@Gotural, wow 5% is pretty serious in a no-reload run. You're saying a roll of 1 is always a failed save, but @Jalily's comment here suggests otherwise. Your Spirit Armor example is pretty clear though. I'll keep it in mind.
@Sergio, haha, I'm a bit prolific these days that's true. Am very enthusiastic about the Wizard Slayer so I try to play when I can But by all means get that Berserker of yours on the road my friend, and his or her tale with us!
But a berserker would have just to go away and wait. Kinda cheesy.
Don't go away and wait, let them pesky spellcasters waste their spells on you while you're enraged and pretty much invulnerable, and settle things with your blade or axe or hammer etc. Good times
From time to time, different people here or there say they have encountered a situation where even with a negative saving throw the effect still has not been saved against which could lead to an assumption that there's always a 5% chance to fail a ST:
Thani bought Aeger's Hide armor at the Adventurer Mart, traveled to Trademeet and cleared the Druid Grove area with little difficulty. Trolls (even the Spirit variant) and Spiders had long ceased to be a threat to her, and Shambling Mounds and Greater Earth Elementals fell without even landing any hits at her, in spite of her average AC (between -4 and -7 depending on equipment used). She did decide to rest a couple of times, especially after having been strength drained by Spirit Trolls. I don't know how those drains take to wear off but in my experience it's very long.
Thani also used her rests to recharge her shield's once/day Spell Turning ability. Thus she dealt with hostile Druids. Some of them summoned insects that were promptly sent back to the casters thanks to Spell Turning.
She let Trolls kill a group of Humans, and dispatched the Trolls after that. Spore Colonies and Myconids were manageable after Aeger's Hide (with its Confusion immunity) was donned.
Ihtafeer and company gave Thani, all buffed up with Spell Turning, MI and DUHM, a scare when the Dwarf got stuck in their Web, but leaving the shed and reentering made the Web and Stinking Cloud disappear, allowing Thani to pound the rakshasa to death.
Level 13 Cernd, in Werewolf form, bested Faldorn in the Druid death duel, in spite of panicking once under the effect of an Insect Plague and getting Confused by Faldorn.
Thani was generously rewarded, and particularly pleased with the Shield of Harmony (even though she already owned the Helm of Charm Protection and Aeger's Hide). She returned to Athkatla to take care of the remainder of the Vampire stronghold. Knowing that I had somehow neglected to install SCS Improved Vampires, I wasn't really worried for Thani, and with good reason, it turned out. The Helm of Charm Protection, the Mace of Disrpution +2 and buffs like Spell Turning, Mirror Image and DUHM enabled her to make short work of the Vampires downstairs, of Lassal in the spiky chamber (I discovered that keeping to the wall will keep one safe from the traps), and of guild mistress Bodhi herself. In the Bodhi fight Thani used her Hardiness HLA, but she didn't even need a (Greater) Whirwind Attack to deal with her foe.
I'm curious how Thani would have fared against the SCS Improved Vampires, but honestly I think that even with her buffs she would have stood a very good chance. The fights would have taken longer, and there would have been the risk of getting stuck, surrounded by bats for example, but with Hardiness and DoE, a WW and a GWW, her Helmet and Mace, plus buffs like DUHM, MI and Spell Turning she would be difficult to kill and pretty deadly herself. Either way, as I said earlier I only tinker with mods before starting a new game, not with a game already in progress.
There are two major quests left that Thani might do, Planar Sphere and Astral Prison, but both are quite hard, so she might just leave those for later. Thani has almost no summons. She'll buy Ras and she has Vhailor's Helm but that's it really. In the Planar Sphere there's a Staff of Fire +2, which allows the wielder to summon a Fire Elemental (and to cast Fireshield Red). The Astral Prison is interesting for the Boots of Speed. Nevertheless both quests are very difficult. This is something I'll have to think about. Tips and insights are welcome.
I would do the Sphere before risking the prison, but Sphere has those nasty illegal Halfling casters to deal with. Ras and your Simulacrum might be a nice to eat up some of their casts. They FoD you before iirc, so you would need some caution obviously, but those summons wouldn't hurt.
If you also had Spectral Brand... kinda rough getting through Watchers alone though. Staff of Air is cool, but yeah, scary.
To me, the Astral prison is one of the hardest places with SCS. The final boss there is simply OP-ed.
The Prison Warden sees through invisibility via script, has both mage and cleric HLAs (i.e. when I ran into him with my 6-man party I used to test SCS before continuing a totemic druid run, he both casted Blade Barrier and dropped a Dark Planetar on my head. A Dark Planetar moves fast and regenerate quickly as well.
Even with Tolgerias and those halflings, the Planar Sphere is a better place to go first.
Thanks @DreadKhan and @bengoshi for your insights. I think Thani will simply forget about the Astral Prison. The Boots of Speed may be acquired elsewhere. She did enter the Planar Sphere though. She took the Halflings on in small groups of no more than two at a time, and she used her shield's Spell Turning ability to protect herself against the Mages whilst disabling them with her spellfailure penalty upon (both ranged and melee) hit.
A number of Golems were next,
and then she faced Lavok. Thani applied her usual buffs (Spell Turning, MI, DUHM), sent in Ras the dancing sword, and GWW'd for 9 ranged APR. When she laid eyes on the Necromancer, she started pelting him with Acid Arrows to impose the spellfailure penalty asap. This worked.
