Are you sure you'll be able to actually hit anyone with it reliably? Non-proficient is -3 for Rogues, right? And your THAC0 isn't that hot to begin with, unless you used a mod to make it better than base 10. I would expect you'll get far more mileage out of the Scarlet Ninja-to, which you are proficient with at least. It does poison, right? Not always reliable, but should work through Stoneskin I think, and it will help shut down mages too. 3 poison attempts per round will probably give good odds of poisoning, and once poisoned, it can make life difficult. 2 apr with flail and bad THAC0 vs 3 with the Scarlet and much better THAC0 seems a no-brainer, but ymmv.
Are you sure you'll be able to actually hit anyone with it reliably? Non-proficient is -3 for Rogues, right? And your THAC0 isn't that hot to begin with, unless you used a mod to make it better than base 10. I would expect you'll get far more mileage out of the Scarlet Ninja-to, which you are proficient with at least. It does poison, right? Not always reliable, but should work through Stoneskin I think, and it will help shut down mages too. 3 poison attempts per round will probably give good odds of poisoning, and once poisoned, it can make life difficult. 2 apr with flail and bad THAC0 vs 3 with the Scarlet and much better THAC0 seems a no-brainer, but ymmv.
Well I'm using pnp Thac0 progression from a mod, so my Thac0 will be fairly good, not Fighter-like, but that would be a bit over the top anyway. Besides, Norgath's AC is not really good, so meleeing mobs or strong individuals is not going to be an option. Don't get me wrong, I love the Scarlett Ninja-To, and see Norgath use it for the rest of his run, but occasionally there might be uses for a weapon like the Flail of Ages (which is arguably the best weapon in the game). I think the Flail's slow effect (especially if attacked with Improved Gaxx-Haste) is pretty reliable. I've also considered experimenting (in safe environments) with K'logarath to see how good its throw-back effect is.
Edit:
Other question, since Norgath is already well in HLA territory (just reached level 9), what are your views on HLAs?
I already have UAI, Assassination, 3 Spike traps and a Time trap, which are in my experience the best HLAs. Normally I'd probably just take lots more Spike traps and a few Time traps, but I don't want to regret my decisions. I can't be bothered with Alchemy or Scibe Scrolls, but do you people reckon that Greater Evasion (which requires Evasion first) and Avoid Death are worth it? What about Exploding Traps? Maybe take one for the throwback effect?
Greater Evasion isn't terrible iirc, but evasion is, and Avoid Death isn't worth taking either, unless you really intend it for 'emergency situations', same with Greater Evasion. On a reloadable run, using those as survival strategies is fine, but no-reload makes putting yourself in a situation where you need them pretty undesirable. More Time and Spike traps are probably best. I could see that some situations MIGHT benefit from the knock back effect, but with the AI you're against, they'll just swarm you again won't they? The area aspect isn't atrocious, IE if you plan to trick a mob into triggering it, IE vs Sendai's endless swarms.
"Don't get me wrong, I love the Scarlett Ninja-To, and see Norgath use it for the rest of his run, but occasionally there might be uses for a weapon like the Flail of Ages (which is arguably the best weapon in the game)."
Thanks @DreadKhan, I'll give it some more thought. I agree though that the focus should lie on Spike and Time Traps. @semiticgod, you're right, how could I forget after the compelling case you've made for the Bruiser Mates
Norgath left Athkatla to visit Firkraag in the Windspear Hills. It didn't take him long to understand that not bandits but Firkraag himself (and his lackeys) would be his quarry. Firkraag even kidnapped an innocent girl to make the Bounty Hunter come after him. The man/dragon apparently had an old score to settle with Gorion, and in the absence of the latter he had picked Norgath as his enemy. The Dwarf went looking for Firkraag in a dungeon in the hills. He entered a cave full of Orcs, Hobgoblins and Mists, and slew all those creatures. (These kinds of encounters are tedious for a Bounty Hunter.) His most notable performance was a critical backstab with which a Ruhk Transmuter was killed.
The area behind it was inhabited by irrelevant and easily disposable enemies such as Hobgoblins, an Otyuygh, and a Troll, but also by six Ancient and Elder Vampires.
The undead gave Norgath a really hard time. The things I feared in Bodhi's lair, came to pass in this dungeon. These Elder/Ancient Vampires are much more powerful than the Fledglings. They drained his CON, they summoned Dread Wolves and swarms of Giant Rats that took Norgath's trap damage for them, they summoned bats that drove him near crazy, and they backstabbed him whenever he became visible.
Norgath noticed he could best these creatures in single combat.
But the Vampires had no reason to fight on those terms. When two of them took turns hiding and backstabbing him to near death, Norgath quaffed a potion of invisibility and realized he would have to do things differently. (The image below shows him at 15 HPs.)
He decided to use another one of his green scrolls of PfUndead. The tide of battle turned immediately. All the Vampires would do was to hide in order to escape Norgath's blades, but with his DI skill the Dwarf had no trouble finding, and eventually killing the Vampires.
Wraiths and Shadows suffered the same fate, just before the PfUndead wore off.
Greater Wolfweres seemed to be unkillable: neither the Scarlet Ninja-To, nor the Staff of Striking +3, nor Norgath's +5 Short Sword had any effect. The Dwarf saw no other solution than to rest a few times in a row and finish the beasts off with his traps.
He accepted to aid Samia in her alleged quest for artifacts of historical value, but would soon learn that she was nothing more than the cutesy, well-bosomed relic hunter she herself denied to be.
He succeeded, killing a Beholder (traps), six Djinn guardians (backstabs or fisticuffs with 100 Fire Resistance), and a Fire Elemental for the woman.
He rested in a small room where he found a sword and a shield that Samia had been after. When he left, hidden in shadows, he saw her adventuring party waiting for him. The Dwarf first threw a Maze trap into the party's midst, then placed some traps near Samia (immediately hiding in shadows after setting each trap, so that his foes remained blue circled), and then he took out their mage with a backstab. Samia fell soon after the wizard.
The previously placed Maze trap, Kitthix' meleeing, more traps, and some nice backstabbing made dealing with the remaining opposition a walk in the park.
