Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter
| Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter | |
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| Developer(s) | Black Isle Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Interplay Entertainment |
| Distributor(s) | Wizards of the Coast |
| Series | Icewind Dale |
| Engine | Infinity Engine |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing video game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter is an official expansion pack to the role-playing video game Icewind Dale developed by Black Isle Studios. It introduced many changes and additions to the original game, and included an all-new campaign. A downloadable add-on to this expansion pack, titled Trials of the Luremaster, was released for free. Both the expansion and add-on were included in the Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition.
Some notable changes include a much higher experience point cap, new magical items and spells, a special "Heart of Fury" difficulty setting for increased enemy power and higher experience point-gain, and a maximum resolution of 800x600. The game is still based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition ruleset.
In order to access the new campaign, the player must either enter a previously locked door in the town of Kuldahar while possessing a party of characters level 9 or above or import the party after completing the main campaign, when the party is exported.
In Kuldahar, the player's characters are greeted by a barbarian shaman, Hjollder, who reveals that he has visions of a great conflict and that the party is the key to stopping it. The party journeys to Lonelywood, where they discover that a great barbarian force is gathering nearby, threatening to destroy the Ten Towns. The force has rallied to Wylfdene, a great barbarian warlord killed in battle the previous season. He claims to be host to the spirit of the ancient barbarian hero Jerrod and is now eager to strike the Ten Towns in the name of the war-god Tempus.
The party journeys to the barbarian camp and meets the resurrected chief himself. Hjollder believes that something is off with Wylfdene, and is in turn exiled from the camp. The party later finds the exiled Hjollder in the barbarian burial grounds Wylfdene rose from, though it is now plagued by undead and spirits. On his recommendation, the party journeys to the Gloomfrost to consult the Seer, an old woman with vast mystical powers. She reveals that it is the soul of great white dragon Icasaracht who inhabits the body of Wylfdene and seeks to wage war, not Jerrod.
The party returns to the barbarian camp, where the Seer herself approaches Wylfdene. She is killed by him, but succeeds in tricking the dragon spirit into abandoning his body, revealing the deception to the gathered barbarians. The last task of the player's party is to journey to the Sea of Moving Ice where Icasaracht's Lair is located. There, they battle through her minions (including the remaining loyal barbarians, trolls and sahuagins) and ultimately find the white dragon herself. She explains she wished to avenge herself upon the Ten Towns for the seizure of dragonkind's lands, and for her death a century past.
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