8 - 10 level solo Options

[urizen]

I like a challenge, that's why I choose to play solo with a multi-class character. I have a lot of experience with tactics, cheesy ones and not so cheesy ones. The cheesiness of many tactics is a matter for debate though. I.e. my favorite current tactic: Chain contingency on helpless self > Project Image, simulacrum, (variable summon), then project image to trigger.

There are some tactics that I would just call "fun" that this mod completely removes as viable ways of beating some enemy's of the game:

1. Being invisible, hitting a mage who's casting truesight, then going invisible again does not do what you would expect. The enemies (usually hasted) follow and crowd your character no matter where you go. They don't attack, they just follow you. Not very realistic compared with the vanilla version of BG2 where they tend to wander aimlessly, just like someone really disappeared in front of them (allowing you to get behind them or off-screen).

2. area of effect spells are rendered completely useless by the mod since you can't hold or web the enemy (which most are now immune to), AND/OR you can't go truly invisible after casting these spells (see number 1).

3. Setting traps: I noticed that the enemies are immune to the spells for the high-level traps, couldn't they just take less damage or something? It makes getting your 20th level thief abilities seem pointless. I know it's unfair to set traps around a dragon and then talk to it, but there has to be a better way then nerfing the traps altogether.

4. Hitting and running away is pointless because of the extreme regeneration. Also if you are not a high level fighter with many hit's per round, you will see the enemy's HP going up faster then you can get it down.

This last one annoyed me the most, so I used NearInfinity to remove the regeneration effect from most of the non-dropable weapons with a "!" in them. Then there were some gauntlets that almost every enemy had due to the mod that grants regeneration and the effect was removed from this item as well.

Well, with all that tedious work, it still bothers me that a mage/thief is rendered almost useless because of the invisibility thing. This is a script that I would need to remove or change back to the originals however, and I don't want to remove ALL the challenges of IA, just the one's I mentioned above.

Any suggestions for modding this potentially interesting mod? Or should I just get all the fighters I can find into my party?

This post has been edited by urizen: Aug 26 2007, 07:11 PM

[urizen]

Don't get me wrong: I don't intend to distribute any modifications I make; it's all just for my personal enjoyment. The changes I've made with NearInfinity are just experimental anyway, just to see if I could use any tactic to beat, for instance, the Beastmaster with a level 7/8/8 fighter/mage/thief (actually I ended up beating him without the regen modifications but when I got the random encounter with the slavers, I was getting killed hopelessly, with or without them regenerating).

I did a search for "invisible" and did not come up with an answer, or anyone else talking about the issue. Sorry, I guess I'll look again.

Perhaps the extreme difficulty of this mod is meant to balance out the insane weapons it provides, but I don't think I'd completely throw it off balance in the early stages, levels 7-15 say, by removing the 4 things I described from the enemies you'd only encounter in those stages. IMO it makes soloing a non-option, and it cuts off (from what I've read and played) certain areas of the game from low level characters unless you know the area is NOT modded ahead of time.

Reloading and doing something else has never been a "strategy" of mine, and I'm sorry if I sound like a troll for saying so. It also doesn’t seem very balanced: Enemies being extremely weak in some places and extremely hard in others.

As far as the "potential" thing goes: Yes I've always wanted something that makes the game harder. The thing is, not to be redundant, but I only feel like I'm kicking too much ass in the later stages. I can't remember a time where I didn't blow through Ust Natha like a serial killer on a rampage. But by the same token, you'd have to think about tactics early on, because that group of yuan-ti are kicking your ass every time you bum-rush them.

So to sum up: I love the mod in theory. The AI tactics are wicked and would be fun as hell for a 20th level character. But when I start a new game I feel like a babe out of the womb who's getting slapped around traumatically before he even has a chance to do anything "cheesy".

This post has been edited by urizen: Aug 27 2007, 03:32 AM