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Introduction - Video-Based Walkthrough for Tactics4IWD2 by David Milward | Sorcerer's Place
This is not intended as a complete walkthrough of IWD2 with Tactics4IWD2 installed. For anyone who found combat in the vanilla IWD2 too easy, or boring, the mod attempts to add challenge to your combat encounters, but without all the ridiculous cheese associated with Heart of Fury. No super-high-hit-point monsters, no automatic hits against you whenever your opponents so much as think, 'swing', etc. Armor Class actually means something, but without relieving you of your need to be smart about combat, strategically and tactically. This is much more my cup of tea for IWD2.
But a few more comments are in order ...
Other Mods
One thing to keep in mind is that I also have a couple of other mods installed. These are:
Ease of Use – Ease of Use gets certain pains-in-the-arse out of the way, like providing minimal xp for each monster no matter how level-lowel, and allowing infinite stacking. I also used Ease of Use to bring in certain items not available in the vanilla IWD2, or improving others (e.g. The Holy Avenger). This does not disrupt gaming balance in any way, especially with the tougher fights in Tactics. What I didn't include were things like bringing in Heart of Fury items, or improved Druid shape-shifting.
Light of Selune – Another mod that adds a few items. Again, they add a few cool options without being ridiculously overpowered (most of them anyway). One thing I did add with respect to the Druid was the component that improves Druid spells, for one simple reason. The D&D 3.5 ed. rules allow the Druid to use the Stoneskin, Cat's Grace, and Bull's Strength spells. And in my opinion so should have IWD2. I regarded this as a simple point of 'retcon correction.'
In my own experience, installing these mods together leads to an optimum IWD2 experience.
Youtube Videos
This walkthrough is based on my Youtube videos of my game play that I have uploaded, and will be embedded throughout the guide. The walkthrough provides detailed explanations of my decisions and what is going on in the videos.
Using Dalekeeper to Adjust my Stats
Before you cry 'cheater', I'll state my firm opinion that I loathe the add 16 points system in IWD2. Tabletop D&D in any edition allows for die rolls for attributes, and so should computer implementations in my honest opinion. So ... I went ahead and used Dalekeeper 2, but hopefully without going overboard. Enough so that I could honestly think of them as legitimate heroes, not as min/maxed intelligent weaklings or hulking brutes who drool instead of talk. It was more or less what anybody could get with min/maxing, sans 3 Intelligence or Charisma to do it.
Now, for my 'Perfect Party' ... It will resemble my old party in my walkthrough to some degree, but not completely. I've made a few adjustments, firstly, because my understanding and appreciation of the game has evolved over the years, and partly because of perceived necessity on my part in rising to the challenge of Tactics. I rather suspect what I suggest here will still work even if you go with min/maxed characters anyway.
For general advice on planning out an adventuring party, see this link.
For detailed explanations of my characters, they are as follows:
Lord Markus of Helm – An Aasimar Paladin of Helm / Fighter
Stygar Storm Axe – A Shield Dwarf Battleguard of Tempus
Akutagawa – A Human Monk
Alliria – A Half-Elf Druid/Ranger
Tithian – A Drow Wizard/Rogue
Lady Elanna – A Human Sorceress
I’ve submitted past guides to Sorcerer’s Place as Dave Milward. My alias here, however, is Beren. If there’s anything you’d like to share with me, by all means you’re welcome to send me an e-mail to beren
or contact me via PM on the SP message boards. If I find anything particularly helpful and worth mentioning specifically, I’ll give credit where credit is due in updates.
This guide may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of the author and of Sorcerer's Place.
