Wimp purchased a number of scrolls before getting potions of genius from the FAI temple to ensure she was able to learn all of those. She cast her first active spell since finding a familiar at the start of the game when webbing and blinding one of the battle horrors at Durlag's Tower (in order to prevent both of them chasing her at once).
She killed the other one, mainly with a wand of frost - though she tried some spells of her own (not always successfully).
After resting, she stuck the other one on the other side of an invisible familiar, with the intention of using vampiric touch on it - but couldn't get past the familiar to within touching range. She used all her magic missiles on it anyway
and then the last few charges of the wand of frost to take it to near death. However, it still had 45 HPs which were too many for the 6 magic missile wand charges left. That resulted in putting the pseudo-dragon in harms way while she cast vampiric touch. The first of those did a pathetic 5 damage, while the second was more reasonable at 17.
Draining the wand still left the battle horror with 4 HPs though - and Wimp was totally out of options herself. The pseudo-dragon could damage the battle horror, but needed a critical to hit. By micro-managing attacks the familiar was able to get quite a few attempts in without retaliation, but still spent a lot of time running round regenerating and the hour for the session was nearly up by the time it had got the 3 hits necessary.
The last few minutes were spent going to Ulgoth's Beard to buy a replacement wand of frost and Beregost to get a sling. The strength penalty applied to sling attacks means darts are generally a better option for Wimp, but the intention is to use an invisible familiar to deal with a bunch of ghasts next time and sling ammunition lasts longer .
With Sion in hand, we can now cruise through many quests without worrying too much about the danger. Of course, there are times when we get surprised...
...but our Fallen Planetar can handle most things on its own. Its instant-casting Flame Strike, Fire Storm, Insect Plague, True Seeing, Globe of Blades, and Heal spells are especially helpful. When things get rough, we can still fall back on our own resources, including the scorcher loop.
But bear in mind that Sion is not as strong as a typical level 22 mage or sorcerer. There are lots of spells he does not have, making his defenses weaker, and his only form of support is a set of underleveled party members who are very easy to kill.
We really need a better tank. Fortunately, that's exactly why we came to Firkraag's dungeon.
We ditch our Medusa in favor of a Greater Wolfwere. Aside from high base APR, strong stats, and around 50% magic resistance, it regenerates 4 HP per second, or 24 per round, or even more than that when hasted. A Greater Wolfwere is vulnerable to rapid burst damage, as its maximum HP is fairly low, but as long as we can keep enemy pressure below a certain (and rather high) level, the wolfwere will survive.
We also ditch our wight in favor of a wraith. They're basically the same, but since wraiths use the shadow animation instead of the BG1-era ghoul animation, the wraiths move faster.
Anyway, one of my mods alters Firkraag's dungeon so entering Firkraag's lair instead gets you a massive orog ambush, with hordes of orogs and orcs attacking from both sides, plus Chieftain Digdag and Tazok. But they're most just melee grunts.
The real problem is that this mod-introduced fight crashes basically every single time I've ever fought it. I have no idea what causes it, but it happens over and over again, to the point where I simply lose interest in completing it normally. I just want to get out of here, even if I lose all the XP and loot.
Besides, you still fight Chieftain Digdag and Tazok again in the fight with Conster, alongside an orc mage of some sort.
I don't remember exactly how I won this fight, but apparently Sion uses Time Stop to launch a bunch of magic attacks.
But when the game crashes yet again, I instantly kill everyone except for Conster so I can play as if this buggy mod were never installed.
It's a simple contest of levels. Sion lands a successful Remove Magic spell on Conster, and while Conster kills two of our characters with magic damage, our Greater Wolfwere outlasts his weapon immunities, allowing us to break through his Stoneskins with Jhor the Bleeder.
We now have enough money to buy the Robe of Vecna. But in my install, the robe is replaced by the hand and eye of vecna, which are cursed items only usable by evil characters.
They're a distinct improvement over the original robe, but they'd be useless without Sion in the party (for a conventional group, Edwin would be the natural fit).
We hack and slash our way through a few random fights and end up in the Shadow Thief headquarters. One of my mods makes this area far more deadly, preventing you from escaping or resting and adding in Clay Golems (which impose a curse on hit that makes the target immune to healing spells and items) and some really, really nasty backstabbers. This place is a nightmare, and nearly brought an end to my Undergate run.
Our Greater Wolfwere relies on regeneration to stay alive instead of healing, so the Clay Golems' Cursed Wound effect isn't so dangerous to him. He deals with the golems to keep the party safe.
With only so many spell slots and no option to rest, we have to budget our resources. Sion summons one Fallen Planetar to deal with Dedral and the gang, and we stay far back to make sure we don't take any stray backstabs.
Fallen Planetars aren't invincible, but since they're immune to +2 weapons and below, the backstabbers here are no real threat to it.
We get a hold of the Control Rod, which deactivates most of the Clay Golems in this area if you approach them while holding it. But it takes a couple seconds, which is enough for them to land a hit on our tank.
Sion has already memorized some Remove Curse spells, so our wolfwere will be in good condition when we fight Aran Linvail.
Haz can be a problem, but he seems to have no Protection from Fire pre-buff, which means our planetar's Fire Storm goes right through Haz's defenses. The Clay Golems also get torched; Fire Storm bypasses magic resistance.
The last hallway is a bit of a problem. It has Lightning Bolt traps that trigger multiple times, but we have no thief to disarm them, as Seducers can neither set nor disarm traps.
It takes several tries, but with Sion's Globe of Invulnerability, the Greater Wolfwere's magic resistance and regeneration, the Cloak of Reflection on Mollyboo, and some potions, the whole party makes it across. Sion cures the Cursed Wound on the wolfwere so it can use healing potions.
It may well need the help, because the backstabbers in this coming fight could very well kill the wolfwere in two hits. Regeneration doesn't count for much when you're dead.
Sion brings out a new Fallen Planetar, which knocks out some enemies using Earthquake. Mollyboo remains invisible, but the enemy thieves can use Detect Illusions, which could be very dangerous.
Apparently that was the real Aran Linvail, not a clone. His defenses didn't trigger in time, maybe because Earthquake knocked him unconscious.
We've got some backstabbers flanking us, but the party is bunched up, boxing them in and keeping them away from Mollyboo. Unable to target them individually, Sion casts Symbol, Stun.
Sion actually has a special Symbol, Stun spell that lasts for 20 rounds instead of 9 at most. Only enemies have that spell; the player can never get it. And since Sion is a Conjurer, the save penalty is a crushing -6.
The Fallen Planetar's ability to see through invisibility is a huge advantage in this fight, when backstabbers are constantly going invisible. Globe of Blades doesn't hurt, either.
Without their ability to stay hidden, the thieves go down quickly and we move on to other quests.
I ponder my next move. We really need a proper damage dealer besides our Fallen Planetar, but I don't expect to find any real bruisers until well into the main quest. Eventually, I realize we already have access to an excellent damage dealer.
Because Sion knows Summon Fiend.
Sion summons a Glabrezu and uses Time Stop to cast Lower Resistance, allowing us to land Greater Malison and make it easier to charm.
We have a lot of levels to drain from the Glabrezu, and its Mirror Images won't block all the damage from our wraith's natural weapon (which I think needed to be boosted by Enchanted Weapon to hit the thing). That's what our Fallen Planetar is for.
Unfortunately, I'm not fast enough.
No worries. We can always try again. And with Sion's extra-powerful Symbol, Stun spell, we can give our wraith automatic hits.
I count off the levels drained by arranging potions, just like always. Finally the Glabrezu is weak enough and Mollyboo gets a failed save on Seduction. The Glabrezu is ours!
Jesus Christ. The Glabrezu might not have its Remove Magic, Mirror Image, or PW: Stun spells, but its stats alone are incredible. Five attacks per round at 20 STR with -12 AC and over 150 HP? Plus 50% MR and standard demon immunities?
Morentherene might not have been as strong as a well-constructed fighter, but this Glabrezu certainly is.
I think we're ready for Spellhold! Since our wraith is a drain on our XP and serves no real purpose in combat, I decide to kill it.
We can always resurrect it when we need it, and it won't suck up valuable XP when it's dead.
Again I see German text in the dialogue with Bodhi. As usual, I pick the options at random, since I figure that they make no real difference.
I was wrong.
What was that? Some spell in German? I check to see if Mollyboo learned a "Blutkuss" spell, and while "Blutkuss" isn't there, some other spells are. Also German.
I check the Record screen and find something truly strange.
She got a massive boost to her stats. But now I finally know why.
She's a vampire.
Bodhi turned her into a vampire.
I'm not sure I really want to keep this in place--I might remove the effects, since I didn't want for this to happen--but it might be interesting. The upside is that Mollyboo has a bunch of new defensive abilities, including, apparently, a mist form not unlike Hexxat's. Plus, she can drain levels with a special weapon, obviating the need for our wraith. But when it's daylight out, her STR goes to 8, her DEX goes to 1, and she goes blind.
Since daylight is rare in BG2, however, I decide to let it stay for now. I won't use her new vampire powers until I make my decision.
Fun fact: you can temporarily remove the sunlight penalties using Breach.
They come back soon enough, but it removes a massive AC penalty from the lowered DEX, which could be enough to get your Bhaalspawn to safety if caught in the sun.
Perth the Adept was a little rough, but with our incredibly high APR boosted by Sion's Improved Haste spells, we can cut right through Stoneskins and PFMW. Normally, haste effects would get dispelled, but since Sion is level 22, it's not easy for enemies to do that.
On to Spellhold! Since our Glabrezu is immune to fear and confusion and normal weapons, I send it after the Coiled Cabal on its own. Turns out it's not as invincible as I thought.
The Fallen Planetar succeeds where the Glabrezu failed, but it's a reminder that even monsters like Glabrezus can go down quickly if I'm not careful.
One of my mods tweaks some of the Spellhold riddles. I'm not sure how I feel about the changes.
The next area has seven epic-level mages in it: three liches, Breudayael and Drusilia, and two other mod-introduced guys with names that somehow sound like they were lifted from some 1980s fantasy book.
Fortunately, we only have to fight three epic-level mages here. Breudayael isn't hostile unless you attack him, so we just walk by and...
...Wow. We just rendered our wraith completely obsolete. Even if I decide not to keep Mollyboo as a vampire, I can still just use Energy Drain instead. But there's no need to kick the wraith out just yet.
I really don't feel like tackling even a single lich on my own, so Mollyboo dares Thordek to go kick some ass. He leaps at the opportunity.
I send him in to fight the first lich on his own, figuring that a sturdy critter like him can at least drain the lich's strength, if not actually kill it. I decide to send in a Fallen Planetar to help him out, and use Fire Storm to kill some of the mummies and skeletons.
The instant I do it, I realize I've made a horrible mistake.
By using an offensive spell on Thordek, I've turned his entire party hostile.
The worst part is that we've blocked out our best escape route. Breudayael and his gang are taking up the upper hallway; to avoid him, we'd have to run right past two other epic-level mages, where we'll probably get locked in place because of that umber hulk trap.
To the south, a lich.
To the west, two mages. And I think two Balors.
To the north, two mages, plus a fighter.
To the east? A solid wall.
How the hell am I going to get out of here? I can't rest here; Bodhi will ambush me.
Sion summons another Fallen Planetar. Hopefully it will be enough to kill Thordek and keep the lich at bay. After that, we'll just have to figure out which way to make our escape. It takes some work, but Thordek goes down.
But now we have another problem. Anastacia is here. She's an epic-level fighter, but that's not what worries me.
What worries me is that she has two extremely dangerous swords, both of which could absolutely destroy us. One sword drains 3 Charisma on hit permanently, and it only goes back to normal after death. But Mollyboo can't be resurrected if she dies. The other sword has a 10% chance of draining 4 levels on hit.
But it doesn't use the level drain opcode. It uses the "change level" opcode, which will permanently lower your level by 4 AND reduce your XP to zero. If Sion gets hit, we lose two level 9 spell slots forever. If Mollyboo gets hit, she won't get HLAs until the end of ToB.
It's a 10% chance of absolutely crippling our party. And Anastacia has Greater Whirlwind Attack.
I am not doing this. I turn the party invisible before Anastacia can give us any grief.
I grab Thordek's equipment, even though I decided in advance not to use mod items like his, and wait for our Planetars to take down the liches, which they eventually do.
For some reason, our Glabrezu becomes visible. Taking a major risk, I have Mollyboo break invisibility to charm Anastacia. It works!
I send her up the north passageway, but then see a chilling message.
Breudayael's own Planetar is trying to murder his wife. And if his wife dies before he does, Breudayael instantly casts Imprisonment on the whole party.
I bring Anastacia back to the south, but to my horror, the Planetar keeps attacking her even after the charm wears off.
We have no choice. We have to get that Planetar to attack us instead of Anastacia, because losing one party member to a vorpal strike is better than losing the whole party to Imprisonment.
But the west passageway isn't much safer.
Two Balors, two mages, and a truckload of umber hulks. Plus a door that won't open until Mollyboo picks the lock--which would break her invisibility.
The good news is that the Planetar and Anastacia appear to be trapped. The bad news is everything else. We have no choice but to kill both Balors and then fight or run past both mages in the next chamber. Sion casts Time Stop to get a couple extra spells off the ground--namely, Improved Haste on our Glabrezu to get its APR to 10--and Anastacia, who apparently is immune to Time Stop, attacks Breudayael's Planetar.
Then the gates come open of their own accord, and the Planetar joins the fray, fighting alongside a Balor because clearly we are the greater of the two evils.
Note that Planetars attack using +3 weapons, so Improved Mantle will block a Planetar's vorpal strikes just as easily as PFMW.
I switch gears and attack the Planetar instead, knowing that its vorpal strikes are more dangerous than whatever the Balors might do to us. Against all odds, we land a vorpal strike first.
Ziatar is paralyzed for some reason, but an Arrow of Dispelling fixes her up.
Readers may remember that I could have saved Ziatar the same way back in Siege of Dragonspear, but failed to do so.
With Improved Mantle active, Sion has enough breathing room to cast Symbol, Stun. Multiple umber hulks are down for the count, but the battle is not yet won.
The fight drags on. These Noble Umber Hulks are far, far stronger than the typical kind. They nearly kill Ziatar and outlast both Sion's Improved Mantle and his PFMW spell.
Finally, the last umber hulks go down.
All that's left is to get rid of those two mages. But they triggered their pre-buffs so many rounds ago without actually ever taking action that they're basically helpless when we finally engage them. Sion tries to debuff them during Time Stop with magical attacks, but in the end, two vorpal strikes take down the mages.
Breudayael and his party don't usually leave their little chamber without being drawn out, so we don't have to worry about them chasing us around. Instead, we just focus on killing the remaining two liches, since I'm worried they'll burst out of the library and ambush us when we're hunting Dace Sontan.
The wraith bravely stands up to the first volley. Its reward is instant death.
Spectral and skeletan undead should really be immune to Horrid Wilting, but they didn't implement that in BG2. Anyway, our wolfwere runs out to monitor the situation while Sion's two Fallen Planetars (one of my mods removes both types of summoning caps) do all the work.
The fight is not interesting. Just imagine about 60 seconds of this...
@semiticgod If you need a translation for a specific german spell description or piece of dialogue, feel free to send me a screenshot - it really would be no trouble at all; Btw, the German Bodhi dialogue in the screenshot you've posted basically has her explaining that she's turned you into a vampire. The spell you've selected in the next screenshot would be translated as something like "Call Minions/Servants of the Night".
Instead of going for big experience sources like Shoal or basilisks right away, I decided to retain a more natural leveling experience by starting with some quests around FAI and Beregost - mainly those that provide reputation, since I plan to spend a lot of money on items as soon as possible. After hitting 20 rep and level 5 (by using simple hit and run tactics, sometimes improved by hiding in plain sight or using a wand of sleep charge), I finally got my first backstab modifier and bought the shadow armor and the quarterstaff +3. Time for progress:
I stealthed all the way through the Naskel mine and killed Mulahey with backstab, shadowstep, hide, backstab:
Nabatil quickly moved on to the bandit camp, drank a potion of absorption, looted the chest in Tazok's tent, restealthed and just walked out - no reason for any fights here:
I walked through the Cloakwood areas quickly, using a potion of freedom for the second one, with 3 potions of explosion ready for Drasus and his group - throwing a potion, walking back and hiding, repositioning, throwing another one etc. - only two enemies had to be finished off with backstabs
After stealthing through the first three iron mine levels without engaging any enemies, I had Nabatil use a protection from magic scroll before triggering Davaeorn's traps. With the boots of speed, avoiding the battle horrors was no problem at all - I eventually ended up backstabbing them to death while Davaeorn wasted his spells. Eventually, it was a one on one quarterstaff duel. It took quite a while - coincidentally, this was also the first time Nabatil took any damage at all, because Davaeorn did hit me two times:
Nabatil entered Baldur's Gate, acquired most of the potentially interesting items and fought his way to max level by clearing out the basilisks:
Next time, I'm planning to take along some party members (though only for short amounts of time) and finish the first game!
First, I want to get rid of Drusilia. Mollyboo only has a 5% chance of landing Domination, and Breudayael chain-casts Heal, but Heal won't keep Drusilia safe from Anastacia's Charisma drain.
Only Breudayael and Anastacia are left. We have to take down Broofles first, so Sion begins seeding the south hallway with Symbol, Stun spells.
Notice the aura cleansing message. It would be possible to get rid of Bodhi by completing the next level, which would let us rest as much as we wanted, but I'm just using a custom rest and buffing spell to speed up casting. I don't use cheats to make the game easier, but I very, very often use them to make the game faster.
Broofles has 75% magic resistance and -2 saving throws across the board. Sion's Symbol Stun spell has a base -4 save penalty, with his Conjurer specialty bonus canceled out by Broofles' Protection from Evil buff, so Broofles has to roll a 1 to get stunned. That's a 1.25% chance of success per casting. If you cast 50 Symbol, Stun spells, it only has a 50% chance of working by the time every single one detonates.
But we manage to land it!
Unfortunately, he can turn invisible even when he's disabled.
It's hardly fair, but nothing about this fight is fair.
Our Glabrezu can see through invisibility and can therefore target Broofles via its script, but there's an added snag: since the Glabrezu was summoned by Sion, its gender is coded as "summoned demon," and Broofles' Protection from Evil spell grants him total invisibility to critters with the "summoned demon" gender. Our Glabrezu therefore cannot target him, ever.
We have to try something else, and it requires stunning him all over again. This time, I put Mollyboo in the crawlspace and use her to charm Anastacia.
Broofles' items indicate that he's vulnerable to +4 weapons and better, and Anastacia's weapons are both +5. She should be able to kill him with Charisma drain.
He only becomes visible for half a second, but I finally manage to get Anastacia to make an attack roll. It hits!
Unbelievable. He's immune to +5 weapons, too. I did not know it at the time, but only +6 weapons and higher can hurt Broofles. These are all of the +6 weapons that the player can use in the entire game:
1. Black Blade of Disaster 2. Chill Touch 3. Fire Seeds 4. Ghoul Touch 5. Minute Meteors 6. Harm 7. Spirit Animal weapons 8. Shocking Grasp
...plus ToB-exclusive upgradeable weapons (which wouldn't be available by Spellhold) and mod items like Bertoxxulous. Unfortunately, there are problems with each one:
1. Due to the lack of scrolls, the only characters who could have Black Blade of Disaster by Spellhold would be sorcerers, who probably wouldn't have enough APR to hit Broofles in the half-second during which he would be visible. 2. Chill Touch deals nonlethal damage. 3. Fire Seeds' fire damage strikes as a level 6 weapon. You'd need damage bonuses (like from Aid or the Archer kit) to actually deal physical damage to him. 4. Ghoul Touch also deals nonlethal damage. 5. Minute Meteors are only +2 in SCS. 6. Harm strikes as a +6 weapon, but the damage it does is a level 6 spell, which Broofles will ignore outright. 7. Spirit Animals don't have the APR or the invisibility detection opcode to hit him. 8. Shocking Grasp deals nonlethal damage, and the electrical damage strikes as a level 1 spell.
With Spell Revisions, it should be possible to use True Seeing to let you attack him despite his invisibility, but I'm not sure if there are +6 weapons in SR that would work here. So, basically the only weapon you could use would be Fire Seeds or some overpowered mod item.
