(IWD2) Chronicles of a HoF Party

[Dundee Slaytern]

"We cried and we wept.
We trembled as we slept."

- Perry Trachett

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Dear Diary,

It has been two and a half weeks since we set foot on this accursed tundra wasteland, and I am beginning to have great doubts on whether I will ever return to submit this biography to Mr Barnes for publishing. Simple job my silky-smooth ass! Had I known the dangers this assignment entailed, I would have punched him square in the eye and spit on his face.

The call for help had been deceptive. Goblins, they said. Easy pickings for any intrepid adventurer... usually. The danger signs first appeared when we sailed past the burning wrecks of ships that had set sail before us. "Goblins did this?" I still remember the words that came out of our party leader's lips as he surveyed the carnage floating upon the icy seas.

"Maybe they meant Hobgoblins?" was what Miss Peony said then, in an attempt to ease the mood.

"It ain't right, lass. They would haft to be Hobbies with fire in them eyes and wings on them feet to cause this much destruction," Rockhard had replied, our beloved unwashed Dwarven Barbarian.

Fortunately for us, or should that be unfortunately? Our ship docked at Targos without incident and after parting words with the Captain we stepped onto the dock only to be greeted by a corpse and two beaten men. They pointed out a Goblin behind them, hiding amidst the houses, and said a prayer for us as we strode forward to engage our foe.

We outnumbered the Goblin six to one, and it wasn't enough. Its axe was demoniacally keen and one blow from it caused poor Rockhard to suddenly see the important memories of his past four centuries. "Momma!" he had cried as he rolled limply backwards to the safety of his companions.

I was at a loss as to what to do. This was no "Goblin". This was some mutant Fiend/Dragon hybrid from the future with demonic powers disguised as a Goblin. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it, because I am not going to be the butt of jokes in Luskan when people tell me I was schooled by a "mere Goblin".

Later on, we would discover the reason for their formidableness. The Spine of the World radiated a strange energy called the Heart of Fury that empowered the local denizens. Being that we're outsiders, its effects on us was still minimal. As we spend more time in this region however, we'll greatly increase in strength and power as well.

How much time do we have to spend in this forsaken place however? I shudder to think of the fights ahead.

- Perry Trachett

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To me... two fights define the prologue. The damn warehouse, and the three-part Goblin invasion. You will need to plan your party to fight these two fights early on, or you will need to restart your game all over again.

The warehouse is particularly aggravating as most folks will refuse to trade with you until you eliminate all the Goblins in the docks. I have yet to think of a strategy to settle this fight without summons. My Barbarian had an AC of 20, but he might as well be butt naked given that the Goblins manage to land ALL of their blows onto him. He basically died in two rounds if there were no summons to distract some of the Goblins.

In fact, I am beginning to think that AC is pointless in HoF-mode as I can't seem to make the enemy stop hitting my tanks despite all the Banes, Prayers, Recitations, etc... I cast. If Goblins can behave as though they have permanent Critical Hits, then I think it suffice to say that AC is not going to be worth a crap in the later stages. I would regret giving my Barbarian a DEX score of 18, except it unwittingly made him into an excellent archer. Yeah, you read that right. I'm using a Barbarian as an Archer.

Going back to the warehouse, the initial charge was just to cluster ALL the Goblins near the entrance. Once this was done, exit the whole party. Using my Bard, I casted Invisibility on my Barbarian and my Paladin/Cleric. Sending this two in, I positioned them to the far right, out of sight of the Goblins and summoned as many summons as I could while my Barbarian acted as a Guardian for the Cleric if any of the Goblins decide to ignore the summons and head for the PCs. Killing 1-2 Goblins at a time, the duo would then sprint towards the exit, picking up the loot along the way, and resting the whole party to repeat the process.

The... Goblin invasion only posed one problem. You need to have a healthy supply of summoning spells, or the Goblins will simply overwhelm the party. Remember, these are magical Goblins that can never miss a hit. Blessed, Aided, Prayed, Recitated Barbarians with 28 CON and 23 AC will die within 2 rounds (tried and tested) if there are no summons to act as a meatwall. I literally received new summoning spells mid-battle when my Sorcerer and Bard levelled up (Spider Spawn and Summon Monster III/IV respectively).

The first wave is simple enough. Quickly move the party down out of sight of the Goblins and conjure some summons first. Once done, move the summons up followed by your party to attract the Goblins. If you do this fast enough, the Goblins will focus all their attention on the summons, allowing the neutral Weapon Instructor to assist you in dispatching them. So long as a PC is in sight, the Goblins will ignore any neutral NPC.

The con of keeping the neutrals alive is that you do not get XP from their kills, but given that this is going to be a battle of endurance, the trade-off is worth it.

After the cutscene of the second wave, quickly send one party member to where they spawned. Bait the leader into following the party member back to where the rest of your party and summons are. If possible, try to bait the Goblin(s) that the neutrals are attacking as well, so that the neutrals will follow you all the way back. Make the bait run around the summons until the Goblin stops chasing him/her, or until they are all slain.

