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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
I started HotU today, and I've been getting soundly trounced on a regular basis. I took my dwarven defender (8fighter/5DwD), fresh from conquering SoU, and thought I'd be OK. Granted, I was using magic items to compensate for a couple questionable development decisions, but it's not like he's a cripple. He ended up with tons of gold (almost 200k), so I've been able to buy pretty much the best equipment available in town. Still no luck.
Have I made a major mistake somehow, or am I looking at the second coming of Wiz8's Arnika Road gauntlet?
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
Thu Jan 01, 2004 11:16 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Why are you level 13, not 15?
Those two levels CAN make a difference... not really, though... not in a fighter's case.
You're a dwarven defender... hm... your AC should be at least 30 and you should have somewhere around 200 hp, right? Can't see why you and your henchmen would be having problems...
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Fri Jan 02, 2004 1:21 pm |
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goshuto
Wanderer
Joined: 29 May 2002
Posts: 1142
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I played the OC for a bit with a fighter/DD. The best AC I could get, after grabbing the best items in the inn, was 26. However, I got something around 180 hitpoints, which is almost the same my level 27 RDD/monk had by the end of HotU. With weapon specialization, I got past the first Duergar fight in Undermountain without dying and without any henchmen, something which my RDD/monk could not accomplish. I made sure to use Defensive Stance a lot, since that increased the AC to 30. I also raised the Tumble skill as much as possible, since for every 5 ranks you get an AC bonus, and that helps a lot early on.
_________________
"Tree stuck in cat. Firemen baffled."--Simcity 3K
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."--Soren Aabye Kierkegaard |
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Fri Jan 02, 2004 4:28 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
quote:
Originally posted by EverythingXen
Why are you level 13, not 15?
Those two levels CAN make a difference... not really, though... not in a fighter's case.
You're a dwarven defender... hm... your AC should be at least 30 and you should have somewhere around 200 hp, right? Can't see why you and your henchmen would be having problems...
The game only kicks you up to level 15 if you're less than level 12. Since my character finished SoU at level 13, no bumps for me. I thought about getting a boost via a trainer, but that would have defeated the whole purpose of slogging thru SoU with this guy.
Even with the best equipment (keeping in mind that I did take an item or two that dealt with saving throws and magic resistance), my AC came out to 27.
Here's what he had prior to being unceremoniously robbed:
AC 33
HP 163
chosen feats: cleave, dodge, improved critical (warhammer), knockdown, improved knockdown, power attack, resist fire energy, toughness, weapon focus and weapon specialization (warhammer)
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Fri Jan 02, 2004 6:06 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
I've only played for a very short time, but when I went outside to Waterdeep, I faced a mage, a cleric and about 5 or 6 warriors. My sorc had no real problem, though my pet died!! Losing all my stuff made little difference, as a caster can get by on spells alone. Love Stoneskin.
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If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Sat Jan 03, 2004 12:12 am |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
Those guys cleaned my clock, although I didn't have a henchie at the time. I'm giving some thought to creating a level 15 char from scratch, but I really hate to do that after all the time I invested going thru SoU in the name of proper roleplaying. I just don't understand what's going wrong with my DwD. I probably could have done a little better job with his development, but I don't think I screwed it up that badly.
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Sat Jan 03, 2004 3:25 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Looks like it was bad luck. My level 17 paladin has 168 hit points, and he's only died once (not much you can do when three or four rakshasa say 'Wheeeeeeee' and hit you with 60d6 worth of chain lightning spells). He's got an AC 35.
It's hard going against casters in particular... ice storm really sucks when three or four enemies do it at once... but overall with a little luck and a rapidly swelling bag o' goodies (found my boots of speed again) I've had no hair-pulls (yet).
Though I did get a little frustrated when I played my pale master for a second. I knew a caster level 8 was basically the same as not casting spells at all when it came to offensive spell casting capacity... but damn... even with spell focus/greater spell focus (ALL casters should have those two feats) I could NOT fry the drow in the first battle even. Just make a lot of pretty booms. Fortunately, offensive magic is NOT the character's forte... death armor and haste and two weapon fighting with a skeleton chief flanking did the trick. He'll definitely need followers, though, which aggrevates me when I play evil characters... as they never see fit to provide suitably evil followers in NWN.
Female fighter/sorc/DD is trucking along, though. 30 strength with gauntlets of ogre power and a greatsword +3 means she does almost as much damage a hit as my paladin does on a critical.
Hands down the most powerful character I'm playing is an Evil cleric. Of course, that goes without saying as Clerics are the most powerful class in the game. A 10 int sucks, though, as it means I didn't have points for concentration and things interupt my spells a lot. Of course, using a Quickened Divine Power at the start of a serious fight means I don't need to worry about casting too much else... I just hit my super-saiyan hotbank and walk into each fight with high spell resistance, strength 18, a fighters base attack, stoneskin, +5 sword, +5 shield, +5 armor (last all day, those wonderful spells do), enhanced con, a +5 luck bonus to hit and damage, and situational immunity to whatever element is thrown at me most often.
If the followers are doing there job and live for more than a second I throw a blade barrier in front of their charging fighters, target their wizard or rogue with a Destruction spell (making them explode violently) if he's alone, or drop a maximized flame strike on a group of casters for 90 damage (they're not saving if they're wizards and clerics. They're just not.).
I'll roll my eyes and throw a mass heal if things get a little hairy for my henchies. If they splat I roll my eyes and cast ressurrect.
No problems. it's why I don't play clerics. No challenge being invincible to all attack and being a better fighter than a fighter can ever hope to be (my paladin has a +23 to hit, primary... when he blinks my cleric has a +31).
