Greetings.

We are going to start a 2P co-op game of IWD1:EE and we would like to play only one character per player.

Is this doable or too difficult? Are there other problems with this approach? Which class combination would you suggest?

Thanks
V4V

While I haven't played EE, based on my experience with the original I'd say the game is perfectly doable with only two characters. While class combinations you wish to use depends on your preference. Personally I'd go for a multi-class FIghter/Mage/Thief and a dual-class Fighter/Cleric since it gets you a bit of everything.

I'd try fighter/mage/thief and ranger/cleric multiclass. Thieving skills will allow to handle annoying traps and you get access to mage and cleric and a little druid spellcasting.

My preference would be Fighter/Thief and Cleric/Mage, mostly because I don't like triple class characters, and you get access to everything you need.

Thanks for the many answers. Alas, at least I never liked the triple-classing of AD&D, especially since it was (is?) restricted to elves, and thus led to elf inflation in most groups. It always struck me as min-maxing.

So I think we'd prefer single or dual classes at most. And, since the EE has all those nice new class sets that can't multiclass, could you give us some general guidelines what kind of such characters are preferable or maybe even necessary? Are there (types of) classes to avoid in a duo playthrough? (As far as you can tell us without significant spoiling. :) )

We're not afraid to go through a little pain for the distinctiveness of our characters, we just want to avoid getting stuck mid-game because we don't have the diverse group of six the game was made for.

Preferable is what you enjoy playing the most. I cannot overstate that. Do not play something just because another person says it's a must -- it is not. Nothing is absolutely necessary. Some classes will make life easy in some parts, where another will do the same in other areas. Since you wish to go single or dual class, my preferences above would still be a good bet.

Yes, that's our preference, :) even if we can't have all options the game offers.

That said, did I read it correctly that we can add other characters mid-game in multiplayer? That would negate any possible impasse anyway.

Yes, you can add/create additional characters at the player arbitration screen when you load a game.

It's certainly doable. Especially since the BG2 kits in the EE are OP AF.

OP AF? :)

Over Powered As F#ck.

:D :D :D

Any pair of characters can beat the game in theory, the question is what is most fun for you to play in co-op mode.

Maximize strength and dexterity at creation so you have to waste less time casting buffs before combat or bothering about encumbrance.

Thief is not essential. 18/00 strength is enough to bash allmost everything and instead of having one player waiting while the other does his search you can walk into them and soak up the damage if you have characters with many hitpoints and good saving throws.


The optimal duo is a matter of preference, if you tell what characters you are planning to use we can give you advice for optimization.

Thanks for the offer. We are still pondering, some favorites being Fighter/Thief together with Druid (maybe Shapeshifter), pure Cleric, or Wild Mage.

Mage/Cleric sounds interesting, but any armor disabling the Mage's spells seems rather limiting to the Cleric half.

In this forum, I noticed some complaints about Sneak Attack being suboptimal in IWD. Is that an issue?

I will post any updates of our considerations. :) The first gaming session will be next friday.

You don't need armour. You have all the buffs you need in your spell books to achieve the same thing. Your Cleric/Mage would optimally not be a front line fighter.