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Shandalar's Island extreme challenge

XerxesVXerxesV Member Posts: 187
edited November 2013 in Challenges and Playthroughs
I just played through Shandalar's quest in Ulgoth's Beard at a very low level. It was surprisingly very difficult, but it got me thinking...

How crazy would it be to try this IMMEDIATELY after leaving Candlekeep? As a level 1 character. The skill required to even kill the first wolf would be impossible for me. The 3 mages in the first room are extremely tough. The ankheg guy is a monster. Even with 6 1st level party members it would be impossible (I would never dream of going in here 1st level solo).

Anyway, I'm sure some of you have awesome stories of beating the Island. Please share them and give some speculation on if a 1st level character or party could succeed, and how they might do it.

No amount of cheese is restricted. If I have to waste their spells by running and sleeping I'm fine with that.
Post edited by XerxesV on

Comments

  • GemHoundGemHound Member Posts: 801
    edited November 2013
    Well, the winter wolves would be easy to kill, since you can get Gorions belt immediately, causing them to give no damage to you since Gorions belt gives 100% cold resistance butttttt it doubles fire damage.
  • XerxesVXerxesV Member Posts: 187
    GemHound said:

    Well, the winter wolves would be easy to kill, since you can get Gorions belt immediately, causing them to give no damage to you since Gorions belt gives 100% cold resistance butttttt it doubles fire damage.

    Pretty sweet. Maybe a Druid could even charm them and throw them at the wizards. I'm working on a 1st level walkthrough. Maybe it is possible...

  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    If you don't have SCS I think it would be pretty easy with a LE sorcerer. Blind and Find Familiar to start. Use imp to polymorph self>mustard jelly and then let the mages waste all their spells on it, then blind and throw darts for the kill. Imp is immune to cold too so he can solo the wolves (not that it matters since you have the belt)

    SCS wizards are too smart to cast at a mustard jelly but with some extra cheese I think it could work.
  • GemHoundGemHound Member Posts: 801
    edited November 2013
    Hmmm, didn't know the LE Familiar could polymorph itself.
    Regardless, I'm testing these out with a LE Invoker starting at 113 XP.
    Plus all items and spells picked up on the way(without fighting people).
    Hmmm... You run into an issue when they start summoning stuff
    Post edited by GemHound on
  • nanonano Member Posts: 1,632
    I finished with the sorcerer! Obviously there was extensive cheese and reloading, but we're not here to fight fair, right? Only Andris was really hard, everything after that was relatively cheese/reload free.

    The star of the show was definitely the Imp and I'll be using the little guy more often in my regular runs after seeing how helpful he could be. Besides polymorph self, he's immune to fire, cold, AND lightning and he regenerates. Blindness and Web also proved themselves yet again to be some of the best spells in the game but I'm sure no one's surprised by that :)


    My strategy:
    - Took Blindness and Find Familiar at level 1. Bought a huge stack of darts and sling bullets (I have the ammo stacking mod but it doesn't really matter as long as you have a lot).

    - On the way to Ulgoth's Beard I grabbed the Ring of Wizardry but it ended up not making a difference besides cutting down the number of rests a little.

    - The first encounter is a polar bear. Blinded him and threw darts. SCS makes blinded enemies run about randomly which means you still have to be careful not to get near them.

    - The second encounter is white wolves. The imp is immune to their damage so he can take them on his own, but I helped him out with Blind.

    - Marcellus is visible along the corridor and I used the long range of the sling to attract him without getting in line of sight of the others. Managed to blind him (I forget if he had Minor Globe on but if he did I waited it out) and then had the imp block the corridor (the mustard jelly is fat enough to keep them from running past) and pelted him with darts until he died. I hit level 3 at this point and took Charm Person which proved to be entirely useless, so don't do that.

    - Andris is next and I woke him up with the imp. Beyn stays neutral for some reason, maybe a script is broken here but in the end it's not too important. Andris throws lightning bolts so never get in line of sight of him, use the imp at all times. He chucks Melf's Meteors if the imp is in jelly form. I lured him to the entrance and popped in and out until his spell defenses went down. Then I blinded him and threw darts. Lots of luck and cheese involved here, and I had to sleep for health a few times. Once he's blinded, never get next to him with charname. If he starts casting a spell, you can interrupt it by running out of his tiny vision range but if that spell is Sunfire he won't stop so you'll get toasted. Use the imp to keep him busy, and just wear him down. It takes a LOT of darts to get through all the stoneskins and mirror images with your crappy THAC0 but he dies eventually. I had the imp in spider form help out a bit when he got stuck on a rock.

    - I hit level 4 and picked Web. It's smooth sailing after here. All the mages are in fixed positions so I stacked three webs from out of sight until I saw that they were held, then the imp went in as a spider and took them out. I helped a bit with the sling; the darts don't have enough range to stay outside of the webs. If you take out Garan this way he doesn't summon Ankhegs, but even if he does there's webs covering everything.

