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

[critto]

Lots of good insights here, thanks. I don't have the time to dive deep into them at the moment, but I've added to whole thread to the todo list for the future endeavours.

And no, there was no AI involved in production of story and dialogue for the new quest. Not sure if it was a compliment, or a criticism :-)

[Berzerkerzz]

Lots of good insights here, thanks. I don't have the time to dive deep into them at the moment, but I've added to whole thread to the todo list for the future endeavours.

And no, there was no AI involved in production of story and dialogue for the new quest. Not sure if it was a compliment, or a criticism :-)

The dialogues were surprisingly good and it was cool to see some cutscenes introduced. There are several IA encounters that could use some type of cutscenes, Judgement Day fight is one of them. The fight is forced upon you as soon as you enter the area and the creatures spawn right next to you, very annoying for one but probably done on purpose. Anyway it could use a cutscene, where perhaps the Demon Prince and the party walk towards each other, some taunts perhaps and then the confrontation starts. Also perhaps some animations added for the creatures the Demon spawns instead of just appearing out of the blue. I vaguely remember some animation with some type of mirrors that are animated, I think the Vagrant quests use it for the Mirror Master fights, wonder what it's named and where you find them, projectiles perhaps?

Also the potions of invulnerability makes the Riskbreaker lose all it's cons.

I guess that was the point, if you want to have him protected, you have to use some of your finite resources that can be easily dispelled.

Also thanks to the new Flail of Ages buff this kit is ridiculously overpowered now.

Is the reworked FoA that much better now? How do you think it compares to Treefolk's Fury?

The kit is too strong, his fragility was his only con. Too much gold in the game and too many of those potions freely available. You don't even need to buy any for having one in your party. Maybe if you have two of them you might need to buy some, it's really just for some tough fights.

The flail does double damage to most improved foes frankly, about 10% of the time initially and then eventually one in four attacks. If you add the Riskbreaker passive damage, you are looking at a lot of double and sometimes even triple damage.
I haven't really forged Treefolk anymore since using Staves on the Avenger. In the past on a Vagrant but I usually stopped at the +4 version. They are all a bit overpowered because the 8d6 damage is too high, it should be more like 3d6 or something like that. The last Avenger run that I used Treefolk with, I toned down the damage to about 3d6 or 4d6, even on the +3 version I toned the elemental damage to about 10 instead of 20.

Damage: 1D6 +5, +10 vs. unnatural creatures, +5 crushing damage
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of acid damage on hit
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of fire damage on hit
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of cold damage on hit
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of electrical damage on hit
5% chance to inflict 8d6 points of poison damage on hit

It's simply too much damage, sure it doesn't work on many foes like Golems but on those it does work it makes the fights too easy and can break them. Don't remember if Golems are considered unnatural but if they are that's almost triple damage against them, much better than Golem Slayer or any other weapon in the game.

This post has been edited by Berzerkerzz: Mar 8 2025, 03:07 PM