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Old 02-18-2004, 04:38 PM   #18
Gangrell
Iron Throne Cult
 

Join Date: January 2, 2003
Location: Big Castle in the Sky
Age: 38
Posts: 4,835
That was a rather good review Six, as I do agree with most of what you wrote. But in my honest opinion, I will never refer to the Tactics Mod as well, a Tactics Mod. Because in all honesty, it is not a tactics based mod, it is a brutality mod.

I understand the concept behind it, that you have to find your own tactics, own strategies to beat enemies, but that's not what it is. Jacking up an opponent's power to unbelievable levels is not using strategy, it's called cheese overload. Give the AI a script that can use strategy instead of raw power, then I will call it a Tactics Mod.

Here's my review, but I'm just going to cover a few things, not all of them.

The Acid Kensai
I do believe that they overdid it when they created this fellow. Now, I understand they incorporated him into the game so you don't get Celestial Fury too quick (even though the Improved Compound is still a cake walk), but the guy is damn well near indestructable if you do not know how to approach the situtation. He has the Ring of Gaxx, Amulet of Power, and the Robe of Vecna, that is just a bit much for one guy to have.

Improved Mae'Var
I actually enjoyed this battle, now that Mae'Var actually posses as a threat and is able to use his once restricted mage abilities.

Kangaxx and Guardians
Hmmm, Kangaxx, well, I had about the same difficulty with him I had when his power wasn't boosted, it was the guardians that gave me a run for my money. A psychotic vorpal weilding dwarf beheaded me a fair deal, and taking two liches was a bit tough. As for Kangaxx himself, unless you have spell immunity on, you are screwed because he has a near unlimited amount of Imprisonment spells as a innate ability.

Improved Dragons
Nothing too special, not something a few traps can't take care of.

Demon Knights
I have to say these guys are a bit stronger than I remembered. I think there is just a bit of cheese somehwere, as no matter how high your fire resistance is through items or pre-buffs, their fire ball spells can come close to annihilating you. A good challenge though.

Improved Twisted Rune
I had a great time with these guys. I have to say, not the biggest challenge from most of the group as the undead and so forth, but the lich and lady mage proved to put on a good show.

The Ritual
I think more or less this is a training ground in the game that shows how far your characters can go in a test of endurance. It has good battles, though I am disappointed you can't actually save the woman in the Ritual. Pontifex himself is alright, you just have to be weary of Timestop.

Improved Irenicus
Jon Bon gave me a run for my money. It took me a few reloads until I was able to really take advantage of things. Now I did exploit some powers from the items in the Items Upgrade mod to win the first stage in the battle. His slayer form was so so, can still be beaten even without your armor. Becoming the Shattered One was extreme, and an even greater pain as most of the time his invisibility cannot be detected because of MR by True Sight.

Improved Bodhi
I never really cared for this improvement, Bodhi with an everlasting fire shield, has an insane THAC0, and being an early encounter in the game doesn't suit me.

Improved Sahuagin City
Insane, unless you have good saving throws or a certain shield of cheese, you really have no chance (unless you use Mordenkainen's Sword many times). And facing an avatar that can Imprison a character on each hit to gain a cloak that doesn't even reflect spells anymore because of ToB, no, way too overpowered.
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