A less interesting encounter with Orogs and Golems (and later Werewolves) followed. As a Bounty Hunter Norgath tends to perform well against strong individual opponents while having difficulty with multiple opponents, especially in cramped spaces, because hiding, backstabbing and trap-setting is much harder. In this particular fight Norgath did well. He found himself in a difficult position when all possible hiding places proved occupied by foes, but he managed to bottleneck his foes on a bridge, so that he could melee them one at a time (when dealing with the hard-hitting Golems he would heal with potions).
His old acquaintance Tazok was (finally?) put to rest with a critical Daystar-stab, and a wizard who had the key to the kidnapped girl's cell was mazed and subsequently treated with Efreeti-fire and acid arrows until he fell.
Norgath released the girl and then decided to test his mettle against Firkraag. I decided to have Norgath fight Firkraag on equal terms. This meant no pre-buffing except for an oil of speed and no trapping before the dragon was spoken to. It also meant trouble. Firkraag immediately hasted, making him seemingly faster than the Dwarf. He retreated from the dragon's lair, and reentered invisibly (I expected Firkraag to see through Norgath's invisibility, just like Thaxxy had done, but I wasn't 100% sure). Firkraag immediately noticed the Dwarf and pursued him at full speed toward the other end of the den.
With great difficulty the Dwarf then managed to find a way back to the exit, even if it made him suffer one hit and a wing buffet (but resist Melf's Acid Arrows).
When he had left the lair behind him one again, he cast Mirror Image on himself, from a scroll (forgot about Ilbratha), waited for his aura to be clear, and rushed once more past Firkraag, who was still hasted it turned out, toward the back of its lair. Crucially, Norgath managed to summon Ras, right between him and the dragon.
The blade did an outstanding job at distracting and occupying Firkraag without suffering so much as a scratch, allowing Norgath to launch a Maze trap at the dragon.
Once Firkraag was mazed the battle was won, albeit barely. Thrice Norgath would place three to four damage traps, and one new maze trap. Thus the dragon would suffer some damage and get mazed again without being able to retalliate except for one Red Dragon Breath.
(Note in the first screenshot how Ras resisted Firkraag's wing buffet.) Things started to look difficult when Norgath ran out of damage traps, but with a Time trap and melee attacks with his speed weapons and Gaxx-Haste he managed to defeat his foe just in time.
You know, you're probably not getting enough XP for killing the seriously mooky mooks... IE orcs, orogs, etc. While not always possible or wise, you can just ignore some, right? orcs give piddly XP.
Do you have the Ring of Air Control? worth equipping and replacing just for the invisibility in some cases. A long fight is a tedious fight, and with no noticeable reward, ain't nobody got time for that!
Do you have a Sandthief ring? Also handy to keep in inventory. MAYBE you could go for the Staff of the Magi? jk, thats a crazy fight, even if you COULD throw maze traps in.
@Grum, I'm afraid I'm a thrill-seeker at heart. Find it very hard to always keep risks as low as possible, but boy would I have lamented Norgath's death... When will we read more about your brave Dwarf?
@DreadKhan, I have both rings but in my install if I store them in my gem bag after I've used them they don't recharge upon rest... I've ended up using them less than I probably should.
I've got th next installment being written. Nothing as worrisome as a dragon. Just hunting sirens, flesh golems and an ogre mage. Which by BG1 can be quite scary.
That said. Walking up to a dragon, giving it the finger and then killing him is quite dwarven!
I've got th next installment being written. Nothing as worrisome as a dragon. Just hunting sirens, flesh golems and an ogre mage. Which by BG1 can be quite scary.
Those foes are formidable indeed in BG1. Looking forward to your next chapter!
With Blackraven's thirst for adrenaline sated after the Firkraag fight, Norgath took a more cautious approach in his last big mission before he'd go after Irenicus: freeing the boots of speed the Tiefling Bard Haer'Dalis from a Planar Prison. After the Mage Mekrath was slain with traps for a portal stone that made interplanar travel possible, Norgath went through a mysterious portal after Haer'Dalis & co., who he saw kidnapped right in front of him. Upon arrival hidden Norgath would stab (or rather: smack) numerous ambushers with his Staff of Striking and immediately hide, stab again, and hide again. Most foes fell after being struck once, Aawil required two stabs.
Timing was essential because there were hostile Thralls walking around. Norgath could not become visible in their sight. The last of Norgath's ambushers, a Yuan-Ti mage was felled with acid arrows.
He snuck through the planar prison until he found the Master of Thralls, a Nabassu. Norgath failed to quickly kill it, so it summoned two Air Elementals, and it was also aided by a Wyvern. The Dwarf killed these three critters first.
The Master of Thralls would teleport without error toward Norgath and attack him. The Dwarf made use of that by speeding with his new boots back to the entrance. There he applied a Gaxx-Haste to dispatch the fiend (with a nice critical).
By that time, Yuan-Ti Mages had caught up with Norgath, but he went invisible and rushed to a pit where he would destroy an orb he had found on the Master of Thralls, setting the thralls free. Then he went looking for the Warden, a Cambion, it seemed. Norgath Maze-trapped it, and set some of his Spike traps for a quick kill. But strangely, the Warden (who is supposed to see through invisibility) didn't go after the Dwarf, as if the creature sensed the presence of the latter's traps. All it did was buff, trigger a Chain Contingency with ADHW and Mordenkainen's Sword, and cast a PW: Blind at Norgath. At least the traps helped Norgath deal with the Warden's Yuan-Ti lackeys.
With a new Maze trap, followed by a Time trap, and a Gaxx-Hasted assault with his speed weapons, Norgath dispatched the Warden (again with a critical).
He traveled back with Haer'Dalis to the Prime Material Plane, to Athkatla, where the Bard gave Norgath his short swords as a reward for his work, and where the Gnome Jan Jansen gave Norgath a suit of armor for helping him against the Athkata revenue service. The Dwarf then did some bartering at a few shops, spoke with Aran Linvail, and navigated to the far-off island that harbored Spellhold and Irenicus. (Arnise, Twisted Rune, Alhoon, and Guarded Compound shall have to wait till Chapter 6, should we decide to go after the FoA, SotM, Crom Faeyr, or - less likely - Celestial Fury).
