1st Tactics game. (Full of spoilers)

[Ilyich]

In this thread I will chronicle my progress through BGII (SOA and TOB) while using the Tactics mod, among others. Since this is my 1st game with this mod any advice from regular users of the mod is welcome.

The mods I am using are as follows:

Tactics (except Improved Irenicus, toughest random spawns, wilderness encounters and streamlined trolls) Imp. Irenicus got an error, the others I chose not to install.

Some of Ease-of-Use
Item Upgrade
Underrep. Items
Divine Remix (the extra kits didn't show up on my game for some reason though)
Rogue Rebalancing
Ding0's tweak pack
Oversight
Unfinished Business
G3 tweak pack
Some of the Ding0 quest pack
NPC kit pack
Virtue


So far my progress has been promising, I have dealt with one Duergar party, and have reached the sewage golem. One of the above mods makes traps sensitive to every creature on the map, so Ilyich, Rasputin, Karamazov, Zhivago and the Neophyte Glabrezu have all triggered one of the traps on the 1st level of CI, wasting several potions and in the case of Zhivago, a Heal spell. More updates as I progress.

Edit:
My character, Amschat B'hal Zoon is a CE Anti-Paladin with the following stats. (Edited in Shadowkeeper to get the effects of the BGI tomes. The original roll was a 93)

Str: - 18/75
Dex: - 18
Con: - 19
Int: - 11
Wis: - 16
Cha: - 19

[ 10-28-2005, 05:10 AM: Message edited by: Ilyich ]

[Ilyich]

A small update. The Neophyte Glabrezu is dead from a trap, and several more Duergar parties have been killed. I have the Portal Key, and there is one more party to deal with (guarding the portal near the Dryads) before I go to level 2.

[krunchyfrogg]

If you edited the stats for the BGI tomes, why is your strength an 18/75?

[Ilyich]

krunchyfrogg, that was the strength roll on the unmodified stat roll, ie before adding or subtracting stats. I subtracted a point of strength to add to constitution, and then shadowkeepered the point of strength. The exceptional strength (the 75) would have returned with a tome, wouldn't it?

[Ilyich]

I finished Chateau Irenicus earlier today, my impressions of the components I have encountered are below:

Spoilers
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Improved Ilyich.
The duergar parties that spawn in the dungeon are a welcome change from the goblins that they replace. The Proliteriats are good fighters, but once you figure out their flaws, they are fairly easy to defeat, though they have a surprisingly long range with those war hammers.

The mages also provide a good challenge, especially the first group, where the only magic weapon available is the dagger. They have also shown me that Melf's Minute Meteors is very dangerous if used well.

The Greater Otyugh was not too bad, although this is primarily because I got lucky with a Nymph (summoned by Jaheira) and its Hold Monster spell.

Ilyich and his gang was, as I expected very tough, even though they used all their potions recovering HP lost from the trap near the Cambion. (A component of the Ding0 tweak pack allows NPC's to trigger traps) The dialogue was very funny, and I was lucky enough that I managed to escape from Ilyich after the dialogue, as I had not yet been to the second level. Upon returning, Rasputin was killed by the Cambion trap, and I was attacked by the Golem, who was reasonably difficult. More Cambion trap madness followed, with Karamazov coming off best. (Least HP lost)

Zhivago never got his Deva thanks to some Larloch's Minor Drain, and along with Ilyich, fell to some traps (placed by Yoshimo) in the corridor between the Otyugh room and the Dryads. This was after a reload, which was required after Ilyich took out my party alone and unaided.

Karamazov fell to a full party rush just beyond the library. The acorns were a useful summon for the Air Plane and Mencar's group, and will likely prove useful later.

The mass buffing employed by the mages I have encountered is another excellent way of improving mage fights, from what I have seen so far.

As you can see from the text above, I got lucky in CI, and I will likely redo this part of the game without the NPC Trap triggering component of the Ding0 tweak pack, in order to see how hard Ilyich and his gang really are.
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Spoilers.

To end this post, I would like to share some suggestions for Improved Ilyich that I feel will improve the general feel of the component. Feel free to counter these suggestions with any neccessary arguments and rebuttals.

1. Instead of Ilyich and the gang scouting from the moment you escape. have a Duergar Scout in the library instead of the mephit. The purpose of the scout is to warn Ilyich about the escape of the party. From then on Ilyich will patrol from his room to the Otyugh room (in pairs perhaps) until their death. (or yours) If pairs are better I would suggest Ilyich and Rasputin, and Zhivago and Karamazov together. The golem and glabrezu could pair up as well. This is mainly for the benefit of those with the NPC Trap triggering installed, which can cause the death of one or more members of the gang before you even encounter them. Perhaps the scout could have an increased movement speed to avoid getting killed by the party. He could even join the patrols later.

2. The duergar mages have a name that perhaps does not do them justice. They are the leaders of the duergar parties from what I can discern from the dialogue, so perhaps a name like Duergar Battlemage or something similar.

3. If possible, add a couple more duergar parties on the second level, it is very easy compared to the first level.

4. Finally, a suggestion for Item Upgrade. Ilyich's cold hammer, in my opinion, would make a useful weapon if combined with Ashideena and a scroll of Aganazzars Scorcher to create a +4 hammer that does extra fire, cold, and electricity damage. Its damage could be 1d4+5 +2 fire, +2 cold, +2 electricity. Perhaps a cost of 10,000 gold.

Also, if possible, could the Mercykiller ring be combined with the Gloves of the Master Thief, adding both effects together in one item, again for 10,000 gold.

Apologies for the length.

[ 10-19-2005, 03:56 PM: Message edited by: Ilyich ]

[Cam_H]

Originally posted by Ilyich: I got lucky in CI, and I will likely redo this part of the game without the NPC Trap triggering component of the Ding0 tweak pack, in order to see how hard Ilyich and his gang really are.

I would encourage that. I'm no mind reader, but I imagine that the authors didn't accommodate for the dungeon floor traps causing (so much) damage to the Russians.

I'm pleased that you're giving the Anti-Paladin kit a shot, but in my experience it was unbalanced due principally to the 'dispel magic on hit' feature.

What level of difficulty are you playing on?

[Armen]

i like the idea of the NPC trap component if it was also possible to make the party set off your own thief traps . .

enjoy exploring more of tactics

[Ilyich]

Cam_H, I'm playing on Core rules.

I have a question about the game. Is it possible for me to get Edwin and side with Bodhi?

The reason I ask is I wish to have an evil party (Korgan, Edwin, Viconia and Mr.S, along with Jan or Imoen for thievery) and also wish to side with Bodhi, which I have never done before, and it will enable me to skip Improved Bodhi until Chapter 6, when I am far more likely to be ready for the fight.

[ 10-20-2005, 11:16 AM: Message edited by: Ilyich ]

[Armen]

you can get Edwin easily - just complete the thieves guild quests (renal bloodscalp / maevar) and recurit Edwin before you agree to work with bodhi

[Ilyich]

I've made minor progress today. I did Maevars quests and picked up Edwin, sorted out Baron Ployer, and am now about to complete Korgans and Edwins quests. The only problem being large amounts of Improved Undead and my parties low levels.