I occasionally consider installing the expansion, but I wouldn't want to have to start all new characters, or abandon existing towns (or have the towns change radically to accommodate the new content). Can anyone who's started with the base game and only installed Demon War later tell me what the consequences would be in this regard?

I installed Demon War earlier today, and here's what I notice in regards to my already-running game:

* It appears to be 'safe' to install - you don't 'lose' anything at all
* All your characters, and their inventories remain as is
* The current town (on my L19 'main') remained just as it was before the upgrade. All my current quests were the same (including any partially completed status)
* New types of optional town quests would appear over time - such as 'feed a certain townsperson some food' or 'find a certain townsperson some treasure in the dungeon'
* There are now 'Achievements' - and any you've already 'earned' (prior to upgrading) are awarded upon first loading your game after upgrading (apparently stats were already kept 'under the hood' - and it now uses those stats to grant the achievements post-upgrade)
* On both the Character and Skills windows, you can both increase AND reduce each skill or stat. It costs cash to reduce a skill or stat, and the points are returned to the pool
* You can examine NPC's and see what they are wearing (not sure why yet - maybe there are quests to equip them or something)
* You can donate cash to NPC's (I've seen optional quests offered to donate cash to help some 'get out of debt', or donate cash in lieu of food - in both cases the award was additional Reputation
* When going to the next town, there are more 'new world' options. Such as: World Size (small, normal, large), 'NPC Pacing' (in addition to the already existing 'Pacing') and some others

Looks like a painless and worthwhile upgrade so far.. Doesn't radically altar existing games and adds some nice options.

Thanks a lot for the info! +1

Having played the Din's Curse demo (which includes "Demon War" content) before buying, I was aware of a lot of the features the expansion adds; I was mainly anxious about how installing it would affect existing characters and towns. Based on what you've said, though, it seems like the game adds the new content fairly gracefully for the most part. :) I believe you could already pay to respec a character's skill points in the base game, though I never tried it myself (I'm more of a "live with your decisions" kinda player, especially in RPGs =D ). I don't think you can respec your basic attributes in the base game, though. I don't know about quests, but it can help to equip them with some decent armor in case you're unable to prevent the town from being invaded, and the townsfolk have to survive/fight back until you can come to their rescue. If I remember right, you can only equip them with cloth armor, maybe leather, and only about five types. Unfortunately, you cannot upgrade the weapons they wield. Some of the new quests given out by, and events centering around, random townspeople can be rather annoying ("Rando is starving! Again!", "So-and-so picked a fight with Some Other Guy!...Never mind, fight's over!", etc.), which is the other main reason I've held off on installing "Demon War" so far. Your mileage may vary, though.

If you've installed "Demon War" can you choose to play without it?

No, not as far as I know.
Personally, I'd recommend trying the game without the DLC for a while first, if only to get a feel for what it adds or changes. If you do so, you might want to back up your saves ( C:\Users\[Windows username\AppData\Local\DinsCurse\User\ ) before you install Demon War, just in case you don't like what it changes.

Makes sense. I'd like to see what the game is like before "improving" it.

I'm now at level 67 and am struggling badly to progress at a decent pace. The main problem are higher level monsters (normally elite or bosses) that automatically return a homing attack (fire, shock, ice etc) on a hit. The only way to avoid instant death is to try coax them close to a portal, attack, then teleport back and forth.

Does Demon War have an option to turn off the homing attack on a hit or if not, is there another way of disabling it?

Thanks,,

Nope, no such option (though check the Soldak forums for mods -- I don't think there's much of an active community, but there were a small number of mods available, from what I remember; I doubt there'd be anything to help with this issue, but it wouldn't hurt to check, I guess.

Otherwise, I'd just recommend you make sure to always have decent, situationally-appropriate potion buffs active (you can only have one resistance potion buff active at a time, though), and try to choose equipment that will bolster any resistances you particularly need. And there's always the fallback plan of selecting a lower monster level when you start a new town. However, from what I remember, my highest-level character is only in the 40s, so I can't give much specific advice on play at levels that high.

Thank you - I checked but decided I didn't want to mess about with mods, especially as I've now reached level 70. As luck would have it, I've found a life steal bow (it's stats are something like 9% of hits prompt a 20 second life steal perk). It's an absolute god-send and may just get me close to level 100.

Whatever works. :)
What class is this character?

She's a hunter/magician hybrid. Weapon of choice is a bow as melee is impossible (for me anyway) as you meet npcs that can kill with one hit.

Skills invested in are: light touch, fire trap, freezing trap, lure (all hunter) and arcane swarm (magician) and a few points in passive skills of evasion and deep thought (increases mana/magic resistance).

Did you stop at level 40ish or are you going to try press on? Such a cheap and simple, non-taxing, game and it's definitely been value for money....I dread to think how many hours I've racked up playing it though.

Oh, and I'd love to hear other users builds if anyone wants to share.

Sounds like an interesting build. I can't remember if I ever tried a ranger (or whatever the pre-built class is called that the "hunter" skill set comes from), but if I did, I didn't go far in it, and I certainly didn't try the traps. I'm assuming each trap you set is one-shot?
I bought the game + DLC during their GOG release promo here in 2014 (when they were "only" 50% off), and this was about the first game I bought here that I would unequivocally say I got more than my money's worth out of. Still, it started to get a bit old for me after a year or more of on-and-off play (several weeks of playing little else, followed by a few where I barely touched it), and -- while installing the expansion did give me more to see in the game, extending my time spent with it by several weeks at least (I'm glad I saved "Demon War" till later) -- I think I'm kind of over it. Which is not to say I'll necessarily be uninstalling it any time soon, mind you, but it's no longer in my bloodstream like it was for so long. As with so many other games (SO MANY), I didn't so much quit or finish as just...gradually cease playing, and move on to something else.
Good luck with that. I think someone else started a "favorite character builds" topic many moons ago [EDIT: I was close: 'Your favourite hybrid'] [ANOTHER EDIT: Wait, that one's from this year -- this is the old topic I was thinking of], but pretty much nobody else ever posted there. This subforum is a ghost town. :(

Still.....we're keeping it alive(ish). I kind of lost interest around level 50, which still equates to a lot, perhaps too many, hours. As it's a simple pick up and play game, I tend to pop it on and complete a couple of quests, loot and trade in a matter of 15 minutes. Other games seems like a chore to boot up now - damn I'm a lazy so-and-so.

No, I know what you mean. Most of the games I play these days are ones that are very light on story (or where the story is irrelevant to the gameplay, at least): sandbox games, Roguelikes, low-pressure open-world games. Even if I often wind up playing for a few hours at a stretch, they're still games that I could theoretically jump into and out of at will.

On-topic: How do the hunter skill set's traps work? I'm genuinely wondering.

The main tactic for me is to place an ice and fire trap between my targets and I. Then I'll place a lure smack bang in the middle of a group of enemies. When they attack the lure, I'll target them with my bow and then one of two things happen (should things go to plan).

Either 1) One of my hits leads to a 15 second life steal > If so, I then go in to the group and use "arcane swarm" which hits multiple targets while keeping my health maxed out.

2) If the life steal isn't triggered, then I just keep placing more ice/fire traps between the targets and I (they refresh every 6 seconds or so). Therefore when targets have wiped out my lure, they head towards me and directly into the traps...

Hope that makes sense...Bet you wish you never asked now! :)