Suggested Quest Order Options

[Sikret]

Topic pinned.

Raven knows about IA probably even more than I do ; so, don't hesitate to ask for his advice whenever you need a hint or two.

Also, keep in mind that as Raven mentioned in his initial post, his suggested quest order is not a mandatory rout to take or the only way in which the game can be played. It's rather one (among others) suggested quest order for players who find the early stages of the game a bit hard for their low level parties.

[olimikrig]

Very good recommendation and the route I'm following in my current IA v.5 game (although I did Trademeet before touching anything in Umar Hills and took on Suna Seni straight on. Go emotion and hold person ).
I'll 2nd the statement that the Rakshaasas can be taken on straight out of Irenicus' dungeon. If you're having difficulties you can simply just exit the room, wait out the clouds and storms and re-enter. You can even rest and re-buff, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem and the rewards are well worth it.
I'd recommend you take on the druids in front of the entrance to the groove to get the Flame Tongue; it acts as a +4 weapon.

This post has been edited by olimikrig: Dec 8 2007, 06:25 AM

[Raven]

I'd recommend you take on the druids in front of the entrance to the groove to get the Flame Tongue; it acts as a +4 weapon.

It shouldn't do in Improved Anvil...

[olimikrig]

I stand corrected, I just had the Baldrudash game text update. Might be worth mentioning in the installation doc that some weapon descriptions will be inconsistent if you have that installed? I think a lot of players are just used to installing that along with the fixpack... at least I am .

This post has been edited by olimikrig: Dec 8 2007, 01:12 PM

[Sikret]

You have to start a new game after installing v5, olimikirg!

In general, starting a new game after installing v5 is a must. You will face countless bugs if you don't start a new game.

This post has been edited by Sikret: Dec 8 2007, 01:22 PM

[olimikrig]

I have started a new game, dunno where you get the idea that I haven't from .

[Sikret]

I have started a new game, dunno where you get the idea that I haven't from .

Glad to hear.

(I had just guessed. )

[Raven]

Just made a very small edit to the initial post; added Aran's second quest before the De'Arnise Keep.

[thisisnotme]

Since many encounters are changed/added in IA it can be hard to work out the best order to try to do things - there are some very difficult battles which can be accessed early on which are not beatable until much later. So this is a fairly detailed order in which I did things at the beginning of the game while I was testing v5.

It is far from the only way to do things but I found it worked quite well. Hopefully it'll help a little.

1) Irenicus' Dungeon
2) Circus
3) Leave Athkatla via this route: Promenade -> Slums (get Windspear Hills map location from Firkraag) -> Government District (get Hunt for Valygar and Umar Hills Quest) -> Gates District (get Trademeet Quest)
4) Travel from Gates to Umar Hills. Complete the Juggernaut golem quest (reward Ilbratha +1, very useful). Talk to the mayor and the ogres for xp and Shield of the Lost +2. Travel to the Ranger Cabin to find map to Temple.
5) Travel from Umar Hills to [b]Trademeet, go to the Druid Grove and defeat the druids and Faldorn (not Troll Mound or Ogre Tower).[/b]
6) Go back to Trademeet and talk to Genies, defeat Ihtafeer. Be proclaimed Heroes of Trademeet (= lots of gold and access to some good items)
7) Windspear Hills - start Firkraag quest and clear first level of dungeon; return acorns.
8) Return to Athkatla Bridge District - skinner murders.
9) All unmodded Athkatla content e.g. Graveyard quests, Mae'var, intrigue with Xzar/harpers.

Hello, I just registered to this site to ask something and hopefully to enjoy all the good stuff from Black Isle's oldies. First of all, I would like to congratulate about all the awesome job and your huge contributions to the game. That being said, I want to know how to beat #5; my druid keeps dying because the enemy has like x3 hit points, and his spells does x5 more damage than mine. I also tried to simply attack but Faldorn seems to be immortal (I mean to attack Faldorn outside the arena) . Any particular methods to beat her? Thanks in advance.

This post has been edited by thisisnotme: May 27 2008, 04:48 AM

[Hoppy]

I got some help from Sikret and Raven about different tactics for a druid and a protaganist ranger against Faldorn. For the druid, memorize a lot of burning hands, flame arrows, and ironskins (ironskins first). Use the Flame arrows to disrupt her animal summons (and insects!!). If your flame arrows run out, use burning hands and her flame sword will not hurt you a lot.

This post has been edited by Hoppy: May 27 2008, 06:12 AM

[Sikret]

Welcome aboard, thisisnotme!

As far as I remember, Faldorn is unkillable outside the arena unless you have poisoned the water which is the evil path. It's the same in the vanilla game and I have not touched it. So, if you don't want to take the evil path (which you can't anyway, because you have a druid protagonist), you should duel with Faldorn inside the arena.

The duel with Faldorn is difficult for warrior type characters (though still doable even by low level rangers). The duel is far easier for spellcasters. Hoppy's recommendations were mostly for Auramasters, but even other druids can beat her without much difficulty. Try different combinations of spells and the order of casting. You may even try to follow Faldorn's own general tactics during the duel. She is not very high level and plays quite fairly with you.

