I spent close to an hour trying to figure out controls of this game. Recently I started reading the game-play manual. It mentions turns and speed in combat and how weapons are a factor on that.

Here are the main problems I've been having. I seem to have missed the place that tells me how much magic my spellcasters have. If I hover over my character's portrait, it shows me their remaining HP, but I don't see it anywhere else. I'm not used to having to wait so long to cast spells, and I'm not sure whether I'm waiting to cast or if I'm out of magic.

Is there any easier way to move my party around? I find it very clunky to have to put a square around them all and then click a direction. Moving in and out of buildings is annoying and I sometimes lose a member on one side or the other. I was curious about items and economy. How easy is money to come by? Should I buy equipment more often or rely on loot? Is there an infinite amount of enemies or is it finite?

Anything relating to making the fighting system easier for me would be helpful. My first fight against the wolf that got into an NPC's house took me a long time to win. I had a new party that were all equipped with staffs for whatever reason. I put a shield on my tank, sent him in first to get aggro, then brought everyone else in to cast spells, attack and heal. So many members of the party just froze after their first attack. So I kept having to switch to see who had an attack left. All and all I find it very confusing.

Thanks so much for any help!

If I remember correctly, the = key selects the whole party, which you may find quicker than dragging a box round them to select them all.

Regarding magic - you don't have 'magic points' or anything in D&D. Your casters can only memorise a set number of spells of each level. Once you've used them you need to rest and memorise them again. They don't regenerate automatically.

Thanks very much! I've heard this is a good game but I'm finding it harder to jump into than Divine Divinity:)

Oh, wow, resting after using a spell, where can resting be done? Can I do it in a safer part of a dungeon or do I have to trek all the way out again?

You can try to rest anywhere - but if you're not somewhere safe like an Inn there's a chance you'll get interrupted by wandering monsters.

Thanks so much for the info. This is different from other RPGs I've played. So is it easy to swap weapons mid battle? That's definitely good advice, I might have to reconfigure some things.

Yes, you can simply click on the weapon you want to use if it's displayed in the icon list under the screen. Or you can go into the inventory (pause first!) and switch it there. You can't switch armor while in battle though.

One piece of advice for Icewind Dale (also applies to the Baldur's Gate series) is to always ensure you max out the primary ability score of your characters. So melee fighters should have maxed out strength and constitution, ranged fighters should have maxed out dexterity (or max out all three and use both types of weapons), thieves should have maxed out dexterity, and wizards should have maxed out intelligence.

Wizards are difficult to use at low levels due to their tiny spell capacity, but they grow up :-)

Definitely some good info. I know with some games the primary stats are almost everything besides HP. Now that I think of it, each time I start the game it asks if I want to re-roll. Does that mean I literally recreate my characters and their stats?

Yes, you can replace the characters in your party with new characters if you so desire. However, these new characters begin at the 1st level with no equipment.

Sorry to bother, but I have one more question. The game is documenting how much time I spend. This is fine, most RPGs do, but I just wanted to know if it effects the story. For example, if I spend too much time sleeping at inns and buying items, do I miss out on certain story events?

My bad if its a stupid question. I just want to play the game without having to worry about a clock;)

Oh, and kudos to those of you who said ranged weapons were important. I took out the trolls before they even got to me;)

There is no time limit in the game so rest as much as you want.