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Posted by: nicoper Jun 18 2024, 01:54 AM

After years without playing, I could not resist V7 (hey, waiting since 2008 for it)
Thanks for the development team who achieved this!

Team Shaman protag + half orc Kensai + RB, my plan for the long run is to add Imoen/Neera as sorceresses and Sibel the new NPC

Lab
Jaheira, Minsc and Imoen added
Meet new V7 enemies (nice add-on, difficulty even as it was)
Exit lab
Join Sibel, dual her to cleric on the spot
Switch minsc for Nalia (as a pure mage)

Govt district to pick quests
During Hareischan ambush, good use of +3 weapon created by shaman
Jan/Viconia/Delon/Tolgerias to start quests

D'Arnise keep
Outside areas and ground floor

Trademeet
Meet rassad, kill wild animals

Druid grove
Bumped my head finding a way to kill Faldorn with shaman (disastrous attmept trying to shapeshift, dance, …), spirit fire each round did it easy (4 shots of it, Faldorn standing no more)
After a sleep in grove to collect next quest, tough encounter with werewolves for a new (v7) quest, so it seems.

Trademmet collect reward, buy staff+3

City
Suna seni
Start many quest but don't finish them because I wait for Sibel dual class activation to remove traps and lockpicking
Fallen paladin completed
Pay Gaelan, meet Aran
Mook
Baron ployer
Hexxat first quest (dismiss Nalia, keep hexxat for lockpicking needs)
Start Maevar
Montaron and xzar
Talk to kangaxx
Finish tanner
slaver ambush
Back to keep to lockpick a bit
help tiris
Do Rassad first quest

Pick Nalia back and go to shade grove
Shadow jailor executed
First ambush easy (2 bone 1 skel lord, 2 skel warrior and 1 mummy) because party level 9-11 (Sibel 9/9 warriors 10 and other casters 11)
Second bunch same (one less bone)
Open way to dragon and shade lord

City, free slaves in CC
Ambushed by night by 3 vampires
Forge yeti cloack and gloves in promenade
Bring necklace to Maevar
Parisa ambush, finally Sibel levels to 10 and activates dual-class!
Finish Maevar and refuse guild
Lilarcor

Exit city, Rasaad temple (without rasaad in party)

Back to city
Free haerdalis (give mirror to Mekrath) and open planar prison
Temple sewer to resume unseeing eye quest
On the way kill spiders guarding Hammer, good use of shaman (spiritual Clarity and entropy shield)
Party reaches 800kxp
Finish cult, start cleric stronghold, get and finish illithium quest (for ring as a reward)

Exit city, Finish keep level 2, open gates, forge FoA +3
Collect weapons from golems and creatures
Kill Torgal and accept keep, protag just 472 xp above the Million
During Torgal fight Shaman helped a lot: entropy shield (crushing), Mend body and mend group

Back to city
Finish slavers in slum district, collect reward from Henda
Another vampire ambush (Tanova)
Contact in docks killed for Aran
Crypt queen and king
Catacombs, spiders, spiders, spiders, undeads, Païna, deeper, stop before last room (for book of kaza quest)
Forge Morning star +3, cloak +2, paws of the furious cat, yeti cloak
Jaheira leaves (harper quest), hire korgan and do book ok kaza quest
join Jaheira, harper fight indoor then outdoor
Try Shadow dragon got blasted

Windspear
Undeads and rhuk
Golem ambush coin/gem/clay/bone (protag 1.19 Mxp)
horrible time with greater werewolve and dread wolves
Exit Windspear

WK, intend was to sell, Sibel ancestor village discovery, very nice
Forge nice items for sibel, SPOILER!

Did not fully grasp "leather"/"local coins" quest with merchants, have some local coins left on exit, Don't know if any further use of them
hard fight on exit from zone SPOILER!


Some stronghold quests
Kill a lich for bones and scroll of spellstrike for shadow dragon
Nalia is abducted tehn freed
Finish shadow dragon (hard) and shade lord (easy, no reload), start ranger stronghold

Shaman and Sibel shine (means I am Learning how to use them efficiently)
This party has a new composition for me, low arcane (Nalia), Shaman protag, Jaheira, Sibel, Kensaï and RB
So far so good (Jaheira is for me top one of NPC pick for an IA run, have the feeling Sibel might claim the position, will see)

Some more strongholds
Talk to uncle squirrel
Mencar (Had to wait for Amon to exhaust his mantle scroll supply)
Forge shadow dragon armor, essence of chaos (for shaman)
Get bag of holding from pirates
Sewer party, wanted RRoR scrolls, wasted 2 and got none
Recover ring for temple and finish cleric stronghold

On my way to phosphorous
Planar Prison, never so easy, even if not enough RRoR scrolls so that I had to spend a long time with EBH to be able to peel warden later on
Buy potions and forge THE mace

Exit city, Delon calls for help with Umar
Kill witch and imp, no reload, simple plan:
- First kill wandering skeletons/demon/wraith… to prevent traffic jam
- Rest then buff (important to have prot from cold), my 2 IH go to Sibel and Kensaï, RB has his own IH, no potion (meant to be a first try, if failure would have add potions)
- Protag alone comes from North West corridor to trigger dialogue, have some Umar summons follow him (A lord and a minotaur in the end) and most important be the target of Umar remove magic
- rest of party and summons rush throuh East entrance, split to focus on imp , planetar and other enemy summons
- Nalia uses RRoR scrolls (3) to peel Umar then Breach*2
Overall planetar, 4 lords, 2 minotaurs and 2 spiders summoned by duo

Back to Windspear
spiders
Golem bunch number 2 (Coin/gem/bone/clay)
Undead ambush
Strat collecting mask pieces
Sibel levels to 14 (3 7th lvl cleric spells!)
open way to king strohm tomb
Free Garren child
Shaman level 14 (choose Creeping Doom)
Exit and start Paladin stronghold

Squirrel quest pre-spellhold over (did not get a barbarian essence as reward, though I was sure there was one, maybe a V7 change..)
finish paladin stronghold (apart sword)

In the mood to try some spicy fights:

Samia and party (1 reload because Kaol script has changed in V7)
Devised a very new for me and simple plan based on movement (do not spoil, no cheat no exploit of course)
Exiting dungeon Sibel receives a letter and an amulet

