damn this game is hard

You can game the game -- buff, use Scather, O's Resiliant Sphere, etc, etc . . . but you can also role-play. It takes better tactics roleplaying. I roleplay through with completely different parties with completely different tactics. but I always stay away from buffing before fights (except for Bless when it's obvious I can hear the crowd 15 feet away), don't use the uber-spells except in dire circumstances (Magic Missile & Fireball included), stay away from the Evocation school entirely unless my mage specializes in it (i.e. is a combat mage), don't use cleave except with NPCs who already have it, and totally restrict my PC development according to my current roleplay situation. Sometimes my groups fail miserably. Sometimes they succeed far greater than I imagined they could. I have found out that the game is very versatile, and you can play it in a myriad different ways. In fact, lately I haven't been killing much, and have found all new (to me) story lines.

Bounce between levels, hit and run, stay away from the big fights, grab treasure, get stronger, go back and whup the big bad guys. If you join a Temple faction then you can mess with the Temple from the inside, which opens up all new avenues of possibilities. Rescue prisoners, and that again opens up some new possibilities. This is a game you will keep coming back to and always finding new stuff,.

 

Your party should have a nice collection of silver arrows and crossbow bolts by then- and wizards/sorcerers should have Magic Missile. Combine with Glitterdust and a tank to hold off the were-creatures and they should soon be history...

 

i have to say, after getting fragarach and fireball things got a LOT easier. btw a two weaponed rogue with greater invisibility is just beautiful.

 

I found the most effective approach with the temple's upper levels is to join a faction, and then clear the place out room by room. When you have the robes and are in the faction, you can move pretty freely. You'll then only have to worry about individual rooms for the most part.

Like, on level 3 with the werewolves, I was already "in" the Fire Temple, so I was able to head off to the room where the werewolves...um...were....and took them out. They're a tough fight, but with silver arrows and a decent archer, they're more manageable. Magic damage can help, as can buff/debuff spells. That way they didn't show up later in the fight against Alrem.

The individual temple fights against their high priests can be difficult, but they're a lot easier if you've cleared the level otherwise.

Oh, and ultimately, I ended up working for the Air Temple, since they were the weakest, which I rationalized to mean that I was weakening the other three temples, and which left me with a much weaker temple to destroy when I finally killed off the Air Temple.

 

Enlarge person reach weapon certainly make the game easier during later stages of the game

It's really not that effective early on in my experience, but when you get that level 10 blacksmith in nulb and give him a masterwork Ranseur... (fragarach works fine too)

Now that I think of it, I probably shouldn't do this when I face the water temple next time. Gonna try some other strat

Wait till you get cone of cold and stoneskin. I've also heard that a rouge with a sneak attack bow hit gets crazy after certain points within the game.

Also, if you are going to start a new playthough. Try the power of the sun. (Sun domain cleric)

Just turn undead and get free xp

 

Effective tactics for higher level PCs:
Block the doorway with a tank character
Throw in some Stinking Clouds, Web, Glitterdust to keep the numbers who can attack you down
Add a Cloudkill so the bad guys start dying round by round even if you can't see them
Spike Stones so that moving causes bad guys to take damage
Improved Invis on your rogue and have him take pot shots with his composite bow
Direct damage area of effect spells to hurry things along, but only when you have the room locked down.

At lower levels, Sleep, Charm Person and Color Spray are good; Grease can be useful but beware affecting your own fighters too. Web is great for keeping enemies away from you, Glitterdust makes them miss and makes them vulnerable to your rogue, and Stinking Cloud should be your first 3rd level spell for stopping the bad guys in their tracks while you kill them off as you please.

If you find you are missing with your ranged attacks, make sure you have Point Blank and Precise Shot as feats, consider turning off Rapid Shot, and make sure you get your dex as high as possible. Adding some invisibilty I think make your targets flatfooted for the purposes of AC and dex bonuses- it certainly allows you to roll those lovely sneak attack dice...

 

And be careful about shooting "over" cover. If your missile passes over any creature, there will be a -4 penalty.

 

My advice if you find it too hard: use quick save (F12) and quick load (F9) during combat.
A proverb in french:
"Avec des 'Si' on peut refaire le monde" => "With 'if' you can remarke the world"

 

Actually, it is highly recommended that quick save and auto save are not to be used due to save game corruption issues.

Or, I guess it might be better to say "use at your own risk".

 

True, but you should always have a "normal save" as a backup before and after encounters. I had some save corruption, but it's quite rare.

 

This is a direct quote from The Circle of Eight Modpack Explained:

The Co8 Guide to Successful Gaming with ToEE


Here are some helpful tips to ensure that your ToEE gaming experience is as smooth and problem-free as possible. Learn them, know them, live them, and hold them close to your heart.
Run as administrator, if you're using Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8.

Do not install ToEE to the Program Files folder, if you're using Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8. These operating systems oftentimes have issues with allowing access to files in the Program Files folder and its sub folders, and the Co8 modpack needs access to the game files in order to install and run properly. So instead, install to a custom location like C:/ToEE.

Do not attempt to use saves across modules. (e.g., do not use v6.0.0 saves with v8.0.0.) They are NOT compatible.

Set your video card to a 'no scaling' setting for video playback. This will make in-game videos play at their original resolution. Some systems experience game crashes when they try to scale ToEE's videos to fit the monitor.

Do not play at a resolution greater than 1680 x 1050. The highest resolution reliably supported by ToEE is 1680 x 1050.

Do not use quicksaves with ToEE. They corrupt easily. Instead, use an array of at least 5 regular saves while playing ToEE, overwriting each in turn. This practice should ensure that you have a good save to go back to if one becomes corrupt.

Do not save during combat. This also runs a greater risk of save corruption.

Do not play in Ironman mode. Save corruption is a fact of life with ToEE, and if your Ironman save becomes corrupt, you're finished. If you want an Ironman-style game, it's best to simply play Ironman-style in a regular game.

Do not use autosave on map change with ToEE. Using this feature will break certain scripts in ToEE. It is set to 'off' by default in the Co8 modpack.

Do not install the moebius2778 temple.dll independantly. This file has been heavily modded since moebius2778's day at Co8, and moebius' fixes are included in the current version. If you overwrite the current version with the moebius version, you will be 'undoing' a great many fixes. Do not install it separately.

Do not put an NPC in the left-most position in the party queue along the bottom of the screen. This can cause a variety of problems, such as quests not updating properly or even appearing in your logbook at all.

Do not use Scather or Fragarach in the Fire Node or the Fire Temple. You will likely experience the endless AoO loop, and you will be very sad.