On the Tactics mod

[Sator]

*spoiler alert*

OK i decided to heed wise Fable's advice and give Tactics and Ascension a try. I installed both, cranked the difficulty slider all the way up and started a new game with a kensai (to be later dualed to thief as i'm yet to play this type of character). My first impressions are... horrible! Am i an unskilled noob, or is this mod ridiculously difficult?

Resting anywhere in Irenicus's dungeon results in my party being attacked (after waking up, thank the Light) by two duergar fighters and a dueargar mage that has a script instantly cast on him protection from normal missiles, protection from normal weapons, Blur and Mirror Image. The mage then starts flinging confusions and hold persons at my party, and then follows up with melf minute meteors! I know that dispel magic and remove magic are my friends, and that once i take out the mage i can slaughter the fighters while they are chasing after a single party member, but it's just too annoying having to fight the same 1-2 minute battle every time i want to rest!

I finally managed to get the portal key, loot some nice spells and decided to be smart and go get Yoshimo before continuing. Since the portal above the room with the nice furniture and the fireplace was guarded by a pack of duergar, i used the one behind the cages room. I got the bounty hunter and there i thought: Finally, this will be a lot easier with traps! WRONG! you know why? Because now when i try to go back, my group gets teleported in the middle of the 3 wizards and 4 fighters and 1039510 dogs that guard the upper teleporter. That's just too frustrating! And now i have to do the whole thing over.. i still can't make my self do it

I know that i can uninstall certain aspects of the mode (such as the harder Irenicus dungeon), but then i won't be satisfied since i didn't beat the whole mod! I'm sure that once i get to the surface and i get to 1) rest without fear of being attacked by a party 2-3 levels above my own 2) get to recruit the npc's i want, the game will go much smoother than now.. But it's just soooo irritating to try and get there..

[Sytze]

I fear you've been a bit too anxious this time. Tactics itself is already incredibly difficult when you install each and every component, but you're truly making your game hell by cranking up the difficulty to its highest. I've played Tactics countless of times before, but I never set it higher than the core D&D rules. That's just not fun, especially if you play the Mod for the first time. You've taken a bit too much on your plate this time.

So if I were you, I'd lower the difficulty setting and uninstall a few components from the Tactics mod. You can leave Ascension intact, I think that's doable if you put a lot of effort and patience in it.

I think the part that's frustrating you the most is the slightly smarter mages and liches component. I used it a couple of run-throughs as well. One time when I wanted to finish the game when, like you, I wanted to beat the entire mod, and one time to make a guide. The latter, however, never made it and since then I've always skipped that component. It makes mages ridiculously powerful and it ruins my gaming experience. For example, every mage you encounter, neutral or enemy, will unload his defensive spell assortment once you step into their area. You're looking at a stoneskinned, protected from almost everything character like Ribald as soon as you enter the Adventurer's Market. Not my cup of tea. Liches will use Teleport Field and dispel magic to strip you naked and put you in front of them. You only want to experience a Lich’s Timestop like that one, single time. Humbling, that’s what it is, an experience that'll likely become very irritating very quickly.

If you want to have various opinions on the different components Tactics has to offer, you might want to try [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/any-mods-possible-minor-spoiler-66525.html"]this[/url] link, containing my own opinions. Truth be told, though, I've come to regard some parts in a different light. If you want a more updated perspective of the Mod, just ask. A [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/tactics-mods-opinions-and-advice-spoilers-84651.html"]second[/url] link gives another man's opinions, and you might want to explore the link given by Lark in his post. It'll prove interesting.

Hope that helped!

[Sator]

Ah, the in-game difficulty slider isn't really that big of a deal. All it does is give monsters double damage - not so scary imo. Also i guess that smarter mages are a challenge i would like to tackle - plus, dispel magic or no dispel magic, the cloak of mirroring will render all the liche's efforts useless.. right? Anyway my biggest disappointment so far is the ambush that triggers every time i try to rest in Irenicus's dungeon! These should be random and not permanent!