Founder of trademeet, easy (RB and creeping doom), staff of Rynn!
Forge circlet of golden flowers and Water's edge +4

Screaming statues
1st down and ten: just RB and Kensai Under NPP + Sibel with amulet of power, minor summons
2nd down and ten: same with anaconda and clerical buffs
3rd down and ten: IH*3 used (Sibel/RB/Kensai) + Clan hunter Under SoA + buffs, open with sunray from Sibel and CD from shaman, it was the fastest down of the 3

Thought I would add teshal to the list, he did died in my attempt, but skeletons wiped my party, will be back later

Back to grove to rest, new V7 encounter in trademeet (do not spoil), looked like endless waves, satisfied no reload and +4 staff as loot

Before sphere, need more IH, so recruit Neera (doing all her quest) instead of Nalia
Forge 3 rings +2, cloak +2, ring +3
Finish gong quest

Sphere

Will have to cheat a bit (reduce my xp and party accordingly) because spellhold cap is broken (Unexpected xp for Sibel quests I presume)
Forge boots of haste, rings +2 and go
Jaheira left behind, after pondering it, do not think party will be viable without 2 mages, chose Imoen and Neera because Nalia ring is available much later in the game and I need high level slots a plenty

Spellhold
Dradell met (new druid quest)
Just one amber in Crystal, is it V7 tuning?
Mithril an ordeal as usual, not very fun without swanmways or clan hunters, a matter of rabbits properly populating area and drinking oils of resurgence
Irenicus last stand no problem
V7 turn of events sounds nice and appealing
Ambers I found missing in Crystal have another Sibel-duty so it seems
Exit isle a new V7 druidquest way

Sahaugin city Nothing specific
Shaman gets mending ability (maybe got it earlier, did not have to use it)

Underdark
Decide a new (for me) course of action
illithid at entry
Two Kuo toa bunches
Straight into beholder cavern
Kill all beholders
Deeper than underdark
Could not believe it, no reload no danger, just one pfld scroll and one potion of magic shielding used on RB, RB and summons did it (btw troll from MS VI Under regen and IH is quite nice here)
Dungeon next door (illithid)
No problem with big brain and elemental golem (1 gem 4 brains)
West drow ambush
Free prisonners from contraption
Buy expensive Freedom scroll and free wizard, strat his quest
Enter west dungeon
Straight for demons, no casualty
start Killing kuo-toas
finish dungeon
Dwarf village
mages get HLA (Shaman has 2 already)
help then kill mage
East drow ambush, toned down (a lot), no spiders…
Enter drow city
1st quest
2nd quest
3rd quest
Member of house Despana
Sibel gets HLA nice new ones in V7!
New nice and quite tough V7 fight against demon after ritual


Somme feedbacks so far (exit underdark, protag level 19 with 3.9 Mxp)

*General play
I used to rely on heavy magic, with Necro protag, Nalia with just one IH was enough for pre-spellhold main part
Pre-spellhold, Jaheira (with noticeable help from clan hunter) is by far the most powerful NPC to pick, she is also great late game btw
Chapter 1 to 3, Jaheira and clan hunter tank, RB/Kensaï and Sibel slice, Nothing resists (apart shadow dragon)
Later, Shaman maintains warrior health, mages summon and cast spell from behind


Fights where I reloaded or gave up and comments:
- Faldorn, Discovery of Shaman against her
- first werewolves encounter (werewolves have been V7 buffed or I am growing too old)
- Shadow dragon because arrogant and wanted to take it early, with Sibel casting GR, walk in the park
- Samia (Kaol script changed in V7)
- Teshal: arrogance and too few IH too few +4 blunt weapons when I did the attempt
- Mithril golem (no comment)
- Demon in drow ritual (party has to be prepared, dilletantism means death)
- SPOILER!


*Sibel
A real battle cleric, use her as a warrior with capacity to help with buff and at some point to cast GR for emergency
Her quest is nice, do not know if I missed Something, will see if replay (or spoilers)
Nice items
Balanced, she is very powerful but also very frail
Her quests give quite good xp (have some chapter 1-3 quests left I Always completed before, as well as tough fights I could do in V6 without being above spellhold cap)

*Shaman
A great many new and very usefull spells (on top of usual divine spells)
early game: spirit fire and spirit weapon
mid run and later: Spirit Clarity, entropy shield, recall spirit
Late chapter 3 and after: Primal ward, impervious sanctity of mind, all the mends (heal/regen/mass cure), storm shell (life changer against amber golems)
Since my party has 3 impressive damage dealers (RB/Kensaï/Sibel) but also very fragile ones, I mostly use shaman as support to Heal/mend and remove disabling effects
I only used spirit summons in the beginning, later I need Shaman ready to heal
Shaman can be offensive with spells (creeping doom is incredibly powerful) and can fight decently with weapons
Waiting eagerly to face some enemies that will make some new HLAs and spells appropriate (spirit form, favored of the spirits)

UPDATE 1

Exit underdark
Drizzt and Sibel Messenger met
Small teeth pass
Forest of Tethyr to meet Kruin
North forest
Druid grove (quest meeting)
Small teeth pass to save a druid from wolves, good helper there, couple of rounds to prepare, no big problem
New area with a tremendous fight waiting
SPOILER!

For those who played IA, reminded me a lot of my first times against dracolich, Yaga Sura or old one and their countless reloads
Still I Don't know how to deal efficiently whith Lycanthrops

Windspear
Windmaster
Firkraag
SPOILER!
(druid quest)
Will wait before druid quest next step (afraid of next encounter which will likely be more difficult than previous one)

City
Stronghold quests (sphere/theater)
Finish squirrel quest
Send solamnic Knights home
Kill teshal
Clear illithid hideout

Spending some of my 700 000+ gp
Forge wave, poseidon's wrath, indigo ioun stone, greater robe of invocation, ring of djinni summoning, crom faer, ring +3, 2 rings +2, cat figurine and supreme shelter

Time to tackle Bodhi
SPOILER!

SPOILER!

