David the Gnome ToB no reload challenge
MacHurto
Member Posts: 731
After defeating Irenicus twice (that damn sorcerer didn't want to let my soul go. Talk about possessive ex-girlfriends) and damning him to Hell for eternity, David will try to continue his no reload run in ToB.
As before, I have no problem using metagaming to make my life easier, etc, etc. Draconis will likely fall to spike traps. As a matter of fact, many enemies will fall to spike traps. I am a bit bored with the run and want to start a SCS run with a bard (minimum reload), so will try to make it as fast as possible. I guess that might mean dying from carelessness but will try to avoid that.
Picking Sarevok and Imoen as they are more or less at the same level than the rest (with just one class) and they will level up faster.
So far I have killed Illasera the Weak and done the first challenge.
As before, I have no problem using metagaming to make my life easier, etc, etc. Draconis will likely fall to spike traps. As a matter of fact, many enemies will fall to spike traps. I am a bit bored with the run and want to start a SCS run with a bard (minimum reload), so will try to make it as fast as possible. I guess that might mean dying from carelessness but will try to avoid that.
Picking Sarevok and Imoen as they are more or less at the same level than the rest (with just one class) and they will level up faster.
So far I have killed Illasera the Weak and done the first challenge.
7
Comments
- time stop + whatever kills everything with ease.
- spike traps kills everything with ease.
look out for traps if you have not made WK yet.
From my solo sorc run (most tactics should apply if you have a mage)
Gromnir : nothing there. Time stop + improved alacrity +skull trap /ADHW
Fire mountains : no mages there Summon a few mordy swords, haste them and let them do the killing.
Yaga shura : time stop + eat brain
Draconis : time stop + eat brain
Abazigail : Brain eating breaks the script. So you have to use the "longer way" (time stop+IA+ADHW)
Sendai : the last fight is looooong. I used a PI/wish -> rest quite a lot. with a FM it will be harder to do that but i guess you can melee most forms. No brain eating either on the last form.
Cyric assassins : be careful there : they hit very hard and move very fast. The kind of fight which can end an overconfident runner. PFMW is your friend there.
Ravager : mordy sword is your friend
Balthazar : IA+skull trap at point blank (use auto pause on cast). Be very careful : he stuns and i am not sure it is resistable. By far the hardest fight in TOB IMO.
Amelyssane : IA+skull trap
Best of luck for your run!
@Blackraven Yes, I thought about restarting but I am close to finishing this so what the hell :-)
So far done with Saradush and Gromnir. Now at the fire giant compound. Damn they hit hard. Pfmw and stoneskin do their job, but Sarevok is proving to be a liability. Has almost died a couple of times. Used mass inv. + mordy sword + several cloudkills for the 6 giants that greet you at the entrance. It reminded me of some nightclubs, I have to say (white trainers of the Cheetah? You cannot enter!)
Have a flight to the US next week, so I should advance a lot on this run then :-)
I believe that Sarevok, as any non-mage, is indeed a liability.
Fire giants is a good example of that : they will teat your fighter to pieces while they won't be able to kill even one mordy sword.
Any must have in WK? Otherwise i mught skip it.
The final seal battle is not even that hard if you like eating brains (really timestop + shapechange is so terribly OP) . If you are using traps (as you should, especially since for that case, it's quite obvious, even without metagaming) it is even very easy
with your 4 casters, nothing will stand a chance. To be safe, you can even park david someplace and let the other 3 do the job.
Got overconfident with the Fire elemental lord and he flamestriked to death both Imoen and Aerie. Nothing a rod of resurrection cannot solve.
Now to WK as I want Ravager +6 and need some extra EXP. My multis still havent reached 6 M and I want David to eat Yaga-shura's brain (have never done it before)
God, that was anticlimatic.
Shapechange+improved haste when entering the map, then rushing to Yaga-sura
"Blahblah, me kill you, blahblah, bhaal, blahblah, whatever you are saying, mate, I am not even listening"
Then time stop and the giant died in less than 5 seconds (no XP. Is that normal?)
So much more powerful than imp. Alacrity!
Supposedly, each party member receives 40,000 XP for killing Yaga-Shura.
1) The Air room in the second level. I didn't even remember this as a challenge. Well, David went in and kept getting unconscious by the electrical attack (not mirrored by the cape?). Managed to get him out when he was under 10 HP. So true that the real danger in a no reload is the non boss fights!!
