Class selection Options

[rbeverjr]

I’ve been doing some more experimenting with the classes. The Swashbuckler armed with the Judgment Day (which I still plan on not using) and The Truth longswords would be nothing less than spectacular. He would have Time Traps, good regular traps (which occasionally work), great AC, can use any scroll and most any equipment (it seems that Sikret’s NPC upgraded equipment are exceptions), has a terrific THAC0, and can whirlwind. His offense is almost equal to a kensai and his defense and versatility are far superior. Compared to the fighter-mage types he would still fall short, but I am avoiding playing those as the protagonist because they are so powerful. I'll probably avoid playing the swashbuckler too until I am bored with the kensai, because the swashbuckler can be a monster.

I traded in my fighter 7-mage and my ranger 7-cleric for a cleric-mage multiclass and auramaster. I’m not sure that this was a good trade. I thought that a high level cleric would be great, because in the normal game you get Skeleton Warriors quicker and more of them as you level. Furthermore, you can actually turn things like liches. Skeleton Warriors are no match for Sikret golems (nor or HLA summons really), and I can’t turn the undead that I would like to in IA. Still, the high level cleric gets many Greater Restorations and that’s the bomb, man. The typical cleric-mage combo cheese should be fairly ineffective in IA, but the cleric-mage should have a great defense. She also has a lot of spells. (I wish there was an extra ring of wizardry for Aerie.) The Auramaster should be helpful early because the druid levels quickly in a race for the Heal spell. Yes, Heal can work in combat with the auramaster. Bring the fighter to him and with the proper equipment his casting time is very short. The problem is that at higher levels the druid advances very slowly. What this means is less level 7 spells. Sikret did a great job of giving the auramaster some of the best arcane spells, as well as the druid spells. I just can’t have enough level 7 spells for this guy. Unfortunately, he has far fewer than the fighter 7-cleric. On the other hand, Sikret kindly gave the druid a way to defend himself with Perfect Camouflage, which should help him survive if monsters make it through the lines. I think that both pairs, the fighter 7-mage + ranger 7-cleric and the mage-cleric + auramaster, are good choices. I’m not sure which is best and will do some more playing with them. I invite everyone’s comments on these choices. Note this is on a team of 6. Kensai, swashbuckler, fighter-illusionist, and sorcerer are the other 4; so, I have 3 good melee guys and a powerful arcane.

[rbeverjr]

His items were made by Sikret or the stock game designers - call them insane if you want.

THAC0 empty handed and naked is -6
add scarlet ninja to and sword of mask +4
THAC0 -12, -8
Sikret's Sunlight helm
-16, -12
Sikret's Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength
-20, -16
Gauntlets of Weapon Skill
-21, -17
Sikret's Melodic Fury ring
-26, -22 --- Improved haste spell doesn't show a change in THAC0. The description of the item doesn't suggest a bonus in THAC0 either. Something may be wrong here. I never noticed this until the question was brought up.

Two of these items (helm and ring) come from Sikret's mini-mod, The Four, which I enjoy. If Sikret thinks this mod unbalances the play of IA, I can get rid of the items, but I will still play the mod. The same goes for my Tactics favorites (made more difficult now that they use scripts from Sikret); I'm currently not using any items from Tactics. The items listed above and this THAC0 don't make my game too easy though.

I killed the ancient dragon after a reload or 2, but the final battle over judgment day sword spanked my butt - repeatedly. I hate ambushes, but I don't think it would matter for me in this case....

To the point of the post, the versatility of UAI is a tremendous strength. Even dropping items from anywhere but IA and stock, you have a THAC0 of -18,-14. My kensai just made level 32 and has a +5 and +3 weapons for -23 and -16 using only IA and stock items. That's really close! The swashbuckler's THAC0 will be increased a little with better equipment later in the game.

Now if his naked THAC0/THAC0 with short swords is also messed up. I'll just cry, and then ignore it for this game. I hope that's not the case, because I have no idea why it would be wrong or how to fix it. As I said before, I did not alter (cheat) the THAC0. Well, other than I did install all the stuff that Sikret recommended, including the unnerfed THAC0 tables from Ease of Use.