Guide: Getting started

First you must install properly, install in this order:
1. The game
2. Atari patch 2 (it includes patch 1, don't install patch 1; don't install patch 3 either)
3. Co8 patch 3.0.4
4. Liviona's mod (recommended)

When you start a game for the first time you will likely get slaughtered as you learn the ropes. Here is some advice to get you started on a fun filled adventure that does not involve you dying all the time.

Note: You dont have to get all your party members conscious to travel. Just start traveling the world map or go into a building and all your unconscious and dead party members will be taken with you.

To begin with, you should make a balanced party of strong characters. While you might be tempted to make a smaller party then 5 PCs in order to level up faster, keep in mind that there is plenty of XP, and that you just will NOT survive. 4 is possible, 3 is a bad idea.

Now for party composition:

1. Get 1 wizard OR sorcerer. The wizard has the advantage as they can craft many many more magical items then the sorcerer, and the ONLY way to get the really good magical items is to craft them yourself. packing your lead fighter with a magical weapon that has 10 different bonuses and having them wear items that boost their stats by a total of 20 points makes a significant difference. A sorcerer on the other hand is deadlier in combat as they can cast their spells spontanously, and have more spells per day!
Keep in mind that at first this character will be useless in damage dealing and unable to buff. Keep it away from enemies and equip it with a crossbow. It wouldn't do much with the crossbow though. What you need to do is give it spells that will take enemies out but not kill them. Sleep is one of the best in this regard, it can take multiple enemies out of the battle, strong enemies. Instead of struggling to kill that 50HP monster with good armour you just make them sleep and then coup de grace them. This does NOT work on monsters with higher hit dice, most monsters it will affect will NOT have more then 20 HP unless they are very unusual, but I have seen some like that.
2. Get 1 cleric OR druid. The cleric has the advantage: They can turn undead if good (destroy them or make them flee) or rebuke them if evil (control them or make them cower in fear and not defend themselves), and they can heal or harm spontanously (depending if they are good or bad). Both druids and clerics can melee and tank, and they can cast offensive spell and strong buffs, not to mention they can craft items. This character is probably going to be your most valuable character. Evil clerics and druids of any alignment can heal if they prepare the spell.
If you gained control over undead, you can kill them using friendly fire to gain the XP and to get rid of them (since you probably dont want them following you around, and they are way to weak to be any good in battle, so they just get in the way). You can map a key for charge attack (ctrl + key, I use A for this) and then just keep on charging at them with your strongest character. This will initiate and terminate combat after hitting them, and they will not fight back.
3. Get 2 of either fighter, monk, or barbarian... I would recommend not doubling up on those (ie, don't get two monks or two fighters. get one of each), since variety is very useful in this kind of game. You can use one of those two as a second archer, but this will require your cleric or druid to take a more active role on the front lines.
4. Lastly, get 1 rogue and make it into an archer. and max out its abilities to pick traps and locks and spot and listen and whatnot.

You may choose to make any variations to this ofcourse. BUT, keep in mind that the more of the sub optimal choices you make, the less powerful your party becomes overall.


You should probably roll for stats, and roll more then once. You only get 25 points to make your characters which is just not enough.
Put some points into strength for all characters, so that they could carry stuff. Don't skimp on constitution either as it gives you more HP.
Monks, wizards, sorcerers and bards will not wear armour, rogues usually have very high dex (and dex modifier to AC and armour are pretty much used interchangibly, ie, you cant stack them).
The other characters will likely end with very heavy armour. That armor will limit their dex modifer bonus to +1. So dont bother putting more then 13 dex for any of them. 12 dex is fine since dex receives no benefit from odd numbers. (strength however does, as it affects your carrying capacity)
If you are fine with lower numbers, then you might want to tweak the races of your various characters. Dwarfs don't get encumbered untill they are at heavy encumberance, elves get a dex bonus, etc.


After you make your party, you should start the game. DO NOT go into the moat house or emerdy meadows right away. You WILL be slaughtered. First level up abit. Do social quests inside the town, clear the spidres from daikon forest. If you are good, do some charity for XP, if you are bad, get some NPCs to join you, take them out of town, kick them off the group, and then kill them for the XP and loot.

Once you are level 2 you can start traveling about. If you see that a certain section (ie, deeper levels of a dungeon) are too much for you, leave them for later. In emerdy meadows for example there are a TON of weak skeletons to pick off easily... great for a 2nd level party. But there is also a giant and his pet grisley bear. They are tough opponents, but possible to beat, if you are a 4th level party. The rewards are quite good.
The same applies to the moat house. It starts easy and it gets hard.