So. We try again. This time, we use magic attacks to lower his magic resistance once he's stunned. Only Pierce Shield can lower his MR because he's immune to level 6 spells and below like Lower Resistance and Pierce Magic.
Sion then uses a Potion of Firebreath. Potions and scrolls and items take longer to activate than spells, but they also ignore invisibility.
It is not sufficient, however, and we have to try again, going through all the typical motions of stunning a mage with 75% MR and a save vs. spell of -2.
That big bright blob of light is 50 Symbol, Stun spells detonating, roughly one every frame. We try Potions of Firebreath again, but this time, we combine it with the Wand of Lightning trick.
We use about three potions, but we finally get him.
Check out all the crazy mod items I won't get to use!
It's also possible to kill Broofles by spamming Incendiary Cloud or Dragon's Breath over and over, though I think you may have to wait out a Protection from Fire pre-buff.
Funny thing is, this idiot could have been immune to that if he had just worn a Ring of Fire Resistance instead of his Ring of Knowledge. He'd have had 115% fire resistance, and the only way you could have killed him would be to use area-effect projectiles like Fire Seeds.
Which he also could have blocked, if he was smart enough to actually seek out the party and attack, rather than just standing there. The stupidity of his scripting is staggering compared to the advantages the mod creator gave him.
Anyway, time to kill his wife. She's just as dumb as he is: she wastes her attacks on Sion's PFMW spell while our Glabrezu just stands there chucking throwing axes at her.
Thunk thunk thunk.
This is why everyone likes SCS: it plays fair and it plays smart. Broofles and company have loads of advantages, but they are just plain stupid. It's like Improved Anvil.
The rest of Spellhold is boring by comparison. Notable events include using invisibility to protect a mod NPC who otherwise would die instantly in a fight following his dialogue...
Notice that killing the evil drow lady breaks whatever quest he was associated with; that's why he has nothing to say.
...killing some golems with some good old-fashioned choke points, just like Bioware intended...
...and Ziatar finally achieving level 10, which ironically takes away some of her spell slots.
Jon-bon is next, but unlike Broofles, we only get one shot at fighting him. We can't rest and return if things go wrong.
I think we're ready for Spellhold! Since our wraith is a drain on our XP and serves no real purpose in combat, I decide to kill it. We can always resurrect it when we need it, and it won't suck up valuable XP when it's dead.
People complain about me being bloodthirsty, but a blood-sucking vampire that kills its faithful companions - that's just fine .
Wimp pulled the 5 ghasts from the bottom of the tower upstairs to a choke point where she could kill them - getting up to level 6 in the process and gaining another 1 HP.
Most of the time she fired darts rather than bullets there as they do more damage per round for her and the amount of game time spent shooting things means there's a potential danger of even the invisibility spell wearing off. With that lot gone she went to buy more missiles before returning to have a go at the ghasts on the upper floors of the tower.
The first few of those were managed without problems, but then disaster struck. Right at the start of the session I had tested what would happen if Wimp ran out of missiles and found the result of that was that there was just enough space for her to push the familiar out of the way and get into hand to hand combat range with a ghast.
I therefore knew it was essential to keep a close eye on the action - particularly using darts as they run out so quickly. I'd been doing that successfully, but had just got to a good bit of my book and got distracted for a moment too long . Out of the corner of my eye I noted movement on the screen as Wimp dashed to the attack and reached out to slap the space bar. I thought I would be in time in doing that as Wimp survived an initial hit on her, but must have been a millisecond too slow to prevent a second blow landing ...
I decided it was about time to give Biff another go. As a reminder, he's able to use any desired tactics (obviously excluding use of healing items), but can never kill anything except through his own melee attacks. His last run in this SCS installation played on Core difficulty saw him get through BG1 for the first time, before absent-mindedly killing the first mephit in Jon's dungeon with a magic missile. That's the target to beat this time.
In this installation quite a few blinded creatures react to being approached, even outside their sight range. That makes them dangerous for Biff to attack while he's visible, even with a staff. In addition, some, like Shoal, have scripts making them run around when blinded and the possibility of her deciding to kiss and make up means relying on blindness there is particularly dangerous. Shoal was therefore left for later, but Karlat (who is another wanderer) was tackled at first level. Biff required a critical to hit with his non-proficient darts, but eventually got enough of those and added a couple of LMDs to almost finish Karlat off. After a couple of failed attacks, the extra HPs from those enabled him to survive a hit by Karlat and fortunately Biff found a killing blow immediately afterwards.
South of Beregost a couple of ogrillons were killed - which is also a bit chancy at first level as they have quite quick weapon speed. The hobgoblins with the stealthy boots were a bit more comfortable due to Biff being able pretty reliably to get an attack in and withdraw before any retaliation and Biff got his first level against them.
Back in Beregost the spiders were blinded and cut down - one of them did manage to get an attack in, but missed and in any case would have needed a critical to have a chance of killing Biff before he could do an area transition to cure any poison.
Biff has acquired Algernon's Cloak, but won't be using that much this run (I do enough of that in LoB runs). Instead he headed north, picking up a belt from a blinded ogre and a ring to boost his spell power. Killing some fishermen for Tenya then got him to level 3.
He also camped on the edge of the map while trying to blind an ankheg. That was successful, making the ankheg easy to finish off as it doesn't react to approaching enemies (and by that time Biff was benefiting from 8 LMDs anyway ).
At Ulgoth's Beard I did resort to cloaking Dushai to draw him away from the villagers - the ring of free action will make melee attacks in webs very easy against most enemies later on.
Some blinded hobgoblins allowed Biff to give Joia's ring back and Firebead was grateful to get some reading matter, while Mr Colquetle got a memento of his family. That got Biff close to level 4, but Melicamp was feeling fragile and didn't give him a final boost. However, Zargal and his friends in Bassilus' area did the business.
With invisibility now available Biff has done the hardest part of the job in BG1.
Nabatil walked all the way up in the iron throne building and started to throw some necklace of missles-charges at the enemy group before finishing off the survivors with a couple of backstabs:
At Candlekeep, I just stealthed through the entire dungoen without engaging anyone - though I didn't forget to take all of the tomes with me. The duchal palace event was the first reason to take some party members with me, since the wand of sleep doesn't seem a reliable enough option in the EE, and I don't have any strict solo rules (I'm just soloing to make the BG1 part of the run as quick as possible).
I decided to take some fighter-types for damage (Kagain, Ajantis and Kivan) and two arcane spellcasters for the abilty to use wands and scrolls (Garrick and Quayle). I didn't give anyone any non-consumable items (just some acid arrows for Kivan, wands for everyone and potions of storm giant strength for the fighters). I also bought scrolls of haste, greater malison, chaos and confusion. Using this combination and a wand of monster summoning proved to be quite successful:
After that, I dismissed my party again and picked up Dorn instead, because I wanted to get Kryll's necklace for my main character. Rasaad was next: I completed the first part of his quest to gain access to the monestary in the cloud peak mountains, where I looked through various chests to find the cursed belt of hill giant strength. The rest of the game was done solo: Using a magic protection scroll to avoid any trap damage, Nabatil stealthed through the thieve's maze and the undercity. My buffs for Sarevok included potions of defense, of power, of clarity, of mind focusing, fire resistance, absorption, perception (for better stealth abilities) and speed. I also put on the cursed belt to improve my strength to 19.
Nabatil carefully approached Sarevok and stealthed after a short conversation, and Semaj teleported next to me. His mirror images didn't help against my first backstab, and I either dodged his spells by hiding or just ignored them, as they couldn't really do anything to me. Another backstab hit right through his somehow completely useless mirror images, and he was dead.
I pulled Sarevok to the entrance of the temple, using an arrow of dispelling to remove his haste effect.
Thus, it was easy to just hide, backstab, run away, hide again and repeat. With my triple damage modifier, it took 3 hits to kill him:
There you have it: A quick and efficient BG1 run. I'm quite pleased everything worked out so well and I get to try myself at no-reloading SoD now. The one thing I wasn't sure about: Seems like I'm starting solo in SoD, so I'll have to finish the prologue dungeon with Nabatil only. I was thinking that maybe the game would automatically assign a party to me, as it changed my party composition at this point in my first SoD run (which annoyed me quite a bit).
Upon arrival to the Durlag's Tower outskirts even Xan had found it remarkable but I hope he is a bit less enlightened with the art of seeing compared to wise Alaundo so his 'prophecies' will not come true:
Greeting party of Battle Horrors got a Cold/Fire treatment, as well as some Ghasts on the upper levels of the Tower. The latter enlightened me that using the IR Wand of Fire in such confined spaces could be dangerous. Item Revisions makes those Wands to cast an appropriate spell when you use them so now Agannazar's Scorcher from the Wand freezes you in place for several seconds (just like spell) enough to be held by Ghast. A Cleric with Remove Paralysis in such situations is a life saviour:
Item Randomiser replaced the local Wisdom tome with the Constitution one which (after we'll find the second Constitution tome) will allow me to invest in the Claw of Kazgaroth. Considering that (in my opinion) the IR Helm of Balduran is quite dull, transfering the Claw into the SoA is also more interesting.
Kirinhale is always a nuissance with her etherealness at will but no one could call Viconia 'manly' and live...
Her Charms are useless on Viconia but other group mates are not so resilent. She charmed our both archers and drained Jaheira but I didn't use Break Enchantment on those as the risk to be interrupted with arrows of fire is quite high considering the combined APR and Viconia is busy with Kirinhale as our most invulnerable tank:
While our charmed archers shot down our own skellies Viconia lured Kirinhale to the back rooms to deal with her there not being distracted with flying arrows:
Kirinhale dropped quite an interesing sling for me, though I hope we'll not need its special combat abilities in near future...:
A single Potion of Mirrored Eyes is enough for Jaheira to bring me another Mage level and access to some cruicial lvl 3 spells:
Going down to the underground some of us gained more levels but the cost in the efforts and resourses is quite high so halfway through the first underground level (after we got another cruicial Wand) we decided it's enough for now.
For the Sword Coast's most skilled swordsman Meilum is quite inaccurate and Kobold Commando in the Firewine Ruins provided us with quite a number of fire arrows.
The Ogre Mage, even being muted, reminded us that critical hits are still dangerous for us. After he perished, Lendarn, being alone, can't do much and his Wand of Paralysation finally completed my collection:
Jenkal was held and killed so he can't escape and hunt us later and as we arrived to the Ulcaster from the east we could avoid Icharyd for now since his lightning attacks could be deadly at our current levels. The fight with the Wolf of Ulcaster was long and stressful with never-ending stream of reinforcements and some scary moments. All for the Ring of Wizardry.
Larswood and Peldvale were pretty much uneventful though the first signs of future troubles (caused by Druids and their summons with Charm abilities) have flashed on the horizon. The spawns are also less dangerous (3 Black Talon Elites in Tutu vs 1 Black Talon Elite+Bandit+Gibberling in BGT).
After rescuing Dynaheir we went to the basilisk area where we were asttacked by Peter, Lindin etc. In the middle of the battle I was charmed and Tenya was badly hurt after being held. Nevertheless we prevailed.
I afterwards read a scroll and went after the basilisks, medusae, and finally Mutamin.
We then went east of the Nashkel mines where we found a ring of fire protection before heading north where we took on Narcillicus Harwilliger Neen and his creations.
We then went in search of some half-ogres that we had been told about, not realising that we would find even more enemies in the area.
We then deemed the time right to enter the mines. Apart from getting poisoned, this went well.
Upon exiting we fought and killed the Revenant.
We then returned to the mines where Vynd acquired the emeralds from Prism's sculpture before giving them to Oublek. We were then attacked by a baby wyvern, so we charmed Oublek for some additional manpower. Sadly he was killed.
We then killed Nimbul.
Durlag's Tower then beckoned us and apart from Vynd having too little skill in disarming traps, we had few problems.
When we could go no further without setting off a trap, we called it a day and returned to Beregost.
En route to Ulgoth's Beard we were attacked by Morvin and his cronies. They lost.
We then went to Ice Island and left it uninhabited.
Fortunately the enemies that we faced were not too bright as they failed to take advantage of the times when we were enfeebled. Dynaheir cast magic missile at a crucial moment as it interrupted their final spell. We then headed to the Ulcaster ruins. At first all went well but that didn't last for when we came across the Wolf of Ulcaster we suddenly found ourselves vastly outnumbered by dread wolves, ghasts and the like. Eventually I was the only one left. I only just survived my consuming numerous healing potions.
After resting, I attempted to complete the dungeon single handed. That was brave, but rather foolish. Mal Kalen proved to be too much for me to handle for I was bought to within an inch of death. I was unconcious with a skeleton warrior fast approaching. Tymora must have been watching over me, for just in time I awoke and was able to flee. It was very expensive to raise the party afterwards 3,400 gold pieces in all. All in all, that expedition was a bit of a disaster. The only good thing that came out of it was that because I fought so many enemies single handed, I increased in level which was not expected at all.
Time to tackle Jon-bon. Sion opens with Summon Fallen Planetar (technically the spell is called Summon Dark Planetar, but the critter is called a Fallen Planetar), which uses Insect Plague on our Glabrezu in the hopes that it will spread to Irenicus.
At first, Irenicus appears unaffected, but after Wanev's Time Stop wears off, I see the telltale insects swarming around Jon-bon.
Irenicus confirms the presence of spell failure by resorting to a Spell Trigger. But the confirmation comes at a cost.
I can tolerate Ziatar getting shattered, but it's not something I want to risk. I have her drink a Potion of Magic Shielding, but just in case her aura isn't clear and she can't drink it in time, I have her remove all of her equipment save her armor.
The Potion of Magic Shielding was a good idea. Without it, it seems she would have been petrified.
Sion stops time while Jon-bon is distracted and prepares to remove his defenses.
Sion takes all of them down, but Irenicus has a PFMW Contingency and goes invisible soon after, as Insect Plague wore off during the Time Stop.
Our Glabrezu can see through invisibility, so I have it switch to a normal weapon and let it keep attacking Jon-bon while the rest of the party focuses on the clones.
But Tiax reveals Irenicus by chance, and since Irenicus has no Fire Shield, I re-cast Insect Plague along with Pierce Shield, since I still see a spell protection swirling around Irenicus.
The Glabrezu finishes off Irenicus' Stoneskins! Soon a friendly Breach is on the way, and the day is ours.
Off to the City of Caverns! I have more big plans for this area, but first, we sell off a bunch of loot at the easy-to-miss temple in the far north. The temple buys stuff at a high price, so it's best to save up loose items to sell them here. Selling off extra ammunition alone is enough to pay for another trip back to Brynnlaw!
Due to Item Randomizer, we unfortunately do not get the Cloak of Mirroring. Instead, we get a crummy Ring of the Ram. We take our our frustration on the local shark people by having our Glabrezu run around with a magical throwing axe, chopping up the denizens of City Sushi. Our Glabrezu's lack of proficiencies don't matter when it already attacks 5 times per round.
Thunk thunk thunk.
For once, we're not siding with Villynaty. Ixilthetocal is our man, for reasons that will become quickly clear. We mob the prince, who is something of a glass cannon. Here's screenshot 666!
Ixilthetocal is pleased, though he has a strange way of expressing joy.
Sallinithil guilt-trips us for dooming their society...
...but the important thing is that Ixilthetocal is happy.
Why's that?
Well, Ixilthetocal happens to be a level 20 fighter with 24 base STR and 5 APR flat. On top of that, he comes with grandmastery in spears, which will make him far stronger than our already-deadly Glabrezu. Ixilthetocal will be our best damage dealer until late into Throne of Bhaal.
We head back to go collect him.
Where did he go?
I scour the City of Caverns, but he is simply not there. Ixilthetocal is gone.
He vanishes if you bring him Villynaty's heart. And since Villynaty joins the fight if you betray Ixilthetocal, I think the only way to land Seduction on Ixilthetocal is to either be level 40 or attack him unprovoked, without siding with either him or Villynaty. But it's too late; this is a no-reload run.
I was really looking forward to that. I love Ixilthetocal, both his character and his name. He would have been a spectacular spearfisher if I could have brought him into the party. But it seems we will have to look elsewhere.
We enter the Underdark. One of my mods adds a very vicious drow ambush mere seconds after you arrive in the area, and I came awfully close to dying here in my Undergate run. I try to sneak past them, but they know better.
Our Glabrezu and Greater Wolfwere break invisibility to ensure the rest of the party can stay hidden. It buys us enough time for Sion to cast Time Stop.
Sion brings out two Fallen Planetars and hastes our Glabrezu. Our Glabrezu nearly dies to the matron mother's Globe of Blades (which somehow hits twice), but SCS celestials cast their spells instantly, allowing a Fallen Planetar to rescue our pet demon. It also lets us knock out some of the enemies using Earthquake.
But now we have a mage with Improved Alacrity, and I don't see how we're going to get past its defenses.
We turn our attention to the other drow, who aren't quite so well-defended. Notice the damage from Darts of Wounding that Sion threw during Time Stop.
Sion tries to debuff the big mage, but the drow has every advantage over Sion.
We need to kill that Fallen Planetar before it lands a vorpal strike on somebody. Mollyboo is safe to the southeast with Carlig and Finderlig and what's-his-name, but Sion is flat-out paralyzed, and turning him invisible would be no help at all against a Fallen Planetar. Our Glabrezu targets the Fallen Planetar, but even the Glabrezu can't bring it down as fast as we need it to. And since I can't see the Fallen Planetar, I can't order our own Fallen Planetars to attack it. Instead, I have them try to damage and disable the drow with Fire Storm and Earthquake, both of which bypass magic resistance.
The Fallen Planetar finally breaks invisibility. There is nothing we can do to stop it as it lands a vorpal strike on our Greater Wolfwere, chunking our best tank.
Ziatar has failed a save against Chaos and cannot defend herself. She dies as well, but thankfully does not suffer a vorpal strike.
I check the Glabrezu's Record screen. With a save vs. death of 6, the Glabrezu has a 5% chance of getting chunked with every hit the Fallen Planetar lands on hit. I don't consider that remotely worth the risk, so rather than use my best damage dealer to bring down the Fallen Planetar, I have it run away. But the Fallen Planetar gives chase.
A PW: Blind spell from one of the drow mages gets past our Glabrezu's 50% MR, ruining our visibility and preventing me from directing the Glabrezu to a clear spot. This gives the Fallen Planetar more chances to kill our Glabrezu, but also lets our own celestials try to land vorpal strikes of their own.
Only when one of our Fallen Planetars heals our Glabrezu, curing its blindness, do I see what's going on.
The fight drags on as I struggle to bring down the Fallen Planetar before it chunks our Glabrezu. Finally it goes down, though I know that things could have gone very different with some unlucky dice rolls.
Then another Fallen Planetar appears as from nowhere and targets Sion. Only a save vs. death keeps Sion from getting chunked.
I use the Rod of Resurrection on Ziatar just so we can cover Mollyboo with Death Ward. In my install, and I think in EE by default, Death Ward finally blocks opcode 13, the vorpal strike effect. Previously, only PFMW and (in SCS only) good saving throws could block planetar-related chunking.
Funny thing is, I experienced two or three chunkings in a single run once in this very area, if not this exact fight.
To my immense relief, we get a lucky kill on the Fallen Planetar just as Sion runs out of Stoneskins.
The remaining two mages are still in good condition. Sion recovers from PW: Stun, and while Ziatar fails a save against Domination, Mollyboo can cast Dispel Charm at will.
The enemy mage gets Time Stop off the ground, but saving throws and magic resistance thwart his spells.
One of the drow casts Improved Mantle, which we can't break, but that one runs away to the west, taking our Fallen Planetar with it, while the mage that sticks around merely casts PFMW. Which we most definitely can get past.
By the time we chase down the other mage, his Improved Mantle has run out.
For the next drow ambush, we play it smart, pre-buffing beforehand and making sure that we strike hard and fast from a safe distance.
My rules would let me get the Greater Wolfwere back, but like Darskhelin's chunking, I'm actually perfectly okay with this one. In fact, I already planned on replacing the Greater Wolfwere with an even better character, which we nab right after we're done playing with the drow.
The Kuo-toan Prince is now on our side! It has the same massive regeneration rate as a Greater Wolfwere, plus better resistance albeit slightly lower APR. The portrait is Undyne from Undertale, though I've lost track of the artist's name (I cropped the original drawing).
