I know this is old but I just wanted to leave this here for anyone who comes across it. Dexterity directly affects Armour class. The more Dex the harder you are to hit. You want to max your dexterity on all party members if possible.
I make sure my front line characters have at least one point in some sort of bludgeoning weapon. The skeletons in Shadowvale are weak, but dangerous if you only have edged weapons or a non-proficiency penalty with bludgeoning weapons (which already have the disadvantage of being SLOOOOOW)
Icewind Dale uses the AD&D Second Edition rules which is notoriously complex compared to later rule sets making a few mechanical problems with your stat builds: There is no reason to increase Int for Paladin beyond minimum but for the optimal paladin build you need to make Wis and Cha 18 for two reasons: Paladin special abilities are calculated using Cha bonus but when they get access to priest spells @ 9th level I believe their Wis bonus will allow extra spells per day same as a cleric. It is kind of pointless to have a character with both large sword and great sword specialization since large swords will be used with shields and great swords means no shield...so I think it is best to choose a one handed weapon like large swords and another one handed weapon of a different damage type to use with a shield or if you choose two handed then you get great sword and another two handed weapon of a different damage type like a bow. For Ranger Wis is important (Int and Cha are not)-for the bonus druid spells in the late game but should not be more than 17 since Rangers only have 3 druid spell levels but the extra Wis means more spells per day. The Ranger is often considered the best class for dual wielding but the Ranger actually is better as an Archer with 2 dots in bows and 2 dots in great swords or halberd if the enemies close distance IMHO. Dwarf Fighter: Wis will improve saves against magic for everyone but Int has no benefit at all for a fighter. I think it is best to have all melee roles with one handed + shield but if you decide to have someone using two handed then it should be the hearty dwarf with +5 hp-who also gets a +4 racial AC bonus when fighting large creatures; also consider proficiency in a ranged weapon. The thief should actually go ranged-Str is negligible since they can get more attacks with higher attack bonus using bows and sneak attack works with them. There is no reason to make Con for non-fighter classes above 16 because only warrior classes get more than +2 hp bonus for exceptional Con...but making Wis higher will help saving throws. I don't think Cha helps thieves in this game but Int might modify trap detection...so I would probably drop strength to 10 or 12 and Con 16 & raise Int and Wis with leftover points. Elf thief should get bow and large swords because of racial bonuses with these types of weapons. Cleric only needs 16 Con for best possible HP but they've no use for Int at all in this game, 18 Wis for max casting and high Str and Dex for melee damage and AC bonus. Mace or Flail a good weapons of choice but the other should be missile weapons for sling. Mage should have 18 Dex for more AC (since he's got no armor) and will net +4 to hit with missile weapons making him not as useless in combat until he gets his spells popping-he does not need Wis or Cha but a little bit of Str is good on all characters just to help with encumbrance. It is really good to have everyone with some form of ranged proficiency.
Nice video. I've never played any of these types of games before but just recently bought BG 1 & 2, Planescape Torment, and Icewind Dale enhanced editions on ps4. I'm excited to get into them. Just not sure how to start as there are so many choices.
you can try with bg1, you only need to create one character. generally the strongest protagonist would be human berserker that you dual into a mage once you reach bg2, either on levels 9, 12, or 13. 9 is probably the most common. 12 if you want one extra weapon proficiency before dualing, 13 gets you one extra berserking but its pointless, you are better off to just sleep and refresh spells for entire party instead of berserking for the fourth time. also bg have fun interactions with npcs, icewind dale is mostly oriented on tactical encounters, and has much less banter if any.
@@maomaeramnon3870 he want so be handsome. what? :) yeah, the party is silly, and all are going into melee from level 1, no skill points in ranged weapons. Lets hope they dont run into a gibberling, could be a party wipe.
this game rewards party balance more than Baldurs Gate or Planescape Torment. First couple times I tired weird parties, like all clerics and all barbarians. They do fine in the first chapter, then the game gets tough and you get killed.
