A2: new party structure

[Elizara]

After a year or so of it lying dormant, I have retrived A2 and decided to attempt it with a new party. I normally play with a human fighter with elite warrior, slith fighter, humand mage and priest.

 

So for a bit of variety I have decided to make the fighters nephil this time, with the plan of using bows and ranged attacks a lot more. However the game is seeming rather hard work at the moment. I have cleared out the nephil fort and verdant valley and my characters are all level 5. I have invested quite a lot in dex and bows for the fighters but they still have a really low chance to hit. They have dex 7 and bows 6, which I would have thought was sufficient for the difficulty of the starting area. As it is I'm wasting lots of arrows and might even have to buys some soon, something I've never had to do before.

 

Is this a good party structure? Will my character be stronger laer on? Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Kelandon]

My most successful party in A2 has always been a human duo, one fighter and one mage-priest. I've never used a nephil or an archer character in my life, though, so I wouldn't really know.

[Elizara]

I tried that once but I got a bit bored - too much going back and forth to collect loot to sell. I think that with fewer characters they are great in the endgame but much weaker at the start, I just didn't get past the start.

[Schrodinger]

Nephilim start out pretty slow in the game, but with time, get some very strong bow bonuses that help make up for it. One of the first people to beat the game with a solo character who had the nastiest two penalty traits (on extreme difficulty, I might add) did so with a nephil archer, so they're not that bad.

 

However, I would almost recommend having a nephil priest instead of nephil fighters, as their bow skills will make up for the lack of magic attacks (smite is too weak).

 

Also, taking a negative trait with little problems (like sickness prone) can help nullify the experience penalty from the nephil class.

[Rent-an-Ihrno]

i have made quite good experiences with nephil fighters. in fact they seem better at start to me than towards the end.

usually i have bow higher than 6.....

bless your archers and it shouldnt be a problem at all.

however, sliths are probably the better choice still.

monsters you have to attack from far away and are magic resistant/immune are very rare.

[Drakefyre]

I'm pretty sure that Dexterity has no effect on ranged weapons.

[Captain Obvious]

Quote:

Originally written by Drakefyre:
I'm pretty sure that Dexterity has no effect on ranged weapons.

I think that you are incorrect. However, if you are right, Jeff should be slapped.

Nephilim, I have found, make some of the best characters in the game. One must simply know how to use one. Nephilim archers are great, but when you specialize too much into one skill, the character tends to end up lacking in almost every other aspect. I would suggest making a mix between a swords-man and an archer, if using a Nephilim. The best party I have ever made included 2 Sliths, both melee fighters, and 2 Nephil archers with a few points in swords just in case. Of course, one of the Nephil could make potions, seeing as I didn't use any type of magic besides some priest spells after I leveled up quite a bit. On the other hand, if you wish to make a hugely overpowered party (without using the editor that is), the way to do so is to use mages. Mages are weak physically, but once you get Lightning Spray, the game is over, since you will be able to kill massive amounts of low level creatures, therefore leveling up your men quickly. (Needless to say, don't rely too much upon Lightning Spray, they must be equalized throughout there spells, or when you run into something immune to, say, magic, you will be screwed.)

EDIT: BTW, from having screwed around with the editor enough (and BOA) I have found that bows are not only the most accurate of weapons, but also do the most damage in the end.

[Igor]

My typical party layout is

 

Nephil Swordsman/Archer

Slith Spearman/Thrower

Human Priestess

Human Mage.

 

I never have any real problems with it.

[Toenail Returns]

My party:

 

Human Swordsman

Slith with a decent amount of Priest Spells

Nephil Archer

Human Mage with decent Throwing skills

[Dado]

I think the best party is...

a nephil rogue (You´ll need someone to do the job of disarming traps, dont forget that the nephils are nimble as a natural trait and rogues have some archer skills [i add only nimble fingers as a character trait])

a slith soldier (It´s good to complement your party with a spear fighter[i add only toughness as a character trait])

a human hedge wizard (Because i never make my party without a priest or a mage, so i let a blank portrait to put becca in)

[bogus standard candidate]

The usual one is:

 

Slith primary warrior. (male)

Nephil secondary warrior/thief. (female)

Human priest. (male)

Human wizard. (female)

 

I tried once with only human magic users hybrids (trying to emulate the Bishop class in Wizardry) but for some reason I stopped playing soon after, so don't know how good they would be.

 

Has anybody tried to do play something like a proto-Anama party in A1 and A2?

 

How about playing with 4 slith wizards with the worst penalties for magic users? Is that about as pointless as it gets? Possible?

[Rent-an-Ihrno]

i did an all-priest party once, and it worked quite well.

my only problem was the unlock doors, dispell barrier etc thingys, for which one has to buy utilities that run out even faster than they are expensive.

and of course cool spells like far sight are unavailable.

[Elizara]

You can buy farsight scrolls. And of course you can use and reload once you've seen where the secret door is.

[PantherShadow]

Nephilim do develop slowly, but toward the game's end, archery/throwing gets quite powerful with the right help. A magical bow (blessed, I think) with steel bolts/arrows (or better) against a paralyzed enemy is devastating. Razordisks (in A2) work nicely, too. Just don't abandon melee skills.

[Error]

when I use a non-default setup, this usually works well

slith fighter-priest(this is called shaman, right?)

nephil rogue

human mage

nephil archer

This can work well wih anama, by the time you can join anama, you could have so much wands and scrolls that these can replace magic completely

[Elizara]

Well I've just cleared out the coffin caves and my warriors are leveling up nicely and are surviving very well. Thanks for telling me to stick with them. I am almost out of ammo now - am having to resort to razordisks despite having minimal thrown weapons skill. Al well, there will be loads of arrows etc when I reach ch 4.

 

It's irritating not having a good offensive spell for priests. My priestess is still using bolt of fire as smite is useless.

[saintofsword]

Hi, slight problem however. In my game of Avernum 2, I never know how much arrows, bolts, or thrown weapns I have when they're equiped. Is this something wrong with my comp. or just something wrong with the game???

[avernum master]

Quote:

Originally written by Elizara:
After a year or so of it lying dormant, I have retrived A2 and decided to attempt it with a new party. I normally play with a human fighter with elite warrior, slith fighter, humand mage and priest.

So for a bit of variety I have decided to make the fighters nephil this time, with the plan of using bows and ranged attacks a lot more. However the game is seeming rather hard work at the moment. I have cleared out the nephil fort and verdant valley and my characters are all level 5. I have invested quite a lot in dex and bows for the fighters but they still have a really low chance to hit. They have dex 7 and bows 6, which I would have thought was sufficient for the difficulty of the starting area. As it is I'm wasting lots of arrows and might even have to buys some soon, something I've never had to do before.

Is this a good party structure? Will my character be stronger laer on? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Well i work with a Nephil Ranger (Lotr Ranger, so they've got good allround)Slith Fighter, who is being modified to a ranger, a Human mage, and a Human Ranger-Mage.

The most useful thing to do, is not use arrows, but if you have to, use the character editor. Steal arrows from the guards, then exit town, and Reset it. Or, if you ever run into a battle where there are friendlies about, but you dont need their help, let the oposing force finisg them off. Then help yourself to the spoils of both sides.

As for the problem with viewing arrows, just move them into the side inventory, and it should show you a small number in the bottom right hand corner of the box.