My experiences with IA and Auramaster Options

[Shadan]

Well I have played 2 days with IA now. It seems very cool to me, just I feel it is a bit hard yet. My party still weak for most of the IA fights.
Here is my party: gnome fighter/illusionist lvl 9/10, Keldorn lvl 9, Haer'Dalis lvl 11, Anomen lvl 10 clr, Cernd lvl 12, Nalia lvl 11 mage.
My PC is very good now with +3axes and Hill Giant Str. belt.
Keldorn: True Seeing very usefull, but I haven't seen any success with Dispel Magic in IA battles... And he is very weak even with -5 AC in hard battles...
Haer'Dalis: When he is buffed, he is very good tank. He isn't very good damagedealer yet. I found his Offensive Spin + Melf's Minute Meteor bugged, since when he press O. Spin, his attack lowered to 2 with meteors. I haven't tried more time yet btw. Without buffs he is like a chicken in fights. I like him.
Anomen: Very good and strong char with his buffs, melee etc. DUHM overshine even Holy Power and Champion's Strength, and you have alot lvl 2 free slots...
Nalia: I dislike her low thieving skills, when I cannot disram a trap or open a lock. But he will do all what a mage should do in IA.
Cernd: He is very good in this early stage. He was at least 2 lvl higher than rest of the party, and it helped a lot.
His spells:
lvl 1: Doom very good spell. Burning Hands: Not the best, but good to kill trolls.
lvl 2: There are not really good spells here. Invis: good only for scouting. Mirror Image, Barskin: good defensive spells, but Cernd usually sit at back, so he don't need this too many times. Charm: sometimes good to get cannon fodder for a short time.
lvl 3: Flame Arrow shines here. Summon Insects: Not so usefull now with nerfed save. Stregnth of One: I used this often till I found a strength belt. Usually I mem FA all but 1 Dispel Magic.
lvl 4: Call Woodland being: not so good as was berfore. Defensive Harmony: good, but he lefts this for Anomen. Greater Malison and Emotion shine here. I like them. Fire Shild useless on him.
lvl 5: Sadly Chaotic Command demands lower usefullnes of other spells here. Iron Skin, Insect Plague good when don't need CC. Also Prot from Acid will be good in certain fights.
lvl 6: Unleash Enetgy is great. Conjure Animlas would be good but most of the enemies Death Spell all summoned ones immiditaely... Conjure Fire Elem would be good also. I use Heal also. Chain Lightning and Death Spell is unused atm.
All in all, Cernd is very good char yet, especially cause he can cast high lvl spells which aren't blocked by (Minor) Globe of Inv. and with a lot of FLame Arrows he can deal good damage also.

[Shadan]

