A few interesting notes:
*******SPOILERS*****
1. the dwarf gem thing is not with the female dwarf, but a different townsperson in the Inn, who talks of financing your expedition.
2. The halfing/gnome bit gives you a fish for getting offended. Interesting fish...identical to the one the boy lost to the goblins. So he takes it as a reward when you talk to him. Makes that segment a little easier, though you still fight the goblins to get to the Orc Cave.
3. It is possible to take on some orcs by themselves. The first group by the entrance, the two just further in, the large group in the center, the two groups at NW and N areas, the group just before the big one, and the big group with orges-each of these is seperate. Each can be fought seperately, therefore. Call to arms will summon the members of the same group, but not different groups (except when you activate them by wandering into their territory.
I'm having fun with the HoF from start-very challenging. Easthaven was a cinch, though the goblins were a bit rough. I had a nailbiting series of fights in the cave-beat everyone eventually, but had to retreat many times, and, therefore, lost the contract (d'oh!).
I'm at the goblin areas now, doing fairly well. The extra experience (2,000 xp for killing a chicken! Score!
) is helping. BTW-quest experience for HoF is exactly the same as insane level...checked this on the Easthaven quests
.
On the plus side, ranged fighting works wonders. The old "everyone shoot target X, and whoever he attacks runs in circles" routine cleans up pretty well. Chromatic orb and hold person did wonders in the caves.
I'm doing Bard, Halfling Fighter, Dwarf Fighter/Cleric (for buffs more than healing), Humans F->Mage, F->Druid, and Thief->Fighter (at 5/5 on the later).
More later-cool thread [img]smile.gif[/img]
-Raffin