There are a couple of other freedom potions floating around, along with a number of invisibility potions that work fine for those ambushes. A solo character (other than a wizard slayer) can also use the ring of invisibility to avoid them. Alba didn't actually need any of those aids though as she should have gone through the Cloakwood invisible (using Pixie Dust), but I guess I was a bit tired to be starting to play ...
I also used to be able to usually run away from those webs once I had boots of speed, though that was when I was using autopause - enemy in sight (I'm not using that any more which makes reacting to ambushes much more chancy).
@Grond0 So sad. Even when I have SCS installed, I leave out that type of spider. I can't cope with them.
Thalantyr only has 3 freedom potions and that doesn't sound like enough considering how often I get ambushed by those spiders. If I were solo and playing SCS with that option, I think I would just have to kill Dushai for her free action ring always, regardless of the RP reasons I that I normally have to not kill her. Potions of magic shielding would work too, but they are super rare in BG 1. Not sure if potion of magic blocking protects or not.
Part of the problem is the -2 penalty to saves that web applies. It would almost impossible for a chapter 4 character to guarantee a save by equipment alone if they don't have mods on their installation. If you were character that could use the spider bane that would work, but that's not easy to get. And the potions that protect against web (available in Chapter 4) would be very few.
I agree. With the mod set-up that I currently have, I could cope with them as there are extra stores which stock such items. If Grond0 doesn't like killing Dushai for role playing reasons, he could make a minor change to the game with Shadowkeper giving either a ring like Dushai's or some potions of Freedom to an assassin in Candlekeep, or change Silke's staff to have the same anti-web properties as Spider's Bane. Easy in Near Infinity. I like the last option. It makes Silke a bit harder as you cannot use web on her. You have to work for it, and the staff can be used by anyone. It also makes the battles against the spiders challenging as you might not be able to use your weapon of choice. If anyone doesn't know how to perform any of these suggestions, let me know and I can explain the process. I may even make one of these changes in my next installation as I am thinking of not installing the mod that gives those extra stores next time I make a fresh installation.
Right, I'm having one last go at the totemic druid. I've just completed BG1 and was fairly focused this time, with the exception of accidentally talking twice to the nobleman at the FAI and giving him back his pantaloons. To try and remedy that I charmed him and then made him force-attack Alba to get him down the stairs. He then attacked Unshey, which I expected to have lethal results. However, Unshey's mixture of clerical spells and fist attacks were all non-fatal and just ended up turning the whole inn hostile - and in the end I just left the pantaloons rather than incurring the reputation penalty for killing the nobleman. Jaheira and Khalid followed Alba out and I have to wonder whether Jaheira took a sneaky pleasure in being charmed into delivering a call lightning on her husband This time I safely went through the Cloakwood invisibly on the way to the Mine. For Davaeorn I waited until all the guards had arrived (and clustered round him) before sending in a few summons to trigger Davaeorn into using sunfires and killing all his guards. A scroll of PfM then allowed Alba to beat Davaeorn to death. After picking up the tomes in Baldur's Gate Alba just sneaked into the Iron Throne this time. Similarly she used Pixie Dust to bypass the ogre magi at Candlekeep (and I managed to remember to take along the violet potion to loot the tombs this time ). There were no troubles with Slythe or the Palace and Alba also negotiated the maze without difficulty. At the old temple Alba once more used a potion of invisibility to park Sarevok, Tazok, Semaj and Diarmid in a corner. Angelo was tempted out of hiding by a summoned animal and this time I did remember to renew Alba's protections against spells - and eventually Angelo failed his save against a stunning dart. After scouting invisibly the location of the others Alba put down a marker on the floor (showing where she should throw fireballs), then waited for Diarmid's scroll of PfM to run out before commencing a fireball bombardment. Semaj was the first to die and the skeleton warrior that replaced him eventually took damage from another fireball and came out to be beaten up with the help of a spirit snake. Sarevok's remaining acolytes had soon had enough as well, but Alba continued pouring in fireballs until Sarevok was on the point of death - the skeleton warriors that came out were beaten up essentially by Alba alone, taking advantage of her better weapon speed to dart in and out. A couple of nymphs then provided cover to allow her to send in an insect plague to eat Sarevok's last bit of unburned flesh. Here's Alba on arrival in Jon's dungeon.
I have the CD weaks mod installed and it isn't working! ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Expanded Dual-Class Options: Beta 5 It should have enabled dual classing of Trusty but it doesn't. A real shame as that was the plan ever since the start of the game. I carefully nurtured her to level 7 and now the mod doesn't work. It is still in Beta, so I suppose that I can't complain too much. I suppose that I should have tested it using Shadowkeeper before I started.
Good job, @Grond0. Now, as you're in Amn, wait (with major quests) till getting Fire Elementals. After that these Elementals and Spirit Animals will take you through the majority of enemies.
For the battle against Loup Garou and lesser werewolves the party prepared fully. 4 Skeleton warriors (maximum Uzume could summon) and one Spirit Lion had to restrain Loup Garou from everyone else.
Woden, buffed with Protection from Evil, potions (24 STR, Heroism, Invulnerability, Haste and Regeneration) and rings (2 rings of fire resistance), as well as green scroll of fire resistance, had to deal with upcoming waves of werewolves. Mortuus and Xan had to use Wands of Fire from time to time to clear the area from encircling werewolves. Uzume and Yahiko had to support with Bless and Chant.
I had planned I would use Hades (with Boots of Speed) for backstabs but when Loup Garou finished with all the summons I saw he started moving towards the main group. I had to block his way with Invisible Hades, so Loup Garou stayed there for the next 3 in-game hours.
Yes, for the next 3 in-game hours it was a constant battle. I personally like this part of BG1 with SCS - it offers an unstoppable fighting testing your resources.
When I felt the party came closer to the end of available spells, everyone retreated, leaving one Spirit Lion to fight with werewolves. Greater Malison affected Loup Garou, Woden faced her in melee, while Yahiko inflicted amazing damage with Call Lightning:
The damage was so serious that Loup Garou couldn't regenerate enough to escape death from Woden's weapon. The party finished all the rest werewolves with fireballs.
Now, let's count the amount of werewolves annihilated in that fight:
Wren the dwarven fighter/cleric - FINAL BG 1 Update! Traveling with: Jaheira, Imoen
I am pleased to report Wren and team have defeated Sarevok, and Wren is on his way to Amn.
We got to the level cap very early, as a result we actually did very little in Chapter 5 and beyond. In fact, we went invisible when-ever possible to skip fighting enemies. Wren also used sanctuary to talk to Thaldorn rather than fight on the top floor of the Iron Throne because of this. We looted the Candlekeep Crypts and got out of there. Slythe was defeated simply enough once he was dispelled.
