Boring

keeB · Post by **keeB** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 11:53 pm

Am I the only one who finds chapter for to be incredibly boring? It makes me want to retstart the game. Is there anything I should be looking forward to?

The furthest i have gotten is the Underdark.

Balinor · Post by **Balinor** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 12:17 am

I dunno ... I kinda think the Asylum is sort of a fun break. The game gets a different feel in the Asylum with all of the puzzles and little riddles. It shows a different way of getting out of things, and it's not nearly as much hack-and-slash as the rest of the chapters. Brynnlaw I agree is boring, but chunking all of the Sahuagins (is that Chapter 4 or 5?) has sort of rightful justice to it, and with Tactics, the City is certainly not boring. How far in the Underdark have you gotten? Probably part of the reason that you are getting bored is that you are stopping two-thirds of the way through the game. I would finish it for, if nothing else, the sake of novelty. I, personally, always feel much more powerful after I emerge from the Underdark. After all, you did just take out an entire city of Drow. As for what to look forward to, other than the quests you didn't do in Chapter 2 and Ribald's "special wares",

SPOILERS...

You can look forward to the final ending to Bodhi's life, along with 2 fights with Irenicus. There are new areas ranging from a dense wilderness (where you meet up with two old BG1 faces!), to the gorgeous Elven city of Suldanesslar, to the very Nine Hells themselves! All in all, quite worth playing, IMO.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 12:42 am

Personally - I find the game up to going to the Asylum boring, but that is proberly because I have restarted *to* many times.

keeB · Post by **keeB** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 11:11 am

I think it's just Brynnlaw.

When i got the Underdark I was excited, then i got to the mind flayers area and was so pissed off. I didnt have the cloak of mirroring, or anything so their psionic attacks were really really really bothering me. i got to the point where i would stop playing because i would get discouraged and have no motivation to play.

I hope, since my party is of a higher level now, that i can just kick their ass and I'll be done with it.. on to the beholders dungeon.. GAH i hate them.

Balinor · Post by **Balinor** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 11:23 am

Chaotic Commands is always my key to victory in the mind flayer dungeon. Sometimes I just send in a single improved hasted, draw upon holy mighted, chaotic commanded tank (usually my PC, a cavalier) who can take out rooms of the mind flayers single-handedly. The brine potions always help, but I usually save them for the Master Brain and the rest of the game.

And are you sure the Cloak of Mirrors helps against their psionic attacks? I always thought that it only worked against offensive, damaging spells, and not psionic or hold spells. If it works against psionics, the cloak is WAY more powerful than I had thought.

keeB · Post by **keeB** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:11 pm

Actually, i was mistaken, the cloak of mirrors is used for the Beholders.

Balinor · Post by **Balinor** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:42 pm

The belt of inertial barrier also helps tremendously in the Beholder lairs, IIRC, especially in the Cult of the Unseeing Eye dungeon, when you won't have the Cloak of Mirroring yet.

Screaming Johny · Post by **Screaming Johny** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 8:10 am

re: the original topic, I agree that Brynnlaw is kind of boring.
(Spoiler)
Sometimes I just get off the boat, don't talk to anybody, beat up a certain mage, and wander off to the Asylum.

re: The mind flayer dungeon - my personal strategy is a Bard(Blade) with Improved Bard Song. Keeps you immune to everything but INT drain & my tank has such a low AC the mind-flayers can't hit him to drain his INT anyway.

re: Balinor's comment about taking out the Underdark. I started having a lot more fun with that city after I started clearing it out as well. (Spoiler) If you are going clear out the elven city, do it after you finish all the quests.

That's my two cents.

Jyrran · Post by **Jyrran** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 10:22 am

Hate Brynnlaw...Love Underdark

My first time in Brynnlaw I stopped in every shop along the way to talk to every body that wasn't horizontal. I never made the same mistake twice. Like Screaming Johny, I do what I have to do to get into the Asylum and move on.

I find Underdark to be an interesting change of pace, and getting through it with all members of the party somewhat intact is a nice warm-and-fuzzy.

Regarding the mind-flayer dungeon - I've never gotten through it without reloading at least twice. I have to say that chaotic commands is THE way to approach that place.

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 3:31 pm

No

I like the Asylum dungeon - it's a real change of pace. I do agree that everything from the end of Chapter two through entering Spellhold is fairly dull - just minutiae along the way.

Personally, I think the Underdark & later is the best part of SoA. LOTS of fun to be had there, as well as much experience. Your taste, may, however, be different.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 7:18 pm

heck, since i discovered area effect weapons and g deathblow, the underdark is a lot more fun and funny for me...

however, this run thru i am going to install both tactics mod AND improved battles...

