I installed 5.9.3 & started playing just before they released 6.0.0...now I'm afraid to install the 6.0.0 for fear it'll interfere with 5.9.3 after I've made so much progress. :-/

But in answer to your questions, no I haven't even seen mention of Arena of Heroes in the game. I did do Welkwood Bog, but haven't seen any mention of a Moat Respawn. On top of that, I've heard alot in the game about Verbobonc, but no one I've come across yet has "pointed it out" on my map.

Admittedly, I've skipped quite a few quests (I'm more a combat fan than a FedEx Quest fan), so maybe I skipped over the people who would've pointed me to these places. I wish I could just wander wherever I wanted to like in Arcanum, and "happen" across these places instead of having to know exactly where I'm going because someone "told" me it was there. :-(

*pokes nose in*

You used to be able to get the info from the Temple prisoners but i think it was changed, my memory is kinda of fuzzy but i'm sure someone in Hommlet can stick the marker on your map. Elmo's dad maybe?

Hmmm not really helping am i...

*sidesteps sharpish out of thread*

<Edit> *in*

I was waffling about Verbobonc btw

*out*

I've perused the Co8 forums (not losing gaming time, only work time) to figure out most of the content in their New Content mod. All of the new stuff usually has two points of discovery, one a person wandering around if you're in the mood to talk to everyone and two, Brother Smith.

The problem I had was that the new content via Brother Smith is linear. Brother Smith checks whether you've completed the last mission he gave you and checks your level so you can't do things out of order. In my case, I was able to barely survive the Hickory Branch new content and be given the mission of unlocking a chest in front of Smith.

On unlocking the chest, you get access to the Arena of Heroes. Unfortunately, 5.9.3 shipped with a buggy Arena of Heroes and can not be completed. I tried moving my save games from 5.9.3 to a new install of 6.0.0, but that caused a complete meltdown! The hot fix at Co8 did not seem to work for me either.

What I missed post Arena of Heroes (which works in the 6.0.0 mod) is a whole new city Verbonnoc with dungeons and missions and a whole slew of bad guys reinhabiting the Moathouse. I might be off with some of this info since most of is my gleanings from being a Co8 forum lurker.

Now back to you... How it'd go with the Elemental Factions? Been down to the Elemental Nodes yet. I won't give any spoilers for those except avoid the fire node.

Mimo

Edit: Robobrien - Welcome aboard!

I got tired of the FedEx Quests & dove into the Temple itself, currently on Level 2 with the Factions. I decided to wait a bit until I'm stronger to actually take on the Factions, seeing as I was having such trouble with them, but I've since gained a level or two (and a spell or two that might help) so maybe I'll give them a try soon.

I hadn't realized Brother Smith was the "source" for new missions, I may have to go back to Hommlet now. I was thinking that the map seemed really naked with so few locations on it, but if Smith can put more on it, then it'll be worth the trip.

Where do you unload your loot and get stuff identified if not Brother Smith? Also, Nulb has a few missions that fill out the map too. It costs 100 gold to identify stuff whether you use a spell or let someone else do it. Better to save those spell slots for magic missile.

And yes, a few more levels, a few more hit points, a few more spells, and an extra attack or two per round for your fighters are definitely nice to have. Funny that you never went back to Hommlet. I could never get the bottomless chest thingamabob to work, so I hoofed it back to Hommlet all the time to sell crap and buy another 60 arrows for my archer/thief (can never have too many arrows in my book, especially when they weigh nothing).

Sounds like you're slowing down in the massive Temple maps...

I'm moving on to one of the other 27 games in my queue for a while (Mass Effect 1) and then I think I'll come back to ToEE with a odd ball party like RoboBrien is rocking. I was never able to do a ton of the Co8 new content since I got stuck on the Arena quest.

Have fun in the rest of the Temple and let me know if you have better luck than I did in the Fire Node. (I did 'win' it, but used more reloads than I can remember doing in ages...)

I just took out Hedrack. I won't spoil it for anyone else reading, but I did a couple of re-loads to cut the battle short with a focused attack & prevent it from escalating. I guess its just the Nodes now.

Yeah, that one was 'interesting'. For me, it was a good six reloads and then a trip to the internet to figure out how to survive a non-spoiling three letter enemy!

The guy in the cubicle next to me at work is finishing IceWind Dale 1 right now and then he's gonna try ToEE for the first time ever. Looking forward to our nerdy coffee breaks to rehash his experiences soon...

I have to admit, I did start using cheat codes...it was just getting ridiculously hard for me to get ahead in the game. Mostly money so I could craft weapons/armor & re-raising my xp from said crafting & raising dead. I'm not above using cheats if I'm having that much trouble with a game!

What? Cheat codes? You turning into a 14 year old?

Are you still using an 8 person party? I only had 5 characters and did a whole slew of side missions which it sounds like you avoided (FedEx and Co8 stuff). So, my crew would have had a lot more XP and been a level or two higher...

I replayed any battle where a character died so I could avoid having to raise dead. The XP hit for that spell was a bit too high for my taste.

Just started a game with 6.0.0 and decided to go with a NG party of 6 (a FTR, Rogue, WIZ, SOR, and 2 CLCs). So far, so good. We've cleared the Welkwood Bog and just hit second level. Now to get a bunch of quests going in Hommlet...

Yeah, I am still using all 8. Now that I understand the 3.5 rules better, I'll probably go with 5 or 6 next time...more XP per battle and I can recruit & escort some of the "special" npc's (like Paida) to finish some more quests.

Incidentally, my party is all at Level 10 right now & I've just conquered 1 of the 4 Nodes. I wonder what Level I'd be if I only had 5 or 6 pc's? I just assumed a bigger party would be "easier" due to sheer numbers, but with slower Leveling I could be wrong.
1 Defender
1 Striker
1 Controller
2 Leaders

...sounds good, lots o' luck!

Actually, there are 2 controllers (a WIZ and a Sorcie). But thanks! I vaguely remember the old PnP module. I've never played through this PC version all the way.

On a side note, it's funny but one of the Clerics has so far been better than the Fighter in the 'tank/warrior' role. While he seems to miss a lot, she just consistently lays out the hurt.

Oh yeah, I did miss the SOR...oops. I play 4E now, but before that I played Basic D&D and that was 20 years earlier. All we had was the Mage (no differentiation between a Wiz & Sor).

And a Cleric is no slouch either when it comes to being a meat shield! He gets to wear the heavy armor, so the idea of a Battle Cleric up front and a Healing Cleric in back is a pretty solid strategy!