For Duchal Palace, we had 5 skeletons, buffed with bless, chant and haste - that plus Wren and Jaheira getting into melee was more than enough to carry the day easily. We skipped the entire maze and also the Undercity party.
We did a lot of buffs for Sarevok. We had our skeleton helpers, we all had very high fire resistance, so Angelo wasn't hurting us, and the key was 2x web by Imoen - Sarevok got stuck in a web and that not surprisingly spelled his end.
Here are Wren's final stats:
Wren will be duo (Jaheira) in BG 2. But then we will be a trio once we rescue Imoen. The intent is to be this trio until we defeat Melissan. Note that if a party member gets chunked we will replace that party member, so that the end is still decided by a trio.
One great thing about being married to a no-reloader is I get to watch him plow through the game first hand. It always amazes me at how easy he makes it look. (and then when I try it and fail miserably it makes me doubly impressed.) https://youtu.be/3zQwEjsoFPc
My randomized party entered the teleporter labyrinth at WK level 3. The first significant encounter involved going from a no magic zone to fighting Tahazzar - obviously without any prebuffs. Instead of defensive spells I chose to take the pressure of the party via powerful aoe damage upon entering the area - with Owain casting dragon's breath and Luna casting storm of vengeance, while Goibniu summoned a deva:
GWWs allowed the party fighters to take out the remaining/weakened demons. The other interesting encounter involved the second no magic zone, where I had to use more GWWs and quite a few potions to keep the party alive - their saving throws sadly aren't the best.
The demonic wraith was relatively simple, as breach and Carsomyr got rid of his protections before he could do anything too dangerous. He didn't survive for long after that.
I didn't manage to win anything when playing against the cambion, so I continued to WK level 4. Illithids and githyanki aren't really notable enemies at this point, and their encampments were quickly cleared out. Anapa used the second protection from magic scroll against the demi-lich:
Saladrex had to deal with a well-buffed and fire-protected party:
He stood no chance against Carsomyr plus fighter HLAs. Eventually, Goibniu opened the way to level 5 and the party got some free stat bonuses (though at this point, none of them matter a lot).
WK level 5 wasn't very eventful either - no problem with getting the first two keys, and the dragon was defeated the same way Saladrex was:
Time to open the three seals. With my two thieves, I had a ton of traps and spike traps which were quite helpful (though to limit their power, I opened all three seals in one go without resting in between). Against Azamantes, I only really needed the traps and sunrays:
The Aurumach Rilmani managed to stop time, but wasted his spells and attacks trying to take out a deva:
He paid for that mistake with his life:
I saved some traps for the final seal, and they killed the succubus right away, while others were only wounded:
After quickly taking out the hive mother, the opponents were left without significant magical power and defeated one by one:
I decided not to fight Demogorgon and returned to the pocket plane. There, I still had two challenged to complete before facing Draconis: First, the battle that ended a previous undocumented randomized party attempt, the second pocket plane challenge. I really just wanted to prevent the other Goibniu from killing my Goibniu, so I had Luna cast implosion while the fighters attacked him:
After that, the rest of the battle was easy. The third pocket plane challenge really wasn't worth mentioning.
Since my Barbarian/mage game was broken, I decided to try a Berserker/cleric run.
Ætheling the Erudite was indeed both noble, and eruditious. Her only weakness was lack of charisma caused mainly by her inability to keep her temper in check. She had intended to deal with her lack of charisma when she became a mage by using the spell friends. However her tutors gave up on her, saying that as she couldn’t manage to control her rage, she would be a danger to everyone, herself included, if she learned arcane magic. She therefore decided to hone her fighting skill which was a must if she were to survive in the Sword Coast, and learn clerical skills later when she had matured somewhat. This in itself showed that she was at least beginning to mature. Since Ætheling had been given her name by Gorion, all thought that she was an heir to an unknown kingdom and one who needed his protection. Many Ætheling, that is, those aspiring to a throne, needed protection as siblings would oft use treachery to dispose of their rivals. Her presence in Candlekeep was not therefore at all unusual. Her name “The Erudite” came from her intelligence, wisdom and eagerness to study in the halls of Candlekeep. In such a place, such a name was exceedingly hard to earn, but earn it she did. She also studied the martial arts and became quite proficient with both the flail, ** and the shield. ** In Candlekeep, as well as doing chores for others and getting next to nothing in pay, she broke into a number of chests. By so doing she got some scrolls and a healing potion without getting caught. Upstairs in the inn she was caught twice by the guards. On the first occasion she was fined one gold piece, and on the second she received a whipping after which the guard took advantage of her. She was attacked by three assassins. The first two she killed easily, but sadly found that the only loot of any use to her was a +1 shield. Mendas however was tough. She had to use a healing potion during the battle. Afterwards she realised that if she didn’t consume another, she would become unconscious when her rage was over. If that happened there was a distinct possibility that she might get killed by the rats. She therefore didn’t take the risk, but consumed another healing potion. There was a useful morning star +1 on the body of Mendas. Gorion then left Candlekeep with her and sacrificed his life to save hers.
The background to the portrait this time is an icefall on the way up to the Annapurna Sanctuary. That must be one of the best treks in the world. P.S. would there have been any danger from the rats if she had become unconcious after her rage ran out?
@Wise_Grimwald in vanilla at least, those rats don't actually attack - I know because always surprised when my 4 HP mages with no armor always seem to get it done in melee on that quest...
NOTE: if you are playing with the BG 2 engine, maybe would be dangerous to use range weapons there, since the +4 attack/+4 damage if range weapon equipped might be ugly.
P.S. would there have been any danger from the rats if she had become unconcious after her rage ran out?
I don't think the rats do any damage (unless you're playing with LoB). However, if you don't have enough HPs when rage runs out I think you just die rather than go unconscious (unless you have a mod preventing that).
@JuliusBorisov and @Blind_Visionary thanks, and yeah, it's a bit hard, but mostly just annoying and free XP (unless they all succeed and you get swarmed by 20 demons)... Mephits are awful with aTweaks but otherwise they're a joke.
Eilwa, the almighty Elven Sharpshooter, got out of Candlekeep without facing Carbos nor Shank and got all the Healing Potions she could (3). I almost suicide against a Wolf level 1 but luckily I kited the beast correctly afterwards and killed a bunch of gibberlings that I met while running away from the wolf.I headed North, killed the Hobgoblins in the FAI's area, went to the Ankheg Farm and picked up Ajantis. Then, Eilwa travelled to the High Hedge to recruit Kivan and after that I went to Nashkel to rescue Quayle from the hell the carnival was. On our way back to Beregost we got ambushed by Spiders. Surprisingly, none of us died and Eilwa gained a level.On Beregost I gave Firebead Elvenhair the book he wanted and departed for the FAI, but we got ambushed yet again, this time by Xvarts. In the Friendly Arm Inn, we killed Tarnsh with minimal losses, only Quayle died from a Melf's Acid Arrow AND a Magic Missile, saving the rest of the party from the Mage's damage, but, like it always happens in no-reloads, the Guard took the kill on Tarnesh (classic).After this I travelled to Beregost and pressed R... What did I see? What did I realise just now? That I have 18 STR and 10 WIS, so I cannot dual-class to Cleric as I originally planned to do.
