Locks and Traps: Spoilers Schmoilers

[InjaYew]

I'm a level four Paladin wandering around the Docks with Daelin, and I am getting killed (repeatedly) by traps. I can see them, but as a Paladin, I'm not allowed to use any thief tools and apparently Daelen doesn't have way to disarm traps either. Is there an item or spell I can get to help me? I don't mind spoilers. I mind re-loading endlessly...

Thanks!

[img]smile.gif[/img]

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

I suggest you recruit Tomi. As a paladin, you don't need more muscle, you need a rogue to help you out with locks and traps.

[Stratos]

All classes can disarm traps and pick locks by putting at least one point into the appropiate skill.

[InjaYew]

I liked Tomi, but I want to do each quest with the appropriate henchman, so I gotta ditch him for a bit. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I didn't know about the lockpick skill point, that helps a bunch. [img]smile.gif[/img] If I can ever level up again (boy you sure earn yer levels in this game ) I'll stick in a point there.

I tried arming my bow, but little Malice kept running over to the chest instead of shooting at it. :\

It's times like these I miss my battlemage.

[motub]

I thought that business with "the appropriate henchman" made sense too, since each hench so pointedly tells you about a certain area. But the fact that they know about an area is not what makes them appropriate for that area; it's their skills. Always. I mean, who cares what charm and connections Sharwyn may have in the Blacklake-- she's not going to talk to anyone and introduce you, or make any inroads on your behalf.

If there are traps in an area, you need Tomi. Period. Doesn't matter if you're in the Tanglebrook Estate in the Peninsula, or Meldanen's Estate in the Blacklake; Traps=Tomi. In the Neverwinter Zoo, on the other hand, you might want to have Daelan around, as the guards tend to swarm you. So talk to Tomi, and tell him to part ways so he stands right outside the Zoo. Then use your Stone of Recall to go back to the HoJ and pick up Daelan (oh, yeah, first thing you should do is hire all the henchmen-- one at a time, of course-- and lead them to the HoJ right near the recall portal and then part with them so they're all right there already. Saves trekking back and forth to the Trade of Blades), and portal with Daelan back to the Zoo. Do the Zoo with him, go outside to where Tomi is standing and then Recall Stone back to the HoJ, drop Daelan, portal back and rehire Tomi.

Done. Get used to switching henchmen a lot, if you're going to use them, and get used to re-doing areas, as you kinda have to go through the place once to get the lay of it and see which hench you actually need to get through it.

Hope this helps.

[InjaYew]

Yes it does thanks. [img]smile.gif[/img] I had everybody crowded up around Oeleff's place by the time I got through running around Neverwinter. I was trying to make sure I got all the hench quests so I wanted to use everybody, and I did.

My problem now is, I didn't have anyone with me in the ritual chamber and I'm tromping around Helm's Hold wishing I had that big ole half-Orc with me, talk about getting swarmed.

I did all the quests except Tamora's, join Cloak Tower and an Evil offer and I just turned level 7 in HH. I do not know how people make it to level 9 in the first chapter. I'm thinking about reloading so I can take a henchman with me unless anybody knows of another way...

(Man this game is soooo addictive! I'm glad too cuz my doctor operated on my funny bone and I can't do anything but lay around for a couple of weeks. Neverwinter is a good thing to have so I don't go stir crazy. [img]smile.gif[/img] )

[Target]

I never made it to level 9 in Chap 1 either, got to 8, did all the quests, well apart from the clock tower one as I'm a fighter! I wonder if it is poss?I also tried it solo, with no henchman, and boy were those traps annoying!! I'm glad I got bodyknocks ring fairly early (or before there were to many traps) so didn't have to spend to much gold on healing things.

[InjaYew]

Then you shouldn't feel bad. This is what it says in the Readme file. [img]smile.gif[/img]


The official campaign has been designed with the following level
progression in mind:

Prelude: Levels 1 to 3
Chapter 1: Levels 3 to 8
Chapter 2: Levels 7 to 15
Chapter 3: Levels 13 to 17
Chapter 4: Levels 15+

[InjaYew]

Spoilers included here.


I just finished Chapter One by myself and I'm still 4,000 points away from Level 8. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Boy was it hard too. My strategy involved a lot of running away and getting monsters to follow me so I could pick 'em off one by one. It also included a whole bunch of resting. I caught Desther by picking off the ritual creatures with frostbite arrows until he came after me, then I ran away, he followed and I ran back to the room with the creatures and slammed to door on Desther to get the creatures killed off. Kinda cheesey, but I was desperate after being killed instantly by him two or three times.

The first person I saw when I got into that large room in Llastin (?) was Boddyknock Glinkle. I wanted to hug him. I will never, never let all my henchmen go again...

I hope I can get my level up so the game doesn't continue to kick my butt.

[ 06-03-2004, 02:01 PM: Message edited by: InjaYew ]

[motub]

You can do better than those levels if you 1) use a henchman through only part of Chapter 1 and thereafter don't use one (using a henchman reduces the experience you get). Depending on what class you are, and what order you do the sections in, you will probably need a hench for the first one or two, but you may be strong and skilled enough to survive without one for the last two sections.

2) Get most of the points for an extra level before leaving the Prelude... I needed to cheat slightly to do this, but it is possible that you might gain a Potion of Invisibility legally before going to graduation. The idea is that you get to the stables without killing anything (or killing as little as possible). Once Fenwick and Desther have left, do the last free level up, then go back and kill all the goblins and skellys you left standing. It's like 1500 points of enemies that actually get counted this way, as opposed to if you kill them before, when they are not counted (you will level up to level 3 automatically just by doing the Prelude; it doesn't matter whether you actually have enough points).

There's not a whole lot of powergaming you can do in this game, but there is a little. I was able to finsh HH at the high end of level 9, and hit level 10 in Port Llast before even leaving town (Dockhouse sidequest, wizard's cottage, and I unexpectedly found 1/4 of another sidequest while I was wandering around exploring the town).

I feel like I'm a bit ahead of the game, but not so far that something awful couldn't happen at any moment (such as a yuan-ti level boss-- gah she was tough, and I did have a hench, Daelan, at the time). Using the "free" levels wisely seemed to be essential, though; taking two of them as Rogue (I'm a Cleric, mostly) and piling all those extra skill points a Rogue gets into Search, Disable Traps, Open Locks and Use Magic Device has really helped (I'm now l6 Rogue and L5 Cleric and hope that I'll be OK without more Rogue levels being necessary, as I want to focus on my Cleric-ness ). Admittedly, if I had remained a pure Cleric, I would have had the Find Traps spell, which is excellent, if you have it memorized enough and remember to use it. I like having high Detect better, though. The Uncanny Dodge 1&2 and Improved Evasion help me to survive even though I'm not as strong as I would be if I was a pure Cleric... and by the time you get to Chapter 2 you've found enough "gadgets" to make up most of the difference (though I'm getting a bit tired of changing rings and gloves and amulets, I must admit ).