SCS no-reload adventures - The Ire of Red Mages (or why Benny Hill Theme is part of the soundtrack)
Ygramul
Member Posts: 1,060
This ought to have been part of the official soundtrack - especially for SCS no-reload runs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cFucXYlw94
Have it playing in the background for the mage fight described below.
[these are the continuing adventures of Selyna Flamewreath, the overly cautious Dragon Disciple...]
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32248/scs-no-reload-adventures-flamebreath-and-a-kiss
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32197/proliferation-of-scs-no-reload-runs-warms-my-heart
Well, we're supposed to head out to this Bandit Camp, but, frankly, after seeing in Peldvale the damage just 3 of those Black Talon Elites can do [which are buffed in SCS to lvl 5, by the way, so you can't Sleep them] I decided to take a stroll in the country side for a while rather than face a camp-full of them...
Anyway we come across these strange ruins populated by 4 wizards in red robes. They look like a friendly bunch from afar, says Safana [she always scouts ahead under Invisibility] but caution requires that I at least toss on a Prot from Fear and some Shields. I have Jaheira walk ahead a bit to greet them... boy, are they ever pissed to be interrupted. Alright then, a fight it is...
Since these are casters, they are probably gonna buff up for a bit instead of attack right away, so I tell Jaheira to Call Lightning on the closest while Branwen [who was edging in from the right side] hurls a Silence in to their ranks. Aha! They are done for now: a silent mage is a dead mage.
Erm... Call Lightning casts successfully after a long wait... only to dissipate harmlessly on this shimmering globe that the mage has put up. Silence hits the 3 mages: 2 shrug it off, but one indeed fall silent! One Mage out of the fight at least... who promptly casts Vocalize the next round and starts chasing after me while another mage sends a Remove Magic at my group...
[First slide please. Cue Benny Hill music from link above...]
We hit the ground running after that. Thankfully I have the southern part of the map explored, so I begin retreating. Safana stays quite and invisible, covering the retreat, as my party members dash to the map exit. Rasaad eats a few magic missiles, but he is still standing.
And the mages get disoriented enough that they give up the chase.
Excellent! I wait out their shimmering Globes of Invulnerability. They made a tactical mistake. And they will pay!
I heal Rasaad while waiting. Head out to the west to isolate one of the mages (Denak) who is standing by himself and send Rasaad back in to draw attention as he is the fastest to get out of harm's way.
[Second slide please]
Rasaad dodges a Dire Charm and is ready to kick some righteous booty, but is instead hit with a chromatic orb and stunned! A salvo of magic missiles fell him where he stands stupified.
During all this Safana basically stands invisible a few feet away from him and watches him die! The party stands away while Rasaad is being pummeled, covering afar.
(Turns out it was the singular best decision I made -- had I rushed to Rasaad's defense or had Safana 'uncloaked' to help Rasaad we probably would have been wiped out!)
[Third Slide please]
Denak moves ahead, alone once again. I put up mirror images both on Selyna the Dragon Disciple and Imoen [she is a multi fighter/mage in my run]. Imoen dashes forward and risks to cast Blindness. Nope. Save. Imoen dashes back chased by Denak. Branwen and Jaheira unload whatever they have on Denak, who summons help while still covered in Stoneskin. But Selyna hits him with Magic Missile [Is he an enchanter or something? I actually expected a Shield up.] and Melf's Acid Arrow. He falls two rounds later.
One mage down!
Three more to go. And I'm almost out of spells already.
Subsequently, I summon some Hobgoblins with one of the few remaining charges of a wand and rush another mage who I know is mostly out of spells.... except he isn't apparently. A spider summon later he is still standing there amid Hobgoblin corpses. (Safana still stands there quite and invisible.)
We wait until the spider disappears and rush the lone mage. Taking a few magic missiles and acid arrow to gullet, gulping down health potions, we bring the mage down.
Two down. Two to go.
... but after that I head back to Beregost to bring back Rasaad and recuperate.
The fight with the remaining two mages upon my return is another story that should be told another time.
... as is the ambush of spiders I endured on the same map, which eclipsed in intensity the Red Mage duel recounted above!
________________
Some Notes:
- Rasaad had the Amulet of Shield which he should have used. Stupid!
- The tactical value of a noncombatant invisible scout (Safana) far outweighs the lost DPS. (She was like a dedicated Wizard Eye.) The game would have been lost without this.