For the third wave, move your party along the right side to the top of the map where Olam and two other neutrals are stationed. Use up all your remaining summons for this fight. The Goblins will automatically move towards your party after they dispatch the gate guards and will be distracted by your summons, ignoring the three neutrals. Sandwiched between your party and the three neutrals, the Goblins will be mowed down pretty hard. So long as there are summons around to distract them.

Cheers.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Oh, and before anybody asks. I started off with a brand-new Lvl-01 party of six, not an imported one.

ADD]

Gabriel Duskbane
Aasimar
Sorcerer
Will probably keep it pureclassed.

Rockhard Smashalot
Shield Dwarf
Barbarian
Pondering whether to add Fighter levels...

Marina Ismal
Aasimar
Monk of the Broken Order
Will eventually be Monk(20)/Cleric of Ilmater(10)

Peony
Human
Transmuter/Fighter
Will eventually be 24/06

Selena Purelight
Aasimar
Paladin of Ilmater/Cleric of Ilmater
Will eventually be 02/28

Perry Tratchett
Lightfoot Halfling
Bard/Rogue
Will eventually be 11/19

Cheers.

[Kakero]

In HOF mode, you need an AC of at least 72 to survive. This is achievable by going mad multiclassing and buffing your character to the max. You can check some threads here on the board on how to do a mad multiclassing. If you can't reach this number (AC72), don't bother trying to tank.

If you do not want to do a mad multiclassing. The other character that can tank, albeit only for a few round, is a pure monk. While a monk might seem weak at first, upon level 20 onwards. The monk can actually tank in Hof mode. Another advantage of a monk is that the monk's ability to dodge/evade spells.

While in normal mode you tanker and other meleer dominate the run of play. Upon Hof mode, your strategy will involve summoning (animate dead, shade, cacofiend, gate), casting paralyzing spell (symbol of hopelessness, hold enemy) , one hit kill spell ( finger of death , disintergrate, wail of banshee , horrid wilting ). Casting buff spell (magic circle against evil, mass haste. Or even spells that lower down your enemy's save's (malison).

So yeah, in Hof mode you summoner/caster dominate the play while your meleer just either stand and watch. So it's better to have more caster/summoner (cleric,wizard,sorceror) than a none caster. A good choice of party for Hof mode would be having 4 caster/summoner and 2 none caster/summoner. Other opinions might differ.

Btw, in Hof mode as you can see. Your melee will be standing far away shooting arrows/bolts/stone. You can give him the crossbow that is found on the dreugar's cave (chapter 4) , the one where it can shoot 3 bolts per round. Or you can give him the polearm that has a very long reach (bought in chapter prologue from the shop in town, can't remember the name).

Add : If you start from lv1 in Hof mode (it's doable), I'm not too fond of using an ECL race. Since you need spells asap. Having an ECL race might hamper your party.

[Aerich]

I'm not sold on "needing" AC 72 to survive. AC in the 60s will protect you fairly well against most enemies, but you'll get hit almost every time with an AC of 40.

Note that there is a bug with respect to multiclassed monks. A monk that gains a BAB point from another class loses the special monk attack progression.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally Posted by Aerich I'm not sold on "needing" AC 72 to survive. AC in the 60s will protect you fairly well against most enemies, but you'll get hit almost every time with an AC of 40. Note that there is a bug with respect to multiclassed monks. A monk that gains a BAB point from another class loses the special monk attack progression.

I'll probably try the high AC path next time. The AI so far has been very tedious. If they so much as see any of the PCs, they will ignore the summons and attack the nearest PC, turning the game into a mockery of a badly-made WeiDU mod where the player is expected to clickity-click-click the targeted PC as he/she leads the AI on a merry chicken chase route, while the rest of the party is ignored and can merrily shoot away with their missile weapons.

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I already regret making Marina into a Monk. She is currently the burden/liability of the party, and barely contributes any worth in combat.

All she does now is sling, sling and sling. She can barely last a round in melee.

Cheers.

[Black Swan Gauntlet]

Hmm. Are you going to delete her or let her stay on?

On a second note, how far along are you? I surmise from the first post you've left Targos?

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally Posted by Black Swan Gauntlet Hmm. Are you going to delete her or let her stay on? On a second note, how far along are you? I surmise from the first post you've left Targos?

She'll stay. No one gets left behind in the games I play.

About to assault the Goblin Fortress. Spending some time to tweak the AI Scripts.

Cheers.

[Kakero]

From my experience monks are better as a tank than the warrior class (fighter,barbarian,paladin) in HOF. The big problem is that monks don't shine until they are lvl20. Until then they are almost useless.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally Posted by Kakero From my experience monks are better as a tank than the warrior class (fighter,barbarian,paladin) in HOF. The big problem is that monks don't shine until they are lvl20. Until then they are almost useless.

Are you referring to the 20/+1 PhyDmg reduction? Pardon me, but I don't quite see how that's going to help when Orcs and Half-Goblins already deal 50-60+ dmg, and any enemy that has enchanted weaponry ignores the reduction value.

Hmm...

[Kakero]

Simple my dear, it makes the monk last a round or two longer than the traditional warriors. I did point that out in my first post didn't I?