Worst starting line up?

HI, I just restarted ToEE with a new party, one I've never used before. It comprises 1 Sorceress, 1 Druidess?, 1 Bard, and my front men 1 Barbarian and 1 Ranger. They all have great stats for their classes, but having just managed to beat the bandits outside , with 2 chars ko, I rested up and attempted the bandit room on the entrance level. My Barbarian was killed outright with one blow from a normal bandit as the opening attack, then my Sorceress hit a bandit for 2 points with magic missile, the next bandit knocked out my Bard, My Druid cast charm sucessfully and the Bandit Leader then Killed my Ranger with one blow. The bandit bowman missed. In attempted to move my Druidess was slain and my Sorceress was ko'ed.
I lasted till the second round.
Anyone else get the feeling that the co8 ver 7.5 nc is way more difficult for new parties than the original ToEE. Don't get me wrong here, I think the C08 crew have done wonders to the game, but I can't help feeling that is a lot harder. My normal crew are 2 fighters, a wizard, a cleric and a rogue. They made to the Balor battle and managed to do 93 points of damage before dying. My half orc for example has 108 life points and got hit for 29 on the way into the attack, he did 58 damage and on Balors go was killed. My Dwarf lasted 2 rounds in close combat. The wizard only used magic missile with partial success (1 in 5 missisles actually hit him) but no other offensive spells worked. The rogue hit him consistantly with bow and arrow for ZERO damage and my cleric used her Smite but did no damage. I'm going to try a different combo next, but haven't decided what yet. It seems the only way to kill Balor is with Paladins, but I like chaotic neutral characters so I'm not sure how to build a party for that battle. I would appreciate any pointers you could give me.

Thanks

 

1) Do you mean Moathhouse? If so, I think Moathhouse is NOT for level 1 characters.
2) Did you forget to heal after resting, or what?
3) Does your barbarian have 8 in constitution, strength and dexterity and is he walking around naked?

 

I usually wait until lev 3 to hit the moathouse.

Welkwood Bog and the Deklo Grove are great for priming your group for tougher battles.

 

I actually started a party in vanilla TOEE that didn't have a cleric,, as it seems to me you are missing that dedicated healer's touch. Try to do some of the Hommlet quests to gain xp's- that way if you aren't doing the NC by the time you hit the bottom level of the Moathouse you should be 2nd lvl and maybe 3rd, making it a lot easier to survive.

 

Thanks for the replies,
No Sergio, my barbarian has str 20 dex 17 wis 17 con 17 int 12 and cha 10, and he`s got Barbarian armour. I've read another thread and Sirchet has confirmed it for me, this version needs different strategies, and I need to do other stuff like Welkwood etc first. I Played it like my original CD version and didn't realize that these other places were there, which explains why I can't beat the Balor. Now I Know about these other quests, I can go do them.
Thanks again

 

If you haven't experience Welkwood Bog yet, man are you in for a pleasant surprise.

All the separate maps have been expertly joined so that it does in fact feel like you are working your way through a dangerous bog with a small abandoned hamlet nestled inside.

Be afraid .... Be very very afraid.

 

Legless, this computer game uses the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 role-playing game system, so the more knowledge that you have of that game system, then the easier it will be to play The Circle of Eight modpack NC. I recommend that you learn more about the game system by reading the computer game's manual (which is in .PDF format in the computer game's folder (or "directory" if you use the old nomenclature).

It is possible to complete this computer game with any combination of classes, though I would argue that some classes make the game easier than others.

I tend to favour playing lots of Fighters because they make the game easy at any stage of the computer game.

You can always recruit high level NPCs in Hommlet in order to make the computer game MUCH easier early on. I recommend recruiting Elmo (a level 4 Fighter with a magical weapon and magical armour) and Fruella (a level 3 Fighter who wields a Masterwork Great Cleaver!) to help you take on the evil forces that call the moathouse ruins their home.

