Memoirs of the Desperate Dragon Disciple - (using Rasaad as her Tank and other crazy shenanigans)
Ygramul
Member Posts: 1,060
The story so far...
(It's very embarrassing really. I started BGEE finally with the 1.2 patch a few days ago after a year of waiting and this is my fourth no-reload run already: 1. Fighter/Invoker (EEkepered) - Death by Sirine. 2. Fighter/Invoker #2 (EEkeepered) -- Death by Tarnesh. (Really?! And I'm supposed to be some expert who already finished a no-reload run once before.) 3. Cavalier (had a really good feeling about this one) -- Death by Tarnesh, again! Aw, c'mon! I should not have rejected Xzar and Montaron because they are evil. *sigh*)
HOUSE RULES FOR THIS RUN:
- Mea Culpa: don't touch EEkeeper (not for NPCs either); don't adjust abilities (no min-maxing)
- NO-RELOAD! (resurrecting NPCs within game okay; if they are chunked, then they are gone.)
- SCS (AI and encounter improvements only, but no rule-changes: e.g. smarter mage AI & smarter basilisks, but no 'improved spiders')
- no "rest until healed" (cast heal spells individually after 8 hour rest or use potions: makes dungeons tricky!)
- no "recharging" items (Shield amulet, you say. It's gone once all the charges are gone.)
- avoid munchkinisms
Enter the Desperate Dragon Disciple:
Kaelyn Flamewreath - Human - Chaotic Good [PIC]
(I take the first, unmodified roll -- and it's a fantastic one: 10/17/17/14/15/16. Then again if I knew that I would be rolling a CON of 17, I would have picked a regular sorcerer, not a dragon disciple. Still this looks promising.)
* Kaelyn picks Blindness and Shield at start along with Sling proficiency.
Shank proves almost my undoing: I Blind him and he hides?! what the hell. I walk up to where he has been and he backstabs me for 4 points. Ouch. I walk out and stretch my legs and consider my life choices: almost dead at Shank. This doesn't bode well. I rest at the Inn for a bit considering crawling back to the Stables. Then go back in there, Shield up, and start pelting him while running around the furniture. He is dead a solid five minutes of a Benny Hill Show later (cue the music, including banana peels). My first encounter won! Yeay!
* I accept help from Imoen and Xzar and Montaron. (I would have enlisted my ex-wife had she offered help.) And manage to actually defeat Tarnesh this time and without any deaths! Woo-hoo! (He Sleeps Montaron but Imoen nails him after some distraction from the guards.) I enlist Jaheira & Khalid at FAI.
* We save a crazy pink hued mage (Neera) from a bunch of other mages and their lackeys. She begins following us around (I kick Montaron out) and we head straight down south to Nashkel. I spend no time at all in Beregost. We thaw a statue (Branwen) at a carnival and get some needed cleric help (I kick Xzar out). Lastly, a strange monk (Rasaad) joins us at the town of Nashkel (I send Khalid back to FAI).
So, we have so far:
Kaelyn - Dragon Disciple 1
Imoen - Thief 1
Jaheira - Fighter 2 / Druid 2
Neera - Wild Mage 1
Branwen - Cleric 2
Rasaad - Sun Soul Monk 1
* Analysis: I decided that I will try to keep Neera and Rasaad to the end and do their questlines, also keeping Imoen (dualing to Mage later). Branwen is a necessity as the sole good cleric (I'd prefer Viconia, but this is a goody-two-shoes run; I likely cannot keep her in party at high rep.) So, the only negotiable party member is Jaheira. This means there is not single dedicated tank/sword user in party. I could let Jaheira go and get Minsc or Ajantis, but then I would be short in healers (especially for a no-reload run).
This brings me to my theoretical tank: Rasaad.
I'm thinking that between the Shield amulet initially and casting Spirit Armor on him later he can actually attain a better AC than anyone else in the game. Throw in the Strength spell and an Ioun Stone (to protect against criticals) he should be able to hold the front line by himself -- alas he has a CON of nothing. But lacking archer support or a strong sword wielder I will need to rely on my casters for damage in mid- to late-game.