Captain Saemon Havarian however turned out to be hired by Bodhi: Norgath was ambushed upon reaching his destination - the village of Brynnlaw on the same island as Spellhold. His ambushers appeared to Vampires of the tougher ilk, like those he had met in the Windspear Hills. Two of them fled into Lady Galvena's Festhall when he charged at them, so he could take one down, and do the remaining two later (with backstabs).
Knowing that Irenicus was almost within reach, Norgath had little patience with some of the islanders that stood between him and his nemesis, as Galvena, Vadek and Perth the Adept (the object of Norgath's personal record breaking backstab) would discover.
The latter dropped the Book of Infinite Spells, of which many pages were turned in hopes of finding Spell Turning but, not wanting to see the book destroyed, Norgath eventually settled for Farsight, quite a nice spell for a Bounty Hunter. He used backstabs to deal with a group of Sirines,
and then entered Spellhold only to see his strengths fail (due to poisoning) and his freedom - and apparently his soul - taken by Irenicus. (In the dream one point of WIS was relinquished; Bhaal had to be CLUA'd inside the library because he wouldn't follow Norgath.) Bodhi, Irenicus' sister he discovered, seemed to like Norgath's style: rather than trying to kill him, as she had been ordered by her brother, she set him free in a maze below the asylum for a game of cat and mouse. In the maze Norgath solved a variety of riddles, and he also faced all kinds of hostile creatures, such as Yuan-Tis, Trolls, Golems, a Beholder, a Noble Djinn, (Greater) Mummies, a Lich, and Vampires (including Bodhi). These were all enemies he had encountered before, so he knew how to deal with them. Backstabs, traps and a green scroll of PfUndead when dealing with the undead made his time in the maze a relatively carefree one. Nonetheless a confrontation with Mephits gave him a scare as he got stunned, thankfully only for a brief while. He immediately equipped Mazzy's sword when the Stun effect had expired.
Creatures Norgath hadn't had dealings with before, and that warrant special attention here, were the Illithids. Norgath unknowingly summoned a Mind Flayer by turning a page in an old tome. The Dwarf was hidden in shadows and saw the creature go invisible immediately after it had been summoned. He decided to use his ring of invisibility so that he could detect the invisible creature without having to worry about his own stealth. However the Mind Flayer somehow sensed it when his invisibility was detected, and would go invisible again. Norgath therefore summoned Ras to distract the creature, so that he could hopefully deal with the Mind Flayer in one or two backstabs. Ever reliable, Ras did a great job at keeping their foe busy, but Norgath's two backstabs weren't enough to finish the Mind Flayer.
But in a way that was a positive thing, for it allowed the Illithid to teach Norgath two important lessons:
(1) it was capable of casting Maze, and (2) Ras, the object of that spell, didn't care. Supposing that this Mind Flayer was not a unique type, the above lessons mean that Norgath can only safely fight (melee) Illithids if he has 100 MR, and that Ras may come in handy to absorb wizards' Maze spells. Ras dealt the Mind Flayer a killing blow.
The Dwarf safely made his way out of the maze in spite of having lost control of himself twice, changing into a Slayer. (Conveniently this happened once after his only rest, in a room with three Clay Golems. When he regained control of himself, one of the Golems lay demolished on the ground and a second one was on the verge of destruction as well.)
Back inside the asylum, Norgath paid a fellow Dwarf 2000 GP for the key that would unlock the inmates' cell doors. He then rallied them all and together they attacked Irenicus. The battle that ensued was an easy one. Norgath summoned Kitthix and before he could engage Irenicus, he saw himself occupied fighting a clone of himself.
He missed most of what happened around him until he saw himself frozen in time by Irenicus' Time Stop. Fortunately the wizard's immediate concerns were some of the inmates near him so that Norgath didn't have to to fear for his own wellbeing.
When time continued, Norgath barely managed to slay his clone and to move toward the other side of the room to see if he could Maze-trap his nemesis, before Wanev, the former Spellhold coordinator, cast a Time Stop as well. He used it to summon a Glabrezu, and the demon basically took care of Irenicus.
Irenicus fled, the Glabrezu finished off a number of assassins (Norgath dealt with the others), and the Dwarf returned to Brynnlaw with Captain Saemon Havarian.
Norgath stole a horn, and Havarian a ship, and with a couple pirates they set sail to the mainland but were ambushed by Githyanki, and later Sahuagin. The ship sank
and Norgath saw himself end up in a Sahuagin city, where he was hailed as the hero one of their prophecies spoke of. The Dwarf was in no good mood due to this delay. He bartered with one priestess (mainly for scrolls), slew another one (earning him the Cloak of Mirroring he's unlikely to use much), solved a few riddles (he was becoming quite good at that), and did the Sahuagin King a favor by slaying a Rebel Prince.
In return he was assured safe conduct back to the main land, which in reality meant ending up in the perilous Underdark. The good thing is that the descriptions a Duergar merchant gave Norgath of two surface dwellers they had just met, matched precisely with Irenicus and Bodhi's looks. So the Dwarf still had good hope of locating his quarry.
@Blackraven: 100% MR will not block the psionic version of Maze. I have checked the apparent spell file, SPIN774, and it is tagged as nonmagical. Unless your install is different than mine, the only thing that can block it is SI: Conjuration or a save vs. spell at -4.
@semiticgod, thanks for pointing this out. I found the Psionic Maze file in NI, with the same characteristics. My Dwarf can cope with that save penalty as long as he doesn't get Malisoned (which could theoretically happen in the Underdark).
@Blackraven: 100% MR will not block the psionic version of Maze. I have checked the apparent spell file, SPIN774, and it is tagged as nonmagical. Unless your install is different than mine, the only thing that can block it is SI: Conjuration or a save vs. spell at -4.
Just saying, but isn't that utterly moronic? Its not 'magic', so MR does not apply, but spell protection works? Someone should fix that. Then again, Psionics in DnD have usually been poorly balanced, so this could very well be legit.