Finish theater stronghold (keep it)

Go to sphere to tackle ancient priest

Meet a leather golem on exit (Sibel quest), quite rare in IA that meeting a golem just consist of mundane speech
Meeting a much less polite golem after the talk in copper coronet. Said previously I had to test Shaman as a fighter, here I had to, result is Shaman is quite strong and very adapted to this new V7 enemy: greater amber golem

Other Sibel meeting Under Copper coronet
New great ambush, which at first looks impossible to tackle, just spoil that you start debuffed and surrounded by "biting" enemies

What to do next apart forging with lady Elowen: Boots of the riskbreaker lord, glimmering amber amulet, chunk of reinforced amber, fruitful attempt

Forgot to go to guarded compound and its 3 targets (slavers, ancient lich and greater elemental)
Veni vidi vici and then forging pendant of recovered light, symbol of wisdom and golem slayer
Get lady Vania first quest

Many meetings:
Keep Messenger (flood)
A duchess? (not 100% sure) requiring help, linked to Sibel, SPOILER!

To change a bit landscape go to clean troll mound

Perform Vania duty and collect reward

Back to underdark to collect magical pull and kill Ancient golem
Get ruby of the gods
Finish keep stronghold (Roenall fight) ans sphere
Merella quests (furnace/casket/cold), will talk to her later
Back to troll mound for Ancient mage

Forge Talisman of greater protection, cutthroat+5, talisman of greater shielding

Give bones and kill demilich
Kill grave in gate district
Meet Orcus

update 2

Forge hesperus (one good point for not having a necroprotag is to be able to forge this very nice weapons, only happened to me once with a riskbreaker protagonist)

Twisted rune
Looks like it is a bit improved (Vaxall and Shangalar) in V7

WK levels 1 and 2
Forge FoA +4, girdle of lordly might and golden spider
WK 3,
WK4, clear north and west zones

Finish Merella, meeting Pasha (thanks to IA tweaks) during a nice fight
Nothing left in the city apart a Sibel encounter I am not eager to meet too soon.
Forgot to say before I did not succeed to forge robe of the apprenti, so limak won't show (alas)

Forge 3 chunks of amber, Hammer +3, amulet of Styx, riskbreaker dream, girdle of majestic might and ring +2. Stop forging because no more money left

Some global feedback:
Shaman and Sibel are really good fighters, they can hit very hard
Shaman Healing is quite efficient during fight (and before, a buff with regen is never a bad idea)
I quite enjoy this party, no need for long buffing sequences (IH/regen are enough for most cases, archdeva and smilodon as unique summons)
Mage debuff and sometimes send summons
Cleric and Shaman HLAs and new spells very usefull, a lot of nice combos to experiment there
for example: against amber or greater amber golem, shaman Under spirit shift/storm shell/regen with paws of the furious cat can solo without trouble

Elven city, open way to tree of life
Shaman used as fighter against greater elemental in harpist house btw

Forge black onyx amulet and ring +2 and go for Sibel encounter
Tough wonderful fight, think I will not run without Sibel anymore in IA

A bit of spoil
SPOILER!


Final? druid quest fight
Another grand fight
SPOILER!


Loot demands a stop at Cromwell shop
Forge rust dragon armor and cloak, the undoer +5

Overview of party before tree of life:

Shaman 6.89 Mxp, lvl 25, kills 4%, AC -9, weapons: Silent hunt +4/ impaler
KensaÏ lvl 29 kills 34%, AC - 10, weapons: Rynn/lilarcor/poseidon
RB lvl 29 kills 35%, AC - 19, dual wielder, weapons: phosphorous/riskbreaker dream/cuthroat+5/FoA +4/water's edge +4/Hesperus +5
Sibel lvl 9/31 kills 18%, AC - 15 , - 22 with supreme Shelter, dual or sword and shield wielder, weapons: crom faer/king of clubs
Imoen lvl 24 kills 3%, AC - 10 , weapon: undoer +5
Neera lvl 24 kills 2%, AC 0 , weapons: sling of everard/staff +3

update 3

Tree of life, horrible time with hardwood golems, funny that one more (and a black dragon less) I switched from no to 9 reloads (until I shamely decided to drink barbarian essence potion for RB and Kensai)

Hell no problem, imho room for improvement there, sarevok should have helpers (I would propose 2-3 greater werewolves, a grave lich and 4-5 skeleton grandlords), why not land a couple of dragons (a black and a dracolich?) after good path is chosen with yellow dragon, irenicus should have a greater elemental (the naughty one summoning amber golems), two more demons ad 3 more death Knights with him

illasera
pocktplane
saradush
Neera ToB quest
Recover 2 hearts
Apart Illasera fight were I did prebuff a lot, very simple and straightforward way to prepare and deal with fights, IH on Shaman/RB/Sibel/Kensaï, hardiness on RB/Kensaï then pound, shaman heals/regens with mend, Sibel triggers GR if emergency, very little offensive spells needed, apart the pleasure to kill some EFG by Neera or Imoen Under alacrity (CO/AA/VT/CL)
Use summons very scarcely compared to my other runs, Archdeva, smilodon and Djinni mostly because they last a bit (even more Under shaman regen)

Back to WK
some golems, no milking just 4 minor spawns
Supreme Leader, a bit easier than I remembered (because shaman protag?) less golems gated and helpers went down fast.
Here some buffs, protection from Lightning, free action from cat figurine, potions of invulnerability on RB and Kensaï, layers on mages, foreknowledge everywhere
2 comets and a risk decrement opened the way, Mlar and Hracknir dead soon after, Imoen and Neera took care of anti-inquisitors (with help from RB/Kensaï), Sibel kept supreme occupied till pfmw no more then adios. Shaman mendig, a couple of creeping doom, prot from fire on party (forgot this buff) then pound in the end
Demilich and saladrex executed. Hopefully with foreknowledge Shaman casts fast (DW), just Neera imprisonned (one scroll less)

Sad that I won't get JD trials… (thought I had loaded the option with IA tweaks but no)

Forge two weapons among the bests imho: foebane +5 and staff of the ram +6, 2 rings +2, 2 rings +3 and a ring +4

Do golems and 14 out of 16 globes in a row (apart last red and last purple ones that is)
Great fun for vampires (purple 3), letting RB wielding hesperus in automatic mode is enough (just a potion of invulnerability and IH)
finish 4th red globe
Grave liches I wonder how to deal with, shaman can protect himself from silence, but damaging liches.....all others can harm liches a lot, but silence + dispel + stellar gravestone(s) means death
forge hammer of thor to pretend I am making progress
Grave liches
SPOILER!


