[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by Cerek: Don't really care one way or the other on this point. If Imoen ever got "taken out", I just Re-loaded and tried again. I don't use the Belt for Cheese and I consider her "dead" if she leaves the party, so it hasn't been an issue for me.

But it does for some people, with me being one of them--the Belt was a nice way to ensure the plot, way back in the mists of time when it was practically impossible for Imoen to die in the dungeon, but now that there's some real risk involved, I'd sure like to be able to cast Raise Dead on her. (And NOT have her come back from the dead, realize she's only got 1hp, and immediately leave the party and run off!)

As much as I LOVED the "Door-slamming cheese tactic" in the original Tactics Mod, I quickly adapted a new "Charming" strategy to handle the improvements made to Illyich and Crew. I have no problems with ALL doors remaining open. Besides, you can always use that to your advantage and simply lead the various members on a merry old chase. Rasputin is the only one that can outrun your characters and an Oil of Speed will handle that.

Unlike Weimer, I am of the opinion that the area of the dungeon is too large to allow the sort of communication between Ilyich & Co. anywhere near the order of perfect mental telepathy that they presently exhibit. If Zhivago is over by the door to the Plane of Air, how the hell could he know what the Golem sees over in the Crystal Room? Hence, I feel insulted by the assumption that Ilyich and crew cannot be separated, or suffer from any lack of communication. I also stand by my oh-so-frequently-stated roleplay of stationing one NPC by a door to approximate having wedged a sword blade into the crack, thus preventing an enemy--even a stronger enemy--on the other side from opening it. Therefore, while I know that the slam-the-door tactic is not essential to killing Ilyich & Co., I am very strongly in favor of allowing at least some freedom of its use.

Sounds good to me. I would love a chance to get his armor and I would accept him being made more dangerous in order to get it.

Okay, I actually did it for another reason altogether (undroppable items are inherently stupid), but your viewpoint is also quite valid.

That's an interesting idea, but how many players actually enter the sewers within the first 3 days??? Your first two encounters are likely to be the Circus and Pebblecrusher at the Seven Vales Inn ... on to the Coppor Coronet, where they will likely take out the Slaver Guards (and the Slaver Compound itself). ... Then there is the Murder Mystery in the Bridge District which will usually be one of the next quests taken.

I'm going to agree with your first point and slam you on the second. The '3 days' limitation was completely arbitrary on my part, and may be adjusted to whatever seems justified by the difficulty of the actual combat involved in Return to Ilyich. But what's with your assuming that everybody takes the quests in the exact same order in every game? The only pattern I tend to follow is that I try to run and grab the NPCs I want as quickly as possible (even if that means sneaking through some Improved Undead to get Mazzy), and avoid taking any quests until I've got the party I want (Imoen excepted, of course). And I frequently deviate from this pattern: On my first Tactics game, the very first quest I went on was the Improved de'Arnise Keep. And that was only because I asked Brus to take us to the nearest Inn (where I bumped into Nalia and was swayed by her urgency)--If I'd followed his suggestion of taking my Cavalier to the Temple District, I likely would have taken the Unseeing Eye quest first, which means--you guessed it--I'd have been in the sewers in less than a day.

That [Duergar dropping random loot] would be nice and it was something I yearned for myself when I first started running in to them. But in the end, all that is going to do is give the party a LOT more loot (and extra scrolls) that they can either use to become stronger or sell to buy better stuff with immediately after getting out.

Um....yes, that's what I'd intended, to give the party unpredictable (and therefore interesting) new options of beating Ilyich. What would he do against a Mordy's Sword, for example. Are you saying you are against this idea?

That's [reorganizing everybody's starting spell selection] a good point, but you can't accomplish the same thing by taking your 1 "Free Rest" at the beginning of the dungeon. And if you're playing a spellcaster, you have to take that "Free Rest" anyway. Still, it is a valid point and a good suggestion for those players that prefer to "hit the ground running".

I do like to "hit the ground running," as you put it, in fact, I tend to beat Ilyich without Resting at all (when I'm playing a Warrior-type, that is). But having companions that chose such obviously useless spells to memorize just strikes me as degrading and illogical. And oh yes, if you start the game in the Tutorial, you can choose your spells in there, and thus have them ready at the start of the actual game, without having to use your free rest.

Absolutely agree 100%. It's kinda sad to see such idiotic AI's on a Tactics enemy. My one complaint regarding the Duergar's are the Spawn Rate. With a full party, it's no problem. But for those that want to solo (or duo), it makes it almost impossible to clear the dungeon of all enemies. ... it just makes sense that you want to ensure there are no enemies left to sneak up on you from behind.

Well, I don't mind the Golems being that stupid, but that's because they're Golems. Any rational creature would have some thought for self-preservation, and behave in a realistic manner. I don't mind their spawn *rate*, per se, just the way they do it right in front of you--I would MUCH prefer it if they spawned well out of sight, and then wandered at random, looking for the party.

As always, I like your suggestions and especially appreciate the reasoning and logic you put into them. You always justify them in context with the game rules and settings ... and I was especially excited to see you making several suggestions regarding one of my favorite encounters in the entire game.

Thank you, sir. I endeavor to give satisfaction. [img]smile.gif[/img]