I think we all agree that the fights, as they are now, follow a different playing concept, which does differ from the normal (unmodded) spirit of the game.
Yes. Keep that in mind when you consider changes that would defeat this concept.
I do understand people who like really though fights in terms of (ab-)using the engine.
I didn't. Not before I actually played the Weimer mods, that is. And please don't take this the wrong way, but you do *not* need to abuse the engine to win. You just have to be patient, willing to change the way you usually handle fights, and very good. *opens a window to let the smell of arrogance out*
But I am glad that there are some people in here who feel similar like me. For example I do agree with domi (on THIS issue...), since I do not want to die four or five times just in order to figure out whats going on and die another two times before I figured the corresponding tactics
Matter of opinion. Don't tell me you didn't get slaughtered the first time you encountered a lich.
So, what *is* going on? Your fighter/mage has been vampirized, that's what. This should explain almost everything except for things like Sola's immunity to lower spell levels. Truth be told, this *is* hinted at in the dialogue, but I had trouble figuring this out myself. OTOH, the manual doesn't give you many more hints concerning the tougher monsters in the game.
and then rest a whole day in a dungeon with the enemy conveniently waiting next door, "for a date". This in sum turns the story so weird that it normally doesn´t fit for an IC-feeling (read: epic story) anymore.
Agreed. I detest sleeping in anything but an inn, because it basically ruins my suspension of disbelief. But (and I'm going to mention it again, sorry) it is *not* actually required; it *is* possible to defeat him without premonition. I know, because I did it. I'm not saying that it isn't difficult, but it *is* possible.
Revenge Spiders: Fighters usually are dead meat after the first hit, because they wear heavy equipment.
What, no strength items or potions? And that heavy equipment apparently isn't heavy enough if your AC still isn't low enough. :-)
Mages without Vecnas robe or even Imp. Alactitry (sp?) cannot run fast enough and cast spells at the same time. Both applies to Clerics.
Mages: yes, so you'll have to decide which one to do. Don't tell me you have only one mage. Also, Pro Magic Weapons stops their attacks cold.
Clerics: make sure they don't have to run. If they're tough enough to fight (Anomen, mostly) buff and have them do it; if they're not (Viconia without strength boosts) Sanctuary them.
Backstab and ranged attackers are the only choice, but they need either 1.000 potions of invisibility and front line fighters/monsters stopping those spiders (ever managed a backstab to a walking target?),
Once, but that was an exceptional situation. :-) Seriously, though, regular attacks will work just fine if you don't give the spiders a chance of hitting back. The key to beating Revenge Spiders is noticing that they seem to have a predilection for weakly-armored people. In particular, they'll go after the party member with the weakest AC. How about that person *not* standing still while the rest deals the damage? Boots of Speed, Haste?
but those are usually not able to stop the spiders long enough. I would suggest, for a "normal" difficulty rating, that the strength drain be lowered to 1 or 2 points, and the thaco/ac should be dropped to that of a sword spider.
In other words, you want even weaker Wraith Spiders (it would constitute a +2 THAC0 improvement, but a serious decrease of their attack's effectiveness). The Sword Spider was frightening in BG 1, but it shouldn't be any threat in BG 2.
The number of attacks should not be as high, though. (Alternately you could spawn a mix of normal spiders, but that would IMO not correspond to the special quality of Loths hellish minions).
When I fought the RSes, a Phase Spider came along with them. Just for contrast, of course, as it died much faster. :-)
Summed up, it seems to me like you want to be able to handle Revenge Spiders as any other enemy: stand still, select fighters, click on the spider and wait for it to die. Rinse, repeat. I think the whole point in them is that you have to come up with a different strategy and (gasp!) leave the beaten path for once.
Undead Soula: Normal casting rules (that is: ONE spell, ONE innate or ONE contigency per round! and ONE contigency does contain THREE and not NINE effects).
Actually, a Contingency contains one effect. A Chain Contingency contains three. Plus, you can only have one of these period, and the levels of the spells you can put into them are limited, etcetera, etcetera, insert `balancing' restrictions here.
Two things: first of all, every enemy spellcaster in BG 2 can do these things. Basically, it sucks to be you; your only advantage is that you're not running some static AI script to take on enemies - and it happens to be a *huge* advantage if used well.
Second, there's an exceedingly simple way of rationalizing all of this: he knows you're coming, so he's been preparing. If this fight were `real', do you think Sola and Bodhi would sit around playing checkers until you burst through the door, and then proceeded by carefully casting defensive spells? ("Do *I* know what a rhetorical question is?" --Homer Simpson).
To me, all this contingencying (contigifying? contingentification?) is just a way of working around the fact that you can't do this `properly' in the game (precisely because people could `sleep behind the door'). YMMV, but I don't have any principal difficulties with it.
Since he basically is a vampirized F/M, he should have all spells a F/M of his level has (that is, NO spell trap and other high levels which do not correspond relatively to the parties´ strength).
In the version I have he does *not* use Spell Trap. The Chain Contingency? A scroll. Don't tell me you don't use them. :-)
It is difficult enough to figure out what spell is active and to react accordingly. (Example: prot/magic weapons and stoneskin is really tough enough at the give average level you usually have when doing that chapter).
First of all, the status window gives you complete information on who's casting what. The space bar does wonders, here. And what is the average level? Except for the plot quests, you're not forced to do them in any particular order, but I'd expect you to be pretty much done with them by the time you're going for Bodhi. My party's average level was about 14, the same as Undead Sola. Pro Magic Weapons/Stoneskin is tough at any level if you can't use Breach.
His additional powers should be those of an undead, not of a high level mage. About three fears and dominations per day should suffice (casting time 0 or 1 is o.k. because it is innate).
Vampires can use this at will, not three times per day. You don't expect all in-game vampires to be changed as well, do you? Make use of Remove Fear and Charm-protection items (or Chaotic Commands, if you must).
Perhaps one additional attack, and level drain. Like that he really is powerful enough, since he also usually keeps his very deadly equipment from the party (and just to be clear: de-equipping beforehand is certainly not IC and therefore cheesy cheating!!).
I'm not quite sure what you're getting at - you want him to keep his equipment, or prevent people from accessing it until he's defeated?
Ah, I almost forgot: This teleport thing spoils many a tactical positioning of party members. Perhaps he may use his dimension door ONCE/day, thats really enough a surprise.
The problem is that people can easily abuse this by "tactical positioning"; all I have to do is walk up to him with my protagonist, wait for him to teleport and then *whoosh* walk out the door and close it behind me. This is the price you're paying for getting a character who can Dimension Door at will (and if you haven't been using it - well, that's your problem now, isn't it? :-)
Well, those are my suggestions. I did not encounter the eclipse thing yet, but right now I do not really want to. That´s a pity, because I´ll certainly miss a good part of the story.
(And also: I almost pity you who do (have to?) use CLUA-Y on regular base... friendly pun intended)
Awww, don't be sad. And don't be afraid to use Ctrl-Y! After all, if you feel the need for it, your suspension of disbelief must already be shot to hell, so Ctrl-Y won't make things any worse. I rarely use it; if I do I don't pick up any equipment dropped. That, combined with the fact that you don't get any XP for an insta-killed creature balances things out enough for my taste.
I consistently use it on demiliches, because they're too cheesy for me to bear. I *know* how to beat them, but don't want to. I don't want them to exist at all. Unfortunately, they're not part of a WeiDU mod, so I can't conveniently uninstall them. :-)
Topic: Soula specific "Quests" (fights...) (Read 11096 times)
