IA v6 Final

[InKal]

nothing's wrong with auramaster but r/c (dual not multi) in the party is absolutely crucial in IA6. (greater restoration spell and he's also a decent fighter - ironskin + buffs)

 

try renal quest now (for xp and +3 short sword)

then you may try lilalrcor. you'll need chaotic commands, haste, free action, npp and at least 3 good fighters with +3 weapons (slashing works best on shadow lover). and of course all possible arcane and divine buffs.

you may also pay gealan and do first and second aran quests.

[betamin]

How do you put a ranger/cleric in the game? Do you need to start the game like a multiplayer game? If I put him now, won't he be severely underleveled?

 

Thanks for the answers.

[betamin]

I don't know how to edit so I'll double post.

 

I did those quest you said plus I beat that party in the promenade and the rakasha in the temple sewer, really a couple of levels plus new items really made all the difference. I'm exploring the sewers now, I have a feeling I'm gonna get my ass whooped badly but it's been very fun for now (except when I get level drained and I have to go all the way to a temple, I think I'm gonna hear you and take a cleric ranger)

 

What's a good level to go to spellhold? I would like to get my Vagrant's stronghold before but it seems impossible for now. Torgal, Firkraag and other challenges, do I have to wait until I get level 18 or something like that?

[InKal]

lvl 14, near 15

 

yeah, shade lord is hard but doable before spellhold only really hard

 

you should be able to do planar prison now, just stack a couple of ruby ray scrolls and you are ready. enemies are more tricky now refreshing spell immunities but nothing really that scary or different form IA5.

 

Torgal is definitely doable before Spellhold (heh, he's seriously buffed, Torgal v5 is a little sissy compared to Torgal v6) and Firkraag is definitely not. Cheesy bastard is constantly healing himself and tossing his minions on you...you have not enough spells and resources to beat him at this stage of the game.

 

 

 

it's been very fun for now (except when I get level drained and I have to go all the way to a temple, I think I'm gonna hear you and take a cleric ranger)

 

 

hehe, wait for Taxi fight or that nasty master vampire SOB (screamin statue). R/C is a must.

 

damn, i have the urge to start playing a stolen mod again. ;]

[betamin]

How do you put a ranger cleric of the same level as your other characters? I've heard that you cant cheat because it will break your game or something like that.

 

Do I have to start over? If one thing this game doesn't have is replayability.

[kreso]

BLAST FROM THE PAST¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨EPIC!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Improved Anvil mod for BG2 & TOB

VERSION 3.0

 

Author: Sikret

 

 

This file is primarily designed for those players who may have less experience in managing

enhanced battles and tough enemies. I will give you some general tactical hints. If you think

that such hints may spoil the fun and surprise of the battles for you, do not read this file. At

least, you can postpone reading this file to the time you feel that you need some hints.

 

******************************************************************************

******************************************************************************

******************************************************************************

*** WARNING: If you are an experienced player in managing hard battles or ***

*** if you want to be surprised by the enhanced encounters during ***

*** the game, it is recommended that you do not read this file. ***

*** ***

*** At least, you can postpone reading this file to the time you ***

*** think that you really need some hints. ***

******************************************************************************

******************************************************************************

******************************************************************************

 

****************

I- General Hints:

****************

 

1- If you have played this game for a few times before, now do not think that it is the same game

with the same foes. YOu will need to spend time on thinking and finding the right tactics to

defeat enhanced enemies. Actually, one of my goals to enhance enemies was to make players

think during the game. Hence, if you are defeated in your first attempt in a battle, do not

give up easily. Think about the right tactic and see if your party is high level enough to

perform a given tactic or not. For example, you may see that you need some protection spells

which are available only at a certain level of experience. In such cases, retreat and come

back later for the enemy.

 

2- Some of the battles are not optional during the game and being defeated in them will halt the

story and the game's process. For example, the combat against the Balor in deep gnomes' village

in underdark is one of them (unless you choose not to help the gnomes). In such cases, I have

assigned two different fighting systems to the enemy. One of them is easier and will be

applied to the creature if you decrease the game's difficulty level to "easy". Of course,

the game (itself) makes things easier for you when you decrease difficulty level, but this is

not what I am now referring to. In addition to what the game's engine does, Improved Anvil has

also assigned easier fighting systems to some of the enemies if you play the game at "easiest"

difficulty level. Some of the new enemies added to the game by this mod will not spawn if you

Play the mod on lower difficulty levels (Easy or Standard).

