...I plan to reload the quick save for my next session (getting those 6 lost hours back) - does anyone think thats an exploit of the speed rules?
Not an exploit when there's a technical glitch, a reload is warranted, for sure.
So far at least one of the three replies to my topic about this seems to think it's intended for the game time to continue while paused - maybe I'll get some more input by tomorrow.
I have never heard that the game time continues while paused. That doesn't make any sense! I've been wasting a lot of time then . Congrats @Dexter! Yeah, that Saravok fight in SCS is reeally tough!
One of the minor documents associated with the ascension of Sarevok, the Lord of Murder, is a journal of an adventurer named Maglynn Fletcher. A human warrior from the Sword Coast, this woman lead a band of adventurers against Sarevok’s Iron Throne during the antebellum period of the Gods War.
She was the catalyst for the events that almost caused Sarevok to lose his grip on the Throne, of Bhaal and of Iron. In the span of a tenday – a tenday! – Maglynn destroyed the Iron Throne’s bandit ring and also disrupted the Iron Throne’s attempt to sabotage the Nashkel iron mines.
It gives even the most amateur historian pause to consider what this woman might have done if she had not perished when she did. Let us recap, shortly, her accomplishments: she slew 13 assassins whom Sarevok dispatched after her, 2 of them shortly after her hurried flight from Candlekeep. She rescued the Rashemi Witch Dynaheir from the Gnoll Fortress on 1 hours sleep, accompanied only the bows of Kivan and Minsc, two rangers.
The mystery of their companionship – why these two righteous men decided to follow someone who openly and fervently worshipped Bane – is one that Maglynn does not dwell on. Suffice to say that Maglynn valued their strength and they valued her means to their ends: Misnc was able to rescue his witch, Dynaheir, and Kivan was able to hunt down the Ogre, Tazok, who slew his beloved. Dynaheir and Minsc do not speak of their time on the Sword Coast; Kivan was slain during Sarevok’s ducal coronation.
Let us return to this remarkable woman’s accomplishments: She defeated the Gnoll Fortress on the coast nearly single-handedly. She cleaned out the Nashkel Mines:
Kobolds by the score. We ignored them. They’re cowards and tricksters – and not worth our time. We’re looking for the head of this motley gang. Cut off the head and the rest of the snake will follow.
With her mace, named rather crudely as “Stupefier,” she brained the half-orc Mulahey and the quartet of assassins that Sarevok had sent personally to kill her. After fighting off that ambush, Maglynn recruited Shar-teel Dosan, bastard daughter to the Angelo Dosan, who lopped off the head of the Flaming Fist and infamously sent Baldur’s Gate spiraling to the Nine Hells that was the Gods War.
It was with Shar-Teel that Maglynn truly came into her own. Shar-Teel’s bloodthirstiness combined with Maglynn’s cold efficiency to the complete and merciless destruction of the Iron Thorne’s bandit camp. What a path those two woman could have carved.
All for naught. In the Cloakwood Iron Mine, after fighting off waves of spiders and ettercaps and Iron Throne Mercenaries, Maglynn’s life was taken, cruelly short for all her cruelty. Abruptly, and with little fanfare, her journal ends, pages unwritten, after describing her choice to lead her group around a Wyvern Nest and directly into the Iron Throne’s lair.
I managed, through much expense and research, to track down the account of what occurred. Shar-Teel Dosan was one of the first casualties of the Gods War – when she attempted to murder her father for what he’d done to her sister in arms. It is the distant recollection of a tortured soul – which took much divination to bring about, so great was Dosan’s wrath – but here is what happened to this force that could have been:
We had just dispatched the first of Davoreon’s apprentices. A bitch of a mage, she had nailed Maglynn with a lighting bolt – but that was nothing that Maglynn couldn’t handle. The bolt reflected off her shield and killed the mage. The woman was blessed, I tell you. Or would tell you, if it were the case.
It was so fast. One minute, she was laughing as she rounded the corner after the dog’s excrement guard that had fled Dynaheir’s wand. The next: a sizzle and then, nothing. We ventured after her and found her corpse … it was like when sand crumbles or hay blows away in a wind. Nothing occurs until nothing is left but the shell of scorched armor and empty promises of what could have been.
--
Really sucked to lose this one. Got killed by the lightning trap in the first Cloakwood hallway – chasing a 120 xp guard. Idiot.
I rested twice: once after we got back from the Gnoll Fortress and once just before the Cloakwood mine. Kivan got axed heading to the Gnoll fortress, so that resurrection trip added 2 extra days – on top of the time it takes you just to complete the Gnoll fortress. I think Dynaheir leaves almost 0 option of completing the game in a time that can beat Fighting Ferret.
Arg. Ok. Still running with Stothana Catslove (currently, level 4 swashbuckler) with Branwen, Neera, Dynahier, Tiax, and Viconia. Tiax's ghast help a lot early (and with backstabs and his +1 sling, is the main DPS O.o), Viconia is the tank, and Branwen is proving pretty good. Having 3 clerics is boding well time-wise (assuming SCS and RP...sorry...RP and no meta-gaming cannot be compromised!). Buut...I ran into a hiccup in getting Dynaheir, as Viconia *just* was killed by the polar bear in that one area; being the tank nucleus, I had to return to raise her from the dead...that's like 2 days, at least. Naturally, being a swashbuckler elf with pips in longsword, I wanted Varscona...I get ambushed by kobalds with Galtok (I don't remember vanilla, but SCS puts 2 or 3 commandos, 2 or 3 ranged, and 5 or 6 regular...maybe a guard with the poison daggers, with the group). So, Neera and Dynaheir both bite the dust (I was lucky and got Dynaheir at level 4 with good HP too >: ).
So, I'm back to Nashkel, wasting more time to res and might as well rest (to get spells for the potion quaffing Greywolf that is to come, considering my entire party will be exhausted). Point is: don't drink a bunch of scotch and play your random no-reload game
Somehow I have gone from baroque lute music (de Visée) to psychedelic acoustic rock (Gemiinii Riisiing) to New Orleans jazz (George Lewis) in this time frame. Thanks Johnny Walker .
EDIT: with a couple Hold Persons under my belt, I risked it without my mages. One stuck and with some overkill with Tiax's ghast and a Chant, we easily took out Greywolf (sans one healing potion). Yay Varscona .
EDIT II: So, I start the mines at an abysmal 10.19. Ha...just realized...Tiax is the only male among all of the females...a comical thought.
EDIT III: finished off with Glenn Gould's 1981 Goldberg Variations recordings: Yes, I know, no one will know what I'm talking about .
Thanks for the feedback while I was not here. I’ve tried to read all the pages and discussions today that have been created in these 6 days and they’re full of interesting aspects.
Congratulations to the new tournament leaders in terms of a Speed run and an SCS run!
Jagen’s party will no way accomplish the task in a small amount of time to be competitive with the leaders and this adventure doesn’t include SCS components. Meanwhile, I’m going to post stories about Jagen as he’s still alive and continues to bring me something new (due to a no-reload component and an insane difficulty). And of course I’ll include some changes to posting that are needed (as it can be seen from the answers that changes can be done). I’ll try to focus on the interesting tactics to deal with enemies and some major events.
