Suggested Quest Order Options

[Raven]

Since many encounters are changed/added in IA it can be hard to work out the best order to try to do things - there are some very difficult battles which can be accessed early on which are not beatable until much later. So this is a fairly detailed order in which I did things at the beginning of the game while I was testing v5.

It is far from the only way to do things but I found it worked quite well. Hopefully it'll help a little.

1) Irenicus' Dungeon
2) Circus
3) Leave Athkatla via this route: Promenade -> Slums (get Windspear Hills map location from Firkraag) -> Government District (get Hunt for Valygar and Umar Hills Quest) -> Gates District (get Trademeet Quest)
4) Travel from Gates to Umar Hills. Complete the Juggernaut golem quest (reward Ilbratha +1, very useful). Talk to the mayor and the ogres for xp and Shield of the Lost +2. Travel to the Ranger Cabin to find map to Temple.
5) Travel from Umar Hills to Trademeet, go to the Druid Grove and defeat the druids and Faldorn (not Troll Mound or Ogre Tower)*.
6) Go back to Trademeet and talk to Genies, defeat Ihtafeer. Be proclaimed Heroes of Trademeet (= lots of gold and access to some good items)
7) Windspear Hills - start Firkraag quest and clear first level of dungeon; return acorns.

At this point you could visit Watcher's Keep and do most of the first floor if you wanted. It gives you a fair amount of xp and items.

8) Return to Athkatla Bridge District - skinner murders.
9) All unmodded Athkatla content e.g. Graveyard quests, Mae'var, intrigue with Xzar/harpers. Also the core parts of the Unseeing Eye quest (not the ghoul town or Ashideena guardians).

NB also will have Suna Seni/slavers encounters here but by this time they're not so bad - this is the reason for the order of areas followed in leaving Athkatla, to guarantee the encounter is avoided. It's possible to take the encounters on at the beginning of the game but probably not advised if you're new to the mod.

10) Pay Gaelan Bayle
11) Aran's first quest (Mook)

At this point which quests are easier will depend on your party composition. Here is a list of the encounters/quests I tend to do at this point (no definite order):

- Lilarcor
- Pai'Na
- Copper Coronet slavery
- Slaver ship
- Aran's second quest (guild defectors)
- De'Arnise Keep
- Rest of Windspear Dungeon (not Samia or Firkraag)

Before heading to Spellhold I would suggest doing at least one or both of the following quests:

- Planar Sphere
- Shade Lord

Both these quests involve some difficult battles. Overall I'd say the Shade Lord quests is harder though. I usually leave the Planar Prison for Chapter 6 (remember that in IA you don't want to delay too long before going to Spellhold).


*If you have Multiple Strongholds from EoU installed and your protagonist is not a spellcaster (i.e. not mage/cleric/druid/sorcerer) the duel with Faldorn will be very difficult. You may have to postpone it until later - possibly much later if your protagonist is a thief or fighter.


Incidentally my party for testing IA v5 was:

PC Vagrant (flails, axes)
Sorcerer
Berserker (longsword, quarterstaff)
Fighter/Cleric multiclass (mace, hammer)
Auramaster

The sixth character slot changed depending on what I was testing (usually Keldorn or Imoen)

This post has been edited by Raven: Aug 26 2008, 10:52 AM

[Shaitan]

Thanks Raven! This will at least give me a good clue to what to do now

[rbeverjr]

What happened to RP? Hmmm. "I have found the likely spot that is the source of troubles for Umar, the city I've come to rescue. But I'm not feeling up to the task today, maybe later." ...."I am disgraced here in Windspear Hills having slain knights. I've been disgraced twice over even, because thieves managed to kidnap my helper's daughter right from under my nose. You know I promised to get her back and straighten out this mess. Make things right, you know. But I'm not feeling up to the task today, maybe later."

OK. I know the answer. My cleric will cast an Augury. (I know it is not in BG2, but it is in DnD.) "Is it will or woe for me to rescue the daughter." ---"Woaahhh. You're not really that good yet." Pun on alignment intended.

[lroumen]

I don't think you can beat Ihtafeer that early in the game. Rakshasas are really tough monsters considering their spell output and immunities to common early game spells/spell effects.

[Stu]

In 4.2 you could take them out with a fairly low level party by running in, starting the fight and rushing out straight after they all cast Absolute immunity. It was one of the few locations you could do this in, so it may have been fixed...in which case I agree with you Iroumen - 3 Raksashas that early would be pretty tough.

Very nice work Raven - I think one of the main troubles I had in my 1st (as yet uncompleted) run was trying to take out tough enemies too early.

[Shaitan]

I don't think you can beat Ihtafeer that early in the game. Rakshasas are really tough monsters considering their spell output and immunities to common early game spells/spell effects.

I didn't really have any troubles beating them. I parked Nalia and Xan outside and just pounded at them with Keldorn, my PC vagrant a custom NPC T->C and Jaheira. I came from the beastmaster quest before that.

[Raven]

I don't think you can beat Ihtafeer that early in the game. Rakshasas are really tough monsters considering their spell output and immunities to common early game spells/spell effects.

