A dummy guide on how to steal the Storm King's Thunder

Originally, this post was supposed to be part of the previous one. Due to my desire to up something after a period of MIA, I decided to do the split. Next up after this post, my first impression on a newly respec'd Kariss Locras (i.e. a hellbringer temptress).

First impression so far on Mod 10

First impression as in I've yet to play much when it comes to stealing the Storm King's thunder. Let's talk abt the frames per sec issue. I'm pretty sure there are those wondering "why so lag?" for a legit reason. It's basically the same logic with running Dread Ring and Icewind Dale. Unlike the other two campaign zones, you can see it from a hundred leagues that the graphics for the Mod 10 zones is of a far better quality (and I say zones b/c I'm assuming the other two zones are the same so far). However, this also comes into the question of the lag. Somehow or another, I just felt that the increase in frames per sec actually contributed to the kind of lag capable of killing your character. Quite literally that is.

Before that I enter the details, allow Le Jeu d'Singapour just give you some advice if you've yet to run this current mod.

Forget abt the order of campaign in Sword Coast Chronicles (seriously, the order can't be trusted in the same way you cannot trust any entertainment media whenever they start screaming "OMG!!! PARK SHIN-HYE'S NEW BOYFRIEND!!!!"). You'd do well to trust my words because there are truly some of the fights outright hard. If you're a hardcore gamer, then you're most likely fine. If not, it's highly recommended that you're properly geared with tier 2.5 gear. In other words, make sure your average item level doesn't drop below 140 (albeit there's still substantial value behind a lvl 137 elven body armor so long you select the correct one. Case in point: my chosen one).

The matter of fact is that Icewind Dale is the most accurate barometer to whether you can survive Bryn Shander and beyond. Any quest involving ice trolls should be a good measure of standard on whether you can cut the mustard upon arriving at Bryn Shander. Suffice to say, the terrain is outright crazy. I've only been to Bryn Shander and Lonelywood, but I've seen (and fought) enough to understand the tricky part in taking on mobs and bosses on uneven ground.

How to fight like the Game

Firstly, some of the mobs are easier to kill while not so much for others. Upon arriving at Bryn Shander with Xuna, a shocking sight greets Arylos (then again, Korey's wächter is certified shock-proof). Bryn Shander is in shambles and someone has just unleashed the Ring of Winter in the same way Kim "김정삼?" Jong-un decided to unleash the latest model of Pyongyang's hydrogen bomb. The only catch?  The whole of 대한민국 never ended up like Bryn Shander.

The first taste of action lies in killing critters to free the stranded merchants and recovering lost supplies from the barbaric Tribe of the Bear. After which, the action will shift to the gates of Bryn Shander where repelling the enemy is the only thing to be done. Despite being a heroic encounter, Siege of Bryn Shander is easily a one man's game.

There are two main mob types, namely those on two legs and those going on fours. Dealing with the Reghedmen is no different from dealing with the standard mage and fighters mob combination. In this sense, it's just another Icewind Pass (since you don't see them in Dwarven Valley).. If you happen to fight any mob without a shaman, you can just start killing the nearest target (depending on your class, you'll need to look out for any beast handler first. Either way, both the shaman and beast handler will always stay at the back). Before starting this latest campaign, it's strongly recommended that you should first familiarise yourself with the enemies in Icewind Dale since they're practically the same thing.

The Reghed mob:

As I've said, either you'll end up fighting a mob with a shaman behind or a pure physical damage type. Sometimes, you'll end up having to fight a mob with a beast handler behind. Ask me and I'll say the so-called shaman mob has to be the hardest variation out of the possible three. This is due to her super armour buff applied on her men. Compared to a mob of Tony Starks, the ghost bear and icy minefield are nothing. This is not to say that these two means of fighting a battle are useless. Rather, the ghost bear is basically useless without the mob while the minefield is only deadly upon the super armour status being applied (read: easier to take them on). As such, you'll need to take down the female president of the mob asap before taking out the rest. However, the mob will always protect the sole lady of the party like a bunch of barbaric gentlemen. In other words, you'll have to think on your feet. The moment you're able to nail the shaman, you'll have to focus all your firepower on her. If you're unable to, please grow a brain and do crowd clearing.

