Maximizing the challenge of Legacy of Bhaal

fewerlaws

So I'm playing through SoA on Legacy of Bhaal difficulty and I'm almost done. It was really fun, but now I'm thinking what I could do to make the game even more interesting/challenging. I had this idea: roll a character with the LOWEST possible die roll, but still allocate the attribute points freely afterwards (like if you were a fighter, you would reallocate points to boost strength), then play through the game with that character. Then the next challenge after that would be to play through the game with the lowest stats allowed for your character class. Has anyone experimented with this play style yet?

Bertle

I don't like when my PC is REALLY weak compared to the rest of the party because it bothers me from a RP perspective (they're the child of a freaking god) and from an ego perspective (lol) so what I've always wanted to try is purposefully making a full party of my own characters who are all the weakest classes/poor rolls. For example, a pure wizard slayer, pure shapeshifter, dual classes that made really poor life choices, etc. I think it would be a fun challenge to make me get creative with how I utilize the skills the characters have, instead of relying on the classes I'm familiar with.

Also, I don't know if you're already using mods or not, but if not, there are several wonderful mods out there that are for players just like you, looking to make the game a little harder and a little more interesting. I recommend SCS and Ascension as good starting points!

jsaving

No physical stats above 14, no stealing/reselling, no simulacrum/image or insect spells, no reloading after unsuccessful pickpocket attempts, and no metagaming are my suggestions for toughening LoB.

Grond0

I've played a reasonable amount of LoB with solo characters at minimum stats (so a fighter would have Str 9 and other stats at 3, a mage Int 9 and other stats at 3, etc). For me, I don't think it's that interesting a challenge because it further reduces the range of available tactics (and LoB already does a fair amount of that anyway). Str of 3 is also a significant handicap to carrying items - you can use the quickloot bar to get around that if you want to, but it's a bit of a pain.

If you want to get some ideas about other types of challenges involving LoB (particularly as a solo) then have a look at this thread.

VanDerBerg

I tried recently a run on SCS with everything installed and on Insane difficulty, but with a restriction of not using any damage dealing magic or potions. So, no magic missiles, skull traps, fireballs, ADHWs, dragon breaths, holy smites, no potions of explosion etc. So, mages and clerics would only use defenses, self buffs and disablers, fighters would only use potions to lower AC and thac0 and increase damage. It sounded a good idea, I rolled an enchanter and with greater malision and confusion/chaos, I'd kick everyone's asses...

...then I came to the bandit camp, got attacked by 100 bandits, hobgoblins and blacktalon elites plus all chapter minibosses...at the same time. And my level 4-5 party got annihilated within seconds every time and I gave up.

But this could be a nice challenge for better players than me.

Myrag

SCS is an awesome addition to the LoB in my opinion. The LoB makes melee encounters much harder but doesn't change much in terms of magic encounters.

Since SCS buffs AI and magic/boss encounters it makes game many times harder.

One of the best things in SCS/LOB is that thanks to buffed HP, AC and Saving Throws brute force tactics are almost nullified. Enemy mages with 200 HP and good AC are no longer one-shotted after protection removal. They do get chance to cast another sequencer and continue fighting.

Also wait till you reach Tor'Gal for the first time in SCS/LOB. This was (and still is) one of my first stops in chapter 2, but now requires a lot of planning and some preparations.

One additional challenge that I see people do is avoid summons completely. Summons get also a massive buff in LOB/SCS so they trivialize a lot of fights early game.

fewerlaws

If you want to get some ideas about other types of challenges involving LoB (particularly as a solo) then have a look at this thread.

Thank you @Grond0 ! What a great resource that thread is. I'm really glad you pointed me to that!

karnor00

One thing I like to do to increase the challenge is not do any pre-fight buffing. Makes things a lot more challenging when your mages have to choose between casting a buff and casting an offensive spell.

Also spells like improved haste aren't nearly so good since it takes a whole round to buff each fighter, compared to regular haste which buffs everyone at once (albeit not as much of a buff).