Cold Wights

[Calagari]

I made the trek back to Kuldahar and found many items on Oswald and Orrick. I also picked Conlans chest and got a great hammer. I did previously pick Arundels pocket and got the ring of free action, now I have 2 of those. I now have the protection from fire spell as well. I got a ring of protection +2 for my ranger to use in conjunction with the ring of free action. Now he should live a bit longer. I changed my mages spell books to reflect a few fireballs for each. With the new robes I got as loot just before I entered the 3rd area of Dragon's Eye I think I am ready now for battle. I do have the other spells you mentioned in the books ready to be used. I do have a pure mage and a thief/mage.

I have the oils in the quick slots ready to be used.

Nick suggested using some of Dundee Slayterns scripts. But once again I found myself having a problem with things like that. I downloaded the scripts.zip file and extracted it to my scripts folder. When I went to use them they didn't offer any text other then Custom Bard, pally, c/r etc. Will these work as shown or did I mess up something again? I couldn't find any explaination in the game of what the script would do. What I read of his scripts they sound very detailed and interesting. I really would like ot get them to work if possible.

I think the npcs will walk much faster now that all those items are removed from their pockets.

Originally posted by Aerich: Question for you, Calagari - did you pick any pockets in Kuldahar? There are some life-saving items on three NPCs (Orrick, Arundel, Oswald) - if you don't have them, that may account for some of your trouble. You may wish to trek back and get them - HINT: save before and after each attempt to pick pockets. If you fail, the victim turns hostile and so does the whole town. Same if you injure somebody. If I only have one mage during mass-enemy situations like the ones in Dragon's Eye, I use the majority of my spell slots for enemy-inhibiting spells - especially Web. I love that spell. If you can catch even half of the wights in it before they get to you, you're chances of survival go up a lot. You can also cast two Webs on top of each other or offset, so the enemies have to make two saving throws to get free or stay free. Spells like Prayer, Curse, and Chant will reduce opponents' saves. Also, don't overlook the 3rd lvl mage spell Slow - you can buy it from Orrick, I think. Look at it carefully - hurts opponent AC and Thac0 by four, and halves movement rate and attacks per round - affected wights will only have one attack every TWO rounds. The spell is very difficult to save against, meaning your chances of affecting a significant number of them are quite good. I assume you've found Protection from Fire now? 3rd level priest spell, cleric or druid. Hit the arrows on you priest spellbook, and memorize that ever-so-useful spell. Edit: Another tip - if you don't have enough spellslots for all the great third level spells, Oils of Fiery Burning do the same thing as fireball, just throw them. (you can "lift" two from Oswald, and he has a stock you can buy)

[galdur]

Yes, a pickpocketing is a good way of obtaining good items... but there's a problem. Some people simply don't like stealing... like me. I don't steal. It isn't true, you have dificulties playing without stealed equipment.
Right now, I am playing IWD with one character. All my party is Fighter/Druid and had no difficulties yet, except fight in Vale of Shadows, 1 level, fight with that priest.

Fireball is really good. As was said, you will find scroll in Dragon's Eye 1 level, in that large statue behing Lizard Man King. You can use Skull Trap instead Fireball, if you don't have it yet.

Casting several webs is a really good way to hold enemies. And when you cast curse and prayer, enemies are really in big shit.

Try even summon undead (3th level priest spells) and cast that yellow fumes (also 2nd mage spell like web). Undead are immune, so they can easily slash sleeping enemies.

[NobleNick]

Calagari,

Yeah, you're getting there. With the stuff you've learned and the stuff you've acquired in the last 36 hours, I'd say you are just about ready to kick Wight butt.

If some of your guys are close to leveling, I advise that you camp at the end of DE1 (near the entrance to DE2) and sleep/fight until they level. Then make sure you are totally rested with the right spell mix, before entering DE3.

With the extra rings of free action, the Web spells that Aerich suggested become extra effective.

Aerich remembers correctly: Fireball is a 3rd level Evocation (Invocation) spell.

Skull Trap (a Necro spell, IIRC) deals EXCELLENT damage; but the kill area is much less than Fireball and you have to get your timing right: Throw it too early and the first monster in triggers it, so only very few monsters take damage. Throw it too late and all monsters are already inside its trigger radius, so it does nothing. I believe Skull Trap is also a 3rd level spell. I have an Illusionist and a Bard, so use both Fireball and Skull Trap a lot; but my advice to you is to use all available 3rd level slots for Fireball, at least for the initial DE3 battle.

Remember: toasting every Wight and Troll at the scene, including those stacked up against your front line, without scorching ANY of your guys, is very doable. It just might take a little practice molding your front line to the right shape and getting the distance right; so save game just before entering DE3, and reload till you get it. If your Mage has two Fireballs and gets it right twice in a row, this encounter almost becomes a yawner. Correctly judging Fireball kill radius is a very valuable skill.

Off the subject unsolicited advice: Don't let the autosave be your babysitter, or you'll be sorry. Following the below rules *WILL* save you heartache later in the game.