As (if) you remember, Jagen MoonShadow, also known as Jagen H’gar, came to Cloakwood.
In Cloakwood, 1, Viconia reached the 5th level (13000) with 4 HP, Edwin reached the 5th level (20000) with 4 HP (thus acquiring an access to the 3rd level mage spells). To the contrary of what the Unofficial Manual says, the 5th, not the 6th, level of cleric gives access to the 3rd level of spells. Although to start using them the party needed to rest while Jagen didn’t intend to have any rest before reaching the Mines area.
One of the difficulties in Cloakwood are traps and a cave with Spider Bane.
Traps weren’t a problem as Jagen had 55 points in Disarm Traps – this amount is enough for every trap in this district. But the cave was dangerous indeed. To overcome this danger I used the following tactics.
Jagen hid in the shadows and went in. Being invisible, he chose a place where only a sword spider (a powerful foe because of his number of attacks) was in his sight. An arrow had been shot and the spider quickly rushed to the hunter. Jagen went out of the cave and retreated some way to the south. As soon as the spider appeared, Viconia and Dorn attacked it. A wand of frost is very useful against this type of enemy. So, it was dealt with.
With the same tactics other spiders in this cave one by one were defeated. I’ve found out using a wand is essential.
While travelling between Cloakwood 2 and 3 the party was waylaid by 2 big wyverns. Because everyone was tired, only using wands of MM and lighting (it was outdoors, so no friendly fire here) helped to finish them off. In order to keep everyone healthy, I declined any melee fighting in this battle and missile attacks didn’t hit their good AC at all.
So, during long periods without a rest wands are the real savior.
I have never heard that the game time continues while paused. That doesn't make any sense! I've been wasting a lot of time then . Congrats @Dexter! Yeah, that Saravok fight in SCS is reeally tough!
Actually it now seems that it's not that time is passing when paused but that the save game time and the gui "in game" clock out of sync by 6 hours in my game with the in game clock running 6 hours ahead - so if I save when the in game clock says day 3 8 hours the save game will register as day 3 2 hours and vice versa if the save game says day 2 3 hours and I load it the in game time is day 2 9 hours.
I'd appreciate it if you guys would check your own games to see if this is the case for yours as well - look at the save game day/time display - load the game and immediatly check the in game cloack and see if it matches the save game time or vice versa - check the in game time - save the game and see if the save game time matches the in game time.
While we are checking things I notice a lot of people are avoiding resting sometimes for long periods - if you have to hit rolls active it might be useful to check them to see if the fatigue penalty is being applied as designed when you go long periods without rest - it's supposed to add a -1 luck penalty for every 4 hours after 24 without rest so if you went say 3 days without rest the combined penalty should be -12 I think (48 hours over 24 at -1 per 4 hours) - if applied correctly this is a penalty vs any roll (attack save etc)
I know in BG1 vanilla it was very haphazard sometimes applying it often not applying and for long periods without rest rarely accumulating it as defined.
@Wanderon Yes to your 6 hour difference between the save game and the in game clock. I looked at my successful run and the game clock shows 18 days 20 hours and the final save is 18 days 14 hours.
I also don't think that fatigue works in such a detrimental way... I think fatigue is just a status that confers a standard penalty that is not stackable, as in my current run I haven't yet rested (on day 5) as a solo shadow dancer (non-scs run) and I think that there is a -1 to attack rolls only (although it may affect other rolls as well... I really can't say as I am still hiding and backstabbing anything that has to die and just walking right by that which doesn't.
edit: OK, so Bengoshi and I posted at the same time, but he seems to offer some valid evidence for fatigue penalties. I'll have to test this out later tonight on my game, but if anyone has any more evidence to this, it would be really helpful; although it would make sense as I am currently getting a +11 on my THAC0 (18 str, attack from stealth, varscona, and elven longsword user) without my level being taken into consideration.
I thought I'd try the whole "purist" thing as auto-pause on enemy sighted seems to be viewed as too helpful, so I am running the best of 5 rolls and I chose to go solo after seing the great PC roll and the not so great NPC rolls.
1379 | 662 Male Elf Thief -> Shadow Dancer | Chaotic Neutral, 6 re-rolls (87!), and male voice set 2
(Yes I get elven a lot as my race roll... I like elves, but this is kind of getting ridiculous...)
Yeah definitely going for solo with that group of cannon fodder... I'm really only worried about the Ducal Palace battle, but shadow dancer is such a powerful class (currently at level 6 and I haven't been injured at all yet) and am about to go into ankheg area and then the bandit camp.
As far as I know, these penalties are implemented. For example, at the last screenshot from my previous post Edwin has "-8" penalty with a sling: -5 for using a weapon he is not proficient with and -3 penalty as a result of the fatigue. By the way, NPC's constitution must be taken into account while defining how many hours he can walk without getting tired (–1 to all rolls) first time (http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/15524/add-fatigue-and-morale-to-character-record, http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/15512/checking-ones-fatigue-level). For every 4 hours beyond the "hours without fatigue" mark, the character will receive another –1 to all rolls.
The penalties are felt, in fact: they really make things worse for me.
About the in-game time: the good and always reliable way to find out how long the game runs is to see the information screen. For example, this is Jagen's progress before he came to the location of Cloakwood Mines:
Yes the trouble with checking fatigue penalty or any other specific penalty is the to hit rolls just show the current penalty total and don't break it down into components so the total bonus/penalty can often be a combination of the two and difficult to sort out.
To add to the mix I recall that implementation of the penalty became very hit or miss in BG1 Vanilla especially as you grew more and more fatigued where sometimes there was no penalty and sometimes it was correct and sometimes somewhere in between.
If the penalty was always implemented properly then for a no reload speed game it would likely be a difficult choice whether to not rest and take the penalty dropping your chances of hitting or making your saving throw against X, Y or Z vs saving the rest time to complete the run more quickly.
About the in-game time: the good and always reliable way to find out how long the game runs is to see the information screen. For example, this is Jagen's progress before he came to the location of Cloakwood Mines:
Ok well in my game the day/ time on the information screen matches the day/ time on the save/load screen leaving the day/ time hovering over the clock on the GUI 6 hours ahead -
Hey maybe the clock is set to Athkatla time while the info screen and saves are set to BG time LOL
My goal: just win, baby. I'll try this one with minimal auto pause (e.g. Auto pause on round end only) and core rules for the rest. Chanteau's blessing on Catslove. Her totemic animal will be, of course, spirit lion.
I was referring to the surname Catslove: the same one for the character that I'm running. Isn't it a little strange that elves, of all races, can't be druids? Is that an error? What's the deal with that?
For the first time there won’t be any screenshots in the story of Jagen MoonShadow – only text.
Jagen and Co managed to complete Cloakwood without any rests. So, there were only 6 rests so far including the very first one after Gorion’s death.
In Cloakwood, 3, Jagen reached the 6th level (20000), got 3 HP (29 HP total) and put 20 points into Open Locks (making it 65). In Cloakwood, 4, Dorn reached the 5th level (18000) with 5 HP (38 HP total). At last, on the 1st level of the Mines Viconia reached the 6th level (27500) with 7 HP (32 HP total).
