General Questions

[Oggok]

I am REALLY new to DnD and some things aren't making sense..

Why does Leather Armor have 8 AC for my Dwarven Defender but Splint/Chain has less? That doesn't make sense, what am I missing?

There are items like gems and necklaces that appear to have no value other than to have some lore or maybe a quest tied to it, is it safe to sell these items?

Do Mages get more powerful, having literally one spell per rest is pretty miserable to play with..

After reading a few guides and recommendations I chose a Cleric/Thief and while so far this is fine, I can't find some abilities he has like Move Silently, is that just passive and I don't need to activate it?

Some spells for my Mage are failing to 'scribe', is this normal? Its quite costly when it does as I lose the scroll entirely..

Thanks!

[Zak]

A lower AC is better

[Oggok]

ffs.....

[Zak]

Let me try again:

Look on the inventory screen for a character. There is a shield emblem top right center with a black square in it and a white number in that. The lower that white number is, the better your over-all character armor rating. Watch that number as you equip different armor and weapons.

There is a historian type shopkeeper just inside Kanduhar who will sell back items to you if you need them. Most gems and jewelry are safe to sell.

Mages get much more powerful. Be sure intelligence is high.

Select the thief character, then at the bottom of the screen, there is a box with 4 triangles in it. Hi-light the box with the 4 triangles and the thief is now searching for traps. If the thief finds a trap (will be red hi-lighted) then with the thief selected, hi-light the box at the bottom of the screen that looks like a thiefs mask. the thief now can go next to the trap and disarm it. The thief must be wearing leather armor or lighter to use the thiefs mask icon.

At higher difficulty levels, sometimes spells don't scribe. Pick a lower difficulty level or save before scribing to avoid that if desired.

jhf.....





just have fun

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

The game comes with a huge PDF manual. Just like the Baldur's Gate games.

There's also a wealth of information in the Wiki:
https://icewinddale.fandom.com/wiki/Armor_Class

[Yojo0o]

Seconding D'amarr's mention of the manual. IWD and Baldur's Gate come from an era of games where you really are expected to at least skim the manual, not just dive on in. DnD 2e rules are a bit esoteric, later editions get more streamlined and easier to pick up.

Low AC = good. Get it negative on your warriors.
Random nonmagical gems and necklaces are generally just treasure to be sold. Exceptions are usually obvious.
Mages need to be babysat at early levels, but will dominate the world at later levels. Level 5 is generally seen as the turning point. Early on, don't waste your 1-2 spells per day on attempting to Magic Missile something to death, try utility magic like Sleep instead.
Zak explained the thievery well. Stealth is gonna be unlikely to succeed at early levels.
With scroll scribing, you have several options. Save-scumming is an option, as is hoarding intelligence potions to jam your scribing chance up to 99%. Make sure your mage has maximum intelligence as a baseline.

[Godsarm]

Agree with all of the above...one thing about Cleric/Thief class, there isn't enough room on the tool bar for both Cleric and Thief abilities. As described, the Search for traps button is the one with four triangles...click on that to turn it on and I'd go to game settings and auto-pause on "Trap Found"

The other thief abilities are under the "Special Abilities" button at the end of the tool bar. It's the diamond. Right click and you will see your tile with the Thief Mask icon, that can be used to Pick Pockets (click then click on the target) Open Locks and Disarm Traps. Beware the path finding that may cause a thief to walk over a trap when trying to disarm, give them a clear path to it

[Oggok]

Thanks for all the tips guys, I am progressing on 'Core Rules' and some parts are a struggle, I think some of my party isn't optimized but I am having fun nonetheless. While reading the GameFAQs walkthrough, he mentions using CC a lot. I am totally fine with CC but for instance, if I cast sleep/stinking cloud close to my party, won't they get CCed as well?

Are there good CC spells which are directed at single units? If so, which?

Another clarification, as for scrolls, are all spells learned from scrolls for a Mage? My Cleric seems to just get spells as he levels?

Thanks!

[Oggok]

Also, in the first large dungeon/tomb in the pass as part of the main quest, my tank kept getting a really annoying disease which thankfully I had multiple Mummys Tea which solved that but is there a spell which will cleanse these effects as well? Fights are so hectic that they usually just turn into a brawl with little CC taking place.

Aggro also seems to be very odd, whoever the mob sees first is usually their target from what I am experiencing. Is there a way for my Dwarven Defender to taunt monsters much like MMOs? I find myself reloading any making sure he goes in first in most large encounters so he can take all the damage.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Mages learn from arcane scrolls.

Clerics and Druids learn all divine spells as they level up, but must prepare their priest spell book as to memorize spells before they can cast them.

There is --> https://icewinddale.fandom.com/wiki/Cure_Disease
But you ought to avoid such trouble and disable/eliminate dangerous foes earlier.

There are no aggro mechanics in these games. In many other games they are silly and highly questionable.

Notice that you can adjust the party formation as well as the order of the character portraits at the right side of the screen to decide who will be the party leader.

[Yojo0o]

"Aggro management" is really just about formation in this game. Keep tanks in front and squishies in the back. If a mummy sees your dwarven defender first, they'll likely stick to him forever. This game also has lots of tight hallways to abuse, you can often physically block off a path with your tanks.

Stinking cloud does friendly fire, but sleep doesn't. It won't help you much in the Vale of Shadows unfortunately, as undead are immune.

[malkavius77]

Aggro abilities don't really make sense in an RPG setting anyways. I mean why would anything decide to stop attacking the weak mage? What is the fighter going to do or say? 'I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!' ?

Also enemy aggro can be weird between the BG and IWD games cause sometimes guys will bee line right past my front line and stick to my squishies and chase them for way too long. It's the main reason I don't like dwarven defenders. If a bunch of enemies pass them their stance makes them too slow to do anything. I always have much better experiences with berserkers/barbs/ fighter/cleric/ fighter/mage tanks.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by malkavius77:

Aggro abilities don't really make sense in an RPG setting anyways. I mean why would anything decide to stop attacking the weak mage? What is the fighter going to do or say? 'I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!' ?

You've nailed it.

There are only corner-cases where it might work in the heat of a battle against humanoids. Throwing insults at particularly dumb opponents as to draw their attention. Challenging the pride of over-confident warriors, who cannot refuse the temptation. Feinting an impeding injury, which draws the attention of cowards, who think they can finish off the weakened fighter easily.

However, to make that an ability that can be used against entire groups of opponents and frequently is silly and just as silly as letting a frontline warrior control opponents and bind/lock them in place.

[GetToDeChoppa]

Roll a Blade bard, cast stoneskin, mirror image, and blur and use defensive spin. stand in a doorway. Nothing in Icewind Dale will be able to hit you.