1.) Save game at least once every 1/2 hour.
2.) Save game just before and after important points (battles, learning spells, pick pocketing, etc.) and just before entering doors that you suspect lead to new areas.
3.) Save to a NEW GAME NAME (e.g., DE1_01, DE1_02, DE1_03, DE2_01, DE2_02, etc.) at least once every 2 hours.
4.) Save game just BEFORE entering a new level or major area (like the caves in VoS) for the first time; and save to a NEW GAME NAME just AFTER entering a new area. This last is important enough to repeat: Save your game just before entering a door that you suspect leads to a new area (anything that makes you wait for a load; e.g., Black Wolf Temple level 1, BWT2, DE1, DE2, DE3, etc.) the FIRST time; and save to a NEW game name just after entering that loaded area for the FIRST time (to protect the save you made just BEFORE entering). These protected saves from just before an area loads are valuable for, among other things, re-randomizing treasure. (Randomized treasures are set the FIRST time an area loads, and do not change after that.) This starts becoming very important in the areas you visit just after DE.

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!

[Calagari]

I didn't like the idea of stealing either that is why I missed the rings the first time around. I will say taking advantage of these npcs is well worth it. I couldn't believe how much Oswald was carrying. Without these items the upcoming fight is so much more difficult.

Originally posted by galdur: Yes, a pickpocketing is a good way of obtaining good items... but there's a problem. Some people simply don't like stealing... like me. I don't steal. It isn't true, you have dificulties playing without stealed equipment. Right now, I am playing IWD with one character. All my party is Fighter/Druid and had no difficulties yet, except fight in Vale of Shadows, 1 level, fight with that priest. Fireball is really good. As was said, you will find scroll in Dragon's Eye 1 level, in that large statue behing Lizard Man King. You can use Skull Trap instead Fireball, if you don't have it yet. Casting several webs is a really good way to hold enemies. And when you cast curse and prayer, enemies are really in big shit. Try even summon undead (3th level priest spells) and cast that yellow fumes (also 2nd mage spell like web). Undead are immune, so they can easily slash sleeping enemies.

[Silver Owl]

Calagari,

I've been reading your posts about being a new to the Forgotten Realm games. Here's my newbie tale.

I rolled my party last night and was in the tavern. I took the party down to kill the bugs. Being new to the game engine and all the buttons, I accidently had my party kill my paladin. He was dead before I realized it. [img]graemlins/lol.gif[/img]

[NobleNick]

Silver Owl,

[img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img] . [img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img] . [img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img] . WELCOME to the IWD Forum!! [img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img] . [img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img] . [img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img]

Isn't that sort of like fragging the platoon commander?

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!

[Aerich]

Originally posted by Silver Owl: Calagari, I've been reading your posts about being a new to the Forgotten Realm games. Here's my newbie tale. I rolled my party last night and was in the tavern. I took the party down to kill the bugs. Being new to the game engine and all the buttons, I accidently had my party kill my paladin. He was dead before I realized it. [img]graemlins/lol.gif[/img]

That's all right, everybody has newbie mistakes when they start. I didn't read the manual before I started playing, and got wiped out by the goblins just outside of Easthaven a few times until I discovered Pause.

Just one more addition to the strategy discussion: you can cast Skull Trap into Webs, and as soon as a creature saves and starts to move, it will blow. Same works for the Glyph of Warding, although if you're short of 3rd level clerical spell slots, Animate Dead, Protection from Fire, and Prayer are generally better options. With creatures stuck in Webs, you have a little more time to judge the correct placement of area-effect spells and get the most bang for your buck.

Edit: Skull Trap is very valuable, because a) I think it does magical damage, which very, very few creatures have any resistance against, and b) it has no upper damage limit based on levels and c) because you can use it to set static traps.

If you ever have a bard, make sure to give ST to the bard (more vital than Fireball, in the long run), because a bard's casting level (effective mage level for spell damage, duration, etc) goes up every bard level. That means you get equivalent results for less HP than a mage, and casting level will generally be higher with a bard than with a mage.

[ 10-15-2004, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: Aerich ]

[NobleNick]

...I didn't read the manual before I started playing, and got wiped out by the goblins just outside of Easthaven a few times until I discovered Pause.

Just one more addition to the strategy discussion: you can cast Skull Trap into Webs, and as soon as a creature saves and starts to move, it will blow. Same works for the Glyph of Warding

Aerich,

I remember us helping a guy out a year or so back that, IIRC, made it to SH or DD with no pause! Amazing!! He had no clue, and was coming to us cause the game had finally gotten too hard. Whoa!! I told him that if he had made it that far with no pause, that we needed to take IWD lessons from him!!!

Hey, great pointer on the Skull Traps! As much as have I used S.T. and Web, I never even suspected this. (Reminds me of Calagari's talk about thinking in a rut.) Thanks!

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!


[ 10-15-2004, 08:04 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]

[Silver Owl]

Originally posted by NobleNick: Silver Owl, Isn't that sort of like fragging the platoon commander? -------------------- What's a party, without a song? Bards ROCK! Party On!!

LOL! Yeah, the poor guy took it big time.

Thanks for the welcome.

[Silver Owl]

Aerich,

I've been reading your's and NobleNick's posts on stratedgy since I found the site a few days ago.

My thanks! [img]smile.gif[/img]