The Demons were ridiculously easy; it had me wonder whether there was some kind of bug in Thani's favor at work here. I'm used to SCS v21 and "aTweaked demons" that give me hell, but even Lea'liyil, the strongest of the three, went down in a couple of hits. I checked in EEKeeper and it says there that Lea has 40 base Hit Points (excluding CON bonuses). That means that everything seems to have worked as intended. I'm playing SCS Improved Demons, as in smarter, but without their HP increase; will probably change that before my next playthrough. The biggest challenge of the Planar Sphere was Tolgerias. GWW'd Thani started off nicely, getting four hits in with her Tuigan Bow and Acid Arrows, two before and two after the dialog triggered.
Nevertheless, as soon as he had auto-buffed, Tolgerias seemingly managed to cast all the spells he wanted. This mainly meant lots of summons: two Cornugons, an Efreeti, a Mordy Sword, and two Mislead or Project Image versions of himself. Before those summons would make things difficult for Thani, she managed to slay Tolgerias' assistant, who was closer to the door.
She then left the room, which I think counts as an area transition: the summons didn't follow her. Blackraven went to the bathroom, and as he got back he saw how Tolgerias' summons were all gone when Thani returned to check on Tolgerias.
That left only Thani and Tolgerias. The Dwarf summoned forth her Siumlacrum, using Vhailor's Helm, and sent it in first. Tolgerias worried her when he pulled a Time Stop out of his sleeve. His first target was likely to be the Simulacrum, but the real Thani was in visual range as well. Thankfully he spent most of his time buffing himself. At the end Tolgerias cast a ADHW at the Simmy, which it gloriously survived thanks to its Magic Resistance.
Tolgerias didn't fret though. He immediately proceeded to gravely injure Thani with a triggered Flame Arrow, causing the Dwarf to quaff her only potion of superior healing. However, with both Thani and the Simmy still standing, things were looking good for her. The two attacked the wizard with their FoAs and hit him until he fell. I can't say iy enough: what an outstanding weapon that is...
After this wonderful fight, the remainder of the dungeon was relatively easy. The Ice Room most of all. The Golems in the power core could do little against her GWWs. The Fire Room was slightly harder, as Thani suffered quite a lot of fire damage from different sources (Mephits, Efreeti, Salamanders).
The Noble Efreeti was difficult to kill, as it would take a gaseous form whenever it panicked and was near death. A critical did it in though.
As I said before, Thani won't do the Astral Prison (at least not before traveling to Spellhold). She might take a look at Watcher's Keep, at least the first level, and then go after Imoen/Irenicus. I'm thinking of keepering in a Bag of Holding because the number of items she wants to have at hand is getting out of hand.
Thanks so much @EA1, I'm quite pleased myself, and becoming increasingly nervous... Don't want to screw up hehe. I think I'm going to stall this playthrough and do another run to get to know a number of encounters a bit better.
To answer some of your questions in a random order: 1) SCS' improved Vampires causes crashes in BG2:EE (for some unknown reason), so it's automatically skipped. 2) The Unseeing Eye is hard to kill without the Rift Device, but it isn't impossible (actually, I only killed it once with the Rift Device, all the other times I killed it in normal combat). My recommendation is to go back in Chapter 6 and kill it. 3) If you are in need of a Bag of Holding, take Hexxat and do her first quest 4) In the Astral Prison you can also find a Staff of Air +2 that let's you summon an Air Elemental and cast Sleep Cloud (sort of a Stinking Cloud).
Personally, I don't think that keepering in a Bag of Holding is against any rules. It's on par with including Hexxat into your party and completing several tasks together.
Also, I haven't had any crashes with SCS improved Vampires component installed during my totemic druid run.
Hey @bengoshi, I'm surprised about your Improved Vampires. @CrevsDaak said it gets automatically skipped for BG2EE to prevent those apparent crashes, which would explain why it didn't get installed in my game. Are you sure you did get that component installed? In your pics I see no clouds of bats or summoned wolves.
This is going to be Thani's final update unless you guys convince me that a bug has been at work in my game
Thani decided to explore parts of Watcher's Keep, before she would set sail to Spellhold. She cleared the entire first floor. The level draining mists were harmless as she equipped the Improved Mace of Disruption, and she survived the statues thanks to good positioning and some luck. Thani retreated to the room left of the altar. There she would deal with the statues one or two at a time. Later she would do the same in the library. Her 37 Magic Resistance sufficed to keep her from being Mazed and Symbol:Stunned (this was the luck factor). Maybe it would have been less frustrating if one of those spells had killed her.
She survived two Timestops, and - thanks to the aforementioned MR and her excellent saves (0/0/3/3/0) - various nasty spells such as Chaos, Slow, ADHW, and Sphere of Chaos.
The warrior/rogue/monster statues were Greater Whirlwinded into oblivion. The only statue to really form a threat was the Archer, but nothing that potions of extra/superior healing couldn't remedy.
On the second level doom befell her. She got cursed. I didn't see any stat changes or afflictions mentioned in the character record, but the SCS readme mentions a "Cursed Wounds" that Clay Golems may inflict upon hit (she had just fought one or two on the second level). What the readme doesn't mention is what the curse exactly does, nor how long it lasts or how it can be removed. The Helmite priestess by the Watcher's Keep entrance wasn't able to remove it, as the following image demonstrates:
She rested, woke up and saw that the curse was still there, so it seemed the curse wouldn't wear off of its own accord... However, as it didn't seem to do anything, Thani continued her exploration of the Keep. She had cleared the acid, electricity, and ice libraries on the second level, and would have done the same with the fire library, if it weren't for the curse: turns out that it keeps the character from healing. The following is the last screenshot I have of her, moments before she fruitlessly tried to heal herself with a potion of superior healing and got killed by the Fire Giants that would soon block her way to the exit portal.
