Improved Encounters Options

[Berzerkerzz]

I figured I change the thread title. The Sibel mod was alright in the end, could use exit points from the village though.

Riskbreaker: This kit was overpowered before and now ever more so. I removed all the speed bonuses but kept the speed bonus from the new boots later on. Did not upgrade the boots however as they are very overpowered. Also the potions of invulnerability makes the Riskbreaker lose all it's cons. I didn't end up using the Risk Decrement ability as it's overpowered as well. Also thanks to the new Flail of Ages buff this kit is ridiculously overpowered now. Even before v7 I was using the Improved Haste ability only once my mages got lvl 6 slots, otherwise it comes a bit early and throws the game off balance. So to recap: no heal/damage spell, no speed bonus, no use of invulnerability potions, and either tone down passive damage or even the new Flail of Ages bonus damage, and no use IH until your mages get it as well.

Wizard Slayer: I played this with Haste, not Improved. So he had one extra attack throughout the game, around 4 if I remember right. There was no way to play without it and have a character limping behind when moving around the map. I didn't upgrade the Regiment boots either as they are overpowered. I tried not to use the purge magic ability too often because it makes certain battles too easy. Purge Magic was used on a few dragons and other foes to speed up their demise. Some notable encounters where this ability was useful, a bunch of Grave Liches in WK and Demogorgon fight. Sibel was my only arcane caster in that run, dualed to a Mage at 9 wearing Vecna, and the Demogorgon fight would have been not doable without the purge magic from the Wizard Slayer. I did cast it in the middle so everybody got purged including Rozvanke which I baited towards the middle, and so it made the fight significantly easier. It really strips the enemies of their buffs this one. Anyway, Purge Magic is very powerful and I tried not to use it too often, perhaps it would be better balanced as a single target instead of area of effect. It's a strong kit now with ridiculous regeneration but needs basic Haste and the Purge Magic ability throws the game off balance if not use sparingly.

Avenger: Did not forge the Avenger Dream gear as it seemed a bit too overpowered, stayed with Rust Armor. Overall this kit is very strong and in another run I'm using it without the Clan Hunter summon, much more balanced imo without the clan hunter summon. The Clan Hunter could be better used perhaps on a different type of Druid kit.

Archer: Once you change missile damage into piercing he becomes a viable character. A ranged Kensai basically. However Called Shot needs nerfing, I set mine to 4 seconds for the effects. So with about ten shots per round, it would lower the Thac0 by about 8 max and Strength about similar. Seemed a bit too strong still, I think the effects should last 3 seconds, this way it would lower Thac0 by about 5-6 max and STR as well but only to the target that he is focusing on. The point is to soften the target. Archer comes in handy in many tight places but is a bit boring to play and the gear selection is not quite linear.
I set Fire, Acid and Ice arrows to +3 and lowered prices for +4 Arrows. He was using Gesen Bow most of the game and switched to Tuigan Bow and +4 Piercing arrows for the tough fights.


Party was: Avenger, Wizard Slayer, Riskbreaker, Sibel(Swash9/Mage), Shaman, Archer
Difficulty: Hard
No use of tomes, no max hp on level up, no milking of spawns as it throws the game off balance completely, no doing quests of random NPCs and no breach on clerics as their power is severely diminished if breached.

This post has been edited by Berzerkerzz: May 28 2025, 01:01 AM

[Berzerkerzz]

I did another run since then.

Avenger: I tried not to use the Clan Hunter but ended up needing some powerful summons in a few fights (Demon at Drow City ritual, Rakshasa Prince, Demon Prince at Judgement Day). I always played the Avenger with Treefolk and dual wielding but used Staves this run, Silent Hunt +4 and then Staff of Earth. Lower thac0 with staves so he makes a better fighter overall, Staff of Earth came around mid ToB but does a lot of damage.

