IA v6 Final

[Saros]

You're right that liches see through invisibility, however in order to 'play by the rules' they don't target an invisible character with spells. If the quest was available to different type of mages, then the liches would be simply dealt with SI:D and improved invisibility, however the only access to illusions that a necromancer has in IA 6.0 is invisibility potion. Nothing else is usable, including the ring of air control (ring of invisibility is still usable though, but has the same effect as a potion).

 

A word of advice for IA 6.0 parties - make the party sorcerer Evil, because otherwise no one would be able to use the Staff of the Magi (nerfed to be usable only by evil mages or with UAI - though disabling thieving buttons).

 

Also, tested the Cloak of Arcane Immortality +3 (the new necromancer cloak) with UAI - and it's usable. Also, the cloak can be used in conjuction with +3 or greater protective item.

 

Some more testing shows that it's better to equip the party C-R with a regular full plate, so that he can equip a +4 ring. The sacrifice of 2-3 points of armor class is more than enough covered by the improved saves by 2, and the C-R is usually the party member with worst saves.

 

 

 

Just devised a no-reload insane strategy for the Twisted rune. The fight with the original members of the Rune was over in 5-6 rounds (all of them fell within that interval), but Twisted and Greater Twisted golems gated in after the death of several Rune members, and those are nasty. The Greater ones can curse anyone they want with Miscast magic for a short duration, however there is no save or protection vs that. Otherwise, they strike very hard, and are very resistant to physical damage (no need to say magic doesn't work on them, even the anti-golem spells). The order of killing enemies in this fight is - Shyressa (breach immediately and slay) - Shangalar (don't give him targets for the Grave Silence) - Vaxaal - Revanek - Layene. If there is no spellcaster in sight of Vaxaal, he won't shoot even one Improved Anti-Magic ray even on heavily buffed fighters or fighter-thieves. And that's important, because his CC with 3*ADHW really hurts on insane.

 

Edit: If anyone can help with the location of the 'Ruby of the Gods' item, I will be grateful.

[Saros]

The fight with Orcus - extremely laughable. Orcus' True sight spell bypasses SI:D. He uses Grave Silence. And he and his entire army of undead fell to three warriors with 90%+ physical resistance, regeneration and immunity to level drain (some scrolls and barbarian essence potions wasted here). And an occasional Remove magic from off-screen sorcerer and necro. A properly prebuffed necro takes out one Grandlord in an instant and seriously damages a second one. Orcus uses only breach, protective spells and RRR (at least he didn't use anything else). Improved necro amulet calls a Skeleton lord, but only for 1 turn.

[lroumen]

I am surprised that your illusions did not get dispelled by area script.

 

I agree about the saving throws. Those are the main reasons why I use some of the smaller spells like protection from evil and chant, just to increase them temporarily, short as though the spells last. AC is a problem at some points, but RCs use things like ironskins anyhow.

 

Do you now really need to slay all grandlords when you face orcus or can you do a quick sniping after all?

[Saros]

If your party fighters have 85%+ physical resistance, and with some pre-combat RVE (+50% HP and a couple of regenerations) you can take on Orcus immediately. He won't be able to shoot his Breaches while trying to defend himself, and the fighters will take no damage. Thing is, usually a couple of Grandlords go for the silenced R-C who cannot take them on his own, but the necro can help here. Also, if one's willing to stack a couple of Barbarian essence potions for 100%+ physical resistance, there isn't even any need of RVE pre-buffing.

 

You're probably right about the area script. Thing is, Orcus casts True sight at that same time, so it occurred to me that it was actually him who dispelled the illusions under SI:D. The lame thing about him is that he doesn't shoot breach at the Necro, who's under SI:D , but started RRRs first.

 

Still looking for that Ruby of the Gods location...anyone ?

[Saros]

No-reload Supreme Gith leader tactic.

 

Strange as it may seem, this battle is actually harder than Orcus. I suggest using a couple of barbarian essence potions here. Actually used two, on the barbarian and the riskbreaker. If you don't have a necro protagonist, use more potions. Since I had, RVE took care of the rest. I used it in battle, and got 2 regenerations, a 50% HP, some mental agilities, some irrelevant choices and even an enemy skeleton grandlord. Still, the bonus (2*regenerating highly damage resistant warriors with many hp) is totally worth the inconvenience. Mental agility helped with Hand of Undoing and Rays of Fragmentation to take care of couple of golems fast, thus relieving the fighters.

