Yea... I'm definitely going with a Necro + RB centered party composition this time around. It's just too stronk.

I messed up with my first party, (Vagrant, Valygar, b-m, b-m, r-c, sorc) although it should make for an easy time on core, I was forced to abandon my attempt at a insane run. I couldn't beat Kruin without running huge circles around the map. It left a sour taste in my mouth.

My other option was to turn the slider down to core for the remainder of the game, but that woulda been even worse IMO. I mean, I have no problem playing on core. Every other playthrough I did since v5 has been on core, and this is my first attempt at insane. It's just that if I make a game for insane, then it needs to be on insane game for the whole game. Vagrant and Valygar just take too much damage in that setting and quickly become useless if not dead.

And now that I found out I missed the screaming statue, it was the tipping point for me to restart, so RIP Vagrant party.

SPOILER!

There is swashbuckler->mage in my party. I am really satisifed with it, it is a nice character. What I am thinking now is to buy him Dak'kon's Zerth Blade. It makes him to be able to cast the extra spells (+1 spells on level 1-4) and an extra AC. Does it worth the price in your opinions?

It's up to you to judge it I don't remember exactly, but if it is a+3 weapon, I say go for it (anyway your feedback about this blade will be interesting). one more stoneskin and one more MI are good for tanking!
What is the price anyway?

It is just a +2 weapon and it costs around 25k gold as I remember (I can't access BG2 at the moment). As a weapon it does not really worth, it is interesting only because of the extra spells.

As far as I remember from my own experiences with the Dak'kon Zerth blade, it often bugs all your spell slots of some level (usually 3 or 4) when trying to unequip it and equip another weapon instead. Meaning, all spell slots from a certain level (can't remember exactly, I think 4th) are emptied. It's probably a good choice for Nalia, since she doesn't fight, can use the extra 1 AC protection the blade grants, and can always use some extra slots - meaning, she doesn't have to unequip it.

What is your party btw?

Necro (level 12) - protagonist
Swash->mage (10/11)
Kensai (11)
Vagrant (11)
Berserker->cleric (8/11)
Valygar (11)

I like this party because it is really flexible. I also like to have a thief because the game was meant to play with a thief (or even thieves) in your party.

I also considered to buy the Harmonium halberd for my Kensai.

But I am still hesitating how to spend my money. I also could forge Staff of Strenght +4 if I could find a Staff +3. My Kensai could love it very much (at next level he will have 5* in staff). But I think it would not be a big plus for him, his strength is already 19, +1 str would not make a really big difference.

@Krell: Thank you for the info, I will keep it mind before I spend my money.

You're welcome. However, there isn't a single Staff +3 in an IA-modded game. There are only named ones, like the Clerical and the Martial staves. You have to waste 2 Permanency scrolls and about 80 000 gp to forge the Staff of Strength +4. My advice, however, is to wait and fight the Founder of Trademeet first, because if you find the Staff of Rynn there, you don't have to make a Staff of Strength.

Yes, that was also my plan. I am not in a hurry to make this staff because I have already a martial staff.

@vuki

With your party, no need to spend money on darkron blade


For staff of strength, I completly disagre with previous advice, it is Worth forging, even if you find Rynn, with a KensaÏ and +++++ in staves, it just rocks!!!!!

@vuki

I don't know about your other characters' proficiencies but maybe short sword of backstabbing + 3 with arbane's sword offhand could be a nice set up for your swashbuckler to mage. I personally would advise against getting that katana as well for that character. Later on he could maybe use quarterstaff and the royal elemental staff ? Or some two handed weapon setting such as cuthroat + 5, fire club +5 and spectral brand +5 ?

Have fun, this indeed seems to be a very flexible party

@Nicoper: If I have the money and the necessery permanency scroll then I will forge it. The +4 staff against a normal +3 staff means +1 THAC0 and +2 damage. It is a nice addition but does it worth at the beginning of the game 75k gold and 2 permanency scrolls? Maybe, but only in case I cannot really spend my money on something really valuable.