I've heard that the (deleted) at the end of the mindflayer lair is impossibly hard to fight, with all sorts of incredible powers....

now the question is should i work some more on my true kensai sorceror cleric experiments with near infinity?

or just go with my already tested and well designed kensai cleric druid virtual sorceror class???

decisions, decisions....what's so great about tactics and battles is finally a challenge for bun bun, the bunny of uber cheesyness and cheating...

keeb, if you install tactics, latest version, you can fight several more dragons before you head off to watchers keep...tactics alone makes emerging from the underdark well worth it...small teeth pass, and north forest, as well as the glade of the watcher are significantly more fun to play and enjoy...

keeB · Post by **keeB** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 7:42 pm

@User:

HAhahahaha! you must be joking! Im eeking by on "Normal" difficulty, and am stuck in the underdark as it is. I am an RPG newb.. hopefully my second time through I will do better and have more confidence.. then maybe the 3rd time i'll be good enough to install a battle enhancer mod.

nephtu · Post by **nephtu** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 9:01 am

Heh..

Third time through is probably about right. The really great thing about tactics is that it makes Chateau Irenicus chapter 1 FUN . I'm going throught tactics the first time now, and the Eclipse fight is way cool - some nifty abilities on the enemy party

- I think it's time to dig out my Ilithid circlets & set some project image contingencies.....

Aramant · Post by **Aramant** » Sun Sep 21, 2003 9:45 pm

Beholder Dungeon

To give myself a change of pace, I decided to actually roleplay through the game instead of trying to kill all the monsters for all the XP and loot. Playing a rogue as the PC made it an easy compromise, though. Why bring your party into danger when you can backstab your way through a dungeon? But I digress...

In the beholder dungeon, it's far easier to just kill whatever it is that has the eyestalk, and then sneak through the rest of it with a pair of fire elementals (thanks, Jaheira!) to collect the myriad treasures therein.

The only downside about roleplaying like that is the fact that the PC has no desire to immerse himself in a den of brain-sucking squid people, ergo I don't get the Equalizer. Oh well. Who needs it anyway?

Ron_Lugge · Post by **Ron_Lugge** » Sun Sep 21, 2003 10:05 pm

Re: Beholder Dungeon

Originally posted by Aramant
The only downside about roleplaying like that is the fact that the PC has no desire to immerse himself in a den of brain-sucking squid people, ergo I don't get the Equalizer. Oh well. Who needs it anyway?

He could always choose to be a perfectionist, and want all three (I've known people like that). Or he could be a item-mongering hero, who takes on places like that for the sheer joy of combat and / or item aquisition.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Sun Sep 21, 2003 10:48 pm

urm...if your tanks are into dual wielding, equipping the equalizer on the off hand, and a powerful one handed weapon on the main hand means that you keep the bonuses when hitting chaotic evil creatures...or lawful good ones...

and the equalizer is Mandatory for kensais, since its mind shield is one of the few a kensai can use...cause they can't wear helms...

Mirk · Post by **Mirk** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 4:05 am

equipping the equalizer on the off hand, and a powerful one handed weapon on the main hand means that you keep the bonuses when hitting chaotic evil creatures...or lawful good ones...

do you mean you get equalizer's bonuses for the main hand weapon? are u sure?

Jess · Post by **Jess** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 9:55 am

Re: Beholder Dungeon

Originally posted by Aramant
The only downside about roleplaying like that is the fact that the PC has no desire to immerse himself in a den of brain-sucking squid people, ergo I don't get the Equalizer. Oh well. Who needs it anyway?

Theives love treasure

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 10:59 am

Originally posted by Mirk
do you mean you get equalizer's bonuses for the main hand weapon? are u sure?

the equalizer gives you +3 to hit and +6 damage to chaotic evil...as long as you keep it in the off hand, your main weapon, which is going to hit the most anyway, will have those bonuses...like the helm of balduran, which increases thaco +1, your base thaco and damage will be increased...it doesn't make a main weapon more damaging or a higher enchantment level, it just makes all your attacks hit better and do more damage..

JackOfClubs · Post by **JackOfClubs** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 2:00 pm

Re: Re: Beholder Dungeon

Originally posted by Ron_Lugge
He could always choose to be a perfectionist, and want all three (I've known people like that). Or he could be a item-mongering hero, who takes on places like that for the sheer joy of combat and / or item aquisition.

If you are role playing, you could just pretend that you wandered in there by accident while looking for Adalon's lair. That actually happened to me the first time I played and it is the approach that Kevin Dorner takes in his Elmonster's Journal.