I finally have HoW!

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YAY! I am so happy! I thought playing HoW was next to impossible for me, BUT kind and friendly Lynadin just mailed me a HoF CD so I can play THE expansion for HoF!

Now I will have to wait for one more week to go to my home and then I will play HoW!

I am too excited, and can not thank Lynadin well enough. Yet now I have many questions, even before playing the game.

1)I have a last save for my two people party, a cleric14 dualled into mage19 and a fighter 20+. Should I kill the Belhifet again (nah, easy that!)and then my couple will go into HoF? I know you should talk to someone in Kuldahar to start HoF, though...Are my two people party tough enough to play HoF? I had a very easy time completing the normal game.

2)Is HoF difficulty selectable for normal IWD and unselectable for HoW game? I mean, if I want to play HoW areas, will they all be in HoF difficulty?

3)Now that insane difficulty will net DOUBLE XP huh? Yes?

4)OOh what should I do, restart good old IWD with Cool HoF enchantments, maybe play on insane or better, HoF difficulty? Do you reccomend it? I love difficulties, you know. BUT I really really want to see new and cool HoF areas as well!

5)Now I am 'trying' to download ToTLM, I will install it AFTER HoW, yes? Then ToTLM is an entirely different campaign? Oh I am so confused! And excited! (download has gone from %4 to %8 as I am typing these, yay!)

6)I also have two other couples, a Bard+Cleric/Ranger and a C/M multi plus a F/M/T, they just recently managed to beat Dragon's Eye! I really want to play with my Bard and F/M/T, these are so cool and fun! And now Bards will have most spiffy abilities! What should I do?

a)Import my F/M/T to my bard's game and finish the game with them, they ROCK!
b)But I really really want to see new HoF areas, so I should outright start with my Bard+F/M/T 8well they are higher then lvl 10) to HoF for a REAL challenge? Is it doable?

7)Auril's Bane, I can get ToTLM version? Will it cause bugs? Ofcourse I will first play the game withut any mods, but then...

8)Should I get the latest HoF patch hosted in SP here? I think yes!

What do you suggest? I need your ideas. And after I get HoW and hopefully ToTLM, be sure I will have even more questions!

[ February 24, 2006, 20:24: Message edited by: Silverstar ]

 

5 & 8. TotLM is just a dungeon (heh, just a dungeon ) added to the new HoW part of the game. It also includes all prior patches.

2. HoF mode is selectable for all parts of the game once you have HoW installed, IIRC.

 

1. Killing Belhifet does not start a HoW game. But, if you killed him then you have your Final Save. So, start a new HoW-only game (this will be one of the new options in the main menu), and pick the option that allows you to import your Final Save.
HoW is tough, but I imagine a Cleric/Mage is quite powerful, and should be able to make it with a little help from the tank.

2. I think you're mixing up between HoW and HoF. Heart of Winter is the expansion for IWD. Heart of Fury is a game mode, accessible for either normal IWD or HoW, which gives more HP to all creatures (including your summons).

3. Hard nets 150% XP, while Insane nets 200% (ie double) XP. Prepare to be hit very hard if you start a HoF game on Insane

4. Play through a HoW-only game for now, with your old party, then if you still feel the urge start a new IWD game with a different party, and go all the way through the expansions with that new party.

5. Install order: IWD, then HoW, then TotL. TotL also acts as the latest patch, so if you follow this installation you do not need any of the other patches (and make sure you do NOT install any patches after TotL)
TotL is a "mini-expansion" within HoW. Talking to one character within the first HoW area will take you to the TotL areas (from which you cannot return until you complete the TotL quest). It's quite tough, but some bits are quite good IMO.
If you want to install Auril's Bane, then do so last. (so IWD, then HoW, then TotL, then AB TotL version)

6. As I said in #4, play through a HoW-only game with your Cleric/Mage and Fighter first. Then when you're done, continue your game with the Bard. One of the houses in Kuldahar (which was previously locked) is now accessible, and allows you to visit HoW areas while playing the main IWD campaign, so you can take your (relatively) low-level party to HoW for a good challenge.

7. There is a version of Auril's Bane for TotL, which is virtually bug-free as far as I know (I never experienced any weirdness while using it)

8. No you're wrong
Seriously, if you've got TotL, then you do not need (and should not get) any of the patches. Just follow the installation order in #5 and you'll be set.

Have fun!

 

Thanks guys, these really are really fast answers to ease my mind!

Notice:OOH, ToTLM download is %95! I am too excited!

Err, yes I mixed HoF with HoW. I played IWD2 and then HoF of IWD2 so I am used to call it HoF. Not HoW.

So I can play HoW normally OR with HoF mode enabled, for that extra punch yes? And also I can play regulard IWD with HoF enabled, hmm with 100 HP goblins? This sounds soo cool!

ToTLM download is %99!
EDIT:I did it! I have succesfully downloaded ToTLM! Now I will write it onto a CD so I can bring it to my home where my HoW also waits!

(I will now edit the thread to HoW, not HoF, thanks for clearing my confusion, and forgive my ignorance, I AM too excited, that is all!)

 

You can export characters at any time in IWD. Just use your savegames to get 1-6 characters to start HoW with(You can mix them from different saves.).
Many mage scrolls are not available in HoW, so your mages and bards should have learned the spells in the normal game.

If you take a look at the pregenerated characters you'll see how experienced your imported characters should be to start HoW, your cleric14/mage19 is far too powerful (but he might be fun nonetheless ).

If you want to play as intended you can take the characters from one of your 6 person party games and export them from a save just before facing Behilfet or you can just take the pregenerated characters.


I would play the expansions on normal or insane difficulty first, save HoF mode for later games.

 

Actually for you Silverstar you should love HoF mode as it gets you even more than double XP and you wont believe how nasty the critters (and your summuned help) can be! Seriously a normal skeleton is worth something like 1200xp is CRAZY and they really earn that giant leap in xp too with their toughness!

 

Hmm I think my cleric/mage is far too powerful too. I decided to create a new party from scratch, and re-start IWD.

I have IWD patch, Ease of Use, XP cap disabler, and Pseudo 3E mod (though I will uninstall it regardless), will they cause once I install HoW and ToTLM AND Auril's Bane? What say you?

 

If you start a new game anyway, I would recommend a total uninstall, and then install IWD, HOW, TotLM, and any mods last

(- no need for the patch, as TotLM also has the latest patch included )

 

OK thanks Lynadin, I will completely uninstall everything and re-install, this time with HoW and ToTLM. It will be great, hopefully! Thanks again!

 

Be careful with your XPCapdisabler.
The IWDlevel40 pack I downloaded had the BG2 tables which are different, so your paladin, ranger and bard won't be able to cast spells of the highest levels if you install it.
If you want to install it, than take a look at the .2da files before, you might have to edit them manually according to the manual (for the mage spell progression you should read TotL readme file) and invent the changes after level 30 for yourself.

You don't need an XPCap remover, level30 is powerful enough even for soloing HoF mode. At level 30 mages have 6 level 9 spells and priests have 8 level 7 spells.
Fighter thacO progression stops at level 20 anyway and saving throws don't improve after level 17-21.

You are of course free to edit +100 HP, +20 thac0 and +30 spells/day for reaching level31 if you like.

 

OK thanks, I didn'T know that, so I will not get level 40 fix if I don't have to.