What do you people think I should do? I really want to dual-class to Cleric later in the game so I was thinking about swapping my 18 STR for 17 WIS and leaving my PC with 9 STR (2 points penalty for being dumb I guess). Should I change my stats or restart the run?
@CrevsDaak If you don't change your stats or restart the run, you're not likely to play with the care a no-reload would require, I assume... so I vote fix it however you choose. If you care about those extra two points you'd penalize yourself with, then restart the run. Otherwise changing stats seems like a non-issue.
When Cavan entered the cave in the Forest of Wyrms, he found a sleeping green dragon. Stealing the jewels was a bad idea, since he then had to fight the thing unbuffed.
Steinarr is smarter than his paladin predecessor. He took a peek inside the cave and saw the beast, asleep on its nest. He ushered the team back outside. After a short discussion, they decided they didn't want to have that thing at their backs as they explored the cave system. So they decided to take it down.
Buffing took several minutes. Green scrolls against poison formed the base layer. Then everything else they had on top of that... potions, protection from fear, haste, pro evil, bless, chant, chaotic commands for Steinarr, and more.
The team entered the cavern quietly and spread out to minimize the risk of wing buffets. Morentherene by this point was awake, and mad. Minsc and Boo rushed in to bash the dragon's toes with their holy mace. Jaheria doomed it, while Steinarr attempted to stun it with his hefty Barbarian Darts.
Dragon fear and dragon breath had no effect on the well-buffed party. But a wing buffet sent Minsc flying to the back of the cave. Safana summoned a stone golem to help keep the dragon occupied. Jaheira blasted the dragon with her wand of the heavens.
The hasted party caused massive damage to the dragon. The stone golem finished it off with a mighty smash across the skull.
The party then cleared out the spider/beetle cave while still buffed beyond belief. The rhino beetle didn't know what hit it.
Back in the temple, Steinarr found a great psionic wyrm of some kind. Jaheira protected the Barbarian with chaotic commands and the team rushed in to beat the wyrm down. Flame strikes, magic missles, and two large skelly warriors chipped away at its armor.
Then Steinarr brained it with his sling. It slumped to the ground, dead.
Finally, Steinarr & Co. took on an Illithid party. Web + horror + wand of fireballs took care of the lackeys. The Illithid itself required a few bullets to his octopus face before he succumbed.
Steinarr chose to let the captive crusaders go free. He also let the blind hag-priest of Bhaal out of her cage, instructing her to atone for her past misdeeds (chuckling under his breath at how mind-bending it must have been for the priestess to hear that from one of the dead god's own children....
(The temple was considerably easier the second time through... Steinarr is over-equipped with magic items, potions, scrolls and knowledge. And a mighty sling. No one can stand before a raging barbarian with a sling...)
So I was in Bridgefort, talking to Neera. I gave her a few of the things needed for her potion quest, then told her "good luck finding the rest of the ingredients." I assumed that we would stop talking and that I could come back later and give her more items if I found them. (I didn't want her in my party).
I walk a few steps away. Next thing I know, this screen pops up:
I wasn't in combat. The log at the bottom of the screen doesn't show any attacks or anything. Did Neera disintegrate me? Is there a way you can get insta-killed in the fort by catapults from outside? What happened here? Is it a bug, or is this truly the end of Steinarr?
Steinarr's run is (at the very least) suspended for the time being while I sort this out. Cheers!
@Blind_Visionary on the BioWare forums we have seen unexplained deaths before in EE - not sure is this one of those phenomena or a legit death. When there was just no way the forumites could make a judgement call, we left it to player discretion.
Crevsdaak said... Corey_Russell said: I think I would just have to kill Dushai for her free action ring always, regardless of the RP reasons I that I normally have to not kill her.
I alway pickpocket her for the ring. Spending a bunch of potions of perception/thievery for an early ring of free action is totally worth it.
On my EasyTutu install, potions do NOT stack (I can't stack potions of thievery or any kind of buffing potion)- therefore cannot reliably pick-pocket Dushai unless I happen to have a bard in my group - which the truth is, I rarely do.
Should mention I mean can't stack potions of the exact same type - I could of course use potions of mind focusing, thievery and perception to try to pick-pocket the ring, and have done this, but it's kind of like russian roulette.
In the dungeon Alba immediately levelled up to level 12 thanks to the excess XP earned in BG1. That gave her the luxury of fire elementals as an additional summons option and she only needed to rest once while following them through the dungeon.
Initially the circus refused to open it's doors to Alba, but after saving and reloading she was able to get in and soon sorted things out there.
In the Slums the Copper Coronet acted as a Gateway to find the slavers. Acquiring Lilarcor on the way got Alba to level 13 before Captain Haegan and his crew were drawn back into a sewer ambush. The slaver wizards were disabled by insects and didn't last long.
A bit of invisible travel tempted Suna Seni into an ambush attempt before Alba arrived at the Docks. The Mad Cleric managed to hold both her and one of her nymphs, but that was never going to be enough to save him.
While purloining a necklace for Mae'Var, Alba saved Renfeld and picked up a Wand of the Heavens by forcing open a chest (combination of Strength of One and DUHM) in the Talos Temple.
Prebek and Sanasha didn't notice Alba creating summons in the corner of their house and a similar fate was then dealt out to Rayic (who didn't have time to get his buffs up against a sneak attack).
For many solo characters a mass of invisible SCS thieves is a dangerous challenge, but with ironskins and powerful summons Mae'Var held no terrors for Alba.
At the Bridge District Dracandros & co refused to follow Alba outside, so she used force-attack to get her summons to come in before buffing herself for the attack. A similar tactic was used on the Rune Assassins while solving the skinner murders. Dragging allies with you in that way tends to result in losing control of them, but Alba countered that against the Rune Assassins by using her first potion of invisibility (having already picked up many of those from SCS thieves).
Against Mencar's party I tried to use a couple of nymphs in an opening attack to cause some confusion. However, I got the timing on that wrong and those spells were wasted against neutral targets. That resulted in all the summons dying and Brennan Riesling successfully escaping. With only Mencar himself left (nearly dead) I decided to try and speed things up by attempting to summon some insects on him rather than just doing run and shoot. That has a casting time of 9 so Mencar would obviously be able to attack, but Alba was protected from criticals and had her full 74 HPs so that didn't seem too risky. Starting as far away as possible she started her spell and Mencar came in and duly hit her. However, her spell wasn't disrupted and she continued casting - and was hit again. I thought the spell would have cast following that second hit - but she was hit again and was now in danger of death. However, I thought surely the spell must cast now - with the predictable result. In retrospect it's possible this was one of those occasions where an attempted spell gets into a loop and never actually finishes the cast. The sensible thing to have done anyway in a no-reload would have just been to rest and get back summons and useful spells, but I felt Alba should be trying to finish things off in that single encounter ...