Not able to use any spells memorized by Edwin and Viconia as well as any traps by Jagen (all of them were gradually used in the Bandit camp, in the battle to protect Aldeth and in the wyvern cave) this party had to rely on scrolls and potions in the Mines. There were not many charges left in the wands (and the left ones are kept for a potential ambush, maybe with wyverns, on the road back to FAI) so the wands couldn’t help either.
A mage with a group of archers on the second level of the Mines is dangerous sometimes. Jagen chose the corridor with ghasts and attacked this group from behind. Being invisible he found a place to see the mage and waited a bit while Edwin, unseen by enemies, casted a Web scroll on the centre on this room. A held mage = a dead mage. Throwing an Oil of Fiery burning helped to kill every guard next to him.
Jagen decided to skip Natasha and an Ogre Mage on the next level – just not to take any risks. No healing or antidote potions in the group can alone be a good reasoning.
An armored guard in front of Davaeorn’s chamber was first backstabbed by Jagen to become “near death” and then finished with a critical bullet from Vikky. Jagen had used a Potion of Speed before this fight to be able to move faster without losing the bonuses of the Boots of Stealth.
In front of Davaeorn there’re 5 traps. Jagen (with 55 points in FT/DT) being still invisible managed to find only 4 of them. So in order to survive he used a Potion of Magic Shielding. And this potion is just brilliant! Not only it gives you a 50% bonus to the magical damage resistance but it guarantees always successful saving throws. The trap sprung but it didn’t do any harm.
Again Jagen waited a bit while Edwin casted a Web scroll to hold Davaeorn. At the moment he failed his Saving throw, Jagen used a Potion of Explosions centered at Davaeorn followed by a Potion of Fire Breath (these attacks stopped some spells by Davaeorn). When Davaeorn became active Jagen retreated and waited for the Mirrored Image spell on Davaeorn to end.
Edwin casted a Grease scroll to slow Davaeorn. Then Dorn used a Potion of Invulnerability and went straight to the mage. Luckily he had no spells left and didn’t hit our brave half-orc.
While under the affect of the Potion of Invulnerability (AC=0, Saving throws+5) Dorn defeated a mustard jelly in the last room on this level, without being hit even once.
And to show another evidence of the importance that potions have I’d like to point at the fact 65 points in Open Locks are not enough to open some chests in this chamber. But the devs are really smart as there’s a Potion of Master Thievery in one of the containers Jagen could open. +40% to Open Locks helped to open everything in the Davaeorn chamber.
Okay, well for once I have made it into chapter 4, making it past the bandit camp. I'm only trying to get as far as I can, not worrying about speed. Currently at day 19 in Beregost at the start of chapter 4.
This game will be 99.99% non-auto-pause and fully "Purist" style. I had On Enemy Sighted enabled just outside of Candlekeep and used it to avoid a wolf. I disabled it right afterward. Otherwise everything else is via the Purist style definition.
Zandak Laughshield, the Brave LG Gnome Fighter 3/Illusionist 3 Str 18 Dex 18 Con 10 Int 19 Wis 10 Cha 10 Longbow ++ Darts ++
Kagain (L4) (if I get the party to chapter 5 he'll have the Golden Axe) Viconia (L4) (with Stupifier) Shar-Teel (Fighter 3/Thief2) (Varscona and Dagger +1) Branwen (L3) (using Spiritual Hammer) Alora
And success thus far really owes to the party composition, which has a strong front line and a lot of spell power. I think this is the first time that I've been able to breeze through a lot of the tougher encounters, where in past runs I've been substantially gimped in one way or another.
I did the bassilick map before the Nashkel mines. So my three spellcasters now all have level 2 spells.
One noteworthy thing to share:
I was almost shocked at how easy Nimbul was to take out with a cleric casting Silence on him. We're meta-gaming freely. So I had Shar-Teel reveal him via stealth. And then Branwen Silenced him before he even laid eyes on the party. Then Shar-Teel backstabbed him to launch the attack, and Viconia cast command. Zandak was prepared to use his missile wand or cast Blindness. But Nimbul suffered a morale failure immediately after the backstab. So unable to cast spells, and panicked, he collapsed in a heap from Command.
Now the hard part for me going forward is to whether to do any unnecessary side-questing... Any at all, really!
For example, it's tempting now to go after Bassilus. Especially now that I realize how powerful Silence is. Best I can tell, I should be able to just Silence and Blind him. (I may throw in Deafness for good measure.) Viconia's only 413 XP from reaching level 5, and then she'll be able to cast Miscast Magic on Bassillus as well. He really should be easy pickins then. And it would be nice to get 5000 gold. I should hopefully be able keep the PC well enough away to risk death.
(Note: If a party member falls outside of an enemy spellcaster's perception range do they risk getting Held?)
But that's the sort of risk that can get your PC killed. I'm having Branwen use her Spritual Hammer special ability; so even if I don't have Ashideena for her, she's still performing well enough.
I'm also tempted to make a run to the gnoll stronghold to get the Dex Gauntlets for Kagain.
But anyhoo, now that I'm heading into Cloakwood, any advice?
For cloackwood avoid all non-essential encounters... DO NOT fight the druids in the first area to assist the merchants league. The leader casts call lightning and it will kill a party member or your PC. In the second area web traps and strong poison attacks are very nasty... Centeol can be done, just don't advance further than the entrance until you have killed the initial enemy spawn (fear/horror will help) Nothing in the third area except some shadow druids and peter of the north The fourth area is the wyvern cave... i you have a really good tank and antidotes it's worth about 5000 xp. 5th stage is the mine entrance
make sure whenever you travel between areas you can deal with the dreaded 4 ettercap/trap ambush and bring some antidotes. Remember your silence technique and web for the fight outside the mines... in the mines don't forget that on level 2 there are 2 traps that have a good probability of killing a character before you get to the first guardroom. Daevorn can be blinded or silenced as well, either eliminating him as a magic casting threat... if that fails... a potion of magic shielding or magic blocking will help.
Oh, and Good Luck!
Note: On being held... if the party member in question was in visual range of the caster when they cast hold person, the spell will follow them (even through walls). Also any party members within the 7' radius of the spells affect could also be possibly affected. In vanilla the caster most likely won't peruse you out of their field of perception (as they do in SCS), so even if help you should remain safe. Remember, Viconia has 50% magic resistance so she is an ideal initial target to present.
Btw, I did get the Dex gauntlets for Kagain and Ashideena for Branwen with no trouble.
Is Shar-Teel's 40 in Traps good enough for Cloakwood 2 (where Centeol is), or think I should I have Viconia and Branwen memorize Find Traps? Although they have to be removed. Hopefully 40 is good enough. I have a couple potions of perception but I forgot to go to Durlag's merchant to buy potions of master thievery and more potions of perception. Oh well.
The ettercap ambushes are rough, for sure. (I'm so conditioned in an ordinary game to reloading those annoying ambushes between maps.) I just ran into four of them between Cloakwood 1 and Cloakwood 2, but fortunately there was no traps.
I think if I encounter any wyverns between maps I'll just flee.
@Lemernis, "Dex gauntlets for Kagain and Ashideena for Branwen" is definitely a must. Kagain is the best tank in the game with those gauntlets and should help significantly with a no reload. My run is the first with Branwen, but I already see good potential with her and Ashideena.