Either you're able to snipe their VIP by separating the main force from the shaman or you'll have to move around in order to get a clear shot at their female president. For most of the classes, this shouldn't be a problem. For the guardian fighters and oathbound paladins, it's extremely important that you'll need to CC them before closing onto the shaman since they're not the so-called tactical D class (i.e. dodge or dash, take your pick). The moment you're able to knock/stun/daze a clear path through, aim for the president. If you're using control wizard, Imprisonment and Steal Time can be really useful. Without either two, you'll need to find another way to mass CC. Icy Terrain and Shard of Endless Avalanche come to mind. If you're using scourge warlock, just kite and do a bloody one shot fatality (a tactical alternative apart from using the death ray on the shaman is doing a one-shot nuke as a form of kiting since necrotic damage is super effective against just about any living thing. Generally speaking ofc since the Thayans are living things as well).

If you happen to fight the so-called bread and butter mob type, then you can just decimate them from the front to behind (unless you're a glass cannon build. Which means taking out the tomahawk throwers first. Easier said than done since you'll need to CC the frontline first. iirc every class do have its own CC arsenal, just that it depends on the number of options).

Against the beast handler, it can be quite easy or difficult. If you're a hdps build, it means you'll be racing against time since a call for reinforcement means you're most likely screwed. If you're either a tank or a counter-offensive dps (read: any dps build sacrificing high-end damage for defensive insurance) then you're more likely to survive in the event someone let the dogs out.

(note: beast handlers are recognisable by their dogs. In fact, they're the only dog trainers killable in-game).

The critter mob:

The remorhaz is very easy to kill. Just take out one at a time. So long you can deal damage fast enough, their breath won't burn you badly (any heroic encounters involving this critter type, however, is a different issue altogether). As for the yeti, look out for the red aura (think only the abominable yeti can do so, but I may be wrong). The other sources of WMD (i.e. the hairdryer cannon and Lamborghini charge) are basically easy to avoid/guard. The trickiest part lies in mobility as they will just start charging around like a Lamborghini driver in GTA. Chances are that you can't hit more than one at a time, so either focus on a specific target (if you're a ranged dps) or try taking down the nearest one (if you're a melee dps or tank). When it comes to bears, you'll most likely meet either a solo bear or a couple of them. There's no point burning your stamina since they're pretty hard hitters than fast hitters. Unless they're getting too close for comfort, try not to dodge/dash. Once any bear does a power-up punch (for the lack of better description), you'll most likely need to get away (unless you're very sure you won't die as a result). If you're using a ranged dps/hdps build, be on constant lookout for that bear punch. The fact that any bear mob will stick close together means you'll have a high chance of nailing a WMD on them. As for the dire polar bears, they're just normal bears high on steroids.

The winter wolves are the most problematic.ones in the critter stable. I may have said something about their knockdown and freezing breath here. In case I never mentioned it, the winter wolves are basically the most dangerous critters you'll get to fight (at least for me since I've yet to do the running man for Cold Run). The problem doesn't lie in damage as power is nothing without control (Street Fighter Zero/Alpha 2 and Rose's victory quote, anyone?). Yes, you'll lose a large part of your HP if you get gimped by even a normal bear punch, that's why we have the potion of grand healing (which makes surviving Icewind Dale far easier since iceforge.elixir has gone officially obsolete post mod 5). You'll really have to dodge out of the breathing cannon if you want to survive this fight. The reason why being that the winter wolves are masters of the surprise attack. The knockdown stun bs is something you'll find hard to avoid. The startup is minimal, which means your window for error can be quite large. The only practical way is to dodge out of the breathing cannon in order to avoid a stunlock scenario. Either you try attacking them from anywhere but the front or you'll need to hold Shift. If you're a great weapon fighter, please don't take stupid risks by pinning hope on your unstoppable status since it gives you control immunity instead of outright jailbreak. iirc the chances of AoE overlapping is very high whenever you're dealing with any mob comprising of winter wolves. Ultimately, either you'll have to aggro grab or move around constantly.

Trolling the goblins:

Plus the ice trolls as well. Ice trolls only know how to do one thing: mindless zerging. Basically, this means either you're a tank  or you'll be in a race to out-dps or be dps'd to death. The more dangerous variation of the standard troll zerging lies in having one or two of them stoning you from a distance. At the same time, the trolls can cover ground quite fast for the lumbering brute type. The moment you hearing the stoning sound, it means you'll need to get yourself near the stoners. The tricky part? There's not much distance separating the stoners from the bashers. In particular, fighting any troll mob with a shaman can be a real nightmare since the DoT circle can kill you quite easily unless you have an effective defensive/counteroffensive game. Unless you have a good AoE game, you'll definitely need to first take down the biggest troll in the mob (quite literally).