The prince is a cleric/thief, but has no thief skills or cleric spells. For now, those abilities lay dormant, but if I can keep it around until midway through ToB, I might just be able to get it Use Any Item.
Next up is Ust Natha. I finally have Sion scribe Energy Drain, because I think I've found a new use for it. Unfortunately, it does not allow us to use Seduction on Sion's own Simulacrum, which is immune to both restoration and level drain.
We pay a visit to the svirfneblin village and agree to smash their demon. Sion chain-casts Time Stop to help land a Symbol, Stun spell.
This will give us automatic hits for far longer than we need. Sion casts Enchanted Weapon on our wraith so it can get past the Balor's weapon immunities.
Yes. We are in fact going to seduce a Balor.
It works! We have to kill it before we can complete the quest, but once we've spoken with the gnomes and gotten a pretty rock for our efforts, we resurrect the Balor, who utterly outclasses our Glabrezu in every dimension.
His natural weapon even has a 20% chance of slaying the target on a failed save vs. death at -4, plus an Aura of Flaming Death whenever it's equipped. The Balor is an absolute monster, and will probably be with us for the rest of the game.
Adalon scolds us for keeping it around. Apparently her dialogue also checks to see if the Balor is dead, and death variables apparently can switch on and off if you kill or resurrect the critter as a party member.
She also apparently objects to the fact that Mollyboo is a vampire, though she can only express the sentiment in German.
The moment we step outside, we are greeted with a disturbing message.
Adalon was right. If the Balor isn't dead when you enter her face, all those gnomes just... die. Even though our Balor was nowhere near them. That doesn't feel too good.
We can still continue the Ust Natha questline as usual. We save Phaere, purchase a Protection from Magic scroll in the city, and manage to find a level 6 drow cleric who hopefully will prove more lasting than Ziatar in the long run. But since Sion has Energy Drain now, I ditch the wraith instead of Ziatar.
We proceed through the questline normally and hit no snags.
The way to the surface is now clear. All we have to do is make a break for it.
But I'm not going to do that. I'm going to take on SCS' Siege of Ust Natha again.
I want to see if I can do it outside of Legacy of Bhaal mode.
My start in SoD didn't exactly go as planned, mainly because I wasn't aware of trap locations and, more importantly, the reaction of the SoD AI to stealth.
I remembered there being some decent items in the dungeon, so I didn't just want to skip everything and get to Korlasz. However, before starting to take out the groups of undead, I planned to explore the map (I'm talking about the second level here, the first level was easily completed) so I would have some idea about the distribution of enemies and safe spots to retreat to. Nabatil drank a potion of invisibility so he could find traps while exploring, and for most of the dungeon I triggered only one (harmless) trap - however, towards the end, I ran into a trap that dispelled the potion while Nabatil was in sight of a large hostile group. When hiding to avoid a battle, I learned that the enemies had an SCS-like knowledge of my current position, following me around - so I ran back to the entrance to avoid getting surrounded. However, it seems like the SoD AI was smart enough for the one hostile group that was aware of Nabatil to inform all the other groups on my way (basically the entire level of the dungeon except for Korlasz) of my presence, so I soon had gigantic amounts of undead following me around, which resulted in me getting stuck after some attempts of picking off my enemies one by one:
Thankfully, the undead didn't just stand there - they continued to walk around, so there was still a chance of getting out of that room. First, the flaming fist got involved, but this wasn't quite enough to get me to safety:
However, after the defeat of the fist, there was a gap available, and I managed to escape:
The undead weren't able to follow Nabatil to the first dungeon level, but they wouldn't return to their original locations either. I drank an oil of speed after resting for a while. My plan was to invisibly make my way through the first line of undead, drag them back into the deeper parts of the dungeon where I could use the bigger rooms to have enough space for throwing fireballs via potions and the necklace of missles, running away, hiding and repeating the process. I used up all of my potions, but eventually most of the dungeon was cleared:
Now, I used a couple of the same buffing potions I had left from the Sarevok battle for Korlasz, as I didn't remember what to expect. However, the necklace of missles was enough to bring her to her knees.
Here's a screeshot of the items I'm bringing along from BG1 for my planned party:
Anyway, Nabatil quickly completed all the minor quests in Baldur's Gate and recruited Dynaheir and Minsc to his cause - I plan to have them along for the entire expansion, if possible.
Time to tackle the Siege of Ust Natha. I've done it before, but only in Legacy of Bhaal mode with some high-level characters and lots of Wish-resting and Fallen Planetars.
Like I did in my genocide run with Carl, I keep the party in the northwest room, which I use as a sanctuary. Mollyboo stays invisible, while the Kuo-toa Prince, Balor, and Glabrezu guard the entrance, forming a choke point.
Notice that the Balor is in wolf form. I used Relair's Mistake to let it get past the doorway, but it seems that the Balor cannot return to normal form for some reason; it's stuck as a wolf until the duration runs out.
The Kuo-toa Prince is badly hurt, but with a ridiculous regeneration rate of 10 HP per second, it recovers within two rounds. We use the Necklace of Missiles to hassle some spellcasters who are coming from the south.
A horde of drow pours in, but with a Fallen Planetar coming in and the Balor's wolf form running out, we now have two sources of instant death attacks.
Not that the instant death effects are necessary, when they hit so hard already.
The Glabrezu isn't nearly as sturdy as the Balor or Kuo-toa Prince, but with 5 APR, it makes for a great archer, and due to its odd race, it can use the Dwarven Thrower.
The enemy group clears up fast, but more are on the horizon. Our Fallen Planetar launches Fire Storm in the west while our fighters deal with some lesser threats to the south.
New mages appear in the main chamber, but the Fallen Planetar still has another Fire Storm to hassle them, plus an Earthquake to knock out more drow to the west.
We push back the enemy and I send the Balor down the hall to make further progress, which turns out to be a mistake, because we lose stage control when more drow appear in the main chamber. These spawns occur at fixed points; they're not actually advancing on us from a previous location.
The drow find Sion guarding the entrance to our sanctuary. It's a fabulous choke point on its own, but Sion is already a spectacular guard thanks to the mod that removes the summoning limit on celestials.
But there are some spawns within the sanctuary itself, including at least one high-level mage. This fortress is not impregnable. Mollyboo loses some of her defenses--specifically, the ones that Sion didn't cast.
This is because Sion is level 22, and his spells are awfully difficult to dispel.
I notice the drow mage does not have Fire Shield, so I try to land an Insect Plague. Sensing Sion's vulnerability, I shore up his defenses with Spell Shield and SI: Abjuration to ward off Breach and Remove Magic.
To the south, our first Fallen Planetar and our fighters butcher the drow horde with weapons and Globe of Blades. To the north, our second Fallen Planetar gets past the drow's defenses with Fire Storm.
I use our second Fallen Planetar to hide Mollyboo. Down south, we've got multiple mages with defenses I cannot break--I can only wait them out. Fortunately, our fighters' high MR (70% on the Balor, 50% on the Glabrezu, and 90% on the Kuo-toa Prince) and various immunities keep them from getting disabled.
The second Fallen Planetar empties out our sanctuary, ensuring that Mollyboo will remain safe for the time being. I send Sion to cast Improved Haste on our Balor, because things down south are getting hectic. Another Fire Storm makes a lot of progress on the drow.
The enemy is smart enough to throw a couple of Secret Word spells at Sion, taking advantage of their superior numbers. Sion has to go invisible to make sure he can't get Breached.
Note that the drow have a distinct advantage in debuffing him: because magic attacks besides Remove Magic do not scale with level, the number of mages on your side is much more important than the level of your mages.
Amazingly enough, one of the drow manages to petrify the Glabrezu! While Chromatic Orb's effects all offer a save, the instant death effects, both petrification and the slay opcode at levels 10 and 12, bypass magic resistance.
We don't really need to hurry and return the Glabrezu to normal, because Sion can always summon another one, and the XP loss would be meaningless. But he can't do that in the middle of combat, so we'll want to get our Glabrezu back before the late stages of the siege.
The Glabrezu is way over to the west, next to a bunch of drow, so I send our Kuo-toa Prince (we don't need its offensive potential very much) over with a Stone to Flesh scroll to cure it. The enemy forms a wall, however, blocking the way to the petrified Glabrezu.
A little finagling lets us slip past the drow and return the Glabrezu to normal, and because its aura was clear when it died, it can drink a potion instantly after joining the party, preventing the drow from killing it before our Fallen Planetar has a chance to fix it up.
Sion tries to get a good Wish, and we find an unlikely candidate: Greater Deathblow. Most enemies in this fight are below level 13, so it lets us clear up the non-mages especially fast.
A couple of vorpal strikes finish off the remainder, only for another, equally large group of drow appear in the main chamber.
Sion tries to wipe them out quickly, but Horrid Wilting is very hit-or-miss against drow because of their high MR.
Even more drow appear, coming in from the south. More area-effect spells decrease the pressure on our Balor, Glabrezu, and Kuo-toa Prince (not that they really need the help).
But now we've got a problem. See those three demons to the southeast? We've got two Nabassus and a Glabrezu to deal with. Sion brings out his third Fallen Planetar while our fighters drink Potions of Invulnerability, since we might need to make some important saving throws soon.
Our Balor lands a vorpal strike on the Glabrezu, while one Nabassu goes missing and the other appears to be stuck on its platform. Several mages are on the field, but Sion fails to remove their defenses with Remove Magic.
Matron Mother Ellavir has finally shown up, but the Balor gets in her face. Sion hastes our Glabrezu to apply further pressure.
The first Nabassu goes down! Matron Mother Ellavir goes down! A well-buffed mage goes down!
Another wave comes from the west. We still have Fire Storms to spare.
We clean up the enemies with little trouble besides our Glabrezu failing a save against Slow. But the enemy doesn't let up. A Drow Archmage, at level 18, joins the fight.
Sion has been laying dormant for a long time, letting his Fallen Planetars do the work, but now we need his spells. He casts Time Stop to drain 3 rounds from the Drow Archmage's PFMW spell and applies Remove Magic and Symbol, Stun. He then retreats to a safe distance and hides.
Remove Magic works! I know because several Fire Shields vanish after it hits.
The Drow Archmage also lands a Remove Magic, but Sion can re-apply Improved Haste right after our Balor loses it.
Since Remove Magic worked, I know that at least some of the mages lost their Protection from Fire spells, if any. This means a Fire Storm can now harm even the mages.
More drow appear and the enemy starts moving around. We still aren't shy about using Earthquake; I'm pretty sure our Balor and Glabrezu are immune to the unconsciousness effect.
We keep up the pressure, and the drow can't handle it. Knowing that the fight will be over before long, I have Sion burn a few spells to make sure we hold onto our advantage.
The Drow Archmage loses its Improved Mantle! The Balor finishes him off, but the death doesn't come physical damage; it comes from the Balor's natural weapon's Aura of Flaming Death effect, which triggered because of the Drow Archmage's Fire Shield backlash.
I probably could have killed him earlier, even when Improved Mantle was still active. Especially because, as I just now remembered, the Balor's natural weapon should strike as a +5 weapon and therefore bypass Improved Mantle.
The mages lost a lot because of Sion's Remove Magic. The last one dies to the Balor's natural weapon.
That vorpal strike actually uses the slay opcode, which is a distinct effect from the vorpal hit opcode. So that string is a little misleading.
We work our way up the hallway, burning a Heal spell when I let our Glabrezu get in too deep...
...and then I see that we've still got demons to take care of.
A Nabassu dies quickly enough, but we now have an enemy Balor on hand. It robs both our own Balor and our Glabrezu of their Improved Haste spells using Remove Magic before it teleports all the way across the map, to the sanctuary room where Mollyboo has been hiding.
It dispels Mollyboo's defenses, and a drow mage blocks the way out. Mollyboo is vulnerable, but she can't escape. I have her drink a Potion of Magic Shielding while Sion blocks the Balor. He wastes a Maze on the Balor's MR, preventing him from casting PFMW until the Balor has had a chance to kill him.
Our drow cleric, who hasn't done anything of value during this whole fight, uses the Efreeti Bottle to injure the drow mage, who no longer has any defenses to speak of. Mollyboo can escape now!
The Balor casts Symbol, Death. I completely forgot about its spellcasting abilities; I've been assuming it's just like the Balor in our party. Against the odds, Sion survives.
Mollyboo goes invisible using a potion and waits next to our Balor. Our Balor can't fit through the choke point to our sanctuary room, so it can't engage the enemy Balor unless it comes out voluntarily.
I could have Sion run outside so our Balor could fight the enemy Balor, but it's not worth bringing that monster within range of Mollyboo. Instead, I send in the Glabrezu with the Rifthome Axe, as it just now got across the map from the golem room. The Balor tries to stun Sion, but Sion once again makes a lucky saving throw.
Although we hardly need him at this point. He's already used his best spells.
Our Glabrezu drinks a Potion of Invulnerability to help it shrug off the enemy Balor's instant death attacks and the two demons start duking it out.
Then the Balor changes its mind and comes out into the main chamber, where it finally engages our own Balor. It hurls another Symbol, Stun spell at Sion, but an extra Potion of Invulnerability (the save bonuses stack) ensures that nobody important gets stunned.
Our Balor doesn't have instant-casting mage spells like the other Balor, but due to its 13+ fighter levels, it gets a full extra attack per round. And its equipment provides even more bonuses, giving it a critical edge over the enemy Balor. With our Glabrezu on its back, the enemy Balor can't compete.
Time to clean up the remaining demons, the ones who never made it out of the golem room. I assume this will be a simple matter, but it seems that there's a second Balor waiting for us. It kills our Kuo-toa Prince in a single hit.
I pull back and deal with the demons one at a time. They're not too dangerous on their own.
That last one was screenshot 1000!
Only the second enemy Balor remains. We lure it to the doorway by braining it with the Dwarven Thrower, then bring the Balor to the front to engage it. Our Balor drinks a Potion of Invulnerability to avoid the fate that befell our Kuo-toa Prince.
Victory! We fight some scattered drow outside the temple, but the only setback was the Balor getting stunned.
We wipe out the entire city, then stop by the gate to exit to clear the area before Adalon teleports us right in the thick of things. Fire Storm breaks the enemy, clearing the way to the surface.
We finally march out into the sunlight and sit down for tea with Elhan, the leader of the surface elves. He asks us about our relationship with the drow.
Back to Athkatla! The Adventurer Mart is the first stop, though I notice some strange characters outside.
With all the mods I have installed, there are plenty of characters I've never seen before. But those German-sounding names and those suits of armor make the implication clear: these guys are vampire hunters, from the same mod with German-only strings that made Mollyboo into a vampire so long ago.
I make sure to be invisible when I pass them. I don't know how strong they are, and I don't intend to find out.
I want to do the Planar Prison quest before we tackle Bodhi, but another mod interrupts our visit to the sewers.
Soon, some drow guy appears and talks to us about a quest we refused earlier. See, when we first entered the Promenade, a little boy told us that if we didn't go talk to a group of drow nearby, they'd hurt him. So we met the drow, promised them to do their little quest, and then went on our merry way.
But this mod forces you to go on this new quest, which I find offensive. I am quite sick of dealing with drow, and I should be able to say no to them. They drag me off anyway.
Worse yet, these jerks immediately ask us to commit evil deeds for them.
You know what? Screw all these people. They can drag me to Ust Natha 2, but they can't make me stay. Sion has the Teleport spell.
We kill Mekrath, steal the Rod of Resurrection, grab the Portal Gem, bring it to Raelis Shai, and start fighting our way out of the Planar Prison. At this point, the Coiled Cabal is no longer a serious threat.
The Warden is another story. He gets a Time Stop off the ground, and even with 10 HP regeneration per second, our Kuo-toa Prince can't stand up to the Warden's attacks.
Our Fallen Planetar can bring him back in two round with Raise Dead and Heal, however, and in the meantime, our Balor and Glabrezu stomp all over the Warden's allies while the Warden and Sion trade magic attacks.
We lower the Warden's MR (I forget that he actually has none) and lower his saving throws, opening him up for a Symbol, Stun spell.
Sion gets Mazed and it takes several tries, but eventually we manage to stun the Warden.
But as the reader might have guessed, I'm not here to kill the Warden. Mollyboo, whom I've decided to keep as a vampire, uses her natural weapon on the stunned Warden.
She gets automatic hits and the Warden is already under the effects of Greater Malison, so seducing him is little trouble.
The Warden has no special immunities or resistances, but he is a level 20 fighter/mage with a few fighter HLA and an extra attack per round. He replaces our Glabrezu, because I still have hopes that our underleveled drow cleric will provide some much-needed Death Ward and Chaotic Commands spells.
For some reason, we get ambushed by another band of drow on the way to meet Bodhi. We rest immediately so Bodhi's vampires allies will vanish in the sunlight, but this also means Mollyboo suffers her standard penalties for operating in light: blindness, 8 STR, and 1 DEX. On top of this, the drow opens with a Remove Magic spell that wipes out the only defensive spell we have left, a Stoneskin on Sion.
I have the Warden cast Time Stop, but the enemy gets there first. A Horrid Wilting spell descends upon the party, slaying Sion instantly.
If the Hand and Eye of Vecna didn't cause CON penalty-related damage to the user, Sion should have survived with 2 HP left. But he did not. Mollyboo only avoids death using a Potion of Magic Shielding.
Why are the drow so mean to us? What did we ever do to them?
But the Warden finishes casting Time Stop, and wipes out the two nearest enemies with ease (I don't know what happened to the others).
Unfortunately, he gets stuck behind his own allies. He can't attack the enemy mage until Time Stop wears off.
Fortunately, that enemy mage buffs with Improved Mantle, which the Balor can bypass with its natural weapon.
We get ambushed by vampires immediately afterwards (I don't know we got to nightfall again), but a Sunray spell from Daystar, courtesy of Item Randomizer, obliterates most of them.
In retrospect, this was an incredibly stupid move, because Mollyboo, as a vampire herself, ostensibly could have been exploded if she was in range of Sunray.
We overwhelm the vampires on the first level of Bodhi's lair with brute force and proceed to the basement. Holy Water and a True Seeing spell from our Fallen Planetar give us an advantage, but Cloud of Bats is a powerful counter considering how desperately our Warden needs his spellcasting.
Notice that the Balor is hanging back. This is because he can't fit through the door without switching to wolf form, but he can't get out of wolf form until the duration runs out; he can't cancel it on his own.
The vampires' fear effect sends our Fallen Planetar running. Our drow cleric responds with Remove Fear, only to see it get dispelled and the Fallen Planetar sent running once more.
Bodhi herself isn't too dangerous, because the elven holy water imposes Slow on her, but Manasseh and Hazzerbazzer are mid-level vampire mages with some excellent defenses and magic attacks. And even when we're immune to level drain, SCS vampires can drain our Constitution.
Only PFMW can block that effect, but even the Warden can't cast it with Cloud of Bats active.
Sion uses Time Stop to land some debuffers and Horrid Wilting, but the effect isn't too dramatic. The enemy mages' defenses are still mostly intact.
The Warden gets Mazed and we kill a Mislead clone and a regular vampire, but otherwise, this fight is kind of at a standstill, with neither party able to deal with PFMW.
The enemy lands PW: Stun on Sion because he has no spell deflection active, but with no spell deflection active, it's also quite possible for his Fallen Planetar to rescue him. For the first time, our Balor gets a chance to participate, as Artemis Entreri wanders into its range.
With two enemy mages on the map, Sion's safety doesn't last. The Fallen Planetar adds a bit of damage, but the enemy's PFMW spells still haven't run out.
Finally, those PFMW spells wear off. The Warden returns, but gets pummeled by Magic Missiles, and while he gets PFMW off the ground, another Cloud of Bats is roaming around, ready to shut down his spellcasting. The Kuo-toa Prince has been soaking up CON drain this whole time and is one hit away from death.
A miracle happens, and our Balor lands a vorpal strike on Manasseh when she gets close.
Sion grants party-wide Improved Haste via Wish and the Warden quickly takes advantage of Hazzerbazzer's lack of weapon immunities.
Hazzerbazzer kills our Fallen Planetar with CON drain, but another is on the way.
Without PFMW, all Hazzerbazzer can do is delay the inevitable.
Bodhi is alone and helpless. We put her down.
Notice that she no longer gives 90,000 XP. One of my mods tweaks XP values, which I compensated for by using EEKeeper, but it seems we're losing more XP than I thought we were.
On the way out of the Graveyard District, we get ambushed by the Chosen of Cyric encounter, a mod fight I completely forgot about.