My own thoughts: once again my limited SCS knowledge for BG2 showed. This Cursed Wounds issue wasn't something I'd forgotten by the way, but rather something I never knew. I must say that a permanent curse that keeps one from healing, that cannot be removed, and - I just tested this with 4 consecutive rests - that does not seem to wear off, is overly severe imo, up to the point where I'm wondering whether this has been some kind of bug. So anyone who reads this, is this really how this curse is supposed to work? How did you deal with it? Power Word: Reload, or no more healing for the rest of the game?
Edit: Interestingly Thani hadn't noticed the effect of the curse when she rested because DUHM + 20 CON gives fast natural regeneration, which was not affected by the curse. So she woke up fully recovered.
Ah this bug again ! It happened to Proesis aswell, maybe you remember it. I followed your advice back in time and I asked in the SCS thread if someone knew how to cure it, alas, it's working perfectly fine for everyone except us. Normally if can be cured with a simple Remove Curse spell, but for us it's impossible.
We have been afflicted with the very special solo no-reload SCS version of the curse, and the only remedy ... is death.
Jokes apart, get it off with EEKeeper, I think it's the only way.
Ah this bug again ! It happened to Proesis aswell, maybe you remember it. I followed your advice back in time and I asked in the SCS thread if someone knew how to cure it, alas, it's working perfectly fine for everyone except us. Normally if can be cured with a simple Remove Curse spell, but for us it's impossible.
We have been afflicted with the very special solo no-reload SCS version of the curse, and the only remedy ... is death.
Jokes apart, get it off with EEKeeper, I think it's the only way.
Ah Proesis yes!! You're right. I had forgotten about her curse, but I do remember now... Hmm maybe I'll Keeper it away then... BTW any new no-reload adventures you're going to post on the forums? Be it IWD or BG... You're a really good player, so I'd love to read about them.
Btw @Gotural, do you remember how you removed the Cursed status effect in EEKeeper? I'm looking at it right now, and I notice that EEKeeper (unlike its predecessor ShadowKeeper) has no "State Flags" tab, where one may check or uncheck any bugged status effects. I checked under the Affects and Global Variables tabs, but I didn't find any reference to the curse effect.
Should be under the effects tab. I don't know the actual effect but I would try looking for an effect in the box that seems abnormal, like a series of numbers, or a code. That's how I got a number of effects to work how I wanted them to. Just make sure to keep the original save just in case you delete the wrong effect. That's all the advice I can give.
@Nimran, you're right. I looked in the wrong save (from before Thani got cursed). There's a string of (eleven) DW#CURSE affects. I'll eliminate them, and everything should work again. Thanks
Clay Golems are meant to cause Cursed Wounds, which can't be healed, and they have to be removed with Remove Curse (or they go away with time), but that's exactly what is failing: they're not getting removed and if they're meant to wear off with time it isn't working either.
Thani should continue, no questions about that! You can RP it as a horror dream in which Thani didn't know how to remove the curse. After waking up, Thani discovered her curse is over.
I changed my SCS .ini file so that Clay Golems no longer inflict the Cursed Wounds curse, and re-installed SCS for that change to take effect.
Here's my slighty adapted WEIDU-log for BG2EE (without the "Recently Uninstalled" mentions).
// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods // The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod // ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version] ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1000 // Initialise mod (all other components require this): v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2010 // More consistent Breach spell (always affects liches and rakshasas; doesn't penetrate Spell Turning): v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Iron Skins behaves like Stoneskin (can be brought down by Breach): v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2050 // Allow individual versions of Spell Immunity to be placed into Contingencies and Spell Triggers: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2070 // Blade Barrier and Globe of Blades only affect hostile creatures: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Make spell sequencers, spell triggers, and contingencies learnable by all mages: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2160 // Add an extra copy of some hard-to-find spell scrolls: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2180 // Prevent Simulacra and Projected Images from using magical items: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Faster Bears: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Grant large, flying, non-solid or similar creatures protection from Web and Entangle: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4180 // Make Freedom scrolls available earlier: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5010 // Move Boo into Minsc's pack: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5020 // Remove the blur graphic effect from the Cloak of Displacement: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5030 // Remove animation from the Cloak of Mirroring (leave it for other spells and effects that use the same graphic): v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6024 // Add high-level abilities (HLAs) to spellcasters -> All eligible spellcasters in Throne of Bhaal and Shadows of Amn get HLAs (very challenging and not really recommended!): v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6031 // Smarter Mages -> Mages only cast short-duration spells instantly at start of combat if they are created in sight of the PC: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests -> Priests cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs -> All of the potions dropped by slain enemies are recoverable: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6500 // Improved golems: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6510 // Improved fiends -> Fiends have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6520 // Smarter genies -> Genies have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6531 // Smarter celestials -> Celestials have normal hit points: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6541 // Smarter dragons -> Dragons have normal hit points: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6550 // Smarter beholders -> Give beholder rays some chance to "burn through" spell protections; beholder antimagic blocks all spells, including harmful ones, for a round (simulates D&D rules): v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6563 // Smarter mind flayers -> Illithids have enhanced damage resistance; Illithids