About to venture forth from Nashkel.
Your thoughts are welcome.
(It's very embarrassing really. I started BGEE finally with the 1.2 patch a few days ago after a year of waiting and this is my fourth no-reload run already: 1. Fighter/Invoker (EEkepered) - Death by Sirine. 2. Fighter/Invoker #2 (EEkeepered) -- Death by Tarnesh. (Really?! And I'm supposed to be some expert who already finished a no-reload run once before.) 3. Cavalier (had a really good feeling about this one) -- Death by Tarnesh, again! Aw, c'mon! I should not have rejected Xzar and Montaron because they are evil. *sigh*)
HOUSE RULES FOR THIS RUN:
- Mea Culpa: don't touch EEkeeper (not for NPCs either); don't adjust abilities (no min-maxing)
- NO-RELOAD! (resurrecting NPCs within game okay; if they are chunked, then they are gone.)
- SCS (AI and encounter improvements only, but no rule-changes: e.g. smarter mage AI & smarter basilisks, but no 'improved spiders')
- no "rest until healed" (cast heal spells individually after 8 hour rest or use potions: makes dungeons tricky!)
- no "recharging" items (Shield amulet, you say. It's gone once all the charges are gone.)
- avoid munchkinisms
Enter the Desperate Dragon Disciple:
Kaelyn Flamewreath - Human - Chaotic Good [PIC]
(I take the first, unmodified roll -- and it's a fantastic one: 10/17/17/14/15/16. Then again if I knew that I would be rolling a CON of 17, I would have picked a regular sorcerer, not a dragon disciple. Still this looks promising.)
* Kaelyn picks Blindness and Shield at start along with Sling proficiency.
Shank proves almost my undoing: I Blind him and he hides?! what the hell. I walk up to where he has been and he backstabs me for 4 points. Ouch. I walk out and stretch my legs and consider my life choices: almost dead at Shank. This doesn't bode well. I rest at the Inn for a bit considering crawling back to the Stables. Then go back in there, Shield up, and start pelting him while running around the furniture. He is dead a solid five minutes of a Benny Hill Show later (cue the music, including banana peels). My first encounter won! Yeay!
* I accept help from Imoen and Xzar and Montaron. (I would have enlisted my ex-wife had she offered help.) And manage to actually defeat Tarnesh this time and without any deaths! Woo-hoo! (He Sleeps Montaron but Imoen nails him after some distraction from the guards.) I enlist Jaheira & Khalid at FAI.
* We save a crazy pink hued mage (Neera) from a bunch of other mages and their lackeys. She begins following us around (I kick Montaron out) and we head straight down south to Nashkel. I spend no time at all in Beregost. We thaw a statue (Branwen) at a carnival and get some needed cleric help (I kick Xzar out). Lastly, a strange monk (Rasaad) joins us at the town of Nashkel (I send Khalid back to FAI).
So, we have so far:
Kaelyn - Dragon Disciple 1
Imoen - Thief 1
Jaheira - Fighter 2 / Druid 2
Neera - Wild Mage 1
Branwen - Cleric 2
Rasaad - Sun Soul Monk 1
* Analysis: I decided that I will try to keep Neera and Rasaad to the end and do their questlines, also keeping Imoen (dualing to Mage later). Branwen is a necessity as the sole good cleric (I'd prefer Viconia, but this is a goody-two-shoes run; I likely cannot keep her in party at high rep.) So, the only negotiable party member is Jaheira. This means there is not single dedicated tank/sword user in party. I could let Jaheira go and get Minsc or Ajantis, but then I would be short in healers (especially for a no-reload run).
This brings me to my theoretical tank: Rasaad.
I'm thinking that between the Shield amulet initially and casting Spirit Armor on him later he can actually attain a better AC than anyone else in the game. Throw in the Strength spell and an Ioun Stone (to protect against criticals) he should be able to hold the front line by himself -- alas he has a CON of nothing. But lacking archer support or a strong sword wielder I will need to rely on my casters for damage in mid- to late-game.
