Frustrated with Fighting

[250]

Originally posted by Lady Avalon: Hi All, Thanks so much for the great advice. I will try to be more patient and check out those options you mentioned. I am sure I will be back, but hopefully it will be with a different problem. The response on this board is absolutely fantastic.

maybe this isnt a good idea, but you can try cheating a little. start by power up your party with items/spells that you arent supposed to have.

it is not a bad thing, play around with them, read the descriptions and know what those things do. later on, when you start to play serious games, you will have a clear idea of what is going on. it really helps.

Infinity engine combat system does take a little getting used to. You will get better and it will just be second nature in the end (if you play it as much as most of us do)

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[Grebki]

I like to micromanage -- I don't use the scripts and turn AI off becasue I've frequently found my characters doing things that get them (or others) killed. What I do is select each character and set up which weapon (or spell) they are going to use and which specific creature to attack -- I like to have *all* party members rain destruction on the most powerful foe until it dies first before I spend a single attack on lesser creatures. I can't stand when someone attacks, say, the summoned orc rather than the Efreet for example (oooh, 30 damage to the 5hp orc, whooop de do , uh how about that dragon over there Minsc? Perhaps it deserves a share of the butt-kicking for goodness, don't ya think?)

-Grebki (a.k.a. The control freak)
P.S. Occaisonally for really easy battles, I will turn on AI or use the defend button (that little shield button -- it's great for hacking large numbers of orcs or similar).


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Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. And then I went and made at least three of them come true before lunch.

[Epona]

Grebki: I'm a 'micromanager' too, hence the obsession with the autopause function!

One more point on battles, I usually don't have each character target a different enemy, because once 1 enemy is dead, that's 1 less attack on your party. I would rather have 5 uninjured and 1 dead enemy than 6 barely injured enemies!! Once they're dead they can't hurt you any more.

I generally have all my party target 1 enemy (a mage if there is one, get the spellcasters out of the way quickly) at a time, unless there is more than one spellcaster, or unless an enemy gets close enough for melee combat, in which case I will also switch to melee with the nearest fighter, leaving the rest of the party to carry on ranged attacks on the spellcasters.

Another point about casting spells is that once you have cast a spell, you must wait for the next round before another one can be cast.
For instance: Your Mage casts magic missile at an enemy. You select another spell straight away and target it at an enemy. Your mage will stand and do nothing for the rest of that round, because it has already cast one spell. At the beginning of the NEXT round, she will start to cast the new spell.

Casting time for the spell also has an effect, the lower the casting time, the quicker the spell will shoot from the casters hands. Magic missile has a casting time of 1, so seems almost instantaneous. Fireball has casting time 3, so will involve a little 'hand waving' from your mage before anything happens. Disintegrate has casting time 6, so will seem to take ages before anything happens.

The same applies with potions - one gulp per round only - if you have a character drink a potion and then another one straight away, nothing will happen until the next round.

1 round = 6 seconds
1 turn = 10 rounds (60 seconds)

6 seconds can seem like an awful lot of standing waiting when you're mid-battle!

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Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

My personal preference is to completely disable the AI, and have Auto-Pause on: Spell Cast, Enemy sighted, Weapon unusable, trap spotted, enemy dead. I give orders to everyone. It doesn't take long when you're used to it

[Dog of War]

I just like running around.... Then when the monstors are thouroughly confused I unleash HELL. OK, really I give everyone a bunch of sticks and stones and have them hurl at the beasties and I take my palidan and whack at everyone. Not very scienetific, but I like racking up the kills. But I like the AI scripts too. Minsc loves to fight Valgyr stands there like he has a pole shoved up his.. So I just pause and say Hey Valgyr go hit that person over there really hard with your big sword that I so kindly stuck in your hand. Yea... the harp shiny thing, go beat it against the guy who is breathing fire on the hot little elf, crying for her life. Very good.. Oh and another fun strategy is similar to a previous remark by someone else. I give staffs to the mages in the back so they can bonk the bad guys on the head behind the guys with the big swords.... Does this help at all?

[sossages]

Hi There

seems like you have got a wealth of useful advice, but for what its worth
I Tend to keep the AI lantern off but keep all the autopause options off
as well and ride the space bar instead. That way you can pause when first sighting an enemy etc- do all your moves/actions, unpause and let everything
flow again until you feel the need to pause again and issue new orders-
it gives it more of a fluid feel i find, without it stopping
every nanosecond to tell you that thrud has stubbed his toe.
cheers Sossages

[Raistlin]

I like control. Never goofed with scripts and gave instructions to each member for every turn of every battle. Sometimes I did notice characters wandering but after I learned what to watch for I just gave him a new instruction if he wandered. I probably should have used some scripting and the lantern thing (still not sure what it does) but I did fine. I also split my characters attack among enemies usually no more than three seperate group attacks. Also kill the mages first

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Balance

[Dimension X]

If you can gain some levels first, it will be easier.

Try spells like Lower Resists and Pierce Magic

Also, I don't really recommend taking a dragon at this stage -- your HP may not be enough and your saving throws are not that good...Try later, at around level 10.

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A Drawn Sword;
A Trickle Of Blood;
The Tempest Is Brewing.
Nemesis....

I covered my anti-dragon tactics in the "Sorcerers, Greater Werewolves and Dragons" page. I like Auto-Pause on Enemy Sighted, as it allowed me to attack and kill the Underdark Lich during his cut-scene