Positive feedback featuring a plea for tactical advice Options

[Ballad]

Thank you, Sikret!

I have finally gotten around to playing Improved Anvil, and wow, I'm stunned. The mod really makes the game feel fresh and fun... and so excruciatingly difficult. No, I'm not complaining, after all difficulty's what I've been looking for. I'm truly impressed with the improved AI and the new scripts: now it seems like the enemies actually know what they are doing. Most of the battles which used to be cakewalk are at least moderately challenging now. Generally speaking I'm very happy with Improved Anvil.

The first "between area"-battle (the one with Suna-Seni and Eldarin) was especially memorable. I only had four members in my party and hardly any equipment, yet I managed to beat them on the first try. Monster summoning is a really underestimated spell: with haste and defensive harmony even those puny dire wolves can wreak some serious havoc. The sewer encounter (Hatchetman) was a little more difficult but didn't take too many reloads either. I then started the Planar Prison quest but ended up postponing it because of the new elite bounty huntress who kept ripping my lowbie party to shreds regardless of what I tried. After some aimless estate plundering I concluded my day with the beastmaster and the slavers in the Slums.

Even though no battle is easy in IA, I find mages (especially higher level ones) extremely difficult to beat. Am I missing something or is Spell Immunity: Abjuration really unremovable? Every counter-protection spell out there (Breach, Spell Thrust, Pierce Magic, Dispel & Remove Magic etc.) seems to be of that spell school so there's practically no way to touch the mage until the immunity expires. The only way I've managed to beat them is to cast every possible protection on my party, then circle the spellchucker as long as his/her protections last. Now, I'm 99% certain that you are not intended to fight them that way, so... What am I doing wrong?

This post has been edited by Ballad: Apr 21 2007, 02:40 AM

[nataben1314]

I don't know whether to be scared or excited with all this I keep hearing!

Of course I'm going to play until I encounter these difficulties myself to know for sure, but I am really scared that this mod might simply end up being too hard for me. The combination of all the good weapons being either nerfed, or requiring tens (or even houndreds) of thousands of gold and extremely difficult to aquire components, all the early good weapons being taken from stores and placed in randomized difficult encounters, stealing from stores made impossible, magic doors, hit and run tactics, summons, invisibility, and many other tactics rendered useless or at least much less useful... all that combined with the fact that I'm not a perfect tactical player and my idea of fun isn't reloading over and over and over and over... well lets just say I'm really scared! I still have a good ways to go on the "untouched" quests though, so it will be a bit before I can face the craziness