 

I've never really understood the sorcerer class. Can you elaborate a little? I thought the sorcerer got *fewer* spells per day than the wizard, because they can be any spell he wants...

 

Sorcerors CAN cast more spells per day, but have fewer spells to choose from. A Wizard knows more spells, but can only choose a few to cast every day, and has to prepare them in advance.

 

You got it backwards the Sorcerer class gets on average two more spells than the Wizard at every level, not counting any bonus spells for attributes. The wizard can specialize into a Necromancer for example and reduce this gap to only 1 less spell per level than the Sorcerer. The one thing the Wizard gets over the Sorcerer is he gets higher level spells quicker, for example he’ll be able to cast 4th levels spells 1 level quicker than a Sorcerer does.

In general the Sorcerer gets more spells because he/she is limited in what spells he/she can choose. Whereas the Wizard can cast any spell so he gets less spells per level.

Since I don’t have my books with me I have a feeling I explained this horribly. Someone can expound or you can please ask questions if confused.

Btw, take a wizard. Because of crafting they are a lot better than Sorcerers. If there were no crafting I would take a Sorcerer (like in IWD2).

 

They both have the same slow BAB progression, 1d4 Hit Die, 2 base skill points per level, restrictions on armor/shields, a familiar, Concentration & Spellcraft as class skills, and they work off the same spell lists. But here are the differences:

Wizards have the potential to learn every spell on the Wiz/Sor spell list by reading scrolls. Sorcerers are limited to only casting the few spells they select at each level up.

Wizards must select the exact spells they want available for the day before they rest. Sorcerers can dynamically choose how they want to use their spell slots throughout the day.

In the same way, Wizards must choose how they are going to apply metamagic feats before they rest. Sorcerers may apply metamagic feats spontaneously, but it causes the spell to be at least a full-round action (this makes Quicken Spell useless).

Wizards get higher level spells sooner, but Sorcerers can cast more spells per day. Wizards can somewhat reduce the spell gap by specializing in a school, but then they lose the ability to use spells from one or two prohibited schools.

Wizards get a few bonus feat selections (two by 10th level) that can be used to select magic related feats (crafting, metamagic, etc.) as well as Scribe Scroll for free. Sorcerers get Simple Weapon Proficiency.

Wizards are INT based and generally end up with more skill points. Sorcerers are CHA based and end up with better bonuses to their social skills -- as well as Bluff as a class skill.

 

Ok, I try to make order to this:
Wizard: INTelligence is the main attribute to empower.
It grants several more skill points that may be spent in crossed-class skills (yellow ones), like thumble, spot or listen, all things that may help to avoid attack of opportunities or to avoid of being caught by an ambush.
A wizard has several extra feats, and he may be oriented to be the arcane magical stuff crafter of the party.
A wizard learns spells by scrolls and 2 every new level: this means that you'll be able to know many new spells and you may ready them before venturing in areas. It is very useful if you know that you are going to a ice-covered land, full of creatures that are weak against fire and you fill your slots with firebals.
A wizard doesn't need to spend a whole round while casting a spell that has been modified with metamagic feats, so he can cast one metamagic modified spell and move in the same round.
A wizard has the drawback that he can't cast many spells per day and that you have to find a place for the metamagic modified spells. Explaining it with aan example, if you add to Fireball (III) the Maximized Spells feats, that spell will become a VI level spell and you need to use a VI level slot that instead you may want to use for a teleport or cone of cold spells.
During the creation screen, you may create a specialist wizard, that simply will not learn spells of 2 schools of your choice but will have an extra spell slot for each spell level that he reaches. This one is a choice for expert players.
A must feat for a sorcerer is rapid spells.
Wizard is definitively more tactical than a sorcerer and great choices are elven wizard, since it gets better weapons and may defend itself with rapier or longbow if he ends his spells or a human wizard, since human extra feats and skill points greatly stacks with wizard class bonuses.

