Getting to the End spoiler inside

[Calagari]

It has been a long struggle for me but finally I have made it to the near end of IWD HOW.

Spoiler Please don't read unless you have been to this point.
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I have fought Icasaracht once but didn't like the out come ( my cleric died). So I will try again this time with a different strategy. If This is the big battle I have to say I am a bit disappointed. You gotta love those ranged weapons. The Soul Gem fell even easier. If I remember right my characters range from 11 to 15. This is before the final kills.
I still have the potion of null to take back to SH. Somehow I never got around to doing that.
It seems to me that the items I now receive as loot are just more of the same as I got earlier. They may be one level higher Thaco but overall just fancy duplicates. I hope this changes in the next game. It seems that mid game is about where you get the good items and that is the pinnacle of loot. Oh you might find the odd piece but I didn't see anything to knock my socks off.
I do like the screen shaking effect in HOW. It emphasizes the impact a character makes when striking a monster.
Well after some breakfast I will redo the last battle then onward to S.H.

[Otto]

Spoilers
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At what point did you enter HOW? After SH, WT, DD or after LDD?

There is some very good HOW magical equipment that far exceeds than anything in the IWD areas. Here's some of my favorites:

Longsword of Action +4 (there are two of these)
* +1 attack per round
* +1 AC bonus
* +15% slashing resistance

Three White Doves (+3 Mace)
* Double damage against undead
* HD-dependent chance of destroying undead

Blood Iron (+4 short sword)
* Every hit heals 3 HP
* Not usable by good characters

Vexed Armor, Enhanced
* AC: 1
* +2 CON
* 100% cold resistance
* Cast fire storm 1x/day

Studded Leather Armor +4, Shadowed
* AC: 3
* +30% stealth
* +20% resistance to piercing, slashing, fire & electricity

Wailing of Virgins (cloak)
* +4 AC bonus to crushing, piercing, & missles
* +2 AC bonus to slashing
* Immunity to fear-based attacks & hopelessness
* Casts cloak of fear 1x/day

There's more great stuff, but these are some of my favorites.

[Calagari]

I went in HOW at LDD level just before the last 2 battles. It sure helped fight those last two. I did find those items you posted. The wailing cloak was cursed so I never used it. I have the vexed armor but it isn't as good as what any character that can wear that type of armor already has. The sword of Action is a nice weapon. I am using that.
I go by the AC ratings and not so much the attributes of an item. Maybe that is the wrong way of looking at these items but it is the way I have been doing it.
I also have some items not yet id'd.

Now I am back in Easthaven doing the last bit before ToTL. Or have I missed that opportunity?


UPDATE: I finished the game and missed ToTL I guess. I am guessing that if I want to play ToTL I would have to use a previous saved game? I will load up IWD 2 now and try to get a feel for it. I knew how to get into it but held off thinking there was always time to do so.


I went in at LDD level

Originally posted by Otto: Spoilers / / / / / / / / At what point did you enter HOW? After SH, WT, DD or after LDD? There is some very good HOW magical equipment that far exceeds than anything in the IWD areas. Here's some of my favorites: Longsword of Action +4 (there are two of these) * +1 attack per round * +1 AC bonus * +15% slashing resistance Three White Doves (+3 Mace) * Double damage against undead * HD-dependent chance of destroying undead Blood Iron (+4 short sword) * Every hit heals 3 HP * Not usable by good characters Vexed Armor, Enhanced * AC: 1 * +2 CON * 100% cold resistance * Cast fire storm 1x/day Studded Leather Armor +4, Shadowed * AC: 3 * +30% stealth * +20% resistance to piercing, slashing, fire & electricity Wailing of Virgins (cloak) * +4 AC bonus to crushing, piercing, & missles * +2 AC bonus to slashing * Immunity to fear-based attacks & hopelessness * Casts cloak of fear 1x/day There's more great stuff, but these are some of my favorites.

[ 11-16-2004, 01:44 PM: Message edited by: Calagari ]

[Otto]

SPOILERS!

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To play ToTL, you have to talk with a halfling named Hobart Stubbletoes in the Whistling Gallows Tavern (Lonelywood). He asks you to go on a quest with him and takes you to the ToTL castle. It's a fun expansion, with some very high-powered items, including a +5 Scimitar that gives immunity to Mavalon's Acid Fog; and a cloak that gives +3 AC bonus and can be worn with magic armor. Oh, and you have to go with Hobart before you leave to kill the dragon since you can't go back once you set sail.

[Calagari]

Yep this is what I thought I missed it. What I have done is gone back to a previously saved game just to play through ToTL. It won't help my currently exported crew but I can get the enjoyment out of the expansion.

Originally posted by Otto: SPOILERS! - - - To play ToTL, you have to talk with a halfling named Hobart Stubbletoes in the Whistling Gallows Tavern (Lonelywood). He asks you to go on a quest with him and takes you to the ToTL castle. It's a fun expansion, with some very high-powered items, including a +5 Scimitar that gives immunity to Mavalon's Acid Fog; and a cloak that gives +3 AC bonus and can be worn with magic armor. Oh, and you have to go with Hobart before you leave to kill the dragon since you can't go back once you set sail.

[NobleNick]

Calagari,

HoW spoiler

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I made the same mistake. You need to go back to Lonelywood after unmasking the power behind the Chief, but before taking that trip out onto the S__ of M_____ I__. There are several neat things to do, see, and get. (And there is AT LEAST one VERY powerful item that is not just like the rest of what you have.)

