the "Spell" option. Get your Mage naked: weapons, armor, rings, boots, everything. Then see if he or she can select the "Spell" option for the item. If you still can't; then the item is either already identified, or you have a bug.

Hope this helps. If not, you might have to recreate your problem in minute detail, keystroke by keystoke, with excellent descriptions of the screens you are in at each step.

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!


[ 12-02-2004, 03:45 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]

[Gmmullen]

Sorry for all the hassle, but ID seems to work now. I took some advise and changed the F/M/T to a M/T and my Ranger to a Paladin. Now hopefully one last question. How can I change the order of the characters without starting over or can it even be done?
Thanks, you have all been kind and gracious in your responses.

[Aerich]

See the row of characters on the right side of your screen (in the game screen)? Just left-click on one, drag, and let it go over another portrait. It swaps them automatically.

Just in case you don't know, you can transfer items between characters in the inventory screen by "dropping" the item on a portrait of another character. I didn't discover that until my second time through the game.

[NobleNick]

See the row of characters on the right side of your screen (in the game screen)? Just left-click on one, drag, and let it go over another portrait. It swaps them automatically.

Gmmullen,

Just remember that the leader of the party stands watch while the party sleeps; and so does not get the benefits of sleep (e.g., regenerated spells and elimination of fatigue). So you will need to rotate leader at many points during the game.

Just in case you don't know, you can transfer items between characters in the inventory screen by "dropping" the item on a portrait of another character. I didn't discover that until my second time through the game.

If they are near each other. Very handy for getting a potion to the right person in the middle of battle.

I think you will enjoy your "improved" party better than the original.

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!

[ZFR]

Originally posted by NobleNick: Just remember that the leader of the party stands watch while the party sleeps; and so does not get the benefits of sleep (e.g., regenerated spells and elimination of fatigue). So you will need to rotate leader at many points during the game

no. this isnt true. All get the benefits of sleep.

Unless I misunderstood you...?

EDIT: changed the icon to the blue winky one.

[ 12-02-2004, 05:53 PM: Message edited by: ZFR ]

[Otto]

I think if you want a mage/thief, it should be a gnome illusionist/thief, since this is the only multi-class that can be a specialist mage (one extra spell/level), and have INT=19.

[Marty4]

Gmmullen,

Just remember that the leader of the party stands watch while the party sleeps; and so does not get the benefits of sleep (e.g., regenerated spells and elimination of fatigue). So you will need to rotate leader at many points during the game.

That can't be right. I had a paladin be the leader through an entire game who always regained his priest spells, pally abilities, and hp every rest. Unless this is some HoW thingy to make the game more challenging, I think you are confused with a different game.

[Aerich]

I think they all sleep. The reason why NobleNick thinks the leader doesn't sleep is because (or so I've heard) there is a bug that sometimes leaves the fatigue icon on the top two characters.

I had a heck of a time once with the Trusted Defender Helm. I had that character leading the way, and she was often fatigued. The catch? Characters wearing the helm (gnomes and halflings) are supposed to be immune from fatigue effects. The effect always remained until I unequipped then re-equipped the Helm.

[Otto]

They all sleep. I thought he was just making a joke...