HoF from scratch!

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First I uninstalled AB mod, as it caused bugs and really did annoy me.

Then I wanted to play HoF from scratch. My laetst attempt was...just a slaughter, those goblins ripped my poor party apart in no time. Now thanks to your advices I regained my courage and tried a new.

Here was my new party:

Elven Diviner. He can not cast Conjuration, but it is a small loss, he gets +1 spell/level which is cool. Plus I RP him as a wise, kind and benevolent diviner who knows (or claims to know) everything! First proficiency in daggers.

Halfling F/T. I saw a very cute halfling warrior portrait and just could not resist. He is primary scout and trap disabler, and he can use longbows and swords masterfully, not to mention cool backstabs!

Gnome C/I EVIL. This guy is evil, so he will get evil cleric spells such as Slay Living, Destruction etc. With his mage spells to protect him, he can finish those deadly spells without danger! Cool!

Dwarven F/C. This guy is good, so he wil supply extra healing and ressurection. Hammers are cool with him.

Half-elven Ranger. Uses spears, for long reach, and has an excellent 2+½ attacks per round! Also crossbows are good for ranged attacks.

Elven druid lass. She is cool. I will use her druidic shape change abilities a lot, I think.

Thus I started HoF, all level 1.

Killing bugs and doing other minor quests were easy enough, the first real challenge was goblins to the south!

My diviner, C/I had FULL Charm Person spells. And my Druid had Charm person or mammal spells, my clerics had Magical Stones. These were all I needed.

My diviner and C/I quickly charmed goblins, and as they fought among themselves, we attacked from long range. (Only criticals did hit though they hit hard) Also, my druid entangled them, and blinded archers with her sun-scorch. My clerics also used their Magical Stone spells for guarantee hits and OK damage, though I admit I had to retreat to the inn to rest and regain spells.

But in the end I was victorious, killed ALL goblins, each gave 2000+ xp, major level ups everyone! :thumbs:

Orc caves. Not very difficult till the end, charming, and Hold persons easily won the day. But the final...oh it was hard. Really hard. Four ogres and a lot of orcs! Gasp.

Here was my strategy:

My Diviner and C/I charmed closest orcs, and other orcs attacked them instead of us, my Druid casted two entangles, and my two clerics also unleashed TWO Hold persons each. Most orcs were held, but Ogres were still dangerous, we killed orcs, and one ogre, then an ogre killed my ranger. We retreated outside, rested and regained spells. (Cheesy?)

But this time my diviner has hit level 5, and his chromatic orb was upgraded, save or stunned for 3 rounds!

Cool!

My diviner stunned an ogre, and al my party attacked him, (auto-hits), Druid blinded other ogre, who stood there, and my F/T halfling just lured the last one in a circling chase. We killed the stunned ogre just in time, my diviner casted another CO on the chasing ogre, duh it did not work this time, we all retreated, casted another CO and Magical Stones, as soon as the ogre was stunned he was as good as dead. We rested again outside and found the last ogre and killed easily, though he made his saving throw TWICE, no problem, my Divienr had 5 Chromatic Orbs. No chance pal!

Return to town, and raised our poor ranger from death. Did all other quests, supplied ammunition, memorised new spells, (My dviviner has 3 Horror spells!) and we are ready to join the Expedition.

Wow. I never thought I was able to kill all those goblins and orcs AND all FOUR ogres. But with little strategy, effort, micro-management, and luck, I did it! And thus I feel so satisfied! I thought my playing skills in IWD were inferior.

Do you like my strategies, do you have something to add, or any other advice, plus, do you think these strategies will work in Kuldahar Pass too? Any other suggestions?

I love HoF, it is so cool! Oh and I do love this game.

 

You didn't try to create the best possible party, but the party is obviously strong enough to finish HoF mode with your help.

The bigger the challenge the bigger the fun ...

All level 9 spells are conjuration spells, so your diviner will never be able to cast level 9 spells, you'll just have empty level 9 slots.

And boneguard skeletons from moster summoning 7 look so cool, especially when hasted ...

 

What? Oh I totally forgot it. ALL 9th level spells are CONJURATION only? Are you SURE? Then...this is absurd. My diviner will have A LOT OF 9th level spell slots, but not a single spell to cast? No no no this is ridiculous and unacceptable. The very basic concept of creating a PURE mage class is those high level spells. This sucks so hard I can not tolerate it. I guess I will DK him into something else, but other specialists have too many barred schools. Or should I make him a pure mage instead? Hmm...

 

Take a pure mage. At high levels you have at least 6 spells at each level. 12 sunfires in a row are already fun enough.
If you want a specialist, then Abjurer or Necromancer is probably the best choice for you. You loose illusion (mirror image) and either alteration (haste) or enchantment/charm.

 

your strategies are pretty good for an early game, but as soon as you get level 3 cleric spells, heap on the animate dead spell. this spell is amazing. also when your druid gets level 4 spells, use summon insect. i found the boring beetles to be better than skeletons and zombies and slightly better then bombardier beetles (so save just before casting and reload if you want to have the boring beetles instead of the bombardier)
keep all of you level 1 mage spells to chromatic orb. extremely useful when it paralyzes an enemy for 13 rounds.
bards are very good for this as they level up faster at the start of the game.
have your fighters use long weapons (2 handed swords, spears, halberds, 2 handed axes) and pull the back if an enemy focuses on them.

this was the set of tactics that i used for HoF and i only had to reload a few times and barely used any healing spells.