- SCS mages kick butt! Period. And this is without the 'instant buffing' option or the encounter enhancement that raises the level of the Red Mages. I shudder to think what they would have done otherwise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cFucXYlw94Have it playing in the background for the mage fight described below.
[these are the continuing adventures of Selyna Flamewreath, the overly cautious Dragon Disciple...]
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32248/scs-no-reload-adventures-flamebreath-and-a-kiss
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32197/proliferation-of-scs-no-reload-runs-warms-my-heart
Well, we're supposed to head out to this Bandit Camp, but, frankly, after seeing in Peldvale the damage just 3 of those Black Talon Elites can do [which are buffed in SCS to lvl 5, by the way, so you can't Sleep them] I decided to take a stroll in the country side for a while rather than face a camp-full of them...
Anyway we come across these strange ruins populated by 4 wizards in red robes. They look like a friendly bunch from afar, says Safana [she always scouts ahead under Invisibility] but caution requires that I at least toss on a Prot from Fear and some Shields. I have Jaheira walk ahead a bit to greet them... boy, are they ever pissed to be interrupted. Alright then, a fight it is...
Since these are casters, they are probably gonna buff up for a bit instead of attack right away, so I tell Jaheira to Call Lightning on the closest while Branwen [who was edging in from the right side] hurls a Silence in to their ranks. Aha! They are done for now: a silent mage is a dead mage.
Erm... Call Lightning casts successfully after a long wait... only to dissipate harmlessly on this shimmering globe that the mage has put up. Silence hits the 3 mages: 2 shrug it off, but one indeed fall silent! One Mage out of the fight at least... who promptly casts Vocalize the next round and starts chasing after me while another mage sends a Remove Magic at my group...
[First slide please. Cue Benny Hill music from link above...]
We hit the ground running after that. Thankfully I have the southern part of the map explored, so I begin retreating. Safana stays quite and invisible, covering the retreat, as my party members dash to the map exit. Rasaad eats a few magic missiles, but he is still standing.
And the mages get disoriented enough that they give up the chase.
Excellent! I wait out their shimmering Globes of Invulnerability. They made a tactical mistake. And they will pay!
I heal Rasaad while waiting. Head out to the west to isolate one of the mages (Denak) who is standing by himself and send Rasaad back in to draw attention as he is the fastest to get out of harm's way.
[Second slide please]
Rasaad dodges a Dire Charm and is ready to kick some righteous booty, but is instead hit with a chromatic orb and stunned! A salvo of magic missiles fell him where he stands stupified.
During all this Safana basically stands invisible a few feet away from him and watches him die! The party stands away while Rasaad is being pummeled, covering afar.
(Turns out it was the singular best decision I made -- had I rushed to Rasaad's defense or had Safana 'uncloaked' to help Rasaad we probably would have been wiped out!)
[Third Slide please]
Denak moves ahead, alone once again. I put up mirror images both on Selyna the Dragon Disciple and Imoen [she is a multi fighter/mage in my run]. Imoen dashes forward and risks to cast Blindness. Nope. Save. Imoen dashes back chased by Denak. Branwen and Jaheira unload whatever they have on Denak, who summons help while still covered in Stoneskin. But Selyna hits him with Magic Missile [Is he an enchanter or something? I actually expected a Shield up.] and Melf's Acid Arrow. He falls two rounds later.
One mage down!
Three more to go. And I'm almost out of spells already.
Subsequently, I summon some Hobgoblins with one of the few remaining charges of a wand and rush another mage who I know is mostly out of spells.... except he isn't apparently. A spider summon later he is still standing there amid Hobgoblin corpses. (Safana still stands there quite and invisible.)
We wait until the spider disappears and rush the lone mage. Taking a few magic missiles and acid arrow to gullet, gulping down health potions, we bring the mage down.
Two down. Two to go.
... but after that I head back to Beregost to bring back Rasaad and recuperate.
The fight with the remaining two mages upon my return is another story that should be told another time.
... as is the ambush of spiders I endured on the same map, which eclipsed in intensity the Red Mage duel recounted above!
________________
Some Notes:
- Rasaad had the Amulet of Shield which he should have used. Stupid!
- The tactical value of a noncombatant invisible scout (Safana) far outweighs the lost DPS. (She was like a dedicated Wizard Eye.) The game would have been lost without this.
- SCS mages kick butt! Period. And this is without the 'instant buffing' option or the encounter enhancement that raises the level of the Red Mages. I shudder to think what they would have done otherwise.
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