Quote:
Originally posted by chimaera:
Well, since your party does not drown upon entering the Sahuagin city there is probably air around to breathe. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
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In defense of both Hank and the game itself: there was a spell cast upon you to allow you to breathe underwater (Hank stated that as well in his post).
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OK Hank I understand what you're talking about. You loathe people who just come and barge in the door stating "This mod sucks" and do not even try to suggest anything. Let me just make a suggestion then (I've done some research about Improved Bodhi, reading the Tactics README again for instance).
Quote:
Taken from the Tactics Mod README:
This component tries to make Bodhi a worthy opponent. Vampires are
supposed to be scary. In BG2 they're only good for a laugh. Protection
from Undead scrolls, Sunray (Daystar) and False Dawn make short work of
them. A solo character with a Pro-Undead scroll can take out all of the
Vampire covens in the game. Sigh. Bodhi is worth 91K XP -- more than
almost anything else in the game. And yet she is a mere brute-force melee
fighter who doesn't even drink healing potions.
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Okay, I admit, Bodhi was a wimp when we first meet her. I posted a detailed list of events earlier in this thread with the question "is it justifyable for Weimer to make Bodhi the way he did in Tactics?". I thought it was not, and I still believe some of the component should at least be toned down to make the mod more
realistic. If there are boundaries, you can move along the edge, but you should not break them IMHO.
The replies to that large post of mine were satisfying at the least; where I first believed that Bodhi had no justification whatsoever to change into Arnold Schwarzenegger on ostrogene, I changed my opinion to a more pragmatic one (including approval of some [toned done] special abilities], with a couple of suggestions;
- We know Bodhi is a Vampire Leader. So she she should be leading at least a bunch of vampires (even in Chapter Six she has to; if she can spare three vampires to accompany you to Brynnlaw, she has more than enough left). I know I've read Six stating somewhere that it would be nice if there were dominated slaves around (humans, elves, not vampires yet anyway). This gives some opportunity to stall the player (send in some low minions to allow Bodhi to take refuge in an area she likes best) AND serve as a healing probability for Bodhi (when she gets too low on hit points, she can kill off one of her 'pets' and feed on him.
- Instead of fighting Bodhi one time (an idea I've posted before), fight Bodhi multiple times. It's not that hard to imagine that sleeping in a vampire's lair would be a stupid thing to do (ambush!) so wearing out spells and abilities is a great way to make the fight harder in a tactical way. What I propose is the following:
1) You enter the lair and fight of a couple of vampires, fledglings, some undead minions (Improved Undead?) before you get to Bodhi. Of course, this isn't the finale, so Bodhi has a little speach, and engages in some combat (with or without your loved one(s), I'm not too sure). If the going gets tough on Bodhi, she flees the scene leaving you to battle some of her tougher minions (Vampire Warlords, Vampire Mages, Skeleton Warriors). This short battle shouldn't bother Bodhi too much, so no special abilities just yet.
2) After battling these undead, you travel ahead through the lair in the direction you have seen Bodhi flee (the spiked chamber?). There you meet Bodhi once more, maybe some of her friends with her (give them a couple of nice names, pump in some Vampiric lore [Suggestions: Morbius (vampiric creature in Spider-Man), but also Elizabeth Bathory and Gilles de Ray (both real historic figures)]. After a speech (or not) you engage in fight number two where Bodhi uses some of her Special Powers (but saves the best for last). Her friends can summon some undead if need be, and if the going gets tough once more, Bodhi turns into a bat and flees the scene to the downstairs area where the player and his party await the grand finale. Maybe add in that if you forget to stake Bodhi's named friend-vamps that you will have to face them again and you've got yourself a nice little fight.
3) The Grand Finale. Bodhi hits you with all she gots (throwing in lesser minions to save her own skin, and using her most powerful Special Abilities). Once again; her 'pets' (see first bullet) can be used to heal her (make sure to get them too!!).
- So now we've seen my Perfect Bodhi Battle outlined. My last point concerns the Special Abilities Bodhi has. Quoted from the Tactics README:
Quote:
Taken from the Tactics README:
As a vampire matriarch, Bodhi now has traditional mythological vampire
powers. She can:
* summon bats (cf. insect plague),
* create darkness (cf.blindness),
* move the earth to bury you alive (cf. slow, grease),
* drain your life force (cf. vampiric touch),
* summon chill winds (cf. horrid wilting)
* and put you to sleep.
These spell-like abilities are not arcane magic spells in the traditional sense, so your magic defenses may not work against them. Some of them do count as Necromancy, however. In addition,
* her chilling flesh radiates a deathly cold aura (cf. fireshield: blue) that
makes melee combat ... inconvenient.
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Summon Bats: instead of Insect Plague, make Summon Bats more like a Wing Buffet, a one time hit of a stream of angry bats that drive you back (not too much). Then you can even have No Save for such a thing.
Create Darkness: good as it is.
Bury Alive: while I don't agree with her abilities to make this happen, the effects are not that severe so no changes here either.
Vampiric Touch: YES YES YES! They are Vampires! Drain their health, PLEASE!
Summon Chill Winds: Again, I find this power hard to believe, and to make it a Horrid Wilting... 
Maybe you could change this Chill Wind into a Cone Of Cold? That would make more sense than Horrid Wiling IMHO.
Fireshield Blue: Inconvenient aura is OK, but 2D6 damage is too much. I would tone it down to 1D6. That way you still make melee combat a nuisance (at the least) AND it won't be a damage too absurd.
I hope this gives you a general idea what I'm thinking about. I was in a bit of a hurry, so if things are not clear, please let me know [img]smile.gif[/img]