Hence, if you are repeatedly defeated by an enemy and if the story doesn't proceed as a result

of your failure, one solution is to decrease difficulty level temporarily. This will solve the

problem, but please note that in such cases, you may also find cheaper treasure in the foe's

inventory.

 

3- If you have "Auramaster Druid Kit" mod installed, then choosing an Auramaster PC or having

Cernd (as an Auramaster) in your party, may help you very much in the enhanced battles

provided that you practice and learn how to play with the kit. Whether the advantages of the

kit will prove to be more effective than its disadvantages depends on how well you play with

it. Riskbreaker kit is also recommended (though not as strongly as Auramaster). Make sure that

you have the latest versions of the kits (Specially, don't use version 5.0 or earlier versions

of Riskbreaker kit at all.)

 

4- Do not under-estimate the impact of the mod's new items. Think on which items you need most

and use Cromwell's (and Cespenar's) new recipes to forge them. They will be of great help to

you in the new and enhanced battles.

 

 

********************

II- Specific Hints

********************

 

In this part, I will refer to some of the enhanced and improved locations and encounters of the

game and will give you some very general hints, without revealing too much information. Once

players send their reports of how they defeated each enemy, I will add their hints to this page.

 

 

***************************************************************************

1- Improved Copper Coronet

 

Hints: Players usually try to do this quest at early stages of the game,

but now, perhaps it is wise to postpone freeing Hendak and

copper coronet for a while. Do some other quests first and return

for copper coronet later. For example, the trademeet quest is not

so difficult and can be done before copper coronet to make sure that

your party is not too weak.

The fight with Beastmaster is a little challenging for a low level

party, though we have done it successfully during the tests even

with a low level party. you just need to think and fight with effective

tactics. Don't underestimate Tabitha, she is also tougher now.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

2- Improved Slavers' Ship Building

 

Hints: Not many hints required. They have been only slightly enhanced, but they will

fight better than they did in the original game. The fight will be a tad more

interesting if you enter the area through the sewers beneath Copper Coronet.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

3- Improved Planar Sphere

 

Hints: 1- Make sure to have a saved game before starting this quest

2- It's not a bad idea to postpone it till at least you have a

12th level mage in the party to have access to 6th level spells.

3- An Auramaster (Cernd or the PC) can be of great help in this quest.

4- Tolgerias and Lavok are much more powerful than what they were in

the original game. Think well to find the right tactics to defeat

them. The Engine room now contains new and very powerful Golems. Be prepared!

5- The magical container:

Once you have finished the planar sphere quest and have helped Lavok die out

of the sphere, the container in navigator's room (Lavok's room) will start to

make scrolls for you provided that your main PC is a sorcerer or a mage. There

are two sets of scrolls which may be made randomly. All are most useful scrolls

for tough battles. Check the container once per week.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

4- Improved Planar Prison

 

Hints: 1- This one is not easy, but it's not insanely difficult either. If you want

Haer'Dalis in your party early in the game, you will need to be able to fight

competently. Make sure to have a saved game before starting the quest.

2- You will meet a new foe, a formidable elite bounty huntress! But if you have a

tripple class character (f/m/t or f/m/c) you will be very happy to find a

precious treasure in her inventory once you defeat her. Congratulations!

3- Don't under-estimate planar hounds. These new monsters apply confusion with a

chance per hit.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

5- Improved Twisted Rune

 

Hints: 1- As an optional quest in the game, this one is very very difficult.

Don't go for it before you have a very powerful party.

2- Shangalar is still a 26th level lich, though he has a better fighting

system now. Unlike the original game, Layene is now higher level than

Shangalar. She is a 29th level mage with a brilliant fighting method.