P.S. would there have been any danger from the rats if she had become unconcious after her rage ran out?
I don't think the rats do any damage (unless you're playing with LoB). However, if you don't have enough HPs when rage runs out I think you just die rather than go unconscious (unless you have a mod preventing that).
P.S. would there have been any danger from the rats if she had become unconcious after her rage ran out?
I don't think the rats do any damage (unless you're playing with LoB). However, if you don't have enough HPs when rage runs out I think you just die rather than go unconscious (unless you have a mod preventing that).
That used to be the case, but not any more. I think that EE has changed it. In my last game I was fighting the doppelgangers in Durlag's Tower. They were killed and my character went unconcious went rage ceased. (1HP) I slept and he recovered. I thought that was a brilliant change. If you get ambushed you're dead, but you are given a chance to recover. I think that this is how it was supposed to work but didn't. Now it does.
P.S. would there have been any danger from the rats if she had become unconcious after her rage ran out?
I don't think the rats do any damage (unless you're playing with LoB). However, if you don't have enough HPs when rage runs out I think you just die rather than go unconscious (unless you have a mod preventing that).
In the EE the Barbarian would die after his rage runs out, if she doesn't have enough HP. The Berserker, though, would not die in the EE, as the nature of their rage is different - the Barbarian gets HPs from additional CON, the Berserker gets HP that are "temporary".
If you don't change your stats or restart the run, you're not likely to play with the care a no-reload would require, I assume... so I vote fix it however you choose. If you care about those extra two points you'd penalize yourself with, then restart the run. Otherwise changing stats seems like a non-issue.
So I was in Bridgefort, talking to Neera. I gave her a few of the things needed for her potion quest, then told her "good luck finding the rest of the ingredients." I assumed that we would stop talking and that I could come back later and give her more items if I found them. (I didn't want her in my party).
I walk a few steps away. Next thing I know, this screen pops up:
I wasn't in combat. The log at the bottom of the screen doesn't show any attacks or anything. Did Neera disintegrate me? Is there a way you can get insta-killed in the fort by catapults from outside? What happened here? Is it a bug, or is this truly the end of Steinarr?
Steinarr's run is (at the very least) suspended for the time being while I sort this out. Cheers!
There are a number of times that you get insta-death if you make the wrong decision. Sometimes you might even think that you are making the morally right decision and you die. Make sure that you always make the right one. I would say, just don't talk to Neera or be prepared to have her in the party.
Should mention I mean can't stack potions of the exact same type - I could of course use potions of mind focusing, thievery and perception to try to pick-pocket the ring, and have done this, but it's kind of like russian roulette.
You can always charm Dushai. A charmed character is easier to pick-pocket from my experience. I don't know that for sure, just observation. You can then pick-pocket her out of sight of others so that if it fails, the whole village doesn't go hostile if you fail and have to kill her. From a role-playing perspective, I would feel justified in replying to her attack in like manner.
Ætheling the Erudite Continued
I forgot to mention that Ætheling's weapon broke whilst fighting one of the assassins. As that blow killed the assassin, it was not much of a problem. She headed south after the death of Gorion. On the way she picked up the Colquetle family amulet and killed a number of hobgoblin as well as two ogrillon. In Nashkel rage was used against Niera with the result that Ætheling left the fight without even a bruise. Upon returning to Beregost, she went northwards and after killing the occasional gibberling and xvart she took on an ogre. She used the bow and arrows that she found on the hobgoblins on the way to Nashkel but then realised shat she hadn't got enough arrows. The ogre was nearly dead and so took the risk of raging and then attacking with her morning star. She breathed a sigh of relief when the ogre fell and she was able to acquire his belt collection. To the west of Beregost she killed four gnoll, acquiring the lost sword of Perdue, noting the very apt name of the one who had lost it. Heading south from there she killed a wolf, then in transit killed a lone ghast. That experience was most certainly welcome. Upon arriving at the Friendly Arms Inn, she used rage when attacked by Tarnesh. This negated his horror spell, but Ætheling was relieved when he only used magic missiles and acid arrows against him. A healing potion was required, but that is all. After resting, Ætheling spent a most entertaining night with Quentin and was delighted when Landrin gave her a number of potions to protect from poison.
Did you get level drained there? If yes, it might have been that. But I doubt that level-drain thingie in that area (radiation!?) would kill you that quickly. Neera certainly didn't disintegrate you. I'd reload, see if level drain did kill you, if yes, start anew, if no, continue your game.
In the EE the Barbarian would die after his rage runs out, if she doesn't have enough HP. The Berserker, though, would not die in the EE, as the nature of their rage is different - the Barbarian gets HPs from additional CON, the Berserker gets HP that are "temporary".
OK - so both for Barbarian and Berserker the treatment has changed from vanilla - and I can't say I agree with either change
For Barbarian downward adjustments to constitution now instantly reduce HPs by number of levels x difference in constitution bonus/penalty. That adjustment is made irrespective of current HPs, so a character could have far more current HPs than their maximum HPs would be with the new constitution and still die. While I can see an argument for doing this I preferred the vanilla treatment where HPs would just be reduced to the new maximum.
For Berserker the 15 HPs used to be treated as part of current HPs - so if you were below that when rage ended you would die. That could have unfortunate consequences (for instance a L1 berserker who raged on insane difficulty would automatically die as the loss of HPs on expiry of rage was also doubled!), but generally I think the treatment was defensible. If I understand your answer the argument is now that the 15 HPs for raging are supposed to be temporary (like bonuses from LMD / Vampiric Touch / Aid). Again I think that would be defensible, but my understanding is what Beamdog have now done is a sort of halfway house between those 2 positions. Normally loss of HPs would come off 'temporary' HPs first, so that the end of one of the spells mentioned would not reduce HPs unless you were above your maximum level. For the Berserker Beamdog are still causing the loss of 15 HPs to come off your current HP total, but have now put in a new rule that if this loss would kill you, you are only rendered unconscious. I'm struggling to see the logic in that, though I do realise that life would be very unhappy if you spend your time worrying about the application of logic to fantasy games ...
@Grond0 I actually think that they have come up with a good compromise. If there are any enemies left after your rage runs out, you will be so vulnerable, that you will be killed anyway. If there aren't, you get a chance to survive. I understand your position though. At least the effect matches what they say will happen in the rage in-game description. That has to be a plus. I hate it when the description doesn't match the effect.
