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?