Hello all,

It's a funny set of circumstances that led me to this mod. With Dragon Age coming out soon I became nostalgic for BG2 and decided to play through the game again. As most veterans know, this doesn't take long when you know all of its secrets! Searching for a challenge after that refreshing experience, I started downloading mod after mod that augmented the game's difficulty, but I was consistently bothered by two things: 1) most of these (SCS2) were not really very hard at all; 2) many of them (Tactics) were only difficult because of AI scripts that broke the rules of the game.

I actually stumbled across Improved Anvil by finding a thread on the G3 forums flaming the mod--most of the bad things they said about it actually sounded pretty good to me! So I made my way here, and needless to say, I am pretty hooked. It is a completely different experience compared to the core BG2 game, and this is awesome. Too many players are too hung up on Bioware's vision (which I liked, but have played 1000 times) to try a creative modder's. To me, what Improved Anvil is trying to do is a "real" challenge as opposed to the artificial challenge of most other tactical mods. I have tried many areas and been destroyed by powerful enemies, but I can tell they will be beatable with more levels and tactical experience.

I've yet to progress past becoming the Hero of Trademeet (following the suggested quest order) but I can already tell great things are coming. Trying to get Lilarcor was a real eye-opener...

So the mod is looking great so far. What is not so great is that I keep starting over to find a more ideal group composition! I was hoping that a veteran IA player would look over my thoughts on a slightly non-standard group that I think will work better with my playing style.

1) Vagrant. A very interesting kit and, since it's my first playthrough, I want to see as much content as possible. This needs no further explanation.
2) Sorcerer. Obviously needed. I think I have my spell selection down to a science, focusing on spells that bypass resistance and buff the party's defenses.
3) Berserker->Cleric.
4) Berserker->Mage. 3 and 4 need to be explained together. By making my main healer a Berserker, I gain the ability to become immune to most effects that can shut him down from keeping the others alive. It is for this reason that I'm choosing it over Anomen. The Berserker->Mage can likewise use Berserk to stay in the field when my Sorcerer gets disabled. Together I anticipate saving many reloads. Both will also be formidable fighters.
5) Auramaster. His primary purpose is to be my healer until the Cleric is fully up to speed, since I plan on dualing at 9. After that he has a great role as a general support character.
6) Fighter/Mage/Thief. Can't be beat for all-around utility. His ability to gain backstabs on things vulnerable to them is unsurpassed.

My general strategy once my duals are activated will be to use my Sorcerer as my primary buffer and debuffer while both dual class characters engage in melee until their backup spells are required; the Berserker->Mage will be particularly useful for throwing out random interrupts when my Sorcerer is distracted. I am used to playing on Insane and so I dislike using high HP pools and AC to "tank" enemies, hence every member of my party except the Vagrant and Cleric are able to use Stoneskin and Multi Image. I feel that I will be able to stay in the fray with minimal retreating or reloading with this group composition, but I would be interested in having any flaws in it pointed out to me.

Following advice I've read and some general BG2 knowledge, each character has at least Proficiency in one of each weapon type by ~level 12, except the Cleric of course. Both Berserkers start with Grandmastery and pick up additional profs while leveling up as a Mage and a Cleric. The FMT is starting with ** in Shortswords and *** in TWF, moving to Clubs and then Katanas.

Thanks in advance for any helpful insight.

Your party looks nice and quite powerful for IAv5 playing experience. Although it generally might be difficult sometimes with only one pure warrior in party (the protagonist). You probably should have at least two pure fighters to deal with Insane difficulty level monsters effectively, but I can't say for sure since I never played on Insane.
I can recommend to consider F/T instead of F/M/T. You will be able to gain levels faster, making this character more effective in melee combat. Anyway, if you really want to utilize his backstabbing ability, make sure you get ** in daggers for Grandfather of Assassins. Katanas isn't really the best choice for this character.

In my current playthrough as I pass the time for the long awaited v6 (hint sikret we want it now), I am playing with this group:

Vagrant
Beserker
Paladin
Kensai/thief(dual at 13)

A bit challenging but I have played trough the mod a few times - I can second Critto's thoughts I tend to have most succes/easiest time with 2½ figthers, 2 arcane, ½ thief. But your party should be a fun one to play through with.

