How did you deal with the Eight Chambers?

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I was stuck in this part of the game for some time and stopped playing due to frustration. Looked into a couple of guides and they suggested to enter the battles head on and rely on luck and reloading. But there are too many enemies for any one character (Level 11) stripped of all items without support of healing to handle. Some or all enemies are also immune to spells. Leveling up a fighter before taking on this room is not really an option either.

In the end I ended up using...

Spoiler

a Druid to do all the rooms. She would transform into a Polar Bear with more damage output and speed than my Ranger, switch to wolf or human form for instant healing, use summons a couple of times, and cast Protection from Fire to barely deal with the last room still as a polar bear.

I think this was not very realistic. I believe my party of elves and half-elves would not want to play by the rules of a Drow monastery. Or that the monks would recognize this method as fitting for one of their members.

Some of the rooms were interesting to explore. But most of them (especially the first one) require brute force to survive, and don't give that many options to compensate for lack of it. The room with the panels and electricity damage could have required the player to recognize the symbols on the ground instead of stepping onto a random panel. The room of manipulation with the 3 dead man's switches was satisfying to solve.

What are some of your experiences with this dungeon?

 

Have you reviewed this thread?
https://sorcerers.net/community/threads/standstill-monks-chamber-8.67833/

 

I kill the monks and let myself pass, i'm only going to tell the dwarves I killed them and then kill the dwarves right after anyway, no point doing their silly tests.

 

Before killing the dwarves. You should do their quest such as helping a like their crossbow problem and clearing some monsters in their area. They'll give you pretty nice rewards such as a black colored Armor of Warding and a Doombolter Crossbow and others interesting items...

About the Eight Chambers itself. I was able to complete it without a guide. It wasn't that hard since I'm using my Sorcerer that could spam animate dead and other wonderful spells... The challenge was kinda fun if you know what your doing... The Animate Dead in this game is the best in all D&D CRPGs better than the once in Baldur's Gate 2 or Neverwinter Nights 1&2 since at Max level you could call a Apocalyptic Boneguard with massive slashing and fire damage and a nasty Festering Downed Zombie which can kill both friend and foe from just its aura... Scary... Plus Downed Zombie in this game are a great Golem Killer too!!!

 

What I like about the undead is they are really tanky, immune to critical hits and have natural resistances which pairs up with Stoneskin spell. Cleric Heal doesn't work on them but the game does allow Mass Heal to work on them. Solid decoys for the powerful Horrid Wilting, even in the early game they can do good work if a spell like Stinking cloud is in the area.

 

Hmm... interesting... I never tried using Stoneskin on my Animate Dead minions before... I kinda it might not affect them since healing them couldn't be done... I usually only hasted them as a bonus buff if I'm encountering hard to kill opponents... Perhaps i used try it too when I going to replay Icewind Dale 2 once again!

The Animate Dead spell is even better summon monster level 3 or level 4. Also since with Icewind Dale 2 using the 3rd Edition of D&D which is the best edition of D&D wherein we begin to use "Feats" and other cools abilities!
There are certain feats that allows you to Spell Focus on the different schools of magic of your choice.
The Animate Dead in Pathfinder Kingmaker CRPG is also powerful but little bit toned done since there "two" kinds of it. one is the usual Animate Dead and the other is Create Undead if you want to summoned a powerful version of undead. There are even items in the game that directly increases the stats of necromancy and animated dead spells in Pathfinder Kingmaker and there's no summoned limit as it was in Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale...

My only complain is that when you like to cast Stoneskin, you now need a spell component like diamond dust which is kinda expensive and I only use Stoneskin when fighting hard to kill opponents and boss fights! Still Pathfinder Kingmaker is a awesome game since the Sorcerer class has Bloodlines now including the ability to turn into a dragon or the undead option which give you lich like abilities and bonus necromancy spells!

 

I thought Stoneskin had a range of Self, not touch. Therefore you can only cast it on yourself. Having a druid or ranger cast barkskin is viable however.

As for healing, you should be able to heal your undead summons by casting "inflict X wounds" spells on them instead of "cure X wounds" on them. Inflict spells heal undead, or at least they do in 2nd edition P&P.

