for instance, 2 of my fighters gets killed in one of the tombs in the vale of shadows ,but my other 4 characters happen to survive the long battle.now i have no way to resurrect the dead fighters other than having to go all of the way back to the temple in kuldahar then by the time i rez them and get back to the area where they died, all of their items have vanished (i would have taken them all with me before i left but my surviving characters could NOT carry everything or were "too encumbered to move" ,etc.).. am i supposed to just re-load my last saved game every time one of my characters gets killed and then do the entire fight all over again,hoping everyone lives or what? i'm just wondering what you all do when this happens because i find the item management very annoying .if my cleric knew how to raise the dead then that would be EXTREMELY helpful but i'm guessing he probably won't be able to learn that spell until much later in the game???

[ 11-10-2004, 01:06 PM: Message edited by: blakething ]

Reload, and find a better fighting strategy.

Edit: you shouldn't be over-encumbered this early in the game. Are you taking every little sword and dagger that the skelotens drop? Selling them, IMHO, is not worth the effort in hauling them back to Kuldahar.

[ 11-10-2004, 01:17 PM: Message edited by: Marty4 ]

Nothing wrong with reloading. Every fight can be done without having anyone die.

Further, if you go and raise or resurrect every time you lose somebody (which can happen a lot on your first time through the game), you quickly run out of money, or in fact may lack enough to raise your characters.

yeah, i bought the game about a year ago but didn't play all that much (still using my old characters )

btw what are the gems for? do i just sell those in town for gold or is there another use for them?

Gems are only for selling. In IWD2 there are certain gems with a purpose.

ok, here's the deal: i've killed the "myrkul's sending" in the tomb of vale of shadows then i go down to level 2 and i find about 8 skeleton archers that keeps killing my characters.(where the skele mage keeps casting stinking cloud )i dont think i can win this fight without a few of my characters getting killed because they are hitting me for about 10 pts of damage each and i cant even get close to them without taking a lot of damage and there's too many of them..i have 2 fighters, a cleric/fighter, thief, necromancer, and illusionist. i've tried getting my spellcasters up front to cast burning hands ,etc. but the spells gets disrupted and/or they get killed . (last time THEY lived but my 2 fighters didn't) . any help with this would be cool,as i don't really know a lot about this game; been playing UO too long i guess. thanks.

You can send one character (ranger or thief) to lure them around a corner where your party is waiting to engage them in melee.

Be creative and use the dungeon environment and fog-of-war to your advantage.

i've tried that strategy with my thief (hiding in shadows) then when they spot him, i try to lure a few back to my others but they don't follow (just disappear).

edit:

@Otto:
btw , you from springfield arkansas or missouri by any chance?

[ 11-10-2004, 05:03 PM: Message edited by: blakething ]

I don't recall any large groups of skeleton archers. well, if there were, I would use a high AC character like a fighter or paladin. Do you have anyone with a grossly low AC? giving a guy plate mail, large shield, a helmet, ring of protection and 18 dexterity would make them nigh untouchable.

<font color = mediumspringgreen>blakething,

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Yes, we have the right answers, above.

First: if I ever lost a character in a battle, I would reload, at least until my Clerics got "Raise Dead" spell. So I save quite frequently, so as to not have to backtrack far.

Second: I only infrequently lost a character. Maybe I am just overly cautious and conservative; but I don't like my characters dying. I take it personally. I suspect there is something simple; or maybe a collection of simple things that you are not doing, that you should; or vice versa.

Are you at the very start of the second level, where you start in a small room and have to go through a door that leads into a large room with rows of columns?

Here is an eclectic list of thoughts, wherein you might find a few helpful things.

1.) Advance cautiously. Trigger as few of the enemy at a time as possible.

2.) Scout ahead with your Thief (hide in shadows) and plan out your battles.

3.) Use pause extensively while in battle.

4.) Having two Mages is nice. Having two Specialist Mages is better. And your Illusionist and Necro are a pefectly complementary pair: My FAVORITE matched Mage set! You should have at least Magic Missile, Chromatic Orb, Web, and possibly Aganazzar's Scorcher and a low-level summoning spell. Focus on Scorcher (if you have it), Web and summoning; then the other mentioned spells, as slots allow.

5.) Remember that your Cleric has spells, too. Since you will need the extra Fighter, I suggest you use Cleric to buff before enemy contact, then switch to fighter mode.

6.) Web keeps archers from shooting. Summons can be used to get archers to not shoot at you. Scorcher (and Fireball, when you get it) turns archers into crispy critters.

7.) Your Mages are probably CLVL4, which means they have 16 to 24 HP, and bite the dust quite easily. Did you know that if you start these guys out with the same stats, except made them Human Fighters with CON=18 and STR at least 15 and DC them to Necro and Illusionist at Fighter[3], that they would now both be CLVL2 Mages with 54 HP? Not only that, but if you stacked your weapon points correctly, they will both be killer archers when they hit Mage[4].

8.) Gang up on archers to take them down quickly.

9.) Use the columns as cover from arrows.

10.) Keep Mages out of sight until archers have targeted your Fighters. THEN bring the Mages out and unleash your magical cannons.

11.) Don't send a 20 HP Mage out into an army of archers to do the Burning Hands thing.

12.) Retreat into the first small room for protection, and force the enemy to take you on one at a time.

13.) Remember that blunt weapons are most effective against skeletons, whereas arrow are almost useless: Do not engage in a ranged battle, unless by doing so you can force a 6-on-1 or 6-on-2 confrontation (in your favor, of course).

14.) Roll your guys with DEX=18, CON=18 and give them good armor, to keep them from dying.

15.) Multi-Classing your Thief as a Gnome Thief/Cleric would get some more Cleric skills into your party. Alternatively, combining your Thief and Illusionist into a Gnome T./Ill. would give you room to scrunch another Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Druid, Druid, Cleric, Paladin, or Fighter into your party.

16.) This fight (if it is the one I am thinking of) is not tough. There are MUCH tougher fights ahead. Reload until you get lucky or get it right.

Hope this helps.

</font>--------------------<font color = mediumspringgreen>
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!
</font>

[ 11-10-2004, 09:38 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]