Question about Difficulty – Includes Small First Scene Spoiler

[kopema]

I just bought IWD/HoW. ($65.00, ouch!) Seems ok so far, but when I found the caravan and went into the orc cave, I got killed a bunch of times before taking out the shaman; then I got killed a bunch more times at the end trying to take out the ogre. I finally gave up on that and proceeded to the expedition without completing the cave. In the process, I had deaths and had to restart over 15 times.

I have a balanced party: Fighter, Paladin, Fighter (will later dual to mage), Cleric, Thief and Bard. I had mostly level one characters and a few level two. I was at default difficulty, and not auto-maxed hit points. I had armor ranging from studded leather to splint mail and the best standard weapons for the character’s skills. I tried using scout/draw and bow combinations as
much as possible.

For me a game such as this is only “fun” if each time I die I can spot my mistake and tell what I should have done differently. Having to save and re-load repeatedly until I hit upon a combination that will work is not fun for me, it’s just aggravating.

Can somebody tell me where I screwed up here? Was there someone I should have spoken to who would have told me not to go in there until I was more ready? Is there some sort of tactic that I should have known ahead of time to use in this situation? At this level, should I just expect an occasional death and deal with it until I can afford to resurrect? Should I never leave home without a mage to help out with Web spells?

I have lowered the difficulty level a bit now, but that seems a bit cheesy. I think I may try doing the auto-max hit point option. I would like to play with fewer than six characters, so I may even reduce the difficulty a bit more.

If my only choice is either unchallenging combat or occasional random death, I think I might just chuck the game and read a book.

[Wulfere]

Have you played Baldur's Gate or any other of these games?
I have and that is the way I felt when I started BG. I was expecting AD&D, but
I was sorely disapointed. These games are as much tactics as they are roleplay.
I do enjoy them but, they are difficult. Don't be discouraged by this.
These games require an understanding of the magic you can use and that of course modifies the tactics somewhat. I have found that bows go along way to helping the weaker characters survive. But so does magic. I would place the Big fighter types in the lead. Followed by the weaker characters. Do not allow your characters to be too widely spaced during an exploration. You want to take out
Big baddies first then concentrate more on the weaker ones. If possible funnel
bad guys into tight areas so that only a few can attack at a time. And if you see a spell caster kill it fast. Use bows or magic for them. Magic Missle works great for disrupting the enemy wizards spellcasting. It also pays to have plenty of healing potions on hand and spells for healing since IWD/HoW is mostly combat.


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[This message has been edited by Wulfere (edited 05-30-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Wulfere (edited 05-30-2001).]

[Fljotsdale]

WELCOME!

Just to add to Wulfere's comments:

Yes, it is a good idea to auto-maximise hit points. Saves a lot of trouble.

There are several things you can do in Easthaven before you attempt the Caravan quest. Walk round and talk to people to get minor quests. There are 4 I can think of off-hand. These should take your level up to 2 for most of your team, and will gain you a few items to sell plus a little cash. Before you go out of Easthaven MAKE SURE you have given your team the best armour & weapons you can afford. Also, make sure they all have ranged weapons & ammo, even if they don't have skill points allotted to ranged weapons. This is especially important for Mages, Bards & Thieves.

Attack tactics: Have your Thief go into Stealth mode and walk ahead till she sees an enemy. Now, have her shoot the enemy ONCE and run back to the team. The enemy will chase her and the team can shoot him from a distance. If he gets close, use melee weapons. This 'shoot and run' tactic works pretty well! You will sometimes get more than one following your Thief, but rarely the whole lot of 'em. If things ARE getting too hot, have the WHOLE team run for the exit, get outside, and heal 'em. If not enough healing spells, then just rest till healed and go back in.

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[This message has been edited by Fljotsdale (edited 05-31-2001).]