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Sat Jan 03, 2004 4:11 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
Can I suggest Enhanced Tensor's Transformation. With that spell A caster can go Toe to Toe with a Dragon, take NO damage and kill it solo. I've done it. Wow is it powerful. So far, I've only been killed once when I got careless and I've nearly finished the first level of Undermountain. I enjoy these high level battles.
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Sat Jan 03, 2004 11:43 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
Must have been some bad juju with my Dwarven Defender. I broke down and made a level 15 monk, and I'm walking thru level 1 of Underdark with nary a scratch. So as not to ruin anyone's surprise...
Spoiler:
That blue dragon didn't even hit me once
On a side note, Deekin is pretty tough this time around. His arrows are doing some serious damage and he hits almost every time. I want Grovel as a henchie!!!
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Mon Jan 05, 2004 1:18 am |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Yes, a monk is nearly unstoppable in chapter 1.
I've switched to male good cleric (for good guy questing, epic spellcasting, and romance), female good monk (game balance/class viability, change in storyline, romance), and male evil blackguard (who has retrieved the lion's share of his stolen equipment from Shadows of Undrentide and is still fighting mad).
The cleric just walks around calling down the wrath of the gods on anything that twitches: Only once has he been CLOSE to death (a heal spell fixed that). He summons a hound archon every day and hits it with endurance, bull's strength, greater magic weapon ... then he hits himself with endurance, bull's strength and several other all day spells (death ward) or long lasting spells (true sight).
The monk is built to survive: She's got all the save enhancers possible, toughness, and generally has danced through the first and second level of UNdermountain without being seriously harmed.
The blackguard is having the hardest time of things, as a pure fighter type. His saves are decent (+25 fort, +11 ref, +12 will) but magical damage (resisted by the monks spell resistance and healed up/prevented by the cleric) adds up in a hurry. I've seen his 240 hit points drop to 20 in less than 6 seconds in some of the larger fights. Especially against cleric types dropping stacked blade barriers. Grr. I wish the hardcore mode would over-ride the stupid zone PvP restriction. I understand they did it so enemies stand a chance: They can unleash fireballs point blank at things in their face. But it doesn't change the fact that being stuck in six blade barriers while surrounded by enemies who are NOT taking damage sucks. I want to see them explode into ribbons so I can get to the foolish cleric.
Fortunately, blackguards have no conscience. I've taken to sending my summoned creatures and my henchmen in to absorb all the spell fire and do as much damage as possible. Then I waltz in and kill all the weakened casters and the fighters are no match for Volgion, the Betrayer. Then I ressurrect the followers (sometimes). I also tend to power attack/knockdown from inside the dialogue tree to get first strike against chatty enemies (fair fight? where?). Few get a chance to stand up again.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Tue Jan 06, 2004 2:55 pm |
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konny666
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Posts: 219
Location: Babylon 6 |
tips on surviving HotU with your SoU character:
- SoU was supposed to get you to level 12. But HotU needs a level 15 char. that's why BioWare and NWVault started a "HotU Bridge Module" contest. Independent builders were asked to create a mod designed to take characters from level 12 to 15. Since the SoU story ended with the hero jumping into the Shadow Plane, they were also encouraged to create a story which showed how the hero escaped the Shadow Plane back to the real world, and ended up somewhere near Waterdeep.
the 2 winners of this contest were:
PaperMonk's "The Nether Scrolls". character escapes back to the real world by performing a slightly nefarious deed for an unsavory arch-demon which involved travelling back in time to the Netheril Empire. I played this. It was fun, I'd give it 8.5/10
XXtacye's "ShadowHaunt". haven't played this, but I heard this was good as well.
http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/modules/data/1068343551484.shtml
http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/modules/data/1070069702906.shtml (HotU version)
http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/modules/data/1066112320015.shtml
---
So if you take a char through SoU -> Bridge Module -> HotU, you should be powerful enough to handle the first chapter of Hordes. Personally, I recommend Nether Scrolls.
BioWare is actually announcing their choice for grand prize winner (from the 2 above) tomorrow, so if you wait until then you can get the "official" decision. But NWVault gave both those mods the title of "winner" from the 20 or so submissions to the contest, so they're both of similar quality.
Actually, I can't offer any *REAL* general tips on chapter 1 of HotU. For me, I had 2 henchmen (Deekin and Sharwyn) and I though it was pretty easy.  |
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Tue Jan 06, 2004 8:18 pm |
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konny666
Noble Knight
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Posts: 219
Location: Babylon 6 |
Oh and my build was the (perhaps?) slightly un-optimal build of Elven 3Rogue/12Wiz (school: Necromancy) upon entering HotU. Since I believed in saving magic, for quite a few fights I'd just use my longbow instead of magic. Still wasn't too challenging.  |
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Tue Jan 06, 2004 8:22 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
I've only had 2 fights that have given me major headaches and both for the same reason. I've walked into a battle, and have been dealing effectively with all in front of me. What I missed, was the deadly ranged attackers up high on either side of me, who caught me unawares. Once I knew of their existence, I was able to re-do the battle with different strategy and claim a great victory. Now that I have it, I just LOVE the Banshee spell. Combine that with Power Word Kill and Enhanced TT for the super magic resistant and you could waltz through the levels solo!!
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Tue Jan 06, 2004 11:31 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Well, my monk ended up in chapter 3 when I blinked... only one fight was even remotely challenging for her so far in the entire game (it was a real pain, too. I have no sweet clue how my other two will survive it.) Correction... two fights but I know there's no way anyone can win one of them.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:32 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
My monk died in the final battle of chapter 1, but that was pretty much my fault. After a reload, I handled it with relative ease. I think I should have ditched Daelan, though. I really didn't need his muscle as much as I thought. Deekin and I pretty well rock.
Bring on chapter 2!
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 11:20 pm |
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