I'm attempting the fight on insane and I'm having a *very* hard time. Anyone tried it?
Chosen of Cyric encounter on Insane
Started by
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, Nov 19 2008 03:51 PM
5 replies to this topic
#2
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- Guest
Posted 19 November 2008 - 08:31 PM
I've just beaten it! I'd be curious to hear about other players' experience though.
#3
aVENGER
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Posted 19 November 2008 - 10:05 PM
Congratulations! 
I'm not sure how many people played through the CoC encounter on the higher difficulty settings, but since that component exists since 2003, it may be possible that someone else managed to complete it on Inasne as well.
BTW, the encounter was primarily designed for Core Rules, as the main intent was to create a challenging but fair party vs. party battle where the opponents play strictly by rules. Therefore, the AI doesn't scale above Core Rules, so opponents only get the hardcoded damage increase on Hard and Insane. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the battle, feel free to post your strategies and a review if you'd like.
I'm not sure how many people played through the CoC encounter on the higher difficulty settings, but since that component exists since 2003, it may be possible that someone else managed to complete it on Inasne as well.
BTW, the encounter was primarily designed for Core Rules, as the main intent was to create a challenging but fair party vs. party battle where the opponents play strictly by rules. Therefore, the AI doesn't scale above Core Rules, so opponents only get the hardcoded damage increase on Hard and Insane. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the battle, feel free to post your strategies and a review if you'd like.
#4
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-Guest-
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- Guest
Posted 20 November 2008 - 02:17 AM
Oh I didn't mean I was the first, just curious about other players' strategies. I really love your mod and especially the CoC fight - I'm a sucker for party vs party battles and you made the best one I've played. I especially like how the player is given a lot of options about the encounter and the enemy is geared in a suitable way for a high level party. That, and how hard it is.
Anyway I had a party of 5 (plus Viconia who'd been vampirized and at that time residing in my Bag of Holding): my F/T pc, Keldorn, Minsc, Edwin and Kelsey. Everyone was just slightly above the 3mln xp threshold and got their first HLA. At first I couldn't keep anyone alive for more than a few seconds: I'd either get backstabbed (=instant chunkification) or confused and clubbed to death my Grok. I tried a few different approaches. First I tried to unleash two 3*fireball sequencers and finish off the enemies in melee, but I couldn't effectively target anyone while still keeping my NPSc safe. Then I tried casting PfMW while engaging Grok in melee but Venduris and Grok immediately switched to their mundane weapons and chunked Edwin and Kelsey. At last I found that Stoneskin was the more effective way of keeping my mages alive for the longest time. But still, they got their protection dispelled fast by Bodak... in the end I found that if I had them retreat to the bottom of the screen still unprotected, while Keldorn cast True Sight and my pc and Minsc drank Potions of Clarity, I could lure Grok to me (and dispel/slow him with Carsomyr and Flail of Ages) and be out of Bodak's range for a short while. Edwin and Kelsey cast Stoneskin just in time before being respectively stabbed by Venduris and hit by Grok, I attacked Grok and had Edwin cast Time Stop while trying to avoid Venduris' backstab. Kelsey, alas, had been snuffed before his time by Selina's Power Word: Kill. Edwin spilled two Dragon's Breaths and two Horrid Wiltings on the area, killing Zaeron T'ane, Grok and Selina and reducing Venduris to near death - damn! that rogue is always the last one to go down! At that point, the only thing that could compromise my victory was Venduris' backstab, so I rushed to finish him off and luckily he was slowed from the FoA; then Minsc, the pc and Keldorn ganged up on Bodak, and finally I could kill Kerith without trouble.
It's been a while since I played the Improved Shadow Thieves component, but I recall it being good fun, even the 2004 version which SixofSpades angsted about. I haven't tried the more recent HLAs yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
Again, let me congratulate you for your mod. I've played every major release of it and it's awesome.
Quick question: what exactly does Venduris' Luckstone do? IIRC, Luck should be a generic +3 bonus on all rolls, but I couldn't see any change on thac0 or saving throws in my character sheet.