2) The second trial when you fight your evil self. Everyone died in that battle except David (which was very close to die and had to be running from himself like a chicken for a good while) and Imoen that was lucky.
3) Same with the Dragon in WK: Lv4. I calm it down, start to happily put traps around him when he is blue circled... BOOM! Fire breath: Jan, Sarevok and Mamaerie dead (And the baby too I assume). Imoen, again survived by sheer luck. Had to kill the dragon with ranged attacks and magic from the stairs. Not the most glorius day. At least David never was in real danger
Aerie has died a couple of times more, just because I was rushing around (haven't rested in 4 levels). I kind of see it as David's subconcious trying to get rid of that baby monstruosity that is a half gnome/ half elf. I guess it would be the seed of Bhaal that is to blame? Those two races are clearly not meant to have offspring together.
About Aerie's romance, I like it more in ToB, but not sure of the consistency
SoA: Buah buah Buah, my wings, I cannot do anything, I am so miserable, buah buah, lets not sleep together
ToB:
First night: Sleep with me!
Second Night: Sleep with me! I will show you I am not innocent!
Third night: We are having a baby together but I am not afraif, I am so mature
Fourth Night: By the way, it is totally ok that I go around adventuring, because if I die and get ressurected the baby is resurrected too (I could go on a rant about unborn babies and souls with this, but will rather keep away from the subject). It puts some perspective in pregnant women swinging moods, though. If dying is ok, anything else should not be an issue.
Where is the whiny Aerie we have learnt to hate? In ToB she is cool.
I forgot they have different plugs here so I will have to wait a couple of days for Demogorgon.
1- the air room also almost got me in my sorc run. Tricky one it is. Next one i will use of potion of absorption
Apart from that, you are probably getting a little bit tired of the run (sus your no resting for 4 levels...):
2- i don't even remember that one. I mean timestop/IA should kill everything no?
3- timestop/brain (or timestop+whatever you want) eating should make short work of any dragon
Same thing with the dragon. I was on an airplane and just wanted to get rid of WK.
But, yes, must keep focus! :-D
Demogorgon was dealt with 5x traps (to be on the safe side).
Now at abizigail, draconis down with traps and just about to enter against the bhaalspawn. Will try to use traps as well. If not, then several timestop+IA should do it
In the middle of sendai complex now. The room with the key was supposed to be a hard fight so summoned a planetar and the prince elemental of fire. Improved hasted them and... Damn, they owned the place. Everything was cleared within a minute.
Will take sendai down tonight if i can
Sendai was a piece of cake. Summon planetar + prince elemental for spawns, and sarevok + david to hack the sendais. Jan managed to place some traps killing a couple of the clones.
Balthazar was tough. He killed half my party and stuned david which survived by throwing imoen in Balthazars way and distracting him. The rest of the battle was david running like a chicken and jan, the only one left putting spike traps in one corner. When he was done, david run there and balthazar died. Not proud of it.
The ravager is inmune to lower resistance so it was tough. Impr.haste + critical strike on david and sarevok did him in. After i realised that maybe he is inmune to lv 5 or less so perhaps a couple of chain contingencies with pierce magics followed by chain contingencies with HW would be a good tactic.
Melissan died to spike traps every time. Had to spend three wishes to get the Rest option (had prepared 6). The last fallen solar + marilith battle was dealt with by a planetar and two Sunnies. The solar never had a chance :-)
Really fun to do a no reload. Now I need to try SCS as my tactics in vanilla have been very similar as a normal game.
EDIT:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/15945/grandson-of-bhaal
Love these forums.
Balthazar is the most dangerous part of the game IMO because of his stuns and timestop immunity.
The ravager can be dealt with quite safely with mordy swords.
I think that even on vanilla it's still quite a feat, and I also think (based on my own experience) that metagaming is necessary for a no-reload to work.
Maybe now that this is behind, you could try SCS?
I remember with my solo sorc :
- the planetar soloed soa by himself.
- in tob he was not resilient enough against boss but quite ok for the rest.
I could.summon more than one elemental prince, though. Didnt realise until the last battle. 1 planetar + 3-4 eath/fire princes can probably own anything if hasted and with some debuff backup
Devas are a piece of s••• compared to planetars btw.