OK, now about quests and battles:
Improved Illych was not easy to manage, but I came out from dungeon alive. My first goal was to pick up my partymembers. I avoided to start Chapter 2. So I've got Nalia and Anomen. Then went for Keldron, and rescued Haer'Dalis. (Happily this quest was not part of IA ) Picked up quest from Potionds and Herbs mod. And I went to check Unseen Eye. I managed all fight till Beholder Lair, except new spiders at bridge when you open a treasure hole. That was impossible to do. And when I managed to beholder lair, I encountered Teshal (hope I spelled right his name). After 2 tries, I left him to rot there, and memmed to visit him later. In beholder lair, I found beholders too hard. Main problems was I had low cash, so my arcane spellusers didn't have a real spell selection, and I did'nt have magic axes, so my PC used unskilled weapons. So I reloaded my save before I started Unseen Eye, and I went to Trademeet. I was able to avoid Suna's party only when I went to Watcher's Keep map, and moved to Trademeet from there. Druids were not hard, I skipped troll mound, and after 5-6 tries I skipped ogre tower also. Those spiders a very hard. I tried Trademeet Crypt also, but was impossible to do it. So I went back to Arhkatla. Did some small quests (circus, tanner, Cernd, Keldorn and Anomen quests etc.). I tried Haer'Dalis quest also, but I was not able to kill that elite bounty hunter... He casted Spell Imm abjuration, so I was not able to dispel him. I managed to hold him by Hold Monster, I killed his goons, but when HM faded, and his defensive spells faded, I was not able to kill him still. He immidiatley Death Spell any summoned. So I left this quest with a reload...
And Nalia almost left my party at this time, I had to do couple reload, when I was able to go to her keep without her leaving. I killed Suna grp at this point without a real effort. Usual mobs in the keep were easy at this time. Killer spiders were good, but very doable. Whisper Spider demanded a 2-3 tries till I killed him. And man, then came the hell... That Greater Yuan-ti was impossible... Here I used a minor cheat... with my hasted party I run back to the keep, killed troll there, waited for 1 min or 2, and came out. Now most of the spells run out on Greater Yuan-ti, so I was able to kill him. I went back to the keep again, had no problem till weaponmaster. And I was not able to kill him... With hardiness and insane regen, I was not able to bring him down below injured. When I did 1 time, he drank a healing potion. He was not able to kill me also, but after 6-8 tries, I left the keep. Tried Trademeet crypt again, and realized tyhat Greater Commands still knock out my party except my PC who has 0 saving throw agaisnt spell. Btw I will try this again soon, since I have Spell Imm now, which helps against Greater Command.
So I went back to the city again, started minor quests, when I encountered with Tower of Deception, so I started it. I am planning to try Haer'Dalis quest, Unseen eye, Trademeet Crypt, party in the sewer, raksasa in the sewer, and go back to DeArnise Keep after I finished ToD.
Hope you enjoyed to read this as I enjoyed to write down. If you would like, I will keep to write my adventures here, if not, I will stop it.

Also I have a question: At what lvl should I start Watcher's Keep first 1-2 lvls?

[Roy]

Watcher's keep level 1 isn't improved except form one encouter.

Spoiler
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*
*
*
If you kill Paina and get the spider figurine there's quite a battle
there with lots of spiders and you get the component to improve it.
The rest can be done with a 11/12 party.I'm not sure if you can get there
later and have the battle happen if you finish it.Maybe Sikret will answer.

The beginning can be quite tough.I ran around finishing and looting everything
I could find including opening every lock and disarming every trap.

Have you tried the battle with the party in the sewer and waukeen promenade?
They have some good equipment.

[Raven]

Hi shadan,

By all means keep writing your adventures down! It's interesting to read about how different people find IA.

In answer to your question about WK, the first level can be done right away, and will help a lot in terms of treasure and xp. If you go there at the stage you're at in the game, you won't find any difference from normal BG2 (although later, as Roy says, there is an encounter that occurs there). I must admit that in my games I tend to hit WK 1 very early on for the treasure.

I wouldn't recommend starting level 2 though (nasty monsters)...

[Shadan]

I haven't tried sewers party. Will do after I finished ToD.
I killed Valeria and his goons in Bridge district. Skipped another party there cause of Limited Wish adventure.
I forgot the party in Waukeen Prom, so I will visit them also soon. Thx!
I rescued Renfild also, but due to reload, I lost that in my current game.

[Sikret]

As Raven pointed out, please do not hesitate to send your journal here, shadan!

BTW, don't start the limited wish quest before clearing the tower in druid grove area of those spiders.

[Shaitan]

You can make Nalia a very decent thief by potions, gloves and rings. At least for disarming and locks.

[Shadan]

Thx for info, Sikret. Those spiders made me crazy. Just 5 spiders, why I can't kill them. At least I thought this, but several tries convinced me to leave them...
What I really hate in BG2, I don't get detailed message in text window... It is not marked there what type of damage I had got, so I cannot prepare with protection. It is especially important when mobs use those kind of spells, ablities what is not normal in the game. No feedback about which spell resisted saved from several spells... Well, I won't list all, just all in all feedback is not too informative many times. It is not IA problem, it is BG2 problem.