Back in my Undergate run, I tried to avoid this fight, but the game crashed whenever I tried to talk my way out of it. I had to fight it out in order to progress--and it was pretty hideous. So, even though I know this fight is extremely difficult, I have to go through with it due to crash issues.
Unfortunately, we start off without no buffs whatsoever, even long-duration ones like Stoneskin. The enemy uses some killer backstabs, so I have Mollyboo down a Potion of Invisibility immediately after regaining control of my party.
Bad move.
I send Mollyboo running while our fighters hunt down the enemy. Sion is buffed with PFMW, and I know that these enemies use magical weapons, but it seems that Venduris also carries a normal weapon. Sion dies in a single blow.
I should have just had him cast Summon Fallen Planetar.
A Chaos spell is on its way to Mollyboo, but to my immense relief, she manages to make her saving throw despite not having a clear aura to drink a Potion of Magic Shielding.
The Warden gets hit early and loses his Time Stop spell, so I switch him to casting Stoneskin.
He makes it! Mollyboo also drinks a Potion of Magic Shielding. She starts using the Boots of the Gargoyle to ward off a backstab (they make the wearer immune and also can be used to generate 2 Stoneskins).
Our Kuo-toa Prince receives a backstab from another thief, besides Venduris, and I see a troubling message.
If the Warden gets hit with that, we could be in deep trouble.
I need Mollyboo to be able to stay invisible without worrying about Venduris' Detect Illusions ability. Since I've heard long ago that the Staff of the Magi, Ring of Invisibility, and Potions of Invisibility all are protected by Non-Detection, just like a thief's stealth ability (I assume because they have no secondary type, like illusion spells do), I bring the Warden over to cast Non-Detection on Mollyboo, who has successfully created 2 Stoneskins.
He makes it again! I send Mollyboo running just in case she gets hit before she can turn invisible. Meanwhile, we lose our largely useless drow cleric to another backstab.
This battle is already going horribly. But then, in a flash, everything truly goes to hell.
A Power Word: Kill has finished off the wounded Warden before he could recover, and the enemy cleric has landed a Harm spell on Mollyboo, dropping her to 1 HP.
She has switched to mist form automatically, and now is immune to damage.
The bad news is that she's panicked, a side effect of the mist form, and I cannot get her to drink a potion, nor can I repair her morale with the Fallen Planetar Sion never got to summon or the drow cleric who just died in one hit. I have to wait until she recovers. But I don't know when that will be.
The Kuo-toa Prince targets Mollyboo with the Rod of Resurrection. In my install, it takes 2 whole seconds for the healing effect to trigger, which might not be enough. But I don't have a lot of other options here. The Kuo-toa Prince can regenerate 60 HP per round, but I've always known that it was vulnerable to rapid burst damage. And this thief here apparently can backstab at will thanks to either Assassination or Mislead.
I don't think the Kuo-toa Prince can use the rod before it dies. Since potions active a second or two faster than wands and similar items, I hand the rod to the Balor and have the Kuo-toa Prince drink a Potion instead. Time drags on while the Kuo-toa Prince, who somehow clouded his aura, tries to drink the potion.
The Balor uses the Rod! If Mollyboo can maintain mist form for another 2 seconds, she'll be able to drink a potion and figure out a plan while invisible.
The Kuo-toa Prince can't drink his potion in time.
To my absolute disbelief, I discover that Venduris' Detect Illusions ability can somehow remove Non-Detection.
When did that happen? Detect Illusions has never had that ability! That's not what the Detect Illusions skill does!
The Balor keeps getting backstabbed, and it hasn't been able to take down any enemies yet. It tries to use the Rod of Resurrection on the Warden, but its aura isn't clear. Meanwhile, Mollyboo loses her buffs for some reason.
The enemy tries to kill Mollyboo, but she's still immune while in mist form. The Balor brings back the Warden.
The Warden's aura isn't quite clear, but it should come up soon enough. If he can cast Improved Mantle within 2 seconds, when the heal effect kicks in, he should be safe for 4 whole rounds.
Time slows down.
Fractions of a second tick by, and the Warden gets a little closer to safety as the game progress frame by agonizing frame.
It seems that 2 seconds was too slow.
The Balor is in bad shape, but if it can survive for just 3 or 4 seconds, it can heal itself to full.
But it can't make it.
And now Mollyboo has returned to regular form.
But I still can't control her. She's unselectable. I can't make her take a single step or a single action. At least we could buy a few more seconds of safety with a Potion of Invisibility, and maybe she could run around fast enough to avoid a fatal backstab. With enough kiting, I could resurrect the rest of the party besides the now-chunked Warden; I have plenty of Rod of Resurrection charges.
But all that depends on my being able to control Mollyboo. Frames tick by, and I still can't select her. She just stands there, catatonic, and I don't know why it's happening or how long it will take for her to recover. If there was ever any explanation from the mod in question, it was written in German.
The enemy with Mislead lands another backstab. It has a 95% hit chance, and Mollyboo goes down to 2 HP.
I know her future is bleak, but I click her over and over again, hoping I can select her the instant before she dies.
But she never wakes up.
Whatever that vampire mod did to Mollyboo, it made her unselectable even when her mist form ended. The enemy finished her off.
I don't believe it. This run was going so incredibly well. We had overcome all sorts of ridiculous challenges despite the crippling vulnerability of the Seducer kit, taking control of bizarre critters with strange abilities we'd never been able to have in a party. We were crushing the opposition.
Then, even though I wanted to avoid the fight, I chose the dialogue option to begin the fight, because past experience had taught me that a bug made it impossible to resolve the conflict peacefully. The party was crushed by enemies who arrived with massive pre-buffs and removed all of our defenses automatically. And who possessed a special version of Detect Illusions that the player can never access. And we couldn't bounce back because I accidentally installed a mod that vastly weakened the Rod of Resurrection by imposing that crushing 2-second delay to its most important effect.
And then, because of a mod I installed by accident, which only appeared in German due to a bug, potentially depriving me of information I needed, and which I used to make Mollyboo into a vampire by accident, then disabled Mollyboo for unknown reasons. And which kept her catatonic even when the ostensible cause, her mist form, had worn off.
It's ridiculous. At least two bugs led to Mollyboo's death. And normally I permit reloads caused by bugs.
But what if those bugs weren't there? Would I really have opted out of this fight, or would I have tried to take on the Chosen of Cyric? Would I really have survived if Mollyboo weren't a vampire, and she was not rendered catotonic? Or if the Rod of Resurrection worked properly?
I don't know. And that makes all the difference. In previous runs when I tolerated bug- or crash-related reloads, I knew for a fact that removing the bug would have meant survival. But this time, I'm not sure.
And that uncertainty means that, as much as I love this run and as much fun as I had, it would just feel compromised if I finished it. Because I don't know for sure if I would have made it if the bug hadn't gotten in the way.
So this run is over. Mollyboo the Seducer is dead.
But I'm mad. And I'm not done here.
I'm starting over. All the way from Candlekeep, with a new character, a new Seducer. But this time will be different. This time, I am going to beat the Chosen of Cyric.
With Mollyboo dead, I have decided to start all over from Candlekeep. But this time, I'm not going with Mollyboo herself. I'm creating a different character, also a Seducer.
Our main character this time is Frisky Bits! Don't you just want to pick them up and spin them around and give them the biggest hug ever?
Frisky Bits is a nickname for Frisk I found in some possibly trashy Undertale fanart. The portrait is from Littletale. I realize it seems incongruous, the portrait and the name, but I've grown tired of the original name and the portrait I used to use, so I switched both.
Anyway, Frisky Bits' stats are subpar because I couldn't get a good roll. Stat tomes will fill it in.
I want to hurry back and make up the progress I've lost, so I will be using mod items up until we reach the Chosen of Cyric. I want to beat the whole tetralogy solo without using mod items, but I've already done everything before Suldannessellar without mod items, so until I get back there, anything goes.
That should explain the incoming craziness.
First up, Shoal!
That's supposed to be a bow and arrow, not a katana that does 20d20+20 damage and grants 10 APR. But I don't like spending five minutes kiting when I already know what the outcome is going to be. I am not the most disciplined no-reloader around.
For other fights, things are less clear, so I have to fight them normally. I run into Neera by accident and get into serious trouble, until I manage to charm a Thayan Wizard and turn his limited spells against his own friends.
I also use kiting and seducing Algernon to isolate a Huge Spider to bring into the party. As for Silke, I do the same thing I did last time: charm her and Firebead Elvenhair before the fight and use their summons to destroy her after talking to Garrick.
I then use the spider to deal with the Sirines at the temple to the east.
I also recruit a kitty cat from the ankheg farm to serve as a tank. With its 90% physical damage resistance, it'll be great once it gets a few levels and no longer has 1 hit point. It's also immune to Hold Person, like a lot of awesome critters a Seducer can get in BG1.
We also go to the tombs with the Wand of Fire and recruit a bat, who will once again serve as our mage, though we nearly lose our spider in the process.
It'll take a little while before our bat learns Invisibility, so we have to worry about ambushes for a while. Our cat and bat are still pretty vulnerable, so it only takes one hit for a bandit to kill somebody.
Or a failed save vs. polymorph.
On the way to Mutamin's Garden, we ditch our spider, who has no long-term future in the party. We use Korax to score some kills, but by the time we reach the Medusas, he's too worn out.
It should be possible to seduce Korax, but it would require Blindness because Korax switches to hostile even after being charmed. But that shouldn't prevent Domination from allowing Seduction to work on a still-red Korax.
We get our cat to level 2 and our bat to level 3, which makes the ankheg area much more doable, now that the cat can tank critter and the bat can knock them unconscious.
The cat still dies sometimes, but we can afford to raise it, and we get another level for everybody.
We also pay a visit to Narcillus. Normally he'd be too much for us, but the cat buys us enough time for Frisky Bits to drain a few key spells from Narcillus, allowing us to nail him with the Wand of Fire.
With the money we raised killing ankhegs, we can now buy a bunch of Stone to Flesh scrolls and crank up our levels with the basilisk XP loop. It also lets us take down Mutamin by petrifying him, un-petrifying him, and then nailing him with the Wand of Fire when the Stone to Flesh scroll leaves him with 1 HP left.
Frisky Bits reaches level 9, the cat reaches level 6, and the bat reaches level 7. Time to go get some mod items!
Tristan and Isolde have a couple of very important weapons: a +2 throwing dagger with 5 APR and Doufas' Saber, which is a +3 scimitar that paralyzes and deals magic damage on hit and grants 3 APR, easily the most overpowered weapon in BG1 (and in all honesty, better than almost any vanilla BG2 weapon). As it turns out, we can win this fight entirely with Frisky Bits' Seducer abilities, charming Tristan into killing Isolde and then backstabbing him to land a kill with Betrayal.
We march to the Nashkel mines, where we use the Wand of Fire and Domination to deal with some mod-introduced dwarven bounty hunters of some sort.
Then, when I realize that the leader of the group, Gorken Bloodaxe, is coded as a mage, I use Seduction on him and discover that he is extremely, extremely powerful despite only being level 3.
Incredible stats across the board, including illegal values for both DEX and CON, plus 2.5 base attacks per round and a base THAC0 of 5, like a level 15 warrior.
Think about that. A single-classed mage who has fighter-grade stats. Testing even finds that he keeps his low THAC0 when he levels up. This guy's going to be a powerful character even into Throne of Bhaal.
Deeper in the mines, we use Domination to rob Mulahey of his spells. Back in Nashkel, we use Betrayal to put down Nimbul.
Tranzig has a better save vs. spell, but he needs a save vs. polymorph to resist the Doofus Saber.
At the bandit camp, Confusion frustrates the enemy fighters, and while both our mages and our kitty cat fail saves against Slow, Frisky Bits has excellent saving throws and is also a pretty lucky shot with Arrows of Biting.
And when Frisky Bits gets surprised, we have potions on hand to keep them safe.
One of my mods allows mages to craft potions and scrolls, and eventually wands at higher levels, and Gorken Bloodaxe got assigned that ability via a script, which means we can get as many Potions of Invisibility as we want, as long as we have the gold.
To bolster the party's offensive power, we seduce a Carrion Crawler on the way to the Flesh Golem cave. To get an anti-mage tank, we also seduce a Gray Ooze from the Nashkel mines. When things get hectic, as they do in Ulcaster, we use wands to secure the advantage. Gorken Bloodaxe is our star character, with the ability to tank, cast spells, use wands, and hit hard and often.
Deeper in the Ulcaster ruins is a mod-introduced area with some stupidly overpowered items I've mentioned before. Turns out the rather dangerous enemies here have no ability to handle invisibility--you can walk right past them. The only danger is traps, which our Gray Ooze can handle easily.
We grab our prize, the Amulet of Wyvren Summoning, and use it to wipe out all the enemies and also generate a bunch of sellable wyvern heads that we can store in the Turquoise Bag of Holding we got from Thalantyr.
I already beat BG1 once with a solo Seducer; I'm not doing this for the challenge. I just want to have a full tetralogy run with a new character. The wyverns trivialize everything, including mod enemies, so it's the perfect way for me to get through the game I already played and get back to the game I didn't get to finish: BG2.
Of course, sometimes even the wyverns aren't fast enough for me.
Only a handful of encounters really matter at this point. In any situation in which we are not ambushed and therefore have all the time we want to buff the party, the wyverns are functionally identical to CTRL-Y.
Again, this is mostly just me going through the motions to get to BG2.
Even though we can use mod items in this run, selling off the extra ones is enough to buy several kingdoms.
Of course, we don't always have time to summon a horde of wyverns, which is where other tactics come in. Sometimes that can be as simple as using the Doofus Saber...
...but for the Iron Throne fight, things aren't quite so easy. Gorken Bloodaxe loses all of his defenses to Remove Magic, and both our party and the enemy end up crippled due to Confusion.
The enemy is mostly dead by the time we lose control of our wyverns, but it doesn't take long before those confused wyverns destroy our party, including chunking our Gray Ooze.
How does Frisky Bits survive these bouts of bad luck? Easy: they stay invisible all the time. Gorken Bloodaxe fights the last enemy on a dramatic battle on the roof.
I bring back the Gray Ooze via my typical chunking-related workaround (multiplayer save file stuff), but really, it's just because I don't know who else to put in that sixth party slot. It's not like I'll keep it for long, anyway.
No screenshots from Candlekeep; there's nothing interesting there. Our Carrion Crawler's poor defenses come into play in the fight with Cythandria, but Gorken Bloodaxe and the Doofus Saber still win the day. He honestly could solo the game with ease.
What about Slythe and Kristin? Well, no bedside antics this time, so we don't have to worry about Frisky Bits getting caught with their pants down, like Mollyboo did. Instead, we smash Slythe, wait out Kristin's Protection from Magical Weapons spell, and then Gorken Bloodaxe cuts through her defenses with the Doofus Saber.
We head to the Ducal Palace. I have no intention of fighting fair here. Especially not after what happened in my first tetralogy no-reload run.
What about Sarevok himself? No, I'm not here for the challenge. I just want to take a Seducer all the way to Melissan. And Sarevok's party is getting in the way.
Then I let the wyverns die and have Gorken Bloodaxe tackle Semaj and Sarevok more or less on his own.
Sarevok goes down! BG1 is ours!
Riding to Siege of Dragonspear on the backs of wyverns fills us with determination.
Current party: Frisky Bits, Seducer Gorken Bloodaxe, Mage Cat, Fighter Carrion Crawler, Fighter Gray Ooze, Fighter Bat, Mage
First order of business in SoD is money. We have a bunch of extra wyvern heads, which solves that problem more or less instantly.
We speed through the first dungeon and the second as well. These days, I fight the lich properly: using the Secret Revealed to avoid having to fight it properly at all.
I still want Morentherene in the party. The Amulet of Wyvren Summoning might win us practically every battle in SoD, but it will not win us the final fight. We'll need heavy hitter like Morentherene for that. Like last time, it's a long fight in which our cat takes a lot of punches until our wight, seduced in the second dungeon, level drains the green dragon enough for us to bring it into the party. Unlike last time, I use Feeblemind to keep things safe, and use Remove Magic to dispel it so the Seduction script can trigger.
Same goes for Ziatar. She's honestly not that great, but it would be weird to bring Morentherene without her sister.
Power considerations aside, having Morentherene on the team is just plain cool.
As always, Darskhelin takes a lot more work due to his excellent saving throws and 90% magic resistance. We accidentally kill our wight early on, though.
The Wand of Paralyzation once again buys us time, and a Raise Dead scroll from Ziatar lets us get the wight back in order without having to rest and lose our progress against Darskhelin.
After getting Darskhelin, we no longer need to seduce anyone until BG2. Frisky Bits therefore dual-classes to mage; we don't need any Seducer levels for the rest of SoD. I originally intended on getting a single-classed Seducer to Melissan, but I'm concerned about Frisky Bits' defenses when we get back to the Chosen of Cyric encounter.
On to Bridgefort! I ran into a problem here.
See, in the level drain thingy questline, you have to get a scroll from a guy in the Crusader camp in order to save the folks in the cellar beneath Bridgefort. We intimidate him into handing over the scroll, which is otherwise stored in a container. But when we try to open the container again, after we already persuaded him not to mess with us...
...he turns the entire camp hostile.
We hurry to make our escape, but getting past all those red circles is a nightmare, especially when the enemy has divination spells to screw with our escape plans.
I prioritize getting Frisky Bits out safely, but the rest of the party has trouble. Drained of a level each and completely unbuffed, our party is really not ready to tackle an entire army while flanked on all sides.
Wands do awful things to the enemy, but they're not enough to bail us out.
In the interests of overpoweredness, I've taken advantage of one of my mods, which allows me to assign kits to unkitted characters--which means Darskhelin is a Dwarven Defender somehow. But even those overwhelming advantages aren't enough to win this fight.
Morentherene and the cat are still extremely, extremely resilient, but they're surrounded by enemies, and they don't have remotely as much offensive potential as the entire Crusader camp put together. They're trapped.
Morentherene may have sky-high HP, but it's a finite resource, and even her subterranean AC can't keep off an enemy force with APR in the double digits.
The cat has the Defender of Easthaven, which we bought back in BG1 from Joluv in Sorcerous Sundries, and the flail gives the cat 100% resistance to crushing, piercing, and slashing damage. But his missile damage resistance is still 90% and he has no elemental resistances aside from what he gets from a Potion of Magic Shielding. Which means the enemy can slowly grind him down with scratch damage.
Even with potions, the cat can't heal itself fast enough. Not even a kitty cat can stand up against an army.
But after all this time, Frisky Bits has had many rounds to summon Greater Wyverns. We send them through the gates in groups alongside the Flaming Fist, who arrive a while after the fight begins. Those wyverns do everything that our entire party could not, because they are truly infinite in number. Frisky Bits waits at a safe distance, lest they get caught off-guard and somehow killed.
The wyverns also stop the Crusaders from blowing up the bridge. That amulet can do basically anything up until the final battle of SoD.
Overwhelming offensive power carries us through the endgame, including the mage fight that ended my first, undocumented Seducer run.
Also, check out the kitty cat's resistances when we give it the Helm of Dumathoin and the gargoyle cloak.
The fight with Hephernaan is very hectic, but overwhelming force wins us that fight, too.
I even overdo it with the wyverns at the invasion of the Coalition Camp. I let them fight the last batch of enemies for too long. By the time the rest of the party bothered to engage the enemy, there was no one left to fight.
I forgot to obtain and place the Barrel of Bwoosh, which means we have to enter the Dragonspear Castle grounds from the back route. With a horde of Greater Wyverns as our wall and Morentherene as an archer with her throwing axe, the enemies crumble in turn.
I don't even have screenshots for the rest of the siege. Nothing stood a chance.
The final battle is another story. Greater Wyverns can't touch Belhifet; all they can do in this fight is soak up damage and take up space--which doesn't work very well in a fight with no choke points and where the enemies run around and spawn in scattered places.
Fortunately, we still have high damage output. Gorken Bloodaxe (which, now that I think about, is basically just Korgan Bloodaxe's name with the K and G switched out) butchers Hephernaan with the Doofus Saber.
I cast Enchanted Weapon on Darskhelin to try to get an early INT drain kill on Bellyfat, but the damage alone kills him. Gorken Bloodaxe lands the final blow.
Victory!
