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I've missed a week of updates, due to several reasons. So besides going gold the following could be found at the forums:Tex Yang (Bloodlust)Favored enemy bonus
+7 against 1st enemy picked
+6 against 2nd enemy picked
+5 against 3rd enemy picked, etc.
Call Lightning
Call lightning is still the same as it was in IWD1. Outdoors only.
Oh, by the way, just thought I'd say, there are a few enemies who use that spell as well...
Feats
There are 75 feats.
Clerics and undead
Yes, all of them either turn, destroy, or control undead when the ability is used.
You don't have turn undead as an on/off ability anymore. It's now a one-shot type thing, though I'm not positive how the duration is calculated.
Step at level up
1) Choose class
2) Increase ability scores
3) Allocate skills
4) Add feats
5) Gain spells
Race
There's a few instances that the race will make a difference on things, but they won't take effect until later in the game.
Summoned monsters and XP
No summoned monsters or elementals give XP in IWD2.
Wall spells
I believe wall of moonlight and wall of fire were the only two that made it into the game. Personally, I haven't used those too much, as I'm more of a guts-and-glory hack'em to death player, but some of the other guys liked to set those up in narrow passages one after the other, and send over someone to draw the enemy (a rogue with improved evasion was the usual choice - yeah it's a little unreasonable how someone could go through a wall of fire while evading the effects but anyways it's fantasy right? ), and when they walked through the gauntlet, they'd be nice and wore down for the rest of the party to pick them off.
Holy Avenger
There's only one 'holy avenger' (plus it's HoF counterpart), the only other ones that might be considered somewhat in the same category are magical weapons that add a 'holy' type damage, but they're not 'holy-swords' per say.
Josh SawyerDark Moon Monk
In the same way that we justify the existence of the Arcane Brotherhood in IWD2: we never received an advanced copy of the book that defined these orders in greater detail (Lords of Darkness) and no one at WotC commented on their inclusion when we told them about it.
I was pretty cheery when I opened Lords of Darkness and discovered that the founder of the Arcane Brotherhood didn't even arrive in Luskan until the year in which our game takes place. Of course, Heart of Winter had Hosttower wizards running around, too, and that was around 1281. No one commented about that, either.
Take 20
If there are no penalties for failure. You can't use take 20 for finding traps, typically, nor for doing a lot of rogue tasks -- because the results of failure typically result in something bad happening. Opening locks is probably the roguish thing you could use with take 20.
Bards and weapons
Bards do not gain a choice of martial weapons in IWD2; they simply get MW: Large Swords.
Stacking
Penalties always stack, and the only the highest bonus per stat of a given type applies at any given time. Since the vast majority of stat bonuses are of the Enhancement type, and creating different sub-types per bonus would have been a pain, only the highest bonus to any given stat applies at one time. So, casting Bull's Strength on a raging barbarian in IWD2 will not result in cumulative effects. However, the effects do still remain on a character, so casting Bull's Strength on a barbarian immediately before he/she leaves rage would still be beneficial.
9th level spells
You find 9th level spells with enough time before the end of the game that you can make good use of them.
Saving throw and magical resistance
The Spell Focus and Spell Penetration feats genuinely make a significant difference. Saving Throws and Magic Resistance are contested checks -- not just a stand-alone number that the targeted character needs to make.
Spells have a Difficulty Class (DC) that starts at 10. To this are added the level of the spell, the caster's ability score modifier (for wizards, Intelligence, for clerics, Wisdom, etc.), and miscellaneous bonuses (Spell Focus, Dreadmaster bonus to Will-based spells). The target must then roll a d20 and add his or her total saving throw bonus to resist. The base bonus is derived from class levels. Fighters are generally good at resisting physical attacks, but suck against mental attacks, for instance. They add the appropriate ability score modifier to their roll as well (Dex bonus for Reflex, Con for Fortitude, Wisdom for Will). If they meet or exceed the DC of the spell, they save. Otherwise, they lose.
Now, if the caster has Spell Focus or Greater Spell Focus, that's a +2 or +4 to the DCs of all spells they cast from that school. That can definitely make a big difference in the game (and often does).
Spell Resistance is also a contested check. A creature has spell resistance, which the caster tries to overcome with a d20 roll + their caster level. Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus add +2 and +4, respectively. And yes, it is often useful when fighting drow, duergar, or various other bad creatures. However, they're not as useful as the Spell Focus feats, IMO.
Usually, a creature's saving throws follow the type of creature they are. "Class/leveled" monsters like enemy NPCs should be easy to figure out. Barbarian warriors have junky Will saves. Serpent's Fangs assassins have exellent Reflex saves. Sometimes, it won't be so obvious. Like -- what are a feyr's good saves?
Do ALL spellcasting classes get DC bonuses via their primary spellcasting stat?
They certainly do. A while ago, someone doubted the effectiveness of certain enchantment school spells in the game (Charm Person, Hold Person, Confusion, etc.). Here's a screenshot from my first run through the game. The wizard has a 19 Intelligence and Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment.
http://feedback.blackisle.com/images/ss/confusedbarbs.jpg
I encountered packs of these barbarians. They usually contained a dozen barbarian warriors and a barbarian shaman. Every time my wizard cast Confusion, almost all of the barbarian warriors failed their save by a huge margin. I tried just using blasting magic on them, but it was nowhere near as effective.
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Icewind Dale II Forum Update