@HTRT: He has ** in short sword and he has of course the Short Sword of Backstabbing. It is really nice. BTW, this character is a very nice addition to the party. It has an AC of -6 with a Bracers of Defense 6 and only one prot ring +1 and a buckler +1. Amazing. It has also a THAC0 8 with the +3 short sword. He will be a really good tank I think but he can be used well also offensively. With MMM he has THAC0 7 and he can attack 5 times per round. Not bad. He has also ** in staff, so he is well prepared for the nice staves in the game.

My memory did not cheat me, the Harmonium Halberd costs 24600 gold. It gives +1 strength and it is a +3 weapon. The big advantage is of course that it is a +3 piercing weapon and my party lacks piercing weapons (swash->mage can use sort sword of backstabbing and it can be used also by the vagrant). But that is only one +3 piercing weapon and it would be really nice to have another one. Other really nice item I am thinking to buy is the Sensate Amulet for my cleric. The permanent protection from evil is a really nice addition and the extra +5 HP could be also handy sometimes. It is also not expensive, I think it worths the 11500 gold. I was also thinking of the Vhailor's Helm but I think +1 AC and a Death Spell does not worth 17000 gold. Especially because there are two arcane casters in the party.

Btw, party proficiences are the following:
- Kensai: halberd ++, quarter staff +++, two handed weapon style ++ (ooops, my memory cheated me, he has only +++ in staff) - martial staff
- Vagrant: short sword ++, axe +++, flail ++, 2w style ++ - Frostreaver (he will use short sword of backstabbing if it is needed)
- Valygar: short sword +, katana ++, club +, flail +, long bow +, 2w style +++ - his katana and club +3
- B->C: war hammer ++, club +, flail ++++, mace +, quarter staff +, Sword and shield + - FoA +3
- swash->mage: short sword ++, dagger +, quarter staff ++, short bow + - short sword of backstabbing
- Necro: quarter staff +, dart +, sling + - quarter staff +2

@vuki

Never ever waste more than * in Two-Handed weapon style. The first star gives you the +1 critical hit modifier which you actually need. The second only gives you -2 to speed factor, which was never really implemented in the game, so it's useless. Wasted proficiency.

Also, it's very important to get grandmastery early in the game. If you have enough fighters, each of them with grandmastery in a different type of weapon (i.e. vagrant slashing - axes, riskbreaker crushing - flails, kensai piercing - halberd) you'll still be able to cope with the fights which require certain type of weapon damage and in the same time be really well prepared for the rest of the fights (more importantly those vs high-level fighters, mages and liches), due to a significantly higher number of APR.

nicoper and I have different views of the Staff of Strength, however since you have a Kensai, he probably is right and you should forge it ASAP. Don't forget that with the Giant Strength spell cast on the Kensai, the +1 str bonus from the staff may mean more than just +1 damage.

I too think you should not buy the Dak'kon Zerth blade. I bought it only in games with infinite gold exploit. Otherwise never.

Each item which is not extremely necessary is a waste of precious resources and should be avoided. Sensate amulet, Plate of Balduran, Armor of the Deep Night are good examples. They have good bonuses in the beginning, but nothing really great and in the long run you'll be left with few or no gold when needed most for an upgrade, because you bought some of these items when there was no need to.

I personally consider these to be essential:

The Staff of Arundel, if you have Cernd in the party
The Harmonium Halberd, if you have a two-handed weapon user in party
The Vhailor's Helm, because that free Death spell is extremely important. You may think it's not worth investing, but here are my thoughts why it is:
1) That free Death Spell has a casting time of 1.
2) It can be cast by a warrior (who seldom has anything else to do) and leave the mage's aura clean
3) It cannot be interrupted
4) It's basically a free 6th level slot.

And believe me, those two arcane casters will be occupied full time and won't have the time to cast Death Spell when needed most. Now if you had for example those two + Cernd, I might agree that you don't need Vhailor's that badly.

