I try to play IWD2 for the first time and after completing Enhanced Editions of first IWD and BG1-2 I'm slightly confused by the new rules. I have already party concept I wanna use but I need to clarify few things:

1. Stats and modifiers. Stats give modifiers every two points so does it mean in-between stats are pointless? For instance when I have 16 points in Constitution it has modifier +3, the same as 17 Con. Does it mean it's better to have 16 Con and put that one point somewhere else than have 17 Con?

2. Skills. I understand the point of thieving skills but most others seems very gimmicky. i have no idea what skills should I choose for warrior type characters, there is nothing interesting.

3. For what INT, WIS and CHA should I aim for Bard (pure) character? I don't fully understand how this class works and what's important. I want use him for songs, occasional spellcasting and as support firepower with crossbow.

4. Does Strength matter at all for characters with ranged weapons or can I safely leave it at 10? Are there STR requirements for these weapons?

Fair Warning: I haven't played any IWD2 in a long time, so some of this is based on my experiences with the D&D 3rd Ed system, not with the IWD2 specific implementation. In general, that is correct. Even numbered stat values are more important than odd numbered stat values. Con 16 is nearly equivalent to Con 17, since both give a +3 bonus. There are some exceptions, like certain feats require a minimum of an odd numbered stat (Expertise requires at least 13 Int). Bards are a flexible class that can contribute to several different functions of your party. What you want from the character will determine how best to build him.

The Bard casting stat is CHA. A Bard with higher CHA casts spells that are harder for enemies to save against, and the bard may get bonus spells for having a high CHA. If your bard is going to be using his Bard Song or casting buff/healing spells on your party, then his spell DC doesn't matter and you don't need to maximize CHA.

He'll need some Dex for an accuracy bonus with the crossbow.

Check what the Bard Song ability relies upon. If the Bard needs to make Perform (skill) checks to use his songs, then he'll need the Perform skill (which is boosted by his CHA stat). This is the case in pencil and paper 3rd Ed play, but BG2 (for example) lets the bard just sing without any reliance on other Bard abilities or stats.

INT isn't critical (mostly giving skill points), and WIS isn't critical (mostly giving a bonus to Will saves). Don't neglect STR entirely, since it affects how much weight a character can carry. Wizards don't need it to be combat effective, but they do need it to help carry all your loot out of the dungeon.

In general, STR will not provide a bonus for To Hit or Damage with a ranged weapon. Exceptions are for any bows that give a bonus for having high strength (composite bows, for example), and maybe slings or throwing axes (I don't know if the STR bonus will help the damage here); the item in question should indicate whether it will allow a damage bonus from STR to apply, as well as whether that STR bonus is capped.

I don't know which ranged weapons have a minimum STR requirement. Ones that convey more bonus damage from STR are more likely to have a higher minimum STR req though.

Thanks for all the information. As for bard I'd like him to identify items. I see in IWD2 there is no such thing as "lore" stat like in previous games but instead there are skills like Alchemy or Knowledge based on Intelligence. I wonder what minimal Intelligence do I need to be able to effectively use these skills for identifying items? I can't find any info on that anywhere.

I have no idea which skills might relate to identifying items. It might just be a matter of using the Identify spell, which is a first level Bard spell.

I do not have IWD2 installed currently, but the rules should be very similar to NWN's. I checked IWD2's wiki and it is almost completely empty. You can check NWN's wiki to get any info you need.

http://nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Bard

Lore in D&D3 is now a skill, just like thieving or spellcraft and anyone can get better at it if points are spent. I am going to check this later if I am talking sanely :)


EDIT: I installed the game and found some information on Sorcerer's Place . It seems Lore is now divided into 2 skills: Alchemy and Knowledge (Arcana). You can read more from the link.

EDIT2: Eh. I just noticed I repeated what you had already said. Sorry about that.

No worries. I ended up giving bard these stats:

STR 10
DEX 16
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 8
CHA 16

and I'm putting skillpoints in Alchemy and Knowledge.