Icewind Dale

[WiseGrimwald]

The Talonite priests held both Grace and Finnan this resulted in their deaths but Picky escaped. She wasn't able to get to their equipment before it disappeared and she didn't have the gold to raise them. The adventure is therefore effectively over. A shame.

 

[JustKneller]

You're having some really bad luck here. I'm not a super talented gamer, but I've run small parties before and, with the fast leveling, I often start steamrolling the game after they get a few levels under their belt. One of my last runs was a party of four (fighter/cleric/bard/thief, I think). I was on autopilot by Dragon's Eye.

What are you thinking for the next party?

 

[WiseGrimwald]

You're having some really bad luck here. I'm not a super talented gamer, but I've run small parties before and, with the fast leveling, I often start steamrolling the game after they get a few levels under their belt. One of my last runs was a party of four (fighter/cleric/bard/thief, I think). I was on autopilot by Dragon's Eye.

What are you thinking for the next party?

Much the same but with an extra fighter. I think that the problem is that I don't know what to expect, so cannot power-game. That is actually making the game more interesting.
In the last game, I could have used web if I had known about the Talonite priests. I didn't even have web memorised! In Baldur's Gate, I always ensure that I have a ring of freedom of action early in the game. There isn't one available in IWD so far, and the cleric can't cast it yet. Perhaps a cleric instead of a fighter/cleric would have been better.
The Fighter/Cleric has pretty good stats apart from his charisma!

Here is the current party. I forgot to take screenshots immediately after party creation, but they aren't much afterwards. I may scrap this game and start another with a pure cleric and see how it goes.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

I may try the above party later, however currently I have decided on this one. However after playing it for a while I discovered that a) There is an extreme shortage of throwing axes which was my choice for ranged weapons, and b) a four party wasn't as good as a party of three. I therefore deemed it better to roll again. The Cleric and illusionist thief are the same, but the paladin has proficiency points in bows rather than hammers. The strength is also slightly higher.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

We have left Easthaven. No major problems so far.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

Another photo in Icewind Dale. It is actually on the Mardi Himal trek that I went on with my wife. She was having problems breathing when we got to this point which is called High Camp for a very good reason!. It snowed overnight whilst we were there. If you go trekking in Nepal, I would reccomend it. It is less crowded than the Annapurna sanctuary.

We got to Kuldahar after clearing the previous area of goblins who hardly hurt us at all.

In the vale of shadows our tactics against the yetis and lesser shades are working well, that is, don't let them get near.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

We stored the yeti pelts, sold the splint mail and replaced it with plate mail. Replenished bullets and arrows, and slept. All unidentified loot was identified after buying an identify scroll. Now have 3gp. We are now returning to the vale of shadows and investigating behind the closed doors. Most of the areas currently investigated; one to go! Usually when we sleep in the vale only one enemy spawns, however on the last occasion 3 yetis spawned. They were all killed so it will give us gold as well as experience.
We won't sell the yeti pelts until we have 16. That will maximise the gold that we get for them. We currently have 9 pelts. We've got to a room where we can't open any doors.

I've forgotten where the relevant key is. It's time for bed and it will be a week before we can progress further. Looking after children during half-term. A different kind of fun!!

 

[WiseGrimwald]

I couldn't find the missing key so restarted and have returned.

This time I used web against Mytos with the result that the battle was easy.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

We have progressed to the Dragon's Eye and are coming up to the place where the party was last wiped out. I am therefore going to bed so that I can approach it with a clear head tomorrow!

 

[JustKneller]

Good luck!

 

[WiseGrimwald]

This time my illusionist/thief located the first priest using stealth, cast web and used fireballs. This did enough damage to make the battle manageable. having healing available from the priestess that we rescued is making the other areas a bit easier though the undead are quite tricky. This is the second time that we have had to flee! A bit too close for comfort. Once those at the entrance had been cleared, summoned skeletons appears to be the way to go as they are immune to cold etc.

 

[JustKneller]

I'm not sure your levels, but I think the cleric's turn undead should be really good crowd control with the undead, even from the start. The last time I played a small party, My cleric was vaporizing undead pretty early in the game. There's a certain fight before long with a necromancer who has an army of undead. I remember having my cleric turn undead, then my mage turned her invisible. She just walked in and exploded the army so all we had to fight was the necromancer. She was single class, though, and I believe yours is a fighter/cleric.

There's one undead you have to be really careful of, though. I can't remember the name of it, but when they die (or perhaps if they get too close to you) they explode with that snowball storm spell. However, a single hit from a ranged attacker should detonate them out of range.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

I'm not sure your levels, but I think the cleric's turn undead should be really good crowd control with the undead, even from the start. The last time I played a small party, My cleric was vaporizing undead pretty early in the game. There's a certain fight before long with a necromancer who has an army of undead. I remember having my cleric turn undead, then my mage turned her invisible. She just walked in and exploded the army so all we had to fight was the necromancer. She was single class, though, and I believe yours is a fighter/cleric.

There's one undead you have to be really careful of, though. I can't remember the name of it, but when they die (or perhaps if they get too close to you) they explode with that snowball storm spell. However, a single hit from a ranged attacker should detonate them out of range.

I've just dealt with the enemies you have just mentioned using different tactics, I sent summoned skeletons to fight the exploding skeletons in melee, meanwhile the party used ranged weapons. When the skeletons exploded, my summoned skeletons were immune to their damage, and my party were far enough away to avoid damage. To deal with the hordes of undead web plus fireballs worked fine, though I first used the surviving summoned skeletons to cause the hordes to gather in one spot. That also worked well.

The ways of killing cats can fill a book!

Now dealing with the ritualists.