Norgath's stay in the Underdark didn't go at all as planned. First of all there were three Elemental portals. Blackraven thought them a good source of XP for Norgath to reach his penultimate level. (Rogues have a huge gap between lvl 39 at 6.38 million XP and lvl 40 at 8 million XP.) So Norgath started to battle (aTweaks' pnp) Air Elementals, spawned by one of the portals. He soon concluded that that was not a good idea. The portal made sure there were always three to four Elementals around, including 'Greater' variants that would haste and go invisible at will (making them hard to kill), summon Aerial Servants that dealt tremendous damage, and entangle their prey. Thankfully the Elementals could not see through invisibility, or the Dwarf's adventure in the Underdark might have ended there and then.
Norgath decided to leave the other Elemental Portals alone. The only friends he made were the Svirfneblin, for whom he slew a Balrog with his traps.
As a reward they gave him an enchanted Mace or Morningstar he had little use for, and a gem that gave him access to the lair of Adalon, a Silver Dragon. To reach that lair he had to sneak past a Drow war party.
The dragon made Norgath look and talk like a Drow so that he could infiltrate their community in the city of Ust Natha and retrieve her eggs that had been stolen from her by the dark Elves. In exchange for that service, Norgath would receive a magical item and safe passage to the surface. Thus Norgath entered the city as Veldrin the Drow. He did some free shopping on the market square (mainly for potions and scrolls) before he started to offer his services as a male fighter. He had little choice but to accept a commission for one of the Houses: slaying a party of Illithids with another male, Solaufein. As he left the city, the Drow war party was still there, and they blocked Norgath's way toward the point. The Dwarf solved this by using his wand of Monster Summoning to call forth three Ogres that would distract the Drow.
At the meeting point where the Illithids were expected to arrive, Norgath ran into a party of Kuo-Toa. They attacked both the Dwarf and Solaufein - who didn't fight back and had to be kept alive with Rod of Resurrection charges.
Norgath too, had to rely on said rod; the Kuo Toa hit him hard.
When the Dwarf eventually prevailed, and the area was clear, he proceeded to set various snares: six Spike traps and a Maze trap (which would allow the setting of more snares). The traps killed one Mind Flayer and mazed some other enemies. However, the Mind Flayers traveled with a band of non-mazed Umber Hulk pets, that started attacking Phaere of the House that Solaufein and Norgath were working for. The Dwarf tried to Maze-trap them, but did so when the creatures had not yet disappeared in the fog of war, meaning the set snare attempt failed. As a consequence Phaere was killed by the Umber Hulks, Solaufein went hostile (Norgath avoided a fight with him by going invisible), and the Ust Natha city gate was unpickably locked.
When he went to tell Adalon of his problem, the Silver Dragon was not amused. The Dwarf said he he had done what he could, and insisted that the dragon help him leave the Underdark, but Adalon refused. Norgath had foreseen this outcome though. He had already set a Maze trap before telling Adalon what had happened. The dragon triggered it, enabling Norgath to set more snares (including one Maze trap in case his damage traps proved insufficient). Two sessions were enough though to put the creature to death, and it pained Norgath to witness it for he'd had nothing against Adalon.
(I see I forgot to take a screenshot of Adalon's fall.) On Adalon's corpse he found a scroll with which a drow gate seal could be removed.
In search of an exit out of the Underdark the Dwarf battled his way through tunnels inhabited by Kuo Toa archers, priests, warriors and wizards, relying on his Rod of Resurrection to stay healthy and on his saving throws to resist their spells and stun bolts.
With corrupted tadpoles found in one chamber he contaminated a birthing pool in another chamber. It seemed to weaken a Kuo Toa prince. He killed it for a pair of Bracers of Blinding Strike.
Eventually he came upon a large gate, guarded by Drow. Norgath Maze-trapped the entire party, used Adalon's scroll on the gate, and rushed past fighting Drow and surface Elves toward the surface.
Much to his chagrin more surface Elves found him, and interrogated the Dwarf about his business in the Underdark. He answered them curtly but honestly, and they discovered that Irenicus and Bodhi were a mutual enemies of the Elves and the Dwarf. The Elves gave Norgath stakes and holy water, and asked them to destroy Bodhi and retrieve a lanthorn for them. No small task, but on his way to Athkatla he met Bruenor Battlehammer and Drizzt, famed warriors that were willing to help him against Bodhi, which gave him hope and an idea: there were others he might ask for help against Bodhi: some of Linvail's assassins perhaps, and the Paladins of the Radiant Heart that were indebted to him for his having dispatched the fallen Paladins. He would seek them out, and he would also sell loot and resupply to prepare for what was likely going to be the showdown against the Vampires. His friend Cromwell forged a number of items for Norgath: Daystar +4
, the Improved Cloak of Protection +2 (in my setup Cromwell can forge items that Cespenar can make and vice versa), the Stormlord's Heels (i.e. Boots of Grounding and Speed merged together, mostly a cosmetic thing because electricity damage isn't a huge deal in BG2),
and the Wave Halberd.
Edit: @DreadKhan, I agree that mechanically it makes little sense that a Save vs Spell would protect against the Psionic Mazes, but then some other form of protection would be desirable imo, so that the creatures can actually be fought by solo characters.
In the northern Bridge District Norgath heard voices whispering in his ear, but as he looked around, he saw nobody near him. As he walked past one of his guild contacts, a Halfling cutpurse, the voices gradually grew louder until in front of a derelict building, the whispers had evolved into normal speaking voices. Norgath disarmed a trap on the door, and picked its lock, and then went inside, just in time for a meeting between members of a select association of powerful beings, called Twisted Rune. Norgath however, not a member of that company, was understandably unwelcome, and told by a Lich that he would pay with his life for his intrusion. In a small chamber before the large meeting room, Norgath placed six regular Thief traps and one Maze trap (in case the damage traps proved insufficient). When the Lich teleported toward Norgath, the traps killed it.
Before he could to enter the meeting room, a warrior came charging in. Norgath retreated and quaffed two potions (Invulnerability and Fire Giant Strength), and then beat the warrior in a straight fight.
Hidden in shadows he then entered the larger room, where he saw a Beholder and a Vampire. He retreated to place more regular thief traps as well a Time trap, and attempted to lure the Beholder toward him. The Beholder followed and Norgath learned that his Time trap triggered from a larger distance than the other traps. As time continued Norgath lured the Beholder a bit further into the anteroom to have it trigger his damage traps, and - unaffected by the creature's ceaseless stream of spells - he prevailed over his foe in melee combat.
