Beve

Jeff is trying to get away from his old system where all he did was apply a multiplier to monster stats to change difficulty and have monsters able to do more things to you at harder difficulties. It's no longer make a defensive build because you can't one shot monsters and prepare for a long slog through ridiculous monster health. Welcome to Spiderweb Software. Please leave your sanity at the door. It helps with the endgames. Yeah what you said is very true, and I'm glad that Jeff made it that way. The intelligence of the various foes caught me completely by surprise and it was a humbling experience. Icewind Dale for me was very much combat oriented, and was merely a case of rinse and repeat...buff spells, whack, buff spells, whack. Not once did I feel that the enemy had truly outsmarted me. With Escape from the Pit, even now on normal I am still getting outsmarted on a regular basis...I have just completed the Slith underground fortress after several attempts, but when I finally got it right I felt my tactics were spot on and it was very satisfying. This is what compels me to play the game...the feeling of satisfaction when I know that my tactics are working. Perhaps I will attempt the game on hard again once I have finished the rest of my playthrough on normal. Take my "criticism" as a big positive...the game has been a big learning curve for me and is so much more than just "rush in and slaughter everything". I have learnt that the hard way :-) I think you should get the game and try it on torment. Just thinking of attempting to play it on that difficulty sends shivers down my spine. I personally don't think it is the build of my party...I am happy with all my skills and attributes etc. I think it's the intelligence of the various foes and how they use their own skills against you. For me one wrong move and your facing an uphill battle.

This is also the first Spiderweb Software game I have played, and in my opinion it definitely does not suck. I have been playing it casually for nearly a month now, taking my time, and just enjoying the experience. I have only really got into RPG's over the last year, having recently finished the 1st Baldur's gate and the 1st Icewind Dale. I am enjoying this game just as much as the above. There are two moments that stand out for me so far...the 1st was encountering Blossthus for the first time and him totally annihilating my party in a couple of moves. Vengeance was sweet once I had levelled up a bit more. I also really enjoyed the friendly spiders section as well...loved the humour. I still have a load more to do and I can see myself spending a good couple more months playing this till the end. The only "criticism" I have is that I found the "hard" difficulty setting too hard for me. I got to level 10 playing on hard and have had to turn down the difficulty. Since changing to "normal" I have found combat to be so much easier and less frustrating. Perhaps I found it difficult as I am new to RPG's, but Icewind Dale was far easier on "hard" than this game. Anyway the game has been a very rewarding experience, and I cannot wait to play Avadon once I finally finish this one. Big thanks to Spiderweb!