This party is waaaay toooo heavy going forward, it has nothing in the way of any missile weaponry except for the mage. Missile weapons like the sling, Bow or crossbow provide distance support and can pepper the enemy with missiles before your fighters close the gap. Your paladin is fine in the way of weaponry, but the ranger is not. I would of given that char Bows and a 2H weapon. The dwarf is also fine, But the thief is no way a fighter, that char should be kept out of the way from H2H combat and should be given 1 melee weapon along with a Bow. As should the cleric who is also a poor front-liner she should be also given 1 melee weapon and a sling. What this means is you will have 3 front heavy guys and 3 support. Now this game is very unforgiving because there is a lot of melee combat during the course of the game, but if 5 of yr party is all melee weapons they will just get in the way of each other. I disagree with this guy's choice, BUT it is his to advise others into following his method. Never underestimate the power of missile weapons, especially in choke-point areas. This guy like many others who i have watched seem to disregard missile weapons and as a result, their game play with a heavy party tends to go against them. If i have seen this once i have seen this a hundred times. And many of these lets plays tend to lead into trouble. Now IF there was a system in the game where you could RUN yr fighters towards the enemy like in Planescape Torment then this heavy party to a degree wouldn't be too bad....though i still would keep the thief near the back....because they could close the enemy far quicker. So, remember, 3 front-liners and 3 rear-guard is all you need. I have completed with this method in Icewind Dale well over half-dozen times and it works for me. One of my many successes in this game was with a little....in height.... party. I had leading the party a Dwarven male fighter, a Female Dwarven Barbarian, a male Dwarven Beserker, a male Dwarven Fighter/cleric, a Dwarven Fighter/thief and a Gnome Cleric/Illusionist. But like i said above, i had 3 in the front line and 3 in rear-guard or in support. I carved my way through this game like a hot knife through butter. ....It works....
Ah really? I didn't notice that, when I was younger and didn't really know how to play I would use that as an exploit to infinite flaming oil - hated trolls.
Haha yeah I used to start the game get fully kitted and keep going to the western church in East haven and kill the priest guy he had a awesome hammer, export start again. I guess they realised it allowed a work around and removed it in the enhanced steam version. Annoying tho revives are pricey XD
(iwd EE) as a fairly good bg2 player, the LAST thing you wanna do is having a 6 man party. the exp gets divided between your characters. I got through bg2 with a fighter, a cleric, a mage, and a blackguard. bear in mind that in bg2 you start at a higher level so leveling up is a rare occasion. as for iwd, i made a berzerker, a priest of that battle god, and a mage/thief. that is plenty. :)
it WORKED ... but now the only available game I had was on a friends laptop and that is now DEAD ... soooooo I must PAY for the game .... I should start a "Go Fund Me" page for a LESS then $20 game ... LOL
I would have preferred a single main character who meets other people along the way. They would be presented with a script and dialogue, and make the game more "immersive" that way. It would also introduce limitations to work around. If I can make 6 people any way I want, nothing prevents me from min-maxing and playing the same set of best people every time. In the first game archers and bards are very powerful, and they are not represented in your game. I got an impression that let's players don't want to use archers because of their overwhelming advantage and "cheese", or maybe they don't want to micromanage plus arrows. There is a lot of running around and swordsmen can't get close to land a hit. Cheating to gain a couple hundred gold at the start? That's weak. A lawful thief?
I mean theres nothing in bg1 or 2 that prevents you from creating 6 players and creating the most op party ever. however i will agree some playable npcs in icewindale would be cool for sure. and the story of bg vs icewind is a landslide in bgs favor. atleast so far im just getting to dorns keep. played it many times but it always kciked my ass lol.
I know this is old but I just wanted to leave this here for anyone who comes across it. Dexterity directly affects Armour class. The more Dex the harder you are to hit. You want to max your dexterity on all party members if possible.
I make sure my front line characters have at least one point in some sort of bludgeoning weapon. The skeletons in Shadowvale are weak, but dangerous if you only have edged weapons or a non-proficiency penalty with bludgeoning weapons (which already have the disadvantage of being SLOOOOOW)
My party consists of a Paladin (Cavalier kit), a fighter, a cleric, a wizard (not specialized), a fighter-thief, and a fighter-druid.