Just dump all of the next points on Shar-Teel's next level into traps...I think I did Cloakwood with Coran with one level's worth of points thrown into traps and did fine.
I've never gone to Durlag's merchant early, nor reloaded an ambush (unless I died, of course).
In my solo run I managed to stealth my way through the ankheg stage (I only have non-magical studded leather armor on) and through the bandit camp into Tazok's tent where I was able to find and remove the trap on the chest and successfully re-stealth before my initial stealth revealed me to the guards inside. I then managed to stealth my way to cloakwood.
In cloakwood I just stealthed my way all the way through until I got to Daevorn, whom I played a game of cat and mouse with as I had to burn away 2 sets of mirror images to be able to hit him. I flooded the mine then re-stealthed my way out to Baldur's Gate.
In Baldur's Gate I paid a visit to the thieves guild for potions of perception and the dex tome, and then sorcerous sundries for a potion buying spree and for some arrows.
I then snuck into the sewers and past the ogre mage (I killed him with an arrow of slaying) re-stealthed and then fired an arrow of detonation at the 5 carrion crawlers...killing them all instantly.
I then paid a visit to the Seven Suns trading post and freed Jhasso and then assassinated all the dopplegangers there without being noticed.
Then it was back to Scar to turn in these 2 quests and then speak to Duke Eltan, who bade me investigate the Iron Throne. I walked into the Iron Throne and passed my self off as a visiting dignitary and found out about Sarevok's apprentices. I snuck past them and them fired off several arrows of detonation (fire then stealth... they never saw me and they all died after 6 arrows).
I then returned to Duke Eltan who sent me to Candlekeep to follow the Iron Throne's leaders. In Candlekeep I was arrested and falsely accused of murdering the Iron Throne's leaders, but was teleported to the catacombs beneath the library.
I am about 80% done with the first level (with the help of 2 potions of perception). I really want the strength tome for a 19!
I think I'm at day 11 or 12 and I have not rested yet and there isn't a huge penalty to my attack bonuses. My Shadow Dancer is at level 8 and I should have no problems until I get to the Ducal Palace, where I think I may have to meta-game and assassinate some/all of the dopplegangers from stealth before the ceremony...if that's possible...otherwise I can't think of a way to save the 2 grand dukes from the doppleganger assault.
I'm in the air about that strategy, but it is the only thing I can think of that still allows me a solo run and is still within the rules. There is still the possibility of failing a stealth roll (not likely, but possible) even with my 125 move silently and my 75 hide in shadows even indoors (no penalties).
I like how you found out Nimbul is actually an easy fight. In my other two play-throughs I have used a charge from the wand of frost on him and he loses his morale and tries to run...only to die by my party, but in my current play-through, I merely let him see me, monologue, and then I hid... the Amnish soldiers killed him for me and even let me take his stuff!
Well, at least I made it to the Cloakwood mines map, but unfortunately things did not go my way with the four assassins there. Game there ended at 30 days.
I tried the Web spell, which I normally don't use. My relative unfamiliarity with the spell turned the battle into a mess. It's a spell I normally don't like because without free action for a buffed tank one then has to use ranged weapons, fireball, wand of lighting (which I forgot I had one), and so forth. So therefore I don't use it much.
I was able to Silence the mages. I then cast Web. Then I tried Hold to get everyone immobilized, but it worked on only one of them, despite several castings. I managed to Charm one of them (the axe thrower). But I didn't have the presence of mind to make him attack the others! (I just assumed they would start attacking him and kind of forgot about it, as I was preoccupied with casting spells).
In a nutshell, I was basically at a loss how to proceed after trapping the enemy in Web!
Then one of the mages eventually stepped forward and cast Fireball, which killed the PC.
In hindsight I should have drawn each of them out one at a time, and killed them one by one. That's what I normally do.
That said, the last time I used Web in a game it was a great success against the amazons outside the Nashkel mines secret exit. So I figured, why not try it here?
Oh well, there's always next time.
I think I'm going to take a break from this for bit, though, actually. I'd like to get back to my 'Let the Fates Decide' game. Plus there's some other things I have to finally knuckle down with related to all this here.
I'll still look in on what's doing and manage the Leader Board, of course. I'm enjoying everyone's adventures!
Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you... that fight can go wrong quickly, but it sounds as if you had it handled minus some micro-management issues.
I really like your let the fates decide game post, so I won't feel too bad for you to get more into it. I hope you give this challenge another try later on after taking a break. I might even try a Let the Fates Decide game... although I don't think I'll go Diviner... maybe a cleric who prays for guidance from their deity.
Hopefully I'll get to the top of the "purist" leader board for my current run-through... here's hoping my backstab before gab strategy works.
Thinking on this some more, I think I would have won the battle if only I had remembered to have the axe-hurler attack the mages (face palm!), and to use the lightning wand on the two fighters! Estupido!
I really like your let the fates decide game post, so I won't feel too bad for you to get more into it. I hope you give this challenge another try later on after taking a break. I might even try a Let the Fates Decide game... although I don't think I'll go Diviner... maybe a cleric who prays for guidance from their deity.
Oh, I intend to keep playing this challenge until I eventually get a party all the way to a win at the final battle. It may take me months, but I'll get there! Just need a break right about now, though.
When I next play a game that uses dice and cards, I will still use the same basic techniques I'm using in Let the Fates Decide. But I'll play a completely different character--and the roleplaying of the character concept (along with the interaction of the NPCs) will guide the flow of game. For all decisions for which it seems a good fit to use the cards/dice with, I'll do that. But otherwise it will be RP-driven.
OK, final update on Zanneiros Moonshadow, my solo elven shadow dancer...
I made it through the catacombs, where I killed anything I could for the XP and I achieved level 9. I then returned to Baldur's Gate and snuck my way into the Flaming Fist compound and recused Duke Eltan. I the snuck into the Iron Throne's complex and dealt with Sarevok's mistress. After obtaining Sarevok's journal, I made for the blushing mermaid tavern, where I made short work of an ogre who thought he was better at killing than I was... he lost without even getting to take a swing at me. I went into the undercellar via the basement and confronted the pair of assassins that Sarevok has hired to kill the grand dukes. Assassins...heh, more like amateurs... they both died to my blade before they even understood their mistake.
No I entered the Duchal Palace, where I was somewhat uncertain of my strategy... as most strategies do, mine failed at the first contact, where I missed my first backstab and initiated combat with 6 or more greater dopplegangers. I relied on my backstab still (4X at this point, but it is broken) and managed, with the assistance of the flaming fist and Duke Belt to kill all the dopplegangers (Only Belt and 2 flmaing fist officers survived and the 2 officers died when Sarevok went crazy). Sarevok revealed himself and started to attack us, but he was teleported out before I cold kill him (he was injured though).
I was then sent after him, hot on his trail into the thieve's maze where I snuck past many of the guardians and disarmed several traps before finding a path that led me to an underground city. I once again used my stealth abilities to spy on a group of Iron Throne mercenaries and managed to dispatch of them all with little difficulty. They gave me level 10. I then confronted Tamoko and sent her on her way.