Note: In particular, the troll bosses in Lonelywood can be quite problematic for any ranged class build since the only safe zone lies either beyond a massive AoE or point blank melee range.

As for the goblins, they won't do a zerg. Rather, they'll just attack you from every direction possible with one tank and a few archers. For a tank, this can be very easy since all you need to do is taunt and aggro grab near the archers. If you're a dps (apart from being a GWF), it means you'll need dodge/shift behind the archers asap. The frost goblins are very damn good in escalating the dps, so you're virtually racing against time. At the same time, you'll need an effective AoE dps (unless you happen to enjoy spamming UNSTOPPABRU!!!!!!). This is a glass cannon mob, so an effective AoE CC is a must.

Note: Wolf riders can be quite problematic as you'll need to look out for the instant AoE cast. The moment you can't kill the mob fast enough, you're most likely screwed since you'll be forced to choose between a minefield and the mob dps.

Terrain:

Both Bryn Shander and Lonelywood rely on high ground. Unfortunately, it also means you're more likely to fight the enemies with your backside facing the slope. The visual obstruction is also a challenge. For Bryn Shander, it's the blizzard which serves only to exacerbate the countless frozen statues of real living things. For Lonelywood, it's a case of two different outdoor terrains (this excludes the flat terrain which includes the Sapphire Pavilion of Siloso beach minus beautiful local girls clad in their bikini).

There are two aspects of difficult terrain for both Bryn Shander and Lonelywood. Lonelywood is about greenery and tundra in one single map. The greenery half will pose forth visual obstruction sans the blizzard while the tundra half is all about slowing down your mobility despite the ground being the parallel to Pep "no, not you Pep" Guardiola.

Note: There are also patches of rocky ground where your mobility will be severely tested.

For Bryn Shander, the terrain is more problematic as it's either a case of tundra complete with the blizzard or fighting the critters within the city walls while minding Madame Tussauds' newfound creativity. The former case isn't that bad unless the game is on lag. The latter is where the problem comes. Out there in the unnatural cold, at least you'll have more than enough space to move around albeit at a slower pace. In other words, you can easily outmanoeuvre the opposition. Inside the four walls of Bryn Shander, you're able to move around in normal speed. However, the presence of multiple statues will impede you big time. Against yetis, this isn't a problem. Against winter wolves, that's where the challenge comes since these white mutts enjoy staying around the statues so that they can breathe straight into your face (reminds me of the old school Clorets advertisements when I was just a wee lad).

Daily boss kill:

In both zones (and most likely Cold Run as well), you'll have a chance of getting sidequests in exchange for volninblod. For Lonelywood, it's a case of drop rate (not unlike how you get the Hammerstone Queen sidequest in Dwarven Valley) than knowing which targets to kill. For Bryn Shander, it's either you nail the target or you don't. The boss fights can be quite challenging at first, but they're not much of a problem once you understand the art (not to mention as well the necessity) of moving around (fighting Fangstorm, in particular, relies heavily on your positioning since you'll be literally fighting among frozen people).

For me, the Returned has to be hardest. This is due to the high chances of having to deal with winter wolves as collateral aggro (read: even Bryn Shander is never safe from hungry critters fighting like angry critters). Avoiding his cannon is a piece of cake, what truly makes the fight challenging lies in the chances of getting an AoE overlapping slap. I've yet to put myself into the line of multiple cannon fire, but I've been through the situation where a random wolf just gave me a knockdown stun. After which this abomination before the sight of Kelemvor just proceeded to swing his weapon freely like some fellow on a gun rampage. Taking 1-2 swings of his sword would mean the kind of one-shot fatality capable of giving Kitana that feeling below the belt. Trust me when I say Kelemvor revived Arylos via Soulforged armour.

Against the abominable yeti boss in the Bryn Shander epicentre, it's all about moving either backwards or forward. Yes, you'll be able to move sideways. But not enough to offset any terrain disadvantage. Again, winter wolves decide to say hi. And with that, the abominable yeti's identical BFF as well.

Next: My view on whether the latest gear should be worth your time and effort. That plus my overall verdict on this current mod as well.