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]

Ancient Priest:
I had to redo this one as I knew I could squeeze more out of this encounter. The Lich is more resilient here and better equipped, he has 30% to drain two levels but his buffs slowly wane so he becomes more vulnerable towards the end. Added some effects and offsets for the spawns as well. 8 Rounds of spawns, some of which dispel protections others paralyze targets and others drain levels. Increased the AoE for Storm of Vengeance and Fire Storm here as well which makes everything more unpleasant for the player. His Purge Magic ability is now single target and he will use it every couple of rounds on each character. Took over 20 minutes which is significantly better than the initial attempt which was around 8 minutes.

https://odysee.com/@Githzerai:e/Ancient-Priest:b


Lich Priest, Altar Level:
The guardian golems get activated as soon as the Lich turns hostile. He raises two higher level Skeletons and although they drop the usual clerical scrolls they only give 4000XP. Changed the Cloak of Fear spell to run each round for four rounds in total, then I added the Symbol Weakness as 7th level spell from Spell Revisions (-4 STR/DEX/CON for 1 Turn with no save). The Lich starts out with an improved form of Stoneskin and has two in total. He was supposed to heal himself before dying but died a bit prematurely due to Critical Strikes and Whirlwind.

https://odysee.com/@Githzerai:e/Priest-Alta...Watchers-Keep:a


Statues, Altar Level:
Nothing remarkable here. All the statues here are buffed up though not by much, they also start out with a stoneskin effect and will hang around a bit longer than usual because of that. Once the ritual is complete all the statues get activated though there is a slightly delay from what I can see. Changed the Unholy Blight to affect neutral alignments as well since I have 4 neutral aligned characters in this run and I want enemy clerics to use that spell more often in general.

https://odysee.com/@Githzerai:e/Statues,-Al...Watchers-Keep:e

This post has been edited by Berzerkerzz: Jun 19 2025, 06:22 PM