cannot see invisible enemies: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6570 // Smarter githyanki: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6590 // Smarter Throne of Bhaal final villain: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8000 // Make the starting dungeon slightly harder: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8010 // Improved Shade Lord: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8020 // Spellcasting Demiliches: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8030 // More resilient trolls: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8040 // Increase difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings -> Mildly increased difficulty: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8050 // Improved Random Encounters: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8060 // Improved de'Arnise Keep ("Tactics Remix") -> Spirit trolls have the same powers as in the original game: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8070 // Improved Unseeing Eye: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8100 // Improved battle with Irenicus in Spellhold: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8110 // Improved Sahuagin: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8120 // Improved Beholder hive (adapted from Quest Pack): v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8130 // Prevent resting in the Illithid city: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8140 // Slightly Improved Drow -> Upgrade Ust Natha's defences: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8150 // Slightly Improved Watcher's Keep: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8160 // Improved Fire Giant temple: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8170 // Enhanced Sendai's Enclave: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8180 // Improved Abazigal's Lair: v28 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8190 // Improved Minor Encounters: v28 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #0 // Proper dual-wielding implementation for Thieves and Bards: v4.71 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #4 // Bard kit revisions: v4.71 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #5 // Bard High Level Ability revisions: v4.71 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #6 // Proper spell progression for Bards: v4.71 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #7 // Additional equipment for Thieves and Bards: v4.71 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #8 // Upgradeable Equipment: v4.71 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #11 // Chosen of Cyric encounter: v4.71 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #12 // Shadow Thief Improvements: v4.71 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #999 // BG2-style icons for RR content: v4.71 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2000 // Allow Spellstrike to take down a Protection from Magic scroll: v28
In Watcher's Keep, level 2, Thani slew two Fire Giants with great difficulty (kiting them around the portals, healing and GWW'ing them).
She was exhausted after the two Giants were down, and needed another rest. A terrible nightmare in which she was being battered by monsters and couldn't heal herself with her potions had her decide to leave the haunted Keep, and to return to Athkatla. At the Adventurer mart she bought Balduran's Plate (I had 60+ k GP, and almost nothing to spend it on). There, she reminded herself of the Boots of Speed Haer'Dalis, so she picked up the portal gem at her dockside home and paid the Five Flagons a visit. She killed of various extraplanar beings that came out of the portal until the bards all disappeared through it, taken by bounty hunters. She DUHM'ed and went after the troupe. The Dwarf was immediately attacked by the bounty hunters: two Yuan-Ti Mages, two warriors and two backstabbers. None of them could really hurt her, or to be more exact: they did hurt her, but her impressive hit point pool kept her going while she would successfully retalliate with her GWWs. (She had 5, and would gain another a bit later. She also has 2x Hardiness which, together with the DoE should help her endure the very hard physical fights). The magic thrown at her was harmless except for a spell sequenced triple Skull Trap. One of the Yuan-Ti Mages was hard to kill due to a Fireshield; she took the reptile down with her trusty Tuigan Bow. She had barely done so when the talking Wyvern appeared as well. It was no match for Thani's flails though.
With the Boots of Speed equipped she rushed though the corridors past Thralls and Yuan-Ti toward the Master of Thralls and slew it with a GWW. She had to finish off two Air Elementals to provide herself with the leeway for an escape, back to the heat source in which she destroyed the Master's orb, setting all the Thralls free. They helped her take care of the Yuan-Ti Warriors and Mages, or at least to distract them. The Helm of Charm Protection was equipped when a Dire Charm she saw a Dire Charm come her way. I must admit that a Chaos was saved against. (Thani's save vs spell was 1, but Chaos imposes a save penalty. It's situations like this that make me realize I'm not a great player and that the Dwarven race is my new favorite race hehe)
The path to the Warden was now clear but Thani decided to rest first (not very realistic, but she wanted to have sufficient GWWs). She then brought forth a Vhailor's simulacrum of herself. The Simmy and she cast MI via Ilbratha, and the real Thani summoned a lesser Fire Elemental and cast a Fireshield red on herself. They rushed the Warden, who was however well-protected against the party's physical attacks, and besides accompanied by more Yuan-Ti, so they retreated. She was surprised that the Warden didn't immediately follow them. He cast a Time Stop when Thani & Co were well out of sight. I feared a Dark Planetar, but he mainly buffed himself. Unlike the Warden, the Yuan-ti did follow suit, allowing Thani, the simmy and the fire elemental to finish them off, even though the simmy got Dire Charmed at one point.
As she didn't want to face the Warden alone, Thani allowed herself a second rest, after which she approached it with the same buffs and summons as she had done the first time. Interestingly the Warden busied itself mostly with successfully buffing itself (apparently immune to normal weapons and with PfMW to magical weapons as well). With less success, and rather unnecessarily, it tried to debuff Thani with slows, dispelling magic and charms. The Warden didn't cast a second Time Stop, nor did it summon a Dark Planetar or even cast PW Blind. Thani initially kept her distance, exposing her simmy and the elemental to the gravest risks, but that didn't even seem necessary. All in all it was a remarkably easy fight (less epic in my experience than that with Tolgerias for example), in which all the Warden managed to do was to stay its own execution, until the Fire Elemental ended the fight with a nice critical.