I've played with a Swash>Mage a bit before, and just started another party with one. Mainly because HTRT's journal regarding AC. I haven't done any numbers but I'd guess a Swashbuckler>Mage can get a lower AC than any character barring a Blade with Defensive Spin. Soul Armor, Blur, Imp Inv, Foreknowledge, Armor, Tensor's and a bunch of AC boosting items = super low AC. I'd say go for DZ's blade in your off hand, if you're not going to equip a buckler. You can also remove it after buffing/casting 1 of each spell from 1-4 and equip something else. Having a thief in your party means more gold anyway. Are those prices with 20 rep and 20+ Charisma? For some reason they seem a bit more than I remember.

Thank you for the info. It seems that you are right, I always trust in the desription when I should not.

That is quite clear. It means that you get the increased critical range when you spend 2* in the proficiency. Maybe this description should be fixed in IA 7.


Yes, I am aware of t. That is why I concentrate mainly on one proficiency. But you cannot live with only one weapon proficiency (especially not if it is a slashing weapon) that is why I gave vagrant also ** in a blunt weapon. Btw, I will remove kensai 2nd * from 2h weapon style and add it to staff.


I love also the Vhailor's Helm very much, I think it is really a nice addition. I think I will buy the Harmonium Halberd, there are two much places when it is really needed.

Rep is 20 but my highest charisma is only 19.

On the contrary, you can live with only one weapon proficiency (provided it's at grandmastery) for quite a long time. There are just fights best avoided until you can put at least * in a second weapon proficiency. Like those vs Coin and Gem golems for example.



You have a custom NPC (Valygar) who can be swapped temporarily for another (Aerie) with Charisma 20. There's your max discount.

I prefer flexibility over maximum efficiently. Also when fighting power is really needed I will have 5* on the desired profiency.


To be honest I do not think that it really worths the trouble. I also do not like to switch NPC very often and especially not just for saving a couple of hundred golds. I am also not miser in real life, so it fits well to my playing (and life) style.

Hi again.

I've encountered a problem:
The book that summons monsters in the asylum is supposed to give me some nice items, but even though I try many times and slay ALL the monsters(sk. lord, 2 golems and ghost spider at the end) it only grants me 2 weak scrolls and a potion. (without resting!)

It's not just "resting" that affects the treasure you get there. There are other factors involved as well. An actual timer is working there for example. If the whole fight takes longer than a certain amount of time, the treasure will be lowered. Later, I will check the related files to see what other factors are involved.

For now reload and do it again faster. If it still gives lowered treasure, your party doesn't qualify the full treasure set for some other reason.

Hmm, I reloaded, and left the area, then came back, and... it worked, everything went fine. It could be caused by a slight edit that I had made in shadowkeeper, but who knows. (nope, no cheating)

Glad to hear it worked with reloading the game. We also checked the files and didn't find any more factors involved other than "resting" and the "running timer". Still, I asked the testing team to do some additional tests with the tome.

Shadowkeeper is indeed an unreliable tool which can cause problems. I seriously recommend against using it to edit saved games.

Here are more news about the tome after the recent tests:

Fact is the tome's working mechanism in v6 is slightly different from how it was working in v5. We applied a last moment change that we thought was a good change, we tested and didn't find any problems either. But now it seems that under some rare conditions, if the party rests in that area right before opening the tome, the tome misinterprets it (as if the rest had happened after opening the tome) and gives the lower treasure set. We will roll back the tome mechanism to how it was in v5 and will upload a hotfix for it.

And yeah, don't fix it if it ain't broken. Sorry.

Edit: If you don't rest in that area before opening the tome, you won't need any fix though. Just rest in the previous area before the stairs and you will be fine.

Question about the squirrel nuts quest...

I did it with no problems the first time around. This time around I took a few extra days, dunno if that's the problem but the Umar hills squirrel is not showing up. I talked to the promenade one around day 13 or so and right now it's around day 23. Does anybody know what the problem is?

Also, other things of note: Went with 6 custom characters this time, and the dungeon-be-gone guy never showed up. Also, because of the full party, I had to kill valygar. Everything is complete pre-spellhold except for shadow temple, planar prison, and conster/firkraag. I also killed the mage in the house south of where the 2nd squirrel usually spawns.

