IWD:EE and Heart of Fury Difficulty Level
Onslaught
Member Posts: 7
Hello!
So... I bought IWD:EE, studied how to build a nice party, created my characters. Then started to play on Heart of Fury difficulty, because some guide said it would be nice - characters would evolve much more quickly, who wouldn't want that?
Now I'm in Kuldahar / Vale of Shadows, just finished cleaning the Crypts. My characters are somewhere between Lvl 5-8 (depending on classes), and they seem to evolve pretty quick, really... however, I'm starting to feel I might be pushing it too much for mainly four reason:
1) I have to play guerrilla tactics with my enemies, luring them one by one...
2) I have absolutely NO chance of winning a fight if more than 5 enemies are in it at the same time (i.e.: Yeti Cave was an onslaught )... so sometimes I have to turn difficulty down so I can deal with what the game throws at me.
3) I don't have neither the magic items adequate to my character level, nor anywhere near the gold to buy them.
4) My arcane casters (1 Mage and 1 Bard) have more spell slots than spells known. Heck, I can cast 4th Level spells but I only know a couple 2nd Level... basically I don't have access to spells adequate to my casters.
So, if I keep playing on Heart of Fury the game is too difficult and doesn't reward me accordingly (items, spells, etc). On the other hand, if I lower the difficulty I already have characters that are too powerful and the game becomes boring due to the lack of challenge.
The question is... what should I do, keep playing the game on HoF (guerrilla taticts are kinda boring)? Keep playing it on a standard difficulty (it'll be a piece of cake for a longe time I guess)? Or start it from scratch since I'm the begging and play on a less cheated difficulty where I can't level up by just killing one goblin?
Thanks in advance !
So... I bought IWD:EE, studied how to build a nice party, created my characters. Then started to play on Heart of Fury difficulty, because some guide said it would be nice - characters would evolve much more quickly, who wouldn't want that?
Now I'm in Kuldahar / Vale of Shadows, just finished cleaning the Crypts. My characters are somewhere between Lvl 5-8 (depending on classes), and they seem to evolve pretty quick, really... however, I'm starting to feel I might be pushing it too much for mainly four reason:
1) I have to play guerrilla tactics with my enemies, luring them one by one...
2) I have absolutely NO chance of winning a fight if more than 5 enemies are in it at the same time (i.e.: Yeti Cave was an onslaught )... so sometimes I have to turn difficulty down so I can deal with what the game throws at me.
3) I don't have neither the magic items adequate to my character level, nor anywhere near the gold to buy them.
4) My arcane casters (1 Mage and 1 Bard) have more spell slots than spells known. Heck, I can cast 4th Level spells but I only know a couple 2nd Level... basically I don't have access to spells adequate to my casters.
So, if I keep playing on Heart of Fury the game is too difficult and doesn't reward me accordingly (items, spells, etc). On the other hand, if I lower the difficulty I already have characters that are too powerful and the game becomes boring due to the lack of challenge.
The question is... what should I do, keep playing the game on HoF (guerrilla taticts are kinda boring)? Keep playing it on a standard difficulty (it'll be a piece of cake for a longe time I guess)? Or start it from scratch since I'm the begging and play on a less cheated difficulty where I can't level up by just killing one goblin?
Thanks in advance !
0
Comments
If im not wrong the exp would be more of the core difficult anyway, and if it's still too hard you can lower the difficult without problems (in HoF you can't, the difficult is blocked)
At any rate I am a firm believer in core difficulty for first-timers.
However, I did finish Baldur's Gate 2 a couple times (and started it countless times ehehehe)... so I'm in a gray area between first-comers and kind-of-experienced players
It eases things, but if you have trouble managing five to ten enemies there must be a problem with your party composition.
Human Paladin, as a main tank frontliner
Elf Ranger (Archer)... this thing is a monster
Half-elf Bard... mostly for buffs...
Halfling Fighter/Thief
Human Fighter -> Cleric (at lvl 7), as of now he's another main frontliner / tank
Elf Wizard -> Should be doing wizard's stuff, but I have access to really small selection of spells... I mean, I've seen no Lvl 4 spell so far, and nothing interesting from Lvl 3... but wasn't using Web, also.
Well... ended up restarting the game and playing on Insane - I just reached the Vale of Shadows.
The characters don't evolve as fast as in HoF mode, but the game seems to flow in a much better pace... and the difficulty seems just right.
Maybe after finish the game I'll jump in a HoF-only playthrough... or I might just switch to HoF when I get enough Lvl / items to have a bit more fun with it.
Thanks for the help guys !!
Clerics and Druids also get their spells without scrolls.
Clerics are even better since they require the least XP to get their first summon spell.
Sorcerers do get a leg up with access to Invisibility 10' Radius for the dungeons in the Vale of Shadows that start the entire party off in sight of a bunch of enemies. But that's pretty much the only time where a Sorcerer greatly contributes to the party not getting a game over than any other spell caster
IWDEE delinks HoF mode from the difficulty slider, so currently it's possible to play with it active on any difficulty level. Vanilla IWD HoF mode automatically set the difficulty slider to Insane. There was some discussion of this in the Beta forum, but it's up to the devs if they'll keep it as is or change it to linked as in vanilla IWD (by putting it at the end of the difficulty slider).
Clerics and Druids also get their spells without scrolls.
Clerics are even better since they require the least XP to get their first summon spell.
Sorcerers do get a leg up with access to Invisibility 10' Radius for the dungeons in the Vale of Shadows that start the entire party off in sight of a bunch of enemies. But that's pretty much the only time where a Sorcerer greatly contributes to the party not getting a game over than any other spell caster
IMHO, you're short-changing yourself (as a power gamer) if you play this game without a Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, AND Bard.
I've beaten the game on HoF mode, I don't really see the point, and I think you did the right thing by restarting.
Using my Thief/Fighter to "pick & run" enemies and kill them with my Archer is a bit cheesy... but keeps the main party healthy to deal with more advanced threats.
I'm still having trouble with my semi-useless Mage (who at least got Haste now). Hope she'll become a force to be reckoned with by the end of the main game...