Have quite some spells and HLAs left, so open room wher more liches and grandlords await

Forge noble staff of fire (for imoen, to have a tenser on top of undoer)

Horde (802 arrows collected) and imps, ancient dragon and demogorgon remain for later

update 4

Give heart to nyalee triggering an argument with this lady
Fight with Yaga-Sura Always nice
Now my personnal second most difficult fight (first is demogorgon), oasys. Difficult here has to be understand as a fight I am not sure at all to win whatever cautions I take and moves I make.
4 or 5 tries ended in disaster (chunk) including one where I was happy to succeed 5 raise dead/resurrection before Sibel got chunked
Solution was to keep on the west side of map (where I entered)
Summoning arch deva farther east meant vengeance storm cast by enemies avoided mages and shaman
lot of mending ("green" regen and heal)
lot of AA/DB/FA/RRoR/breach under alacrity
I really like it

Meet Leather golem entering city, happy because it means new content
Some minor quests
forge girdle of cloud giant strength (for imoen)
enter tavern and…
For those who Don't read spoiler let's say Sibel family plot looks like an "little IA" by itself, including boss and final fight
SPOILER!


After that tons af regular or reinforced amber chunks in inventory

Oasys now comes third in my difficult IA fights ranking

Just for the fun, a guess (party is Shaman/RB/Kensaï/Sibel/Neera/Imoen), most powerful vanquished are (alphabetical order)
Ancient Golem/Greater Dracolich/ Greater Elemental Golem/Greater Elemental Golem/Layenne/Spider Queen (2 GEG is not a typo mistake in the list)
Which belongs to who?

Meet lady Elowen, forge many things (reinforced ioun stone, kensai staff, phosphorous +5, ulimate horn)
forge with cespenar corrosive lance, ring +2, death of a thousand cuts, circlet of netheril

Clear abazigail lair

Enter Sendaï's
Tunnels do not provide any more huge amounts of gold and xp (gold I have a plenty, xp I wish I had more)
Protag hits level 30 (9.1 Mxp)
Sendaï fight still one of my IA-favorite (even if I had to use 2 barbarian essences)
I have enough money to forge 5 Dragon lord Halberds, a pity just one is possible

Time to face my nemesis fights; Ancient wyrm and Demogorgon
Estimate 50% to win wyrm (that is 50% to give up because fed up to retry), 20% Demo, to compare with 99% EDE

last update

Ancient dragon
Just one reload (RB chunked, 365 damage from a breath, fire resist was too low)
A long long fight
SPOILER!


Forge dragon lord halberd, the Truth (old habit) and Hindo doom

Open seals
First talk with D, get scroll after orden leaves

Back to city to kill balthazar

Time to face Prince
Use greater wish +20% magic damage resist
prepare and buff, 100% physical resistance for Shaman/Sibel/RB/Kensaï

Use greater wish again resistance for an hour against electrical discharge (btw did not prevent ultra golems from lowering my electrical resistance)

Alpha Smilodon joins (druid quest)
Prince gates
SPOILER!

SPOILER!

Easier than great wyrm, but quit delightful fight

Time to face Archdemon

Thought I could use regen 9HP from greater wish, but had to take +30HP, should have read dialogue more closely before, and thus used greater wish much earlier… Well, let's say I am Learning for a next run

Nightmare during my first 2 attempts which ended in disaster. As always The first 3 rounds here (which last for me in RL time)clearly dictate whether or not hope remains to win, one party member down means no, a mistake in debuffing (and casting offensive/debuff spells on an enemy that ignores them) means no….

What worked:
SPOILER!

Helm ghost appears and grants a beautiful reward, a pity just Melissan fight remaining
loot splendid as Always, a pity I have Nothing useful to forge (anyway Cespenar is gone)
Confess I went to meet Lady Elowen to see if some forging could be made with helm's gift (as an easter egg, big wink to dev team)

Some party info for the record
Shaman: kills in game 3%, kills in chapter 2%, mpv Greater elemental golem
Sibel: kills in game 17%, kills in chapter 14%, mpv Greater elemental golem
RB: kills in game 36%, kills in chapter 39%, mpv Spider queen
Kensaï: kills in game 33%, kills in chapter 32%, mpv Ancient Dragon
Imoen: kills in game 5%, kills in chapter 8%, mpv Draconis
Neera: kills in game 4%, kills in chapter 4%, mpv Greater Dracolich

Time to regain mortal life

Melissan has new helpers, more challenging than before
SPOILER!

Now Melissan fight means something
In the end party was drained, but all alive

The End

Posted by: pekkae Jun 18 2024, 02:12 AM

Well. Welcome back.

I've read through numerous of your journals! So looking forward to this one as well!

Posted by: Sikret Jun 18 2024, 02:34 AM

Welcome back, nicoper!

You have a powerful party. I'm curious about kill rates of your party members. Will be an exciting competition between glass cannons (RB and kensai).

Also curious:

SPOILER!

Posted by: lroumen Jun 18 2024, 04:33 AM

That is some fast progress, impressive.
I like how you swap in and out npcs as you need them.

One question. I always remembered the founder of trademeet to be in a dead magic zone. Is that changed or how did you get creeping doom to cast?

Posted by: nicoper Jun 18 2024, 04:37 AM

kills 34% RB 36% Kensaï 16% Sibel 5% Shaman
SPOILER!

Posted by: nicoper Jun 18 2024, 04:40 AM

Hi Iroumen

I started run the day V7 was out in fact

Founder is dead arcane zone, not dead divine nor RB innate IH

Posted by: lroumen Jun 18 2024, 11:33 AM

ah, I did not realise it would work like that...

Posted by: SparrowJacek Jun 18 2024, 11:52 AM

It's always been like that. Saladrex's area in WK is also a dead arcane zone, but not divine, if I remember correctly.

Posted by: Sikret Jun 18 2024, 12:17 PM

Yes, Saladrex's area is dead arcane magic zone, but there are actually some areas in which even divine spells cannot be cast, such as AR3004 in the 3rd level of WK in which dead magic zone covers both arcane and divine spells.

