"Hardcore" playing sensibility

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Do not put your character in danger if you can avoid it!
Use summons to do your fighting whenever possible. Use invisibility (Mislead is great) to avoid getting targeted by most enemies.

Rest!
Do not hesitate to stop and rest for whatever reason.
Perhaps you'd like to have another spell memorized? Then rest!
You're in Athkatla and it's night? Rest until it's daytime if there's even a small chance that vampires would cause you problems.

Traps
Do you really need to open that container? Do you know if it's trapped or not? Do you know what kind of trap it has?
If you absolutely must open a container - and it's quite rare that you must - then prepare as much as possible first.
Spell Deflection (and all similar spells) are great.
Mirror Image helps vs Area spell traps.
Spell Immunity - vs Conjuration (Maze, Power Word Kill etc), Abjuration (Imprisonment etc), Alteration (Disintegrate etc), Necromancy (Finger of Death etc) or Enchantment (Dire Charm etc).
Stoneskin.

Of course, in your case you have a Thief (Mage/Thief), so traps should actually be a benefit to you (more XP).

Know the game!
If you have the time, keep another game (normal) going in which you stay ahead of your hardcore/ironman party/character. That way you have a fresh memory of what is to come. I actually have a regular 2-character Multiplayer game going via internet with my brother (He plays an Inquisitor and I play a sorcerer) and we've been ahead of my Ironman game until I left the Asylum.

Most importantly!
Never play when you are tired and always plan the battle tactics before going into battle. The harder the fight the more detailed the plan.

@Malovae
Yes, I intend to continue with this sorceress in ToB if/when she makes it to the end of SoA.

[ September 30, 2003, 09:04: Message edited by: Earl Grey ]

 

@Earl Grey
Do you play with Tactics Mod installed ? Basicly the question is - do you have Improved Irenicus installed ? If you can kick his butt - kudos to you !

 

@Earl Grey
I was wondering are there any good mods on BG2 SoA that would add more spells on it? Like TDD does add lots of new spells=) and how can I make money to IE. buy all those neat spells/items?
Pickpocketting etc?


Update on my ironman tryout=)

I got killed in the beginning oddly=)
I went to the Circus, started helping Aerie (she was still on ogre mode), entered a wrong place accidentally, and got attacked by Were's (as you know the circus ).

So I went back and defended myself, and Aerie started casting spells on me shouting "I wont let you hurt my friends"... Odd eh? (or Me just being so newbie not understanding the consequences of wandering to wrong places with enemies on my tail).

So anyways, Starting a new game soon and laughing out loud on that one

ps. Do you disagree if I use dungeon-B-Gone -mod, since i HATE the 1st dungeon

Anyways, out to watch tv and then resume..

[ September 30, 2003, 19:32: Message edited by: Grandalf ]

 

Hello. I must say that this "Hardcore Mode" looks very challenging, so I'm going to have a try. Not now because I don't have very much time, but I'll let you know how I develope in a future.

Good luck to you all.

 

@Leslie
I have no mod installed.

@Grandalf
Money is not a big problem when you solo. There are two main reasons for that:
1. You only need to equip one character.
2. You can sell the good stuff that would normally be used to equip the NPC's.

In the circus you can easily die due to strength drain from monsters bringing your strength down to 0. I normally do not fight any of the monsters on either second or third level, but instead focus entirely on killing Kalah as quickly as possible.

That thing with Aerie was strange. Perhaps you hit Quayle by mistake?

IMO if you want to use Dungeon-be-gone go ahead. As long as you mention which mod you use so other people can fairly evaluate what you have done. For example it would be misleading if someone claimed that something is easy and then does not mention that he hacked his character to be invincible.


I haven't played much the last couple of days. Only did the Underdark area (not Ust'Natha!) and the Kuo-Toa cavern, including the Demon Knights in the Demogorgon room.

 

Yea, I tell you it's that challenging that you can't survive it unless you know this game backwars up

I stopped trying to play Hardcore, and now playing a normal SP game, since my all efforts on Hardcore fell on my memoryloss

Need to recall the whole game and retry=)

But good luck to all of you who can survive

@Earl Grey
I was Impossible to hit Quale(or whatever his name was=), since I didin't even see him in that part.. It was still the part that Aerie was chained and in ogre form. I just entered the north door of her, and ran away since the were's came at me, started defend myself near Aerie, and she attacked me Dunno if it's a bug or whatever=)

Currently I'm usin Ease of use, Dungeon-be-Gone, Soulafein and Item Upgrade (IU rules btw=)

 

The Beholder caverns and the Mind Flayer Dungeon done, so basically the Underdark is finished. Only Ust'Natha remaining to do down there and I'm considering skipping it and taking the quick way out instead. There is nothing to gain for my sorceress in Ust'Natha.

Typical tactic is:
- Spell Trap from Staff of the Magi.

- Cast Project Image (PI)

- PI casts:
1* Resist Fear
4* Animate Dead
4* Pf Evil (on the Skeleton Warriors)
7* Farsight
1* Haste (on the Skeleton Warriors)
The PI expires.

- Cast Mirror Image and a couple of Spell Immunity depending on what Farsight has revealed. If needed open door to area where fighting is to take place.

- Cast Project Image again

- PI casts Farsight as needed to see the enemies and the combat area.

- Attack with the Skeleton Warriors.

- The PI supports the fight primarily with Abi-Dalzim's HW, Death Spell, Lower Resistance and with quick slot items like scrolls (for example: Prot f Magic, Time Stop, Cacofiend).
My sorceress is not even close to the fighting area in most fights. There are fights when you enter a new area straight into a fight (for example the Beholder caverns). I prepare for those occasions by loading the Spell Trigger with Mislead - Animate Dead - Animate Dead. It buys time.