 

Splitting the forces is essential for a successful no-reload tactic. While the two mages + powerful summons have to occupy the gith army at the entrance (and slay all except the supreme leader of course - CC with 3* ADHW help a lot), the party fighters should immediately charge in deep and take out the golem constructors and any Stone/Clay golems with Crom Faeyr. Unfortunately, by doing so can happen two things : first, the supreme leader may charge after the fighters, which is extremely bad, or second - the fighters may be intercepted at one of the gates by horde of Gith + several golems, which prevent passage. A mage can help and clear the way with CC - 3*ADHW. All the powerful summons should be evoked on entering - Greater Djinni, Noble Spider, Berserk Warrior and Skeleton Lord (if the last is not present, substitute with another summon like Shambling Mound), and a Planetar of some sort. Why not regular powerful Monster summoning spells are needed will explain later.

 

It's good to cast one Farsight spell, targeted on the entrance area.

 

In short, the warriors reach the golem constructors, the mages + summons occupy the supreme leader near the entrance after the lesser gith are dead (use ADHW). Hracknir is the first target, he's most vulnerable to crushing damage. Mlar is second, he's most vulnerable to piercing damage. Don't waste critical strikes. Upon death of each of the golem constructors, two anti-inquisitors appear - one from the entrance, the other near the golem constructors. Upon the death of the first constructor, both mages should head for the warriors' location. Because the Anti-Inquisitors are deadly foes. They have a special ability called 'Torturous inquisition', which deals fire damage and upon impact, dispels all specific and combat protections (Hardiness included), but not spell protections or other buffs like Improved haste for example. They are also highly damage resistant, and immune to critical hits (don't waste any on them). They're somewhat vulnerable to electrical damage though, so the CF is a good weapon vs them, or another weapon with electrical damage (although there are few). Haven't tried lowering their resistance and targeting them with lightning spells, so it may be worth a shot. The fighters take care of the remaining Gem and Coin golems (usually 4 total). Afterwards the targets are the two anti-inquisitors, while the summons hold the Supreme leader and the other 2 inquisitors at bay. Use the party sorcerer to summon some more if need be. Be advised - all monsters from the regular summoning spells and improved Monster Summoning spells are slain on hit by the anti-inquisitors, so those are somewhat useless. It's better to summon Planetars (new one after the previous is slain), and to use the Planetar to heal the powerful summons. Also, the Greater Djinni should be navigated a little. Here helps the Farsight spell cast on entering the compartment. Those should last long enough for the fighters to kill the anti-inqusitors and also for buffs to be somewhat refreshed. Afterwards defeating the supreme leader and two anti-inquisitors is relatively easy. Use your criticals on the Supreme leader only.

[the bigg]

A 'Mirrored Viper'; I think the item is Vagrant-only, though.

[geh4th]

The Ruby of the Gods in IA v6...

 

(I'm going by a fuzzy memory here, but I think this is it.)

 

1) You should get a wardstone from the old squirrel in the "hard nut to crack" quest.

2) You need to take that wardstone to the Kuo-Toa altar (in the underdark, across where the Kuo-Toa prince's chamber is located). Place it on the altar.

3) I don't recall if this action causes a battle, but the end result is that you get an item called a "magic pull". You take this to...

4) The sun-gem pedestal in the (formerly) Shade Lord temple. This is in the section back behind where you fought the shadow-jailor and rescued Mazzy.

 

You're not alone in the confusion, there aren't any in-game clues that indicate where to go on these steps.

[Saros]

Thanx, George, will try that. Although I completed the 'Hard nut to crack' quest and don't remember any wardstones being given by the old squirrel. Will talk to it again. Trying to test if the +3 ioun stone is usable with UAI.

 

By the way, Mass Invisibility is an excellent buff, I vouch for it as 'must-be' for the party sorcerer. It again proved its worth vs the WK demilich. Poor thing had no chance to target even one of his Breach spells at the fighters in order to strip at least one of them of Death Ward, because of the constantly refreshed Mass Invisibilities by the sorcerer (despite the enemy running True sight).

[lroumen]

But that is 10 rounds to refresh it, unless you killed him off in less time than that or interrupted him a few times...