Now I entered into the lost temple of Bhaal, to confront my brother and our heritage. I boldly confronted my brother before hiding. I then attempted to deal with Semaj (I went for arrows and a potion of magic blocking) but Angelo joined into the fray and managed to get an arrow of detonation off. I guess my potion had worn off or didn't affect the arrow because it hurt me badly. I was then able to hide and retreat to a shadowy corner where I was able to drink 2 healing potions and a potion of regeneration before re-joining combat. *Here is the funny part. I must not have been the only one Angleo hit with his arrow as I heard a loud voice complaining about Angelo's stupidity before Tazok, the half ogre, attacked and killed Angelo.* When I re-entered the fray I struck as Semaj first, who had lost his mystical defenses to my initial attacks. Tazok saw Semaj fall, but confusion was plain on his face, quickly replaced by surprise as my bade entered his heart. Now it was only me and my brother left.
My first attack injured Sarevok, who then flew into a rage as he tried to locate me. When he had calmed down I attacked again severely injuring him, the blood of our father, that which he boasted gave him the power to rule ran freely down his back and legs pooling on the floor. Sarevok was still on his feet and defiant as my third strike landed, and the giant then fell to his knees and then to the ground the flow of blood from his wounds stopped. Gorion had been avenged and the Sword Coast was saved.
Victory!
Time: 14 days 18 hours
Zanneiros Moonshadow Male Elf Thief Shadow Dancer (Level 10)
full "purist" run as I de-activated my auto-pause features entirely.
I didn't take any of my allowed companions as they were less than optimal. Also I didn't rest the entire game, so fatigue penalties seem to be broken. All of my skill points went into Move Silently and then Hide in Shadows, except I placed a few points into traps and locks (they were both at 30). My equipment consisted of:
Armor: Studded Leather (bought it from Winthrop) Weapon (Melee): Varscona Weapon (Ranged): Short Bow (got it from Gorion's encounter) and Arrows of Detonation (in BG) Ring: Ring Free Action/Ring of the Princes Boots: Boots of Stealth Belt: Girdle of Even Bane Cloak: Cloak of Non-Detection Tons of potion of which I used surprisingly few.
I just found my new favorite class, but I want to see how they fix it, because as it is now nothing can stop you as long as you are inside or it is night, after about level 4.
Not sure if this is considered just a solo run or a normal run as well, as I rolled for my party I just used the rule where I didn't have to take them. I didn't meet a trap that required a potion of perception until I got to Candlekeep, of course I didn't make a full exploration with my 30 in find traps either... so take that with a grain of salt.
Comments
She was the catalyst for the events that almost caused Sarevok to lose his grip on the Throne, of Bhaal and of Iron. In the span of a tenday – a tenday! – Maglynn destroyed the Iron Throne’s bandit ring and also disrupted the Iron Throne’s attempt to sabotage the Nashkel iron mines.
It gives even the most amateur historian pause to consider what this woman might have done if she had not perished when she did. Let us recap, shortly, her accomplishments: she slew 13 assassins whom Sarevok dispatched after her, 2 of them shortly after her hurried flight from Candlekeep. She rescued the Rashemi Witch Dynaheir from the Gnoll Fortress on 1 hours sleep, accompanied only the bows of Kivan and Minsc, two rangers.
The mystery of their companionship – why these two righteous men decided to follow someone who openly and fervently worshipped Bane – is one that Maglynn does not dwell on. Suffice to say that Maglynn valued their strength and they valued her means to their ends: Misnc was able to rescue his witch, Dynaheir, and Kivan was able to hunt down the Ogre, Tazok, who slew his beloved. Dynaheir and Minsc do not speak of their time on the Sword Coast; Kivan was slain during Sarevok’s ducal coronation.
Let us return to this remarkable woman’s accomplishments: She defeated the Gnoll Fortress on the coast nearly single-handedly. She cleaned out the Nashkel Mines:
Kobolds by the score. We ignored them. They’re cowards and tricksters – and not worth our time. We’re looking for the head of this motley gang. Cut off the head and the rest of the snake will follow.
With her mace, named rather crudely as “Stupefier,” she brained the half-orc Mulahey and the quartet of assassins that Sarevok had sent personally to kill her. After fighting off that ambush, Maglynn recruited Shar-teel Dosan, bastard daughter to the Angelo Dosan, who lopped off the head of the Flaming Fist and infamously sent Baldur’s Gate spiraling to the Nine Hells that was the Gods War.
It was with Shar-Teel that Maglynn truly came into her own. Shar-Teel’s bloodthirstiness combined with Maglynn’s cold efficiency to the complete and merciless destruction of the Iron Thorne’s bandit camp. What a path those two woman could have carved.
All for naught. In the Cloakwood Iron Mine, after fighting off waves of spiders and ettercaps and Iron Throne Mercenaries, Maglynn’s life was taken, cruelly short for all her cruelty. Abruptly, and with little fanfare, her journal ends, pages unwritten, after describing her choice to lead her group around a Wyvern Nest and directly into the Iron Throne’s lair.
I managed, through much expense and research, to track down the account of what occurred. Shar-Teel Dosan was one of the first casualties of the Gods War – when she attempted to murder her father for what he’d done to her sister in arms. It is the distant recollection of a tortured soul – which took much divination to bring about, so great was Dosan’s wrath – but here is what happened to this force that could have been:
We had just dispatched the first of Davoreon’s apprentices. A bitch of a mage, she had nailed Maglynn with a lighting bolt – but that was nothing that Maglynn couldn’t handle. The bolt reflected off her shield and killed the mage. The woman was blessed, I tell you. Or would tell you, if it were the case.
It was so fast. One minute, she was laughing as she rounded the corner after the dog’s excrement guard that had fled Dynaheir’s wand. The next: a sizzle and then, nothing. We ventured after her and found her corpse … it was like when sand crumbles or hay blows away in a wind. Nothing occurs until nothing is left but the shell of scorched armor and empty promises of what could have been.
--
Really sucked to lose this one. Got killed by the lightning trap in the first Cloakwood hallway – chasing a 120 xp guard. Idiot.
I rested twice: once after we got back from the Gnoll Fortress and once just before the Cloakwood mine. Kivan got axed heading to the Gnoll fortress, so that resurrection trip added 2 extra days – on top of the time it takes you just to complete the Gnoll fortress. I think Dynaheir leaves almost 0 option of completing the game in a time that can beat Fighting Ferret.
Final time: 16 days, 10 hours.
So, I'm back to Nashkel, wasting more time to res and might as well rest (to get spells for the potion quaffing Greywolf that is to come, considering my entire party will be exhausted). Point is: don't drink a bunch of scotch and play your random no-reload game
Somehow I have gone from baroque lute music (de Visée) to psychedelic acoustic rock (Gemiinii Riisiing) to New Orleans jazz (George Lewis) in this time frame. Thanks Johnny Walker
EDIT: with a couple Hold Persons under my belt, I risked it without my mages. One stuck and with some overkill with Tiax's ghast and a Chant, we easily took out Greywolf (sans one healing potion). Yay Varscona
EDIT II: So, I start the mines at an abysmal 10.19. Ha...just realized...Tiax is the only male among all of the females...a comical thought.