These are Thani's character record and inventory screen:
Thani is now a level 28 Wizard Slayer with 6 GWWs, 2 Hardinesses (and 1 WW). She has 201 HP with the Helm and Plate of Balduran (192 without those items). Her weapons of choice are the FoA +3 and the DoE +3 (grandmastery in flails). She's also specialized (**) in shortbows, maces, axes and dualwielding. Her Saves are -1/-1/3/3/0 (with the Helm of Balduran). I wonder whether she ought to have imported the Claw of Kazgaroth into SoA, for even better saves. She would have needed a weapon or item to protect her against death magic though. Thani's MR is 48 atm, and can be improved by 10 with the Sword of Balduran she bought a while ago. Other weapons she keeps at hand are: Improved MoD, Ras, Ilbratha, Belm, Dragonslayer, Staves of Air and Fire, Foebane and Tuigan Bow. Armor, shields and helmets she keeps in her Bag of Holding are: Aeger's Hide, Reflection Shield, Fortress Shield, Dragon Scale Shield, Shield of Fyrus Khal, Shield of Harmony, Helmet of Defense, Dragon Helm, Helm of Charm Protection, Vhailor's Helm. She has completed almost all the quests available in Chapter 2-3. However there are still a number of optional fights I might save for later (or simply forget about): the Unseeing Eye is still floating around somewhere in lair of the cult, both Thaxxy and Firkraag are slumbering in their respective lairs, no liches have been fought, the guarded compound is still being guarded, and Thani has never heard of the Twisted Rune, nor has she investigated the use of the Sewer Key she found on Tazok's corpse. Is any of these fights worth fighting in terms of loot before having Thani leave Athkatla for Brynnlaw?
Comments
@Sergio, haha, I'm a bit prolific these days that's true. Am very enthusiastic about the Wizard Slayer so I try to play when I can
http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53760
http://www.sorcerers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19334
But we have a strong evidence from here:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/232366/#Comment_232366
that a negative saving throw (if it's negative after all applied penalties) prevents the effect.
Thani also used her rests to recharge her shield's once/day Spell Turning ability. Thus she dealt with hostile Druids. Some of them summoned insects that were promptly sent back to the casters thanks to Spell Turning.
She let Trolls kill a group of Humans, and dispatched the Trolls after that. Spore Colonies and Myconids were manageable after Aeger's Hide (with its Confusion immunity) was donned.
Ihtafeer and company gave Thani, all buffed up with Spell Turning, MI and DUHM, a scare when the Dwarf got stuck in their Web, but leaving the shed and reentering made the Web and Stinking Cloud disappear, allowing Thani to pound the rakshasa to death.
Level 13 Cernd, in Werewolf form, bested Faldorn in the Druid death duel, in spite of panicking once under the effect of an Insect Plague and getting Confused by Faldorn.
Thani was generously rewarded, and particularly pleased with the Shield of Harmony (even though she already owned the Helm of Charm Protection and Aeger's Hide). She returned to Athkatla to take care of the remainder of the Vampire stronghold. Knowing that I had somehow neglected to install SCS Improved Vampires, I wasn't really worried for Thani, and with good reason, it turned out.
The Helm of Charm Protection, the Mace of Disrpution +2 and buffs like Spell Turning, Mirror Image and DUHM enabled her to make short work of the Vampires downstairs, of Lassal in the spiky chamber (I discovered that keeping to the wall will keep one safe from the traps), and of guild mistress Bodhi herself. In the Bodhi fight Thani used her Hardiness HLA, but she didn't even need a (Greater) Whirwind Attack to deal with her foe.
I'm curious how Thani would have fared against the SCS Improved Vampires, but honestly I think that even with her buffs she would have stood a very good chance. The fights would have taken longer, and there would have been the risk of getting stuck, surrounded by bats for example, but with Hardiness and DoE, a WW and a GWW, her Helmet and Mace, plus buffs like DUHM, MI and Spell Turning she would be difficult to kill and pretty deadly herself. Either way, as I said earlier I only tinker with mods before starting a new game, not with a game already in progress.
There are two major quests left that Thani might do, Planar Sphere and Astral Prison, but both are quite hard, so she might just leave those for later.
Thani has almost no summons. She'll buy Ras and she has Vhailor's Helm but that's it really. In the Planar Sphere there's a Staff of Fire +2, which allows the wielder to summon a Fire Elemental (and to cast Fireshield Red). The Astral Prison is interesting for the Boots of Speed. Nevertheless both quests are very difficult. This is something I'll have to think about. Tips and insights are welcome.
If you also had Spectral Brand...
The Prison Warden sees through invisibility via script, has both mage and cleric HLAs (i.e. when I ran into him with my 6-man party I used to test SCS before continuing a totemic druid run, he both casted Blade Barrier and dropped a Dark Planetar on my head. A Dark Planetar moves fast and regenerate quickly as well.
Even with Tolgerias and those halflings, the Planar Sphere is a better place to go first.
I think Thani will simply forget about the Astral Prison. The Boots of Speed may be acquired elsewhere. She did enter the Planar Sphere though. She took the Halflings on in small groups of no more than two at a time, and she used her shield's Spell Turning ability to protect herself against the Mages whilst disabling them with her spellfailure penalty upon (both ranged and melee) hit.