    The cloak!
    image

    Best spell in the game.
    image
  • Awong124Awong124 Member Posts: 2,642
    I just tried soloing the island with a level 1 character on Core difficulty and beat it easily in about 2 minutes. In your challenge, you only said to beat the island, which to me meant completing the objective of getting Shandalar's cloak and leaving. You never said anything about having to kill everything in there.

    I used a level 1 Assassin and placed all thieving points in HIS and MS. My equipment was limited to what I was able to buy from Winthrop, which were a short sword and a studded leather armor (though the armor was unnecessary, as I never got into a melee fight). I simply stealthed and walked to the final chamber, bypassing every fight except the last one. I didn't need to be able to disarm traps, because the triggers for the traps don't actually reach all the way to the walls and there's enough room to squeeze around them. I stealthed and got into position behind Dezkiel, then activated my Assassin's poison weapon ability and backstabbed him. I then ran around the corner out of sight, stealthed again, and let the poison do its work and finish him off. Then I grabbed the cloak and left.
  • XerxesVXerxesV Member Posts: 187
    nano said:

    I finished with the sorcerer! Obviously there was extensive cheese and reloading, but we're not here to fight fair, right? Only Andris was really hard, everything after that was relatively cheese/reload free.

    The star of the show was definitely the Imp and I'll be using the little guy more often in my regular runs after seeing how helpful he could be. Besides polymorph self, he's immune to fire, cold, AND lightning and he regenerates. Blindness and Web also proved themselves yet again to be some of the best spells in the game but I'm sure no one's surprised by that :)


    My strategy:
    - Took Blindness and Find Familiar at level 1. Bought a huge stack of darts and sling bullets (I have the ammo stacking mod but it doesn't really matter as long as you have a lot).

    - On the way to Ulgoth's Beard I grabbed the Ring of Wizardry but it ended up not making a difference besides cutting down the number of rests a little.

    - The first encounter is a polar bear. Blinded him and threw darts. SCS makes blinded enemies run about randomly which means you still have to be careful not to get near them.

    - The second encounter is white wolves. The imp is immune to their damage so he can take them on his own, but I helped him out with Blind.

    - Marcellus is visible along the corridor and I used the long range of the sling to attract him without getting in line of sight of the others. Managed to blind him (I forget if he had Minor Globe on but if he did I waited it out) and then had the imp block the corridor (the mustard jelly is fat enough to keep them from running past) and pelted him with darts until he died. I hit level 3 at this point and took Charm Person which proved to be entirely useless, so don't do that.

    - Andris is next and I woke him up with the imp. Beyn stays neutral for some reason, maybe a script is broken here but in the end it's not too important. Andris throws lightning bolts so never get in line of sight of him, use the imp at all times. He chucks Melf's Meteors if the imp is in jelly form. I lured him to the entrance and popped in and out until his spell defenses went down. Then I blinded him and threw darts. Lots of luck and cheese involved here, and I had to sleep for health a few times. Once he's blinded, never get next to him with charname. If he starts casting a spell, you can interrupt it by running out of his tiny vision range but if that spell is Sunfire he won't stop so you'll get toasted. Use the imp to keep him busy, and just wear him down. It takes a LOT of darts to get through all the stoneskins and mirror images with your crappy THAC0 but he dies eventually. I had the imp in spider form help out a bit when he got stuck on a rock.

    - I hit level 4 and picked Web. It's smooth sailing after here. All the mages are in fixed positions so I stacked three webs from out of sight until I saw that they were held, then the imp went in as a spider and took them out. I helped a bit with the sling; the darts don't have enough range to stay outside of the webs. If you take out Garan this way he doesn't summon Ankhegs, but even if he does there's webs covering everything.

    The cloak!
    image

    Best spell in the game.
    image

    brilliant. Great job. I'm amazed.
  • EndarireEndarire Member Posts: 1,519
    Interesting how people can do so much with mere level 1 characters. The game might be beatable as a level 1 character (assumedly solo), though you'll likely have the EXP to qualify for a higher level.

    It's quite possible to reach Durlag's Tower at level 1 and make progress. (My guide is here: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/23058/a-solo-sorcerer-for-the-long-haul) Getting through Durlag's Tower with a level 1 solo character sounds like a very hard challenge. Who's up for it?
  • XerxesVXerxesV Member Posts: 187
    Endarire said:

    Interesting how people can do so much with mere level 1 characters. The game might be beatable as a level 1 character (assumedly solo), though you'll likely have the EXP to qualify for a higher level.

    It's quite possible to reach Durlag's Tower at level 1 and make progress. (My guide is here: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/23058/a-solo-sorcerer-for-the-long-haul) Getting through Durlag's Tower with a level 1 solo character sounds like a very hard challenge. Who's up for it?

    A braver man than I. Good lord, imagine the reloads!

    Traps. Dwarf guards. Slime pits. Final boss. Yikes

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