I now have a major problem. The archer in the image below is blocking my way out of the summoning room. The only way that I can think of getting past her is to export my paladin and then re-import him. Has anyone got any other ideas?

Even that idea doesn't work. Any imported characters are also blocked by the archer. I have worked out tactics whereby this problem will not reoccur and so I am starting another game, this time with a solo fighter/cleric, the same one that started in this game. I think that I can manage without a thief. It remains to be seen if I can manage without a mage. At least the game will be different. The stats of that fighter/cleric were awesome, unlikely to be bettered without a re-roller or the like IMO.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

Here is my character.

Fighting the orcs I can kill three before resting: rather time-consuming but safe. I was rather disappointed when the first drop was a pair of boots of stealth: completely useless for my character apart from the fact that I could sell them. The shield or the girdle that makes the wearer blessed would have been far more useful. Also a drop of a good quality morning star would have been useful from the goblin marshall. I didn't get it!

EDIT

I have restarted and have the high quality morning star and a ring that looks like and is a ring of protection +1,

 

[JustKneller]

Going without a thief can be tough, especially for IWD. They're such a (somewhat) necessary evil. If it weren't for traps, I'd leave them behind. If summons could set them off, I'd be rocking a cleric and druid.

What about an all cleric small party (blades are overrated, blunts are king)? You can have a vanilla halfling cleric for a tank, a dwarf fighter/cleric for a striker, a gnome cleric/illusionist (necromancy is overrated in IWD) for spellcasting, and a gnome cleric/thief. Keep Con high on everyone for shorty saves and you should be coasting. Perhaps they are all clerics of Tymora.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

Going without a thief can be tough, especially for IWD. They're such a (somewhat) necessary evil. If it weren't for traps, I'd leave them behind. If summons could set them off, I'd be rocking a cleric and druid.

What about an all cleric small party (blades are overrated, blunts are king)? You can have a vanilla halfling cleric for a tank, a dwarf fighter/cleric for a striker, a gnome cleric/illusionist (necromancy is overrated in IWD) for spellcasting, and a gnome cleric/thief. Keep Con high on everyone for shorty saves and you should be coasting. Perhaps they are all clerics of Tymora.

Yes, I'd noticed that summons don't set off traps! What I also noticed is that it is usually possible to go round the traps, so all that you need is detect traps! Clerics have that! That is why I am trying a fighter/cleric. It probably won't work, but in trying it I will learn a lot about the game. The first law of gaming as far as I am concerned is "Enjoy the game!" Winning comes way down on my list of priorities!

I have reached the Kuldahar Pass. Fighter level 3, Cleric Level 4, Gold 1550. Better armour is my first priority upon reaching Kuldahar.

Getting there was more of a problem as I was repeatedly ambushed upon trying to rest. I ended up avoiding conflict as I proceeded.

After sorting out the inn ownership, I became a level 4 fighter.

I then took on yetis. I sometimes took on two at a time, but when faced with three, I fled!

However eventually I defeated the yeti chieftain and was able to return the heirloom to Mirek.

In the first four chambers in the vale of shadows I couldn't get around the traps, but the damage that they did was trivial. All I had to do was heal myself when I left them. About to start the last one. Level 5 Fighter: Level 5 Cleric. I have been using summoned skeletons beyond traps to clear the area before activating it just in case the trap incapacitates me. There was one trap which might have done that but didn't, probably because of shorty resistances.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

Where there was room for manouvre I actually took on five yetis at a time.

The battle against Myrkul's Sending was touch and go. Neither summoned skeletons, nor my sling touched it and it had allies. Eventually the allies were dealt with and I was able to heal myself, but a VERY close battle. Now returning to Kuldahar to offload loot.

I collected a lot of yeti pelts before selling them! After doing so, I now only get 20gp per pelt. Both of my weapons now +1. My charisma of 2 makes buying better equipment impractical. There is an amulet that boosts charisma, but that would cost over 7000gp.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

I couldn't use the ring that Myrkul's Sending was carrying, but by selling it I was able to by the scarab of goodwill, and by using it was able to buy the Clasp of Bron's Cloak.
Not much gold left now though.

I used silence on the skeletal mage which made her susceptible to attack from my skeletons. I grabbed her possessions and fled to store possessions and buy more bullets.

Just wondering if I need to keep the keys after they have been used. I'm currently carrying four which clogs up my inventory.

 

[JustKneller]

Just wondering if I need to keep the keys after they have been used. I'm currently carrying four which clogs up my inventory.

Probably not. I usually sell all keys after I use them to the shopkeeper in SW Kuldahar. They will always be there if you need to buy them back again, and they should only cost a few gold apiece.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

Thanks. I think that I'll do the same. I have been storing stuff in a bookshelf just south of the armoury so that I can sell job lots of small bows +1 and the like when I have a number of them. That bookshelf is getting overfull now!

I've now come across a bug. When I cast glyphs of warding the game crashes!! That is NOT good!

Reverting to buffed skeletons is working. Now returning to Kuldahar to drop off surplus gear.

I found that I couldn't use the wand of armoury so I sold it and bought "for tthe love of Black Bess," a superior mace. It was a toss up between that and a sling that is good against giants. A toss-up between the two as the sling would be good against the ettins.

EDIT

I have finally met up with Kresselack who has asked me to deal with a priestess of Auril. This I will do after depositing and selling loot in Kuldahar. With the loot I bought Giant Killer, which is a nifty sling and a potion of flaming oil which might be effective against the Priestess.

EDIT2

I didn't need it against the Priestess and Kresseleck gave me a couple of swords and some armour. I sold the swords and am wearing the armour.

"Time for bed" said Zebedee. A good place to stop for the night.

So far lack of thieving abilities has been no hardship.