Sorcerer:
Sorcerers are assault spellcasters with a lightly better selection of weapons than non-even wizards and many more spells per day. Unfortunately they know many less spells than wizards but they don't have to assign a spell to every single slot, so they are free to choose wich ones they want to use accordingly with the moment.
For example, a sorcerer that has 6 spells "points" for 1st level spells will be able to cast any 1st level spell that he knows for a total number of 6 times (ei: 4 magic missiles and 2 burning hands). Note that an expert sorcerer will automatically use higher level points when he ends lower level points if he is need of lower level spells. Let's say that the sorcerer of above has 5 2nd level spells and he already casted 6 1st level magic missiles. If he want to cast more magic missiles, he will automatically consume 1 2nd level spell point for every magic missile spell that he will cast.
Another great advantage of being a sorcerer is that you don't have to sacrifice ordinary spell slots to make room for metamagic modified spells, you will just find them in the list of the proper spell level, but casting a metamagic feat will take a whole round.
The drawback of being a sorcerer is just that he doesn't have too many skills points and that he knows really few spells, so that an unbalanced choice of spells may make a sorcerer unuseful in particular situations.
Great spells for sorcerers are the ones that may be casted several times. For example, firering is a great spell, but it may be casted only on the sorcerer himself and not on others, so only once for a fight. Stoneskin instead may be casted on all melee fighters, being really useful in the hardest times.
A must feat for a sorcerer is maximized spells.
All classes are good for sorcerers, except dwarves and half-orcs, because they have -2 on Charisma that is the main attribute for sorcerers.

If you use a spellcaster, don't forget to summon your familiar, that will grant you some special bonus. You may dismiss a familiar, so take some time to summon them and see wich ones better fits for your style.
Among the most important spells there a

If you take a spellcaster, you may want to take a look to the following spells:
magic missiles, magic armor, shield, web, haste, fireball, dispell magic, stoneskin, cone of cold, teleport.

Small note about other spellcasters.
A druid has a great balancement of spells and will automatically convert any prepared spell into a summon spell pressing SHIFT in the radial menù, so he doesn't have the need to prepar them. A cleric has special powers granted by his God and will convert spells like above into cure or inflict wounds spells, accordingly with allignment. Clerics has +1 extra domain spell accordingly with their good. Bards are factotum that are in the middle between a sorcerer, a warrior, a thief and a cleric, but they are just good as 5th member and can not in any way replace the role of another member.
I hope that now you made the point.

 

woops...

Asimpskin, we posted in the same moment

 

Dwarfs are good, and so are dominated undead

As it says in the game, Dwarfs don't suffer encumbrance penalties until they are carrying heavy or more loads, so I nearly always choose at least one dwarf in the party to carry the load when the party loots. He/she can still act normally with a medium load, fight normally, etc, and so the loot won't get in the way. At least I hope this is how it works, the game rules suggest this. If Troika have stuffed up on this by not really giving dwarfs any encumbrance advantage then I am doing things wrong.

Also I like clerics who can dominate undead precisely because the undead are not useless. I have seen many an encounter where the skeleton with the scythe or crossbow gets in that critical hit and turns a monster into so much dead meat at a critical moment in a battle. With four or five undead working for the party I have four or five extra fighters who can bring to bear on the enemy four or five extra weapons, four or five extra rolls to-hit, and four or five extra bodies to distract opposing enemies looking for a target. Skeletons with scythes or crossbows or swords are good, as are ghouls, ghasts or lacedons (all paralyse). Even zombies have their advantages (though they cannot move and hit in the same round which is bad) since zombies are sometimes tough to kill. Skeleton gnolls are really good too. I have been in a thick battle, with twenty plus monsters all round trying to wipe out my party and the skeleton gnolls have really served me well: hard to kill and yet drawing fire away from my PCs, and getting good whacks in now and then. Shadows are good too if you can get them because they are almost impossible to damage in a fight, although enemy monsters will keep on whacking at them regardless (much like they keep on whacking at spiritual weapons even though they can not damage these either).

The best to get are, from best to worst: shadows, ghasts, ghouls, lacedons, skeleton gnolls, and, in a pinch skeletons and zombies. Have I left any undead in TOEE out. I have not ever been able to dominate a groaning spirit. Has anyone else ever been able to ? It would be interesting to see what that thing could do as a follower.

 

You've all much improved my knowledge of the sorcerer class, thanks!

IMO, the trade of not being able to learn from scrolls/ no crafting or scribing is not worth it.

Rook, Dwarves don't suffer a medium encumbrance penalty... on the other hand, they only move at 20' instead of 30', encumbered or not, so I'm not sure this is a "bonus". There are bodaks in one of the Nodes, I believe they're undead. And where did you meet a groaning spirit?

 

So what is a ranger good for then? Can they be used as a healer?

 

Temple, level 3. The room with the locked doors, it is the right hand door on the north (top) wall. She's in there with a treasure chest...

