I'm also curious whether anyone has any insight into respawn rates. In one of my games, I don't know what's different (checked difficulty), but the battle music, once triggered, will play for most of the duration of the map and large groups of enemies respawn absurdly frequently. For my other playthroughs, before and after, this has not been an issue. In this particular one though, I was playing with a god-llike hero character who had max stats, and so I'm not sure whether that factors into some algorithm that determines enemy encounters.
I find respawns particularly obnoxious. I have one character scout ahead, take out a swarm with AoE, then move on and by the time the rest of the party gets to that spot the hoard spawns again. Or even worse, the characters are staggered most of the party passes the spot no trouble, then the hoard appears out of nowhere on top of the one mage that's straggling behind the party.
IIRC in original BG these random encounters didn't respawn at all. You clear out an area and it's clear. I always chalked it up to limiting XP in the game as much as anything else.
just like I count reloads caused by Neera wild surges, which I also have little control of,
This is why that is a very stupid class. If you reload on bad surges wild mage has specialist bonuses and NO DRAWBACKS, or if you are doing a no reload run every time you use them you're rolling the dice on a game ender "oops is that a pit fiend?" so you would be a fool to have that class in your party. She is a fun NPC and they fit the "wild magic" into the story well enough but it is unbalanced any way you slice it.
just like I count reloads caused by Neera wild surges, which I also have little control of,
This is why that is a very stupid class. If you reload on bad surges wild mage has specialist bonuses and NO DRAWBACKS, or if you are doing a no reload run every time you use them you're rolling the dice on a game ender "oops is that a pit fiend?" so you would be a fool to have that class in your party. She is a fun NPC and they fit the "wild magic" into the story well enough but it is unbalanced any way you slice it.
I included a wild mage as my only arcane caster in my no-reload IWD party as those very aspects are perfect balance to how OP arcane casting is. Suddenly I have to think carefully about whether utilising her magic is worth the risk of ending my game and consequently she only uses her magic when absolutely necessary.
As she grows her access to chaos shield and greater chaos shield helps protect from game ending wild surges which is a nice reward for carrying her that far - which is exactly the experience that wizards are supposed to have (IMO).
just like I count reloads caused by Neera wild surges, which I also have little control of,
This is why that is a very stupid class. If you reload on bad surges wild mage has specialist bonuses and NO DRAWBACKS, or if you are doing a no reload run every time you use them you're rolling the dice on a game ender "oops is that a pit fiend?" so you would be a fool to have that class in your party. She is a fun NPC and they fit the "wild magic" into the story well enough but it is unbalanced any way you slice it.
That last is exactly why I like Neera, and Wild Mage in general. It doesn't bother me to enjoy some meta-humor and do the occasional reload. And I think the humor of it all more than justifies an odd class.
That last is exactly why I like Neera, and Wild Mage in general. It doesn't bother me to enjoy some meta-humor and do the occasional reload. And I think the humor of it all more than justifies an odd class.
I agree. I choose it precisely for a totally different, comical roleplay.
I've never seen a 12-bandit ambush, in my experience the limit is a 10-bandit ambush, and I suspect the OP (and subsequent contributors) mis-counted in the heat of the moment.
Nevertheless, the 10-bandit ambush is a bad one if it happens early, and certainly I've occasionally shared the experience of running into this one whilst still trying to reach the FAI for the first time.
Later on, when you've got the HP to survive an arrow or two, and have found some spells and equipment, it's not much of a problem. I find the Sleep spell is the key to beating this ambush: the bandits are very vulnerable to it, and when you knock out one half of their circle with Sleep, the other bandits waste time moving to keep you surrounded instead of keeping up their fire, which gives you time to take out a couple of them, so then there are only (say) 4 bandits standing when they stop re-encircling you and resume fire, which is much better odds.
I find that a level 3 party shouldn't have too much trouble demolishing this ambush without loss.
At level 1 or 2, however, it's tough. You might survive it if you're very lucky, but even with as much preparation as you can make (which is not much at level 1!) it's quite likely to be Game Over.
I reckon the chance of hitting this issue early is the deliberate intention of the original designers: it's their way of saying "this game can be quite difficult for those who aren't prepared, now go try again and be more careful".
The Lesser Basilisk ambushes are also bad if you get them early, but they occur only in transitions from areas which are designed for later in the game when you ought to have the means to cope. That's one of the ways the original designers warn you "this area is intended for more experienced parties, it's at your own risk if you come here too soon". (Incidentally, there's actually one transition where you can occasionally hit an ambush by a Greater Basilisk.)
@Tresset - wow, I never knew the ambushes are time-of-day related! That's interesting new information, thanks very much.
@Tresset: very sweet info. Not only re avoiding the early 12 Bandit encounter but also because it is a fine story-element to add between Nashkel Mines and Bandit Camp while Imoen is gaining levels as a Mage. A bonus of 600GP at that point, when Robes of the Archmage are a prime objective, is always a good thing and it can be an interesting battle.
Plus it really gets Kivan stoked in my campaigns.
The Cloakwood ambush with Wyverns, Ettercaps and Spiders is much easier to survive with an early purchase of Wand of the Heavens from Ulgoth's Beard Inn.
As @Gallowglass says, it is only a 10 man ambush (I just got caught by it and counted). But, yeah, small detail. It's a really deadly ambush, and then it's trivial after a couple of levels.
Comments
IIRC in original BG these random encounters didn't respawn at all. You clear out an area and it's clear. I always chalked it up to limiting XP in the game as much as anything else.
As she grows her access to chaos shield and greater chaos shield helps protect from game ending wild surges which is a nice reward for carrying her that far - which is exactly the experience that wizards are supposed to have (IMO).
Nevertheless, the 10-bandit ambush is a bad one if it happens early, and certainly I've occasionally shared the experience of running into this one whilst still trying to reach the FAI for the first time.
Later on, when you've got the HP to survive an arrow or two, and have found some spells and equipment, it's not much of a problem. I find the Sleep spell is the key to beating this ambush: the bandits are very vulnerable to it, and when you knock out one half of their circle with Sleep, the other bandits waste time moving to keep you surrounded instead of keeping up their fire, which gives you time to take out a couple of them, so then there are only (say) 4 bandits standing when they stop re-encircling you and resume fire, which is much better odds.
I find that a level 3 party shouldn't have too much trouble demolishing this ambush without loss.
At level 1 or 2, however, it's tough. You might survive it if you're very lucky, but even with as much preparation as you can make (which is not much at level 1!) it's quite likely to be Game Over.
I reckon the chance of hitting this issue early is the deliberate intention of the original designers: it's their way of saying "this game can be quite difficult for those who aren't prepared, now go try again and be more careful".
The Lesser Basilisk ambushes are also bad if you get them early, but they occur only in transitions from areas which are designed for later in the game when you ought to have the means to cope. That's one of the ways the original designers warn you "this area is intended for more experienced parties, it's at your own risk if you come here too soon". (Incidentally, there's actually one transition where you can occasionally hit an ambush by a Greater Basilisk.)
@Tresset - wow, I never knew the ambushes are time-of-day related! That's interesting new information, thanks very much.
Plus it really gets Kivan stoked in my campaigns.
The Cloakwood ambush with Wyverns, Ettercaps and Spiders is much easier to survive with an early purchase of Wand of the Heavens from Ulgoth's Beard Inn.