A number of Golems were next,
and then she faced Lavok. Thani applied her usual buffs (Spell Turning, MI, DUHM), sent in Ras the dancing sword, and GWW'd for 9 ranged APR. When she laid eyes on the Necromancer, she started pelting him with Acid Arrows to impose the spellfailure penalty asap. This worked.
The Demons were ridiculously easy; it had me wonder whether there was some kind of bug in Thani's favor at work here. I'm used to SCS v21 and "aTweaked demons" that give me hell, but even Lea'liyil, the strongest of the three, went down in a couple of hits. I checked in EEKeeper and it says there that Lea has 40 base Hit Points (excluding CON bonuses). That means that everything seems to have worked as intended. I'm playing SCS Improved Demons, as in smarter, but without their HP increase; will probably change that before my next playthrough.
The biggest challenge of the Planar Sphere was Tolgerias. GWW'd Thani started off nicely, getting four hits in with her Tuigan Bow and Acid Arrows, two before and two after the dialog triggered.
Nevertheless, as soon as he had auto-buffed, Tolgerias seemingly managed to cast all the spells he wanted. This mainly meant lots of summons: two Cornugons, an Efreeti, a Mordy Sword, and two Mislead or Project Image versions of himself. Before those summons would make things difficult for Thani, she managed to slay Tolgerias' assistant, who was closer to the door.
She then left the room, which I think counts as an area transition: the summons didn't follow her. Blackraven went to the bathroom, and as he got back he saw how Tolgerias' summons were all gone when Thani returned to check on Tolgerias.
That left only Thani and Tolgerias. The Dwarf summoned forth her Siumlacrum, using Vhailor's Helm, and sent it in first. Tolgerias worried her when he pulled a Time Stop out of his sleeve. His first target was likely to be the Simulacrum, but the real Thani was in visual range as well. Thankfully he spent most of his time buffing himself. At the end Tolgerias cast a ADHW at the Simmy, which it gloriously survived thanks to its Magic Resistance.
Tolgerias didn't fret though. He immediately proceeded to gravely injure Thani with a triggered Flame Arrow, causing the Dwarf to quaff her only potion of superior healing. However, with both Thani and the Simmy still standing, things were looking good for her. The two attacked the wizard with their FoAs and hit him until he fell. I can't say iy enough: what an outstanding weapon that is...
After this wonderful fight, the remainder of the dungeon was relatively easy. The Ice Room most of all. The Golems in the power core could do little against her GWWs. The Fire Room was slightly harder, as Thani suffered quite a lot of fire damage from different sources (Mephits, Efreeti, Salamanders).
The Noble Efreeti was difficult to kill, as it would take a gaseous form whenever it panicked and was near death. A critical did it in though.
As I said before, Thani won't do the Astral Prison (at least not before traveling to Spellhold). She might take a look at Watcher's Keep, at least the first level, and then go after Imoen/Irenicus.
I'm thinking of keepering in a Bag of Holding because the number of items she wants to have at hand is getting out of hand.
1) SCS' improved Vampires causes crashes in BG2:EE (for some unknown reason), so it's automatically skipped.
2) The Unseeing Eye is hard to kill without the Rift Device, but it isn't impossible (actually, I only killed it once with the Rift Device, all the other times I killed it in normal combat). My recommendation is to go back in Chapter 6 and kill it.
3) If you are in need of a Bag of Holding, take Hexxat and do her first quest
4) In the Astral Prison you can also find a Staff of Air +2 that let's you summon an Air Elemental and cast Sleep Cloud (sort of a Stinking Cloud).
Nice playthroughs as always! Keep em' coming!
No offense, @KidCarnival !
Also, I haven't had any crashes with SCS improved Vampires component installed during my totemic druid run.
By the way,same here @bengoshi. I wasn't aware that Improved Vampires didn't get installed until I met the vanilla vampires...
>> HOMER, are you picturing vampires made out of vanilla ice cream?
-- NO! Yes....maybe...
Thani decided to explore parts of Watcher's Keep, before she would set sail to Spellhold. She cleared the entire first floor. The level draining mists were harmless as she equipped the Improved Mace of Disruption, and she survived the statues thanks to good positioning and some luck. Thani retreated to the room left of the altar. There she would deal with the statues one or two at a time. Later she would do the same in the library.
Her 37 Magic Resistance sufficed to keep her from being Mazed and Symbol:Stunned (this was the luck factor). Maybe it would have been less frustrating if one of those spells had killed her.
She survived two Timestops, and - thanks to the aforementioned MR and her excellent saves (0/0/3/3/0) - various nasty spells such as Chaos, Slow, ADHW, and Sphere of Chaos.
The warrior/rogue/monster statues were Greater Whirlwinded into oblivion. The only statue to really form a threat was the Archer, but nothing that potions of extra/superior healing couldn't remedy.
On the second level doom befell her. She got cursed. I didn't see any stat changes or afflictions mentioned in the character record, but the SCS readme mentions a "Cursed Wounds" that Clay Golems may inflict upon hit (she had just fought one or two on the second level). What the readme doesn't mention is what the curse exactly does, nor how long it lasts or how it can be removed. The Helmite priestess by the Watcher's Keep entrance wasn't able to remove it, as the following image demonstrates:
She rested, woke up and saw that the curse was still there, so it seemed the curse wouldn't wear off of its own accord... However, as it didn't seem to do anything, Thani continued her exploration of the Keep. She had cleared the acid, electricity, and ice libraries on the second level, and would have done the same with the fire library, if it weren't for the curse: turns out that it keeps the character from healing. The following is the last screenshot I have of her, moments before she fruitlessly tried to heal herself with a potion of superior healing and got killed by the Fire Giants that would soon block her way to the exit portal.
