Chittering Clawbug othersean Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I just finished the three main quests on normal with my standard boring party -- sword fighter, pole fighter, priest, mage -- and wanted to run through the game again in a different way. How have people found it most fun to do this: Increasing difficulty? Going single- or double-ton? Using some non-standard party? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenderfoot Thahd chimp Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I'm currently going round with an "editor-enhanced" duo, and to make it more interesting, they're only allowed to use Blink, arrows and Smite (if something's immune to physical attacks). Still on Sss-Thsss, but we're getting there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Soul of Wit Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Everyone should try increasing the difficulty at least once. It tends to result in fights that are longer, but not really harder. A trio is not much of a challenge for someone who has already played once. A Priest/Tank combo is handy, and plays well into the fantasy of the cleric who likes to take the "good fight" straight to the enemy. Once you go duo, the trade-offs become more pronounced. Some, like chimp, go the "enhanced" route, or place restrictions on their party's usage of available resources. Restrictions allow for more of a role playing feel. This can be fun, even on normal difficulty and/or four-PC parties. I'm guessing there are already threads on the smaller parties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chittering Clawbug othersean Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Originally Posted By: Soul of Wit I'm guessing there are already threads on the smaller parties. Right -- there's the usual "torment singleton" thread. It's usually possible, but a grind. I admire the people who do it, but don't really understand them. I was more interested in setups that were fun or unusual for the ordinary gamer, and not just possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chittering Clawbug othersean Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 I just reached the Castle with a singleton on Normal (roughly following Randomizer's Torment build), and it has been fun so far. On the one hand, you're insanely over-leveled, and simply crush enemies in one-on-one combat. On the other, you have to pay more attention to positioning to deal with swarms. It's a bit like being a Geneforge agent. I imagine Grah-Hoth and his summoned army will be miserable, but I have enjoyed most fights so far, and haven't been caught in any serious stun-loops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenderfoot Thahd chimp Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: othersean I imagine Grah-Hoth and his summoned army will be miserable, but I have enjoyed most fights so far, and haven't been caught in any serious stun-loops. And don't forget you'll need to take out the two eyebeasts pretty sharpish, if you don't want to spend the whole time dazed and/or terrified. Having eventually had to drop down to Casual to get past Grah-Hoth, I'm currently having a rethink on the archer-duo strategy. They can do a surprising amount of damage to virtually everything, and Sniper is a brilliant skill, but they have no defence, apart from evasion. Shielding/Armor works wonders against mobs, but they have to hit you in order to hurt themselves, so being fragile becomes a bit of a drawback, and there's only so much mandrake about for Invulnerability potions... Apropos "enhancement", I should clarify that my use of the editor in these kinds of set-up is restricted to Cave Lore and Tool Use (and allowing them to use Blink, in this case). I view this as hacking, rather than cheating, as the game's numbers have been balanced on the assumption that there are four characters to share the load on these skills. Rationalisation's a wonderful thing... Archery gets a pretty good deal in this game, but the difficulty with magic-free parties is that you need Arcane Lore to resist mental attacks and Spellcraft in order to get magic Resistance. The logic is inescapable, it just makes life very hard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 The hardest part of fighting Grah-Hoth's summons are the ones that slow. You use speed potions and have to alternate between healing even with invulnerability and killing them to get back to the wimp, Grah-Hoth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenderfoot Thahd chimp Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: Randomizer The hardest part of fighting Grah-Hoth's summons are the ones that slow. You use speed potions and have to alternate between healing even with invulnerability and killing them to get back to the wimp, Grah-Hoth. Yes, I'd been chugging speed potions pretty much throughout the game, partly to get the most out of my Gymnastics, so I rarely got slowed to a standstill. I had been concentrating on just surviving until Grah-Hoth was gone, and then dealing with the mess, reasoning that there's no way I could thin them out significantly anyway. Perhaps I'll go back and take a more pro-active approach to the summoned beasties. It'd take less of a toll on the recovery scrolls, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk Ceiling Durkheim Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Quote: The hardest part of fighting Grah-Hoth's summons are the ones that slow. You use speed potions and have to alternate between healing even with invulnerability and killing them to get back to the wimp, Grah-Hoth. That and the stunning imps later on in the fight. Those are straight obnoxious. Like I said to Jeff, I found Grah-Hoth substantially harder than Hawthorne. Anyone with sense is going to use invulnerability potions in both fights, so the debuff-spamming in the former fight is harder than the latter, which is almost all about damage. Quote: I had been concentrating on just surviving until Grah-Hoth was gone, and then dealing with the mess, reasoning that there's no way I could thin them out significantly anyway. Perhaps I'll go back and take a more pro-active approach to the summoned beasties. It'd take less of a toll on the recovery scrolls, as well. I tried killing Grah-Hoth ASAP, and got several body parts whose names don't qualify as profanity handed to me. While he can summon demons every turn, by far his nastiest and most plentiful summons are the ones that he summons when he's lost certain amounts of health. Having him summon multiple waves in one turn (yes, he does this if you damage him quickly enough) is pretty much a death sentence on hard. So yeah, taking it slow with him and prioritizing the killing of everything he summons is the way to go. Also, apropos of nothing in particular, is anyone else disappointed by Grah-Hoth's in-game graphic? His picture in the cutscene artwork is impressively horrific with its giant mouth and many glowing eyes, but in the fight against him he just looks like a normal (albeit very large) demon. While in most respects I prefer Jeff's newer games to his old ones by a significant margin, there are far fewer neat boss graphics. Here's hoping Garzahd gets a modified graphic, unlike his or Hawthorne's graphics in AEftP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fledgling Fyora AJTJ Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 My strategy for killing Grah-Hoth was simple and extraordinarily effective. Once the battle started, I immediately opened the secret passageway leading to his private chambers (button behind his throne) and ran my whole party in there, thus funneling him and his minions through a tiny hallway one at a time. From his chambers you can also blast away through an impenetrable barrier. Haha. Grah-Hoth is only challenging if you fight him on his terms. Sun-Tzu would be proud of me I'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Kreador Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Back to the question posed in the topic, I'm having an interesting time trying a part of all fighters. No magic users. I have one archer, a pole fighter, and two swordsmen. The shift in which fights are easier and which are harder is interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenderfoot Thahd chimp Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 The biggest problem I found with a magic-free party is the dearth of items to bless (and haste, although Speed potions will do Battle Frenzy instead). There are hardly any Rods of Battle in this game, they appear fairly late in the game, and at least one of them is behind a level 3 barrier, so that's no good either. It's great fun having physical attacks which curse/weaken/slow your opponents, except when hordes of enemies do it to you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Superba Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Originally Posted By: AJTJ Once the battle started, I immediately opened the secret passageway leading to his private chambers (button behind his throne) and ran my whole party in there, thus funneling him and his minions through a tiny hallway one at a time. From his chambers you can also blast away through an impenetrable barrier. Haha. This is really a good tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 At least until Grah-Hoth puts you in the Punishment Circle. I know from my singleton game. A magic-free party has a limited number of piercing crystals to use against barriers blocking quest areas. You have to prioritize where you want to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Superba Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Maybe this happens when he has the time to do that to you. I use to Speed burst, then Adrenaline rush, then everyone Blink to the throne surrounding Grath, so you have two turns to weaken him before (part of) his army can reach you. It's not a bad strategy in practical terms but maybe AJTJ one is better because of the "one by one" fight... I will try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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