Aerie: A bit frail in early and mid game, didn't go as well as I expected. The plan was to get her Improved Alacrity at Mage level 18 but that happened only in the middle of ToB somewhere after the Gromnir fight IIRC, so very late into the game. Her +4 Hammer gave me some headaches as using Energy Blades and Black Blade of Disaster messes up the spellbook. I ended up transferring the attributes from the hammer to a Ioun Stone she was using, towards the end of ToB she was using Hammer of Thor. Only 2 APR with the +7 Shield though. Her thac0 with the Avariel hammer was not that great, only with the Black Blade did she get to around -15 thac0. The best part was putting Chant + Bless in a Minor Sequencer and firing it once the fight started. Blade Barrier was changed to the same projective as Globe of Blades, so party friendly. Spell Trigger was usually Holy Power + Righteous Magic + Blade Barrier. She did ok in the Demogorgon fight, a bit slow on the speed casting side with only +1 from Foreknowledge. Chain Contingency was Spell Turning, Globe of Inv and a priest spell due to the Archpriest focusing on her (most enemy spellcasters targeted her instead of the Necromancer throughout the game), Spell Trigger here was Breach + 2x Lower Resistance on Belcheresk. Edwin had CC (3x Ruby Rays) on Kargoth and then manually 3 Ruby Rays on Blecheresk. Her damage output was rather small in this fight, two Spell Sequencers, a few Magic Missiles and a few Acid Arrows, Edwin did the bulk of damage with the second Chain Contingency of 3 Horrid Wiltings. She could have used some item to improve her casting speed throughout the game, Amulet of Power was mostly on other characters. The most important feature of this run was Aerie using the F/M/C potion before Spellhold to gain 500k experience points, 750k is too much and 250k too little. I felt 500k was just right and she gained one level in each class. Next time I would probably go with Imoen as a Cleric-Mage multiclass. Her amulet would work better and not break the spellbook, I would probably remove the +25% magic damage and Level Drain immunity and add the +1 Priest Spells per Level instead, this way she would get some casting speed as well.

Edwin (Necromancer): Chaotic Neutral Alignment. Turned his Amulet into a Ring and only +1 spell per level instead of two for balance purposes. The other ring was Reaching Ring. He got the Hades Amulet somewhere in late SoA to deal with Silence and eventually Lord of the Underworld. Poor natural wisdom and I don't really like to use the Wish spell anyway. Weapon was Rod of Smiting throughout most of the game. Necromancer fits him well, I like the party banter he brings. I also played him as a Sorcerer in the past.

Minsc (Champion of Arvoreen): Flails and Long Swords, that's Flail of Ages and Belm most of the game and eventually Judgement Day towards the end. Also in ToB in the off-hand was the picture attached (I usually leave that part of Watchers Keep for ToB and by that time +4 weapons are a must). First time playing this kit, it's pretty good overall, lot's of positives and few drawbacks but not as overpowered as the Riskbreaker kit. Nice thac0 boost, nice regen and armor, and level drain immunity comes in handy in the early and middle part. I'd pick this fighter kit again over all other fighters currently, powerful but more balanced compared to the Riskbreaker and Wizard Slayer (the purge magic ability is too strong and breaks the difficulty of many fights, yet no Haste also breaks this kit)

Haer Dalis: It's been a long time since I played the Blade, there was no need to nerf this kit. First he started out with Mastery in Katanas and eventually reached Grandmastery. Memory is a bit vague right now on what +3 weapon he used in the early game, but eventually a +3 Katana (likely from Samias party as I always do that fight in Chapter 3). Restored the "mxsplbrd.2da" to vanilla settings so he had level 6 spells eventually. Offensive Spin was also restored with +1 attack per round and I think it blocks Improved Haste if cast after, so that needed to be fixed as well. The Hood of Honorless comes in early and is a must for this kit. Thac0 is the main problem of this kit. He was wielding Githzerai Blade +5 and Celestial Fury +4 in off hand starting sometime in late SoA until the end. A decent fighter with 6 attacks per round, stoneskin and spell immunity. Thac0 was only about -11 at 23 Strength with a +5 weapon in late ToB, with some spells like Aid and Bless this can be increased to -13 or so, still not quite optimal. I think those Wondrous Gloves that come in mid ToB or so, should give -2 Thac0 instead of just -1. Perhaps even Foreknowledge as a High Level Ability (Innate).
I did the Planar Prison with him in my party, he was not taken hostage by the Bounty Hunters. This caused some problems and a huge headache when Raelis was rescued and she had to teleport the party back to the Inn. It's waiting for Haer Daelis to trigger certain variables for the teleportation back and well he was in my party so they weren't triggering. Eventually I managed to figure it out which Cut Scene was causing the stall, it's kind of complicated and I didn't write any of it down for another Blade run.

Keldorn: Not much to say, I played him with Mastery in Two-Handed Swords so he had a slightly better thac0 than usual and 16 dexterity instead of 9. The gloves of dexterity could make up for his Armor Class, but he had to use those Paladin Bracers eventually. The dispel magic, while often useful, can be tricky to use. Remove Magic would makes things much easier and I might try that in another run. For example I relied on Necromancer and Blade with spell sequencers (3x Remove Magic) for Rozvankee, which worked ok but sometimes it doesn't work because of the level difference and instead I could make use of that Inquisitor dispel however you waste about half a round pulling back fighters. Anyway, dispel magic is still alright with some skill and practice. I usually get the Dragons Lord Halberd to deal with Wing Buffet from enemies (Elite Fire Giants, Yaga Shura, Demon Prince), but somehow the Demon Prince kept switching targets and throwing them around the map. I didn't remember him switching targets like that in the past.

This post has been edited by Berzerkerzz: Feb 28 2025, 11:54 PM

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