Ætheling the Erudite Continued
Ætheling proceeded to kill all the hobgoblins around the Friendly Arms Inn and afterwards went north where she killed the zombie who wanted to be too friendly with the woman who was his wife before he died. She agreed to help Sonner, but upon talking to Tanya changed her mind and killed the fishermen. Upon killing them she gained a +1 flail and a proficiency point in flails due to reaching level 3. She now has a +1 sling and an adequate number of bullets for ranged combat. She then paid a fleeting visit to Cloakwood where she found appropriately enough, a cloak.
Dealing with Mendas/Selaad and his bodyguard was not difficult. Hades backstabbed Selaad, so he didn't stay in his wizard form and thus couldn't dispel our buffs.
Selaad then couldn't save against the Wand of Paralysis.
Thanks to Woden's fighter levels and Hades timely backstabs the second Loup Garou couldn't resist long. Stunned Selaad followed shortly after.
The party then took on Drizzt. Yahiko had 5th level divine spells, so it wasn't difficult. The reason is the Magic Resistance spell.
After that Xan confused Drizzt and Mortuus hit him with numerous Magic Missiles.
It was Woden, as always, who inflicted the final blow.
The party then bought several points of reputation back at the Beregost Temple, and decided to return to Baldur's Gate.
There they saved Duke Eltan...
I decided to enter the fight against Cythandria unbuffed, so it took longer than it could.
Removing spell protections was the first step, as always. After that Uzume could hit Cythandria with Holy Smite.
During the fight, between becoming invisible time and again, Cythandria casted Sunfire several times but everyone survived.
Finally Woden went through all of Cythandria's skins.
Now, Slythe and Krystin. Uzume blinded the assassin with Holy Smite.
Then when he turned visible Mortuus paralysed him, so he was dead quickly.
You can notice Chaos effect on Yahiko but he's still under my control. It's because the Priest of Tyr is just awesome. One of the aims of this run was to try this new kit, and I can conclude that more than 10 times in BG1 Uzume helped to counteract confusion.
Mortuus then dispelled everything on Krystin and she fell.
This is how the battle in the Ducal Palace went. The first round:
This was the result: one assassin stunned, another assassin confused.
The shaman that saved against Chaos was killed as a result of a critical backstab by Hades.
Defensive Stance helped Woden to endure Sarevok's hits:
Both Liia and Belt were alive. Hades finally reached the 9th level, - even though an assassin gets 15 points per level, now he had 100 in Disarm Traps (for the Durlag's Tower and SoD) and 85 in Open Locks.
Comments
I also used to be able to usually run away from those webs once I had boots of speed, though that was when I was using autopause - enemy in sight (I'm not using that any more which makes reacting to ambushes much more chancy).
Previous updates at:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/819966/#Comment_819966
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/820020/#Comment_820020
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/820183/#Comment_820183
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/820201/#Comment_820201
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/820336/#Comment_820336
Right, I'm having one last go at the totemic druid. I've just completed BG1 and was fairly focused this time, with the exception of accidentally talking twice to the nobleman at the FAI and giving him back his pantaloons. To try and remedy that I charmed him and then made him force-attack Alba to get him down the stairs. He then attacked Unshey, which I expected to have lethal results. However, Unshey's mixture of clerical spells and fist attacks were all non-fatal and just ended up turning the whole inn hostile - and in the end I just left the pantaloons rather than incurring the reputation penalty for killing the nobleman. Jaheira and Khalid followed Alba out and I have to wonder whether Jaheira took a sneaky pleasure in being charmed into delivering a call lightning on her husband
This time I safely went through the Cloakwood invisibly on the way to the Mine. For Davaeorn I waited until all the guards had arrived (and clustered round him) before sending in a few summons to trigger Davaeorn into using sunfires and killing all his guards. A scroll of PfM then allowed Alba to beat Davaeorn to death.
After picking up the tomes in Baldur's Gate Alba just sneaked into the Iron Throne this time. Similarly she used Pixie Dust to bypass the ogre magi at Candlekeep (and I managed to remember to take along the violet potion to loot the tombs this time ).
There were no troubles with Slythe or the Palace and Alba also negotiated the maze without difficulty. At the old temple Alba once more used a potion of invisibility to park Sarevok, Tazok, Semaj and Diarmid in a corner. Angelo was tempted out of hiding by a summoned animal and this time I did remember to renew Alba's protections against spells - and eventually Angelo failed his save against a stunning dart. After scouting invisibly the location of the others Alba put down a marker on the floor (showing where she should throw fireballs), then waited for Diarmid's scroll of PfM to run out before commencing a fireball bombardment. Semaj was the first to die and the skeleton warrior that replaced him eventually took damage from another fireball and came out to be beaten up with the help of a spirit snake. Sarevok's remaining acolytes had soon had enough as well, but Alba continued pouring in fireballs until Sarevok was on the point of death - the skeleton warriors that came out were beaten up essentially by Alba alone, taking advantage of her better weapon speed to dart in and out. A couple of nymphs then provided cover to allow her to send in an insect plague to eat Sarevok's last bit of unburned flesh.
Here's Alba on arrival in Jon's dungeon.
Totemic druid L10, 63 HPs, 84 kills
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Expanded Dual-Class Options: Beta 5
It should have enabled dual classing of Trusty but it doesn't.
A real shame as that was the plan ever since the start of the game. I carefully nurtured her to level 7 and now the mod doesn't work.
It is still in Beta, so I suppose that I can't complain too much.
I suppose that I should have tested it using Shadowkeeper before I started.
Mortuus, the Elven Sorcerer (16th BG1 update)
Start of this run
Previous update
For the battle against Loup Garou and lesser werewolves the party prepared fully. 4 Skeleton warriors (maximum Uzume could summon) and one Spirit Lion had to restrain Loup Garou from everyone else.
Woden, buffed with Protection from Evil, potions (24 STR, Heroism, Invulnerability, Haste and Regeneration) and rings (2 rings of fire resistance), as well as green scroll of fire resistance, had to deal with upcoming waves of werewolves. Mortuus and Xan had to use Wands of Fire from time to time to clear the area from encircling werewolves. Uzume and Yahiko had to support with Bless and Chant.
I had planned I would use Hades (with Boots of Speed) for backstabs but when Loup Garou finished with all the summons I saw he started moving towards the main group. I had to block his way with Invisible Hades, so Loup Garou stayed there for the next 3 in-game hours.
Yes, for the next 3 in-game hours it was a constant battle. I personally like this part of BG1 with SCS - it offers an unstoppable fighting testing your resources.
