If you're blatantly power-gaming it to try and cope with Weimer's challenges, you might want to swap Rowan and take Valen. Unless Rowan has something really really special going on, she's likely to be decidedly less powerful than the Vamp Princess.
No, i don't like blatantly power-gaming - i want this to be a good aligment party. I'm sure that Valen will be more powerful than Rowan - but Rowan will fit to this party, and she's a Assassin/Fighter - not a bad class at all, i would say.
IRRC, Chloe is some sort of demigod, so you've got some power there. The K-Man will be the weak link until you start geting ToB HLAs. Solo Sorcs are powerful precisely because they start casting high-powered spells way too early and you don't have to find scrolls to use them. A level 15 Kelsey is nice enough power-wise, but three mordies and four imp hastes may not be sufficient. However, when he starts being able to do timestop/alacrity hideousness, he'll shine.
Yes, Chloe is indeed a demigod. I don't think she'll be weak - she wont tank at all, me and sola will tank, while she will slaughter everybody
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About Kelsey - IMHO, Sorcerers gain true power at level 16, when they get 8th level spells - which, for me, means ADHW, and at this level, i already have PI and Mordies... Pretty powerful setup.
Ranger/Cleric, eh? Strong, but only at high levels. Hope you like buffing. You and Sola will both need it. Will you be using Ages yourself?
Yes, my thoughts exactly. I don't like buffing, but i know i'll need it. The R/C got TONS of good buffing - DUHM,
IRONSKINS, Shield of the Archons, Free Action, Chaotic Command, and so on.
I still havn't decided - if i'm the main tank, a shield will help. On the other hand, i have Ironskins, so maybe i'll dual-wield. Freedom's Reign and Reign of Virtue (which i have installed) do offer some nifty shields.... But i think i'll dual-wield FoA + Crom...
Imp Ilyich will probably give you fits early on. TorGal (a normal early game bastion) will also be tricky. I recommend putting off the Sola Vamping as long as possible -- Imp Bodhi + Undead Sola is a well-established source of PC death. :-)
Yes, improved Ilyich will be a nightmare, mainly because i dont have Ironskins at that level. About Tor'Gal - with Ironskins and alot of buffing, he's doable. About Bodhi and Co. - at that level i'll already have Timestop and Improved Alacrity - which almost ends the battle (it worked at my current game).
You can also hold off on the Ritual until you have ToB-abilities, but it does offer huge amounts of money in the early game (easily 100,000 if you sell all the stuff) which can be quite the siren's call if you have your eye on some item upgrade.
The Ritual isn't THAT tough - i can beat it with a level ~16 party, or even with a level 16 Kelsey, like i said above.
What hints can I offer? Hmm. If you're feeling brave, you could try to run through the Sola romance *real fast*, just to get to the reward. I'm not sure whether you'd want the blade or the moonray for this game. The blade is more useful early on (especially if you're using Ages for the PC), but in the end-game Alacrity + 3x Moonray can be broken (that is, you expect it to kill all enemies on screen) and the utility of lunar spell memorization scales with his level.
OK, i'll remember that. Thanks.
Another good hint is to raid the first level of the Watcher's Keep early. Firetooth (not useful for your party, maybe for blade-immy) and Usuno (probably not useful) are good, as is the Crimson Dart (give it to Kelsey).
Of course - i'll do the first two floors pre-UD, and the other floors post-UD.
Too many good weapons, there
. Too bad Cromwell can't upgrade them
Does Chloe use katanas? Hold off on the Imp GC until you have a mage or two that can cast Pro-Magic-Energy on all party members.
Chloe uses, AFAIK, Scimitars and Short Swords. She has great personal weapons. But i'll give Sola some points in Scimitars.
The Shield of Reflection is lovely against the Ritual and the Imp Sahu City (note that it won't reflect the bolts back onto the Sahu, but it will protect your point-person until they get too close).
Keep scrolls of Stoneskin and Pro-Magic-Weapons so that any thieves who get UAI can eventually cast them.
Damn!! The Shield of Reflection!! Why didn't i thought about it when i was fighting the Ritual? Oh well, next time
Thanks for the help - you are, once again, a great source of inforamtion.
Any seggustions for an other party to get through the challenge?
I do want Chloe, Kelsey, Sola and Rowan - the other two spots are open.