My 1st Tactics game, a continuation. (Spoilers everywhere)

[Ilyich]

After an eight month break from BGII, I have decided to continue my Tactics game, using the Anti-Paladin kit.

The initial thread is here: -

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...c;f=2;t=025338

For those who remember, I had reached Chapter 6 in game, and was beginning my journey through Watcher's Keep. I'd beaten Kangaxx, Shangalar, Lich in the Docks, the Ritual and all SOA Dragons. This first post will detail the second level of WK and my fight with the Red Badge.

WK Level 2.

There is nothing much to say about this, except that I wish that Tactics improved the Chromatic Demon. As it is, he is just a 95% physical damage resistant 200HP fighter, and as such is pathetically easy to beat.

The Red Badge.

This was a very interesting fight, although it wasn't too hard to beat once I got the strategy, which took 3 reloads. The first attempt was doomed from the start for 2 reasons, the first being that I didn't expect to be summoned so did no pre-prep, and second, it was a dry run, to see whether I would need unenchanted weapons. The second and third attempts ended because the PC (Amschat B'hal Zoon) died.

The details of the victorious fourth attempt are as follows.

The Party.

Amschat B'hal Zoon. Level 22 Anti-Paladin. Dual-wields a Long Sword* and Crom Faeyr.
Korgan. Level 21 Battlerager. (Basically a Berserker.) Wields CF +5.
Viconia. Level 23 Cleric.
Edwin. Level 18 Red Wizard / Conjurer. (Red Wizard is just a kit name to the amulet effect.)
Imoen. Level 20 Conjurer, Level 7 Thief Dual-Class.
Jan. Level 17 Thief, Level 14 Illusionist Multi-Class.

* Either Daystar +4 or a normal Long Sword, whichever is appropriate.

Pre Battle Preperation.
Everyone gets 1 Potion of Invisibility and 1 Antidote each. Auto pause set to end of round and enemy defeated. That is it.

The Battle.

Round 1. Everyone uses their invisibility potion and moves behind Bloodcaster (the top-right enemy.) Amschat accidentally uses his potion half a second later and gets the attention of Redspike (the bottom left enemy) who moves up to Fallowmists position at the top of the area. Fallowmist attacks Edwin, who has the lowest HP. The Red Badge launch their Poison Clouds.

Round 2. Edwin, moves forward and casts Protection from Magic Weapons, getting the attention of Bloodcaster, Redspike and Bittersnake who along with Fallowmist, attack him en masse, to no avail. Amschat attacks Fallowmist with a normal Long Sword and Crom Faeyr in the off-hand. Imoen and Jan each use Magic Missile on Fallowmist. Korgan attacks Redspike.

Round 3. Amschat kills Fallowmist, switches to Daystar, and joins Korgan in attacking Redspike. Imoen and Jan each use Magic Missile on Redspike. Edwin summons a Dark Planetar next to Bloodcaster. Viconia summons Improved Kitthix, also next to Bloodcaster.

Round 4. Edwin and Imoen cast Improved Haste on Korgan and Amschat. Jan uses Magic Missile on Redspike again. Planetar and Kitthix continue attacking Bloodcaster.

Round 5. Edwin recasts PfMW. Redspike dies, Korgan and Amschat attack Bittersnake. Kitthix webs Bloodcaster and is Project Forced to Bloodspear, who enters the battle for the first time. The Planetar heals itself and then kills Bloodcaster.

Round 6. Bittersnake dies, and Amschat, Korgan and the Planetar go to fight Bloodspear, who is still fighting Kitthix. He dies within a round. I pick up Bloodbane and leave. I did not need the Antidotes.

In my opinion, the Red Badge fight is a good one, although I am powergaming and using a very overpowered class.

After the fight, I went to De'Arnise Keep, met Lord Roenall, and went to Athkatla to take on Improved Bodhi.

[ 11-08-2006, 05:03 AM: Message edited by: Ilyich ]

[Kyrvias]

Interesting. I might have to install tactics again

[Ilyich]

I have now managed to reach TOB. Details on Improved Bodhi and Chapter 7 below.

Improved Bodhi.

I don't know what to say about this really, the vampires on the 1st floor were pathetically easy to defeat. Beating a horde of "improved" vampires with Amschat and Korgan without taking a hit is a bit annoying really.

Downstairs was a little better. The vampire mages actually posed a meagre threat, although they were eventually cut down. As for Bodhi, a script error rendered her unable to turn hostile. I had to attack her while she was blue circled. In the first phase, she seems to have some kind of level draining counter-attack, which I liked. After the Heal however, it just stops happening. A bit disappointing really.

Chapter 7.

There were very few noteworthy fights here. The black dragon in Suldanessalar tried to melee Amschat, so much for smarter dragons. In the Hell Trials i took the good rewards for Fear and Wrath, and Neutral for Pride, Selfish and Greed. The final fight was vanilla SOA, and as such is completely irrelevant.

Opinions so far.

This next section will detail what I think about the Mod components I have encountered so far. Any responses are most welcome. If I suggest any changes that would revert a component back to a previous release, then I apologise.

Tactics.

Anti-Paladin kit.
The most ridiculously overpowered kit I have ever played. The Dispel on hit is far too powerful, I would prefer the Unholy Reaver to be the only access to melee Dispel Magic this kit has. I have to admit however, that the Dispel was the only reason I won some fights. (Kuroisan especially)

Improved Ilyich.
The dwarf parties I thought were an excellent replacement for the goblins. Like I said in the first thread, I would prefer it if the Ilyich party patrolled in pairs from their room to the library, like so: -

Ilyich and Rasputin.
Zhivago and the Golem.
Karamazov and the Glabrezu.