When I felt the party came closer to the end of available spells, everyone retreated, leaving one Spirit Lion to fight with werewolves. Greater Malison affected Loup Garou, Woden faced her in melee, while Yahiko inflicted amazing damage with Call Lightning:
The damage was so serious that Loup Garou couldn't regenerate enough to escape death from Woden's weapon. The party finished all the rest werewolves with fireballs.
Now, let's count the amount of werewolves annihilated in that fight:
Mortuus, sorcerer, 156279 XP, lvl 9, 49 hps, 239 kills
Woden, dwarven defender, 145844 XP, lvl 8, 92 hps, 855 kills
Uzume, priest of Tyr, 144542 XP, lvl 8, 40 hps, 123 kills
Yahiko, totemic druid, 145186 XP, lvl 10, 66 hps, 67 kills
Xan, enchanter, 145675 XP, lvl 9, 28 hps, 173 kills
Hades, assassin, 100181 XP, lvl 8, 56 hps, 115 kills
So, if compared to the previous stats, there were 308 werewolves killed (for 308*420=129360 XP), Woden alone defeated 168 of them.
Traveling with: Jaheira, Imoen
I am pleased to report Wren and team have defeated Sarevok, and Wren is on his way to Amn.
We got to the level cap very early, as a result we actually did very little in Chapter 5 and beyond. In fact, we went invisible when-ever possible to skip fighting enemies. Wren also used sanctuary to talk to Thaldorn rather than fight on the top floor of the Iron Throne because of this. We looted the Candlekeep Crypts and got out of there. Slythe was defeated simply enough once he was dispelled.
For Duchal Palace, we had 5 skeletons, buffed with bless, chant and haste - that plus Wren and Jaheira getting into melee was more than enough to carry the day easily. We skipped the entire maze and also the Undercity party.
We did a lot of buffs for Sarevok. We had our skeleton helpers, we all had very high fire resistance, so Angelo wasn't hurting us, and the key was 2x web by Imoen - Sarevok got stuck in a web and that not surprisingly spelled his end.
Here are Wren's final stats:
Wren will be duo (Jaheira) in BG 2. But then we will be a trio once we rescue Imoen. The intent is to be this trio until we defeat Melissan. Note that if a party member gets chunked we will replace that party member, so that the end is still decided by a trio.
Goibniu, human paladin, update 35
Continued from https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/819520/#Comment_819520
My randomized party entered the teleporter labyrinth at WK level 3. The first significant encounter involved going from a no magic zone to fighting Tahazzar - obviously without any prebuffs. Instead of defensive spells I chose to take the pressure of the party via powerful aoe damage upon entering the area - with Owain casting dragon's breath and Luna casting storm of vengeance, while Goibniu summoned a deva:
GWWs allowed the party fighters to take out the remaining/weakened demons. The other interesting encounter involved the second no magic zone, where I had to use more GWWs and quite a few potions to keep the party alive - their saving throws sadly aren't the best.
The demonic wraith was relatively simple, as breach and Carsomyr got rid of his protections before he could do anything too dangerous. He didn't survive for long after that.
I didn't manage to win anything when playing against the cambion, so I continued to WK level 4. Illithids and githyanki aren't really notable enemies at this point, and their encampments were quickly cleared out. Anapa used the second protection from magic scroll against the demi-lich:
Saladrex had to deal with a well-buffed and fire-protected party:
He stood no chance against Carsomyr plus fighter HLAs. Eventually, Goibniu opened the way to level 5 and the party got some free stat bonuses (though at this point, none of them matter a lot).
WK level 5 wasn't very eventful either - no problem with getting the first two keys, and the dragon was defeated the same way Saladrex was:
Time to open the three seals. With my two thieves, I had a ton of traps and spike traps which were quite helpful (though to limit their power, I opened all three seals in one go without resting in between). Against Azamantes, I only really needed the traps and sunrays:
The Aurumach Rilmani managed to stop time, but wasted his spells and attacks trying to take out a deva:
He paid for that mistake with his life:
I saved some traps for the final seal, and they killed the succubus right away, while others were only wounded:
After quickly taking out the hive mother, the opponents were left without significant magical power and defeated one by one:
I decided not to fight Demogorgon and returned to the pocket plane. There, I still had two challenged to complete before facing Draconis: First, the battle that ended a previous undocumented randomized party attempt, the second pocket plane challenge. I really just wanted to prevent the other Goibniu from killing my Goibniu, so I had Luna cast implosion while the fighters attacked him:
After that, the rest of the battle was easy. The third pocket plane challenge really wasn't worth mentioning.
So now, my archenemy, Draconis, finally awaits.
Enuhal
@Corey_Russell Well done.
@Enuhal Well done. Best of luck against Draconis.
Since my Barbarian/mage game was broken, I decided to try a Berserker/cleric run.
Ætheling the Erudite was indeed both noble, and eruditious. Her only weakness was lack of charisma caused mainly by her inability to keep her temper in check. She had intended to deal with her lack of charisma when she became a mage by using the spell friends. However her tutors gave up on her, saying that as she couldn’t manage to control her rage, she would be a danger to everyone, herself included, if she learned arcane magic. She therefore decided to hone her fighting skill which was a must if she were to survive in the Sword Coast, and learn clerical skills later when she had matured somewhat. This in itself showed that she was at least beginning to mature.
Since Ætheling had been given her name by Gorion, all thought that she was an heir to an unknown kingdom and one who needed his protection. Many Ætheling, that is, those aspiring to a throne, needed protection as siblings would oft use treachery to dispose of their rivals. Her presence in Candlekeep was not therefore at all unusual.
Her name “The Erudite” came from her intelligence, wisdom and eagerness to study in the halls of Candlekeep. In such a place, such a name was exceedingly hard to earn, but earn it she did. She also studied the martial arts and became quite proficient with both the flail, ** and the shield. **
In Candlekeep, as well as doing chores for others and getting next to nothing in pay, she broke into a number of chests. By so doing she got some scrolls and a healing potion without getting caught. Upstairs in the inn she was caught twice by the guards. On the first occasion she was fined one gold piece, and on the second she received a whipping after which the guard took advantage of her.
She was attacked by three assassins. The first two she killed easily, but sadly found that the only loot of any use to her was a +1 shield. Mendas however was tough. She had to use a healing potion during the battle. Afterwards she realised that if she didn’t consume another, she would become unconscious when her rage was over. If that happened there was a distinct possibility that she might get killed by the rats. She therefore didn’t take the risk, but consumed another healing potion. There was a useful morning star +1 on the body of Mendas.
Gorion then left Candlekeep with her and sacrificed his life to save hers.
The background to the portrait this time is an icefall on the way up to the Annapurna Sanctuary. That must be one of the best treks in the world.
P.S. would there have been any danger from the rats if she had become unconcious after her rage ran out?
