[SixOfSpades]

I can concur that I.Ilyich is a pain in the posterior, but I don't mind the Dwarves as much as I mind those F#^*&@ Shadow Thieves.
1) The only reason they attack your party in the first place is because they think you're Irenicus's goons, right? So why in Mask's name don't they attack Ilyich, or any of the REST of Irenicus's genuine goons???
2) They DO cheat with their Wands. Sure, when they drop it it has only 1 charge left, but when they're alive, they can use it as often as they want. But this is the really good bit: Wands of Paralyzation are supposed to affect only one target (and that's how they actually work, when YOU use them), but in the hands of the Shadow Thieves, they have the same Area of Effect as a Fireball. And I've got the screenshots to prove it.

My first run through Improved Ilyich: Took me about a day, and all supercharged Shadow Thieves and their Dogs were Crtl-Y'd on sight, for the reasons above. My second run was today; took me about 3 or 4 hours, I took on the Thieves myself, and we actually did all right--had about 8 Extra Healing Potions left when we hit the exit. Game Time: 22 hours. No resting. PC is a Cavalier. (This game is a restart of my previous game--due to bugs, I just recreated the main character & started over.)

Other Tactics components.....

Improved de'Arnise Keep: It can indeed be done directly out of Irenicus's Dungeon, but man oh MAN is it a pain in the ass. I must have Reloaded upwards of 50 times. Wait at least until you hit (Paladin) Level 10 or so.

Improved Sahuagin City: It's doable at low levels (I hit Level 12 while I was there), but you ARE going to be *depending* on cheese to survive. And I mean the "you've got to draw them toward you 1 by 1, and pretend that they can't communicate with each other well enough to attack you as a group" kind of cheese. Sad but true: If your Tank has an AC of -9, they've still got a 75% chance of scoring each melee hit (with a hefty +15 damage tacked on to each hit, of course). Or would you prefer their Paralytic Bolts? Suggested Level: Maybe 13-14.

Improved Bodhi: Okay, so she's a melee monster who absolutely *cannot* be faced without NPP, will ignore most of your spells, and each hit you score does more damage to you than it does to her.....but what really chaps my hide is that Weimer has seen fit to give her spells that there is *NO* defense against (apparently Bodhi has the power to bend the laws of magic as she sees fit, a feat normally reserved only for deities, and then only when they're on their own home planes), and he also can't even seem to make up his mind as to whether she's Undead or not (immune to direct sunlight and all that). Would anybody mind telling me what the hell makes Bodhi so goddamn special? Suggested Level: 30.

Lich in the Docks: I only took a peek in there (Quicksave, send in Imoen under Stealth to see what was what), and.....let's just say that I learned a lot. I made no second attempt, so I don't know much, but I know for damn sure that I'm going to go kill a few Dragons first. I suggest you exploit the fact that you don't have to send your whole party in at once. Suggested Level: 19+, for a Wizard.

Gnome Illusionist: If you pretend that the Familiars are actually Mages, it's not quite so cheesy. Just keep Reloading until he doesn't have Spellstrike->PW: Kill (targeted on the weakest party member) in his Enemy Sighted contingency. Suggested Level: After the de'Arnise Keep.

Improved Guarded Compound, Smarter Dragons, Improved Encounters, Improved Mae'Var, etc.: Quite well balanced. If you keep your head and choose the right spells (and equipment), you'll be fine.

Improved Copper Coronet: I'm sorry, but what was changed? The README says, "includes massive bugfixes by Rassadhin" on Mazzy's Gorf the Squisher quest, and I'll take Weimer's word for it.

I haven't done the Twisted Rune or Kangaxx yet, though K's Guardians turned out to be a cinch.