Things will be very different from now on. I'll still have some mod items in Shadows of Amn, but nothing nearly as game-breaking as the Amulet of Wyvren Summoning or the Doofus Saber. Instead, we'll have to rely on our party members more, which means combat in SoA will be much more interesting and much more dangerous.
Plus, I have some big new ideas for what kind of critters to bring into the party.
Siege of Dragonspear comes to an end. Being accused of murdering Duke Silvershield's daughter and watching the city of Baldur's Gate turn against us fills us with determination.
Whilst resting at an inn Beregost I pondered on my recent set-backs and upon how I could avoid similar problems in the future. Concerning the decimation of my forces at the Ulcaster ruins, I decided that Dyanaheir needed spells of invisibility so that we could creep up upon creatures like the Ulcaster Wolf and slay it before it could call upon the aid of countless dread wolves and the like. Similarly when fighting the likes of Mal-Kalen in the future, perhaps a protection from the undead scroll might be what was required. However, I decided not to try that out until I was MUCH stronger.
In the Bandit Camp we, just like last time, took a position in the South-Eastern corner of the area, then Imoen scouted ahead and sounded the alarm.
We had some skellies for distraction and filled an approaches to our positions with Obscuring Mists (Skellies are immune to it and archers, who are the main forces of our enemies, are heavily handicapped). This time Taugosz Khosann saved vs Hold Person but was distracted by skellies long enough for us to deal with Raemon, who advanced too close to us (Flame Strike+some Arrows of Fire):
Meanwhile Jaheira cast Entangle into the mix, me - Web and we all concentrated on Taugosz - a dangerous heavy hitter under Oil of Speed buff.
With him gone Britik got the same treatment while Venkt was elecrocuted:
Some carpet bombing with Fireballs alone with a bit of Acid from Melf's Arrow spelled Hakt's and Credus' doom. Imoen shot down Ardenor Crush.
A few more Fireballs and only smoldering corpses cover the clearing. The loot is quite rich. Full Plate Mail (for sale - Item Revisions made them very unappealing), Girdle of Piercing, Boots of Grounding, Manual of Quickness of Action, Spell Thrust scroll to remove those irritating MGoIs, Tome of Leadership and Influence. The latter is very useful with IR Store Revisions installed, as general reputation doesn't provide shopping discounts anymore and only Charisma does (CHR 15/16 (-5%), CHR 17/18 (-10%), CHR 19/20 (-15%), CHR 21/22 (-20%), CHR 23/24 (-25%), CHR 25 (-30%)) so every point invested counts.
Further in the Camp we found the weapon which Khalid will use for the remainder of the game:
In the Cloakwood Lodge Jaheira managed to peacefully resolve Aldeth Sashenstar vs Seniyad dispute given that we will help some other Druids-in-Distress. The task is not new to us so we agreed.
Next area is filled with all kinds of Spiders but they are not a major threat for us anymore.
Druids though, with all their 'charming' summons and abilities, are. We just can't have enough Break Enchantment spell memorized to counter all their numerous Charms.
"Vanilla" Druids aren't that bad if we have some space for maneuver
but if you come to the new area, after a lengthy ambush fight with two Wyverns and three Giant Spiders, weary and drained of spells, and immediately have to fight a bunch of some mod-introduced Druids alone with old good Hamadryad and a pack of animals, things are completely different...
Five Druids, at least two of Hamadryads for each of those, not counting a local Hamadryad skulking nearby, who happily joined the fray immediately, means loads (no - LOADS!) of Charm Person flying around... This was just a mess... And the closest call I've had in the whole run... An opposition itself isn't particuarly strong but our best ranged hunters (Jaheira, with her excellent skills, and Khalid, with his new crossbow), being charmed - are... First, we immediatelly ran east, dropping some Ogres from the wand for distraction followed with Obscuring Mist, Entangle, Web, Slow and some Skellies. Next Xan applied Haste and Viconia some buffs.
One Druid died but remaining finished their Call Woodland Beings spells and began to throw Charm Person spells. First succumbed Imoen, but just as Viconia cured her with Break Enchantment, both Jaheira and Khalid where charmed as well. Now I began to chant the spell on Khalid but he managed to severely injure Imoen before being cured.
But this is not over yet, as he was immediately charmed again and scored another critical on poor Imoen. She sipped the Potion of Invisibility to stay alive while Xan, being Jaheira's target, began to chant Invisibility spell. But he was quickly overwhelmed by a bunch of snakes besides Jaheira's attacks and soon was dropped down to 2hp left. Worrying he will be interrupted with such an amount of attacks I had him drink a potion of Invisibility instead. Under the heavy pressure he managed to do that just in time.
With no other valid targets for them in view I became the one. And I'm entangled. To survive I have to use our one last Potion of Invisibility. And I've barely managed to do that.
Viconia stayed one last standing while even more Hamadryads appeared so she cast Sanctuary and withdrew to the east to wait them down.
Jaheira regained her sences and applied the IR Potion of Invulnerability which allowed her to indure the non-magical animals' or guards' attacks. With some enemies unsummoned and some eliminated we, brushed and bruised, finally clawed through this encounter.
All subsequent encounters in the woods pales in comparison with this one... For our troubles we got some weapons we'll hardly use (even though they are nice ones).
Similarly when fighting the likes of Mal-Kalen in the future, perhaps a protection from the undead scroll might be what was required. However, I decided not to try that out until I was MUCH stronger.
If you have Item Revisions installed (and seems, you are) Protection from the Undead scroll isn't a full proof defence anymore.
It's now some kind of undead-specific Protection from Evil spell and that's it. Just be aware of that.
I want to make a fantasy request for a kit for a noreload run, if you would be so kind to read it:
I want to do a trilogy run, but want to use a kit of the sort below. I wonder if any of the learned folks here are capable of cooking up a mod for this.
advantages: +1 Thac0 every 3 levels up to 20 +1/2 APR at lvl 10 and 20 + weapon selection every 4 levels (and one extra at lvl 1) + ability to specialize in any melee weapon and style (for flavor, probably exclude shields) + hit dice: d6
disadvantages: - can cast 1 less spell per level (like DD) - caster level reduced by 1/4th (rounded up) - spell progression reduced by 1/4th (e.g. you get your first 3rd level spell at lvl 8 etc.)
The idea is that you play this as a spellsword where you select buffs for your spells.
Example: at end of SoA you have an 18th level Edlritch Knight (effective Sorcerer level of 14) that knows 1 lvl 7 spell, 2 lvl 6 spells, can cast stone skin 4 times a day etc., dual wielding katanas for 3APR and thac0 of 7.
It is then comparable to Fighter/Mage at same XP, but on a sorcerer chassis.
@Ygramul: I'm definitely not a skilled modder but quick google search found this guide for kit creation. You might check it for yourself and try if nobody pop up here to make the kit for you. I think, @Aasim might help you but he is out of reach for a while already.
@Ygramul: I'm definitely not a skilled modder but quick google search found this guide for kit creation. You might check it for yourself and try if nobody pop up here to make the kit for you. I think, @Aasim might help you but he is out of reach for a while already.
Thanks for the prompt response. Generally, I am clueless in such matters and fear that I can easily wreck my install if I fiddle myself. Will look for the link, but really hoping that someone can just step in and say:
Similarly when fighting the likes of Mal-Kalen in the future, perhaps a protection from the undead scroll might be what was required. However, I decided not to try that out until I was MUCH stronger.
If you have Item Revisions installed (and seems, you are) Protection from the Undead scroll isn't a full proof defence anymore.
It's now some kind of undead-specific Protection from Evil spell and that's it. Just be aware of that.
Comments
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899555/#Comment_899555
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899768/#Comment_899768
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899987/#Comment_899987
Wimp purchased a number of scrolls before getting potions of genius from the FAI temple to ensure she was able to learn all of those. She cast her first active spell since finding a familiar at the start of the game when webbing and blinding one of the battle horrors at Durlag's Tower (in order to prevent both of them chasing her at once).
The last few minutes were spent going to Ulgoth's Beard to buy a replacement wand of frost and Beregost to get a sling. The strength penalty applied to sling attacks means darts are generally a better option for Wimp, but the intention is to use an invisible familiar to deal with a bunch of ghasts next time and sling ammunition lasts longer
Mollyboo: A "Solo" Seducer in Baldur's Gate 2
Part 12
Previous posts here:https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899226/#Comment_899226
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899249/#Comment_899249
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899476/#Comment_899476
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899528/#Comment_899528
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899532/#Comment_899532
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899677/#Comment_899677
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899690/#Comment_899690
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899705/#Comment_899705
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899899/#Comment_899899
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900093/#Comment_900093
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900164/#Comment_900164
With Sion in hand, we can now cruise through many quests without worrying too much about the danger. Of course, there are times when we get surprised...
...but our Fallen Planetar can handle most things on its own. Its instant-casting Flame Strike, Fire Storm, Insect Plague, True Seeing, Globe of Blades, and Heal spells are especially helpful. When things get rough, we can still fall back on our own resources, including the scorcher loop.
But bear in mind that Sion is not as strong as a typical level 22 mage or sorcerer. There are lots of spells he does not have, making his defenses weaker, and his only form of support is a set of underleveled party members who are very easy to kill.
We really need a better tank. Fortunately, that's exactly why we came to Firkraag's dungeon.
We ditch our Medusa in favor of a Greater Wolfwere. Aside from high base APR, strong stats, and around 50% magic resistance, it regenerates 4 HP per second, or 24 per round, or even more than that when hasted. A Greater Wolfwere is vulnerable to rapid burst damage, as its maximum HP is fairly low, but as long as we can keep enemy pressure below a certain (and rather high) level, the wolfwere will survive.
We also ditch our wight in favor of a wraith. They're basically the same, but since wraiths use the shadow animation instead of the BG1-era ghoul animation, the wraiths move faster.
Anyway, one of my mods alters Firkraag's dungeon so entering Firkraag's lair instead gets you a massive orog ambush, with hordes of orogs and orcs attacking from both sides, plus Chieftain Digdag and Tazok. But they're most just melee grunts.
The real problem is that this mod-introduced fight crashes basically every single time I've ever fought it. I have no idea what causes it, but it happens over and over again, to the point where I simply lose interest in completing it normally. I just want to get out of here, even if I lose all the XP and loot.
Besides, you still fight Chieftain Digdag and Tazok again in the fight with Conster, alongside an orc mage of some sort.
I don't remember exactly how I won this fight, but apparently Sion uses Time Stop to launch a bunch of magic attacks.
But when the game crashes yet again, I instantly kill everyone except for Conster so I can play as if this buggy mod were never installed.
It's a simple contest of levels. Sion lands a successful Remove Magic spell on Conster, and while Conster kills two of our characters with magic damage, our Greater Wolfwere outlasts his weapon immunities, allowing us to break through his Stoneskins with Jhor the Bleeder.
We now have enough money to buy the Robe of Vecna. But in my install, the robe is replaced by the hand and eye of vecna, which are cursed items only usable by evil characters.
They're a distinct improvement over the original robe, but they'd be useless without Sion in the party (for a conventional group, Edwin would be the natural fit).
We hack and slash our way through a few random fights and end up in the Shadow Thief headquarters. One of my mods makes this area far more deadly, preventing you from escaping or resting and adding in Clay Golems (which impose a curse on hit that makes the target immune to healing spells and items) and some really, really nasty backstabbers. This place is a nightmare, and nearly brought an end to my Undergate run.
Our Greater Wolfwere relies on regeneration to stay alive instead of healing, so the Clay Golems' Cursed Wound effect isn't so dangerous to him. He deals with the golems to keep the party safe.
With only so many spell slots and no option to rest, we have to budget our resources. Sion summons one Fallen Planetar to deal with Dedral and the gang, and we stay far back to make sure we don't take any stray backstabs.
Fallen Planetars aren't invincible, but since they're immune to +2 weapons and below, the backstabbers here are no real threat to it.
We get a hold of the Control Rod, which deactivates most of the Clay Golems in this area if you approach them while holding it. But it takes a couple seconds, which is enough for them to land a hit on our tank.
Sion has already memorized some Remove Curse spells, so our wolfwere will be in good condition when we fight Aran Linvail.
Haz can be a problem, but he seems to have no Protection from Fire pre-buff, which means our planetar's Fire Storm goes right through Haz's defenses. The Clay Golems also get torched; Fire Storm bypasses magic resistance.
The last hallway is a bit of a problem. It has Lightning Bolt traps that trigger multiple times, but we have no thief to disarm them, as Seducers can neither set nor disarm traps.
It takes several tries, but with Sion's Globe of Invulnerability, the Greater Wolfwere's magic resistance and regeneration, the Cloak of Reflection on Mollyboo, and some potions, the whole party makes it across. Sion cures the Cursed Wound on the wolfwere so it can use healing potions.
It may well need the help, because the backstabbers in this coming fight could very well kill the wolfwere in two hits. Regeneration doesn't count for much when you're dead.
Sion brings out a new Fallen Planetar, which knocks out some enemies using Earthquake. Mollyboo remains invisible, but the enemy thieves can use Detect Illusions, which could be very dangerous.
Apparently that was the real Aran Linvail, not a clone. His defenses didn't trigger in time, maybe because Earthquake knocked him unconscious.
We've got some backstabbers flanking us, but the party is bunched up, boxing them in and keeping them away from Mollyboo. Unable to target them individually, Sion casts Symbol, Stun.
Sion actually has a special Symbol, Stun spell that lasts for 20 rounds instead of 9 at most. Only enemies have that spell; the player can never get it. And since Sion is a Conjurer, the save penalty is a crushing -6.
The Fallen Planetar's ability to see through invisibility is a huge advantage in this fight, when backstabbers are constantly going invisible. Globe of Blades doesn't hurt, either.
Without their ability to stay hidden, the thieves go down quickly and we move on to other quests.
I ponder my next move. We really need a proper damage dealer besides our Fallen Planetar, but I don't expect to find any real bruisers until well into the main quest. Eventually, I realize we already have access to an excellent damage dealer.
Because Sion knows Summon Fiend.
Sion summons a Glabrezu and uses Time Stop to cast Lower Resistance, allowing us to land Greater Malison and make it easier to charm.
We have a lot of levels to drain from the Glabrezu, and its Mirror Images won't block all the damage from our wraith's natural weapon (which I think needed to be boosted by Enchanted Weapon to hit the thing). That's what our Fallen Planetar is for.
Unfortunately, I'm not fast enough.
No worries. We can always try again. And with Sion's extra-powerful Symbol, Stun spell, we can give our wraith automatic hits.
I count off the levels drained by arranging potions, just like always. Finally the Glabrezu is weak enough and Mollyboo gets a failed save on Seduction. The Glabrezu is ours!
Jesus Christ. The Glabrezu might not have its Remove Magic, Mirror Image, or PW: Stun spells, but its stats alone are incredible. Five attacks per round at 20 STR with -12 AC and over 150 HP? Plus 50% MR and standard demon immunities?
Morentherene might not have been as strong as a well-constructed fighter, but this Glabrezu certainly is.
I think we're ready for Spellhold! Since our wraith is a drain on our XP and serves no real purpose in combat, I decide to kill it.
We can always resurrect it when we need it, and it won't suck up valuable XP when it's dead.
Again I see German text in the dialogue with Bodhi. As usual, I pick the options at random, since I figure that they make no real difference.
I was wrong.
What was that? Some spell in German? I check to see if Mollyboo learned a "Blutkuss" spell, and while "Blutkuss" isn't there, some other spells are. Also German.
I check the Record screen and find something truly strange.
She got a massive boost to her stats. But now I finally know why.
She's a vampire.
Bodhi turned her into a vampire.
I'm not sure I really want to keep this in place--I might remove the effects, since I didn't want for this to happen--but it might be interesting. The upside is that Mollyboo has a bunch of new defensive abilities, including, apparently, a mist form not unlike Hexxat's. Plus, she can drain levels with a special weapon, obviating the need for our wraith. But when it's daylight out, her STR goes to 8, her DEX goes to 1, and she goes blind.
Since daylight is rare in BG2, however, I decide to let it stay for now. I won't use her new vampire powers until I make my decision.
Fun fact: you can temporarily remove the sunlight penalties using Breach.
They come back soon enough, but it removes a massive AC penalty from the lowered DEX, which could be enough to get your Bhaalspawn to safety if caught in the sun.
Perth the Adept was a little rough, but with our incredibly high APR boosted by Sion's Improved Haste spells, we can cut right through Stoneskins and PFMW. Normally, haste effects would get dispelled, but since Sion is level 22, it's not easy for enemies to do that.
On to Spellhold! Since our Glabrezu is immune to fear and confusion and normal weapons, I send it after the Coiled Cabal on its own. Turns out it's not as invincible as I thought.
The Fallen Planetar succeeds where the Glabrezu failed, but it's a reminder that even monsters like Glabrezus can go down quickly if I'm not careful.
One of my mods tweaks some of the Spellhold riddles. I'm not sure how I feel about the changes.
The next area has seven epic-level mages in it: three liches, Breudayael and Drusilia, and two other mod-introduced guys with names that somehow sound like they were lifted from some 1980s fantasy book.
Fortunately, we only have to fight three epic-level mages here. Breudayael isn't hostile unless you attack him, so we just walk by and...
...Wow. We just rendered our wraith completely obsolete. Even if I decide not to keep Mollyboo as a vampire, I can still just use Energy Drain instead. But there's no need to kick the wraith out just yet.
I really don't feel like tackling even a single lich on my own, so Mollyboo dares Thordek to go kick some ass. He leaps at the opportunity.
I send him in to fight the first lich on his own, figuring that a sturdy critter like him can at least drain the lich's strength, if not actually kill it. I decide to send in a Fallen Planetar to help him out, and use Fire Storm to kill some of the mummies and skeletons.
The instant I do it, I realize I've made a horrible mistake.
By using an offensive spell on Thordek, I've turned his entire party hostile.
The worst part is that we've blocked out our best escape route. Breudayael and his gang are taking up the upper hallway; to avoid him, we'd have to run right past two other epic-level mages, where we'll probably get locked in place because of that umber hulk trap.
To the south, a lich.
To the west, two mages. And I think two Balors.
To the north, two mages, plus a fighter.
To the east? A solid wall.
How the hell am I going to get out of here? I can't rest here; Bodhi will ambush me.
Sion summons another Fallen Planetar. Hopefully it will be enough to kill Thordek and keep the lich at bay. After that, we'll just have to figure out which way to make our escape. It takes some work, but Thordek goes down.
But now we have another problem. Anastacia is here. She's an epic-level fighter, but that's not what worries me.
What worries me is that she has two extremely dangerous swords, both of which could absolutely destroy us. One sword drains 3 Charisma on hit permanently, and it only goes back to normal after death. But Mollyboo can't be resurrected if she dies. The other sword has a 10% chance of draining 4 levels on hit.
But it doesn't use the level drain opcode. It uses the "change level" opcode, which will permanently lower your level by 4 AND reduce your XP to zero. If Sion gets hit, we lose two level 9 spell slots forever. If Mollyboo gets hit, she won't get HLAs until the end of ToB.
It's a 10% chance of absolutely crippling our party. And Anastacia has Greater Whirlwind Attack.
I am not doing this. I turn the party invisible before Anastacia can give us any grief.
I grab Thordek's equipment, even though I decided in advance not to use mod items like his, and wait for our Planetars to take down the liches, which they eventually do.
For some reason, our Glabrezu becomes visible. Taking a major risk, I have Mollyboo break invisibility to charm Anastacia. It works!
I send her up the north passageway, but then see a chilling message.
Breudayael's own Planetar is trying to murder his wife. And if his wife dies before he does, Breudayael instantly casts Imprisonment on the whole party.
I bring Anastacia back to the south, but to my horror, the Planetar keeps attacking her even after the charm wears off.
We have no choice. We have to get that Planetar to attack us instead of Anastacia, because losing one party member to a vorpal strike is better than losing the whole party to Imprisonment.
But the west passageway isn't much safer.
Two Balors, two mages, and a truckload of umber hulks. Plus a door that won't open until Mollyboo picks the lock--which would break her invisibility.
The good news is that the Planetar and Anastacia appear to be trapped. The bad news is everything else. We have no choice but to kill both Balors and then fight or run past both mages in the next chamber. Sion casts Time Stop to get a couple extra spells off the ground--namely, Improved Haste on our Glabrezu to get its APR to 10--and Anastacia, who apparently is immune to Time Stop, attacks Breudayael's Planetar.
