making HotU more challenging ?

[Legacy_MrZork]

               So, my friend and I are playing HotU together; first time for her, second for me. Aside from a couple of cut-scenes, it seems to run pretty smoothly in multiplayer mode. Our problem is that it hasn't been much of a challenge. We began chapter one with 15th level characters (hers a fighter/dwarven defender, mine a rogue/arcane archer). We started out cautiously, with my character sneaking up and disarming traps, checking how many enemies were around, etc. But, it has become sort of hard to keep our guard up when we know we can just stomp in and kill everything off without really breaking a sweat and then move on. Now we have finished the "big" battle at the end of chapter one and are starting chapter two in Lith My'athar. From my first play-through a year ago, I recall this chapter being a little tougher than the first, but I am still worried that we are going crank through it. We will probably head to the Isle of the Maker tonight and see if anything is challenging before the Maker himself.

I know the campaign isn't designed for MP, but I figured it was a fun campaign and we should be able to see a bit of a challenge by playing on Very Difficult. We are already using Tony K's AI, with the baddies set to get healing potions, though I hesitate on the auto-haste feature because it seems unrealistic.

And, BTW, I replayed a couple levels of chapter one solo, just to see if it was the MP that was the issue, and it was still pretty easy. I mean, I was more stealthy, since it's just more fun to play a rogue that way, but I didn't even have to go back and get Deekin, which was my plan in case it was too tough to do without a henchman.

Is there some way to make things tougher without doing out-of-character stuff like not using the good weapons we find? I am already worried that maybe we shouldn't use Rizolvir to bump up our weapons, but that's one of the more fun aspects of HotU, IMO.

Without using the toolset to alter each encounter, is there any easy way to bump the difficulty up a notch? I don't suppose there is a "tougher, smarter, more numerous bad guys" override..?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               The only thing I can suggest beyond changing the the AI's (which you have already done with TK's appliance) is to slide the XP down, let's say to 50% for starters.  That's a big reason why it is so easy... your PC just levels too high too fast.   And Rizolvir's uber-twinked weapons pretty much guarantees your PC will hit everything in sight... tough to handicap that aspect without limiting drops and therefore making the highest upgrades unaffordable.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_jmlzemaggo]

               I don't remember HotU being that easy...
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               Last night, I was a little worried because we started out in Lith My'athar doing the Ambitious Daughter mission and I was able to do it alone (one of the not-MP-friendly parts - the guards only let in the player with the signet ring).

But then we started the Isle and there was some challenge to it because a couple of the golems are pretty tough. And, I recall that the Maker himself and his bodyguards (we have the password, but we'll fight them) are pretty tough, so we should have fun with that.

BTW, jmlzemaggo, first (and only other) time I played through HotU, I found it much more challenging. Of course, anything is easier once you've been there before and remember some of the tricks and what to look out for. Aside from that, I really don't know what's changed, except that maybe I'm a little better at the game now. And, our characters are a little more well-thought-out now than when I first played. The CBC spreadsheet is a great tool in helping to choose feats that make sense and helping to maintain some restraint in spending skill points.

Thanks for the tip, HipMaestro. I will nerf the XP scale somewhat. I know how to do that inside a saved game and it should make a difference by the end of the chapter. And, this time, we are pretty much selling unusable stuff off right away with the low-cap merchants, so we won't have a ton of gold in chapter three. (The first time I played, I heard you should wait until chapter 3 to sell because the limits were higher. So, I stored stuff with the reaper until the final battle and then loaded up myself and Deekin for the chapter transition.)
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               [EDIT]
Sorry for the double post.
[/EDIT]
               
               

               

                     Modifié par MrZork, 08 mars 2011 - 09:06 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               It would be possible to boost all enemies via OnSpawn script, most of them uses default one, so just add random str, con, dex bonus, random bonus to all skills, saves, random chance for some immunities...
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               Thanks, ShaDoOoW. I hadn't noticed that all of the spawn scripts are the same. It should be pretty easy to give those creatures a way to buff themselves a bit. And, I could even add a GetTag(GetModule())=="x0_module2" check so that it doesn't change other modules that use the same script.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Guest_Lowlander_*]

               

jmlzemaggo wrote...

I don't remember HotU being that easy...

It was. Maybe the easiest of the three official modules after you get your weapons upgraded. I breezed through with an Arcane Archer and Deekin. Adding another actual human controlled character will only make it that much easier.