General Tips and Tricks for Icewind Dale 2

Introduction

Icewind Dale 2 is a classical top down RPG which implements elements of D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) which have deep mechanics. Sometimes even if you understand the mechanics, you still feel lost in the game when making your first playthrough. I made a little list with general hints you can follow so your playthrough becomes a bit less extreme difficulty wise.

Tips and Tricks

Save Often

Not only should you save your game after every battle or major dialogue, I also recommend keeping several saved game files for each of your games. This will allow to backtrack several saves if you, for instance, find yourself in an area that is too dificult. I usually have one save game from the beginning of the current chapter, one save game from the beginning of the current area I'm working on, and then one or more in the current area. I often make temporary saves if I want to experiment somewhere but don't want my experiments as part of my main game.

Take out enemies one at a time

A strategy I use for nearly all difficult battles I encounter is to take out the enemies one at a time. As you approach the area where the enemies are, take one step at a time. When a single enemy appears, stop and retreat a little ways. As the enemy approaches, have all your archers fire at it. If it isn't dead by the time it reaches your front character, your front row fighters can finish it off pretty quickly. Once the enemy is dead, take another step forward until the next enemy appears. This way you will take out each of the enemies in the group six-on-one instead of being outnumbered. You can even save between enemies.

Ranged Attacks Rock!

I usually find ranged attacks useless in most RPGs, but in Icewind Dale they are quite powerful. I recommend that you have several characters with some sort of ranged attack available. You can usually take out quite a few of the enemy before they come into melee range. Ranged attacks are also good for disrupting enemy spells. I find some of the more difficult enemies use ranged attacks. Check out my Sorcerer Build if you'd like to go ranged magic!

Collect Fire Weapons

Some enemies in the game can only be killed by fire or acid, so it is a good idea to keep any fire weapons that you find and equip them to finish off these enemies.

Run in Circles

(The classical kiting technique) - Many of the enemies in Icewind Dale are quite persistent. Once they have chosen a target, they usually keep after that person. You can use this to your advantage. Have all your characters attack the enemy except for the person who it is attacking. Have that person run in circles around your party. The enemy will keep trying to attack that character but the rest of your party is in the way, so it will have to circle around to catch that person. While the enemy is chasing the character, it isn't attacking but all but one of your characters are. This stategy is particularly useful against enemies with excellent THACO scores.

Common Mistakes

• Dont try to act too clever - The game follows basic D&D principles. Meaning if you build your characters well and play with your tanks on the frontline and your mages & rangers on the backline, you'll be golden 95% of the time. Planning ahead for certain fights like big bosses can help alot.

• The first playthrough is always hard - You are still learning the game. Sometimes you discover new mechanics or ways of playing half way through. I recommend you still try to continue even if you skilled some party members wrong. Discovering new mechanics is what makes this game interesting. You use what you learned for your 2nd playthrough!