Norgath's Efreeti engaged the Vampire, allowing the Dwarf to finish the undead creature off with a backstab.
The Efreeti then caused a female Human Mage to activate her many spell buffs before it was banished from the prime material plane with an ADHW.
Norgath then waited out the mage's buffs until only her Stoneskins seemed to be intact.
That was his sign to throw a Maze trap in her direction. At the maze point, Norgath planted a Time trap and four Spike traps. The former snare triggered first when the woman returned, prompting Norgath to launch a couple of arrows of dispelling at her, so that she would hopefully be completely unprotected against Norgath's Spike traps once time continued. This worked as desired; the Dwarf's summoning of Kitthix as a decoy proved unnecessary.
The Bounty Hunter found a Staff of the Magi on the woman's corpse, with all manner of useful properties.
When he left the Bridge District, Norgath was surprised to be ambushed by travelers who shapeshifted into stoneskinned, spell casting copies of himself.
Norgath had no idea who these 'people' were, and Blackraven had no knowledge of this encounter (and the shapeshifters' abilities) either. The Dwarf could have fled the scene but Blackraven was too curious for that. Norgath therefore played it safe, spamming the creatures with Cloudkills until all but one of them were dead. The last foe was finished off in melee.
(I have no idea what this encounter is from. Maybe part of the Sellswords or Back to Brynnlaw mods, both of which I will probably skip in favor of the main quest.)
Norgath rested, procured the Iron Horn of Valhalla and the help of some of Aran Linvail's Assassins as well as Knights of the Order of the Radiant Heart. He then visited Bodhi's lair for a second time. At the entrance he met the Paladins and with their help Norgath slew a first pack of Vampires and their summoned rats.
Further on Norgath and the knights met Drizzt and his band, and together they battled more vampires until Norgath, beset by some of the Vampires and by Giant Rats cast a Sunray with Daystar. (Blackraven somehow thought it a party-friendly spell, too much solo'ing perhaps.)
Both Drizzt and the Paladins understandably abandoned the Dwarf.
Thankfully Nordath managed to deal with the remining Vampires and Rats alone.
In a conference room, the Bounty Hunter found some of his guild colleagues fighting more Vampires including a wizard. He slew one of the creatures but saw another one, the wizard, injuring his fellows with her fireshield, until Norgath dispelled it using the Staff of the Magi.
When the last Vampire fell, a door opened. Behind it was a stairway that led to a lower level. Norgath and Arkanis went down there. Through a corridor they came upon a room with pools of blood on various sides. It contained numerous Vampires, including Bodhi, and Grimwarders. Norgath proposed a cautious approach, but Arkanis simply waded into battle. The Dwarf retreated and soon found that many of the duo's foes were after him. A swarm of bats frustrated his trap-setting in the corridor ('casting failure' - should have set the snares pre-battle), and he soon found himself under attack by Bodhi, two spellcasting Vampires, one of them gating in a Glabrezu, and plenty of Giant Rats. He healed himself with the Rod of Resurrection, equipped Mazzy's sword for stun protection, and slew some of the rats to break free and retreat upstairs.
When he descended the stairs again, he found 'only' the Glabrezu, the rats, and one Vampire to deal with, and this he did.
Hidden in Shadows he then spotted Bodhi, another Vampire and two Grimwarders, before they could notice him.
With his speed weapons and a Gaxx-Haste Norgath brought Bodhi to her knees once, and after she fully healed, he used his Bracers of Blinding Strike plus his Assassination HLA to take her down a second (and last time).
Artemis Entreri (two Staff of Striking backstabs) and the remaining opposition were then slain without difficulty. (The spell casting vampires seemed to have vanished.)
He looted the premises for a couple of high level spell scrolls and the Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise, and then he left Bodhi's lair intent on not returning there anytime soon.
SCS never casts Imprisonment on Player1 unless a global variable to make enemy mages do so is set to 1. It doesn't take into account if you're solo or not when it comes to that or Maze.
Personly I always hated fighting vampires. Level drain is a pain in the arse. Especially the first time you encounter it. The panic of seeing your best spells just vanish and your thaco rising is pretty bad.
I think that drizzt and the paladins just ran scared and used the wee beat wave as an excuse.
@Grum, Artemis Entreri is from the (BG2) Unfinished Business mod.
Vampires are a pain. Norgath avoided them until he had UAI (and thus the Amulet of Power with it negative plane protection), although he did backstab a few before that.
Re: Drizzt and the Pallies, you may be right, but what about Bruenor? He wouldn't chicken out.
@CrevsDaak, thank you sharing that info. Very useful!
Before he returned the Rhynn Lanthorn to Elhan at the Elven Encampment by the Underdark Exit, Norgath acquired the Flail of Ages (minimal effort, only two Trolls and Glaicus were slain, other enemies were evaded using SotM-invisibility) and the Human Flesh Armor (hostile wizards fell to traps). The Dwarf then traveled with the Elves to Suldanessalar. He didn't help the Elves in their battles against Golems, Skeleton Warriors, and Rakshasa, except where necessary to secure items needed for summoming Rilifane's spirit or for access to the Tree of Life. This meant two battles: (1) Nizi the dragon, brought down with Maze traps followed by damage traps, and eventually Time traps + speed attacks.
The trick with a single, powerful foe as this one, is to always set a new Maze trap after you've already Mazed them. That way you can continue setting damage traps without having to worry about enemy attacks. In this case I underestimated the Black Dragon's HP pool and so I failed to set a Maze trap where I should have. This was repaired with an oil of speed, which allowed Norgath to distance himself sufficiently from his foe to set new traps. (2) Suneer, a Rakshasa, an Iron Golem, and a a Glabrezu. The wizard was immediately dealt with in one backstab.
The Rakshasa's protections were dispelled with the SotM, and the creature's damage spells did little to upset the Dwarf, so its death was only a matter of time.
Norgath then managed to engage the Glabrezu out of the Golem's sight, and dealt with the demon in melee (Scarlet Ninja-To, plus Mazzy's Sword for stun protection).
The Golem was a simple matter of hit and fade tactics with the SotM.
