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The real Lure in TotL

You have good items, your characters are getting powerful, and you stomped some difficult parts of the game with simple tactics. You summon, buff, stand and fight, and all fall to your stats and spells. You’re going to push over this castle and… you can’t. The true lure is the arrogance of power, and those who cannot change will succumb (or at least reload). Nightmare casters and behemoth hitters alike must resist the Lure.

Comments

  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 805
    Hey, bro, that insane fight with TotL Rakshasas made you philosophical. 😉
  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 805
    Later, in the Castle Dungeon, there will be some nasty demons, namely, Glabrezus and Kornugons (24,000XP on Insane) 👹👹:

    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/83050/how-totl-only-from-scratch-solo-moderate-stats-insane-diff
  • AerichAerich Member Posts: 272
    Philosophical? Maybe so. But TotL is substantially harder, not least because few hard fights can be avoided (vs Burial Isle, for example).

    Glabrezu are strong, but they aren’t the kind of thing that worries me. Unless they spam Dispel Magic, or summons, they don’t really bother me by the time I do TotL. It’s crazy how many encounters can be won with a pack of Aerial Servants, Recitation, Haste, and a couple of Symbols.
  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 805
    edited November 11
    Aerich wrote: »
    The true lure is the arrogance of power, and those who cannot change will succumb (or at least reload).

    That's why I say that so-called "no-reload runs" in BG and IWD is a huge BS (it's just an overprotective metagaming). 😼

    "Ironman runs" are appropriate in rogue-like games with 1 single Dungeon, having an infinite number of (increasingly more difficult) layers with random encounters. U go deeper and deeper and deeper until U die anyway, just in order to raise like a Phoenix with better powers to restart again from the beginning! 😉

    Post edited by Yigor on
  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 805
    edited November 11
    @Aerich Bro, in order to feel humble again, try a solo vanilla fighter (even of level 30) in HoF TotL! 😉
  • AerichAerich Member Posts: 272
    If I mess up or decide to try something different, I don’t want to go back to the beginning. That’s just me. Everyone has their own style of play and that’s fine. I certainly don’t want to punish myself for having a brain fart, that’s too much like work for my liking. A no-reload run can be a fun try, but if it’s not fun for the player, I don’t see the point. Absolutely it’s metagaming.

    I find pure fighters boring. No offence, but I think you’re nuts to solo one (with planned dc or not) in TotL. That’s way too much time (and boring time, to me) in the expansion. But my relationship with TotL is a like-hate one. I mostly just try to get it over with!
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,387
    Aerich I agree with pretty much all of this. I love party dynamics, I love a variety of characters. And I actually love my characters. I can’t see trying a no-reload anything. I understand how the various challenges (no-reload, solo, etc) can be interesting for many players. But to me, I love story and team building.
    And yes on TotLM. I don’t find it extremely hard anymore, maybe I did the first few times? But it’s just sort of a change of pace the completionism in me feels a need to get through. I dislike it as a jarring interruption to the mood of the game.
  • AerichAerich Member Posts: 272
    Agreed, atcDave. I’m a small-party player at heart, I don’t enjoy solo as much, unless I’m in the mood for that type of challenge.

    TotL, maybe intentionally, has a lot of slightly disorienting patterns and dull colours. It also has some confusing enemies, weird effects, and can be just irritating (looking at you, Crypt Things).

    It just isn’t as epic to me, in a good way, as many of the encounters in the main game and HoW. Maluradek is a good example. He cycles through blind, symbols, PW Kill, animate, dispel and so on, without picking up a sword. He’s no Yxonomei for being memorable.
  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 805
    Aerich wrote: »
    It just isn’t as epic to me, in a good way, as many of the encounters in the main game and HoW. Maluradek is a good example. He cycles through blind, symbols, PW Kill, animate, dispel and so on, without picking up a sword. He’s no Yxonomei for being memorable.

    Actually, if U followed the story, the bard in his songs accused Maluradek to be a coward, who didn't use his sword vs Azure Wyrm Aehirglass and let die Four Knights, who protected him! 😎
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,387
    Yeah Yigor there is a good story told, but it sort of stays in the background. The climax is against a sort of shadow of the grief and tragedy. It is melancholy, but not an epic monster hunt.

    Aerich I don’t know if you’ve seen the PnP books, but Crypt Things are sort of interesting. I think they’re classified as NOT undead. Their schtick is, when they teleport someone they taunt with claims they’ve disintegrated them. They may try to extort wealth or items with threats of further disintegration. So for a young party, they can be a frightening and memorable encounter. Once. But they’re sort of a one trick pony. Once the gag is played out, they’re more annoying than frightening.
  • AerichAerich Member Posts: 272
    In pre-EE, I remember that crypt things were not turnable. I didn’t know all the back story to them, thanks. It made more sense pre-EE, because CTs couldn’t be turned, but skeleton warriors could.

    CTs certainly aren’t hard, just irritating. Being teleported is no big deal for a M/Cl type with speed boots. The crypt battles are grindy indeed with CT teleports, semi-undead trolls, and magic-resistant turn-immune skeletons.
  • YigorYigor Member Posts: 805
    Aerich wrote: »
    ... and magic-resistant turn-immune skeletons.

    Probably, your level 30 is not high enough to turn them on HoF. 😂
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