Killing Valygar drops your reputation too low and beyond salvation. Your party will be marked as "bad" people by the mod and you will lose access to some of the quests and content which depend on reputation and alignment. Donating to temples will nominally bring back the reputation number but won't clear the bad mark from your forehead. I don't remember offhand if the squirrel quest is one of those quests that checks your reputation and history of good or bad actions in the game or not; so killing Valygar may (or may not) be the reason that the quest halted in your game. This can be checked though.

However, since you said dungeon-be-gone didn't work in your game either, there is also a possibility that there is something wrong in your installation or the way you made your multi-player session. Have you changed your installation since the previous run (which you said worked without problems)?

Nope, I didn't change anything with the installation. The dungeon be gone guy spawn triggers on the autosave at the start of a game. But when I make 6 customs, the autosave never happens because it goes to the Reform Party prompt to kick out imoen instead. Once imoen is kicked, the autosave fails to trigger, and then bombadil fails to trigger. Item Randomizer successfully initiates though as always.

Also, I was not aware killing valygar flags you as bad. I did not see any reputation drop. I am at 20 at the moment. Also, I have the console commands deactivated as usual so I am unable to ctrl-Y (valygar has a heart attack) like nicoper does.

Imoen should not be in the party in the first place to need to be kicked. Just make a custom party, start the game in the multi player mode. Let the dungeon-be-gone guy appear and the randomizer initiate. Then save the game. Exit the game, go into the folder you installed the game and manually transfer your saved game from the multi player saved games folder to the saved games folder.

As for Valygar, did you kill him in his cabin or betrayed him to Tolgerias for the prize? I believe the worst consequences to your party reputation happen when you betray him to Tolgerias.

No I only kill him in the cabin for the key to sphere. There's no other way to open the sphere with a full 6 man custom party as far as I know. Giving his body to tolgerias drops your reputation to 1 no matter where it's currently at, so that's out of the question. Ok, so picking up his body purely as a key does not secretly flag me as evil then?

And that's what I always do for game creation... I make it in multiplayer because I usually have exactly 5 custom characters in my playthroughs. That way I can do all the sidequests and stuff. After making the 5 characters I transfer the file to single player, because the multiplayer pause delay is unbearable. Ive played through this mod alot of times with no bugs, except one time I died at the yuanti mage in the unseeing eye underground, and then when I reloaded, the yuanti pack had been replaced by a mummy pack.

But this time I went with all 6 customs, and what messed it up is at the beginning of the game, after the cutscene "More intruders have entered the complex master... blah blah blah" Imoen comes walking through the door, and instead of kicking her using the dialogue option, I accepted her out of habit, and then kicked her in the "remove from party" prompt, which blocks the autosave, which then blocks bombadil. I need to just kick her using the dialogue...

Yes the same happens to me if I use 6 custom party members. No dungeon-be-gone. The dungeon-be-gone mod is very simple, clua consoling the bard back to single player mode after item randomization/save occured is not likely to mess your game at all. Not clean though, sometimes doing the dungeon again can be fun

Yes, I think you will be fine if you don't betray him to Tolgerias.

As for the squirrel, you went looking for him after or before defeating the shade lord? Isn't there a reference in the first squirrel's dialogue about clearing those parts of the map from shadows first? It's been a long time since the time I implemented this quest and I don't remember all the details without going through all the related files.

SPOILER!

Okay are you sure about that? I did kill shade lord before doing this quest the first time, and this time shade lord hasn't been touched yet. But keep in mind, in this game, the squirrel in waukeen has asked me to talk to his brother already, even though shade lord has not been killed yet. Just the second squirrel isn't there, which is what got me concerned. Man, I really hope you are right...

Also additional thing of note... the first game I used my vagrant to talk to the waukeen squirrel, but this game I do not have a pure ranger class. I went with necro main this time, and my healer is R/C multiclass.