I also think more dwarves on the second floor. Maybe one last party guarding the exit.

Improved Spellcasters.
An excellent addition to the game, which unfortunately is rendered completely obsolete by the Anti-Paladin's dispel on hit. Even so, ADHW is much preffered to the weaker spells cast by vanilla mages. I would suggest however that a Maze cast on strongest visible opponent would be a good tactic, although only Level 16 mages or above should cast it. ForceCasting should also be taken away, except for the initial buff script so that enemy casters actually cast their spells.

Smarter SOA Dragons.
Why do the so called smarter SOA dragons try to melee Amschat exclusively until they die? I don't know the answer to this, but it is very irritating. Dragons are supposed to be very intelligent creatures, yet will only use their breath on summoned creatures. This is ridiculous behaviour and I would much rather they use Death Spell instead. (Where appropriate, Gated creatures should still be breathed on) I only rarely saw Wing Buffet too. Edit: This is mainly a criticism of the Black Dragon in Suld. Adalon, Firkraag and the Shadow Dragon were fine if I remember right.

Improved Undead.
A decent upgrade, although it only really has a marked effect before Spellhold. Any undead you summon should also be affected by this upgrade.

Continued next post.

[ 11-07-2006, 06:17 AM: Message edited by: Ilyich ]

[Ilyich]

Opinions.

Improved Maevar.
A very tough fight for low level parties, and also the first place I first saw the power of Mislead. However, I believe the upper floors of the Guild Hall are too weak compared to Maevars band, and should become slightly tougher.

Improved Torgal.
A nice component that makes Spirit Trolls a fair fight for their 12,000 EXP. Torgal however suffers from the eternal problem of being extremely thick. I believe his AI could be tweaked slightly so that he doesn't become blind to everything but the first thing he sees.

Improved Druid Grove.
A welcome change from the cakewalk that is the SOA version, although Cernd dealt with Faldorn with impressive ease. I think this component is fine as it is for now.

Improved Sahaugin City.
While I agree that this place needed a boost, I think the sahaugin bolts are too strong (1d10 instead of 1d8) while the fish themselves are, I believe scripted well. The fact that they will only melee anyone with the Shield of Reflection in their backpack, rather than equipped is a bit strange.

Improved Liches.
Apart from the spellbook edit from Imp.Spellcasters, I didn't see much of a difference against lone liches, who still die quickly to Daystar. I like the changes and I believe this component is fine as it is. None of the components that improve liches need changing, except Kangaxx (see below)

Kangaxx.
His guardians were strong in that there were 2 liches and a powerful fighter, but splitting them up makes short work of them. Replacing the Skeleton Warriors, which are obsolete by Chapter 6 with something stronger, such as a Bone Golem and a Greater Mummy would be better.

Twisted Rune.
In my opinion, the best Tactics component by a long way. It turns a mediocre fight into something truly epic. It almost killed Amschat when I did it, and anything that can almost kill an Anti-Paladin is fine with me. No changes required.

Lich in the Docks.
Not much to say here, except that she is essentially a lone Lich, and as such not much of a challenge in Chapter 6.

The Ritual.
The guards of the skull are an excellent mix of well made enemies who pose a reasonable challenge even on Chapter 6. As for Pontifex, I can only say that all dragons were like this, minus the Time Stop in a Chain Contingency, obviously.

Kuroisan.
An interesting fight, even if it is completely ruined by dispel on hit. I think his voice is annoying, and his weapon overpowered, but I quite liked the fight and the way he can use doors to avoid damage effectively.

Apologies for the length of the posts and wait between updates.

[Harkoliar]

nice stuff there [img]smile.gif[/img] you should add a spoiler tag in your title thread though. Lots of spoils here. Besides that good job!

[Neo the Warrior Cat]

I never really liked Kuriosan. His weapon is too powerful and there's a really cheap way to kill him if you have the right character for the job. (Besides the Anti-Paladin)


Most of Tactics I liked. The Improved Bhaalspawn is pretty awesome and had me on the edge quite a few times. Never installed the forest areas, not really in love with "Script: ForceCast Dragon Breath, Red on Enter" either.

[Ilyich]

Apologies for the delay, but I have beaten Gromnir and am now finishing off Watcher's Keep. Updates for TOB will not have much to them as I don't have Ascension.

[Ilyich]

Watcher's Keep is completed and I used the Deck to give my party an extra 1,300,000 exp. The Final Guardians (Y'tossi and the others with him) were harder than expected, although pre-summons of a fallen Planetar, 2 Mordy's and Imp.Kitthix were useful. Demogorgon fell in about 12 seconds.

Also, could anyone give me the stats on the Improved Fire Giants from Tactics? I just fought my first 2 and they lasted almost 2 minutes of Magic Missile, Horrid Wilting, the Gesen Bow and Bloodbane before finally dying. This scares me a little because the Fire Giant lair has at least 8 at the entrance alone.

[ 12-02-2006, 05:40 AM: Message edited by: Ilyich ]

[SixOfSpades]

A single nameless Improved Fire Giant would waste Improved Yaga-Shura and his entire army (provided that the Fire Giants in his army are not Improved) six times before breakfast.

[Kyrvias]

No joke there. Kind of rediculous, I think.