 

It's great to see you taking up the "challenge" too, dmc.
Just a quick note here, since this is SoA, you will not have any HLA's. If you have ToB installed then do not level up after reaching 2,950,000 xp!

Against Kangaxx I assume you will be using Mace of Disruption, so it should be reasonably easy and if you don't want to "semi-cheese" as you put it, why not actually use up one of the PfMagic scrolls then? I can think of no other time more worthy of it's use in SoA than vs Kangaxx.

Twisted Rune - you're not a magic-user so why should you do it? I certainly agree with your decision not to do it.

Confusion is nasty, but Chaotic Commands is so darn good, there should be absolutely no cause for concern.

Good luck!

[ October 02, 2003, 20:31: Message edited by: Earl Grey ]

 

OK, guys !

Here's my progress and game: I think this is my 6th attempt at NRP (no reloads party) and I play with sort of customized party - I take existing NPC's with their original stats and use Shadowkeeper to change them into something more powergaming(why - to have a powergaming party which I need if I want to win this kind of game - and to still have some party banter):

Nalia - Fighter/Mage - multi
Jaheira - Ranger/Cleric - multi
Mazzy - Fighter/Thief - multi
Haer'Dalis - Blade (no changes)
Anomen - Fighter/Cleric (dual - no changes)
PC - Sorceress

I play with Tactics (everything except Ilyich), Item Upgrade, Ascension - on Insane.

Current status - I finished most of the city quests + Planar Prison and Trademeet. I will go to Maevar for the last time.

Weapons plan:
F/M - Axes, Scimitars, Dual wield, Warhammers
(Stonefire + Belm, later Crom Faeyr + Belm, TOB - Axe of Unyielding + Crom)

R/C - Clubs, Flails, Dual Wield, Maces
(Wyvern's Tail + Shield of Harmony, later Blackblood + Gnasher, later Flail of Ages + Blackblood, also Mace of Disruption +2)

Blade - Short Swords, Katanas, Dual Wield
(Dak'kon Zerth Blade + Kundane, later Celestial Fury + Kundane (UAI - Scarlet Ninja-To))

F/T - Daggers, Short Swords, Short Bows, Cross Bows
(Tuigan Bow, Boomerang Dagger, Pixie Prick, FireTooth Dagger, Crossbow of Speed)

F/C - Slings, Maces, Warhammers
(Sling of Seeking, Warhammer +2, Skullcrusher)

Sorceress - bah, whatever - she casts spells

 

I have a question concerning your conversation, what does a "powergaming" term mean?
Please Indulge a young man in the paths of the knowledge

 

Just completed Planar Sphere and joined Bodhi's guild - killed Aran and S.T's. I won't be playing until I've completed Starwars - Knights of the Old Republic.... so my game goes on hold for a few weeks. i'll get back to you later

 

@ Leslie - what will you do in the case of NPC death?

@ Grandalf - the powergaming question actually could (and probably should) be a topic of its own, given that it is off-topic here, and could become a rather lengthy dicsussion.

@ Earl Grey - don't let us down now! And I think your most important words of advice were to be familiar with the game. It's the lack of familiarity that did me in.

@ dmc - I'll kick myself if you do this, since I also had a Ranger/Cleric (but dualled), and added a fighter/mage/thief. And no mods.

 

@Splunge
Well, I was just wondering that can one play hardcore/ironman as a powergamer does?
OR you could PM me shortly explaining me what does it mean?

Do you get to tweak your chars on powergame or what?
but if it truly is off the topic, then i'm sorry, won't happen again=)

 

Grandalf - sorry, I didn't mean to critcise. All I meant was that the question of 'what is a powergamer' is a topic in and of itself, and could lead to some interesting discussion. I was kind of hoping that you might start a thread on it since you raised the question. And yes, I think powergaming is allowed in hardcore as long as you acknowledge that you are doing so; my failed approach was one of a powergamer (didn't do me any good, though).

 

Just tell the rest of us how you're going to do this hardcore/ironman thing. Modify all you want as long as it's clear what you've done. The important thing IMHO is that those reading your posts can have a chance to evaluate your effort.

Powergaming or roleplaying is extremely difficult to define so I guess if you want to say that you're playing in one style or another that's fine, but it's more important to describe how you actually handled the tough parts of the game. That will give both an insight in your play style and tactical tips to others.

I regard my style as powergaming, but that doesn't mean that I'm devoid of roleplaying, it's just that my style has more powergaming elements. Also it differs very much from time to time. My ironman effort is quite powergamish.

If you just want a definition of powergaming it's better to do a search or as Splunge suggested, start a new topic.

Edited: About using mods etc, the only thing you cannot do is use any ToB "stuff", since this is SoA. There is a similar topic in the ToB forum in case you can't follow this.

 

@Splunge
If NPC dies ? If he can be resurrected then I will do it. That's why the spells and the RoR are for. IF the NPC is "chunkified" and cannot be resurrected (his portrait is gone) then I will start the whole game again.

@Earl Grey
I plan to use HLA's in SOA. Weimers enemies are cheesy too. Ever played Improved Irenicus on Insane ? One of the best fights ever. Close to Ascension.

 

Well, Leslie, if you decide to use HLA's then you are not allowed to post here. You must keep stuff like that in the ToB forum.
It's forum rules.

Edited: I also notice that you list a ToB item in your previous post. This is not allowed!

[ October 04, 2003, 00:47: Message edited by: Earl Grey ]