improved anvil, Some ideas from a newbie Options

[Frazurblu]

Thank you Sikret for a very new and exciting mod
I am a longtime reader and player and a 1st time poster. I have played BGII for a long time and consider myself an mid level player ( i.e a plodder who enjoys new challenges but I am not a powergamer). As such I find IA to be very much a mixed bag. I love the new content so far but am finding it very hard to get through. I enjoy increased difficulty and new monsters but I also enjoy using new and powerful items and abilities. I appreciate the love and attention to detail you have put in to the game but really wish it was more doable for mid level players. Particularly frustrating was the restrictions placed on scrolls (esp. undead prot.) and the limited healing potions and magic items. I respect the fact that you want to curtail cheese and overpowered tactics but I really lament the nerfing of the thief and the use of missile weapons in general. The thief or assassin at high levels should be a formidable foe and I think you could make it very interesting for the player by returning some power to this class and perhaps incorperating a great thief stronghold quest and gainable item(s) perhaps in conjunction with a more satisfying evil version (Bhaal was after all the assassins fave god). Many of us love the game from a D&D background and the thief is the heart of that game. Obviously the thief is not and never was intended to be a frontline fighter and as such will have problems going toe to toe with some of the stronger monsters and bosses but a high level rogue with blinding speed , nimbleness , ability to utilise many different items and disappear in a flash should provide pause for thought in even the strongest foes heart.
Another class which should be helped a bit IMO is the shooter. The extreme example of this is the Elven Archer who should be dangerous enough that any enemy should have to take special measures against this attacker. But in general those players who enjoy scouting ahead and using more stealthy methods of combat should be catered for. The battles in IA can become very linear and fighter oriented albeit with divine and arcane magic help.
I know that in the past some of the biggest abuses of the game came from these classes , continually going invisible and backstabbing as well as archers picking off enemies one by one using the fog of war to shield the rest of your party but these should easily remedied by intelligent enemies who will simply not stand there and take it (or a cloudkill for that matter) but will promptly hunt down the party. I believe that the game works best when every class can contribute something worthwhile to every combat. I believe that if you have a back you are susceptible to backstab (the protagonist and his NPCs are) but that intelligent foes will take measures to make sure it doesnt happen again. I believe that immunity to backstab should be removed from most enemies particularly ones that have no legitimate reason to have it.
I think that the combat itself should decide which classes are more effective. For example those combats which take place in confined areas (Belm,s Guardian , Trademeet crypt) will be very hard for archers while easier for tanks and clerics whereas the sewer party should give archers and invisible backstabbing thieves the advantage. I think that cheese is not an issue here as you should fight your battles according to your strength. The sewer party will be forced to address your thief and/or archer allowing your other characters more options. I do not think this is cheesy this is just tactics. I think that stronger or more specialised missile weapons should be available (bullets,arrows,bolts). The Archer's best tactic is long range lethality - set him up and make the enemy come to him through traps and your fighters, summons and your invisible thief.
Special mention here goes to the underdark drow ambushes which I think need to be toned down. Thieves and archers can be utilised here particularly if the archer has arrows of dispelling. The point here is not make the thieves and archers overpowered but to restore their power to such an extent that the enemy must pay particular attention to them thereby taking pressure off the frontliners. This may in turn change the tougher fights into less reliance on micro wars of attrition and healing potions.
I congratulate you on a great mod ( I dont know if I will get through it ) but please bring back the thief and archer as good options.

[Nexiam]

man relax it was metaphoric to show how most classes suck, and how good fighters are in IA

[Sikret]

@Frazurblu

Thanks for the comments.

A few points:

1- The reason behind enemies' immunity to traps are explained in the mod's F.A.Q.

2- Most enemies are vulnerable to backstab. So, I don't follow you in what you said about backstab.

3- Resistance to missile damage has been omitted from most enemies in v5. Are you still playing an older version of the mod? Non-cheesy use of ranged weapons is quite available in the mod. If you have read my walkthorugh, you can see that I also used ranged weapons in some instances.

4- Preventing cheesy methods is my first priority. Most of the improved enemies already have anti-cheese precautionary blocks in their scripts to react properly and smartly against cheesy players who attack from offscreen or abuse the fog of war.

5- Playing IA requires learning new tactics. It's not hack-and-slash or a melee-oriented game for those who can discover the right tactics to play other classes effectively. Draw a learning curve for yourself and try to figure out new and non-cheesy tactics.

very good said, but i think he will not modify these classes cuz most likely too much work
IA=hack&n slash & timing for me, if i will play another IA game, i will go 4 fighters, berserk>cleric, 1 bard. no need anything else for IA imo.

man relax it was metaphoric to show how most classes suck, and how good fighters are in IA

These are the old well-known typical comments of those players who don't know how to play spellcasters effectively in IA. As Raven once correctly mentioned, a single class mage (or sorcerer) is much more effective in IA even than a mighty vagrant ranger in the hands of a skilled player who knows how to play spellcasters. Instead of clinging with hack-and-slash you could draw a learning curve and practice to figure out new tactics and methods to play your spellcasters. The old cheesy methods of playing arcane casters (such as Project Image and army of summons, etc...) no longer work.

This post has been edited by Sikret: Mar 4 2008, 09:37 AM