My own thoughts: once again my limited SCS knowledge for BG2 showed. This Cursed Wounds issue wasn't something I'd forgotten by the way, but rather something I never knew. I must say that a permanent curse that keeps one from healing, that cannot be removed, and - I just tested this with 4 consecutive rests - that does not seem to wear off, is overly severe imo, up to the point where I'm wondering whether this has been some kind of bug. So anyone who reads this, is this really how this curse is supposed to work? How did you deal with it? Power Word: Reload, or no more healing for the rest of the game?
Edit: Interestingly Thani hadn't noticed the effect of the curse when she rested because DUHM + 20 CON gives fast natural regeneration, which was not affected by the curse. So she woke up fully recovered.
We have been afflicted with the very special solo no-reload SCS version of the curse, and the only remedy ... is death.
Jokes apart, get it off with EEKeeper, I think it's the only way.
BTW any new no-reload adventures you're going to post on the forums? Be it IWD or BG... You're a really good player, so I'd love to read about them.
I'm looking at it right now, and I notice that EEKeeper (unlike its predecessor ShadowKeeper) has no "State Flags" tab, where one may check or uncheck any bugged status effects. I checked under the Affects and Global Variables tabs, but I didn't find any reference to the curse effect.
I don't have any games running at the moment, but I still have a few ideas.
Concerning the curse, well, Proesis died before it became too much of a problem so I don't know either. Maybe we could ask the help of @DavidW ?
There's a string of (eleven) DW#CURSE affects. I'll eliminate them, and everything should work again. Thanks
Thani should continue, no questions about that! You can RP it as a horror dream in which Thani didn't know how to remove the curse. After waking up, Thani discovered her curse is over.
Here's my slighty adapted WEIDU-log for BG2EE (without the "Recently Uninstalled" mentions).
// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1000 // Initialise mod (all other components require this): v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2010 // More consistent Breach spell (always affects liches and rakshasas; doesn't penetrate Spell Turning): v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Iron Skins behaves like Stoneskin (can be brought down by Breach): v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2050 // Allow individual versions of Spell Immunity to be placed into Contingencies and Spell Triggers: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2070 // Blade Barrier and Globe of Blades only affect hostile creatures: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Make spell sequencers, spell triggers, and contingencies learnable by all mages: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2160 // Add an extra copy of some hard-to-find spell scrolls: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2180 // Prevent Simulacra and Projected Images from using magical items: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Faster Bears: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Grant large, flying, non-solid or similar creatures protection from Web and Entangle: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4180 // Make Freedom scrolls available earlier: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5010 // Move Boo into Minsc's pack: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5020 // Remove the blur graphic effect from the Cloak of Displacement: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5030 // Remove animation from the Cloak of Mirroring (leave it for other spells and effects that use the same graphic): v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6024 // Add high-level abilities (HLAs) to spellcasters -> All eligible spellcasters in Throne of Bhaal and Shadows of Amn get HLAs (very challenging and not really recommended!): v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6031 // Smarter Mages -> Mages only cast short-duration spells instantly at start of combat if they are created in sight of the PC: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests -> Priests cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs -> All of the potions dropped by slain enemies are recoverable: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6500 // Improved golems: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6510 // Improved fiends -> Fiends have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6520 // Smarter genies -> Genies have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6531 // Smarter celestials -> Celestials have normal hit points: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6541 // Smarter dragons -> Dragons have normal hit points: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6550 // Smarter beholders -> Give beholder rays some chance to "burn through" spell protections; beholder antimagic blocks all spells, including harmful ones, for a round (simulates D&D rules): v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6563 // Smarter mind flayers -> Illithids have enhanced damage resistance; Illithids cannot see invisible enemies: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6570 // Smarter githyanki: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6590 // Smarter Throne of Bhaal final villain: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8000 // Make the starting dungeon slightly harder: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8010 // Improved Shade Lord: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8020 // Spellcasting Demiliches: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8030 // More resilient trolls: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8040 // Increase difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings -> Mildly increased difficulty: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8050 // Improved Random Encounters: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8060 // Improved de'Arnise Keep ("Tactics Remix") -> Spirit trolls have the same powers as in the original game: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8070 // Improved Unseeing Eye: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8100 // Improved battle with Irenicus in Spellhold: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8110 // Improved Sahuagin: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8120 // Improved Beholder hive (adapted from Quest Pack): v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8130 // Prevent resting in the Illithid city: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8140 // Slightly Improved Drow -> Upgrade Ust Natha's defences: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8150 // Slightly Improved Watcher's Keep: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8160 // Improved Fire Giant temple: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8170 // Enhanced Sendai's Enclave: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8180 // Improved Abazigal's Lair: v28
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8190 // Improved Minor Encounters: v28
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #0 // Proper dual-wielding implementation for Thieves and Bards: v4.71
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #4 // Bard kit revisions: v4.71
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #5 // Bard High Level Ability revisions: v4.71
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #6 // Proper spell progression for Bards: v4.71
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #7 // Additional equipment for Thieves and Bards: v4.71
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #8 // Upgradeable Equipment: v4.71
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #11 // Chosen of Cyric encounter: v4.71
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #12 // Shadow Thief Improvements: v4.71
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #999 // BG2-style icons for RR content: v4.71
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2000 // Allow Spellstrike to take down a Protection from Magic scroll: v28
In Watcher's Keep, level 2, Thani slew two Fire Giants with great difficulty (kiting them around the portals, healing and GWW'ing them).