[Saros]

Some more testing shows:

 

The Ruby of the Gods had been recovered in the way geh4th suggested. However, it may be important to note that the old squirrel from the 'Hard nut to crack' quest gave the wardstone when spoken to the 2nd time, and it is quite possible that it gives the wardstone after defeating the main group involved in the 'Hard nut to crack' quest - Pitre, Valeria, Dracandor. Also, when bringing the wardstone to the Kuo-Toan altar, a Guardian appears, which is almost identical to the WK lvl 1 fanatic spirits, but shoots an occasional chain lightning, which does surprisingly very little damage. There are no more fights involving this item.

 

The new item forged this way is the Scarlet Ioun Stone, grants +3 AC bonus, +2 THAC0 bonus, +15 max hp and + 15% physical resistances bonus, and IS useable with UAI, making it the perfect helmet for any character with UAI. For a necromancer, it's almost useless, since the AC, THAC0 bonuses and physical resistance bonus is irrelevant to such a character. With this stone and all the other equipment, the A-F has 95% physical resistances with Hardiness.

 

Saladrex the red dragon is not that much improved - however his area is now a 'Dead magic zone'. The 'dead magic' works only vs arcane spells - the R-C could successfully cast in this room. Saladrex's cave has a narrow entrance which doesn't allow the dragon to pass and battle the party, and could be used cheesily in order of retreat/rebuff. Otherwise, spamming Contingencies with Remove Magics strips Saladrex quickly of his defences, making him an easy prey to the party fighters. Also, Saladrex seems to be immune to spell protection removal and combat protection removal spells (tried RRR, Spellstrike and Breach with no effect, plus he's not even under Spell Shield).

 

Lvl 5 of WK: for that high level party there is a random golem spawn on this level, consisting of 4 Elemental golems and 2 Greater Bone Golems - nothing that scary.

 

The Red Globes (globe machine) - the third globe guardians are still 2 ice golems, however a necromancer with stacked Mental agilities can quickly kill one of them. The fourth globe guardians are still a Greater Elemental Golem and an Ultra golem. Ultra golems in IA 6.0. are improved. They shoot Purge magic, and it seems - on a shorter interval than a Greater Elemental Golem. The interval is either 3 or 4 rounds. Also, they deal massive electrical damage on successful hit. To put it simply - a Greater Elemental Golem + an Ultra Golem = a very unpleasant battle. It's good to leave a bunch of summons behind and a mage, retreating with the fighters each time a Purge Magic is expected.

 

The other globes are as same as always - no further improved monsters there.

 

Orcish horde - same as always.

 

Ancient dragon: an II necromancer under SI:D is extremely helpful here. Refreshing breached fighters' fire resistance and magical resistance is essential to win this fight. In conjuction with Breaches and Remove Magics, of course. The ancient dragon's dying CC is of course 3*ADHW. The elite nishruu can be ignored, or even better - lured to chase after the C-R. It's a real bother to try killing it first, and a very time consuming task at that, in which time the Ancient dragon does his thing. So it's best to follow this order of slaying enemies - Noble Efreeti, Salamander Prince, Ancient Dragon, Elite Nishruu. Plus, the latter doesn't absorbe spells or limited charges from items - simply dispels specific protections on hit, and is immune to weapons +3 and less. It still heals from any spell or spell effect, though.

 

The Ancient Dragon drops a Spell Shield scroll and a Time Stop scroll. Spell Shield cannot be used with SI:A anymore, so it's kind of a useless spell, since in the same time it offers no protection vs IA 6.0 beholders' Improved Anti-magic ray.

 

This concludes WK, barring Azamantes, I doubt he'll be that different from v5. Nalmissra and Aurnumach are still vanilla.

 

Didn't find the Staff of Rynn +4, it's most probably in the possession of Chaos (second Druid stronghold task), which is moronic, since in order to be given that quest, the protagonist has to be a druid - which is a no-no.

[Jeff W]

I wonder why this Sikret fellow didn't just change all experience including creature experience to =quest experience/6 if he wanted to discourage soloing this badly. This would effectively remove all reward for soloing and make it purely a fiendish challenge.

[geh4th]

Didn't find the Staff of Rynn +4, it's most probably in the possession of Chaos (second Druid stronghold task), which is moronic, since in order to be given that quest, the protagonist has to be a druid - which is a no-no.

