Pathfinding woes

[Gimli]

Well I have gotten as far as I ever have in this game (have played it alot in the past but with chronic restart syndrome). I am just about done with level 3 of Dragon's Eye now, have what I think is the strongest party I've ever made. Problem is the most challenging thing has been the pathfinding! My characters, especially the Bard (probably because he's in the 6th slot) keep making the most stupid path decisions, going through traps left and right (have had to raise the Bard twice already in Dragon's Eye). And I find myself doing alot of micromanagement just to keep them from taking crazy routes. I wish this was something someone had mod'ed - something like "sticky" pathfinding where the whole party always sticks together as close as possible as they walk from place to place. Otherwise tho I've had alot of fun and think I will probably go to the end this time. I guess it would be better if I had a small party but still, it just doesn't seem the algorithm should be this bad for 6 guys.

[Zaleukos]

You can set waypoints by shiftclicking along the desired route. That helps a lot

[lost prophet]

the strongest party you've made yet,whats in it?. hope you get to the end, i also have CRS so i never have.

[Gimli]

Hey - well they are the best I've made for this game, here is the lineup:

Gringle:
Deep Gnome Monk - MA | sling/shield
Role: basically he scouts and is the "bait" that I try to let monsters see first, and is quite hard to hit. Great for speed tactics too.

Tulak:
1/2 Orc Fighter(4)/Barb(X) - bastard sword/shield | sling/shield
Role: the "hammer" who comes in after the monk, amazing tank. Lots of great bastard swords in this game!

Cragg:
Dwarf Cleric(X) of Tempus - 2-H axe | sling/shield
Role: buffs/heals the party and summons alot. Backup tank.

Drala:
Wild Elf Druid - scimitar/shield | long bow
Role: nature's blaster, evocation specialist. Wow is that great with how high Wis can get in this game too [img]smile.gif[/img] I now think this is about the strongest class in the game. Also does some buffing/healing.

Tribel:
Hobbit Bard - dagger/lyre | crossbow
Role: enchanter/backup healer, and also sings, sings sings - War Chant of the Sith is amazing. I usually don't like bards but he really comes in handy. Also is the party leader/talker.

Pharen:
Human Wizard - dagger | crossbow
Role: skill machine, also specialized in evoaction and transmutation. Also is the "thief" of the group.

They were on the last level of Dragon's Eye when last I left off, and I think I like them enough to not restart this time. All are level 15 except the Monk (who read a certain book..) - he is 13.

I min-maxed pretty shamelessly so their stats are really good. I wanted a power-party I could get through the parts of the game I already knew quickly with the idea that I might go all the way for a change, and so far it's worked pretty well. They just have a ton of magic and more than enough muscle and can cut through quite a bit before I need to rest.

[Gimli]

BTW thanks for the tip Zaleukos - of course once I read it I was past the worst of Dragon's Eyes traps, but that's just Murphy's Law for you =)

[Gimli]

Well I have not restarted and have finished up Dragon's Eye (and damn the last level was a surprise in terms of how many times you have to re-play it, almost like a Star Trek episode with the temporal stasis thing). I left off having repaid the debt owed to Nickadeamus and think I was right at the beginning of the fields of slaughter. Work and a nasty sinus infection have limited my playing time, but I am hoping that next weekend I'll feel better and get some time for "slaughtering" and have a feeling I will make it through.

[Gimli]

I think I am getting very very close [img]smile.gif[/img] Just managed to complete the Ilmater ritual this morning (was not expecting the fight with Xvim and he was kind of a PITA). Isair and Madae better start to worry. And I have avoided the tempation to restart, or start another TOEE game (now there is a way to let TOEE allow you to create 8 PCs which is making me want to give it another go). But I will finish this first, I will not give into CRS!

[Magness]

Gimli, if you've never faced I&M before, I think that you'll find that they are every bit as tougha battle as any you've faced in IWD2. Without spoiling anything, you will get a chance to be fully buffed before facing them.

Good luck!

[krunchyfrogg]

I don['t want to pick your party apart with criticism as my intent. My intent is to help myself build a stronger party (so please don't be offended!).

Originally posted by Gimli: Gringle: Deep Gnome Monk - MA | sling/shield Role: basically he scouts and is the "bait" that I try to let monsters see first, and is quite hard to hit. Great for speed tactics too.

Interesting! Do you feel like the ecl penalty has come back to bite this guy? I had created a monk human with the intent of having the character as a scout/decoy type, but I think this build is better. How did you set up your stats with him?

Originally posted by Gimli: Drala: Wild Elf Druid - scimitar/shield | long bow Role: nature's blaster, evocation specialist. Wow is that great with how high Wis can get in this game too [img]smile.gif[/img] I now think this is about the strongest class in the game. Also does some buffing/healing.

With that "how high a Wis in this game" line, do you think it's worth adding a single level of Monk to a druid build and taking advantage of that high wisdom? I know it's probably not an option with an elven druid, but I don't know which race I'll choose.

Originally posted by Gimli: Tribel: Hobbit Bard - dagger/lyre | crossbow Role: enchanter/backup healer, and also sings, sings sings - War Chant of the Sith is amazing. I usually don't like bards but he really comes in handy. Also is the party leader/talker.

Coolness. Can I ask you how you distributed his stats? I'm looking for a similar character, but I think I'll boost his intelligence to the max and have him cover my rogue side too.

Originally posted by Gimli: Pharen: Human Wizard - dagger | crossbow Role: skill machine, also specialized in evoaction and transmutation. Also is the "thief" of the group.

Does he have a level of rogue?


Do you feel like you're missing anything with only one wiz/sorc? I see a lot of "power parties" and they have tons of these types. Also, do you miss a paladin? What about tactics like squatting... have you ever had to do anything like that?

Sorry for rambling, I'm just very interested!~

[Gimli]

For the Monk, I used a certain book in the Black Raven Monastery, so that offset the ECL somewhat. I really don't think the ECL hurt him too much (I did have the patch for deep gnome starting exp installed). With his AC and blurs/mirror images he is very elusive. His stats are now (15 lvl):

ST 19 DX 20
CO 14 IN 3
WI 20 CH 1

I didn't take any Monk levels for the druid - thought a Wild Elf was a cool RP choice and also didn't want the EXP penalty. I don't think it's a bad idea at all though, and I even think some Monk abilities also carry over and apply while wild-shaped, so it sounds like a good combination from what I have read.

The Bard's stats (16th lvl):

ST 8 DX 14
CO 10 IN 16
WI 10 CH 22

My Wizard didn't take any Rogue levels. The Bard did help out with the searching.

I felt like this group was still pretty magic-heavy, seeing as I had 3 pure casters (Druid, Cleric and Wizard), plus the Bard. And in this game the Druid really stood out to me as a great (and versatile) blaster. I felt like the Bard really helped the combats quite a bit too, especially after getting War Chant of the Sith. Alot of power parties I have seen are also intended to play through HoF, which I don't have an interest in playing, so my thinking is really geared for the normal game. I would have liked a Paladin, but the 1/2 Orc I had with bastard swords was really a beast - I was happy enough with these guys as a group to finally not restart, so I really didn't feel too many regrets with them.

I did not level-squat or try any experience tactics like that in this game. In a couple of past games I have started with 4 or 5 party members and much later in the game added a level 1 character, and had it squat at level 1. I think if I play again tho I want to try a party of maybe just 3 or 4 members, all with steep ECLs, and see how that plays out. But I will not even dare to roll that future party up until I finish this time [img]smile.gif[/img]