In my opinion, it is better to cast the spell Magic Missile once your spellcaster is level 9 because the spell becomes most potent at that spellcaster level or higher. At low level, I think that Sleep and Charm Person are 2 of the most powerful spells that you could cast to take on the moathouse bandits with. Other players like casting the spells Web and Grease and Entangle and then just standing back and firing bows or slings at the stuck enemies. These are all valid tactics.

The Balor Guardian has Spell Resistance [28], Damage Reduction (15/Holy; Cold), Damage Resistance (10/-), and Immunity (Fire/Electricity/Nonlethal). This means that it is very difficult to affect or damage the Balor Guardian with spells (so I wouldn't even bother casting spells at the Balor Guardian). The only way to effectively damage the Balor Guardain is to hit the Balor Guardian with holy weapons. The game guide sticky thread has a list of all of the holy weapons that you can obtain in the game (as well as where they are). Also, if you create a cleric who has the Good domain and the feat Craft Magical Arms & Armour, then the cleric can convert masterwork or magical weapons into holy weapons.

I recommend that you do Welkwood Bog first, then Deklo Grove, and only then take on the moathouse ruins.

Hope this helps.

 

thanks Sirchet and gazra,
I retried Balor when my party reached lvl 14 and cinched it. I think 2 of my chars took 8 damage each. It was very easy at lvl 14 and impossible at level 11. I then went on to tackle the slavers and beat them, loosing 4 out of 5 chars. Terjon resurrected them, so no worries there. I just didn't realize there was so much new content, which makes me very happy, thanks guys. The original had ten levels so you should be lvl 10 to reach the end. Similary, this Co8 version has 20 levels so although I have fought and won the biggest battles at lvl 14 it doesn't I could have at lvl 10. I try to avoid walkthroughs, because to much info spoils the adventuring, but I'm glad I came here. The is still lots to explore and I'm looking forward to the rest. I am attempting the whole thing without recruiting extra people, I just pick up the ones I rescue and drop them of in town when Its safe to leave the area. I read in one thread that someone was trying this solo, just one Rogue/wizard/fighter combo. That must be a lot of fun

 

I usually hit the Moathouse at level 2, since I find the Hommlet fedex quests tedious. The key is to be very timid and back off after taking significant injuries in any fight (which is sometimes running into random pirates on the way!) In parties featuring a druid, I find charming either a giant frog or giant lizard to be very helpful with the bandits. At low levels, my arcane spells of choice are grease and summon monster 1. Magic missile is great for the occasions when you have a raging barbarian with 2 remaining hit points that you absolutely have to take down NOW before he kills someone (and even moreso when you can use it to mop up 3 or 4 such in one round) and because spell resistance aside it can hurt everything in the game, but at low level, True Strike and a heavy xbow is probably more effective.

 

I found when takling the Lareth war band, it was not possible to hit and run as some of the enemy crossbowmen locked out on their turn and I had to reload (particularly the last 2 in sequence). I tried to fight that scenario at lvl 2 by waiting behind the door where the Sergeant challenges you and only sending my rogue forward to do a sneak attack with a bow on the the first guard that becomes visible then retreating to my main party. I got to fight 3 or 4 enemy then the crossbowmen froze. It seems that you can attack tactically but only full on. This was possible in the original game but seems broken in 7.5nc

 

Hi Legless,
yes, I seem to recall being able to chip away the 2 or 3 guards in the corridor before taking on the room in vanilla, but being unable to do so in NC. I never tried it at second level though- as I say I am usually just at lvl2 approaching the moathouse for the first time and at least 3 (and usually 4) when I get to Lareth. It's one of the toughest fights in the game, IMO, since the bad guys use the terrain well. It's difficult to get round the corner into the room without getting surrounded, yet if you stay in the corridor you can't get more than a couple of your party into play. Sleep doesn't help as they wake each other up and web gets in your way as much as the bad guys'. Definitely an occasion when you wish you had access to spells just one level higher...
My point about magic missile was really that at low level it's a pretty weak spell- average 3.5 hp of damage to one enemy (while True Strike and a heavy xbow does 4.5, and summon monster will do about the same and also absorb a few hp of damage) then it's gone, but at later levels it really comes into its own, to the extent that my high level wizards rarely have anything else learned.