Hmmm, depending on party composition you could be correct. Personally I did not have too much trouble, even without running away in the middle of the fight. It's a case of seeing what spells they cast and then preparing the necessary countermeasures.

I still stand by the order though because the rewards for killing Ihtafeer are great - Shield of Harmony, loads of gold, can buy from the Trademeet merchants...

[lroumen]

Rakshasa require +2 weapons to hit and they are immune to spell levels 1-7, hold and confuse, correct? Hmmm.... I certainly don't have that yet.

[Aegor]

Yeah Rakshasa is doable at that time, Valygar can do the job with his katana and Minsc can also do some damage with the Sword of Chaos. It's just a matter of waiting for the Absolute Immunity to wear off and surviving the cloudkill/ice storm while doing it. You can try to position your party to the norther part of the room before attacking and kill the 2 weaker rakshasas first. Cloudkill will then also be aimed at that part of the room so you'll be able to get out of it's nasty reach once you go for Ihtafeer.

[Shaitan]

Keldorn's weapon is +2, I had Jaheiras +3 club from the Beastmaster, my pc had +2 longsword from the graveyards. I simply walked away from the cloudkill BTW

[lroumen]

I'll give it a shot when I get to him/her/it. Maybe the D'Arnise Keep will give me some rewards that I can use, or I'm going to have to get myself an NPC that has the required items which is a bit of an unfavourable option.

EDIT: (Unfavourable since that's not my playstyle. I'm going to wait for some items before I head out to get them. After all, Rakshasa are known to be tough so for a roleplaying decision it's a valid choice to wait.
My party currently consists of Vagrant Protagonist, Avenger Jaheira, F/C Anomen, Auramaster Cernd, T/M Nalia).

This post has been edited by lroumen: Nov 28 2007, 03:27 PM

[Raven]

Updated original post with my party composition.

[Marceror]

I recall that being a fairly tough fight in 4.2, but not insurmountable. My biggest problem was damaging the Rakshasas due to lack of powerful magical weapons (some of my party members still had non magical weapons).

I'm coming up on that fight shortly in 5.0. My only +2 weapon at the moment is Valygar's Katana. The rest are using +1 weapons or mundane weapons. I do have sword of chaos +2 in my (apparently quite large) backpack, so maybe I'll let another party member use that, even though none of them have the approriate training. I'm expecting this to be my first challenging battle of IA 5.0.

[muddymissfit]

Good progression scheme

I prefer a slightly harder initial route , one where i max my rep as step one , so right out of the gate i sell almost everything i looted from the initial dungeon , then off to the temple to "donate" ( till 14 rep )

After clearing the circus / promenade my favourite trick is to go to the government district , pay off the cowled wizards then hoof it to the Graveyard district (after picking up Anomen ) clear out the nasties in the crypts , rest , buff and proceed to the ambush - its a tough fight , but between your early looting and the equipment you salvage , your in considerably better shape equipment and spell scroll wise , then off to the bridge district to solve the skinner and kidnapper quests , then its off to the docks, the harper quest and thief stronghold , then off to the temple district + the fallen paladins + illithium quests , then hi ho - off to the umbar hills and the minor quests

by now you should have about 18 rep , then its off to trademeet , the druids + genies ( all characters in my current run have at least +2 weapons + plenty of decent buffing spells ) , then the help tris quest = 20 rep + trademeet stores are open for biz ! if you've been thorough in your looting and pick pocketing , you should have quite a good start in terms of must have spells and gold , buy any vital spells you may have missed , then id say - off to the temple sewers again , you should be more than capable of handeling beholders + assorted nasties that await ( i like taking on the sewer cloak holder rather early )

[Klorox]

I try most city quests before leaving. I think De'Arnise Keep is pretty easy, and has great rewards to set you up for a long time (a +3 Flail and +3 Axe is REALLY helpful).

I don't do those Rashakas until much later.


FYI, I play no reloads, so I try to take a few chances as possible.

[Raven]

I try most city quests before leaving. I think De'Arnise Keep is pretty easy, and has great rewards to set you up for a long time (a +3 Flail and +3 Axe is REALLY helpful).

I don't do those Rashakas until much later.


FYI, I play no reloads, so I try to take a few chances as possible.

My quest order took into account the fact that the De'Arnise Keep is harder in v5 than previously for several reasons. It is far, far more difficult than the Druid Grove Rakshasas.

I'd be interested to hear how far you made it in this mod without reloading .

[Sikret]

@Klorox

This thread is about suggested quest orders for those who play the game with IA. Are you playing the game with IA installed?

[Marceror]

So I did the Rakshasa encounter last night, and found it relatively tame. I strongly recommend going this route before De'Arnise Keep (especially if the keep has been made more difficult since IA4.2-- as it was no cakewalk in 4.2).

[lroumen]

D'Arnise ground floor is doable, but you'd better check your party before opening those gates!

[Klorox]

@Klorox

This thread is about suggested quest orders for those who play the game with IA. Are you playing the game with IA installed?

Ahh crap. My bad.