That was a mechanic in 2nd and 3rd edition of AD&D that was not implemented in the Infinity Engine or Aurora Engine games.
Most spells had a material component, but most components were of trivial cost. However all the best spells had expensive material components. Skoneskin, Limited Wish, True Sight, and Wish are some prime examples.
That is partially why those spells were so awesome in BG2 and the Icewind Dale games, since they lacked their chief drawback of the expensive material components, but still had their full power.[/QUOTE]

 

Yes this is true for BG2 and Throne of Bhaal, wherein you can only cast Stoneskin on yourself. however it somehow changes on Icewind Dale 2 wherein you could now select which person or target to cast Stoneskin. I think this is also the case in Temple of Elemental Evil.

I've only realize this when playing Pathfinder Kingmaker since I had a party member who is undead and needed Inflict Wound spells to heal her lol. Interesting enough she does not have a constitution score and uses her charisma score for determining HP count.... she's also immune to critical hits. sneak attacks, and poison which is nice!

Hmm... I wasn't able to play the tabletop version of D&D so I'm not really familiar how everything works... And also I got no friends to play with. I'm much of a loner and introvert and stuff...

My only exposure to D&D is by playing CRPGS such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Temple of Elemental Evil and Pathfinder Kingmaker...

Anyways so high level spell has component similar to that of real life occultism....

It's nice that we could abuse using Stoneskin and other cool spells in the infinity, wow didn't know true sight has spell component too... That's a important spell if your battling with invisible or concealed opponents....

Hmm... There is 1 particular spell that I really missed the most in Baldur's Gate 2 and wasn't able to see it in the other D&D CRPGS...

"The Spell Sequencer"

I wonder why they didn't include it? Is it really OP?

 

I think animate dead also benefit from Bard Luck song but i've not tested it since I never use bard.

Suffocate is another spell undead are immune to and can fight safely in.

 

Healing spells harming undead has been a staple of many CRPGs, not just Dungeons and Dragons-based ones.
Certain harmful spells healing undead is also fairly common, I'm surprised you haven't encountered that mechanic before. Even Final Fantasy sorta gets on the act with the drain spells that normally drain HP from an enemy and healing your character backfiring and doing the opposite when cast on undead.
In any case, the Inflict X Wounds spells healing undead has been implemented in all the D&D games I have played. I can confirm the Gold Box games, or at least the first two (never tried it in later games as I never memorize those spells), and I believe it's either in the manual or those load screen tips for all the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games. I believe the same can be said for ToEE and Pool of Radiance 2:Ruins of Myth Dranor.



On the subject of spell components, virtually all spells have a material component, but most are handled by a handy-dandy spell component pouch that you can purchase for a few silver* (can't recall for sure the price, it's been over 20 years) and can replenish for a few copper*. Only the really powerful spells for their level require expensive components that are consumed.

As for the sequencer, IIRC it's from a splat book instead of the core book, then again half the spells in BG2 are from splat books.

 

IWD2 manual says "no affect [sic] on undead or constructs". Text on healing spells doesn't address undead.
BG2 manual says heal spells don't affect "creatures not living". Text on causing wound spells doesn't address undead.

Haven't tried it. Maybe it's added by some mods?

 

I'm sorry, it's been a long time since I looked at the formal docs. I'm probably remembering wrong as I'm used to the mechanics from the Gold Box games and playing P&P back in the '90s.
My AD&D group broke up in 1997 due to college and we were never able to resolve scheduling conflicts to reform in 1998, and never tried again.

 

Yeah, that'll happen when guys like me are playing these games so many years (decades for some) after release. Happily, you've remembered things that have helped me out recently.

 

I suppose my knowledge in RPG mechanics is somehow limited lol. In the past the kinds of RPGs that I played before are mostly fast faced hack and slash such as Diablo I & II, Revenant and Throne of Darkness which is pretty straightforward... When I tried playing Baldur's Gate for the first time, it made me realize how diverse the gameplay as well as the in game lore which is massive... Then I got hook by it and tried finding similar games. I think the infinity engine games are the best representation of a D&D game if played on a PC. Real Time Tactical Pause gameplay is kinda better than turn based in my opinion. That's why I prefer to play Pathfinder Kingmaker than Baldur's Gate 3.