Then the gates come open of their own accord, and the Planetar joins the fray, fighting alongside a Balor because clearly we are the greater of the two evils.
Note that Planetars attack using +3 weapons, so Improved Mantle will block a Planetar's vorpal strikes just as easily as PFMW.
I switch gears and attack the Planetar instead, knowing that its vorpal strikes are more dangerous than whatever the Balors might do to us. Against all odds, we land a vorpal strike first.
Ziatar is paralyzed for some reason, but an Arrow of Dispelling fixes her up.
Readers may remember that I could have saved Ziatar the same way back in Siege of Dragonspear, but failed to do so.
With Improved Mantle active, Sion has enough breathing room to cast Symbol, Stun. Multiple umber hulks are down for the count, but the battle is not yet won.
The fight drags on. These Noble Umber Hulks are far, far stronger than the typical kind. They nearly kill Ziatar and outlast both Sion's Improved Mantle and his PFMW spell.
Finally, the last umber hulks go down.
All that's left is to get rid of those two mages. But they triggered their pre-buffs so many rounds ago without actually ever taking action that they're basically helpless when we finally engage them. Sion tries to debuff them during Time Stop with magical attacks, but in the end, two vorpal strikes take down the mages.
Breudayael and his party don't usually leave their little chamber without being drawn out, so we don't have to worry about them chasing us around. Instead, we just focus on killing the remaining two liches, since I'm worried they'll burst out of the library and ambush us when we're hunting Dace Sontan.
The wraith bravely stands up to the first volley. Its reward is instant death.
Spectral and skeletan undead should really be immune to Horrid Wilting, but they didn't implement that in BG2. Anyway, our wolfwere runs out to monitor the situation while Sion's two Fallen Planetars (one of my mods removes both types of summoning caps) do all the work.
The fight is not interesting. Just imagine about 60 seconds of this...
...followed by 10 seconds of this.
Now we can finally escape Spellhold.
But first, I want to kill Breudayael again.
I want to see if I can do it without mod items.
Current party:
Mollyboo, Seducer
Ziatar, Half-dragon Fighter/Cleric
Wraith, Fighter
Greater Wolfwere, Fighter
Glabrezu, Fighter
Sion, Conjurer
Nabatil, halfling shadowdancer, update 1
Previous post: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900056/#Comment_900056
Instead of going for big experience sources like Shoal or basilisks right away, I decided to retain a more natural leveling experience by starting with some quests around FAI and Beregost - mainly those that provide reputation, since I plan to spend a lot of money on items as soon as possible. After hitting 20 rep and level 5 (by using simple hit and run tactics, sometimes improved by hiding in plain sight or using a wand of sleep charge), I finally got my first backstab modifier and bought the shadow armor and the quarterstaff +3. Time for progress:
I stealthed all the way through the Naskel mine and killed Mulahey with backstab, shadowstep, hide, backstab:
Nabatil quickly moved on to the bandit camp, drank a potion of absorption, looted the chest in Tazok's tent, restealthed and just walked out - no reason for any fights here:
I walked through the Cloakwood areas quickly, using a potion of freedom for the second one, with 3 potions of explosion ready for Drasus and his group - throwing a potion, walking back and hiding, repositioning, throwing another one etc. - only two enemies had to be finished off with backstabs
After stealthing through the first three iron mine levels without engaging any enemies, I had Nabatil use a protection from magic scroll before triggering Davaeorn's traps. With the boots of speed, avoiding the battle horrors was no problem at all - I eventually ended up backstabbing them to death while Davaeorn wasted his spells. Eventually, it was a one on one quarterstaff duel. It took quite a while - coincidentally, this was also the first time Nabatil took any damage at all, because Davaeorn did hit me two times:
Nabatil entered Baldur's Gate, acquired most of the potentially interesting items and fought his way to max level by clearing out the basilisks:
Next time, I'm planning to take along some party members (though only for short amounts of time) and finish the first game!
Enuhal
Mollyboo: A "Solo" Seducer in Baldur's Gate 2
Part 13
Previous posts here:https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899226/#Comment_899226
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899249/#Comment_899249
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899476/#Comment_899476
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899528/#Comment_899528
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899532/#Comment_899532
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899677/#Comment_899677
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899690/#Comment_899690
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899705/#Comment_899705
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899899/#Comment_899899
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900093/#Comment_900093
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900164/#Comment_900164
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900364/#Comment_900364
First, I want to get rid of Drusilia. Mollyboo only has a 5% chance of landing Domination, and Breudayael chain-casts Heal, but Heal won't keep Drusilia safe from Anastacia's Charisma drain.
Only Breudayael and Anastacia are left. We have to take down Broofles first, so Sion begins seeding the south hallway with Symbol, Stun spells.
Notice the aura cleansing message. It would be possible to get rid of Bodhi by completing the next level, which would let us rest as much as we wanted, but I'm just using a custom rest and buffing spell to speed up casting. I don't use cheats to make the game easier, but I very, very often use them to make the game faster.
Broofles has 75% magic resistance and -2 saving throws across the board. Sion's Symbol Stun spell has a base -4 save penalty, with his Conjurer specialty bonus canceled out by Broofles' Protection from Evil buff, so Broofles has to roll a 1 to get stunned. That's a 1.25% chance of success per casting. If you cast 50 Symbol, Stun spells, it only has a 50% chance of working by the time every single one detonates.
But we manage to land it!
Unfortunately, he can turn invisible even when he's disabled.
It's hardly fair, but nothing about this fight is fair.
Our Glabrezu can see through invisibility and can therefore target Broofles via its script, but there's an added snag: since the Glabrezu was summoned by Sion, its gender is coded as "summoned demon," and Broofles' Protection from Evil spell grants him total invisibility to critters with the "summoned demon" gender. Our Glabrezu therefore cannot target him, ever.
We have to try something else, and it requires stunning him all over again. This time, I put Mollyboo in the crawlspace and use her to charm Anastacia.
Broofles' items indicate that he's vulnerable to +4 weapons and better, and Anastacia's weapons are both +5. She should be able to kill him with Charisma drain.
He only becomes visible for half a second, but I finally manage to get Anastacia to make an attack roll. It hits!
Unbelievable. He's immune to +5 weapons, too. I did not know it at the time, but only +6 weapons and higher can hurt Broofles. These are all of the +6 weapons that the player can use in the entire game:
1. Black Blade of Disaster
2. Chill Touch
3. Fire Seeds
4. Ghoul Touch
5. Minute Meteors
6. Harm
7. Spirit Animal weapons
8. Shocking Grasp
...plus ToB-exclusive upgradeable weapons (which wouldn't be available by Spellhold) and mod items like Bertoxxulous. Unfortunately, there are problems with each one:
1. Due to the lack of scrolls, the only characters who could have Black Blade of Disaster by Spellhold would be sorcerers, who probably wouldn't have enough APR to hit Broofles in the half-second during which he would be visible.
2. Chill Touch deals nonlethal damage.
3. Fire Seeds' fire damage strikes as a level 6 weapon. You'd need damage bonuses (like from Aid or the Archer kit) to actually deal physical damage to him.
4. Ghoul Touch also deals nonlethal damage.
5. Minute Meteors are only +2 in SCS.
6. Harm strikes as a +6 weapon, but the damage it does is a level 6 spell, which Broofles will ignore outright.
7. Spirit Animals don't have the APR or the invisibility detection opcode to hit him.
8. Shocking Grasp deals nonlethal damage, and the electrical damage strikes as a level 1 spell.
With Spell Revisions, it should be possible to use True Seeing to let you attack him despite his invisibility, but I'm not sure if there are +6 weapons in SR that would work here. So, basically the only weapon you could use would be Fire Seeds or some overpowered mod item.
So. We try again. This time, we use magic attacks to lower his magic resistance once he's stunned. Only Pierce Shield can lower his MR because he's immune to level 6 spells and below like Lower Resistance and Pierce Magic.
Sion then uses a Potion of Firebreath. Potions and scrolls and items take longer to activate than spells, but they also ignore invisibility.
It is not sufficient, however, and we have to try again, going through all the typical motions of stunning a mage with 75% MR and a save vs. spell of -2.
That big bright blob of light is 50 Symbol, Stun spells detonating, roughly one every frame. We try Potions of Firebreath again, but this time, we combine it with the Wand of Lightning trick.
We use about three potions, but we finally get him.
Check out all the crazy mod items I won't get to use!
It's also possible to kill Broofles by spamming Incendiary Cloud or Dragon's Breath over and over, though I think you may have to wait out a Protection from Fire pre-buff.
Funny thing is, this idiot could have been immune to that if he had just worn a Ring of Fire Resistance instead of his Ring of Knowledge. He'd have had 115% fire resistance, and the only way you could have killed him would be to use area-effect projectiles like Fire Seeds.
Which he also could have blocked, if he was smart enough to actually seek out the party and attack, rather than just standing there. The stupidity of his scripting is staggering compared to the advantages the mod creator gave him.
Anyway, time to kill his wife. She's just as dumb as he is: she wastes her attacks on Sion's PFMW spell while our Glabrezu just stands there chucking throwing axes at her.
Thunk thunk thunk.
This is why everyone likes SCS: it plays fair and it plays smart. Broofles and company have loads of advantages, but they are just plain stupid. It's like Improved Anvil.
The rest of Spellhold is boring by comparison. Notable events include using invisibility to protect a mod NPC who otherwise would die instantly in a fight following his dialogue...
Notice that killing the evil drow lady breaks whatever quest he was associated with; that's why he has nothing to say.
...killing some golems with some good old-fashioned choke points, just like Bioware intended...
...and Ziatar finally achieving level 10, which ironically takes away some of her spell slots.
Jon-bon is next, but unlike Broofles, we only get one shot at fighting him. We can't rest and return if things go wrong.
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899555/#Comment_899555
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899768/#Comment_899768
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899987/#Comment_899987
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900194/#Comment_900194
Wimp pulled the 5 ghasts from the bottom of the tower upstairs to a choke point where she could kill them - getting up to level 6 in the process and gaining another 1 HP.
The first few of those were managed without problems, but then disaster struck. Right at the start of the session I had tested what would happen if Wimp ran out of missiles and found the result of that was that there was just enough space for her to push the familiar out of the way and get into hand to hand combat range with a ghast.
I decided it was about time to give Biff another go. As a reminder, he's able to use any desired tactics (obviously excluding use of healing items), but can never kill anything except through his own melee attacks. His last run in this SCS installation played on Core difficulty saw him get through BG1 for the first time, before absent-mindedly killing the first mephit in Jon's dungeon with a magic missile. That's the target to beat this time.
In this installation quite a few blinded creatures react to being approached, even outside their sight range. That makes them dangerous for Biff to attack while he's visible, even with a staff. In addition, some, like Shoal, have scripts making them run around when blinded and the possibility of her deciding to kiss and make up means relying on blindness there is particularly dangerous. Shoal was therefore left for later, but Karlat (who is another wanderer) was tackled at first level. Biff required a critical to hit with his non-proficient darts, but eventually got enough of those and added a couple of LMDs to almost finish Karlat off. After a couple of failed attacks, the extra HPs from those enabled him to survive a hit by Karlat and fortunately Biff found a killing blow immediately afterwards.
South of Beregost a couple of ogrillons were killed - which is also a bit chancy at first level as they have quite quick weapon speed. The hobgoblins with the stealthy boots were a bit more comfortable due to Biff being able pretty reliably to get an attack in and withdraw before any retaliation and Biff got his first level against them.
Biff has acquired Algernon's Cloak, but won't be using that much this run (I do enough of that in LoB runs). Instead he headed north, picking up a belt from a blinded ogre and a ring to boost his spell power. Killing some fishermen for Tenya then got him to level 3.
Some blinded hobgoblins allowed Biff to give Joia's ring back and Firebead was grateful to get some reading matter, while Mr Colquetle got a memento of his family. That got Biff close to level 4, but Melicamp was feeling fragile and didn't give him a final boost. However, Zargal and his friends in Bassilus' area did the business.
Sorcerer L4, 21 HPs, 44 kills
Previous post: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900390/#Comment_900390
Nabatil walked all the way up in the iron throne building and started to throw some necklace of missles-charges at the enemy group before finishing off the survivors with a couple of backstabs:
At Candlekeep, I just stealthed through the entire dungoen without engaging anyone - though I didn't forget to take all of the tomes with me. The duchal palace event was the first reason to take some party members with me, since the wand of sleep doesn't seem a reliable enough option in the EE, and I don't have any strict solo rules (I'm just soloing to make the BG1 part of the run as quick as possible).
I decided to take some fighter-types for damage (Kagain, Ajantis and Kivan) and two arcane spellcasters for the abilty to use wands and scrolls (Garrick and Quayle). I didn't give anyone any non-consumable items (just some acid arrows for Kivan, wands for everyone and potions of storm giant strength for the fighters). I also bought scrolls of haste, greater malison, chaos and confusion. Using this combination and a wand of monster summoning proved to be quite successful:
After that, I dismissed my party again and picked up Dorn instead, because I wanted to get Kryll's necklace for my main character. Rasaad was next: I completed the first part of his quest to gain access to the monestary in the cloud peak mountains, where I looked through various chests to find the cursed belt of hill giant strength. The rest of the game was done solo: Using a magic protection scroll to avoid any trap damage, Nabatil stealthed through the thieve's maze and the undercity. My buffs for Sarevok included potions of defense, of power, of clarity, of mind focusing, fire resistance, absorption, perception (for better stealth abilities) and speed. I also put on the cursed belt to improve my strength to 19.
Nabatil carefully approached Sarevok and stealthed after a short conversation, and Semaj teleported next to me. His mirror images didn't help against my first backstab, and I either dodged his spells by hiding or just ignored them, as they couldn't really do anything to me. Another backstab hit right through his somehow completely useless mirror images, and he was dead.
I pulled Sarevok to the entrance of the temple, using an arrow of dispelling to remove his haste effect.
Thus, it was easy to just hide, backstab, run away, hide again and repeat. With my triple damage modifier, it took 3 hits to kill him:
There you have it: A quick and efficient BG1 run. I'm quite pleased everything worked out so well and I get to try myself at no-reloading SoD now. The one thing I wasn't sure about: Seems like I'm starting solo in SoD, so I'll have to finish the prologue dungeon with Nabatil only. I was thinking that maybe the game would automatically assign a party to me, as it changed my party composition at this point in my first SoD run (which annoyed me quite a bit).
Enuhal
Setup/WeiDU: (BWS/BGT: SCS/Spell Revisions/Item Revisions/aTweaks/Polytweak/Item Randomiser)
TOC:
1. Einleitung.
2. Chapter I.
3. Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Upon arrival to the Durlag's Tower outskirts even Xan had found it remarkable but I hope he is a bit less enlightened with the art of seeing compared to wise Alaundo so his 'prophecies' will not come true:
Greeting party of Battle Horrors got a Cold/Fire treatment, as well as some Ghasts on the upper levels of the Tower. The latter enlightened me that using the IR Wand of Fire in such confined spaces could be dangerous. Item Revisions makes those Wands to cast an appropriate spell when you use them so now Agannazar's Scorcher from the Wand freezes you in place for several seconds (just like spell) enough to be held by Ghast. A Cleric with Remove Paralysis in such situations is a life saviour:
Item Randomiser replaced the local Wisdom tome with the Constitution one which (after we'll find the second Constitution tome) will allow me to invest in the Claw of Kazgaroth. Considering that (in my opinion) the IR Helm of Balduran is quite dull, transfering the Claw into the SoA is also more interesting.
Kirinhale is always a nuissance with her etherealness at will but no one could call Viconia 'manly' and live...
Her Charms are useless on Viconia but other group mates are not so resilent. She charmed our both archers and drained Jaheira but I didn't use Break Enchantment on those as the risk to be interrupted with arrows of fire is quite high considering the combined APR and Viconia is busy with Kirinhale as our most invulnerable tank:
While our charmed archers shot down our own skellies Viconia lured Kirinhale to the back rooms to deal with her there not being distracted with flying arrows:
Kirinhale dropped quite an interesing sling for me, though I hope we'll not need its special combat abilities in near future...:
A single Potion of Mirrored Eyes is enough for Jaheira to bring me another Mage level and access to some cruicial lvl 3 spells:
Going down to the underground some of us gained more levels but the cost in the efforts and resourses is quite high so halfway through the first underground level (after we got another cruicial Wand) we decided it's enough for now.
For the Sword Coast's most skilled swordsman Meilum is quite inaccurate and Kobold Commando in the Firewine Ruins provided us with quite a number of fire arrows.
The Ogre Mage, even being muted, reminded us that critical hits are still dangerous for us. After he perished, Lendarn, being alone, can't do much and his Wand of Paralysation finally completed my collection:
Jenkal was held and killed so he can't escape and hunt us later and as we arrived to the Ulcaster from the east we could avoid Icharyd for now since his lightning attacks could be deadly at our current levels.
The fight with the Wolf of Ulcaster was long and stressful with never-ending stream of reinforcements and some scary moments. All for the Ring of Wizardry.
Larswood and Peldvale were pretty much uneventful though the first signs of future troubles (caused by Druids and their summons with Charm abilities) have flashed on the horizon. The spawns are also less dangerous (3 Black Talon Elites in Tutu vs 1 Black Talon Elite+Bandit+Gibberling in BGT).
to be continued...
Journal of Osweald
After rescuing Dynaheir we went to the basilisk area where we were asttacked by Peter, Lindin etc. In the middle of the battle I was charmed and Tenya was badly hurt after being held. Nevertheless we prevailed.I afterwards read a scroll and went after the basilisks, medusae, and finally Mutamin.
We then went east of the Nashkel mines where we found a ring of fire protection before heading north where we took on Narcillicus Harwilliger Neen and his creations.
We then went in search of some half-ogres that we had been told about, not realising that we would find even more enemies in the area.
We then deemed the time right to enter the mines. Apart from getting poisoned, this went well.
Upon exiting we fought and killed the Revenant.
We then returned to the mines where Vynd acquired the emeralds from Prism's sculpture before giving them to Oublek. We were then attacked by a baby wyvern, so we charmed Oublek for some additional manpower. Sadly he was killed.
We then killed Nimbul.
Durlag's Tower then beckoned us and apart from Vynd having too little skill in disarming traps, we had few problems.
When we could go no further without setting off a trap, we called it a day and returned to Beregost.
Journal of Osweald
En route to Ulgoth's Beard we were attacked by Morvin and his cronies. They lost.We then went to Ice Island and left it uninhabited.
Fortunately the enemies that we faced were not too bright as they failed to take advantage of the times when we were enfeebled. Dynaheir cast magic missile at a crucial moment as it interrupted their final spell.
We then headed to the Ulcaster ruins.
At first all went well but that didn't last for when we came across the Wolf of Ulcaster we suddenly found ourselves vastly outnumbered by dread wolves, ghasts and the like. Eventually I was the only one left. I only just survived my consuming numerous healing potions.
After resting, I attempted to complete the dungeon single handed. That was brave, but rather foolish.
Mal Kalen proved to be too much for me to handle for I was bought to within an inch of death. I was unconcious with a skeleton warrior fast approaching. Tymora must have been watching over me, for just in time I awoke and was able to flee.
It was very expensive to raise the party afterwards 3,400 gold pieces in all. All in all, that expedition was a bit of a disaster. The only good thing that came out of it was that because I fought so many enemies single handed, I increased in level which was not expected at all.
Mollyboo: A "Solo" Seducer in Baldur's Gate 2
Part 14
Previous posts here:https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899226/#Comment_899226
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899249/#Comment_899249
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899476/#Comment_899476
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899528/#Comment_899528
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899532/#Comment_899532
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899677/#Comment_899677
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899690/#Comment_899690
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899705/#Comment_899705
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899899/#Comment_899899
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900093/#Comment_900093
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900164/#Comment_900164
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900364/#Comment_900364
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900440/#Comment_900440
Time to tackle Jon-bon. Sion opens with Summon Fallen Planetar (technically the spell is called Summon Dark Planetar, but the critter is called a Fallen Planetar), which uses Insect Plague on our Glabrezu in the hopes that it will spread to Irenicus.
At first, Irenicus appears unaffected, but after Wanev's Time Stop wears off, I see the telltale insects swarming around Jon-bon.
Irenicus confirms the presence of spell failure by resorting to a Spell Trigger. But the confirmation comes at a cost.
