Frustrated with the difficulty of the battles

[J'aran]

...even on novice difficulty, my party frequently gets their asses handed to them on a silver plate. Granted, I'm on my first run through this game, but I'm no newbie to RPGs, and I'm using every tactic I can come up with. My party is solidly built, with two frontline warriors (Lizardman Fighter and Dracon Samurai), two ranged warriors (Felpurr Ranger, who can use polearms to melee from the second rank as well, and Mook Gadgeteer), and two spellcasters (Rawulf Priest and Faerie Bishop). I take full advantage of the latter two characters' protective spells, I use terrain to my advantage whenever possible so that only the front rankers are exposed to the attacks of two or three monsters, I soften the enemy up with ranged attacks and spells before we engage in melee... but the monsters the game sends after me just seem too tough. Only half an hour ago, my party, currently averaging level 8 and on the Arnika-Trynton Road, was confronted by 7 Shrieker Bats (level 8 or 9 I believe), 5 Juggernauts (level 11 behemoths) and 3 whatsit Weeds, can't remember their level but it can't have been lower than 8. I used every abovementioned tactic, found a perfect nook in the cliffs beside the road to fight them from, and granted, most of the bats went down like flies and their screams did nothing, but those weeds continually managed to nauseate my entire party, causing them to miss constantly. Every disabling spell I cast at them fizzled or had no effect, I could't target them with missiles because they were hiding behind the Juggernauts and only one of the brutes tore up my frontliners and was about do the same with my weaker characters when I gave up and quit the game. And this is not the first time something like this has happened.

Now, finally, my question to you: why? Is there something wrong with my tactics or my party build (if so, what), is my party's level too low for this specific area, or am I just plain unlucky in what the game threw at me so far?

Thanks for reading through this rather lengthy rant, by the way.

[Solomon]

The game's hard like that sometimes. But I think when you reload there's one tactic you might want to explore -- run around them! There will be Juggernauts aplenty later when you're stronger and the fight will go differently for you.

If you reload and keep trying the fight, you have to hope for a few lucky breaks (maybe you disable a few of the beasts (sleep? paralyze?) and cut them up while they're defense-impaired? But in my experience (especially in the parts of the game where you are using the roads), these fights go bad no matter what you try -- the timing just isn't right.

[ 11-10-2003, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: Solomon ]

[allstargoaly]

Hey J'aran... I'm right with you man.

I don't understand it at all. I asked the same question in another topic (look for Party of Four... Comes to an End) and I really didn't get the answer I WAS LOOKING FOR. Some people say RUN, others say FIGHT, but I say CROSS YOUR LITTLE FINGERS. But hey, I know how you feel, but thats my own advice (just get lucky).

[ 11-10-2003, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: allstargoaly ]

[dplax]

Try approaching them bit by bit, and then you might only encounter one group at a time.

I once found a position just behind Bela already on the peak, where monsters spawned not far away but they could not see me, but did not go away. I tried sleeping but only got more of them each time, and whenever I moved all of them attacked me, and in the end I had to disband that party because they just couldn't fight there way out of 40 monsters who were all a higher level than them.

[J'aran]

Good to hear that it's not just me. Shared pain is half pain, as we say here in the Low Countries. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Guess I'll have to sneak my way around the tougher hordes then.

And dplax - in the particular situation I described all those things were in one large group, if I alert one I alert them all. Well, all except two of the bats who came from a different direction. But keeping those apart from the large group won't make much of a difference. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[dplax]

If you wait for some time they might still mov away from each other, but if you are realy in a problem then just go behind the deserted house and there you can sleep safely.

[Pyrates]

J'aran, enjoy as long as you can For later in the game, just the opposite thing will happen: Even on Expert, not even the final fight needs lots of thought or strategy. This is one of the weaknesses of the game, it just finishes to early (both to early in time and to early in the life of your party...)

Cheers
Philipp

[Starfire]

J'aran you might find it easier going with a Fighter and a Rogue for your two frontliners. The Samurai and Lord take a while to come into their own and if not developed properly they will (pardon the language) suck all through the game lol

The Fighter and Rogue are the two best melee'ers and for someone playing the game for the very first time, the two can make things a bit easier for you. I know how you feel, when I first began playing, I ran into similiar circumstances as you describe many many times and I in fact ended up quitting and not playing the game for a good 6 months. I wish I had known about the forums back then I could have gotten some advice and tips and continued playing.

As far as the juggernauts, I hate those things! My current party is level 18 and I run into them all the time, although they are not so tough now that my party is stronger, I still can't stand the buggers! lol A party below level 10 is going to find the juggernauts really difficult (in my opinion anyway) so if at all possible run away from them, if that isn't possible try running to a niche in a hillside where only one or two can get to you at a time. If none of that works try reloading or quitting the game and restarting from a previous save. Sometimes you'll get different monsters or sometimes run into no monsters at all.

[DraconFighter]

Yes, as the old joke goes, "sometimes the bull wins."

I'm fooling around (i.e. not intending to finish) with a party of four (Lord-Bard-Ranger-Mage) and we had a difficult time of it on the Arnika Rd (both times, from and back to the Monastery). In Arnkia we can kill anything that moves.

One thing that may help is to save (not quick save, but save entire games with different names). If you get stuck somewhere, go back to your save and start again. Maybe the monster spawn will be better for you. For example, I always save just before leaving the Monastery (before you click on the check mark to leave).

No doubt the combat will be difficult at times, but I predict that eventually both you and your party will be better at this and will find some areas so unchallenging that you kick it up a notch from novice to normal. If I can do it, anybody can do it (expert scares me - I don't go there).

[Solomon]

Pyrates, you're right on the money. As much as I hated getting my head handed to me in some of the areas of the game, I liked having to work through what needed to be done to avoid the Reaper. I was disappointed when I reached the point in the game where I knew that _wasn't_ going to happen.

I can only wonder what the designers had in mind for that later part of the game...that's where the breakdown in the development/distribution process really shows.