Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post - Improved Faldorn (spoilers, but who cares)

SixOfSpades · 07-07-2004, 12:58 AM

The first order of business is to make the Improved Druid Grove and Improved Faldorn into separate components of Tactics.

What I'd Like To See In Improved Faldorn:

Forget all this "entire party pre-buffs the party Druid" crap, let's just have a straight fight of Druid vs. Druid. That means purple-circling (as in "The Transformation and the Dream" sequence or Round 2 of Improved Irenicus) the rest of the party, as well as any Summons, during the fight.
Step 2 of the same vein involves removing all pre-buffs from the party Druid, to disallow things like Storm Giant Strength and Improved Haste. As soon as the challenge is issued, the party gets purple-circled, then the challenger gets hit with Spellstrike, Breach, and an Inquisitor's Dispel.
Both combatants are then given free castings of Barkskin, Ironskins, Bless, Armor of Faith, Resist Fire/Cold, Strength of One, Magic Resistance, Death Ward, and Defensive Harmony, each of which is cast at their own level--so a Level 13 Druid would have weaker castings of Ironskins, Magic Resistance, Armor of Faith, etc., than Faldorn would, and would also be likely to be stripped naked if Faldorn were to cast Dispel Magic. Faldorn also has "Summon Dread Wolves" cast for her at the start of combat.
Faldorn is given a Staff of Thunder and Lightning, a normal Sling, and 80 normal Bullets. The challenger is given a Staff and Sling (with Bullets) as Quick Weapons, and a Scimitar, Spear, Dagger, Club, and 80 Darts in Inventory. All of these weapons are Normal.
In BG1, Faldorn's stats are 12/15/11/10/16/15, so let's say that she consumed all of the famous Tomes, and her BG2 stats are now 13/16/12/11/19/16. In addition, her THAC0, AC, and Saving Throws are all 2 points better than would be legal, she has 12 extra hitpoints, and an ApR of 2 in her Human form.
Faldorn has no other free buffs or resistances, apart from being immune to Nature's Beauty--which she does NOT cast.
Faldorn may not cast spells while Shapeshifted.
In her current version, Improved Faldorn picked Summon Fallen Deva as her HLA, and she has it memorized. I suggest either Globe of Blades, Aura of Flaming Death, or Storm of Vengeance instead.

Weimer must personally beat the Rebalanced Faldorn with a Level 14 Druid (any kit except the Overbalanced Shapeshifter, and no Fighter component) before she can be considered truly fit for release.

Opinions?

It's true that allowing the challenger to retain his/her equipment is pretty much the only way of letting past experiences benefit you (since pure Druids do not gain levels in SoA), but that presents one hell of a power imbalance: If the party Druid is allowed to use Pitchwife, Fulcrum, or Water's Talon, it's pretty much Game Over for Faldorn, even her current version. Even the Dagger of Venom is capable of rendering her completely helpless. So I opted for the "low-key" equipment setup, to shift the focus back on the combatants themselves.

Personally, given my experiences of
A) There not being any weapons on the ground at all, and
B) Faldorn being immune to the one I hacked in,
I'm wondering what the heck is going on between my game and the one with that Kensai(12)->Druid who beat Faldorn to death with his Grandmastery in Staves.

[ 07-07-2004, 02:41 AM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]

07-07-2004, 12:58 AM	#39
SixOfSpades Dracolisk Join Date: September 16, 2001 Location: Bellingham, WA, USA Age: 48 Posts: 6,901	The first order of business is to make the Improved Druid Grove and Improved Faldorn into separate components of Tactics. What I'd Like To See In Improved Faldorn: Forget all this "entire party pre-buffs the party Druid" crap, let's just have a straight fight of Druid vs. Druid. That means purple-circling (as in "The Transformation and the Dream" sequence or Round 2 of Improved Irenicus) the rest of the party, as well as any Summons, during the fight. Step 2 of the same vein involves removing all pre-buffs from the party Druid, to disallow things like Storm Giant Strength and Improved Haste. As soon as the challenge is issued, the party gets purple-circled, then the challenger gets hit with Spellstrike, Breach, and an Inquisitor's Dispel. Both combatants are then given free castings of Barkskin, Ironskins, Bless, Armor of Faith, Resist Fire/Cold, Strength of One, Magic Resistance, Death Ward, and Defensive Harmony, each of which is cast at their own level--so a Level 13 Druid would have weaker castings of Ironskins, Magic Resistance, Armor of Faith, etc., than Faldorn would, and would also be likely to be stripped naked if Faldorn were to cast Dispel Magic. Faldorn also has "Summon Dread Wolves" cast for her at the start of combat. Faldorn is given a Staff of Thunder and Lightning, a normal Sling, and 80 normal Bullets. The challenger is given a Staff and Sling (with Bullets) as Quick Weapons, and a Scimitar, Spear, Dagger, Club, and 80 Darts in Inventory. All of these weapons are Normal. In BG1, Faldorn's stats are 12/15/11/10/16/15, so let's say that she consumed all of the famous Tomes, and her BG2 stats are now 13/16/12/11/19/16. In addition, her THAC0, AC, and Saving Throws are all 2 points better than would be legal, she has 12 extra hitpoints, and an ApR of 2 in her Human form. Faldorn has no other free buffs or resistances, apart from being immune to Nature's Beauty--which she does NOT cast. Faldorn may not cast spells while Shapeshifted. In her current version, Improved Faldorn picked Summon Fallen Deva as her HLA, and she has it memorized. I suggest either Globe of Blades, Aura of Flaming Death, or Storm of Vengeance instead. Weimer must personally beat the Rebalanced Faldorn with a Level 14 Druid (any kit except the Overbalanced Shapeshifter, and no Fighter component) before she can be considered truly fit for release. Opinions? It's true that allowing the challenger to retain his/her equipment is pretty much the only way of letting past experiences benefit you (since pure Druids do not gain levels in SoA), but that presents one hell of a power imbalance: If the party Druid is allowed to use Pitchwife, Fulcrum, or Water's Talon, it's pretty much Game Over for Faldorn, even her current version. Even the Dagger of Venom is capable of rendering her completely helpless. So I opted for the "low-key" equipment setup, to shift the focus back on the combatants themselves. Personally, given my experiences of A) There not being any weapons on the ground at all, and B) Faldorn being immune to the one I hacked in, I'm wondering what the heck is going on between my game and the one with that Kensai(12)->Druid who beat Faldorn to death with his Grandmastery in Staves. [ 07-07-2004, 02:41 AM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ] __________________ Volothamp's Comeuppance Everything you ever needed to know about the entire Baldur's Gate series......except spoilers.