Sofar I have cleared everything but extended paly stronghold, twisted rune and watchers keep :-) Spellhold is gonna suck but oh well hehe

An important thing to remember in your first playthrough is to go to spellhold before your protagonist reaches lvl 15 (preferably) otherwise your gonna get some nasty surprises especially if your not equiped right

oh yeah I forgot, havent visited Kangaxx yet I might do that after I have ramaged through what I can in wk Didnt mention lord of the stupid skellies since that fight is far away Damn I hate that fight probably because I always try to go for him too soon

Based on your advice, I decided to take a Half-Orc FT instead of my FMT. I think my Sorcerer and Berserker Mage will have sufficient spell power, and the lack of Stoneskin+Image for the FT will be offset by his damage output... One hopes.

I recommend a short race (halfling for example) F/T instead of orc. Lack of high strength can easily be tricked by str potions and str items, but short race saving throw bonuses will be good in all games.

Welcome to BWL, Graves!

Thanks for your kind words about the mod. Reading comments of people like you encourages me to continue working on this mod. It's encouraging and heartwarming to see that there are people who do understand and appreciate what we (my testing team and myself) are doing to create and maintain a stable and bugfree mod with such a huge content (including quests and tactical challenges).

Some players do not look for real tactical challenge. Improved Anvil is not for them; they don't play it, but they don't say bad things about the mod either (I know a few such players).

Some others aren't so honest; they say (pretend) that they are skilled players looking for a true challenge, but when the mod proves that they aren't actually as skilled as they used to think, instead of starting to improve their abilities they start to flame the mod and blame it for their failure. Obviously, they choose other sites and forums in which validilty and correctness of claims in a post aren't important parameters to having it published (some forums publish all sorts of posts even those which contain plainly false statements, harsh and insulting words and even profane language under the pretext of freedom of speech). Such players write whatever false things and insults they want and publish them in such places. That's a known phenomenon and we almost always ignore them.

As for the short races, unlike shadan, I do not recommend using them if you want to practice to get ready for IA v6. Short races had an overkill bonus to savig throws in the vanilla game which is rebalanced in IA v6. Once v6 is released you can use the short races knowing that their saving throw bonuses are fixed; but I recommend not using them as long as you are playing v5.

Sikret, I know short races will be nerfed in V6. But a first time player would get easier 1st play with them. I think it is not so big difference, and a 1st time player shouldn't practice for V6, he should learn a V5 and IA in general. It is not a cheat to play short race in V5 and V6 will be a quite different story. That is my opinion only of course.

I didn't say that it's a "cheat" either.

Thanks to everyone for their further comments. I think I am going to stick with my Half-Orc for now because when rolling my Berserker->Cleric, I had trouble getting good numbers, and she ended up with only a 15 Strength, so all of the boosting potions and equipment are going her way first. The Half-Orc is nice because 19 is already extraordinary. I have just gotten through Faldorn again, and I decided to make a few attempts at grabbing Belm since I almost always snag it ASAP. As most vets must know, that was not so pretty, hahaha. I might press it just a bit more, as I have gotten *close* think to Stoneskins and Images--but I think I will probably have to give up!

Sikret, I would not let the other BG2 communities trouble you too much. As I said in my first post, I would actually have never found Improved Anvil if not for the G3 forums complaining about how hard and different it was! Think of it as a form of free advertising.

Strong party, overall. It's actually a good preparation for v6 imo. In v5 Gnome Fighter/Illusionist will outshine a berserker->mage anyday, but in v6 their usefulness might converge. Auramasters will be even better in v6 but are good in v5 as well. F/T is very strong but can be annoying to babysit early on. Alot of enemies will swing at it by default so make sure you jam pack your other close range fighters in as close as possible to avoid focused F/T gibbings at lower-mid levels.

My two cents about your party:
1. Vagrant is full of win. Can't go wrong in tactics or content.
2. You already know what you're doing in the tanking department, so you're good to go.
3. Insane difficulty might not be a good idea lol. Everything going peachy 10 minutes into a long calculated fight, and then randomly chunks of meat are flying everywhere and you're missing a portrait.
4. Backstab isn't that useful in this mod. Tons of enemies later on are immune or will just detect you with zero effort.
5. You might want to consider Ranger/Cleric instead of B-C, because you have a druid that can help heal and don't really need 11 greater resto. Grandmastery isn't that big a tradeoff either. Enrage and 1/2 an attack will not outweigh the 13 extra ranger level-up bonuses, hardiness, ironskins, contact with nature, and offensive HLA's you get with multi R/C.