NOTE: if you are playing with the BG 2 engine, maybe would be dangerous to use range weapons there, since the +4 attack/+4 damage if range weapon equipped might be ugly.
Eilwa's journey
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part 1
Eilwa, the almighty Elven Sharpshooter, got out of Candlekeep without facing Carbos nor Shank and got all the Healing Potions she could (3). I almost suicide against a Wolf level 1 but luckily I kited the beast correctly afterwards and killed a bunch of gibberlings that I met while running away from the wolf.I headed North, killed the Hobgoblins in the FAI's area, went to the Ankheg Farm and picked up Ajantis. Then, Eilwa travelled to the High Hedge to recruit Kivan and after that I went to Nashkel to rescue Quayle from the hell the carnival was. On our way back to Beregost we got ambushed by Spiders. Surprisingly, none of us died and Eilwa gained a level.On Beregost I gave Firebead Elvenhair the book he wanted and departed for the FAI, but we got ambushed yet again, this time by Xvarts. In the Friendly Arm Inn, we killed Tarnsh with minimal losses, only Quayle died from a Melf's Acid Arrow AND a Magic Missile, saving the rest of the party from the Mage's damage, but, like it always happens in no-reloads, the Guard took the kill on Tarnesh (classic).After this I travelled to Beregost and pressed R... What did I see? What did I realise just now? That I have 18 STR and 10 WIS, so I cannot dual-class to Cleric as I originally planned to do.
Start of the Saga
Defeat of Sarevok
Most recent post
SoD spoilers below
When Cavan entered the cave in the Forest of Wyrms, he found a sleeping green dragon. Stealing the jewels was a bad idea, since he then had to fight the thing unbuffed.
Steinarr is smarter than his paladin predecessor. He took a peek inside the cave and saw the beast, asleep on its nest. He ushered the team back outside. After a short discussion, they decided they didn't want to have that thing at their backs as they explored the cave system. So they decided to take it down.
Buffing took several minutes. Green scrolls against poison formed the base layer. Then everything else they had on top of that... potions, protection from fear, haste, pro evil, bless, chant, chaotic commands for Steinarr, and more.
The team entered the cavern quietly and spread out to minimize the risk of wing buffets. Morentherene by this point was awake, and mad. Minsc and Boo rushed in to bash the dragon's toes with their holy mace. Jaheria doomed it, while Steinarr attempted to stun it with his hefty Barbarian Darts.
Dragon fear and dragon breath had no effect on the well-buffed party. But a wing buffet sent Minsc flying to the back of the cave. Safana summoned a stone golem to help keep the dragon occupied. Jaheira blasted the dragon with her wand of the heavens.
The hasted party caused massive damage to the dragon. The stone golem finished it off with a mighty smash across the skull.
The party then cleared out the spider/beetle cave while still buffed beyond belief. The rhino beetle didn't know what hit it.
Back in the temple, Steinarr found a great psionic wyrm of some kind. Jaheira protected the Barbarian with chaotic commands and the team rushed in to beat the wyrm down. Flame strikes, magic missles, and two large skelly warriors chipped away at its armor.
Then Steinarr brained it with his sling. It slumped to the ground, dead.
Finally, Steinarr & Co. took on an Illithid party. Web + horror + wand of fireballs took care of the lackeys. The Illithid itself required a few bullets to his octopus face before he succumbed.
Steinarr chose to let the captive crusaders go free. He also let the blind hag-priest of Bhaal out of her cage, instructing her to atone for her past misdeeds (chuckling under his breath at how mind-bending it must have been for the priestess to hear that from one of the dead god's own children....
(The temple was considerably easier the second time through... Steinarr is over-equipped with magic items, potions, scrolls and knowledge. And a mighty sling. No one can stand before a raging barbarian with a sling...)
Next in Barbarian News: Siege Breaking 101
So I was in Bridgefort, talking to Neera. I gave her a few of the things needed for her potion quest, then told her "good luck finding the rest of the ingredients." I assumed that we would stop talking and that I could come back later and give her more items if I found them. (I didn't want her in my party).
I walk a few steps away. Next thing I know, this screen pops up:
I wasn't in combat. The log at the bottom of the screen doesn't show any attacks or anything. Did Neera disintegrate me? Is there a way you can get insta-killed in the fort by catapults from outside? What happened here? Is it a bug, or is this truly the end of Steinarr?
Steinarr's run is (at the very least) suspended for the time being while I sort this out. Cheers!
Corey_Russell said:
I think I would just have to kill Dushai for her free action ring always, regardless of the RP reasons I that I normally have to not kill her.
I alway pickpocket her for the ring. Spending a bunch of potions of perception/thievery for an early ring of free action is totally worth it.
On my EasyTutu install, potions do NOT stack (I can't stack potions of thievery or any kind of buffing potion)- therefore cannot reliably pick-pocket Dushai unless I happen to have a bard in my group - which the truth is, I rarely do.
Should mention I mean can't stack potions of the exact same type - I could of course use potions of mind focusing, thievery and perception to try to pick-pocket the ring, and have done this, but it's kind of like russian roulette.
Previous updates at:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/819966/#Comment_819966
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/820020/#Comment_820020
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/820183/#Comment_820183
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/820201/#Comment_820201
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/820336/#Comment_820336
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/820474/#Comment_820474
In the dungeon Alba immediately levelled up to level 12 thanks to the excess XP earned in BG1. That gave her the luxury of fire elementals as an additional summons option and she only needed to rest once while following them through the dungeon.
Initially the circus refused to open it's doors to Alba, but after saving and reloading she was able to get in and soon sorted things out there.
In the Slums the Copper Coronet acted as a Gateway to find the slavers. Acquiring Lilarcor on the way got Alba to level 13 before Captain Haegan and his crew were drawn back into a sewer ambush. The slaver wizards were disabled by insects and didn't last long.
A bit of invisible travel tempted Suna Seni into an ambush attempt before Alba arrived at the Docks. The Mad Cleric managed to hold both her and one of her nymphs, but that was never going to be enough to save him.
While purloining a necklace for Mae'Var, Alba saved Renfeld and picked up a Wand of the Heavens by forcing open a chest (combination of Strength of One and DUHM) in the Talos Temple.
Prebek and Sanasha didn't notice Alba creating summons in the corner of their house and a similar fate was then dealt out to Rayic (who didn't have time to get his buffs up against a sneak attack).
For many solo characters a mass of invisible SCS thieves is a dangerous challenge, but with ironskins and powerful summons Mae'Var held no terrors for Alba.
At the Bridge District Dracandros & co refused to follow Alba outside, so she used force-attack to get her summons to come in before buffing herself for the attack. A similar tactic was used on the Rune Assassins while solving the skinner murders. Dragging allies with you in that way tends to result in losing control of them, but Alba countered that against the Rune Assassins by using her first potion of invisibility (having already picked up many of those from SCS thieves).
