8 replies to this topic

[Brad]

In 3.6 you scaled the toughness of the cyric encounter depending on difficulty level.  Now, it seems logical that the loot recovered and experience would be scaled for difficulty level as well (ie, "ok, so you killed everyone, but since you were only playing on easy, you don't get any of this stuff, just that crap over there") but nothing is said about it.  Is this one of those things that seems logical to me and no one else, or is it mentioned and I just missed it?

[aVENGER]

In RR v3.6, I don't specifically reduce the XP and treasure awards for the Chosen of Cyric encounter and the Shadow Thief Improvement components on lower difficulty levels, nor do I intend to do so in any future revisions. As I've said before, my goal was to make those battles accessible to a wide range of players, and not to penalize less experienced players for not being able to complete the battles on Core Rules.

However, some non-unique magical items (such as spell scrolls, potions and magical ammo) will be missing on Easy and Novice simply because the opponents are not supposed to have access to those items on lower difficulty levels. For example, Grok (from the CoC encounter) will not have any Potions of Superior Healing on Novice while Bodak will not have any Arrows of Dispelling on Easy. Also, the Shadow Thief opponents will have far less scrolls at their disposal and their ranged attackers will have almost no magical ammo on Easy and Novice. This, in term, results in less items that the player can loot.

[Brad]

Well, I don't really want to start a new topic, and the topic fits, so heres one more for you. Once I finally wiped out the crew, and started the looting, I noticed that my pc couldn't use venduris' luckstone. I'm a fighter mage and meet the stat requirements. Is it only single class thieves and mages (and of course, bards) that can use it?

[aVENGER]

Good catch!

This is a bug which was probably caused by leftover code from earlier versions.

EDIT - fixed as of v3.7.

Edited by aVENGER, 28 July 2007 - 04:48 AM.

[aVENGER]

A small note about triggering the Chosen of Cyric encounter in the future.

For RR v3.8 I'll remove the graveyard cutscene (the one which currently occurs after killing Bodhi and exiting her crypt) since it seems to interfere with some mods which also have dialogue or script triggers with the same conditions (i.e. the Imoen Romance mod). So, in the future, the CoC encounter will only trigger once the party tries to leave the graveyard area via Worldmap (i.e. by clicking one of the "edge of map" exit points). The screen will then fade to black, the "You have been waylaid by enemies and must defend yourself." line will play and then the party will be transported to the city gates CoC cutscene. How does that sound?

[Brad]

A small note about triggering the Chosen of Cyric encounter in the future.

For RR v3.8 I'll remove the graveyard cutscene (the one which currently occurs after killing Bodhi and exiting her crypt) since it seems to interfere with some mods which also have dialogue or script triggers with the same conditions (i.e. the Imoen Romance mod). So, in the future, the CoC encounter will only trigger once the party tries to leave the graveyard area via Worldmap (i.e. by clicking one of the "edge of map" exit points). The screen will then fade to black, the "You have been waylaid by enemies and must defend yourself." line will play and then the party will be transported to the city gates CoC cutscene. How does that sound?

Still means I'm fighting without my cleric (or romancable character) but you can't have your cake and eat it too, or so I've always heard. I turn it to easiest and go raise them anyway. I've managed to justify it to myself and that's all that really matters. so i guess i do get the cake, but i have to cheat for it.

[aVENGER]

I played the Chosen of Cyric encounter last night for the first time, and just wanted to share my thoughts.

Hi, and thanks for the review, I really appriciated the feedback.

Leaving the crypt, the game goes into cutscene mode, with a sort of different tone than Bioware's typical style.. a mod must be kicking in (I didn't read readme's of the mods I installed because I want to be surprised).

As mentioned above, this will be changed in the next release for a more seamless experience. The graveyard cutscene will be gone, but the city gates one will remain intact.

The Chosen of Cyric show up and go about their business trapping the City Gates. I remember thinking "Wow this is some great ambiance." The extended conversation between the PC and Venduris was excellently written, really fleshing out the encounter into a threatening situation instead of just stomping on an anonymous monster.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. It's a bit out of the regular BG2 conversation style and slightly closer to to the PST dialogue templates (the extended character descriptions etc.) so it kind of stands out from the regular BG2 dialogues (in a good way I hope).

The game auto-saves (no chance to reload and pursue a peaceful resolution)

Actually, the CoC encounter makes a "Final Save" and does not overwrite your "Auto Save" which is made before you exit Bodhi's crypt. It's entirely possible to reload the "Auto Save" and opt for a diplomatic resolution.

I reload a few times, trying out other tactics. Don't get very far. Grok is one hard MF with his stun ability that gets past a Protection from Magic Scroll.

The "On Hit" weapon effects usually do that, and his axe has a 15% chance to stun an opponent on each hit. BTW, you can pick it up and use it yourself after the battle.

Haer'Dalis is, as usual, completely useless (and he hasn't said anything funny in a while so I didn't bother reviving him). Immy gets off a counter greater malison and chaos but the Chosen make their saves.

Unless you dispelled their protections, the Chosen will resist most enchantment spells because they drink Potions of Magic Shielding, Clarity and Magic Blocking before the battle (this can be seen during the cutscene). A well placed Dispel/Remove Magic can remedy that.

I mind control the female mage. Wow she's got a ton of spells.

She's a Sorceress actually, that's why she gets so many spells. It's perfectly legit though, a level 17 Sorcerer PC gets exactly the same amount.

What a glorious victory. The most fun I've had playing BG2 ever. Thanks Avenger for an awesome mod. IMHO, it's the best yet.

Heh, thanks! BTW, if you are looking for more information about the CoC encounter check out the readme. It has detailed strategies for dealing with each of the opponents and describes their strengths and weaknesses in great detail.

I sincerely hope there is a follow-up to this battle in ToB.

Well, sort of. During your encounter with Cyric in the pocketplane you get to boast a bit about kicking his follower's butts. As for the actual battle, sorry, but it's a one time event. However, if you are looking for a similar experience, try the battles from the Shadow Thief Improvements component.

[aVENGER]

Still means I'm fighting without my cleric (or romancable character) but you can't have your cake and eat it too, or so I've always heard. I turn it to easiest and go raise them anyway. I've managed to justify it to myself and that's all that really matters. so i guess i do get the cake, but i have to cheat for it.

Hey, don't feel bad about it, it's not really a cheat. If I could, I would have scripted the encounter to take place before the party returns the Lanthorn to Elhan, regardless of the current location, but due to the IE limitations, it had to be done the way it is now. If it's easier for you, just RP that you returned to Atkhatla to restock after raising your romantic interest and got ambushed then.