 

This isn't true, Saros. At least not in all of my test playthroughs...any protagonist can fight Chaos. First you kill Faldorn (which is traditionally quite early if you're a necomancer - but vagrants typically have to wait until you're much stronger), then you sleep in the grove and speak to the spirit of the grove. The spirit sends you to deal with the troll shamaness (Nilthiri or something like that) where you are rewarded with the Root of the Problem club. You go back to the grove, sleep again, talk to the spirit again...and are given the Chaos quest.

 

None of this has anything to do with the challenge for "Great Druid", which does indeed require that the protagonist be a 14th level Druid. And while the Lord of Cheese had originally planned more, there's very little or no content past that point in the so-called "druid stronghold". He totally blames someone else, of course - he says that a modder named "Valiant" promised to make a new wilderness area for him and didn't finish it up to Sikret's expectations, and (go figure!) Valiant apparently stopped talking to Sikret. I can't imagine any reason why...it couldn't have been that Sir "I'm the best modder in the world and everyone else is dirt" pissed Valiant off with his superiority complex, or anything like that. Nah.

 

Anyhow, this is why the extra Auramaster content was dropped from v6, turing the whole release into the "Obsessively Preventing Saros' Cheese and the Necromancer Show."

 

Incidentally, Chaos can be killed very easily if you have a druid or a cleric/ranger in your party. Most veterans of IA probably already know the means how.

[lroumen]

I have seen Sikrit complain about that druid area at least a year before IA v6 was released. Instead of finishing that area to his liking and adding the new druid quests, he spent a year doing things that very few of the IA players really agreed with (and there were not that many to begin with). He has a good ability to design battles, but to redesign them for every release is just going overboard.

 

I think many IA players would have welcomed new choices for a protagonist, added quests not limited to just one protagonist kit and making single classes more viable. Not the tweaking old challenges yet again, destroying classes like the rogue (leaving less and less classes useful in IA) and incorporating needless anti-cheese measures (that only Saros really used because he wants to play no-reload solo). At least it would attract more players to the mod rather than push them away from it.

 

 

As for Chaos in the druid quests. I know you can kill him using certain druidic spells, but are there also other ways to manage early game? He seems little susceptible to other types of damage like physical.

[geh4th]

Based on a number of discussions that I recall, I'm pretty sure that Sukret Lord Cheesy had all the Druid Auramaster (really, who'd actually ever play a vanilla druid if you have the auramaster available???) stronghold quest's material completed, but threw it all out simply because he didn't get the wilderness area that he wanted. By his own admission, the Greatest of all Modders isn't able to do much of anything with graphics (well, he said he could, he just didn't have the time to bother with it). Of course, he does turn down allegedly lucrative job offers just so that he has the time to do his modding, so there's some contradiction in that, too.

 

Your points regarding class choices are right on the money, Iroumen. It's what all IA fans told Lord Cheesy for YEARS leading up to this, but he never cared what any IA fan actually wanted. He says so openly and proudly, too. It's all about what he wants; he's the modder, he does this for HIMSELF. He doesn't give a rat's ass about what any player might want.

 

I remember all of the (at the time public) IA posts from everyday players pleading with him not to nerf bards and rogues, not to destroy the usefulness of multiclass characters, not to make the dwarves/halflings/gnomes useless, not to make paladins wet their pants when evil clerics are around, and to do something to actually make it appealing to play something other than a vagrant...and now a necromancer. No other protagonist need apply, since most of IA's 'special' content is only for those two and nobody else.

 

As for Chaos... he's pretty resistant to everything but not impossible to beat without the particular druid spell to which he's vulnerable. There's a clear designer's intent to force players to use that spell or else face a battle far tougher than it otherwise needs to be. He calls this "strategy".

[Saros]

Yeah sorry it seems that my party could fight Chaos...my bad on this. Thanx for the info, though, I dunno what went wrong and why didn't the Spirit of the Grove appeared previously after resting inside the Grove. Maybe I forgot to do something first.

 

I wonder why this Sikret fellow didn't just change all experience including creature experience to =quest experience/6 if he wanted to discourage soloing this badly. This would effectively remove all reward for soloing and make it purely a fiendish challenge.

 

There is a simple answer - I suggested that almost immediately after completing IA 5.0 for the first time solo insane no-reload. Obviously Sikret didn't implement it, because it was my suggestion. Otherwise, it's pretty logical. However, even this way it is possible to accumulate unlimited xp by killing endlessly spawning monsters.