Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Preview

Everybody who finished Icewind Dale can simply "import" their coterie in the Expansion pack and continue playing. Black Isle programmers said that characters used for playing expansion pack should by no means be under the ninth level in order to successfully face all the new challenges. The Expansion pack will shift the maximum experience level to 2.900.000 points. This will let the characters reach "power player" levels - that's about 17th or 18th level for Wizards and 23rd level for Bards or Fighters. Character classes won't change and the game will stick to AD&D 2nd edition rules. The only change will be the addition of Sneak Attack to the thief class, which is similar to Backstab attack, just a bit weaker and easier.

The designers balanced the power of magical items in a rather interesting way. In the original Icewind Dale some objects were far more powerful than other items you might find in the same part of the game. Once you install the Expansion pack, it will transfer those objects to other locations, unless you decide to continue the game with an already generated and upgraded coterie. This means that some items will no longer be where they had been only if you decide to play the game from the start. The new items are really fantastic: Vexed Armor contains a live demon which will demand sacrifices and in return give you a bonus in constitution and 100% resistance to cold; if a character with this armor decides to flee battle, he's not likely to survive; Pig's eye is a short sword which induces additional damage to Orcs, with a possibility to blind them, Storm Bow will cast lightning once a day... There are many new objects, and there will also be bags for keeping jewels and smaller items and scroll cases, which will enable your heroes to carry far more goodies. I found the possibility to put potions in such bags most interesting (that means lot of healing potions). You'll be able to buy many fine items like Sling +4, and purchase multiple items by double-clicking on them. This was a smart move considering how frustrating it was to deal with the traders in the first part.

The new enemies will present the most interesting improvements (if we disregard the technical aspects). You will meet the pumped-up Barbarian Warriors, Barbarian Shamans (casting spells and summoning Wights), Barrow Wights, Wailing Virgins, Drowned Dead (much, much tougher zombies), Polar Bears, polar worms Remorhaz, Wolf Spirits and some big enemies that Black Isle wishes to keep a secret for the time being. I found the Wailing Virgins most interesting. They are virgins who got buried alive with barbarian chieftains in order to guard their graves on Burial Island from trespassers. Their screams will paralyze or even kill your heroes. All enemies should have fluid animation and precise models. The enemy AI will be much improved. The enemies will now be able to call for reinforcements if they feel overpowered. This should make even the weakest of enemies a decent threat. The combat will work the same way it did before - it'll be real-time with a possibility to pause whenever you want and issue commands. The only novelty is that you will have a far greater insight in what is going on through the dialog window; that is you'll always be able to see how much and what type of damage (slashing, piercing, etc.) you inflicted. This should enable you to easily pinpoint the enemies' weak spots.

The spells have been changed slightly (especially the Druid Spells which had been full of bugs and flaws), and 52 new spells had been introduced. The designers decided to introduce only spells of fifth and higher levels, as the expansion pack would only be played with well-developed characters. The basic notion with the new spells was that they introduce something new and fun instead of simply inducing damage, adding bonus points or preventing damage. New spells include: Soul Eater (sixth level wizard spell, induces damage, and if it kills the opponent, it turns him into a skeleton commanded by the wizard who cast the spell), Seven eyes (wizard abjuration spell of the seventh level summons seven little eyes who fly around the wizard protecting him and giving him some new abilities), Blood rage (fifth level priest spell is something like making the character go berserk, which will make him very powerful in melee combat, but you won't be able to control him or see how many hit points he has left), Smashing wave (4th level druid spell summons an enormous wave which smashes everything in its way), Grater Shield of Lothander (priest spell giving 100% resistance to magic), Spiritual wrath (priest spell launching bolts of energy, which induce damage only to the characters which have the opposite alignment from the caster).

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter really seems promising. And considering the reputation of Black Isle Studios, I'm sure we can look forward to yet another high-profile, quality title.