About to venture forth from Nashkel.
Your thoughts are welcome.
0
Comments
I heartell there is one somewhere in BGEE. I imagine I'll eventually find it. (Previously, Ioun Stones were introduced BG2 only)
@nano
Tarnesh is dead and gone. Ha ha! Actually, he caused me less headache than Shank who almost killed me.
The only ones I've found were circlets added by a mod
We'll see how it goes later...
(Perhaps, Imoen as tank in late game after she gains her thief-mage cred with Mirror Images and the like? Well, I know *I* am not getting into the frontline thankyouverymuch.)
As they say, never roll to save. It goes more for solo but it's a good philosophy even in a party.
I'm not gonna mod in one if there is none.
Since I do not permit munchkining, I will consistently use Imoen as a scout (Invisibled -- she is not putting any points into stealth).
Just only in the Black Pits
[must. resist. the. temptation.]
After Nashkel, I decided to cleanup the road to the Friendly Arm Inn. And... Ambush!
A pack of bow-wielding bandits are nasty at lvl 1.
I slam Shield.
Neera casts Sleep towards two. (I only cast with Neera mid-party in emergencies. This is an emergency!)
Branwen Commands one bandit and rushes him before he gets up.
Ajantis runs toward one bandit sword in hand (*) while Rasaad runs toward the remaining one which Imoen starts pelting at.
Two arrows hit before my opening moves are complete: [PIC]
Neera hit for 3HP (1HP remaning)
Kaelyn hit for 6HP (2HP remaining)
Ouch! If I had a sorcerer instead of a dragon disciple I would have been dead. If it was a critical I would have been dead. Sheer luck.
Luckily Sleep downs both targets and the rest are overpowered soon after.
--
(*) Yes, Ajantis. I decided that I need a Sword and Steel brawler up at front. Got Minsc for it first, went and saved Dynaheir (ooh, look new Gauntlets!). There is a glitch in my install that keeps Minsc from reenlisting after leaving party. So, I decided to go and get Ajantis.
I will have to ponder if Dorn is a viable alternative. Perhaps, I should stop being a goody-two-shoes and replace Ajantis and Branwen with Dorn and Viconia. We'll see.
Ajantis is not winning popularity contests. (... and complaining every time I Blind his more serious opponents. Hey, I'm a sorcerer without any offensive spells. What else am I gonna do, right?)
Ajantis is fine but Kivan is pretty awesome as a replacement for Minsc. I'm a big fan of rangers ever since I realized that two weapon fighting works really well even in BG1. Khalid and Jaheira are very durable and good options as well.
Permit me to rant:
I take it back, BGEE is not yet quite better than Tutu -- for the simple reason that Spell Revisions is not yet quite working on it. SCS+Spell Revisions makes for an awesome realistic (if threatening) experience, but it keep stuff like this from happening:
Ogre Mage (surviving being successfully silenced by Branwen) manages to cast Sleep 3 times during the fight, eventually catching everyone; proceeds to beat everybody in the face with a sword who don't wake up. (If I could have gotten off a Blind, he would have been dead -- Blind is another overpowered spell at lvl 1.)
Essentially:
* Sleep = Mass Paralysis (if < lvl5)
* Blind = Power Word : Kill (save or die)
Spell Revisions help with some of these issues such as waking up someone who is hit from Sleep (+ Dispel Magic, Glitterdust and others...)
/rant
--
I considered continuing in anger. But, honestly, these spells benefit me as well, while rendering early game to a matter of luck rather than skill. (A lvl 1 party meeting an Ogre Mage in a random encounter *will* die unless they can Blind him first.)
Argh!
(With SCS, Ogre Mage starts with Mirror Image / Stone Skin / Prot f Missiles -- I know I was asking for it!)
... back to a more cautious design now.
I will run -again- my favorite concept (Fighter/Invoker, Human) but avoid exploring far until I level a little. We'll see how far I make it...
On to : no-reload run Mk 6.