GAMES MICROSOFT XBOX ICEWIND DALE 2 Manual - page 6
Starting Out
You can play Icewind Dale II either solo (creating your own party) or multiplayer (adventuring with one or
more of your friends, with each of you controlling one or more characters). The following directions regard-
ing character creation and interface apply equally to both types of games, but the means of starting a single-
player game and a multiplayer game differ.
Single Player Game:
When you begin the game, you’ll be presented with the Main Menu screen. If you
wish to start a single player game, make sure the Game Mode at the top of the menu is set to “Single Player”
(it should be by default), then select “New Game,” and you’ll be taken to the Party Choice Screen.
New to Icewind Dale II is the Party Choice Screen. Here you can select an adventuring party that has already
been created, so that you can start adventuring immediately. From this screen you can also choose to modify
a selected party, which you might want to do if you like one of the parties offered, but want to change a char-
acter or two. You can also choose to create a whole party from scratch. The choice is yours.
If you chose to create your own party, you will be presented with six empty character slots, each with a
“Create Character” button. Each of these slots allows you to create a brand new character by clicking on the
button. To create a brand new character, follow the steps listed in “Character Generation” on page 6.
Once you have created a character, the empty slot will be replaced with the character’s name. You can
remove a character by clicking on the name of the character, then on the “Delete” button on the sub-menu
that pops up. Doing so frees up the slot for another character.
If you wish to back out of this screen simply select “Exit.” Click “Done” when you have created all the char-
acters for your party, and Icewind Dale II will begin. For more information on the Party Formation Screen,
see page 22.
Multiplayer:
For details on how to start a multiplayer game, refer to the Multiplayer section on page 25.
Party Choice
A new feature in Icewind Dale II is the ability for you to choose a party of adventurers that have already been
put together for you. We have tried to create a number of interesting parties that offer different playing styles,
but are also well balanced and should serve you well from your first quest to your last. These parties also
start out fully equipped, so you will be ready to quash your first goblin right away.
If you decide to either alter the makeup of one of the pre-made parties or create your own party from scratch
by choosing to create a new party, there are a few things you should remember:
1) Make sure that you include a cleric in your party for healing. Icewind Dale II can be very challenging
if you do not include a cleric.
2) If you are making a party that includes a lot of the special Forgotten Realms character races (dark
elves, gray dwarves, etc.) which develop slower than the “normal” races, please remember that your
party could be underpowered at certain points in the game. Things will be fine if you include a couple
characters of these races, however a party of six deep gnomes could make playing the game very chal-
lenging.
3) You can choose to make a party of as many as six characters or as few as one. However, we suggest
that you make a party of at least four characters. The game is balanced for a character group of four to
six characters.
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