Norgath then climbed the Tree of Life. It was weakened by parasites that produced (aTweaks') Elder Eart, Air and Fire Elementals, dangerous creatures. Norgath dealt with them using Maze traps and damage traps, and backstabs using the Iron Horn of Valhalla Berserk warrior as a decoy.
Irenicus cast two Time Stops in which he Wished for Norgath's protections to be removed, summoned two Gelugons and two Efreetis and Breached Norgath's virtual inexistent buffs.
Norgath waited for the demons and the Efreeti to be unsummoned placing a number of Spike traps in the meantime. When lured into them Irencius proved insusceptible to their damage, probably due to Spell Shield or Spell Deflection.
Shambling Mounds were summoned to provoke Irenicus into wasting more spells, and more importantly, Kitthix succeeded in her attempt at webbing him (after some of his protections wore off).
The wizard fell but took Norgath with him into hell. There the Dwarf faced a number of tests. He failed to contain his wrath against Wraith Sarevok (killing it with traps), earning himself +2 STR (and +1 DEX). But he did not give in to his Fear, Selfishness, Greed or Pride, which resulted in Immunity to +1 weapons or less, +10 resistance to magic, +2 to all saving throws, and +20% resistances to fire, cold and electricity. I'm playing with the Tactics-SCSII hybrid version of Improved Irenicus in Hell (so not the pure Tactics version, which is probably the hardest version). It consists of two fights. The first is against Shattered Irenicus with five lackeys whose powers are loosely based on the Hell Trials. The minions spawn from the different stairs that lead to the Hell Trial areas. Wraith of Wrath Sarevok who drains STR upon hit, a a level-draining Mordenkainen-like Blackrazor Sword, a CON-draining and thus extremely dangerous (Elder) Orb of Fear, and a level-draining Dragon of Pride. Selfish Jon can recharge his spell repertoire at will and ‘shatter' charname's magic. The second fight is the normal fight against Slayer Irenicus, aided by four demons, with the only differences being SCS scripting and aTweaked demons.
Norgath rested before opening the gate to meet his nemesis, and placed three Spike Traps where the Orb of Fear would appear (southeast), three Spike Traps at the point at the spawning point (southwest) of the Sword of Greed (which is invulnerable to physical attacks and can only be slain with magic such as Magic Missile, or as it happens, with traps). At the point where the Black Dragon would likely spawn (east), a Time trap was placed. The Dwarf then rested a second time, to get all his traps back. Norgath drank an oil of speed and had a short chat with Irenicus, and then battle broke out. The first thing that happened was the dragon triggering Norgath's Time trap. The hasted Dwarf proceeded to hit the creature first with the SotM to dispel any protections, and then lots and lots of times with his speed weapons (dealing 167 damage in total) until the Time Stop ended.
He then retreated to place a Spike Trap just before the dragon would reach him.
The snare killed the monster, and at the same time good news came from other corners of the area, with the fall of of the Orb of Fear and the Sword of Greed.
The Wraith of Wrath was a beast. Norgath stood no chance against it in melee combat. But he still had all his traps but one Spike trap just spent on the Black Dragon, so he resorted to setting a few more damage traps. (A combination of regular thief traps and Spike traps. I don't remember how many, but I know I did make sure to save quite a few Spike traps for Slayer Irenicus.) The traps finished off the Wraith of Wrath quite nicely.
Irenicus seemed remarkably tame. He must have been saving his energies for his Slayer form. He did little more than repeatedly removing Norgath's protections and casting relatively harmless spells such as Finger of Death, Melf's Acid Arrows and PW: Blind.
When injured Irenicus would heal himself (he had Heal and Cure Critical Wounds, as if he were a Priest). Norgath actually took advantage of this by meleeing the wizard when he had no more triggered/contingencied PfMWs. The Dwarf's speed attacks would interrupt his Irenicus' spell casting and eventually bring him to his knees.
Time for round two.
Slayer Irenicus, assisted by two Glabrezus and two Balors, was more aggressive than Shattered Irenicus but again not as aggressive or effective as he could have been. He summoned a Fallen Planetar, and intially he joined the demons in his pursuit of the Dwarf but after a while he stopped - it seemed he did not see through invisibility/stealth, and would cast True Sight.
Norgath limited himself to running at triple speed (boots + potions), and dealing the occasional blow to one of the demons with the SotM that he used to remain invisible (and thus untargetable) and to dispel buffs.
The Bounty Hunter thought himself safe from Slayer Irenicus' wrath when the latter had lost sight of the Dwarf, but then the wizard cast a Time Stop and he knew very well where to find Norgath. In my opinion Norgath's run should have ended there if only because I had no summons active at that moment - even though I'm aware that that wouldn't have guaranteed Irenicus targeting them rather than Norgath. Either way Irenicus wasted precious time doing nothing and casting Breach before he attacked, allowing Norgath to survive the onslaught. (This actually occurred twice, i.e. with two Time Stops.)
I can't see why Slayer Irenicus didn't simply deal out a lot of damage, PW: Stun Norgath and finish him off. Could it have to do with Norgath's invisibility? As I mentioned above, the Slayer resorted to casting True Seeing in order to detect Norgath's presence. Anyway, with a lot of hitting and running Norgath succeeded in killing off the Bators and Glabrezus.
Fast regenerating Slayer Irenicus fell to loads of traps. He was first softeend up with a Maze trap followed by Spike traps. Then more Maze traps, regular thief traps and Time traps (for Assassination and speed attacks). The Vhailor's Simmy helped with this.
Thus Norgath survived Hell and Irenicus, and he got his soul back. I feel that it's not really deserved. I think the first fight was well done, metagamey sure but with complete control, which is satisfactory to me. Otoh Norgath's survival of the second fight just seems based in luck and deficient scripting. It detracts from the satisfaction I could have felt there.
There's always an element of luck involved, and scripting is never quite sufficient. Plus, Irenicus had the uneven advantage of casting spells in Slayer form, an extra life, several permanent summons and--well, everything, actually.
I consider it an unqualified win. Congratulations! Isn't this the second successful solo no-reload SCS run of BG2, along with Alesia's?
Thank you @semiticgod! It's true that Irenicus gets his share of advantages as well...I shall be happier about this.