[Sikret]

Have your cleric memorize "Free Action" and "Chaotic Commands" spells and use them on party members before going for spiders. Green scrolls of protection from poison (available in temples) can also be helpful.

[Shadan]

CC is ok, btw when I tried it, I had access only for 2 CC I think. But Free Action protect against whisper and/or Greater Command?

[Sikret]

CC is ok, btw when I tried it, I had access only for 2 CC I think. But Free Action protect against whisper and/or Greater Command?

No, but it protects against Improved Web.

[Shadan]

I had some hours to play again, so I went to Tower of Deception. As others wrote here, it was a mistake. Most of the enemies was a cake, but I didn't know that IA makes ToD enemies harder. My party is still lvl 10-11, and I spent a lot of reload with lich... I figured out that spells are ineffective agaisnt him, cause of Spell Imm. Abj. and lot of spell protection, so Nalia triggered his pierce magic and his sequencer with confusion, then 4 of my hasted melee went in and hit him as fast and as hard as they could. Sometimes he was able to cast PfMW or Stoneskin, so I was not able to beat him fast, but many times I was able to do it. Just when he was in near death state, 3 Abi Dalzim triggered... Since I hadn't access to lvl 6 arcane spells yet (Prot from Magic E.), it was killer. I tried Spell Imm. Necro, but then lich casted Ruby on my F/I. It was hard to interrupt Ruby cause spells were ineffective, and melee interrupt a bit of luck. With a couple of try I was able to do it, and to run away from other melees in precise time. Meanwhile my PC had to continue to damage him to trigger his spells. Well, was a lot of tries. Then Marileth came... And she was too much for me. Spell Imm. Div. and Impr. Inv. made him immune to targetting spells. I was able to bring down his 1st Impr. Inv., Breach him etc. then 2nd Impr. Inv. came, and my melees were not able to bring him down more than injured. PfMW, and she we in full HP again. And she made too much dmg on my melees...

Then I reloaded my save before I started ToD. I went to check Pebbelcrusher party. There was not success again. I killed all of his goon, but I was not able to kill him cause of his regen and hardiness. So I went to sleep. On next day, with some new infos from this forum, I killed them with my 2nd try. What were those infos? Breach brings down hardiness, Sunfire, Vampiric Touch ingores magis res., Slow cut regen rate to half. I didn't use Slow and VT in this fight btw, Breach and Sunfire was enough. So at least I had a small success after some very frustrating failure. I am ready to continue my adventures today evening.

Also just a short info about my game: I haven't used any potions, srolls, charged items yet. I am stockpiling them to sell later, and I want to use any consumable only in those fights which is undoable and I don't want to skip it for later try.

[Raven]

Sometimes he was able to cast PfMW or Stoneskin, so I was not able to beat him fast, but many times I was able to do it. Just when he was in near death state, 3 Abi Dalzim triggered... Since I hadn't access to lvl 6 arcane spells yet (Prot from Magic E.), it was killer.

Mirror image is effective against ADHW (even 3 of them). And the short sword Ilbratha +1 (reward for completing the golem quest in Umar hills) allows fighters to cast it once a day too.

Also just a short info about my game: I haven't used any potions, srolls, charged items yet. I am stockpiling them to sell later, and I want to use any consumable only in those fights which is undoable and I don't want to skip it for later try.

I agree with this strategy - I always stockpile everything too (cheers Ribald for 'lending' me that bookshelf in the back of the Adventurer's Mart ).

This post has been edited by Raven: Jul 19 2007, 09:28 AM

[lroumen]

Hahaha. I think everyone does the same.

I always have way too many potions and scrolls ttucked away somewhere, as well as upgrade components and weapons that I do not have the proficiency points for yet.
A stash such as that never works well for me since I scarcely use 1% of it all in the end and sometimes I forget to forge things I could already have done half a chapter ago.

I do keep a gem and scroll stash around nowadays... you never know which ones to use for upgrading. I use the bags and cases for when I'm adventuring and when I get near my stash I clean out all my bags and cases and dump the contents into it before going further.