In general, it should be a lot of fun to find the optimum and best tactics to beat Faldorn with a normal (non-kitted) druid. Why don't you enjoy finding that optimum tactics by yourself?

This post has been edited by Sikret: May 27 2008, 09:34 AM

[thisisnotme]

I was simply desperate because I saw no other way to progress the game; I just toned down the difficulty from insane to normal, and the fight became manageable; I am ashamed of this (since I never did this in a normal game) but I saw no other way in order to progress.

[Sikret]

That's fine. Lowering the difficulty slider is actually a very good and legitimate thing to do for players who are new to IA and find some of the battles a bit too hard. Starting the game on "insane" was probably not a good idea for you (as a new IA-player) in the first place.

[Sikret]

*If you have Multiple Strongholds from EoU installed and your protagonist is not a spellcaster (i.e. not mage/cleric/druid/sorcerer) the duel with Faldorn will be very difficult. You may have to postpone it until later - possibly much later if your protagonist is a thief or fighter.

I have a suggestion:

What if I allow the non-spellcaster (and non-ranger*) protagonists to ask Cernd to do the duel for them if they wish? They will still have the option to do the duel themselves, but I can also add the option to ask Cernd to do it. Of course, in this case, Cernd will not be under the player's control and will do the version of the battle I have designed for him. This version of Cernd's duel already exists and is also revised to match Cernd's Auramaster kit in IA v5 (as Raven knows and has tested it without multiple stronghold installed), but since most players have the multiple stronghold, most of them have not seen it in the game while playing v5 (it's when Cernd is not in the party and you tell him that you will just observe his duel. This option is disabled by the multiple stronghold component of EoU, but I can revive it.)

The multiple stronghold does something else which I will change for the next release. It allows the second duel (= the duel for the title) to be taken place immediately after defeating Faldorn regardless of the player's level and xp. This doesn't look very nice, because without the multiple stronghold the duel is only offered to a 14th level druid; I will change it so that the protagonist's xp will be checked and the option for the second duel will be offered only to the protagonists who have the minimum amount of xp of a 14th level druid (even if the protagonist is not actually a druid).

Any comments?

-----
* I still believe that the duel with Faldorn has the optimum difficulty if done with a low level ranger protagonist. It is very doable and has the intended difficulty level I was looking for; so I won't give the option to rangers to ask Cernd to do the duel for them.

This post has been edited by Sikret: May 31 2008, 11:43 AM

[Shadan]

I think both changes are great.

[Raven]

I've just updated the initial post with a little more detail about the harder Ch 3 encounters/quests. As with the rest of the order it is only one of many possible ways to do things. For instance, in my latest game I obtained Lilarcor right at the start of the game (after entering the slums for the first time).

I know it's been a while since anyone mentioned the Suna Seni battle, but just in case anyone is interested I found a new way to safely leave Athkatla without triggering the encounter. Sikret had previously recommended

Waukeen's Promenade -> Slums -> Government -> Gates -> Umar Hills

In fact you can also use

Waukeen's Promenade -> Slums -> Temple -> Government -> Gates -> Umar Hills

This lets you pick up Keldorn before leaving Athkatla, for instance.

[Kerkes]

I believe you can also finish Bridge District murderer before Suna Seni, but you must fight those two goons in front of Copper Coronet, and then go to Bridge. I think they also count for "I had my share of attacks as well" line.
In the Temple, you can also steal that Talos amulet (before getting quest from Mae'var) and finish thieves quest for party exp before Suna.

[Vuki]

I have noticed one strange thing. As I have read here earlier, the Suna Seni fight appeared before you first go to the Bridge District. But in my case with my current party I was able to enter to the bridge without fighting with Suna Seni!

Kerkes: We posted these two posts in the same time. You won.

This post has been edited by Vuki: Aug 26 2008, 02:48 PM

[Raven]

I believe you can also finish Bridge District murderer before Suna Seni, but you must fight those two goons in front of Copper Coronet, and then go to Bridge. I think they also count for "I had my share of attacks as well" line.

Yes, you can go to other districts in Athkatla without the encounter triggering (although if you go to the Docks or Graveyard, the encounter always triggers when you leave). The reason I listed those paths was because they get you out of the city without meeting Suna. I'm not aware of a path that takes you through (say) the Bridge District and then safely out of the city, but that doesn't mean one doesn't exist.

As far as I know Corhvale and Bregg have no effect on when the encounter occurs.

In the Temple, you can also steal that Talos amulet (before getting quest from Mae'var) and finish thieves quest for party exp before Suna.

Yes, but I dislike doing this because you have no reason to take the amulet before Mae'var tells you to.

[LZJ]

I've just updated the initial post with a little more detail about the harder Ch 3 encounters/quests. As with the rest of the order it is only one of many possible ways to do things. For instance, in my latest game I obtained Lilarcor right at the start of the game (after entering the slums for the first time).

@Raven: Wow, I'm impressed even though I know it's doable. Just a question: was this done on v5 or v6? An important level 4 spell you would have to use would not be spammable in v6.