175 replies to this topic

[Rathwellin the Bard]

In these dark times I thought that I would try to post a little bit of brightness.

Last night I finally go around to testing the changes to Monks.

I?ve got to say that I?ve always liked the idea of Monks. Though woefully out of practice myself I?ve studied several real life martial arts and the thought of playing the BG equivalent sounded appealing. During my first BGII game I always assumed that I would play a Monk in one of my next few games.

Then I played ToB & saw Balthzar. I can?t tell you how much it ticked me off that no PC Monk I made could ever be that cool. Right then and there that fight killed my desire to play a BG Monk.

Well last night changed my opinion. The new Monk HLAs are fantastic. Yes stances and such would be nice, but already what you guys have done is a huge improvement from the original!

Last night I created Diaz, a female monk & then gave her 4 mil XP. She went through unimproved Illasera without breaking a sweat or really taking any damage. It was the Revenge fight that was a treat though. I set her script to aggressive and just sat back and watched as she tore through the lesser monsters here. Then Sarevok, Bodhi, & Balthazar opened their can of whop-tail.

Well the bottom line is that Diaz got her butt beat, with no protection from level draining Bodhi was a killer & Sarevok?s massive damage didn?t help, but I did have fun using her new special abilities.

I want to note that I especially like how Faster Than the Eye avoids the Dimension Door problems by not letting the Monk pass through closed doors and the like. Great job!

The Regeneration & Arrow Catching were fantastic as well.

Congrats on a job well done here!

[T.G.Maestro]

Thanks Rathwellin. Expect a few changes like the 3 Stances instead of the two Deathblows, and possibly a most powerful ability, Inner Time.

[Feanor]

Last night I created Diaz, a female monk & then gave her 4 mil XP. She went through unimproved Illasera without breaking a sweat or really taking any damage. It was the Revenge fight that was a treat though. I set her script to aggressive and just sat back and watched as she tore through the lesser monsters here. Then Sarevok, Bodhi, & Balthazar opened their can of whop-tail.

Rathwellin, you shouldn't have said that : I bet than Maestro will say the monks are overpowered and he will lower their abilities for version 2. By the way, where Refinements can be downloaded ?

[T.G.Maestro]

Rathwellin, you shouldn't have said that : I bet than Maestro will say the monks are overpowered and he will lower their abilities for version 2

On the contrary: I'm going to make them more powerful.

By the way, where Refinements can be downloaded ?

Nowhere at the moment, its still in the very final stages - before release. It will be downloadable from the website in a week (at least I hope so), take a look at my sig!

[Feanor]

On the contrary: I'm going to make them more powerful.

Really, Maestro ? Thinking about our last debates, I just can't imagine you making the monks even "more powerful". How about the balance ? Jaheira will smash your nose for that !

[T.G.Maestro]

Feanor, if you take a look at our new HLA tables, you'll surely notice that we made many classes/kits more powerful. Power can live with balance, if you know the limits. Actually, I often tend to make things more powerful, but almost at a price.

[Rathwellin the Bard]

Rathwellin, you shouldn't have said that : I bet than Maestro will say the monks are overpowered and he will lower their abilities for version 2.

I'm not worried. In addition to what was posted the most changed thing is the HLA table for monks. Diaz didn't have to use those to kick tail ... and they didn't help her all that much to survive a vampire.

[T.G.Maestro]

they didn't help her all that much to survive a vampire

Lunar Stance will B) .

[Rathwellin the Bard]

That's *good* news indeed!

B)

[Feanor]

Feanor, if you take a look at our new HLA tables, you'll surely notice that we made many classes/kits more powerful. Power can live with balance, if you know the limits. Actually, I often tend to make things more powerful, but almost at a price.

"Power can live with balance". Actually, I think a NPC is overpowered when it can smash alone the Demogorgon. That's my criteria.

Thanks Rathwellin. Expect a few changes like the 3 Stances instead of the two Deathblows, and possibly a most powerful ability, Inner Time.

With that, Maestro, you have made me happy, I have always thought of those deathblows as some of the most annoying HLA.

I'm not worried. In addition to what was posted the most changed thing is the HLA table for monks. Diaz didn't have to use those to kick tail ... and they didn't help her all that much to survive a vampire.