Anyway I had a party of 5 (plus Viconia who'd been vampirized and at that time residing in my Bag of Holding): my F/T pc, Keldorn, Minsc, Edwin and Kelsey. Everyone was just slightly above the 3mln xp threshold and got their first HLA. At first I couldn't keep anyone alive for more than a few seconds: I'd either get backstabbed (=instant chunkification) or confused and clubbed to death my Grok. I tried a few different approaches. First I tried to unleash two 3*fireball sequencers and finish off the enemies in melee, but I couldn't effectively target anyone while still keeping my NPSc safe. Then I tried casting PfMW while engaging Grok in melee but Venduris and Grok immediately switched to their mundane weapons and chunked Edwin and Kelsey. At last I found that Stoneskin was the more effective way of keeping my mages alive for the longest time. But still, they got their protection dispelled fast by Bodak... in the end I found that if I had them retreat to the bottom of the screen still unprotected, while Keldorn cast True Sight and my pc and Minsc drank Potions of Clarity, I could lure Grok to me (and dispel/slow him with Carsomyr and Flail of Ages) and be out of Bodak's range for a short while. Edwin and Kelsey cast Stoneskin just in time before being respectively stabbed by Venduris and hit by Grok, I attacked Grok and had Edwin cast Time Stop while trying to avoid Venduris' backstab. Kelsey, alas, had been snuffed before his time by Selina's Power Word: Kill. Edwin spilled two Dragon's Breaths and two Horrid Wiltings on the area, killing Zaeron T'ane, Grok and Selina and reducing Venduris to near death - damn! that rogue is always the last one to go down! At that point, the only thing that could compromise my victory was Venduris' backstab, so I rushed to finish him off and luckily he was slowed from the FoA; then Minsc, the pc and Keldorn ganged up on Bodak, and finally I could kill Kerith without trouble.
It's been a while since I played the Improved Shadow Thieves component, but I recall it being good fun, even the 2004 version which SixofSpades angsted about.
I haven't tried the more recent HLAs yet, but I'm looking forward to it.Again, let me congratulate you for your mod. I've played every major release of it and it's awesome.
Quick question: what exactly does Venduris' Luckstone do? IIRC, Luck should be a generic +3 bonus on all rolls, but I couldn't see any change on thac0 or saving throws in my character sheet.
#5
aVENGER
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Posted 20 November 2008 - 02:59 AM
Oh I didn't mean I was the first, just curious about other players' strategies.
You can find a few more reports from other players here. Of course, you can find a few of my own ways for dealing with the CoC party in the walkthrough section of the CoC readme.
I really love your mod and especially the CoC fight - I'm a sucker for party vs party battles and you made the best one I've played. I especially like how the player is given a lot of options about the encounter and the enemy is geared in a suitable way for a high level party.
Thanks!
It's been a while since I played the Improved Shadow Thieves component, but I recall it being good fun, even the 2004 version which SixofSpades angsted about.
Heh, I'm glad you enjoyed it, but the new version should be much more accessible, especially with the inclusion of the stealth path which allows the party to avoid 95% of the battles. Also, the AI in that component has been greatly improved in the recent revisions and should now be on pair with the AI in the CoC encounter (though the STI opponents are still weaker due to their lower levels, of course).
Quick question: what exactly does Venduris' Luckstone do? IIRC, Luck should be a generic +3 bonus on all rolls, but I couldn't see any change on thac0 or saving throws in my character sheet.
In BG2 the Luck effect is very powerful. In short, it grants a bonus to hit and minimum damage rolls and also reduces the damage dealt by enemy attacks. See here for more details. Unfortunately, none of those bonuses are reflected on the character sheet, but they do show up in the combat log.
#6
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- Guest
Posted 20 November 2008 - 03:29 AM
Whoa, I can see how Venduris survived two Dragon's Breaths and two Horrid Wiltings.In BG2 the Luck effect is very powerful. In short, it grants a bonus to hit and minimum damage rolls and also reduces the damage dealt by enemy attacks. See here for more details. Unfortunately, none of those bonuses are reflected on the character sheet, but they do show up in the combat log.
