HoF from the Start

[Micah Foehammer]

Do you honestly remember where EVERY mage spell is located?? Jeez, its been months since i did that ... but the general strategy is still valid. You're nitpicking ......

[zakharak]

We made copious use of web, horror, chromatic orb, entangle, hold person, animate dead, and monster summoning 1

The goblins are just NASTY!!!!! Summoned monsters are a fantastic resource early on

Do summoned monsters such as goblins attain as much hitpoints and power as the actual goblins that you fight when on HOF mode? Just wondering if it is a FAIR battle rather than a FUN battle!!! enjoy. Peace

|Zakharak|

How do you get colors?

[Micah Foehammer]

Ah, good question!!! The answer is yes with some qualification. The original implementation of the Heart of Fury mode DID give summoned monsters the same hit point boost that regular monsters got. This made even low level monster summoning spells some of the most useful spells in the game when playing on HOF mode!

There was some VERY heated debated on the BIS boards some time ago about whether the summoned monsters should be "morphed" and made less powerful, or whether the summoning limit should be reduced in HOF mode. I'm not sure how the debate ended up exactly, but I believe that the monsters were basically left alone.

[Sir Moosington]

Summoned monsters have definitely got the boosted hit points etc in HOF. The only problem is that regardless of your class you have to be 5th level to get them.

A possible solution is to start the game solo with a cleric and run around Easthaven doing as many as the quests as you can before taking on the goblins. This should hopefully get you up to around 5th level.

Then simply import the other characters that you were planning to use and carry on as normal, except of course you will have a hoard of skeletons at al to do your dirty work for you!!!

I don't believe this is cheating as all your characters are joining the game as 1st level, it's just that the cleric got there ahead of the rest of the party.

Hint/possible spoiler

The smarter among you might realise that its nearly imposiible to get a 5th level cleric from just the fed ex quests in Easthaven. Go check out the beetles in the pubs basement. Due to some sort of bug/error, they don't move whe attacked with missile fire. Use a sling and keep firing away. Eventually they will go down - at over 2000exp a pop.

[Azred]

Sir Moosington is right--those beetles are just a good source of free xp in HoF mode. Take any solo character, then help Jhonen and take out the beetles for Grisella (you can use a staff--its reach keeps you out of the beetle's reach) and you now have over 15000 xp!

My new party: paladin, figher/cleric, cleric, bard, mage, and fighter/thief. I started them in HoF mode from 1st level. We had the most trouble trying to finish the cave outside of Easthaven (a task we had to ultimately abandon) and trying to run through Kuldahar Pass (I switched to insane difficulty and ran them through without stopping so I wouldn't be "cheating"). They are now in the Vale of Shadows at average level 6 and doing quite nicely; the worst part is that the bard and mage have no 3rd level spells available to them. Oh, well. Patience--as well as composite longbows and Animate Dead--is the key to conquering HoF.

[Leafy]

Micah, Michah. I'm nitpicking? Well perhaps you did not read the title of this thread, "HoF from Start." And when asking about strategies for the Orc cave, you offered spells that are not attainable without cheating. You don't have to nitpick to realize that they only give you 2 1st level spells in Easthaven (Sleep and Chromatic Orb). So i take it you're either too careless to consider your answers; or you're just making stuff up.

Moving on; I did test the "hit and run" theory in the Orc cave and it appears to work! You can hurt an orc, run out and rest, come back and he's still hurt! Unfortunately the Shamans will relearn their spells as well. Again, Chromatic Orb proves to be the savior at this point. I made a 5 player party with a Bard who learned Chomatic Orb; and it rocks! Stunning the orcs means free hits, a needed advantage.

[Black Knight]

Thanks the gods! I thought I was going nuts thinking that this game seemed so much easier before...replaying due to comp crash and I just got the expansion - party:

1. Paladin
2. Ranger
3. Fighter/Mage
4. Mage (necro)
5. Thief
6. Cleric

using a lot of arrows and sling bullets concentrating on drawing them out one at a time. It's working slowly. I've got armor on my fighter/mage (that one magic missle isn't worth the difference in AC currently) and I made it through with only small bits of trouble at the bottom with the ogres. Just don't ask how long I took to roll my char stats.. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Micah Foehammer]

Leafy,

THe core of the strategy as you have discovered is the hit and run. The spells are secondary. I simple plead bad memory as to which spells are available that early in the game. "Nuff said.

[img]smile.gif[/img]

[TheGrandSlayer]

Best 2 person party

Ranger and Cleric :cool:

[zakharak]

Sooo...

this is real late in the string or whatever, and i know I should know this.
BUT---->

I have not figured how to get HOF mode. Just installed HOW today! YES. My char's are at ~12-14 level from IWD, and they are ready.

I tried setting difficulty but only Insane worked. I do believe that i moved the slider all the way to the right. Thankyou

Peace out bro