Icewind Dale uses the AD&D Second Edition rules which is notoriously complex compared to later rule sets making a few mechanical problems with your stat builds:
There is no reason to increase Int for Paladin beyond minimum but for the optimal paladin build you need to make Wis and Cha 18 for two reasons: Paladin special abilities are calculated using Cha bonus but when they get access to priest spells @ 9th level I believe their Wis bonus will allow extra spells per day same as a cleric. It is kind of pointless to have a character with both large sword and great sword specialization since large swords will be used with shields and great swords means no shield...so I think it is best to choose a one handed weapon like large swords and another one handed weapon of a different damage type to use with a shield or if you choose two handed then you get great sword and another two handed weapon of a different damage type like a bow.
For Ranger Wis is important (Int and Cha are not)-for the bonus druid spells in the late game but should not be more than 17 since Rangers only have 3 druid spell levels but the extra Wis means more spells per day. The Ranger is often considered the best class for dual wielding but the Ranger actually is better as an Archer with 2 dots in bows and 2 dots in great swords or halberd if the enemies close distance IMHO.
Dwarf Fighter: Wis will improve saves against magic for everyone but Int has no benefit at all for a fighter. I think it is best to have all melee roles with one handed + shield but if you decide to have someone using two handed then it should be the hearty dwarf with +5 hp-who also gets a +4 racial AC bonus when fighting large creatures; also consider proficiency in a ranged weapon.
The thief should actually go ranged-Str is negligible since they can get more attacks with higher attack bonus using bows and sneak attack works with them. There is no reason to make Con for non-fighter classes above 16 because only warrior classes get more than +2 hp bonus for exceptional Con...but making Wis higher will help saving throws. I don't think Cha helps thieves in this game but Int might modify trap detection...so I would probably drop strength to 10 or 12 and Con 16 & raise Int and Wis with leftover points. Elf thief should get bow and large swords because of racial bonuses with these types of weapons.
Cleric only needs 16 Con for best possible HP but they've no use for Int at all in this game, 18 Wis for max casting and high Str and Dex for melee damage and AC bonus. Mace or Flail a good weapons of choice but the other should be missile weapons for sling.
Mage should have 18 Dex for more AC (since he's got no armor) and will net +4 to hit with missile weapons making him not as useless in combat until he gets his spells popping-he does not need Wis or Cha but a little bit of Str is good on all characters just to help with encumbrance.
It is really good to have everyone with some form of ranged proficiency.
Sneak attacks work with ranged?!!
I agree with you on almost every point but:
Clerics actually need Int to be able to cast spells from scrolls.
rangers and paladins don't get extra spells from wis and don't have minimum wis requiremens for casting them, i.e. wis is completely useless to them.
@@Urza26 No it doesnt.
What is Reroll? How does it work?
Like for great music choice
Nice video. I've never played any of these types of games before but just recently bought BG 1 & 2, Planescape Torment, and Icewind Dale enhanced editions on ps4. I'm excited to get into them. Just not sure how to start as there are so many choices.
you can try with bg1, you only need to create one character. generally the strongest protagonist would be human berserker that you dual into a mage once you reach bg2, either on levels 9, 12, or 13. 9 is probably the most common. 12 if you want one extra weapon proficiency before dualing, 13 gets you one extra berserking but its pointless, you are better off to just sleep and refresh spells for entire party instead of berserking for the fourth time.
also bg have fun interactions with npcs, icewind dale is mostly oriented on tactical encounters, and has much less banter if any.
Poor mage, I can't believe you called him Cyrax 😭😭😭
You got all the rolls you needed for all 6 characters in 10 minutes? I can't believe it lol I've spent like 25 minutes on one char in BG2
A little late but: I mean he goes 17/15/16 on str/dex/con on his paladin but goes 18 charisma..
@@maomaeramnon3870 he want so be handsome. what? :)
yeah, the party is silly, and all are going into melee from level 1, no skill points in ranged weapons. Lets hope they dont run into a gibberling, could be a party wipe.
this game rewards party balance more than Baldurs Gate or Planescape Torment.
First couple times I tired weird parties, like all clerics and all barbarians. They do fine in the first chapter, then the game gets tough and you get killed.
This party is waaaay toooo heavy going forward, it has nothing in the way of any missile weaponry except for the mage. Missile weapons like the sling, Bow or crossbow provide distance support and can pepper the enemy with missiles before your fighters close the gap.
Your paladin is fine in the way of weaponry, but the ranger is not. I would of given that char Bows and a 2H weapon.
