New Player, Requesting Help Options

[Zarathustra]

Hi everyone.

I am a quite experienced BG2 player (as in: the vanilla game provides zero challenge anymore, but Ascension is still a struggle). Having recently started my first IA game, after perusing this forum for a while, I must say that IA is a very polished mod, and highly enjoyable once one accepts what it tries, and does not try, to do (some people seem to have difficulties with that).

However, I am - of course - up to my neck in trouble with most of the new encounters. So, I have opened this thread to occasionally ask advice once a battle has me stumped for hours on end. Any help would be appreciated; both general advice and moderate spoilers are welcome. Many thanks in advance!


My party consists of:

PC (Vagrant, 11) - very powerful kit, by the way; just I what I need for IA!
Valygar (11)
Anomen (12)
Jaheira (10 / 11)
Yoshimo (13) - he seems rather useless in IA, but I like him (it's not like he'll last anyway).
Nalia (12)

I have cleared the De'Arnise keep and done all the unmodded quests except the Unseeing Eye cult (if it even is unmodded). So you might be surprised to hear the Shadow Lover in the Lilarcor quest presents me with great difficulties. Tanking him seems impossible due to his low AC, his regeneration and his strength drain ability; and spells seem not to affect him, not even Bolt of Glory, which was a disappointment. Help? I am quite impressed that Sikret and others did it with lower-level and less-well-equipped parties.

This post has been edited by Zarathustra: Jan 20 2008, 08:05 PM

[Raven]

Welcome to BWL, Zarathustra!

I am a quite experienced BG2 player (as in: the vanilla game provides zero challenge anymore, but Ascension is still a struggle). Having recently started my first IA game, after perusing this forum for a while, I must say that IA is a very polished mod, and highly enjoyable once one accepts what it tries, and does not try, to do (some people seem to have difficulties with that).

It's good to hear you say that and I'm sure Sikret will appreciate it. You hit the nail on the head when you say people have difficulty accepting what the mod is for and who it is aimed at.

My party consists of:

PC (Vagrant, 11) - very powerful kit, by the way; just I what I need for IA!
Valygar (11)
Anomen (12)
Jaheira (10 / 11)
Yoshimo (13) - he seems rather useless in IA, but I like him (it's not like he'll last anyway).
Nalia (12)

A reasonably strong party, I think. Yoshimo is the weak link as you say. Taking Imoen instead would be a good plan (I guess you may well be going to do this anyway).

I have cleared the De'Arnise keep and done all the unmodded quests except the Unseeing Eye cult (if it even is unmodded). So you might be surprised to hear the Shadow Lover in the Lilarcor quest presents me with great difficulties. Tanking him seems impossible due to his low AC, his regeneration and his strength drain ability; and spells seem not to affect him, not even Bolt of Glory, which was a disappointment. Help? I am quite impressed that Sikret and others did it with lower-level and less-well-equipped parties.

I'm not surprised to hear you found that battle difficult. The fact that Sikret and other players can manage it with weaker parties doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong - remember it is Sikret who wrote the mod after all . He will know the best strategies to use in almost all situations.

Once you've played IA more you'll start to figure out new buff combinations and so forth that are effective. It does take time to adjust to the new level of difficulty and the style of IA battles.

A little advice for this particular battle:

- make sure you are attacking with the optimum weapon type. Many IA monsters have different resistances to different weapon types (crushing, piercing, slashing) - it makes a big difference if you find which are most effective. It's important to spread the proficiency points of your fighters over numerous damage types.

- improved haste would be my suggested 6th level spell slot for Nalia. You can buy scrolls of this vital spell from a cutpurse who appears near Neb's house in the Bridge District at night. It will make a big difference to double the number of attacks of one of your fighters.

BTW the Unseeing Eye quest is not unmodded but the core part would be doable by your party (there are two optional battles mentioned in the readme which are harder and should be tackled later).