Posted by: lroumen Jun 18 2024, 12:49 PM

I am used to wk3 and I assumed all magic was therefore limited in these zones. You learn something every day

Posted by: bulian Jun 19 2024, 07:33 AM

Good to see some other old timers are still around. Regarding Sibel, are you playing her dual wield or sword and board?

Posted by: nicoper Jun 20 2024, 05:38 AM

Thanks

Dual wielding club/Crom or with shield for insane AC
To me she cannot use sword (dual swash/cleric)

Posted by: Sikret Jun 20 2024, 10:34 AM

This is impressive. I wrote elsewhere that glass cannons would surpass Sibel's kill rate, but wasn't expecting such a big gap.

In my own last run RB had 31% kill rate vs. Sibel's 25%. I didn't have a kensai.

What weapons do RB and kensai use? Is kensai a Two-hander?

I am curious if RB will eventually surpass kensai.

Who are your other party members? Imoen (sorceress) and Neera (wild mage)? How do you like the changes to wild surge table?

Posted by: nicoper Jun 20 2024, 02:00 PM

RB, dual wielder, weapons: Phosphorous/FoA+3/water dege+4
KensaÏ: 2H wielder Rynn/poseidon/Lilarcor

Imoen and Neera both as sorceresses, did not take wild Mage Neera

Shaman could IMO have a better Kill Rate if I was not using him as support most of the time

Side note: It is a run where I do not use for the moment that many uber-summons, Archdeva and smilodon are the only ones (this thinking of runs with clan hunters or Swanmays)

Posted by: Sikret Jun 20 2024, 02:45 PM

SPOILER!

Posted by: nicoper Jun 20 2024, 09:46 PM

It is on the roadmap, have ++++ right now in axe (at level 24), wait to to be able to forge RB axe later on

Updated journal btw, put an update 1 tag

Posted by: critto Jun 20 2024, 10:16 PM

SPOILER!

Posted by: nicoper Jun 20 2024, 11:09 PM

Thanks mate!

Posted by: critto Jun 20 2024, 11:23 PM

No problem! But you're in for another surprise with the last fight :-)

Posted by: kilorew Jun 22 2024, 12:10 AM

SPOILER!

Posted by: Sikret Jun 22 2024, 12:49 AM

SPOILER!

Posted by: nicoper Jun 22 2024, 11:18 PM

updated journal in first post, tag update 2

soon tree of life

Very nice new bosses fight for Druid quest and Sibel

Posted by: kilorew Jun 22 2024, 11:52 PM

+1 Vouch for new fights, particularly the druid quest fights have been great I do love the 'chaotic survival' type fights. Great job on those ones guys.

SPOILER!

Also noticed I failed in getting the robe of the apprenti, is this a thing now without a mage protag or was there always a chance of failure?

Great journal always interesting to see another perspective.

Posted by: nicoper Jun 23 2024, 12:15 AM

afaik, there was always a failure chance for non-mage protag (even mage, i am not sure apart 100% for necroprotag)



thanks a lot kilorew

Posted by: critto Jun 23 2024, 01:44 PM

Thanks, glad you liked it :-)

SPOILER!

Posted by: nicoper Jun 24 2024, 12:36 AM

A question related to Sibel, is Lady Elowen around in TOB or not?

Posted by: SparrowJacek Jun 24 2024, 12:53 AM

Yes, she'll be available in ToB too.

Posted by: nicoper Jun 24 2024, 01:11 AM

thanks sparrow!

Posted by: pekkae Jun 26 2024, 12:25 PM

Great journal, thanks!

I also appreciate the spoiler-tags, as I'm looking to find out things for myself but I really appreciate that there's easy help available if needed.

You have 2 sorceresses, right? What do you use for spell selection / equipment for them?

Posted by: nicoper Jun 26 2024, 11:47 PM

Hi pekkae, thank you for the kind words

First I did chapter 1-3 with just Nalia (mainly to use scrolls of RRoR and breach) as mage
Neera and Imoen picked late chapter 3 and in spellhold

spells (pick order for 4+),

Neera
L1: NRD, friends (to bargain with ring of human influence late game), CO, MM, LMD
L2: RoE, MAA, blurr, MI, resist fear
L3: FA, VT, RM, MMM, LB
L4: RoF, Minor disruption, GM, stoneskin, emotion
L5: Larloch Interrupter, LR, breach, SI
L6: PFME, CL, IH, GOI
L7: limited wish, MS V, SS, ST
L8: spell trigger, MS VI, ADHW, foreknowledge
L9: CC, WISH, AI, timestop
HLA: DB, alacrity, Energy blades etc (no matter the order)

Imoen
L1: CO, MM, BH, LMD, prot from petrification (why not?)
L2: Agannazar, blurr, invisibility, MI, MAA
L3: haste, MMM, RM, FA, VT
L4: RoF, Minor disruption, stoneskin, emotion, fireshield blue
L5: Breach, sunfire, SI, LR
L6: IH, CL, GOI, pfmw
L7: RRoR, SS, mordekain, DU
L8: Spell trigger, ADHW, PFE, foreknowledge
L9: WISH, CC, MS VII, Bigby
HLA: Alacrity, DB, Energy blades etc (no matter the order)

items; focus on bonus to spellcasting items, Imoen; Vecna+ pendant, Neera amulet of Styx + greater robe of invocation
Weapons just undoer +5 on Imoen has its uses (+3 staff for Neera)

Posted by: nicoper Jun 28 2024, 05:06 AM

updated journal tag update 3

Posted by: Sikret Jun 28 2024, 10:56 AM

Thanks for the journal, Nico!

That's the spirit.

A couple of questions:

Why didn't you forge Reinforced Staff of Strength for your Kensai? It's the best 2H weapon for a Kensai.

Why Supreme Shelter? Shield of the Missionnaire is better for Sibel.

Was it a calculated decision to use 8 chunks of amber to forge Hammer of Thor? It means 4 fewer Lady Elowen upgrades, because those 8 chunks could have been used to make 4 reinforced chunks of amber.

Posted by: SparrowJacek Jun 28 2024, 12:22 PM

Why exactly do you cast IH on Shaman? Is he any good in melee without his transformation? And that transformation comes with its own IH effect.