I didn't even tried playing Final Fantasy or any or JRPG since I dislike grinding... I wouldn't even try playing them unless they're Hentai/Eroge Visual Novel RPG hybrids since they more fun to play and their art is gorgeous! The last JRPG that I manage to play was YS I and Legend Of Heroes Trails In The Sky FC. Western CRPGs are still way better in my opinion!

Perhaps aside from D&D CRPGS, the only other diverse RPG setting that I've played is Blackguards using the Dark Eye Settings which is popular in Germany and Europe...

What are splat books by the way? care to enlighten us XD! my first time hearing that?

 

Final Fantasy 8 (released for the PC 20 years ago) actually has some anti-grinding measures in it.
You don't really need to grind for Final Fantasy IIIUS/VIJ to win, although it makes it much easier if you complete a bunch of Gau's rages (mega grinding for that) and get a few rare items that require a little grinding.
I didn't think you needed to do much grinding in FFVII (released for the PC over 20 years ago) either.
FFVI had a little need for grinding for certain characters, but you could win without it. It's Final Fantasy 1 for the NES that really needed grinding to survive.
Besides, western RPGS could need grinding as well. Ever play Wizardry?


That said, your story about looking for more related stuff after reading the lore for the Forgotten Realms mirrors mine, but mine is set at the end of the 1980's. Instead of Baldur's Gate, it was the Gold Box games, specifically Curse of the Azure Bonds which promoted the formation of my AD&D group, along with me seeking out Pool of Radiance.
I got CotAB as a Christmas present in junior high, liked it, and several other people had it or got it and liked it. The subject came up when we went back to school and were talking about what loot we got. That discussion led to us forming an AD&D group (2nd Edition) mostly focused on the Forgotten Realms. I wonder how much the Gold Box games contributed to the Forgotten Realms' popularity back then.

On the subject of closely mirroring tabletop, I think Temple of Elemental Evil most closely mirrors the tabletop experience. I've never actually played 3rd edition, but I have looked at the rule books. However, it reminds me the most of how things went in tabletop with the ability to ready actions, the various options for attacks, etc. The only other one that comes close is the Gold Box games, when you allow for the limitations of the technology at the time. There was a C64 version (or was it C128?) and an Apple IIe version. The Commodore 64 got it's name from 64K of RAM, just 65,535 bytes. The Apple IIe version required 128K of RAM, but due to strangeness in the memory map probably only had 64K usable for programs and data (I could figure it out if I dug my old programming books out of a box, but I never calculated) outside D.O.S. 3.3 or ProDOS.

I too relaxed and sedate in my gaming these days, I don't want to test my reflexes and timing, so I prefer turn-based these days. I want to relax while playing at a sedate pace. I don't enjoy action-RPGs as much anymore.

 

Sorry late reply, Third World Country Internet Providers sure thing sucks!

Well I understand where you're coming from. I don't play Action-RPGs or any Action oriented games often or all the time... Sometimes I also get tired or fed up with playing the same games over and over. That's why from time to time while taking a break from playing Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Pathfinder Kingmaker, I'll just watch some anime or read some light novels or play/read Visual Novels Or Eroges...

At the moment I took a break from playing Pathfinder Kingmaker. I currently playing a turn based Roguelike RPG I think its called Darkest Dungeon and War Of The Human Tanks as well as watching anime all the same!

And also do you have a Discord Account by any chance?

 

No, I haven't bothered with Discord.
As for games, I haven't been buying a lot lately due to lack of income. I've got a decent temp job right now, but it's scheduled to end around Christmas and then who knows when I'll have income again (hopefully I'll have something lined up by New Years).
It doesn't help that COVID is flaring up again and the governor just ordered new restrictions, taking us back roughly to June. Chicago proper is under a Stay At Home order so I doubt there will be much hiring if things don't improve in a month.