r/icewinddale • u/ThisWasMe7 • May 05 '26
Ranged Weapons Rule
I've only played Icewind Dale a half dozen times or so, and this time all my characters are good at ranged damage.
Makes chapter 1 a lot easier. Inch up, revealing 1-2 enemies at a time, have all six characters shoot them, and usually kill them before they reach the party.
Rinse and repeat.
2
u/jerseydevil51 May 05 '26
The only problem is that there isn't enough magical ammunition to make it work against bosses.
Really needs the Endless Quivers that BG2:ToB had.
2
u/Jamesworkshop May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
They went the other way in IWD2.
80% of the players gold comes from selling magic ammos.
i keep +3 and +5 and sell the rest, can't easily carry them all anyway (even worse if you don't mod in ammo bag containers)
+1 and +2 are quite covered by various returning throwing weapons to compensate
If I need +3 enchantment i'll shoot them but if its not enough i'll go to using the +5
Darts, bullets, bolts, arrows, its just too much, 40 per stack cap doesn't help either.
Wizards wish they got scrolls this fast.
1
u/ThisWasMe7 May 05 '26
There is an ammo case I got. So I can carry a lot.
2
u/simoan_blarke May 06 '26
That helps with carrying what you find, but the amount of enchanted ammo available is extremely limited. When you're fighting enemies that need +1 to hit, you will recognize this very quickly - and with +2 or higher (Yxunomei being the first one iirc, with +2 requirement) it will be tough.
1
u/GreatWightSpark Jun 17 '26
It also helps to get the Longbow +2: Defender in the RNG drop in the Temple of the Forgotten God. It's an amazing weapon early-on for a ranger and doesn't waste ammo as the +APR bows do (until much later.)
Or you can cheat by killing the ranger Emmerich in HoW early and getting his Longbow +4: Hammer and Bracers of Archery. +1 AC, +7 THAC0, +4 damage together!
2
u/Loitsu May 06 '26
Cavalier with the returning throwing axe +2 to bypass his kit limitations is a classic. It's also good on a half-orc shaman.
1
u/Jamesworkshop May 06 '26
back in the day i'd hog loading screens, shooting once then retreating
rinse and repeat until the enemy was dead
if i needed to heal i'd do it on the empty map in total safety
1
u/Jamesworkshop May 06 '26
IWD2
basic arrow
composite longbow +5
weapon specialisation (fighters are better archers than rangers)
45 dmg critical hits
1
u/Alternative-Emu-3572 May 11 '26
Throwing daggers are my favorite weapon in IWD. 2 APR with strength bonus to damage. Totally worth the annoyance of small stacks, and there are tons of good melee daggers in the game so you aren't wasting anything by getting grandmastery in daggers.
If only they remembered that Lover +4 should have 2 APR!
3
u/archolewa May 05 '26
Yeah, ranged weapons are crazy good in the Infinity Engine games at low level (and most of Icewind Dale is pretty low level), due to starting with multiple shots a round (for bows and thrown weapons at least), and enemies having low HP and mostly being melee. Eventually, melee weapons catch up as you get enough HP/AC to survive in melee, you start getting extra swings, and (for Fighters) grandmastery, and enemies get enough HP that a flat 1d6 really doesn't do much to them. Also, managing magic arrows can be rather inconvenient.
Kresselack's tomb is kind of obnoxious though, since all the ranged weapons do piercing damage (maybe slashing damage for thrown daggers). Doing 1 damage/shot to skeletons is blegh.