There were a few changes to this fight, though the main difference is that now you should be able to hit Supreme Leader with good thac0 rolls, not only with critical hits.

Posted by: pekkae Jun 28 2024, 12:42 PM

While it's not my run but.

The basic Shaman with paws + strength increase is a decent damage dealer. On my first 6.6. run I used Shaman extensively in the early parts vs plethora of enemies. And for IH, it gives you 4 instead of 3 APR. I ofcourse had the half-orc version with 19str so he was pretty pumped naturally early game. And of course Shaman gets to 5-6 skins quite fast, outpacing an avenger for example by a mile in the early parts.



No more -35?

Posted by: pekkae Jun 28 2024, 12:48 PM

Thanks! Much more diverse than my lists, but then again I used max 1 sorceress in my games.

No Protection from fire or cold?

You don't use Giant Strength? (should be pretty good on the Shaman)

Where do you use lightning bolt (i've had that on a few runs but I never seemed to use it...)

Posted by: pekkae Jun 28 2024, 01:02 PM

SPOILER!

Posted by: nicoper Jun 28 2024, 01:49 PM

I used to forge ASoS for my 2H Kensaï, but staff of the ram is for me the best blunt 2H weapons, and with new items and lum the mad machine, my half-orc Kensaï reaches 25 str
I can still forge RSoS (and will) if I meet Lady Elowen to test it


I (may be wrongly) estimated shield of the Missionnaire to be available much later, you are right Missionnaire is much better.


Yes, I still have one reinforced and 6 regular chunks in bag



Shaman also fights without transformation so IH just in case


Sibel and Shaman take this into account


No, I would use it if I had a mage, for sorceresses, other spells much more precious at L6


Anti-inquisitors, Elite fire giants, Demogorgon fight come to mind. Not a lot of fights, but in those LB has an important part


SPOILER!

Posted by: pekkae Jun 28 2024, 02:06 PM

SPOILER!

Just checked this. Apparently that's changed. Previous version (6.6) SoL can be cast on anyone.





I ended abandoning GOI for GS. I concluded that in my game I need GS all the time, but GOI is really needed for only a few fights. And for those, there's numerous scrolls available.

Posted by: Sikret Jun 28 2024, 02:38 PM

Reinforced Staff of Strength is the best 2h blunt weapon in the game. It is not just about the STR bonus, but mainly for the weapon's average damage output.

I also see that as per my prediction, RB surpassed kensai's kill rate in your game.

Posted by: nicoper Jun 28 2024, 02:50 PM

That's a big part of the fun with IA, we all have different ways to build very strong and optimal parties.

To me main thing to consider having strong and optimal builds is to think globally on party and how you will handle each type of fights (meaning the tough ones)

Here for example I have 3 fighters (Sibel/RB/Kensaï) with 25 STR through items, my mages are here to support and distract enemies, so having many layers and being able to refresh them under alacrity is important (against liches, dragons, mages, ..) even a silenced mage with 3 layers can keep busy a dragon RRoRing for some precious spans (instead of lowering resistance and breathing)

I would say there is not a supreme way to use a sorcerer, but there definitely is a way to optimize a sorcerer in a given party according the strategies you consider to use.

It is always very interesting to exchange with other players on this, it gives ideas and hints. How do you use JAN? I confess I tried once to use him, have to admit I was poor a it, but I see that many players consider him as a very valuable partner.

Posted by: pekkae Jun 29 2024, 12:32 AM

Yup, everyone has a little bit of unique way of building the crew. I've read through numerous journals and almost always come up with something new from them, a new approach, a new trick or maybe a combination I didn't think of previously.

You have similar approach than I do in the sense that I usually build the crew while keeping in mind the most difficult fights in the game (so Supreme Golem, Demo + EDE) - if I can manage those everything else is doable. But while reading your journal and looking at the crew + choices we do have "a clear ideological difference". In my games i tend to to max out exp, so my team is always geared towards endurance rather than immediate anhilation of all enemies - that's why I don't have a Kensai/RB with me (or very rarely do). To me, it feels like the most fun way to go through the game. And I end up with a maxed out crew that is superbly powerful, as the benefits (more exp and earlier exp + more money, more forging) start to compound.

And yup, there definitely is a clear path to developing your sorceress depending on the strategies you would like to utilize throughout the game. So no one supreme way, or the supreme way depends on one's overall strategy. But in a sense I think the arcane-superpowers are a little bit limited and the changes made in 7.0 seem to limit arcane powers even further. What I mean is that mage is a great for buffing your crew & de-buffing, but the choice of ruling out PO from multiple golem fightstakes away a big power gamer move that was completely done by arcane caster. Of course, arcane casters still have their role but I would not like to see the offensive side diminished further still.

I have no idea how to use Jan - It's Jan's classes that are hampered too much by IA to be very useful in the game. The supreme choices for thieves used to be Hexxat, Kensai/Thief and Swashbuckler/Mage (Swahbuckler/Fighter), but they don't work that well anymore and now there's Sibel, who's probably by far the most powerful NPC and whom also handles thieving so taking Jan is a big negative tradeoff. Maybe Jan should be a F/T/Illusionist, that could possibly work very well.

Posted by: nicoper Jul 1 2024, 02:55 AM

journal updated tag update 4
End is near
Very nice new fights, put one big spoiler, be warned, if you take Sibel for the first time, I advise you not to read to keep the fun and pleasure of discovery

Posted by: bulian Jul 1 2024, 04:35 AM

Congrats on the progress! I might have missed it but what did you choose for your

SPOILER!

Posted by: Sikret Jul 1 2024, 10:39 AM

His Remove Magic spells are superb, but did he die in any of your attempts?

Posted by: nicoper Jul 1 2024, 11:58 AM

@bulian
SPOILER!

@Sikret
SPOILER!

Posted by: Sikret Jul 1 2024, 12:33 PM

SPOILER!

Posted by: nicoper Jul 3 2024, 08:20 PM

A question (a bit spoilerish so between brackets) for dev team

SPOILER!

Regarding journal, I wait for some fights left to publish, those fights being SPOILER!

Posted by: Sikret Jul 3 2024, 08:35 PM

SPOILER!