What ?! I have played Maestro's HLA table in Kiara MOD, and she was able to smash Balthazar alone ! Why your high-level monk could not survive even a vampire (which, in TOB, I could say they are only for practicing your fighting skills).

[Rathwellin the Bard]

I'm not worried. In addition to what was posted the most changed thing is the HLA table for monks. Diaz didn't have to use those to kick tail ... and they didn't help her all that much to survive a vampire.

What ?! I have played Maestro's HLA table in Kiara MOD, and she was able to smash Balthazar alone ! Why your high-level monk could not survive even a vampire (which, in TOB, I could say they are only for practicing your fighting skills).

It was a fresh ToB game so she had no items to protect from level drain.

She actually did kill Bodhi, but was weakened enough by that time that she didn't have enough left to finish off Sarevok & Jon even after 2 healing potions. Sarevok actually delivered the killing blow.

In reality, had I wanted, I probably could have used her speed to avoid melee until she had regenerated enough damage to head back in, but Jon was steadly lowering her resistance & I figured that it was only a matter of time before he nailed her with a spell so I tried to take them out first.

If I had cheated in an item or two I'm sure I would have won on that first try.

[Feanor]

It was a fresh ToB game so she had no items to protect from level drain.

She actually did kill Bodhi, but was weakened enough by that time that she didn't have enough left to finish off Sarevok & Jon even after 2 healing potions. Sarevok actually delivered the killing blow.

In reality, had I wanted, I probably could have used her speed to avoid melee until she had regenerated enough damage to head back in, but Jon was steadly lowering her resistance & I figured that it was only a matter of time before he nailed her with a spell so I tried to take them out first.

If I had cheated in an item or two I'm sure I would have won on that first try.

Rathwellin, you should have said that it was not an ordinary vampire, but Bodhi from the last fight with Mellissan. Your monk killed by Bodhi, Sarevok and Irenicus together it's not amazing at all.

[Baltrek]

Mebbe a bit O.T., but I thought the Chosen of Cyric encounter at the City Gates smoked the Demigorgon as far as difficulty goes. Crappy thing was, it autosaves right before the battle, so I got screwed. It was Cntrl-Y, or replay everything after leaving the Underdark...better save more often.

[Caedwyr]

Yep, Chosen of Cyric battle is nasty. Best of all, they don't cheat (too blatantly at least)

[T.G.Maestro]

The CoC battle has the best written AI IMO. I loved that one - a pity that aVENGER isn't around anymore.
Now, back to topic please.

[Schatten]

do you intend to make monk fists +5? i read something like that here and i think its not a good idea. its too powerfull.

[Feanor]

do you intend to make monk fists +5? i read something like that here and i think its not a good idea. its too powerfull.

Schatten, what's the difference between a monk with +5 fists and a Paladin dual wielding Foebane and Purifier ?

[Baltrek]

Base damage and attack speed for one. Not to mention the to hit penalties that a Paladin would accrue by dual wielding, making those weapons' effective bonuses considerably smaller. In addition, the monk already has a good armor class, while the Paladin would forgoe a shield and just one of those weapons. Remember even with specialization, the off hand weapon only ever gives 1 extra attack...I could crunch the numbers, but I think it would be fairly obvious it does not even compare. I think the monks will be just fine in Refinements. If you want to see an underpowered monk, just play through IWD2.

[T.G.Maestro]

No, monks won't receive +5 fists, only Balthazar in our improved verison in v2.

[Feanor]

Base damage and attack speed for one. Not to mention the to hit penalties that a Paladin would accrue by dual wielding, making those weapons' effective bonuses considerably smaller. In addition, the monk already has a good armor class, while the Paladin would forgoe a shield and just one of those weapons. Remember even with specialization, the off hand weapon only ever gives 1 extra attack...

OK, Baltrek, but you know, I had once in my team a Kensai dual wielding Celestial Fury and Angurvadal and a Monk using new HLA table. I used them for fighting one to one with some of the bosses and the Kensai did better. So, a monk with +5 fists won't be the hacking master of TOB.
And, also, a paladin with Enkidu's Armor (or something like that) can dispose of the shield.