I wouldn't be too dissappointed with Big I. You did have to reload once, right? I had to reload at least once: my whole party, except the Bard, got toasted.

TotLM is definitely worth the trip. The challenge level for most of the expansion is on a par with Burial Isle. Plus, you actually need to think just a little.

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End spoiler


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

[Otto]

Calagari,
I also found the final battles lacked real challenge (this is after finishing BG2 with the Tactics Mod installed).

If you want to up the difficulty, try playing with a smaller party. A half-elf cleric/ranger, and an elf fighter/mage/thief should cover all the basics.

If you're really up for a challenge, try soloing the game, and play on a harder difficulty level without Max HP.

If you're totally masochistic, you can try the harder difficulty settings with non-fighter characters, like a pure druid, mage, or thief. I played for a while with a solo halfling thief (I liked the paper doll), and actually made it pretty far before starting over as something else.

I think the random treasures give the game a replay value beyond that of the BG series, though it would be cool if they also had some way of implementing random trap locations.

[Calagari]

I think as soon as I finish ToTl I will just move on for now and try IWD2. I can always come back and try IWD with another party makeup. I do agree though that a smaller party is easier to manage.

Originally posted by Otto: Calagari, I also found the final battles lacked real challenge (this is after finishing BG2 with the Tactics Mod installed). If you want to up the difficulty, try playing with a smaller party. A half-elf cleric/ranger, and an elf fighter/mage/thief should cover all the basics. If you're really up for a challenge, try soloing the game, and play on a harder difficulty level without Max HP. If you're totally masochistic, you can try the harder difficulty settings with non-fighter characters, like a pure druid, mage, or thief. I played for a while with a solo halfling thief (I liked the paper doll), and actually made it pretty far before starting over as something else. I think the random treasures give the game a replay value beyond that of the BG series, though it would be cool if they also had some way of implementing random trap locations.

[jmsteven]

Originally posted by Calagari:
I think as soon as I finish ToTl I will just move on for now and try IWD2. I can always come back and try IWD with another party makeup. I do agree though that a smaller party is easier to manage.


Yeah, small party's are much easier to manage. In fact, it's easiest just to have one guy. I soloed the whole darn thing with just a human ranger. I didn't care that he wasn't the "best" possible character. He was a lot of fun to play. He hit 30th level very early in HOW, and opened a can of whoop-ass on everything in his path. In fact, he only needed a handful of reloads throught the whole game, and that was when he was acting purposely reckless.

If you like a solo adventure, try just a single-class human druid in IWD2. They're unstoppable in that game.

[Calagari]

The party concept is as old as D&D itself,maybe even older. The path nodes just make large parties difficult to handle in this game. Too many times I have wanted to go through a door or have started an attack only to realize one of my party members is off on their own somewhere. There has also been the odd times in the heat of battle I stop and notice one of my team is daydreaming and not fighting at all. That is when I break out the cattle prod to give them some incentive. I know all I have to do is turn off party AI to correct this. But sometimes I forget to do so and shouldn't have to focus on this to keep the characters in line. It is after all in their best interest to keep up with the party and fight side by side.

4 is the party size I usually like to travel with in a game with these rules. 2 fighters, a cleric, & thief can usually handle all that come their way. That is depending on the game and its rules. Multi occupational characters help round out the parties effectiveness.

Games that allow for a single hero suit me better. I guess it is that image
of Sir Lancelot striking out on his own to right the wronged appeals to me the most.

I am not one of those people that know all about these D&D edition rules. We are fortunate enough to have people like this on the forum. They either have played and stopped or still play and replay the game getting everything possible out of it. They tend to know the game inside and out. What works the best and what to avoid. The less knowledgeable ( me ) learn a lot from players like this.

I am not that thorough AADD hits me now and then and my mind tends to wander away from the game. RPGs tend to be either feast or famine, I hate those long drought periods. When I play a game I really like to not have to know as much about allocating points and stats as some games require. Being a statistician has never been my long suit. Life tends to get in the way of my remembering all these numbers for very long.

One disagreement I have with this set of game rules is the limitation of skill point allocation. In real life you are rewarded for practicing and using a skill. The game tends to limit this ability I think that is wrong. Some character makeups are only allowed 2 points in a skill but are forced to learn many other skills. Making them a jack of all weapons skills but a master of none. No matter what profession you are taking a weapon skill to the top should be every characters focus. I hope NWN is different.

I am wandering off the main point here. As much as I like single character games I don't think this is one of them. I look at how you get swarmed at times by monsters. Realistically no single character could win against such odds. I know this is fantasy but it should be kept reasonably in line with the effects of logic and physics.

Replaying a linear game like this loses its appeal to me. I am having trouble sticking it out to play through ToTL now that I have finished the main game and the expansion. There I go wandering again. I better end this post before I have to have it published as a book.

I need to go delete quite a few saved game files and free up some HD space.

Originally posted by jmsteven: Originally posted by Calagari: I think as soon as I finish ToTl I will just move on for now and try IWD2. I can always come back and try IWD with another party makeup. I do agree though that a smaller party is easier to manage. Yeah, small party's are much easier to manage. In fact, it's easiest just to have one guy. I soloed the whole darn thing with just a human ranger. I didn't care that he wasn't the "best" possible character. He was a lot of fun to play. He hit 30th level very early in HOW, and opened a can of whoop-ass on everything in his path. In fact, he only needed a handful of reloads throught the whole game, and that was when he was acting purposely reckless. If you like a solo adventure, try just a single-class human druid in IWD2. They're unstoppable in that game.