Posted by: nicoper Jul 3 2024, 08:58 PM

Thanks Sikret

Posted by: nicoper Jul 5 2024, 07:51 PM

Journal is over last update tag

Quite nice new features in V7/Sibel, thank you dev team

Now may be will think a bit about another party (with a necroprotag, I love mages and miss Limak and secondtravel to plane)

Posted by: Sikret Jul 5 2024, 09:51 PM

Great Journal, nicoper!

Don't miss the new Wizard Slayer.

Posted by: SparrowJacek Jul 5 2024, 10:15 PM

Congratulations! How did you like all the new stuff? Did you notice any significant balance changes?

Posted by: nicoper Jul 5 2024, 11:01 PM

Thanks Sparrowjacek

New stuff I really like, Druid quest and Sibel quest rejuvenate IA

Significant balance changes I noticed (excluding new V7/Sibel stuff), but remember I did not play for RL years..
- drow ambush (eastern one) very easy now
- Crystal in spellhold much easier (just one amber)
- Melissan a real late game fight now

Other things:
Shaman is quite powerful, as protag as well as party member I think so good balance
Sibel Cleric is really powerful, but balanced
Nice to have many new items to forge, lady elowen is a great add-on

Since every IA player has his wish list, here is mine:
- Greater wish +3 dex seemed very poor compared to other options, immunity to stun (if possible) would be an option I would consider
- Kensaï class should have forged items to match RB ones, my 2 cents: allow a ring+4 upgrade specific for kensaï that could be worn with another +4 ring, and have a boot recipe granting IH (like ranger boot of the woodlands)

Posted by: bulian Jul 5 2024, 11:33 PM

I like the kensai item idea. You'd also mentioned a rework of the Hell encounter which is certainly something that has been on my list for a while.

Regarding Sibel, what items did you end up forging for her and what were the stats SPOILER!

?

Posted by: nicoper Jul 5 2024, 11:48 PM

Hi Bulian

Items forged for Sibel (I spent a lot for the lady):
Amber ioun stone
glimmering amber amulet
arcanis family legacy
king of clubs
symbol of wisdom
fruitful attempt
shades of helm
howard's boot
howard's gloves

other: crom faer and supreme shelter
she also wears belt of +4 AC vs blunt

SPOILER!

Posted by: SparrowJacek Jul 6 2024, 01:03 AM

Ahh, so your Sibel could still be more powerful than she was in your playthrough

Interesting, I tested Sibel as a Swash=>Fighter and she was performing MUCH better than Kensai. Out of the three, Kensai, RB and Sibel, Kensai had by far the worst kill rate, I wonder why was that...

Posted by: nicoper Jul 6 2024, 03:55 AM

So I have to make another run to find out


In fact, Since RB and Kensaï need healing most of the time, I used Sibel as a back row healer very often (too often, I was too cautious), if I had to replay same run, she would be used fighting a lot more so her kills would be much higher. As a dual swash/fighter, now that I have a bit of experience, I think she would be level with RB or Kensaï.
2H wielder Kensaï remains a beast, I wonder why yours is far below RB and Sibel, who were the other team members you used?

Posted by: SparrowJacek Jul 6 2024, 02:26 PM

That's how I used my Kensai, but RB's axe is just too busted, giving him damage boost similar to Kensai while keeping much higher APR due to dual wielding.

My party was very highly melee oriented:
- Shaman protagonist
- RB
- Kensai
- Jaheira (Avenger)
- Sibel (Swash(9)=>Fighter)
- Neera (Sorceress)

Posted by: nicoper Jul 6 2024, 02:55 PM

Apart Sibel cleric and not fighter, I wanted at first the same party than yours, estimated one sorceress was not enough but looks like you did manage with just one sorceress.

Punching power of this (yours) party is awesome!

Posted by: pekkae Jul 6 2024, 03:19 PM

Why are you using Kensai as a 2-handed weapons specialist?

I've played through a few times with a Kensai but I always dual-wield with water's edge off-hand (so 10 apr under ih). This is one brutally effective character.

Posted by: SparrowJacek Jul 6 2024, 03:57 PM

Yes, it's effective, but since Kensai has abysmal AC, I prefer to use weapons with longer range. Only Crom/Hammer of Thor has the same range as 2h weapons IIRC, and you get it too late for me.

Posted by: pekkae Jul 6 2024, 08:31 PM

Yup.

Though what I found out is that on most of the difficult fights your non-maxed AC isn't that much help. On my 7.0 testrun I have a Vagrant along, and I have to play it identiclly to how I would play a Kensai if I want to dual wield -> so taking extreme care of positioning. It doesn't matter that much if the AC is -10 or if it is -2. I don't actually think that say a barbarian reaches competitive levels with AC at all. The same with a Vagrant.

The difference is ofc. that a Kensai is much, much more effective damage dealer. And ofc. if you have judgemenet day, it's the perfect weapon for a dual wielding Kensai - it will keep the character safe. Especially if you preload a little bit (= skins) before fights.

Posted by: bulian Jul 6 2024, 11:10 PM

I've not done the max AC strategy myself, but it seems to me that the main difference in survivability between non skinned characters is physical damage reduction.

barbarian (innate + hardiness + new armor (80%)) > riskbreaker (hardiness + CBS (65%)) > vagrant (red coral armor + hardiness (60%)) = dwarven defender (innate + hardiness (60%) > kensai (hardiness (40%)

Posted by: bulian Jul 6 2024, 11:12 PM

I like the theory crafting with it, but isn't the game effectively over once you have judgement day?

Posted by: pekkae Jul 7 2024, 12:56 AM

Of course it is like that. But, since the game changes on insane/lob, it's not that relevant if you have 40% or 60% DR, you are still cooked in majority of the fights. So one has to find an alternative strategy. Of course double/triple regen tends to work better with more DR than less but even that might not save you.

So e.g. a barbarian on 6.5 & on insane isn't viable character (I think), it has troubles reaching any sort of competitive AC and it doesn't have the offensive tools to offset this, to make it wort while. So you need to utilize the same tactics, whether or not you have the upside of a Kensai in any case. Or that's what I found out.

The Kensai is also the only character that can "punch itself out of trouble" as well, as nothing lasts long vs. a 10 APR & critical striking Kensai (well, perhaps a Marilith with PFMW or so). And of course with a Kensai, you can just go all in on offense as the defensive side isnt' that useful. I tended to start dual-wielding once I got first 2-3 critical strikes. Then you tend to be quite safe, as even without JD once say vengenace trolls start spawning around you I'd just CS and they are like butter.