 

A ranger is a stealth class. It fights quite well, but mainly it has many class abilities and many skill points, just many more than barbarian or fighter. Actually all useful abilities, like tumble, to avoit attack of opportunities, or survival that allows you to avoid weak monsters wile venturing outside of dungeons. He is the unter and explorer of the party.
He gets free feats for fighting with 2 weapons or with a bow, gaining free multiple attacks.
Sice he is a hunter, he gets a class ability named "favored enemy" that allow you to choose some race of enemies against wich he will have really great bonuses while fighting. There are many abilities that already listed in the game manual, but the role of the ranger is the one of 2nd front line man, together with a barbarian or a fighter, and as intruder, like a thief.
A ranger has the animal companion too, but they are really weaker than the ones for druids, so they are not worthy of.
About spells, rangers have a really limited selection of spells. You may use him as second healer, together with a cleric or a druid, but the problem is that when he is able to cast a cure light wounds, the party just need some much more powerful spell. So it is better to provide him with other nicer spells like barkskin or protection from elements.
When playing a ranger, you may want to play it as pure class or to take some of the following classes:
- 4 fighter levels to get weapon specialization, maybe in short swords or with longbow. Then you use a ranger to fight with 2 shortswords, dealing much more damage.
- 4 thief levels to get uncanny dodge and +2d6 of sneak attacks, that you'll use when you use your ranger to flank another opponent together with another melee fighter of your party: R = ranger, O = enemy orc, F = Fighter: R-O-F
- 2 levels of barbarian for barbaric rage, fast movement and uncanny dodge.
or to give 2 ranger levels to other classes to give the free feat "2 weapon fighting", many skill points and the unique ranger ability to track opponents.
Almost every race is good for ranger for the following reasons:
human: extra feat and skill points, no experience maluses if multiclassing.
half-orc: +2 strenght so that you may customize your ranger to use very powerful comp.longbows or to avoid weapon finesse.
dwarf: several racial skills and feats, ranger "favourited enemy" stacks with the bonuses granted from dwarven racial enemies (see manual)
Elf: +2 on DEX makes your ranger a great archer or a melee fighter that uses weapon finesse and only light weapons
Gnome: gets the malus that he may wear only very little weapons, but may be a decent arcer and ranger "favourited enemy" stacks with the bonuses granted from gnome racial enemies (see manual).
Half elf: nothing special but no maluses
Halfling: puny.

 

From a power-gaming standpoint the Ranger isn't all that useful. The Ranger is kind of a mix of Fighter/Rogue/Druid abilities. It might be a fun mix for those who aren't looking to power-game, but for those looking to make a robust party -- particularly beginners -- it will be best to choose something else.

Almost everything a Ranger offers you can accomplish better with some sort of mix of Fighter/Rogue levels. You have to give up some of the Ranger's mediocre abilities -- spells, animal companion, tracking, and favored enemy -- but you'll get more feats, uncanny dodge, sneak attack, and a far superior skill set.

Fighter/Rogues make better archers, they make better dual-wielders, they make better scouts, and they give you access to skills like Open Lock, Disable Device, Sleight of Hand, Use Magic Device, Tumble and all of the dialogue skills.

 

Sorry, but I don't agree.
Certainly a ranger is not that power, especially considering that he only has a d8 for HPs, but still he may be extremely proficient and offers a balanced sets of skills/class abilities and that could make him a great 5th member of a party of 5.
More, I always found very useful his survival ability and every ranger that I did worked fine with 2 light weapons of the same kind to wich I applied weapon focus, weapon finesse and improved critical, even with a mediocre strength, especially with quick draw.
About favored enemy, I think that it may be very useful if you are smart enough to choose it for really strong enemies, like elemental, goblinoids (like the very strong temple bugbears) or extraplanar creatures, like many demons and devils that there are in the game. I like the idea of having a +4 against them to skill cheks and damage rolls! Almost like having a greater weapon specialization!
More, ranger spells are not unuseful. Maybe they are if you already have a druid in the group, but he may be a nice second healer and he has some nice spells like entangle and barkskin!

 

I find I cannot agree with any of this...

My last game, prior to reinstalling (had some problems...), I had a ranger who was one of the best offensive characters I have seen in the game. Improved two-weapon fighting, great cleaver (Holy thanks to cleric) in each hand, at 11th level had 5 attacks per round! Crit on a 13+ (improved crit Hand axe), and he was a monster!