Did they upgrade Bandits at the Bandit Camp???

DragonRider

Did the bandits get a major upgrade in EE? Even though the bandits I encountered in Larswood, Peldvale and random encounters during travel appear identical to the ones in the camp, there is clearly a major difference. Even the Black Talon Elite have nothing on these guys. I remember being able to steam roll the camp really easily in the original game. Now, they shred my party to pieces in a few rounds.

I even tried gearing Viconia for anti-missile attacks, and she only lasts a couple of rounds despite having a -6 AC (19 DEX, Ankheg Plate, Ring of Protection +1, Small Shield +1) and wearing the Boots of Missile Avoidance. The rest of my party dies shortly after.

For some reason every bandit in the camp has a +5 bonus to all their attack rolls. I think they got a major upgrade to their THAC0 too, as they can hit my main character (thief with AC 2) on a natural roll of a 7 (becomes 12 with the +5 bonus). Since when did bandits get the THAC0 of a 7th level (or higher) fighter?

Was this intentional? I'm all for making that area more challenging, but wow.

Lateralus

I noticed this too, and I assume that they have raised their levels. They usually save vs. Sleep spells, and they can certainly take a hit now.

DragonRider

I finally cleared the Bandit Camp. Once I got over my initial shock at the upgraded bandits, and started using good team tactics I was able to conquer it without too many problems. I have to say, that this was the most fun I've had going through that area since my first play through of the original game. The increased risk made it more exciting.

I always thought it odd how easy that area was in the original game. It's the home base of 2 battle hardened mercenary groups, but no one except for the named enemies really posed much of a challenge. The Bandits here should pose a serious threat to a low to mid level party. I'm glad they kicked the difficulty of this area up a notch in EE.

It would have been nice though, if they had done something that would set these upgraded Bandits apart from the run of the mill bandit encountered elsewhere. They look and act identical to normal bandits, which gives the impression that they will be just as easy to defeat. Changing their appearance so they look like Black Talon Elites would be a great way to give the player a heads up about the increased threat these enemies pose. Another idea would be to change their names from "Bandit" to something like "Black Talon Bandit," "Black Talon Soldier," or "Black Talon Mercenary."

lunar

And I still found them too easy and gave each bandit there a few acid arrows. +2D6 damage per hit makes them very dangerous. :-)

Kaltzor

I remember even the original BG1 having a few Bandits there that were hitting a lot more often and harder...

Noon

There are lvl 3 with a thaco around 9-10, and already were in vanilla bg1 (and i'm sure of it).

reedmilfam

The magic arrows are deadly, but that was also the case in vanilla.

Lateralus

DragonRider said:

I finally cleared the Bandit Camp. Once I got over my initial shock at the upgraded bandits, and started using good team tactics I was able to conquer it without too many problems. I have to say, that this was the most fun I've had going through that area since my first play through of the original game. The increased risk made it more exciting.

I always thought it odd how easy that area was in the original game. It's the home base of 2 battle hardened mercenary groups, but no one except for the named enemies really posed much of a challenge. The Bandits here should pose a serious threat to a low to mid level party. I'm glad they kicked the difficulty of this area up a notch in EE.

It would have been nice though, if they had done something that would set these upgraded Bandits apart from the run of the mill bandit encountered elsewhere. They look and act identical to normal bandits, which gives the impression that they will be just as easy to defeat. Changing their appearance so they look like Black Talon Elites would be a great way to give the player a heads up about the increased threat these enemies pose. Another idea would be to change their names from "Bandit" to something like "Black Talon Bandit," "Black Talon Soldier," or "Black Talon Mercenary."

Those are good suggestions.

With regards to the bandit camp, it's one of the tougher obstacles in the game. For me, I alway play with increased difficulty so those arrows will do a lot more damage. The randomness and shiftiness of the bandits makes it difficult to pick them off one by one without getting sniped. Also, I am usually still at level 2 or 3 so I am way out gunned.

My favorite tactic is to get close to the field plate guy and use a Charm Person spell on him. Then I stay hidden and watch him fight as many bandits as he can before falling. If the spell fails I try and lead him away from the camp (when his pathfinding isn't acting buggy) and jump him. Or I will stealth in and out of the main tent with a potion of absorption and steal the chest contents. Just furthering the plot and going back to finish the job later.

DreadKhan

It's hard to call it a tough obstacle when you can literally bypass (not kill) the entire group.

sarevok57

actually, they were like that in vanilla bg1 as well, the only difference is that in vanilla bg1, enemies wonder around quite a bit, although I did find that the sleep spell was still useful on them, I took them out the whole map with 3 party members at level 3 using the sleep spell ( and I believe a wand of paralysation on tulgar tenhammer? )