First, some thanks are in order. Big thank yous to: Allyx, the original author of 'Verbomod' Morpheus, the original author of Arena of Heroes Half Knight, who did the excellent portrait illustrations for the slave traders, among other things Basil the Timid, who designed the high level builds for the slave traders That guy Cortillaen who had all those story ideas for Verbobonc, some of which I actually used and/or adapted and implemented in limited fashion Now for some disclaimers: Difficulty I find it rather difficult to determine difficulty levels with high level content. (I suspect that Ranth may agree with me here.) There seems to be a really wide range of variables to consider the higher you go, such as player competency, strategies (you'll never consider all of them), varying level progressions, etc. What this all means is that I really have little idea how difficult most players will find Verbobonc in particular. It could be that you'll find it murderously difficult, or that you'll walk right through it all. Therefore, it's important to get a lot of feedback on your experiences. You'll probably find that there is a sharp upturn in enemy difficulty midway through Verbobonc. If this proves to be the case, it's likely as a result of the disparity betwen the elements of versions 1.0 and 2.0, which were designed at different times and with different intentions. Some of the 1.0 elements were overhauled, but not all of them were. So if you find anything that really stands out in this regard, please let us know. Experience and level progression It's almost certain that you'll find level progression to be off the charts with Verbobonc, which will in turn skew difficulty levels for vanilla elements like the temple and the nodes beyond anything seen before with the modpack. This sort of thing is unavaoidable when you're dealing with level 15 enemies and whatnot - the xp shot is just insane. Not much we can do about that if we want this stuff to be fun and challenging, but there is one future consideration to take into account that will mollify the imbalance: we are thinking that we'll most likely implement the originally intended Tales of the Wild Coast format again, which will put all the expansion content, minus Welkwood Bog, after the vanilla game. Given that, causing imbalance through the massive xp dump will not really be an issue anymore, as the only things affected will be the expansions themselves. So bear that in mind and take heart as you're slogging through the new Verbobonc and becoming near-gods of xp in the process. 'The Slave Traders' This is a new, ultra-high level mod by me that is part of the larger Verbobonc chapter, and which in all likelihood features the most difficult opponents in the game except for Iuz, St. Cuthbert, Zuggtmoy, and the Balor. (Or so I think. Again, it's difficult to really know. They'll at leat be the highest level.) The slave traders are a party of 7 opponents ranging in level from 15 - 20. Thanks to Basil, they have all their high level feats and skills that make them killing machines. With a few exceptions, however, they don't have uber treasure, and they don't have uber weapons that make them deal 50 hp of damage in one strike like krunch's orc commander at Hickory Branch. Again, feedback is needed. Do you want them to be that badass, along with all their other advantages? Some players may get destroyed by them as is, while others may use strategy to their advantage in ways that I didn't anticipate and have little diffuculty. It all remains to be seen. Additionally, know up front that the whole scenario involving this party is a set piece, essentially. This is done for dramatic effect and to promote 'imershun,' but is also means that there's not much you can do to alter events leading up to the battle. My suggestion to you is to let it happen and try to enjoy yourself. Most everything else in the game (including most of the rest of Verbobonc) is adaptable and able to be influenced by different actions on the part of the player. For story's sake, this quest is not. That's just the way it is. One last caveat: the whole slave traders storyline is most definitely rated R. The themes at the heart of it are potentially offensive, but hopefully not gratuitously so. Slavery itself is not nice, particularly involving children. The leader of the group is a sadistic sexual deviant who is a female and possibly bisexual or homosexual. This was not done to attempt to portray all women as sexual deviants or homosexuality as bad; it's just a story. Children may die during the course of events in the quest, which is not nice. So, if you are a sensitive person like Necroticpus , be forewarned: you may want to skip it. That said, I suspect that most of you can handle it, and indeed, much of the content has already been toned down due to fears that people would take it too hard and based on feedback from the slavers' original appearance in Nulb a couple releases back, which a few players seemed to really take offense at. Sensibilities can span a potentially wide range, just like player skill. What offends one person may be a welcome dramatic jolt to the next, and vice-versa. There's no pleasing everybody, but what I've tried to do with this is at least push boundaries in order to shake players out of the sleepy apathy that is normal for ToEE's story. Personally, I like that sort of thing. That's all for now. Feel free to comment or inquire here or in the GC&D thread, whichever floats your boat.
