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

[SparrowJacek]

Those changes look quite nice and make the fight much harder. I like the fact that in your final video the Witch Doctor uses mainly electrical spells, which fits the theme of the battle very well.

In IAv6 this fight was very tough, as there were 3 Amber Golems, then v7 lowered their number to just 1, which removed almost all challenge from it, I'll definitely add a second Amber Golem, but I am hesitant to make too many changes. The reason being, that this is a mandatory fight and there might be players playing IA for the 1st time, having lower levels, worse gear and maybe even less optimized party. How much exp do you have? Maybe making the fight tougher based on your exp would be a solution, though a powerful caster with Improved Alacrity might still be an overkill for standard parties at that stage.

[Berzerkerzz]

Those changes look quite nice and make the fight much harder. I like the fact that in your final video the Witch Doctor uses mainly electrical spells, which fits the theme of the battle very well.

In IAv6 this fight was very tough, as there were 3 Amber Golems, then v7 lowered their number to just 1, which removed almost all challenge from it, I'll definitely add a second Amber Golem, but I am hesitant to make too many changes. The reason being, that this is a mandatory fight and there might be players playing IA for the 1st time, having lower levels, worse gear and maybe even less optimized party. How much exp do you have? Maybe making the fight tougher based on your exp would be a solution, though a powerful caster with Improved Alacrity might still be an overkill for standard parties at that stage.

I didn't use any insulation potions, so everybody was at 50% resistance from the guardians. I think for this fight, you should not be able to go above 50% with potions or anything else after the softening. It should be set or capped at 50%. You are basically half vulnerable for the Golems and the Witch Doctor. I get it you want to broaden the appeal of the mod and thus have toned down certain fights and introduced powerful items. Currently there are some slightly increased spawns based on difficulty level (Core / Hard) from what I noticed. The ideal way would be two versions during installation, so that scripts get improved as well but I know it's a lot of tedious work.
PC was around 2.45m EXP without the 250k EXP potion.

Party for this run is:

Avenger: Staves this time, Silent Hunt but better balanced (picture attached).
Valygar: Kensai9/Cleric of Tyr in fact, his +2 katana in early game then +3 flails later on. Only one Divine Fervor and one Exalation though, no Kai ability. Exalation is a really cool ability. I really like this kit so far. I could have forged some +3 Morningstar but decided to just up the Wyvern Tail to +3 and use that instead, removed the display string eventually as it was pretty annoying.
Minsc: Champion of Arvoreen again. Last time gave him 15 DEX, now started with 19 DEX so he has 22 in mid game. Very useful Fighter.
Kensai: Picked up Jan for the first time ever and turned him into a human Kensai with Sarevoks portrait. I quickly realized how annoying his voice set is when he was constantly burping. At first I replaced the burp with a less common voice command but then I finally had enough of his onion stories and changed his voice set to Sarevok. So it's Jan, the human Kensai, with Sarevoks voice set and portrait. Occasionally the party banter kicks in and Jan starts talking; it's funny. I have to fix that somehow I just don't know how.
Edwin: Kensai9/Mage. Katanas and Hammers. Turned his amulet into a ring and only one spell per level for a more balanced character. No use of scrolls before reaching the corresponding level, so no Ruby Rays at all before Spellhold. Level 6 slots were mostly all Improved Haste in the boss fights, relied on PFME scrolls and potions. Eventually in the Underdark he'll start using PFE scrolls once he reaches level 16. Plan is to use the scrolls and potions from the Strongholds as I slowly progress instead of selling them.
Cernd: Used the 250k XP potion in Spellhold and immediately got four level 7 Spells with the Circlet. Liches fear him.


Bodhi Spellhold: https://odysee.com/Bodhi-Asylum:1

Bodhi had 300 HP but needs some regeneration really as well. I should have toned down the experience a bit here for the minions and removed the loot drop (didn't pick it up again obviously).
The Vampire Lord has 200 HP and with Hardiness 90% resistance. He is immune up to level five spells. He needs to alternative his targeting though to make him more dangerous. The other minion was a Master Vampire. About 8 Rounds until she flees, if you don't finish her minions in time you lose the XP, at least that's how I wanted it to play out, not sure it worked quite as intended but it worked. The Slayer form constantly targets Bodhi and that's fine I guess.




This post has been edited by Berzerkerzz: Mar 19 2025, 02:47 AM