This may be the second (documented) solo no-reload SCS run of BG2 with a Bounty Hunter yes. I think that's what you mean. (Other classes and kits have been successfully soloed through SCS BG2 as well.) Alesia's Bounty Hunter made it all the way to the final ToB fight, but fell there. I think she used NPCs in parts of her playthrough.
Maybe I'll start a new game with a custom kitted Archer/Assassin/Abjurer version of Rovala.
@semiticgod, sounds really nice, but how would you do that? Did you install the multi-kit mod? I might try a triple-class myself some time soon (I created a Gnome Fighter/Mage/Illusionist a while back but that's easy).
Comments
Don't get me wrong, I love the Scarlett Ninja-To, and see Norgath use it for the rest of his run, but occasionally there might be uses for a weapon like the Flail of Ages (which is arguably the best weapon in the game). I think the Flail's slow effect (especially if attacked with Improved Gaxx-Haste) is pretty reliable. I've also considered experimenting (in safe environments) with K'logarath to see how good its throw-back effect is.
Edit:
Other question, since Norgath is already well in HLA territory (just reached level 9), what are your views on HLAs?
I already have UAI, Assassination, 3 Spike traps and a Time trap, which are in my experience the best HLAs. Normally I'd probably just take lots more Spike traps and a few Time traps, but I don't want to regret my decisions. I can't be bothered with Alchemy or Scibe Scrolls, but do you people reckon that Greater Evasion (which requires Evasion first) and Avoid Death are worth it? What about Exploding Traps? Maybe take one for the throwback effect?
Aren't you forgetting Jan's flashers?
@semiticgod, you're right, how could I forget after the compelling case you've made for the Bruiser Mates
Norgath left Athkatla to visit Firkraag in the Windspear Hills. It didn't take him long to understand that not bandits but Firkraag himself (and his lackeys) would be his quarry. Firkraag even kidnapped an innocent girl to make the Bounty Hunter come after him. The man/dragon apparently had an old score to settle with Gorion, and in the absence of the latter he had picked Norgath as his enemy.
The Dwarf went looking for Firkraag in a dungeon in the hills. He entered a cave full of Orcs, Hobgoblins and Mists, and slew all those creatures. (These kinds of encounters are tedious for a Bounty Hunter.) His most notable performance was a critical backstab with which a Ruhk Transmuter was killed.
Do you have a Sandthief ring? Also handy to keep in inventory. MAYBE you could go for the Staff of the Magi? jk, thats a crazy fight, even if you COULD throw maze traps in.
@DreadKhan, I have both rings but in my install if I store them in my gem bag after I've used them they don't recharge upon rest... I've ended up using them less than I probably should.
That said. Walking up to a dragon, giving it the finger and then killing him is quite dwarven!
Very true! Bold and unbending, love it
After the Mage Mekrath was slain with traps for a portal stone that made interplanar travel possible, Norgath went through a mysterious portal after Haer'Dalis & co., who he saw kidnapped right in front of him. Upon arrival hidden Norgath would stab (or rather: smack) numerous ambushers with his Staff of Striking and immediately hide, stab again, and hide again. Most foes fell after being struck once, Aawil required two stabs.
(Arnise, Twisted Rune, Alhoon, and Guarded Compound shall have to wait till Chapter 6, should we decide to go after the FoA, SotM, Crom Faeyr, or - less likely - Celestial Fury).
Captain Saemon Havarian however turned out to be hired by Bodhi: Norgath was ambushed upon reaching his destination - the village of Brynnlaw on the same island as Spellhold. His ambushers appeared to Vampires of the tougher ilk, like those he had met in the Windspear Hills. Two of them fled into Lady Galvena's Festhall when he charged at them, so he could take one down, and do the remaining two later (with backstabs).
He used backstabs to deal with a group of Sirines,
Bodhi, Irenicus' sister he discovered, seemed to like Norgath's style: rather than trying to kill him, as she had been ordered by her brother, she set him free in a maze below the asylum for a game of cat and mouse. In the maze Norgath solved a variety of riddles, and he also faced all kinds of hostile creatures, such as Yuan-Tis, Trolls, Golems, a Beholder, a Noble Djinn, (Greater) Mummies, a Lich, and Vampires (including Bodhi). These were all enemies he had encountered before, so he knew how to deal with them. Backstabs, traps and a green scroll of PfUndead when dealing with the undead made his time in the maze a relatively carefree one. Nonetheless a confrontation with Mephits gave him a scare as he got stunned, thankfully only for a brief while. He immediately equipped Mazzy's sword when the Stun effect had expired.
Creatures Norgath hadn't had dealings with before, and that warrant special attention here, were the Illithids. Norgath unknowingly summoned a Mind Flayer by turning a page in an old tome. The Dwarf was hidden in shadows and saw the creature go invisible immediately after it had been summoned. He decided to use his ring of invisibility so that he could detect the invisible creature without having to worry about his own stealth. However the Mind Flayer somehow sensed it when his invisibility was detected, and would go invisible again.
Norgath therefore summoned Ras to distract the creature, so that he could hopefully deal with the Mind Flayer in one or two backstabs. Ever reliable, Ras did a great job at keeping their foe busy, but Norgath's two backstabs weren't enough to finish the Mind Flayer.
(2) Ras, the object of that spell, didn't care.
Supposing that this Mind Flayer was not a unique type, the above lessons mean that Norgath can only safely fight (melee) Illithids if he has 100 MR, and that Ras may come in handy to absorb wizards' Maze spells.
Ras dealt the Mind Flayer a killing blow.
Norgath stole a horn, and Havarian a ship, and with a couple pirates they set sail to the mainland but were ambushed by Githyanki, and later Sahuagin. The ship sank
First of all there were three Elemental portals. Blackraven thought them a good source of XP for Norgath to reach his penultimate level. (Rogues have a huge gap between lvl 39 at 6.38 million XP and lvl 40 at 8 million XP.) So Norgath started to battle (aTweaks' pnp) Air Elementals, spawned by one of the portals. He soon concluded that that was not a good idea. The portal made sure there were always three to four Elementals around, including 'Greater' variants that would haste and go invisible at will (making them hard to kill), summon Aerial Servants that dealt tremendous damage, and entangle their prey. Thankfully the Elementals could not see through invisibility, or the Dwarf's adventure in the Underdark might have ended there and then.