I can tolerate Ziatar getting shattered, but it's not something I want to risk. I have her drink a Potion of Magic Shielding, but just in case her aura isn't clear and she can't drink it in time, I have her remove all of her equipment save her armor.
The Potion of Magic Shielding was a good idea. Without it, it seems she would have been petrified.
Sion stops time while Jon-bon is distracted and prepares to remove his defenses.
Sion takes all of them down, but Irenicus has a PFMW Contingency and goes invisible soon after, as Insect Plague wore off during the Time Stop.
Our Glabrezu can see through invisibility, so I have it switch to a normal weapon and let it keep attacking Jon-bon while the rest of the party focuses on the clones.
But Tiax reveals Irenicus by chance, and since Irenicus has no Fire Shield, I re-cast Insect Plague along with Pierce Shield, since I still see a spell protection swirling around Irenicus.
The Glabrezu finishes off Irenicus' Stoneskins! Soon a friendly Breach is on the way, and the day is ours.
Off to the City of Caverns! I have more big plans for this area, but first, we sell off a bunch of loot at the easy-to-miss temple in the far north. The temple buys stuff at a high price, so it's best to save up loose items to sell them here. Selling off extra ammunition alone is enough to pay for another trip back to Brynnlaw!
Due to Item Randomizer, we unfortunately do not get the Cloak of Mirroring. Instead, we get a crummy Ring of the Ram. We take our our frustration on the local shark people by having our Glabrezu run around with a magical throwing axe, chopping up the denizens of City Sushi. Our Glabrezu's lack of proficiencies don't matter when it already attacks 5 times per round.
Thunk thunk thunk.
For once, we're not siding with Villynaty. Ixilthetocal is our man, for reasons that will become quickly clear. We mob the prince, who is something of a glass cannon. Here's screenshot 666!
Ixilthetocal is pleased, though he has a strange way of expressing joy.
Sallinithil guilt-trips us for dooming their society...
...but the important thing is that Ixilthetocal is happy.
Why's that?
Well, Ixilthetocal happens to be a level 20 fighter with 24 base STR and 5 APR flat. On top of that, he comes with grandmastery in spears, which will make him far stronger than our already-deadly Glabrezu. Ixilthetocal will be our best damage dealer until late into Throne of Bhaal.
We head back to go collect him.
Where did he go?
I scour the City of Caverns, but he is simply not there. Ixilthetocal is gone.
He vanishes if you bring him Villynaty's heart. And since Villynaty joins the fight if you betray Ixilthetocal, I think the only way to land Seduction on Ixilthetocal is to either be level 40 or attack him unprovoked, without siding with either him or Villynaty. But it's too late; this is a no-reload run.
I was really looking forward to that. I love Ixilthetocal, both his character and his name. He would have been a spectacular spearfisher if I could have brought him into the party. But it seems we will have to look elsewhere.
We enter the Underdark. One of my mods adds a very vicious drow ambush mere seconds after you arrive in the area, and I came awfully close to dying here in my Undergate run. I try to sneak past them, but they know better.
Our Glabrezu and Greater Wolfwere break invisibility to ensure the rest of the party can stay hidden. It buys us enough time for Sion to cast Time Stop.
Sion brings out two Fallen Planetars and hastes our Glabrezu. Our Glabrezu nearly dies to the matron mother's Globe of Blades (which somehow hits twice), but SCS celestials cast their spells instantly, allowing a Fallen Planetar to rescue our pet demon. It also lets us knock out some of the enemies using Earthquake.
But now we have a mage with Improved Alacrity, and I don't see how we're going to get past its defenses.
We turn our attention to the other drow, who aren't quite so well-defended. Notice the damage from Darts of Wounding that Sion threw during Time Stop.
Sion tries to debuff the big mage, but the drow has every advantage over Sion.
We need to kill that Fallen Planetar before it lands a vorpal strike on somebody. Mollyboo is safe to the southeast with Carlig and Finderlig and what's-his-name, but Sion is flat-out paralyzed, and turning him invisible would be no help at all against a Fallen Planetar. Our Glabrezu targets the Fallen Planetar, but even the Glabrezu can't bring it down as fast as we need it to. And since I can't see the Fallen Planetar, I can't order our own Fallen Planetars to attack it. Instead, I have them try to damage and disable the drow with Fire Storm and Earthquake, both of which bypass magic resistance.
The Fallen Planetar finally breaks invisibility. There is nothing we can do to stop it as it lands a vorpal strike on our Greater Wolfwere, chunking our best tank.
Ziatar has failed a save against Chaos and cannot defend herself. She dies as well, but thankfully does not suffer a vorpal strike.
I check the Glabrezu's Record screen. With a save vs. death of 6, the Glabrezu has a 5% chance of getting chunked with every hit the Fallen Planetar lands on hit. I don't consider that remotely worth the risk, so rather than use my best damage dealer to bring down the Fallen Planetar, I have it run away. But the Fallen Planetar gives chase.
A PW: Blind spell from one of the drow mages gets past our Glabrezu's 50% MR, ruining our visibility and preventing me from directing the Glabrezu to a clear spot. This gives the Fallen Planetar more chances to kill our Glabrezu, but also lets our own celestials try to land vorpal strikes of their own.
Only when one of our Fallen Planetars heals our Glabrezu, curing its blindness, do I see what's going on.
The fight drags on as I struggle to bring down the Fallen Planetar before it chunks our Glabrezu. Finally it goes down, though I know that things could have gone very different with some unlucky dice rolls.
Then another Fallen Planetar appears as from nowhere and targets Sion. Only a save vs. death keeps Sion from getting chunked.
I use the Rod of Resurrection on Ziatar just so we can cover Mollyboo with Death Ward. In my install, and I think in EE by default, Death Ward finally blocks opcode 13, the vorpal strike effect. Previously, only PFMW and (in SCS only) good saving throws could block planetar-related chunking.
Funny thing is, I experienced two or three chunkings in a single run once in this very area, if not this exact fight.
To my immense relief, we get a lucky kill on the Fallen Planetar just as Sion runs out of Stoneskins.
The remaining two mages are still in good condition. Sion recovers from PW: Stun, and while Ziatar fails a save against Domination, Mollyboo can cast Dispel Charm at will.
The enemy mage gets Time Stop off the ground, but saving throws and magic resistance thwart his spells.
One of the drow casts Improved Mantle, which we can't break, but that one runs away to the west, taking our Fallen Planetar with it, while the mage that sticks around merely casts PFMW. Which we most definitely can get past.
By the time we chase down the other mage, his Improved Mantle has run out.
For the next drow ambush, we play it smart, pre-buffing beforehand and making sure that we strike hard and fast from a safe distance.
My rules would let me get the Greater Wolfwere back, but like Darskhelin's chunking, I'm actually perfectly okay with this one. In fact, I already planned on replacing the Greater Wolfwere with an even better character, which we nab right after we're done playing with the drow.
The Kuo-toan Prince is now on our side! It has the same massive regeneration rate as a Greater Wolfwere, plus better resistance albeit slightly lower APR. The portrait is Undyne from Undertale, though I've lost track of the artist's name (I cropped the original drawing).
The prince is a cleric/thief, but has no thief skills or cleric spells. For now, those abilities lay dormant, but if I can keep it around until midway through ToB, I might just be able to get it Use Any Item.
Next up is Ust Natha. I finally have Sion scribe Energy Drain, because I think I've found a new use for it. Unfortunately, it does not allow us to use Seduction on Sion's own Simulacrum, which is immune to both restoration and level drain.
We pay a visit to the svirfneblin village and agree to smash their demon. Sion chain-casts Time Stop to help land a Symbol, Stun spell.
This will give us automatic hits for far longer than we need. Sion casts Enchanted Weapon on our wraith so it can get past the Balor's weapon immunities.
Yes. We are in fact going to seduce a Balor.
It works! We have to kill it before we can complete the quest, but once we've spoken with the gnomes and gotten a pretty rock for our efforts, we resurrect the Balor, who utterly outclasses our Glabrezu in every dimension.
His natural weapon even has a 20% chance of slaying the target on a failed save vs. death at -4, plus an Aura of Flaming Death whenever it's equipped. The Balor is an absolute monster, and will probably be with us for the rest of the game.
Adalon scolds us for keeping it around. Apparently her dialogue also checks to see if the Balor is dead, and death variables apparently can switch on and off if you kill or resurrect the critter as a party member.
She also apparently objects to the fact that Mollyboo is a vampire, though she can only express the sentiment in German.
The moment we step outside, we are greeted with a disturbing message.
Adalon was right. If the Balor isn't dead when you enter her face, all those gnomes just... die. Even though our Balor was nowhere near them. That doesn't feel too good.
We can still continue the Ust Natha questline as usual. We save Phaere, purchase a Protection from Magic scroll in the city, and manage to find a level 6 drow cleric who hopefully will prove more lasting than Ziatar in the long run. But since Sion has Energy Drain now, I ditch the wraith instead of Ziatar.
We proceed through the questline normally and hit no snags.
The way to the surface is now clear. All we have to do is make a break for it.
But I'm not going to do that. I'm going to take on SCS' Siege of Ust Natha again.
I want to see if I can do it outside of Legacy of Bhaal mode.
Current party:
Mollyboo, Seducer
Balor, Fighter
Kuo-toa Prince, Cleric/Thief
Glabrezu, Fighter
Sion, Conjurer
Drow, Cleric
Previous post: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900390/#Comment_900390
My start in SoD didn't exactly go as planned, mainly because I wasn't aware of trap locations and, more importantly, the reaction of the SoD AI to stealth.
I remembered there being some decent items in the dungeon, so I didn't just want to skip everything and get to Korlasz. However, before starting to take out the groups of undead, I planned to explore the map (I'm talking about the second level here, the first level was easily completed) so I would have some idea about the distribution of enemies and safe spots to retreat to. Nabatil drank a potion of invisibility so he could find traps while exploring, and for most of the dungeon I triggered only one (harmless) trap - however, towards the end, I ran into a trap that dispelled the potion while Nabatil was in sight of a large hostile group. When hiding to avoid a battle, I learned that the enemies had an SCS-like knowledge of my current position, following me around - so I ran back to the entrance to avoid getting surrounded. However, it seems like the SoD AI was smart enough for the one hostile group that was aware of Nabatil to inform all the other groups on my way (basically the entire level of the dungeon except for Korlasz) of my presence, so I soon had gigantic amounts of undead following me around, which resulted in me getting stuck after some attempts of picking off my enemies one by one:
Thankfully, the undead didn't just stand there - they continued to walk around, so there was still a chance of getting out of that room. First, the flaming fist got involved, but this wasn't quite enough to get me to safety:
However, after the defeat of the fist, there was a gap available, and I managed to escape:
The undead weren't able to follow Nabatil to the first dungeon level, but they wouldn't return to their original locations either. I drank an oil of speed after resting for a while. My plan was to invisibly make my way through the first line of undead, drag them back into the deeper parts of the dungeon where I could use the bigger rooms to have enough space for throwing fireballs via potions and the necklace of missles, running away, hiding and repeating the process. I used up all of my potions, but eventually most of the dungeon was cleared:
Now, I used a couple of the same buffing potions I had left from the Sarevok battle for Korlasz, as I didn't remember what to expect. However, the necklace of missles was enough to bring her to her knees.
Here's a screeshot of the items I'm bringing along from BG1 for my planned party:
Anyway, Nabatil quickly completed all the minor quests in Baldur's Gate and recruited Dynaheir and Minsc to his cause - I plan to have them along for the entire expansion, if possible.
Time to move on for now!
Enuhal
Mollyboo: A "Solo" Seducer in Baldur's Gate 2
Part 15
Previous posts here:https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899226/#Comment_899226
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899249/#Comment_899249
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899476/#Comment_899476
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899528/#Comment_899528
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899532/#Comment_899532
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899677/#Comment_899677
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899690/#Comment_899690
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899705/#Comment_899705
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899899/#Comment_899899
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900093/#Comment_900093
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900164/#Comment_900164
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900364/#Comment_900364
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900440/#Comment_900440
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900689/#Comment_900689
Time to tackle the Siege of Ust Natha. I've done it before, but only in Legacy of Bhaal mode with some high-level characters and lots of Wish-resting and Fallen Planetars.
Like I did in my genocide run with Carl, I keep the party in the northwest room, which I use as a sanctuary. Mollyboo stays invisible, while the Kuo-toa Prince, Balor, and Glabrezu guard the entrance, forming a choke point.
Notice that the Balor is in wolf form. I used Relair's Mistake to let it get past the doorway, but it seems that the Balor cannot return to normal form for some reason; it's stuck as a wolf until the duration runs out.
The Kuo-toa Prince is badly hurt, but with a ridiculous regeneration rate of 10 HP per second, it recovers within two rounds. We use the Necklace of Missiles to hassle some spellcasters who are coming from the south.
A horde of drow pours in, but with a Fallen Planetar coming in and the Balor's wolf form running out, we now have two sources of instant death attacks.
Not that the instant death effects are necessary, when they hit so hard already.
The Glabrezu isn't nearly as sturdy as the Balor or Kuo-toa Prince, but with 5 APR, it makes for a great archer, and due to its odd race, it can use the Dwarven Thrower.
The enemy group clears up fast, but more are on the horizon. Our Fallen Planetar launches Fire Storm in the west while our fighters deal with some lesser threats to the south.
New mages appear in the main chamber, but the Fallen Planetar still has another Fire Storm to hassle them, plus an Earthquake to knock out more drow to the west.
We push back the enemy and I send the Balor down the hall to make further progress, which turns out to be a mistake, because we lose stage control when more drow appear in the main chamber. These spawns occur at fixed points; they're not actually advancing on us from a previous location.
The drow find Sion guarding the entrance to our sanctuary. It's a fabulous choke point on its own, but Sion is already a spectacular guard thanks to the mod that removes the summoning limit on celestials.
But there are some spawns within the sanctuary itself, including at least one high-level mage. This fortress is not impregnable. Mollyboo loses some of her defenses--specifically, the ones that Sion didn't cast.
This is because Sion is level 22, and his spells are awfully difficult to dispel.
I notice the drow mage does not have Fire Shield, so I try to land an Insect Plague. Sensing Sion's vulnerability, I shore up his defenses with Spell Shield and SI: Abjuration to ward off Breach and Remove Magic.
To the south, our first Fallen Planetar and our fighters butcher the drow horde with weapons and Globe of Blades. To the north, our second Fallen Planetar gets past the drow's defenses with Fire Storm.
I use our second Fallen Planetar to hide Mollyboo. Down south, we've got multiple mages with defenses I cannot break--I can only wait them out. Fortunately, our fighters' high MR (70% on the Balor, 50% on the Glabrezu, and 90% on the Kuo-toa Prince) and various immunities keep them from getting disabled.
The second Fallen Planetar empties out our sanctuary, ensuring that Mollyboo will remain safe for the time being. I send Sion to cast Improved Haste on our Balor, because things down south are getting hectic. Another Fire Storm makes a lot of progress on the drow.
The enemy is smart enough to throw a couple of Secret Word spells at Sion, taking advantage of their superior numbers. Sion has to go invisible to make sure he can't get Breached.
Note that the drow have a distinct advantage in debuffing him: because magic attacks besides Remove Magic do not scale with level, the number of mages on your side is much more important than the level of your mages.
Amazingly enough, one of the drow manages to petrify the Glabrezu! While Chromatic Orb's effects all offer a save, the instant death effects, both petrification and the slay opcode at levels 10 and 12, bypass magic resistance.
We don't really need to hurry and return the Glabrezu to normal, because Sion can always summon another one, and the XP loss would be meaningless. But he can't do that in the middle of combat, so we'll want to get our Glabrezu back before the late stages of the siege.
The Glabrezu is way over to the west, next to a bunch of drow, so I send our Kuo-toa Prince (we don't need its offensive potential very much) over with a Stone to Flesh scroll to cure it. The enemy forms a wall, however, blocking the way to the petrified Glabrezu.
A little finagling lets us slip past the drow and return the Glabrezu to normal, and because its aura was clear when it died, it can drink a potion instantly after joining the party, preventing the drow from killing it before our Fallen Planetar has a chance to fix it up.
Sion tries to get a good Wish, and we find an unlikely candidate: Greater Deathblow. Most enemies in this fight are below level 13, so it lets us clear up the non-mages especially fast.
A couple of vorpal strikes finish off the remainder, only for another, equally large group of drow appear in the main chamber.
Sion tries to wipe them out quickly, but Horrid Wilting is very hit-or-miss against drow because of their high MR.
Even more drow appear, coming in from the south. More area-effect spells decrease the pressure on our Balor, Glabrezu, and Kuo-toa Prince (not that they really need the help).
But now we've got a problem. See those three demons to the southeast? We've got two Nabassus and a Glabrezu to deal with. Sion brings out his third Fallen Planetar while our fighters drink Potions of Invulnerability, since we might need to make some important saving throws soon.
Our Balor lands a vorpal strike on the Glabrezu, while one Nabassu goes missing and the other appears to be stuck on its platform. Several mages are on the field, but Sion fails to remove their defenses with Remove Magic.
Matron Mother Ellavir has finally shown up, but the Balor gets in her face. Sion hastes our Glabrezu to apply further pressure.
The first Nabassu goes down! Matron Mother Ellavir goes down! A well-buffed mage goes down!
Another wave comes from the west. We still have Fire Storms to spare.
We clean up the enemies with little trouble besides our Glabrezu failing a save against Slow. But the enemy doesn't let up. A Drow Archmage, at level 18, joins the fight.
Sion has been laying dormant for a long time, letting his Fallen Planetars do the work, but now we need his spells. He casts Time Stop to drain 3 rounds from the Drow Archmage's PFMW spell and applies Remove Magic and Symbol, Stun. He then retreats to a safe distance and hides.
Remove Magic works! I know because several Fire Shields vanish after it hits.
The Drow Archmage also lands a Remove Magic, but Sion can re-apply Improved Haste right after our Balor loses it.
Since Remove Magic worked, I know that at least some of the mages lost their Protection from Fire spells, if any. This means a Fire Storm can now harm even the mages.
More drow appear and the enemy starts moving around. We still aren't shy about using Earthquake; I'm pretty sure our Balor and Glabrezu are immune to the unconsciousness effect.
We keep up the pressure, and the drow can't handle it. Knowing that the fight will be over before long, I have Sion burn a few spells to make sure we hold onto our advantage.
The Drow Archmage loses its Improved Mantle! The Balor finishes him off, but the death doesn't come physical damage; it comes from the Balor's natural weapon's Aura of Flaming Death effect, which triggered because of the Drow Archmage's Fire Shield backlash.
I probably could have killed him earlier, even when Improved Mantle was still active. Especially because, as I just now remembered, the Balor's natural weapon should strike as a +5 weapon and therefore bypass Improved Mantle.
The mages lost a lot because of Sion's Remove Magic. The last one dies to the Balor's natural weapon.
That vorpal strike actually uses the slay opcode, which is a distinct effect from the vorpal hit opcode. So that string is a little misleading.
We work our way up the hallway, burning a Heal spell when I let our Glabrezu get in too deep...
...and then I see that we've still got demons to take care of.
A Nabassu dies quickly enough, but we now have an enemy Balor on hand. It robs both our own Balor and our Glabrezu of their Improved Haste spells using Remove Magic before it teleports all the way across the map, to the sanctuary room where Mollyboo has been hiding.
It dispels Mollyboo's defenses, and a drow mage blocks the way out. Mollyboo is vulnerable, but she can't escape. I have her drink a Potion of Magic Shielding while Sion blocks the Balor. He wastes a Maze on the Balor's MR, preventing him from casting PFMW until the Balor has had a chance to kill him.
Our drow cleric, who hasn't done anything of value during this whole fight, uses the Efreeti Bottle to injure the drow mage, who no longer has any defenses to speak of. Mollyboo can escape now!
The Balor casts Symbol, Death. I completely forgot about its spellcasting abilities; I've been assuming it's just like the Balor in our party. Against the odds, Sion survives.
Mollyboo goes invisible using a potion and waits next to our Balor. Our Balor can't fit through the choke point to our sanctuary room, so it can't engage the enemy Balor unless it comes out voluntarily.