She casts the double duration Improved Alacrity and Time Stop through Wish

spell and targets your main PC with several powerful spells. There are several

possible tactics to resist her devastating assault. Make sure that you have

made as many as the mod's new items as possible. Equipped immunities will

help you much better than protection spells because she will cast several Ruby

Rays and Breach spells on you. The combination of Improved Invisibility and

Spell Immunity: Divination is another good tactic to avoid her spells. A high

level Auramaster can be very helpful in this battle and if you have upgraded

Valygar's Katana, his immunity to Time Stop will be most helpful too.

3- Report to me the details of your fight with them and how you managed

to defeat them. I will publish it as a part of a walkthrough with

your own name.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

6- Improved Pirates' Hideout

 

Hints: If the fight goes wrong retreat back to the tavern. some of the

foes *may* follow you and you will have an easier fight after

splitting them.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

7- Improved Windspear Hills

 

Hints: 1- This quest has been enhanced considerably. don't rush for it early

in the game.

2- Samia and her party are very powerful. Be prepared for a hard

battle before touching the treasures in the ancient tomb.

3- Send me your reports of how you defeated Samia's party as well

as Firkraag. I will publish them with your name.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

8- Improved De'Arnise Keep

 

Hints: 1- Don't rush for this quest too early in the game.

2- If you decrease the game's difficulty level to "easy",

the Gem Golem will not be there to help TorGal.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

9- Tougher Balor (in Deep Gnomes' village)

 

Hints: 1- This fight may look very hard at the first glance, but with the

right tactics, it is doable in a nice way. Think about different

possible tactics before giving up.

2- If you find the fight too difficult, you can decrease the game's

difficulty level to "easiest". The balor's fighting system will

change to some noticeable extent.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

10- Tougher Irenicus

 

Hints: If you find the fight too difficult, you can decrease the game's

difficulty level to "easy". You will see much difference.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

11- Improved Oasis

 

Hints: If you find the fight too difficult, you can decrease the game's

difficulty level to "easy". You will see some differences.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

12- Improved slavers' headquaters in Temple district

 

Hints: Don't hurry to loot the treasures in different rooms once you defeated

the main residents. The true battle is ahead. Save your game! You may also

want to go and return later when you have a more powerful party.

===========================================================================

 

***************************************************************************

13- Judgement Day plots:

 

Hints: 1- The second part of the plot is very difficult. if you are not ready for

it, postpone going to watcher's keep if you have the sword.

2- Report to me the details of your battles in this plot and I will publish

it with your name.

===========================================================================

 

 

More hints will be added (with your help) in future versions of the mod. Send me your reports of

your successful combats. if you can write your reports in a story fashion, all the better. I will

publish them as a part of the mod's walkthrough with your name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What happened to this nice Sikret guy from old days I wonder?

[betamin]

Thanks for that.

 

Do you know how to include a ranger dual cleric that's the same level as the party? I've read somewhere that cheating fucks the mod up.

 

Any tips on beating the Elite bounty huntress? I've gotten the bitch to near death but she seems to recover hp really really fast.

[lroumen]

Using clua to give yourself XP does not break the game. only cluaing items can do so unless you know which globals you can set and disable to fix the ia checks.

 

i still like IA v2 best since it was before he went anticheat, antithief/bard, antismallparty all over the place. v4-v6 force a limited party choice onto you and spawn too many minions to keep the game at least a bit logical (golems for example).

 

the cure to killing opponents: 4 melee with improved haste and only use magic to debuff basically or use the sikrit spells (custom made ones)

[InKal]

all true

 

 

but watch out for enemy refreshing spell immunities. in IA 6 you have practically no chance to disrupt enemy spellcasting via elemental damage applied by weapons which means that enemy is completely immune to your attacks. even 4 imp. hasted melee fighters wont help. so, when enemy is debuffed watch out for the very moment in which he/she will refresh spell immunity and be ready to counter. in other words always keep at least one reserved ruby ray spell/scroll or as Iroumen said try casting Sikret spells (Larloch disruptor for exemple).

 

yeah, r/c

save, exit game, put your saves in mpsave folder. start game in multiplayer, load save, made custom ranger with wis 18 and immidiately dual him to cleric. rearange your party whatever way you want, it's your game not Sikret's. save, exit game and copy from mpsave back to save folder. done.