EDIT III: finished off with Glenn Gould's 1981 Goldberg Variations recordings: Yes, I know, no one will know what I'm talking about
Congratulations to the new tournament leaders in terms of a Speed run and an SCS run!
Jagen’s party will no way accomplish the task in a small amount of time to be competitive with the leaders and this adventure doesn’t include SCS components. Meanwhile, I’m going to post stories about Jagen as he’s still alive and continues to bring me something new (due to a no-reload component and an insane difficulty). And of course I’ll include some changes to posting that are needed (as it can be seen from the answers that changes can be done). I’ll try to focus on the interesting tactics to deal with enemies and some major events.
As (if) you remember, Jagen MoonShadow, also known as Jagen H’gar, came to Cloakwood.
In Cloakwood, 1, Viconia reached the 5th level (13000) with 4 HP, Edwin reached the 5th level (20000) with 4 HP (thus acquiring an access to the 3rd level mage spells). To the contrary of what the Unofficial Manual says, the 5th, not the 6th, level of cleric gives access to the 3rd level of spells. Although to start using them the party needed to rest while Jagen didn’t intend to have any rest before reaching the Mines area.
One of the difficulties in Cloakwood are traps and a cave with Spider Bane.
Traps weren’t a problem as Jagen had 55 points in Disarm Traps – this amount is enough for every trap in this district. But the cave was dangerous indeed. To overcome this danger I used the following tactics.
Jagen hid in the shadows and went in. Being invisible, he chose a place where only a sword spider (a powerful foe because of his number of attacks) was in his sight. An arrow had been shot and the spider quickly rushed to the hunter. Jagen went out of the cave and retreated some way to the south. As soon as the spider appeared, Viconia and Dorn attacked it. A wand of frost is very useful against this type of enemy. So, it was dealt with.
With the same tactics other spiders in this cave one by one were defeated. I’ve found out using a wand is essential.
While travelling between Cloakwood 2 and 3 the party was waylaid by 2 big wyverns. Because everyone was tired, only using wands of MM and lighting (it was outdoors, so no friendly fire here) helped to finish them off. In order to keep everyone healthy, I declined any melee fighting in this battle and missile attacks didn’t hit their good AC at all.
So, during long periods without a rest wands are the real savior.
I'd appreciate it if you guys would check your own games to see if this is the case for yours as well - look at the save game day/time display - load the game and immediatly check the in game cloack and see if it matches the save game time or vice versa - check the in game time - save the game and see if the save game time matches the in game time.
While we are checking things I notice a lot of people are avoiding resting sometimes for long periods - if you have to hit rolls active it might be useful to check them to see if the fatigue penalty is being applied as designed when you go long periods without rest - it's supposed to add a -1 luck penalty for every 4 hours after 24 without rest so if you went say 3 days without rest the combined penalty should be -12 I think (48 hours over 24 at -1 per 4 hours) - if applied correctly this is a penalty vs any roll (attack save etc)
I know in BG1 vanilla it was very haphazard sometimes applying it often not applying and for long periods without rest rarely accumulating it as defined.
I also don't think that fatigue works in such a detrimental way... I think fatigue is just a status that confers a standard penalty that is not stackable, as in my current run I haven't yet rested (on day 5) as a solo shadow dancer (non-scs run) and I think that there is a -1 to attack rolls only (although it may affect other rolls as well... I really can't say as I am still hiding and backstabbing anything that has to die and just walking right by that which doesn't.
edit: OK, so Bengoshi and I posted at the same time, but he seems to offer some valid evidence for fatigue penalties. I'll have to test this out later tonight on my game, but if anyone has any more evidence to this, it would be really helpful; although it would make sense as I am currently getting a +11 on my THAC0 (18 str, attack from stealth, varscona, and elven longsword user) without my level being taken into consideration.
I thought I'd try the whole "purist" thing as auto-pause on enemy sighted seems to be viewed as too helpful, so I am running the best of 5 rolls and I chose to go solo after seing the great PC roll and the not so great NPC rolls.
1379 | 662
Male Elf Thief -> Shadow Dancer | Chaotic Neutral, 6 re-rolls (87!), and male voice set 2
(Yes I get elven a lot as my race roll... I like elves, but this is kind of getting ridiculous...)
Companion rolls: 21, 2, 10, 28, 11
Rasaad, Alora, Faldorn, Xzar, Garrick
Yeah definitely going for solo with that group of cannon fodder... I'm really only worried about the Ducal Palace battle, but shadow dancer is such a powerful class (currently at level 6 and I haven't been injured at all yet) and am about to go into ankheg area and then the bandit camp.
The penalties are felt, in fact: they really make things worse for me.
About the in-game time: the good and always reliable way to find out how long the game runs is to see the information screen. For example, this is Jagen's progress before he came to the location of Cloakwood Mines:
To add to the mix I recall that implementation of the penalty became very hit or miss in BG1 Vanilla especially as you grew more and more fatigued where sometimes there was no penalty and sometimes it was correct and sometimes somewhere in between.
If the penalty was always implemented properly then for a no reload speed game it would likely be a difficult choice whether to not rest and take the penalty dropping your chances of hitting or making your saving throw against X, Y or Z vs saving the rest time to complete the run more quickly.
Hey maybe the clock is set to Athkatla time while the info screen and saves are set to BG time LOL
Next character is:
Hollyrise Catslove
Female Elven Totemic Druid
1 stat reroll and voice 3
Accompanied by:
Safana
Ajantis
Khalid
Branwen
Quayle
My goal: just win, baby. I'll try this one with minimal auto pause (e.g. Auto pause on round end only) and core rules for the rest. Chanteau's blessing on Catslove. Her totemic animal will be, of course, spirit lion.
And, apparently elves like the internets, @dstoltzfus
Well, yours is the last Catslove left standing. Critical hit from a Xvart! A Xvart!
Jagen and Co managed to complete Cloakwood without any rests. So, there were only 6 rests so far including the very first one after Gorion’s death.
In Cloakwood, 3, Jagen reached the 6th level (20000), got 3 HP (29 HP total) and put 20 points into Open Locks (making it 65). In Cloakwood, 4, Dorn reached the 5th level (18000) with 5 HP (38 HP total). At last, on the 1st level of the Mines Viconia reached the 6th level (27500) with 7 HP (32 HP total).
Not able to use any spells memorized by Edwin and Viconia as well as any traps by Jagen (all of them were gradually used in the Bandit camp, in the battle to protect Aldeth and in the wyvern cave) this party had to rely on scrolls and potions in the Mines. There were not many charges left in the wands (and the left ones are kept for a potential ambush, maybe with wyverns, on the road back to FAI) so the wands couldn’t help either.
A mage with a group of archers on the second level of the Mines is dangerous sometimes. Jagen chose the corridor with ghasts and attacked this group from behind. Being invisible he found a place to see the mage and waited a bit while Edwin, unseen by enemies, casted a Web scroll on the centre on this room. A held mage = a dead mage. Throwing an Oil of Fiery burning helped to kill every guard next to him.
Jagen decided to skip Natasha and an Ogre Mage on the next level – just not to take any risks. No healing or antidote potions in the group can alone be a good reasoning.
An armored guard in front of Davaeorn’s chamber was first backstabbed by Jagen to become “near death” and then finished with a critical bullet from Vikky. Jagen had used a Potion of Speed before this fight to be able to move faster without losing the bonuses of the Boots of Stealth.