The dwarf is also fine, But the thief is no way a fighter, that char should be kept out of the way from H2H combat and should be given 1 melee weapon along with a Bow. As should the cleric who is also a poor front-liner she should be also given 1 melee weapon and a sling. What this means is you will have 3 front heavy guys and 3 support.
Now this game is very unforgiving because there is a lot of melee combat during the course of the game, but if 5 of yr party is all melee weapons they will just get in the way of each other.
I disagree with this guy's choice, BUT it is his to advise others into following his method.
Never underestimate the power of missile weapons, especially in choke-point areas. This guy like many others who i have watched seem to disregard missile weapons and as a result, their game play with a heavy party tends to go against them. If i have seen this once i have seen this a hundred times. And many of these lets plays tend to lead into trouble.
Now IF there was a system in the game where you could RUN yr fighters towards the enemy like in Planescape Torment then this heavy party to a degree wouldn't be too bad....though i still would keep the thief near the back....because they could close the enemy far quicker.
So, remember, 3 front-liners and 3 rear-guard is all you need. I have completed with this method in Icewind Dale well over half-dozen times and it works for me.
One of my many successes in this game was with a little....in height.... party. I had leading the party a Dwarven male fighter, a Female Dwarven Barbarian, a male Dwarven Beserker, a male Dwarven Fighter/cleric, a Dwarven Fighter/thief and a Gnome Cleric/Illusionist. But like i said above, i had 3 in the front line and 3 in rear-guard or in support. I carved my way through this game like a hot knife through butter. ....It works....
Enhanced edition on steam got rid of the import/export :( makes not dying all the more important
Ah really? I didn't notice that, when I was younger and didn't really know how to play I would use that as an exploit to infinite flaming oil - hated trolls.
Haha yeah I used to start the game get fully kitted and keep going to the western church in East haven and kill the priest guy he had a awesome hammer, export start again. I guess they realised it allowed a work around and removed it in the enhanced steam version. Annoying tho revives are pricey XD
Frostykilz ha exactly what I would do, ah well I guess playing properly isn't too much of a sacrifice.
Uhm..you sure? I just launched the enhanced edition and it does have the import-export feature...
thanks mate, about to dive back into this classic but couldn't remember this shit and didn't want to brick my save file.
very helpful!
(iwd EE) as a fairly good bg2 player, the LAST thing you wanna do is having a 6 man party. the exp gets divided between your characters. I got through bg2 with a fighter, a cleric, a mage, and a blackguard. bear in mind that in bg2 you start at a higher level so leveling up is a rare occasion.
as for iwd, i made a berzerker, a priest of that battle god, and a mage/thief. that is plenty. :)
does this "Trick" work in Icewind Dale II? ... I'll test it with my party i named "Test" ...lol
Dosily Smith glad im not the only one with test partys
it WORKED ...
but now the only available game I had was on a friends laptop and that is now DEAD ... soooooo I must PAY for the game ....
I should start a "Go Fund Me" page for a LESS then $20 game ... LOL
I would have preferred a single main character who meets other people along the way. They would be presented with a script and dialogue, and make the game more "immersive" that way. It would also introduce limitations to work around. If I can make 6 people any way I want, nothing prevents me from min-maxing and playing the same set of best people every time.
In the first game archers and bards are very powerful, and they are not represented in your game. I got an impression that let's players don't want to use archers because of their overwhelming advantage and "cheese", or maybe they don't want to micromanage plus arrows. There is a lot of running around and swordsmen can't get close to land a hit.
Cheating to gain a couple hundred gold at the start? That's weak. A lawful thief?
I mean theres nothing in bg1 or 2 that prevents you from creating 6 players and creating the most op party ever. however i will agree some playable npcs in icewindale would be cool for sure. and the story of bg vs icewind is a landslide in bgs favor. atleast so far im just getting to dorns keep. played it many times but it always kciked my ass lol.
Not sure why this popped up in my recommended in 2021 but OK!?
Too many bard good magic items in the game. Plus regeneration song at 11th level. 2 HP every five rounds I believe.
There's no reason not to make every char a multi or dual class. loads of xp in icewind dale.
this is terrible advice dont take it
No Bard
Noob lol
Wow that was an annoying noise for an intro lol
if your mage takes an arrow in the ass. lmao!