 

but you know, I think that the best solution is to uninstall IA6 and install SCS2 v.20. In my opinion IA6 general atmosphere and modder attitude towards players is hateful and the gameplay is actually worse than IA5.

[betamin]

You know what, I might just do that. I've realized there's little way to create strategies and it's kinda tedious having to cast the same spells every time, if there's a mage you have to malison+emotion him and if he makes his saving throw the battle just got a lot longer, and that's for every mage, even those stupid yuan ti. I haven't played SCSII but I've heard it's very balanced / cheeseless. The only thing that was very good and will kinda miss is the item chase, they were very helpful and there was a motivation for going after new stuff.

[Saros]

Hello people, I started to play this mod and it's been very fun! A couple of questions:

 

Do you have any tips for defeating the Shadow Jailor? His skeleton lords 3 shot most of my characters insanely fast (most of my party is level 9 except for the auramaster and the sorcerer)

 

impossible on lvl 9

 

 

Not impossible, just very, very hard. You'll need (of course) crushing weapons +2 or higher for all your fighters, and a starting Breach spell targeted on the Jailor to dispel his Blade Barrier. You'll need potion buffs and spells to decrease party THAC0, and some way to distract the Skeleton lords in order for those to attack a Stoneskined, Mirror Imaged wizard in your party, who is also preferably under FireShield effect. But I'd personally postpone the fight for lvls 10-11. BTW, there are only 2 Skeleton Lords present. The other one is a Skeleton Warrior summoned by the Jailor. He summons more as the fight goes on.

 

Is there a way to dispel improved invisibility plus divination inmunity? So far the only way i've seen of affecting enemy magues are area spells.

 

no.

 

Torgal whooped my ass, is there any way to beat him with my party? I have a Vagrant, a Riskbreaker, Valygar, An auramaster, a Sorcerer and a Necromancer (I picked the sorcerer's spells like a vanilla game and now he's kinda useless, maybe I'll switch him for Imo when I get her)

 

you mean beating Torgal with lvl 9 party in IA6? lol absolutely impossible imo but prove me wrong ;] and kudos to you for challenging Torgal with this party

 

also kick out auramaster and take ranger7/clericxx dual

 

The way of dispelling Improved Invisibility + SI: Divination is only one - higher-than-enemy-mage level Remove Magic spell. Without exploits, this is impossible. The usual strategy for a higher-leveled mage is to hide under II + SI:D, allowing him comfort for the next 20 rounds. Your options with a lower-level party are very limited. Your weapons will miss most of the time because of high party fighter THAC0. Here are some tips though that might work out:

 

There are still few weapons that have their elemental damage on each strike untouched. Most notable ones are the swords of flame sold by Ribald and Bernard, there's the spear Halcyon, but it's for later, since the improved spiders in the graveyard catacombs will be almost impossible to beat for a low-level party. In short, use the two swords to disrupt enemy spellcasting.

 

The problem with the THAC0 can be solved relatively easy by temporarily hiring all available clerics (there are only three of course, Anomen, Aerie and Viconia), leaving them to wait near the fight area, and re-hiring them and using them right before the fight to cast Champion's Strength on your fighters, and disbanding them afterwards + rehiring your original party members. That, of course, will only work provided you have at least one non-pregenerated party member, like Valygar or Cernd, who's willing to be ditched and rejoined immediately. The flaw of this tactic is only one - that Anomen will be hard to keep that way if you haven't freed Garren's child, and that's for much later, so you're stuck with Vicky and Aerie, and the latter has to get some level ups before being even able to use Champion's Strength. So in the early stages of the game this means - use Vicky as temporarily Champion's Strength buffer to improve one of your fighters' THAC0 by 3 for the duration of each combat.

 

And the latter and less annoying - use an xp exploit (not cheat) to gain levels fast and eliminate the cheesines of enemy mages hiding under undispellable Improved Invisibility.

 

IA 6.0 Tor'Gal indeed cannot be defeated by a party level 9. Maybe if I sit and think hard enough, I'd work on some tactic that might have a chance of success 20%, but such things are beneath me. If a tactic doesn't work 100% of the time even with random factors included, it's useless.