In front of Davaeorn there’re 5 traps. Jagen (with 55 points in FT/DT) being still invisible managed to find only 4 of them. So in order to survive he used a Potion of Magic Shielding. And this potion is just brilliant! Not only it gives you a 50% bonus to the magical damage resistance but it guarantees always successful saving throws. The trap sprung but it didn’t do any harm.
Again Jagen waited a bit while Edwin casted a Web scroll to hold Davaeorn. At the moment he failed his Saving throw, Jagen used a Potion of Explosions centered at Davaeorn followed by a Potion of Fire Breath (these attacks stopped some spells by Davaeorn). When Davaeorn became active Jagen retreated and waited for the Mirrored Image spell on Davaeorn to end.
Edwin casted a Grease scroll to slow Davaeorn. Then Dorn used a Potion of Invulnerability and went straight to the mage. Luckily he had no spells left and didn’t hit our brave half-orc.
While under the affect of the Potion of Invulnerability (AC=0, Saving throws+5) Dorn defeated a mustard jelly in the last room on this level, without being hit even once.
And to show another evidence of the importance that potions have I’d like to point at the fact 65 points in Open Locks are not enough to open some chests in this chamber. But the devs are really smart as there’s a Potion of Master Thievery in one of the containers Jagen could open. +40% to Open Locks helped to open everything in the Davaeorn chamber.
So, potions are the real savior too.
This game will be 99.99% non-auto-pause and fully "Purist" style. I had On Enemy Sighted enabled just outside of Candlekeep and used it to avoid a wolf. I disabled it right afterward. Otherwise everything else is via the Purist style definition.
Zandak Laughshield, the Brave
LG Gnome Fighter 3/Illusionist 3
Str 18
Dex 18
Con 10
Int 19
Wis 10
Cha 10
Longbow ++
Darts ++
Kagain (L4) (if I get the party to chapter 5 he'll have the Golden Axe)
Viconia (L4) (with Stupifier)
Shar-Teel (Fighter 3/Thief2) (Varscona and Dagger +1)
Branwen (L3) (using Spiritual Hammer)
Alora
And success thus far really owes to the party composition, which has a strong front line and a lot of spell power. I think this is the first time that I've been able to breeze through a lot of the tougher encounters, where in past runs I've been substantially gimped in one way or another.
I did the bassilick map before the Nashkel mines. So my three spellcasters now all have level 2 spells.
One noteworthy thing to share:
I was almost shocked at how easy Nimbul was to take out with a cleric casting Silence on him. We're meta-gaming freely. So I had Shar-Teel reveal him via stealth. And then Branwen Silenced him before he even laid eyes on the party. Then Shar-Teel backstabbed him to launch the attack, and Viconia cast command. Zandak was prepared to use his missile wand or cast Blindness. But Nimbul suffered a morale failure immediately after the backstab. So unable to cast spells, and panicked, he collapsed in a heap from Command.
Now the hard part for me going forward is to whether to do any unnecessary side-questing... Any at all, really!
For example, it's tempting now to go after Bassilus. Especially now that I realize how powerful Silence is. Best I can tell, I should be able to just Silence and Blind him. (I may throw in Deafness for good measure.) Viconia's only 413 XP from reaching level 5, and then she'll be able to cast Miscast Magic on Bassillus as well. He really should be easy pickins then. And it would be nice to get 5000 gold. I should hopefully be able keep the PC well enough away to risk death.
(Note: If a party member falls outside of an enemy spellcaster's perception range do they risk getting Held?)
But that's the sort of risk that can get your PC killed. I'm having Branwen use her Spritual Hammer special ability; so even if I don't have Ashideena for her, she's still performing well enough.
I'm also tempted to make a run to the gnoll stronghold to get the Dex Gauntlets for Kagain.
But anyhoo, now that I'm heading into Cloakwood, any advice?
For cloackwood avoid all non-essential encounters...
DO NOT fight the druids in the first area to assist the merchants league. The leader casts call lightning and it will kill a party member or your PC.
In the second area web traps and strong poison attacks are very nasty... Centeol can be done, just don't advance further than the entrance until you have killed the initial enemy spawn (fear/horror will help)
Nothing in the third area except some shadow druids and peter of the north
The fourth area is the wyvern cave... i you have a really good tank and antidotes it's worth about 5000 xp.
5th stage is the mine entrance
make sure whenever you travel between areas you can deal with the dreaded 4 ettercap/trap ambush and bring some antidotes.
Remember your silence technique and web for the fight outside the mines... in the mines don't forget that on level 2 there are 2 traps that have a good probability of killing a character before you get to the first guardroom. Daevorn can be blinded or silenced as well, either eliminating him as a magic casting threat... if that fails... a potion of magic shielding or magic blocking will help.
Oh, and Good Luck!
Note: On being held... if the party member in question was in visual range of the caster when they cast hold person, the spell will follow them (even through walls). Also any party members within the 7' radius of the spells affect could also be possibly affected. In vanilla the caster most likely won't peruse you out of their field of perception (as they do in SCS), so even if help you should remain safe. Remember, Viconia has 50% magic resistance so she is an ideal initial target to present.
Btw, I did get the Dex gauntlets for Kagain and Ashideena for Branwen with no trouble.
Is Shar-Teel's 40 in Traps good enough for Cloakwood 2 (where Centeol is), or think I should I have Viconia and Branwen memorize Find Traps? Although they have to be removed. Hopefully 40 is good enough. I have a couple potions of perception but I forgot to go to Durlag's merchant to buy potions of master thievery and more potions of perception. Oh well.
The ettercap ambushes are rough, for sure. (I'm so conditioned in an ordinary game to reloading those annoying ambushes between maps.) I just ran into four of them between Cloakwood 1 and Cloakwood 2, but fortunately there was no traps.
I think if I encounter any wyverns between maps I'll just flee.
Just dump all of the next points on Shar-Teel's next level into traps...I think I did Cloakwood with Coran with one level's worth of points thrown into traps and did fine.
I've never gone to Durlag's merchant early, nor reloaded an ambush (unless I died, of course).
In cloakwood I just stealthed my way all the way through until I got to Daevorn, whom I played a game of cat and mouse with as I had to burn away 2 sets of mirror images to be able to hit him. I flooded the mine then re-stealthed my way out to Baldur's Gate.
In Baldur's Gate I paid a visit to the thieves guild for potions of perception and the dex tome, and then sorcerous sundries for a potion buying spree and for some arrows.
I then snuck into the sewers and past the ogre mage (I killed him with an arrow of slaying) re-stealthed and then fired an arrow of detonation at the 5 carrion crawlers...killing them all instantly.
I then paid a visit to the Seven Suns trading post and freed Jhasso and then assassinated all the dopplegangers there without being noticed.
Then it was back to Scar to turn in these 2 quests and then speak to Duke Eltan, who bade me investigate the Iron Throne. I walked into the Iron Throne and passed my self off as a visiting dignitary and found out about Sarevok's apprentices. I snuck past them and them fired off several arrows of detonation (fire then stealth... they never saw me and they all died after 6 arrows).