Yes, but he also gave you the hint in his dialogue that you should look for his brother only after clearing the shadows (or something like that).



Doesn't make difference who talks to the squirrel. It's fine.

Thanks for all the quick responses guys, turns out it's working as intended like you guys said. Sorry, I get worried at the first potential anomaly... False alarm haha.

My paranoia stems from upgrading from v4.2 years ago to v5 when it came out and I messed up the install like, idunno 6-7 times accompanied by 5 partial playthroughs that I had to abandon/restart because of my mistakes (first wrong install order, then wrong version of weidu, then accidentally accepted some ease of use components that conflicted, etc until I finally got it right lol.) Same reason I'm also too paranoid to turn on debug mode... Even this time around I had to reinstall twice because the first time had some weird thing where Riskbreaker and Vagrant had two different choices. (I think the v5 descriptions had some spelling errors) I know it probably would not have caused any problems if I just picked the one with the newer description and perfect spelling, but my paranoia prohibited me from taking that route Full uninstall-reinstall with registry wipe >.<

6 custom party members and no Jasper St. Whatever appearing happens to me as well. If you accept Imoen into your party then he appears. Then I kick Imoen and ctrl-Q my sixth member back in. That's my fix.

Another solution would be create a 5-member party, wait until Imoen joins and the dungeon-be-gone character appears. Then you can kick Imoen out, save and reload it in multiplayer mode. Create the sixth character and that should do it.

When I killed the vampires and Bodhi for Aran a strange thing happened. I was able to save the life of Haz (he is the wizard who opened the gate) and he started to follow me. He was also able to survive all the battles. The poor guy followed me to the graveyard but not to other part of the city. I am really worry about him. He is alone in the dark in the necropolis and there are undeads and other beasts, so he can be really frightened. What can I do with him? Can I kill him togive him peace?

You can. He's worth 1400 xp and drops a Staff Mace. He's scripted to die anyway, no penalty. BTW his golem can be killed as well for 3000 xp, but you're probably past that point a long time now.

Thanks for the confirmation that there is no consequence killing him. I knew that there is no reputation drop and he drops the staff. I was not sure if something is messed up in case I kill him or keep him alive.

You seriously want to kill someone who came there to help you for some petty xp and loot? Or is that just to give him peace? LOL

I was happy to keep him alive but he is lurking there in the area and I have no idea if it could cause any issue in the game (because battle went in a different way it was intended). I did not kill him and I do not want to kill him unless the fact that he is still alive can cause any bug. It would be maybe nice to fix it in a way that if he survives the first battle he says goodbye and leaves the area.

Btw, if party is able to save his life it could be maybe mentioned in the discussion with Aran. I was expected something like this but he did not mention anything about him.

Yes, good idea! Some day we may look into this and change it to something a bit more interesting.

I remember that used to Nicoper has got also reported some strange issues in Planar Prison regarding the web effect and Yuan-Ti mage group. I have also something to report.

SPOILER!

Is it working in the intended way? My earlier runs the Yuan-Tis appeared immediately and I had to beat them altogether with the Warden. I think with my current party there would be no real difficulties to beat them together.

SPOILER!

Yes, this is the intended way things work there.

There is, however, another minor issue which can happen in planar prison (you didn't mention it). Something that happens rarely and is not 100% intended. We already fixed it in v7.

Great! So, there is an easier way to do this quest (come from south and rest after Warden) and a little bit harder (however faster) when you arrive from the west.

I think the other minor issue did not happen with my party. Unless you think of the Staff of Air (+gold) treasure that only appear if you kill the Yuan-Ti mage band (so, if loot is collected after Warden is killed and leave before Yuan-Ti mage appears then no Staff of Air). But I think it is also intended this way.

Do monks get the ability to have their hands treated as +4 weapon in IA?
And has any1 really used a monk in his/her run?

As I know they get the ability to hit as a +4 weapon at level 25.

Does anybody know where can be buy a scroll of Vocalize? I checked it at several shops but did not find any and I need it for the Amulet of Hades.