 

 

 

I just did the Samia fight, and I as well noticed that Kaol cast fast, but he didn't drop the robe. I play with a full party and 100% legit with no exploits. 2 of my party members were dead when Kaol fell as the last enemy, does it check for 5+ alive members or could he have the robe equipped as an undroppable item?

 

 

Edit: Just re-did the fight without anyone dying. Still no robe, he definitely casts fast though. Should I be worried that the robe was supposed to be on him and now I won't get it at all?

Does kill order matter? I could try killing him first, though that might be diffucult since I can't seem to strip his protections.

 

Another kinda buggy thing about Kaol is that he buffs Imp.Invis, SI:div and minor GOI, yet he is perfectly targettable by single-target spells, however even 8+ RRoR, several Spellstrikes and Breaches doesn't have the slightest effect on him (yet no "spell ineffective" text appears), so my only option was to kill everyone else and then wait for his scrolls and protections to run out. Am I missing something here?

 

I think that the trigger points are upon entering the 1st level of the dungeon itself, maybe upon entering the 2nd level too. So if you had fewer than 5 party members alive when entering the dungeon level 2, that's why the robe didn't appear. I don't know the checkpoints myself though, but it just kinda forced me to play with exploits in order to have no one killed in Windspear hills before battling Samia & Kaol (and no one dying in that battle either).

 

I don't think that the kill order matters. Kaol is supposed to be last man standing. In any event, an undispelled Improved Invisibility works as a perpetual Spell Shield, even if you're able to target the enemy with spells/scrolls/wands, there will be no effect. Kaol also has Absolute Immunity scrolls, which means he's untouchable by a low-level party. Your only option is to gang him when he starts casting something , but is still not under Absolute Immunity effect. This may happen if no one in the party is near him at the start of combat, and he starts casting True Sight, but you have to gang him several (maybe all) party fighters, then pick the right time to withdraw them so that Kaol doesn't cast Absolute Immunity in the next round either, and then gang him again.

[kreso]

It's possible to fight a lvl 9 vs Jailor, but ur party must be a)heavilly potion buffed b)Cernd is very useful here c)fireshield red does damage to skeleton Lords.

Otherwise, you need +3 weapons to hurt them melee. Jailor will dispel ur buffs on hit and has a slowing effect ("handcuffed") on hit, I never saved against it and don't know if it allows for a saving throw....but why would u want to fight this so early anyway? Get 2 more levels, Ilbratha, stoneskin scrolls etc.

For Torgal - use Breach immidiately on him, and use Larloch's minor drain to interrupt his Storm of Vengeance. If he manages to hit ur low-lvl party with it, reload, you're dead. Use a mage to distract Gem golem and focus on Trogal with melee, he has very high MR and is immune to fire. I believe he's vulnerable to cold(!?), so if u can get him to attack a character under Fireshield:Blue, do that. His AC is very decent - again, potions. This battle is much easier if u have access to imp.haste spell, so I would wait for sorc lvl 12 to fight him.

For Kaol - are u casting from scrolls? That doesn't work anymore on Imp.Inv. mages, so don't bother. A high lvl inquisitor might have a chance of dispeling him..a slight chance. You can use Sunfire spell to interrupt his casting (just be sure to dispel his mirror images before), since it bypasses MR in Anvil. Honestly, I didn't find this battle so hard anyway.

P.S. since they have a cleric in group, possibly Inquisitor will shit his pants and start running in undispellable state of panic over a pathetic cleric which he can otherwise rip to pieces in 2 rounds, so ignore the above tip.

 

You know what, I might just do that. I've realized there's little way to create strategies and it's kinda tedious having to cast the same spells every time, if there's a mage you have to malison+emotion him and if he makes his saving throw the battle just got a lot longer, and that's for every mage, even those stupid yuan ti. I haven't played SCSII but I've heard it's very balanced / cheeseless. The only thing that was very good and will kinda miss is the item chase, they were very helpful and there was a motivation for going after new stuff.