It's tougher to make cold hard cash that way, but at least you have everything at hand.

This post has been edited by lroumen: Jul 19 2007, 09:49 AM

[Stu]

I spent a lot of reload with lich...

I found running away Sir Robin style to be effective here. After he launches the ADHW thing, just run away, heal up and then go in again. This type of thing usually doesn't work in IA, but then again ToD isn't IA.

As for the Marlith...I didn't find it too hard for some reason, I just launched a full frontal assault and she fell after a while. I think I did use a few healing potions and she was mainly targeting my stoneskinned PC. I may have also cast a few buffs like bless, haste etc., nothing too major.

[edit]oh and I had Keldorn in the team, so I probably unleashed an Inquisitor Dispel Magic as well

This post has been edited by Stu: Jul 19 2007, 11:24 AM

[Shadan]

I started finally the Copper Coronet quessts. Seems these are not hards, maybe I should do it earlier. I really enjoyed beastmaster there, cause ha was a new after all arcene magic using enemies. That Creeping Doom was too much for my party, since most of my guy were at half HP at that time, and strangely I casted a Magic M. on beastmaster while he was casted that CD, each missile did 2 samage, and spell was not interrupted. Anyway, after a reload, I killed them.
I enjoyed slavers also. Was a good to handle those lot of assasins, guards, a cleric (I haven't seen too much cleric type enemies yet), and captain. Greater Malison and Emotion, Slow made a miracle. And my F/I is the best tank forever. He tanked captain at whole time, while others killed cleric and not sleeping assasins. I was afraid of yuan-tis, since I thought there will be a greater ones, but there were normal ones. So they and wizards was easy. Stonekin isnt too big problem on wizard without many goons and big melee resistance. 4 hasted melee eat stoneskin very fast without a Breach.
Harper quest was normal also.
I will do thief stronghold and unseen eye, and will try raksasa in sewer next.

[Stu]

I haven't seen too much cleric type enemies yet

You will

I will do thief stronghold and unseen eye, and will try raksasa in sewer next.

good call, all of these quests aren't too difficult. They can be challenging, but still very doable (no where near as tough as Torgal)

[Shadan]

Hmm, I checked improved item list again and I have a question:
How many Scroll of Memory Boosting and how many Permanency scroll should I count in the whole game? Seems they are needed for many items, and I would like to know if I should spare for powerful and important items, or can I use them for medium, not so important items earlier?
I've found 1 Permanency Scroll so far.

Another question: Where can I find/buy Bag of Holding? I really hate inventory management. I know there is one at least on original game, and one put in by Sikret.

This post has been edited by shadan: Jul 20 2007, 09:55 AM

[Raven]

Hmm, I checked improved item list again and I have a question:
How many Scroll of Memory Boosting and how many Permanency scroll should I count in the whole game? Seems they are needed for many items, and I would like to know if I should spare for powerful and important items, or can I use them for medium, not so important items earlier?
I've found 1 Permanency Scroll so far.

There are actually lots of Permanency Scrolls in the game. So don't worry about running out of them. The distribution of the scrolls is a little odd - there's just not that many available early on. I actually found more of the supposedly rarer Manuals of Elaboration early on. Maybe this was because I did quests in a weird order. But anyhow later there are plenty of Permanency Scrolls.

I know less about Scrolls of Memory Boosting. Because there are numerous items requiring these Scrolls which would be useful for your characters (Memory robe for F/I, Eternal Melody for Haer'dalis, Cirlet of Golden Flowers for Cernd and Improved Ring for Nalia) my advice would be to prioritise these items just in case it turns out you can't forge all of them.

[Arkain]

Well, iirc I forged all the Cernd items and had just enough scrolls for Memory of the Apprenti. Maybe there were two left for Nalia's ring but I don't really remember at the moment. Better use it for really good items like MotA.

Edited by Sikret: Spoilers omitted. Sorry, Arkain.

This post has been edited by Sikret: Jul 22 2007, 01:57 PM