Tactics

[lost prophet]

For the first time i thought id give tactics a run and boy am i getting the bajeebers beaten outa me!. Im still in CI and i must have reloaded about 5 times, every time i go to rest a duegar mage and warrior spawn and attack me and im finding it very hard to cope with that. Any suggestions on how to handle the mod?

swashbuckler
berskerker
cleric
sorcerer
conjurer

[Link]

Rest as little as possible. There will always be duergar opponents waiting for you when you wake up. Your best bet is to take them out with ranged weapons.. keep them characters moving! Don't waste your precious spells on them, because then you'll find yourself in a vicious cycle.

[Cam_H]

Link's suggestion is good, as the war parties don't have ranged attacks themselves. If you can use 'fog of war' to your advantage, so much the better.

Big spoiler warning (Ctrl-A or click-and-drag over blank area below to reveal):

Although you've listed kits, please find what I understand to be some of the most effective approaches by some of the kits available (some mentioned on your list, some not):

Sorcerer / Mage #1 : Invisibility and Fireball your way through it as a Sorcerer. Of course you'll need other useful spells by way of support, and these can vary from Polymorph Self (Flind) which gives some good melee damage for surviving Duergars and switching creature types will also heal the Mage, or Minor Sequencer with Magic Missiles, or Melf's Minute Meteors, as just some suggestions. Skull Trap is great for the Library area when you've got to deal with the Russians and have a few more spell slots up your sleeve.

Sorcerer / Mage #2 : I am led to believe that you can use Dire Charm and similar spells to turn enemies against each other. I've not tried this myself.

Totemic Druid : Spirit Animals are very effective in Improved Ilyich.

Thief : Simply lay a lot of traps and apply backstabs. For real cheese you can refresh your traps by selecting a Human Thief kit with statistics to dual class, and after laying traps start the process of going to the dual class only to cancel it - you'll have your traps refreshed. Similar with Yoshimo, or alternately get him to leave the group and then cancel his removal.

Sneaking out : It's a lot less difficult to simply sneak out under stealth, Invisibility, or Sanctuary, but you'll by-pass the challenge.

The 'read me' 'hints' file, while old and in need of updating, still contains some useful advice.

[SixOfSpades]

In short: Tactics is HARD. But beatable. The "beatability" varies greatly from component to component: Some, like the Improved Copper Coronet, you might not even notice, while others, like the Improved Small Teeth Pass, are just ridiculous in how much they expect you to overcome. But we're talking about Improved Ilyich here. The first 20 times you play it, II will kick your ass nine ways from Sunday. After you've learned it, however, you will be able to beat it without Resting or Reloading.
Improved Ilyich is a pain in the ass, but everything depends on your learning curve. If you can figure out what maneuvers can outwit your opponents, if you can learn which weapons will hurt what creatures, if you can observe your enemies' behavior and spot the weaknesses in their tactics, you will own them.

1) Know when to Run Away. If you don't, you will die.
2) Divide and Conquer whenever possible. If you don't, you will die.
3) Attempting to take on Ilyich's gang itself is not necessary to escape the dungeon, and therefore not recommended if you're having trouble with the rest of the place.
4) Stealth! Invisibility! Stealth! Invisibility!
5) BE CAREFUL!!!

[ADD:] Considering you only have one actual Warrior in your group, your odds of getting through Improved Ilyich in one piece are rather diminished. The Duergar "Wakeup Squad" essentially penalizes all classes who live by casting spells, tipping the balance toward classes who can keep doing their job for long periods of time, without Resting....which means Warriors. If I were you, I would recruit Minsc, and if/when he dies, get Jaheira. The last party with which I went through Ilyich and his gang (without Resting or Reloading) was all the NPCs to be had in Irenicus's Dungeon, with my PC being a Generic Archer who favored the Sling.

[ 09-02-2005, 02:55 PM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]

[lost prophet]

well i finally beat II (3rd try). in the end i hasted,imp. inv, chant etc my berserker and sent him around the corner to where illyich waits, the rest of the party took on the 3 warriors, mephit, mage and the green skinned monk who for some reason was there. the berserker took out the summoned deva,demon, illyich then died...

the rest of my party took out the warriors etc ( mage died ) and then the mage and crossbowmen. i then rested and raised dead my berserker, repeated and did the same to the mage. bit powergamey but hey in the end it worked i spose.