Heya! :D

alright so, i decided to try something very very different from what i am normally used to. I love rpgs but i got into them way later in my life (im 20 i know its not that old but i started into rpgs when i was like...13?) because before i was mainly into shooters. really really heavy into doom and unreal tournament and still am to this day

So anyway to get to the point, i am VERY new to D&D and because i like a lot of strategical combat i decided to try Icewind dale over Baldurs Gate.

As you can imagine i have no idea what the ruleset to D&D 2 is and am mainly just looking for a few pointers from the community ^_^

Best I can suggest is to play and learn. Baldur's Gate is a learning experience with or without knowing DnD, and familiarity with DnD is not a prerequisite to understanding Baldur's Gate or any Infinity Engine game. I had some cursory familiarity of DnD 3.5e prior to my introduction to Baldur's Gate and absolutely no practical experience with the game whatsoever. I did alright. The game's gonna kick your butt anyway whether you've played it before or not. Going in completely ignorant isn't gonna stop you from having a good time.

DnD 2e as it is implemented in Baldur's Gate has a lot of nuances that take some time to figure out. That on its own is pretty satisfying in and of itself. The more you learn the better you'll play and the more fun you'll have.

Besides, all the basics you need to know are written down in the manual.

If you're familiar at all with RPG conventions then you already know what to expect. DnD isn't gonna throw you a curve ball. Heck, DnD practically invented RPG convention. So play around with the different classes. Learn how each works, what's good and bad for each, and any questions you might have are most likely to be found here on these forums if not elsewhere. If you have a specific inquiry, ask :)

And Have Fun.

Couple basic things to remember:

Armor Class (AC) is simply a measure of how difficult it is to hit you. The lower your AC, the better. I know this is unintuitive. Items that give a bonus to AC actually lower it, so that's a good thing.

All classes can use CON, but don't take it higher than 16 on a non-warrior. Non-warrior classes receive no benefit to a CON higher than 16.For melee classes, go with as high a STR as you can roll. 18/76 or higher is a good point to aim for.

Ranged character want DEX, but DEX is also useful for all other character, as it enhances your AC. Pump it as high as you can afford.

For casters, you want high scores in their major attribute (INT for mages, WIS for Druids and Clerics).

Make sure your party is balanced enough to cover all the roles: warrior, caster, healer, and utility (generally speaking, Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Thief).


Just a few things to get you rolling. Other than that, as eVinceW21 said, just roll with it and you'll probably figure it out.

Nothing to add to the previous comment, except to say this: despite what some people say, there is NO strategical combat in Icewind Dale (1 or 2). It is completely linear hack and slash. There is also no tactical fighting: no useful sneaking in IWD. Hitting one enemy brings the entire area down on you, whether they can see you or not; whether they are in earshot of the battle or not. If you want anything resembling strategy or tactics, go for Baldur's Gate.

If this is your first time with IWD or BG, then there will be a learning curve no matter what. When I first played, I ended up starting the game over again several times because of how much I screwed up character creation (that goes for BG and IWD). Another part of these games is finding out which kind of playstyle works for you with the tools you have available. Experiment, experiment, experiment is the order of the day and because experimenting is part of the fun, I don't advise looking at a walkthrough for your first playthrough either.

As for tactics, that all depends on your party setup and how you use each character and their abilities when the hordes of monsters close in. Apart from that, there's not really anything else in terms of tactics in IWD or any IE game for that matter. Once you play around with different character setups, you'll figure it out.

If you find IE games are your cup of tea, BG and Planescape:Torment are also worth a look but they do play quite differently. Planescape:Torment focuses mostly on the story, IWD focuses on the combat and BG tries to strike a balance betwen the two.

There's a little trick to IWD1 character creation: for the most part, an attribute score in the range of 8-14 has neither a penalty or bonus. This means if you aren't going higher than 14, you can usually reduce an attribute score to 8 with no drawbacks (strength for carrying capacity is pretty much the only exception; even then you can always just have your weak wizard carry scrolls and other light objects). This allows you to pump up the attributes that do matter, and maxing them out is almost always preferable.

Pause the game often during combat (and/or use autopause options) to assign commands, it's not an rts or action game, it's an rpg with turn-based tactical combat.


Another short explanation about AD&D rules can be found here if you're interested:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/256221-icewind-dale/faqs/8566