Starting-Heart of fury

bellock · Post by **bellock** » Fri Nov 01, 2002 11:10 am

Has anyone started the game in Heat of fury mode and made it through the Warehouse of goblins? I wanted to play Icewind dale II, the last of this type of game, in heart of the fury mode. I reloaded about 20 times at the werehouse and finally had to give my group a few thousand xp points to make it through or start over in normal mode. I am in chapter 1 and every battle is very difficult, but my characters are leveling up quickly allowing many more stratagies for battle.

BlackJesus666 · Post by **BlackJesus666** » Fri Nov 01, 2002 11:40 am

HOF-Mode is not recommended to start with a level 1 party.

You can try, of course...

Skooter327 · Post by **Skooter327** » Fri Nov 01, 2002 4:35 pm

When I started HoF, I decided to compromise; I saved two char's from my normal game--a barbarian (my best tank) & a druid (healing & summon spells). These two were able to carry the rest of the L.1 members through the docks area & get them leveled up. I also gave them some good equipment to further even the score. My rationale: four greenhorns travel to Targos, & enlist the the aid of a pair of seasoned adventurers.
I guess if you're just starting you can't do it that way, though

. Its too bad you can't somehow import/convert an experienced IwD I char into IwDII, a la BGI & II...

Ambiorix · Post by **Ambiorix** » Fri Nov 01, 2002 6:51 pm

Since we're on it: what exactly does HoF do ? Increased damage from being hit I know. More XP from killing. What else ? Do monsters have higher HP ? Are there more of them ? Is their attack bonus better ? Better weapons available ?

paulsbo · Post by **paulsbo** » Sat Nov 02, 2002 12:00 am

From my experience with HoF, here's what's different:

Monsters have several times their normal hitpoints
Monsters are harder to hit
Monsters hit you more often
Monsters deal you more damage
Monsters give you more XP
Monsters appear in stronger numbers
Loot remains about the same
The only new weapon I've found so far (just finished the monastary and started in on the underdark) is the Heart of <player's name> that you find in the Galloway Trade Depot in Targos. Its +5, with some very nice enchantments.

HoF is VERY hard. It forces you to use new tactics, try new combinations of items and spells, and you have to rest a LOT. Since there are few safe resting spots, you end up back-tracking a lot to find a safe place. I have noticed that the easy battles in regular mode have turned into near-impossible battles, and the hard battles in regular mode are downright unfair.

One bug I've noticed is that in HoF mode, in the monastary, if you try to complete the 8 trials, some of the Iron Monks and others you simply can't hit with the weapons they provide for you, forcing you to just kill everyone in the monastary to get to the Underdark.

Hope this info helps.

Ambiorix · Post by **Ambiorix** » Sat Nov 02, 2002 5:55 am

Thanks, Paulsbo.

Skooter327 · Post by **Skooter327** » Sat Nov 02, 2002 8:22 am

There have ben several "new" items in HoF, although most are not very obvious and I'm still only in Targos. Most have just a slightly different title, same description, and a little better stats. I'm having some trouble remebering examples right now, but I know the robe of rags you get from Phaen (sp?) is upgraded, as well as a sheild from Deidre's shop is now "Blessed." Maybe I'll check on others later, if anyone cares.

BlackJesus666 · Post by **BlackJesus666** » Sun Nov 03, 2002 2:19 am

Yes, I heard many items are just upgraded.

Especially in later stages you´ll find them.