Against Mencar's party I tried to use a couple of nymphs in an opening attack to cause some confusion. However, I got the timing on that wrong and those spells were wasted against neutral targets. That resulted in all the summons dying and Brennan Riesling successfully escaping. With only Mencar himself left (nearly dead) I decided to try and speed things up by attempting to summon some insects on him rather than just doing run and shoot. That has a casting time of 9 so Mencar would obviously be able to attack, but Alba was protected from criticals and had her full 74 HPs so that didn't seem too risky. Starting as far away as possible she started her spell and Mencar came in and duly hit her. However, her spell wasn't disrupted and she continued casting - and was hit again. I thought the spell would have cast following that second hit - but she was hit again and was now in danger of death. However, I thought surely the spell must cast now - with the predictable result.
In retrospect it's possible this was one of those occasions where an attempted spell gets into a loop and never actually finishes the cast. The sensible thing to have done anyway in a no-reload would have just been to rest and get back summons and useful spells, but I felt Alba should be trying to finish things off in that single encounter ...
@Grond0 Oh no! And another one bites the dust!
There are a number of times that you get insta-death if you make the wrong decision. Sometimes you might even think that you are making the morally right decision and you die. Make sure that you always make the right one. I would say, just don't talk to Neera or be prepared to have her in the party.
Ætheling the Erudite Continued
I forgot to mention that Ætheling's weapon broke whilst fighting one of the assassins. As that blow killed the assassin, it was not much of a problem.She headed south after the death of Gorion.
On the way she picked up the Colquetle family amulet and killed a number of hobgoblin as well as two ogrillon.
In Nashkel rage was used against Niera with the result that Ætheling left the fight without even a bruise. Upon returning to Beregost, she went northwards and after killing the occasional gibberling and xvart she took on an ogre. She used the bow and arrows that she found on the hobgoblins on the way to Nashkel but then realised shat she hadn't got enough arrows. The ogre was nearly dead and so took the risk of raging and then attacking with her morning star. She breathed a sigh of relief when the ogre fell and she was able to acquire his belt collection.
To the west of Beregost she killed four gnoll, acquiring the lost sword of Perdue, noting the very apt name of the one who had lost it. Heading south from there she killed a wolf, then in transit killed a lone ghast. That experience was most certainly welcome.
Upon arriving at the Friendly Arms Inn, she used rage when attacked by Tarnesh. This negated his horror spell, but Ætheling was relieved when he only used magic missiles and acid arrows against him. A healing potion was required, but that is all.
After resting, Ætheling spent a most entertaining night with Quentin and was delighted when Landrin gave her a number of potions to protect from poison.
Did you get level drained there? If yes, it might have been that. But I doubt that level-drain thingie in that area (radiation!?) would kill you that quickly. Neera certainly didn't disintegrate you. I'd reload, see if level drain did kill you, if yes, start anew, if no, continue your game.
For Barbarian downward adjustments to constitution now instantly reduce HPs by number of levels x difference in constitution bonus/penalty. That adjustment is made irrespective of current HPs, so a character could have far more current HPs than their maximum HPs would be with the new constitution and still die. While I can see an argument for doing this I preferred the vanilla treatment where HPs would just be reduced to the new maximum.
For Berserker the 15 HPs used to be treated as part of current HPs - so if you were below that when rage ended you would die. That could have unfortunate consequences (for instance a L1 berserker who raged on insane difficulty would automatically die as the loss of HPs on expiry of rage was also doubled!), but generally I think the treatment was defensible. If I understand your answer the argument is now that the 15 HPs for raging are supposed to be temporary (like bonuses from LMD / Vampiric Touch / Aid). Again I think that would be defensible, but my understanding is what Beamdog have now done is a sort of halfway house between those 2 positions. Normally loss of HPs would come off 'temporary' HPs first, so that the end of one of the spells mentioned would not reduce HPs unless you were above your maximum level. For the Berserker Beamdog are still causing the loss of 15 HPs to come off your current HP total, but have now put in a new rule that if this loss would kill you, you are only rendered unconscious. I'm struggling to see the logic in that, though I do realise that life would be very unhappy if you spend your time worrying about the application of logic to fantasy games ...
Ætheling the Erudite Continued
Ætheling proceeded to kill all the hobgoblins around the Friendly Arms Inn and afterwards went north where she killed the zombie who wanted to be too friendly with the woman who was his wife before he died.She agreed to help Sonner, but upon talking to Tanya changed her mind and killed the fishermen. Upon killing them she gained a +1 flail and a proficiency point in flails due to reaching level 3. She now has a +1 sling and an adequate number of bullets for ranged combat.
She then paid a fleeting visit to Cloakwood where she found appropriately enough, a cloak.
Mortuus, the Elven Sorcerer (17th BG1 update)
Start of this run
Previous update
Dealing with Mendas/Selaad and his bodyguard was not difficult. Hades backstabbed Selaad, so he didn't stay in his wizard form and thus couldn't dispel our buffs.
Selaad then couldn't save against the Wand of Paralysis.
Thanks to Woden's fighter levels and Hades timely backstabs the second Loup Garou couldn't resist long. Stunned Selaad followed shortly after.
The party then took on Drizzt. Yahiko had 5th level divine spells, so it wasn't difficult. The reason is the Magic Resistance spell.
After that Xan confused Drizzt and Mortuus hit him with numerous Magic Missiles.
It was Woden, as always, who inflicted the final blow.
The party then bought several points of reputation back at the Beregost Temple, and decided to return to Baldur's Gate.
There they saved Duke Eltan...
I decided to enter the fight against Cythandria unbuffed, so it took longer than it could.
Removing spell protections was the first step, as always. After that Uzume could hit Cythandria with Holy Smite.
During the fight, between becoming invisible time and again, Cythandria casted Sunfire several times but everyone survived.
Finally Woden went through all of Cythandria's skins.
Now, Slythe and Krystin. Uzume blinded the assassin with Holy Smite.
Then when he turned visible Mortuus paralysed him, so he was dead quickly.
You can notice Chaos effect on Yahiko but he's still under my control. It's because the Priest of Tyr is just awesome. One of the aims of this run was to try this new kit, and I can conclude that more than 10 times in BG1 Uzume helped to counteract confusion.
Mortuus then dispelled everything on Krystin and she fell.
This is how the battle in the Ducal Palace went. The first round:
This was the result: one assassin stunned, another assassin confused.
The shaman that saved against Chaos was killed as a result of a critical backstab by Hades.
Defensive Stance helped Woden to endure Sarevok's hits:
Both Liia and Belt were alive. Hades finally reached the 9th level, - even though an assassin gets 15 points per level, now he had 100 in Disarm Traps (for the Durlag's Tower and SoD) and 85 in Open Locks.