I then returned to Duke Eltan who sent me to Candlekeep to follow the Iron Throne's leaders. In Candlekeep I was arrested and falsely accused of murdering the Iron Throne's leaders, but was teleported to the catacombs beneath the library.
I am about 80% done with the first level (with the help of 2 potions of perception). I really want the strength tome for a 19!
I think I'm at day 11 or 12 and I have not rested yet and there isn't a huge penalty to my attack bonuses. My Shadow Dancer is at level 8 and I should have no problems until I get to the Ducal Palace, where I think I may have to meta-game and assassinate some/all of the dopplegangers from stealth before the ceremony...if that's possible...otherwise I can't think of a way to save the 2 grand dukes from the doppleganger assault.
I'm in the air about that strategy, but it is the only thing I can think of that still allows me a solo run and is still within the rules. There is still the possibility of failing a stealth roll (not likely, but possible) even with my 125 move silently and my 75 hide in shadows even indoors (no penalties).
@Lemernis
I like how you found out Nimbul is actually an easy fight. In my other two play-throughs I have used a charge from the wand of frost on him and he loses his morale and tries to run...only to die by my party, but in my current play-through, I merely let him see me, monologue, and then I hid... the Amnish soldiers killed him for me and even let me take his stuff!
I tried the Web spell, which I normally don't use. My relative unfamiliarity with the spell turned the battle into a mess. It's a spell I normally don't like because without free action for a buffed tank one then has to use ranged weapons, fireball, wand of lighting (which I forgot I had one), and so forth. So therefore I don't use it much.
I was able to Silence the mages. I then cast Web. Then I tried Hold to get everyone immobilized, but it worked on only one of them, despite several castings. I managed to Charm one of them (the axe thrower). But I didn't have the presence of mind to make him attack the others! (I just assumed they would start attacking him and kind of forgot about it, as I was preoccupied with casting spells).
In a nutshell, I was basically at a loss how to proceed after trapping the enemy in Web!
Then one of the mages eventually stepped forward and cast Fireball, which killed the PC.
In hindsight I should have drawn each of them out one at a time, and killed them one by one. That's what I normally do.
That said, the last time I used Web in a game it was a great success against the amazons outside the Nashkel mines secret exit. So I figured, why not try it here?
Oh well, there's always next time.
I think I'm going to take a break from this for bit, though, actually. I'd like to get back to my 'Let the Fates Decide' game. Plus there's some other things I have to finally knuckle down with related to all this here.
I'll still look in on what's doing and manage the Leader Board, of course. I'm enjoying everyone's adventures!
I really like your let the fates decide game post, so I won't feel too bad for you to get more into it. I hope you give this challenge another try later on after taking a break. I might even try a Let the Fates Decide game... although I don't think I'll go Diviner... maybe a cleric who prays for guidance from their deity.
Hopefully I'll get to the top of the "purist" leader board for my current run-through... here's hoping my backstab before gab strategy works.
When I next play a game that uses dice and cards, I will still use the same basic techniques I'm using in Let the Fates Decide. But I'll play a completely different character--and the roleplaying of the character concept (along with the interaction of the NPCs) will guide the flow of game. For all decisions for which it seems a good fit to use the cards/dice with, I'll do that. But otherwise it will be RP-driven.
I made it through the catacombs, where I killed anything I could for the XP and I achieved level 9. I then returned to Baldur's Gate and snuck my way into the Flaming Fist compound and recused Duke Eltan. I the snuck into the Iron Throne's complex and dealt with Sarevok's mistress. After obtaining Sarevok's journal, I made for the blushing mermaid tavern, where I made short work of an ogre who thought he was better at killing than I was... he lost without even getting to take a swing at me. I went into the undercellar via the basement and confronted the pair of assassins that Sarevok has hired to kill the grand dukes. Assassins...heh, more like amateurs... they both died to my blade before they even understood their mistake.
No I entered the Duchal Palace, where I was somewhat uncertain of my strategy... as most strategies do, mine failed at the first contact, where I missed my first backstab and initiated combat with 6 or more greater dopplegangers. I relied on my backstab still (4X at this point, but it is broken) and managed, with the assistance of the flaming fist and Duke Belt to kill all the dopplegangers (Only Belt and 2 flmaing fist officers survived and the 2 officers died when Sarevok went crazy). Sarevok revealed himself and started to attack us, but he was teleported out before I cold kill him (he was injured though).
I was then sent after him, hot on his trail into the thieve's maze where I snuck past many of the guardians and disarmed several traps before finding a path that led me to an underground city. I once again used my stealth abilities to spy on a group of Iron Throne mercenaries and managed to dispatch of them all with little difficulty. They gave me level 10. I then confronted Tamoko and sent her on her way.
Now I entered into the lost temple of Bhaal, to confront my brother and our heritage. I boldly confronted my brother before hiding. I then attempted to deal with Semaj (I went for arrows and a potion of magic blocking) but Angelo joined into the fray and managed to get an arrow of detonation off. I guess my potion had worn off or didn't affect the arrow because it hurt me badly. I was then able to hide and retreat to a shadowy corner where I was able to drink 2 healing potions and a potion of regeneration before re-joining combat. *Here is the funny part. I must not have been the only one Angleo hit with his arrow as I heard a loud voice complaining about Angelo's stupidity before Tazok, the half ogre, attacked and killed Angelo.* When I re-entered the fray I struck as Semaj first, who had lost his mystical defenses to my initial attacks. Tazok saw Semaj fall, but confusion was plain on his face, quickly replaced by surprise as my bade entered his heart. Now it was only me and my brother left.
My first attack injured Sarevok, who then flew into a rage as he tried to locate me. When he had calmed down I attacked again severely injuring him, the blood of our father, that which he boasted gave him the power to rule ran freely down his back and legs pooling on the floor. Sarevok was still on his feet and defiant as my third strike landed, and the giant then fell to his knees and then to the ground the flow of blood from his wounds stopped. Gorion had been avenged and the Sword Coast was saved.
Victory!
Time: 14 days 18 hours
Zanneiros Moonshadow
Male
Elf
Thief
Shadow Dancer (Level 10)
full "purist" run as I de-activated my auto-pause features entirely.
I didn't take any of my allowed companions as they were less than optimal. Also I didn't rest the entire game, so fatigue penalties seem to be broken. All of my skill points went into Move Silently and then Hide in Shadows, except I placed a few points into traps and locks (they were both at 30). My equipment consisted of:
Armor: Studded Leather (bought it from Winthrop)
Weapon (Melee): Varscona
Weapon (Ranged): Short Bow (got it from Gorion's encounter) and Arrows of Detonation (in BG)
Ring: Ring Free Action/Ring of the Princes
Boots: Boots of Stealth
Belt: Girdle of Even Bane
Cloak: Cloak of Non-Detection
Tons of potion of which I used surprisingly few.
I just found my new favorite class, but I want to see how they fix it, because as it is now nothing can stop you as long as you are inside or it is night, after about level 4.
Not sure if this is considered just a solo run or a normal run as well, as I rolled for my party I just used the rule where I didn't have to take them. I didn't meet a trap that required a potion of perception until I got to Candlekeep, of course I didn't make a full exploration with my 30 in find traps either... so take that with a grain of salt.