Well, once you get it you have at least 2-4 difficult fights ahead (Demo, "nasty orcsies", EDE the main ones), they are still difficult even with Kensai+JD. Demo & crew can still hurt you, a lot, even though your Kensai can just punch through Vargouilles with extreme efficiency.

Posted by: critto Jul 11 2024, 11:59 AM

Regarding the kill rate, it's not a very reliable metric because it is affected by dispatching of the mundane mobs. So really depends on the exploration style. Usually, when I play I tend to run ahead and explore with a single character who moves faster (Sibel is a good candidate here). Moving around with the whole party back and forth takes longer and is a bit annoying due to pathfinding issues. In my v7 testing game I had to make a conscious effort to play with the whole party even against the regular mobs to have more balanced kill rate values.

Posted by: nicoper Jul 11 2024, 03:13 PM

True, the only "quite-reliable" metric would be total of achieved damage amount. Kill rate goes to last hit, so weird result (I had Neera claiming Greater Dracolich in my run, she was by far less damaging it than others)

Posted by: nicoper Jul 11 2024, 07:00 PM

Hi Bulian, forgot to say, don't hesitate to keep us (at least me) informed of your progress, and thank you very much for your "tweaks", they also contribute (as far as I'm concerned) to rejuvenate IA.

Posted by: bulian Jul 12 2024, 07:20 AM

Thanks Nicoper! I'm glad you have enjoyed the modifications. Unfortunately, RL is very busy for me so my contributions will likely continue to be mostly supportive for the foreseeable future. Sparrowjacek is working on some really cool things for Tweaks right now, though, so stay tuned!

Posted by: SparrowJacek Jul 12 2024, 08:55 PM

Yup, I'm working on a pretty extensive component, which will also include slightly modified Cleric Rebalance from IA v6.6. there's still much work to be done and at least 1 full playthrough to ensure some level of stability. I'll provide more info at some point in the future

Posted by: nicoper Jul 19 2024, 02:46 PM

A question about Sibel quest

I made a new run
Forged howard gloves (with more coins than before) and asked for a city place
Did not find gloves with Bodhi, I presume this might be due to randomness or another location I have to find out (don't spoil please) because gloves are better (more expensive at least)
In chapter 6 I had the CC ambush (giving fruits)
Compared to the run in this thread, Leather golem has not appeared to talk to me yet
is it normal or do I encouter a glitch?

I don't use CTRL-J for information (to avoid missing messengers)

Posted by: Sikret Jul 19 2024, 03:30 PM

Don't worry. The leather golem will appear three days after you find Howard's gift.

Do you have a Wizard Slayer in party in this run (as I suggested earlier)? I am curious to read your feedback about the kit.

Posted by: nicoper Jul 19 2024, 04:28 PM

Thanks

No WS this time, Party necro/Imoen RB/KensaÏ/Sibel/Jaheira
I had nostalgia about necro quest and wanted to be more at ease with new divine Spells and HLAs. WoW is quite powerful, to me more useful than Natural Restoral. A suggestion would be to makle greater lightning able to be cast indoor (iirc there was such a spell, of lower level, in IWD) otherwise use is very limited, all the more for a HLA, IMHO

Maybe will try a weird party someday with a WS protag (in the past I took a RB protag once)

Posted by: Sikret Jul 19 2024, 05:06 PM

I think you missed this post of mine. Jacek posted simultaneously with me and you replied only to his post. At that time I guessed you didn't see my post.

Posted by: nicoper Jul 22 2024, 02:41 AM

Currently finishing SoA with new party (Necro/Sibel/Imoen RB/Kensaï/Valygar), just WK4+ and hell left

Would say it is quite a powerful mix, basically a tremendous striking force with unlimited heal support
For my playstyle which consists in getting rid of enemies fast to avoid taking too much damage, it is perfect. For milking and/or getting max xp everywhere, or insane, I think it is not.

Tip for players who did not discovered it, with Sibel in parfty, doing all "normal" quests including hers is a good and simple way to be close but under spellhold cap. I mean by "normal" avoiding various fights fancied doing before spellhold: Teshal, Umar, illithid compound, windmaster, firkraag, Samia, Kangaxx (this one could be ok though), troll mound, guarded compound, elemental in sphere (Merella 1)
Theater, keep and ranger strongholds not finished (just cleric and mage up to marvella)

Couple of things (I have IA tweaks installed):
- Axe of lakesider +4 not usable by Valygar (I don't care here, but with other parties can be troublesome)
- In second travel to plane, I once saved (after lords before Balors), Force says I cheated (rested) and debuffed/miscast magic on everyone??? (I can understand resting is cheating, did not know it was possible), but saving between waves so as not to resume from start should be allowed IMO (I used it in previous runs). Here it was not a problem, party could endure without trouble balor's pfmw to expires, with Sibel/Jaheira/Valygar, bone golems are no threat. Easiest 2nd travel I ever had


Did not start EE NPC quests (Neera/Hexxat/Rassad), protag close from 7Mxp

Posted by: pekkae Jul 22 2024, 05:53 PM

That's quite the progress! Congrats!

I don't think there's that big of a difference with tanking as Sibel can tank through most of the chapters with uncanny success. I guess RB can tank when AC is useless and when it's useful, Sibel can dominate. And obviously Necro is an amazing tank as well.

Yup, adding Sibel makes it super easy to max exp pre-spellhold. You'd probably miss a quest or two. Personally I would just leave the Shadow Temple to chapter 6, unless someone can hint an effective way of dealing with the Liches pre-spellhold (without breaking the xp cap for hardened spellhold).



Do you have Valygar the Vagrant version or the protector version?

And since you are playing with Necro PC did you get the ranger quests as well? (I'm a big fan of those myself...)

Posted by: nicoper Jul 22 2024, 07:05 PM

Valygar protector (but axe description reads protector allowed)

I use IA tweaks to get Shimmering light and good/bad/ugly with any protag

Posted by: Sikret Jul 22 2024, 07:47 PM

I guess the axe requires 19 CON and 12 CHA.