She was exhausted after the two Giants were down, and needed another rest. A terrible nightmare in which she was being battered by monsters and couldn't heal herself with her potions had her decide to leave the haunted Keep, and to return to Athkatla. At the Adventurer mart she bought Balduran's Plate (I had 60+ k GP, and almost nothing to spend it on).
There, she reminded herself of the Boots of Speed Haer'Dalis, so she picked up the portal gem at her dockside home and paid the Five Flagons a visit. She killed of various extraplanar beings that came out of the portal until the bards all disappeared through it, taken by bounty hunters. She DUHM'ed and went after the troupe. The Dwarf was immediately attacked by the bounty hunters: two Yuan-Ti Mages, two warriors and two backstabbers. None of them could really hurt her, or to be more exact: they did hurt her, but her impressive hit point pool kept her going while she would successfully retalliate with her GWWs. (She had 5, and would gain another a bit later. She also has 2x Hardiness which, together with the DoE should help her endure the very hard physical fights). The magic thrown at her was harmless except for a spell sequenced triple Skull Trap. One of the Yuan-Ti Mages was hard to kill due to a Fireshield; she took the reptile down with her trusty Tuigan Bow. She had barely done so when the talking Wyvern appeared as well. It was no match for Thani's flails though.
With the Boots of Speed equipped she rushed though the corridors past Thralls and Yuan-Ti toward the Master of Thralls and slew it with a GWW. She had to finish off two Air Elementals to provide herself with the leeway for an escape, back to the heat source in which she destroyed the Master's orb, setting all the Thralls free. They helped her take care of the Yuan-Ti Warriors and Mages, or at least to distract them. The Helm of Charm Protection was equipped when a Dire Charm she saw a Dire Charm come her way. I must admit that a Chaos was saved against. (Thani's save vs spell was 1, but Chaos imposes a save penalty. It's situations like this that make me realize I'm not a great player and that the Dwarven race is my new favorite race hehe)
The path to the Warden was now clear but Thani decided to rest first (not very realistic, but she wanted to have sufficient GWWs). She then brought forth a Vhailor's simulacrum of herself. The Simmy and she cast MI via Ilbratha, and the real Thani summoned a lesser Fire Elemental and cast a Fireshield red on herself. They rushed the Warden, who was however well-protected against the party's physical attacks, and besides accompanied by more Yuan-Ti, so they retreated. She was surprised that the Warden didn't immediately follow them. He cast a Time Stop when Thani & Co were well out of sight. I feared a Dark Planetar, but he mainly buffed himself. Unlike the Warden, the Yuan-ti did follow suit, allowing Thani, the simmy and the fire elemental to finish them off, even though the simmy got Dire Charmed at one point.
As she didn't want to face the Warden alone, Thani allowed herself a second rest, after which she approached it with the same buffs and summons as she had done the first time. Interestingly the Warden busied itself mostly with successfully buffing itself (apparently immune to normal weapons and with PfMW to magical weapons as well). With less success, and rather unnecessarily, it tried to debuff Thani with slows, dispelling magic and charms. The Warden didn't cast a second Time Stop, nor did it summon a Dark Planetar or even cast PW Blind. Thani initially kept her distance, exposing her simmy and the elemental to the gravest risks, but that didn't even seem necessary. All in all it was a remarkably easy fight (less epic in my experience than that with Tolgerias for example), in which all the Warden managed to do was to stay its own execution, until the Fire Elemental ended the fight with a nice critical.
These are Thani's character record and inventory screen:
Thani is now a level 28 Wizard Slayer with 6 GWWs, 2 Hardinesses (and 1 WW). She has 201 HP with the Helm and Plate of Balduran (192 without those items). Her weapons of choice are the FoA +3 and the DoE +3 (grandmastery in flails). She's also specialized (**) in shortbows, maces, axes and dualwielding.
Her Saves are -1/-1/3/3/0 (with the Helm of Balduran). I wonder whether she ought to have imported the Claw of Kazgaroth into SoA, for even better saves. She would have needed a weapon or item to protect her against death magic though. Thani's MR is 48 atm, and can be improved by 10 with the Sword of Balduran she bought a while ago. Other weapons she keeps at hand are: Improved MoD, Ras, Ilbratha, Belm, Dragonslayer, Staves of Air and Fire, Foebane and Tuigan Bow. Armor, shields and helmets she keeps in her Bag of Holding are: Aeger's Hide, Reflection Shield, Fortress Shield, Dragon Scale Shield, Shield of Fyrus Khal, Shield of Harmony, Helmet of Defense, Dragon Helm, Helm of Charm Protection, Vhailor's Helm.
She has completed almost all the quests available in Chapter 2-3.
However there are still a number of optional fights I might save for later (or simply forget about): the Unseeing Eye is still floating around somewhere in lair of the cult, both Thaxxy and Firkraag are slumbering in their respective lairs, no liches have been fought, the guarded compound is still being guarded, and Thani has never heard of the Twisted Rune, nor has she investigated the use of the Sewer Key she found on Tazok's corpse. Is any of these fights worth fighting in terms of loot before having Thani leave Athkatla for Brynnlaw?