 

 

I like Anvil a bit more then SCS2, but that's just me. SCS2 is a very high-quality mod and I consider it a must-have. Enemies are much more "intelligent" than Anvil monsters, and if u do not exploit cheese, more than capable of forcing numerous reloads. It also allows to play a single-player campaign (in IA u ALWAYS create multiplayer) and is very customizable/user friendly. It also fixes numerous "unfixable bugs" of vanilla with TOBEx (Spell Shield, Sunfire etc) which Anvil can not.

Even better, u can make a "mega-mod" install, SCS2 is pretty much compatible with every newer mod there is. It allows to role-play, while Anvil does not. (unless u like good-aligned Necromacers and imba beefed rangers). For me SCS2 usually forces more reloads then any Anvil, for simple reason - scripting is better. Once u see what mages in Anvil cast and when, that's it. They never change. Take Yuan-ti mage for example. In IA, it's always II+SI:div+mirrors+blur - cast sequencer - emotion, slow, somthing else (cant remember), contingeny with stoneskins and a casting of PFMW. Their targeting is also very bad - usually u'll see them castin Ruby Rays at a mage who has no protections besides a SI, and allowing ur fighter types to rape him (insted of killing them first, then focusing the mage. In SCS2, mages have randomised sequencers. U might get a 3XFlame arrow, instagibbing an unprotected character. IA has harder batlles, sure, but not due to "intelligent scripting", but due to immunities/resistances/abilities and the sheer numbers of enemies being thrown at u. I like it anyway, even though IA6 is a dissapointment over IA5 (which was great IMO).

[InKal]

some scripts in IA are great (pirate coordinator for example). also some battles are beautifully designed (demilich in watchers keep, imp. orc horde, final showdown in vagrant quest...). to be honest, I enjoyed IA5 a little more than SCS2 but I do not like IA6 at all. practically you have only 2 parties in IA6 - necro party and vagrant party (and without riskbreaker in any of them you're pretty much screwed ;]). thief - useless (was great in IA5), bard - useless (shined in IA5, horribly nerfed in IA6), multiclasses - useless, short folk - useless (nerfed saves), etc..etc... "play your game the way I want or GTFO" is such a fantastic modding "philosophy"...I'm out for words even in my native language (btw. sorry for my engrish again). in my opinion IA 5 was a mod for players (hi!) and IA 6 is for testers. Sikret is mistaking testers for players. ;]

 

i mean fighter/thief

[kreso]

some scripts in IA are great (pirate coordinator for example). also some battles are beautifully designed (demilich in watchers keep, imp. orc horde, final showdown in vagrant quest...). to be honest, I enjoyed IA5 a little more than SCS2 but I do not like IA6 at all. practically you have only 2 parties in IA6 - necro party and vagrant party (and without riskbreaker in any of them you're pretty much screwed ;]). thief - useless (was great in IA5), bard - useless (shined in IA5, horribly nerfed in IA6), multiclasses - useless, short folk - useless (nerfed saves), etc..etc... "play your game the way I want or GTFO" is such a fantastic modding "philosophy"...I'm out for words even in my native language (btw. sorry for my engrish again). in my opinion IA 5 was a mod for players (hi!) and IA 6 is for testers. Sikret is mistaking testers for players. ;]

 

i mean fighter/thief

 

 

 

I agree. scripts are good but they as I said - easilly outmatched if u know the battle in advance. I finished IA6 1 time only, forcing myself to play even tough it got quite boring, and had what I consider an "uber-party" - necro protag, custom sorc (main summoner), Cernd and 2 (yes, 2!) riskbreakers. This guys are so broken class that it hurts. Insta-heals, extra crits, better resistances then barbarians, free imp.haste, grandmastery....just plain broken. Sure, less con but that doesn't matter in the long run, mine both had over 200hp by the end. My reasoning for this (5 member) party was - riskbreakers are weak early on, but Cernd is an exellent babysitter....and in the early game, magic is simply better than melee combat. Post-spellhold things got much, much easier.

[Jarin]

The question for me is then this: Why is a mod that is considered so bloody awfull (by reading last responses) such a popular topic of dicussion? Why not ignore it and let it rest in obscurity?