The only friends he made were the Svirfneblin, for whom he slew a Balrog with his traps.
Thus Norgath entered the city as Veldrin the Drow. He did some free shopping on the market square (mainly for potions and scrolls) before he started to offer his services as a male fighter. He had little choice but to accept a commission for one of the Houses: slaying a party of Illithids with another male, Solaufein. As he left the city, the Drow war party was still there, and they blocked Norgath's way toward the point. The Dwarf solved this by using his wand of Monster Summoning to call forth three Ogres that would distract the Drow.
In search of an exit out of the Underdark the Dwarf battled his way through tunnels inhabited by Kuo Toa archers, priests, warriors and wizards, relying on his Rod of Resurrection to stay healthy and on his saving throws to resist their spells and stun bolts.
The Elves gave Norgath stakes and holy water, and asked them to destroy Bodhi and retrieve a lanthorn for them. No small task, but on his way to Athkatla he met Bruenor Battlehammer and Drizzt, famed warriors that were willing to help him against Bodhi, which gave him hope and an idea: there were others he might ask for help against Bodhi: some of Linvail's assassins perhaps, and the Paladins of the Radiant Heart that were indebted to him for his having dispatched the fallen Paladins. He would seek them out, and he would also sell loot and resupply to prepare for what was likely going to be the showdown against the Vampires.
His friend Cromwell forged a number of items for Norgath: Daystar +4
Edit: @DreadKhan, I agree that mechanically it makes little sense that a Save vs Spell would protect against the Psionic Mazes, but then some other form of protection would be desirable imo, so that the creatures can actually be fought by solo characters.
In a small chamber before the large meeting room, Norgath placed six regular Thief traps and one Maze trap (in case the damage traps proved insufficient). When the Lich teleported toward Norgath, the traps killed it.
When he left the Bridge District, Norgath was surprised to be ambushed by travelers who shapeshifted into stoneskinned, spell casting copies of himself.
Norgath rested, procured the Iron Horn of Valhalla and the help of some of Aran Linvail's Assassins as well as Knights of the Order of the Radiant Heart. He then visited Bodhi's lair for a second time. At the entrance he met the Paladins and with their help Norgath slew a first pack of Vampires and their summoned rats.
Personly I always hated fighting vampires. Level drain is a pain in the arse. Especially the first time you encounter it. The panic of seeing your best spells just vanish and your thaco rising is pretty bad.
I think that drizzt and the paladins just ran scared and used the wee beat wave as an excuse.
Vampires are a pain. Norgath avoided them until he had UAI (and thus the Amulet of Power with it negative plane protection), although he did backstab a few before that.
Re: Drizzt and the Pallies, you may be right, but what about Bruenor? He wouldn't chicken out.
@CrevsDaak, thank you sharing that info. Very useful!
Bruenor threw his pink warhammer at a vampire and lost it in the chaos of combat. He'll spend the next week searching for it.
(1) Nizi the dragon, brought down with Maze traps followed by damage traps, and eventually Time traps + speed attacks.
(2) Suneer, a Rakshasa, an Iron Golem, and a a Glabrezu. The wizard was immediately dealt with in one backstab.
There the Dwarf faced a number of tests. He failed to contain his wrath against Wraith Sarevok (killing it with traps), earning himself +2 STR (and +1 DEX). But he did not give in to his Fear, Selfishness, Greed or Pride, which resulted in Immunity to +1 weapons or less, +10 resistance to magic, +2 to all saving throws, and +20% resistances to fire, cold and electricity.
I'm playing with the Tactics-SCSII hybrid version of Improved Irenicus in Hell (so not the pure Tactics version, which is probably the hardest version). It consists of two fights. The first is against Shattered Irenicus with five lackeys whose powers are loosely based on the Hell Trials. The minions spawn from the different stairs that lead to the Hell Trial areas. Wraith of Wrath Sarevok who drains STR upon hit, a a level-draining Mordenkainen-like Blackrazor Sword, a CON-draining and thus extremely dangerous (Elder) Orb of Fear, and a level-draining Dragon of Pride. Selfish Jon can recharge his spell repertoire at will and ‘shatter' charname's magic. The second fight is the normal fight against Slayer Irenicus, aided by four demons, with the only differences being SCS scripting and aTweaked demons.
Norgath rested before opening the gate to meet his nemesis, and placed three Spike Traps where the Orb of Fear would appear (southeast), three Spike Traps at the point at the spawning point (southwest) of the Sword of Greed (which is invulnerable to physical attacks and can only be slain with magic such as Magic Missile, or as it happens, with traps). At the point where the Black Dragon would likely spawn (east), a Time trap was placed. The Dwarf then rested a second time, to get all his traps back.
Norgath drank an oil of speed and had a short chat with Irenicus, and then battle broke out. The first thing that happened was the dragon triggering Norgath's Time trap. The hasted Dwarf proceeded to hit the creature first with the SotM to dispel any protections, and then lots and lots of times with his speed weapons (dealing 167 damage in total) until the Time Stop ended.
Slayer Irenicus, assisted by two Glabrezus and two Balors, was more aggressive than Shattered Irenicus but again not as aggressive or effective as he could have been. He summoned a Fallen Planetar, and intially he joined the demons in his pursuit of the Dwarf but after a while he stopped - it seemed he did not see through invisibility/stealth, and would cast True Sight.
Anyway, with a lot of hitting and running Norgath succeeded in killing off the Bators and Glabrezus.
I consider it an unqualified win. Congratulations! Isn't this the second successful solo no-reload SCS run of BG2, along with Alesia's?
This may be the second (documented) solo no-reload SCS run of BG2 with a Bounty Hunter yes. I think that's what you mean. (Other classes and kits have been successfully soloed through SCS BG2 as well.) Alesia's Bounty Hunter made it all the way to the final ToB fight, but fell there. I think she used NPCs in parts of her playthrough.
Alesia has pulled it off with a Mage/Thief and a Jester.
I might try a triple-class myself some time soon (I created a Gnome Fighter/Mage/Illusionist a while back but that's easy).