I could have Sion run outside so our Balor could fight the enemy Balor, but it's not worth bringing that monster within range of Mollyboo. Instead, I send in the Glabrezu with the Rifthome Axe, as it just now got across the map from the golem room. The Balor tries to stun Sion, but Sion once again makes a lucky saving throw.
Although we hardly need him at this point. He's already used his best spells.
Our Glabrezu drinks a Potion of Invulnerability to help it shrug off the enemy Balor's instant death attacks and the two demons start duking it out.
Then the Balor changes its mind and comes out into the main chamber, where it finally engages our own Balor. It hurls another Symbol, Stun spell at Sion, but an extra Potion of Invulnerability (the save bonuses stack) ensures that nobody important gets stunned.
Our Balor doesn't have instant-casting mage spells like the other Balor, but due to its 13+ fighter levels, it gets a full extra attack per round. And its equipment provides even more bonuses, giving it a critical edge over the enemy Balor. With our Glabrezu on its back, the enemy Balor can't compete.
Time to clean up the remaining demons, the ones who never made it out of the golem room. I assume this will be a simple matter, but it seems that there's a second Balor waiting for us. It kills our Kuo-toa Prince in a single hit.
I pull back and deal with the demons one at a time. They're not too dangerous on their own.
That last one was screenshot 1000!
Only the second enemy Balor remains. We lure it to the doorway by braining it with the Dwarven Thrower, then bring the Balor to the front to engage it. Our Balor drinks a Potion of Invulnerability to avoid the fate that befell our Kuo-toa Prince.
Victory! We fight some scattered drow outside the temple, but the only setback was the Balor getting stunned.
We wipe out the entire city, then stop by the gate to exit to clear the area before Adalon teleports us right in the thick of things. Fire Storm breaks the enemy, clearing the way to the surface.
We finally march out into the sunlight and sit down for tea with Elhan, the leader of the surface elves. He asks us about our relationship with the drow.
We tell him the truth.
Current party:
Mollyboo, Seducer
Balor, Fighter
Kuo-toa Prince, Cleric/Thief
Glabrezu, Fighter
Sion, Conjurer
Drow, Cleric
Mollyboo: A "Solo" Seducer in Baldur's Gate 2
Part 16
Previous posts here:https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899226/#Comment_899226
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899249/#Comment_899249
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899476/#Comment_899476
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899528/#Comment_899528
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899532/#Comment_899532
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899677/#Comment_899677
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899690/#Comment_899690
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899705/#Comment_899705
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899899/#Comment_899899
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900093/#Comment_900093
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900164/#Comment_900164
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900364/#Comment_900364
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900440/#Comment_900440
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900689/#Comment_900689
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900912/#Comment_900912
Back to Athkatla! The Adventurer Mart is the first stop, though I notice some strange characters outside.
With all the mods I have installed, there are plenty of characters I've never seen before. But those German-sounding names and those suits of armor make the implication clear: these guys are vampire hunters, from the same mod with German-only strings that made Mollyboo into a vampire so long ago.
I make sure to be invisible when I pass them. I don't know how strong they are, and I don't intend to find out.
I want to do the Planar Prison quest before we tackle Bodhi, but another mod interrupts our visit to the sewers.
Soon, some drow guy appears and talks to us about a quest we refused earlier. See, when we first entered the Promenade, a little boy told us that if we didn't go talk to a group of drow nearby, they'd hurt him. So we met the drow, promised them to do their little quest, and then went on our merry way.
But this mod forces you to go on this new quest, which I find offensive. I am quite sick of dealing with drow, and I should be able to say no to them. They drag me off anyway.
Worse yet, these jerks immediately ask us to commit evil deeds for them.
You know what? Screw all these people. They can drag me to Ust Natha 2, but they can't make me stay. Sion has the Teleport spell.
We kill Mekrath, steal the Rod of Resurrection, grab the Portal Gem, bring it to Raelis Shai, and start fighting our way out of the Planar Prison. At this point, the Coiled Cabal is no longer a serious threat.
The Warden is another story. He gets a Time Stop off the ground, and even with 10 HP regeneration per second, our Kuo-toa Prince can't stand up to the Warden's attacks.
Our Fallen Planetar can bring him back in two round with Raise Dead and Heal, however, and in the meantime, our Balor and Glabrezu stomp all over the Warden's allies while the Warden and Sion trade magic attacks.
We lower the Warden's MR (I forget that he actually has none) and lower his saving throws, opening him up for a Symbol, Stun spell.
Sion gets Mazed and it takes several tries, but eventually we manage to stun the Warden.
But as the reader might have guessed, I'm not here to kill the Warden. Mollyboo, whom I've decided to keep as a vampire, uses her natural weapon on the stunned Warden.
She gets automatic hits and the Warden is already under the effects of Greater Malison, so seducing him is little trouble.
The Warden has no special immunities or resistances, but he is a level 20 fighter/mage with a few fighter HLA and an extra attack per round. He replaces our Glabrezu, because I still have hopes that our underleveled drow cleric will provide some much-needed Death Ward and Chaotic Commands spells.
For some reason, we get ambushed by another band of drow on the way to meet Bodhi. We rest immediately so Bodhi's vampires allies will vanish in the sunlight, but this also means Mollyboo suffers her standard penalties for operating in light: blindness, 8 STR, and 1 DEX. On top of this, the drow opens with a Remove Magic spell that wipes out the only defensive spell we have left, a Stoneskin on Sion.
I have the Warden cast Time Stop, but the enemy gets there first. A Horrid Wilting spell descends upon the party, slaying Sion instantly.
If the Hand and Eye of Vecna didn't cause CON penalty-related damage to the user, Sion should have survived with 2 HP left. But he did not. Mollyboo only avoids death using a Potion of Magic Shielding.
Why are the drow so mean to us? What did we ever do to them?
But the Warden finishes casting Time Stop, and wipes out the two nearest enemies with ease (I don't know what happened to the others).
Unfortunately, he gets stuck behind his own allies. He can't attack the enemy mage until Time Stop wears off.
Fortunately, that enemy mage buffs with Improved Mantle, which the Balor can bypass with its natural weapon.
We get ambushed by vampires immediately afterwards (I don't know we got to nightfall again), but a Sunray spell from Daystar, courtesy of Item Randomizer, obliterates most of them.
In retrospect, this was an incredibly stupid move, because Mollyboo, as a vampire herself, ostensibly could have been exploded if she was in range of Sunray.
We overwhelm the vampires on the first level of Bodhi's lair with brute force and proceed to the basement. Holy Water and a True Seeing spell from our Fallen Planetar give us an advantage, but Cloud of Bats is a powerful counter considering how desperately our Warden needs his spellcasting.
Notice that the Balor is hanging back. This is because he can't fit through the door without switching to wolf form, but he can't get out of wolf form until the duration runs out; he can't cancel it on his own.
The vampires' fear effect sends our Fallen Planetar running. Our drow cleric responds with Remove Fear, only to see it get dispelled and the Fallen Planetar sent running once more.
Bodhi herself isn't too dangerous, because the elven holy water imposes Slow on her, but Manasseh and Hazzerbazzer are mid-level vampire mages with some excellent defenses and magic attacks. And even when we're immune to level drain, SCS vampires can drain our Constitution.
Only PFMW can block that effect, but even the Warden can't cast it with Cloud of Bats active.
Sion uses Time Stop to land some debuffers and Horrid Wilting, but the effect isn't too dramatic. The enemy mages' defenses are still mostly intact.
The Warden gets Mazed and we kill a Mislead clone and a regular vampire, but otherwise, this fight is kind of at a standstill, with neither party able to deal with PFMW.
The enemy lands PW: Stun on Sion because he has no spell deflection active, but with no spell deflection active, it's also quite possible for his Fallen Planetar to rescue him. For the first time, our Balor gets a chance to participate, as Artemis Entreri wanders into its range.
With two enemy mages on the map, Sion's safety doesn't last. The Fallen Planetar adds a bit of damage, but the enemy's PFMW spells still haven't run out.
Finally, those PFMW spells wear off. The Warden returns, but gets pummeled by Magic Missiles, and while he gets PFMW off the ground, another Cloud of Bats is roaming around, ready to shut down his spellcasting. The Kuo-toa Prince has been soaking up CON drain this whole time and is one hit away from death.
A miracle happens, and our Balor lands a vorpal strike on Manasseh when she gets close.
Sion grants party-wide Improved Haste via Wish and the Warden quickly takes advantage of Hazzerbazzer's lack of weapon immunities.
Hazzerbazzer kills our Fallen Planetar with CON drain, but another is on the way.
Without PFMW, all Hazzerbazzer can do is delay the inevitable.
Bodhi is alone and helpless. We put her down.
Notice that she no longer gives 90,000 XP. One of my mods tweaks XP values, which I compensated for by using EEKeeper, but it seems we're losing more XP than I thought we were.
I think we're ready for Suldannessellar.
Current party:
Mollyboo, Seducer
Balor, Fighter
Kuo-toa Prince, Cleric/Thief
Warden, Fighter/Mage
Sion, Conjurer
Drow, Cleric
Mollyboo: A "Solo" Seducer in Baldur's Gate 2
Part 17
Previous posts here:https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899226/#Comment_899226
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899249/#Comment_899249
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899476/#Comment_899476
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899528/#Comment_899528
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899532/#Comment_899532
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899677/#Comment_899677
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899690/#Comment_899690
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899705/#Comment_899705
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899899/#Comment_899899
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900093/#Comment_900093
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900164/#Comment_900164
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900364/#Comment_900364
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900440/#Comment_900440
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900689/#Comment_900689
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900912/#Comment_900912
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900928/#Comment_900928
On the way out of the Graveyard District, we get ambushed by the Chosen of Cyric encounter, a mod fight I completely forgot about.
Back in my Undergate run, I tried to avoid this fight, but the game crashed whenever I tried to talk my way out of it. I had to fight it out in order to progress--and it was pretty hideous. So, even though I know this fight is extremely difficult, I have to go through with it due to crash issues.
Unfortunately, we start off without no buffs whatsoever, even long-duration ones like Stoneskin. The enemy uses some killer backstabs, so I have Mollyboo down a Potion of Invisibility immediately after regaining control of my party.
Bad move.
I send Mollyboo running while our fighters hunt down the enemy. Sion is buffed with PFMW, and I know that these enemies use magical weapons, but it seems that Venduris also carries a normal weapon. Sion dies in a single blow.
I should have just had him cast Summon Fallen Planetar.
A Chaos spell is on its way to Mollyboo, but to my immense relief, she manages to make her saving throw despite not having a clear aura to drink a Potion of Magic Shielding.
The Warden gets hit early and loses his Time Stop spell, so I switch him to casting Stoneskin.
He makes it! Mollyboo also drinks a Potion of Magic Shielding. She starts using the Boots of the Gargoyle to ward off a backstab (they make the wearer immune and also can be used to generate 2 Stoneskins).
Our Kuo-toa Prince receives a backstab from another thief, besides Venduris, and I see a troubling message.
If the Warden gets hit with that, we could be in deep trouble.
I need Mollyboo to be able to stay invisible without worrying about Venduris' Detect Illusions ability. Since I've heard long ago that the Staff of the Magi, Ring of Invisibility, and Potions of Invisibility all are protected by Non-Detection, just like a thief's stealth ability (I assume because they have no secondary type, like illusion spells do), I bring the Warden over to cast Non-Detection on Mollyboo, who has successfully created 2 Stoneskins.
He makes it again! I send Mollyboo running just in case she gets hit before she can turn invisible. Meanwhile, we lose our largely useless drow cleric to another backstab.
This battle is already going horribly. But then, in a flash, everything truly goes to hell.
A Power Word: Kill has finished off the wounded Warden before he could recover, and the enemy cleric has landed a Harm spell on Mollyboo, dropping her to 1 HP.
She has switched to mist form automatically, and now is immune to damage.
The bad news is that she's panicked, a side effect of the mist form, and I cannot get her to drink a potion, nor can I repair her morale with the Fallen Planetar Sion never got to summon or the drow cleric who just died in one hit. I have to wait until she recovers. But I don't know when that will be.
The Kuo-toa Prince targets Mollyboo with the Rod of Resurrection. In my install, it takes 2 whole seconds for the healing effect to trigger, which might not be enough. But I don't have a lot of other options here. The Kuo-toa Prince can regenerate 60 HP per round, but I've always known that it was vulnerable to rapid burst damage. And this thief here apparently can backstab at will thanks to either Assassination or Mislead.
I don't think the Kuo-toa Prince can use the rod before it dies. Since potions active a second or two faster than wands and similar items, I hand the rod to the Balor and have the Kuo-toa Prince drink a Potion instead. Time drags on while the Kuo-toa Prince, who somehow clouded his aura, tries to drink the potion.
The Balor uses the Rod! If Mollyboo can maintain mist form for another 2 seconds, she'll be able to drink a potion and figure out a plan while invisible.
The Kuo-toa Prince can't drink his potion in time.
To my absolute disbelief, I discover that Venduris' Detect Illusions ability can somehow remove Non-Detection.
When did that happen? Detect Illusions has never had that ability! That's not what the Detect Illusions skill does!
The Balor keeps getting backstabbed, and it hasn't been able to take down any enemies yet. It tries to use the Rod of Resurrection on the Warden, but its aura isn't clear. Meanwhile, Mollyboo loses her buffs for some reason.
The enemy tries to kill Mollyboo, but she's still immune while in mist form. The Balor brings back the Warden.
The Warden's aura isn't quite clear, but it should come up soon enough. If he can cast Improved Mantle within 2 seconds, when the heal effect kicks in, he should be safe for 4 whole rounds.
Time slows down.
Fractions of a second tick by, and the Warden gets a little closer to safety as the game progress frame by agonizing frame.
It seems that 2 seconds was too slow.
The Balor is in bad shape, but if it can survive for just 3 or 4 seconds, it can heal itself to full.
But it can't make it.
And now Mollyboo has returned to regular form.
But I still can't control her. She's unselectable. I can't make her take a single step or a single action. At least we could buy a few more seconds of safety with a Potion of Invisibility, and maybe she could run around fast enough to avoid a fatal backstab. With enough kiting, I could resurrect the rest of the party besides the now-chunked Warden; I have plenty of Rod of Resurrection charges.
But all that depends on my being able to control Mollyboo. Frames tick by, and I still can't select her. She just stands there, catatonic, and I don't know why it's happening or how long it will take for her to recover. If there was ever any explanation from the mod in question, it was written in German.
The enemy with Mislead lands another backstab. It has a 95% hit chance, and Mollyboo goes down to 2 HP.
I know her future is bleak, but I click her over and over again, hoping I can select her the instant before she dies.
But she never wakes up.
Whatever that vampire mod did to Mollyboo, it made her unselectable even when her mist form ended. The enemy finished her off.
I don't believe it. This run was going so incredibly well. We had overcome all sorts of ridiculous challenges despite the crippling vulnerability of the Seducer kit, taking control of bizarre critters with strange abilities we'd never been able to have in a party. We were crushing the opposition.
Then, even though I wanted to avoid the fight, I chose the dialogue option to begin the fight, because past experience had taught me that a bug made it impossible to resolve the conflict peacefully. The party was crushed by enemies who arrived with massive pre-buffs and removed all of our defenses automatically. And who possessed a special version of Detect Illusions that the player can never access. And we couldn't bounce back because I accidentally installed a mod that vastly weakened the Rod of Resurrection by imposing that crushing 2-second delay to its most important effect.
And then, because of a mod I installed by accident, which only appeared in German due to a bug, potentially depriving me of information I needed, and which I used to make Mollyboo into a vampire by accident, then disabled Mollyboo for unknown reasons. And which kept her catatonic even when the ostensible cause, her mist form, had worn off.
It's ridiculous. At least two bugs led to Mollyboo's death. And normally I permit reloads caused by bugs.
But what if those bugs weren't there? Would I really have opted out of this fight, or would I have tried to take on the Chosen of Cyric? Would I really have survived if Mollyboo weren't a vampire, and she was not rendered catotonic? Or if the Rod of Resurrection worked properly?
I don't know. And that makes all the difference. In previous runs when I tolerated bug- or crash-related reloads, I knew for a fact that removing the bug would have meant survival. But this time, I'm not sure.
And that uncertainty means that, as much as I love this run and as much fun as I had, it would just feel compromised if I finished it. Because I don't know for sure if I would have made it if the bug hadn't gotten in the way.
So this run is over. Mollyboo the Seducer is dead.
But I'm mad. And I'm not done here.
I'm starting over. All the way from Candlekeep, with a new character, a new Seducer. But this time will be different. This time, I am going to beat the Chosen of Cyric.
This time, I'm not pulling any punches.
Frisky Bits: A "Solo" Seducer in Baldur's Gate
Part 18
Previous posts here:https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899226/#Comment_899226
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899249/#Comment_899249
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899476/#Comment_899476
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899528/#Comment_899528
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899532/#Comment_899532
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899677/#Comment_899677
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899690/#Comment_899690
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899705/#Comment_899705
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899899/#Comment_899899
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900093/#Comment_900093
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900164/#Comment_900164
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900364/#Comment_900364
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900440/#Comment_900440
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900689/#Comment_900689
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900912/#Comment_900912
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900928/#Comment_900928
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With Mollyboo dead, I have decided to start all over from Candlekeep. But this time, I'm not going with Mollyboo herself. I'm creating a different character, also a Seducer.
Our main character this time is Frisky Bits!
Don't you just want to pick them up and spin them around and give them the biggest hug ever?
Frisky Bits is a nickname for Frisk I found in some possibly trashy Undertale fanart. The portrait is from Littletale. I realize it seems incongruous, the portrait and the name, but I've grown tired of the original name and the portrait I used to use, so I switched both.
Anyway, Frisky Bits' stats are subpar because I couldn't get a good roll. Stat tomes will fill it in.
I want to hurry back and make up the progress I've lost, so I will be using mod items up until we reach the Chosen of Cyric. I want to beat the whole tetralogy solo without using mod items, but I've already done everything before Suldannessellar without mod items, so until I get back there, anything goes.
That should explain the incoming craziness.
First up, Shoal!
That's supposed to be a bow and arrow, not a katana that does 20d20+20 damage and grants 10 APR. But I don't like spending five minutes kiting when I already know what the outcome is going to be. I am not the most disciplined no-reloader around.
For other fights, things are less clear, so I have to fight them normally. I run into Neera by accident and get into serious trouble, until I manage to charm a Thayan Wizard and turn his limited spells against his own friends.
I also use kiting and seducing Algernon to isolate a Huge Spider to bring into the party. As for Silke, I do the same thing I did last time: charm her and Firebead Elvenhair before the fight and use their summons to destroy her after talking to Garrick.
I then use the spider to deal with the Sirines at the temple to the east.
I also recruit a kitty cat from the ankheg farm to serve as a tank. With its 90% physical damage resistance, it'll be great once it gets a few levels and no longer has 1 hit point. It's also immune to Hold Person, like a lot of awesome critters a Seducer can get in BG1.
We also go to the tombs with the Wand of Fire and recruit a bat, who will once again serve as our mage, though we nearly lose our spider in the process.
It'll take a little while before our bat learns Invisibility, so we have to worry about ambushes for a while. Our cat and bat are still pretty vulnerable, so it only takes one hit for a bandit to kill somebody.
Or a failed save vs. polymorph.
On the way to Mutamin's Garden, we ditch our spider, who has no long-term future in the party. We use Korax to score some kills, but by the time we reach the Medusas, he's too worn out.
It should be possible to seduce Korax, but it would require Blindness because Korax switches to hostile even after being charmed. But that shouldn't prevent Domination from allowing Seduction to work on a still-red Korax.
We get our cat to level 2 and our bat to level 3, which makes the ankheg area much more doable, now that the cat can tank critter and the bat can knock them unconscious.
The cat still dies sometimes, but we can afford to raise it, and we get another level for everybody.
We also pay a visit to Narcillus. Normally he'd be too much for us, but the cat buys us enough time for Frisky Bits to drain a few key spells from Narcillus, allowing us to nail him with the Wand of Fire.
With the money we raised killing ankhegs, we can now buy a bunch of Stone to Flesh scrolls and crank up our levels with the basilisk XP loop. It also lets us take down Mutamin by petrifying him, un-petrifying him, and then nailing him with the Wand of Fire when the Stone to Flesh scroll leaves him with 1 HP left.
Frisky Bits reaches level 9, the cat reaches level 6, and the bat reaches level 7. Time to go get some mod items!
Tristan and Isolde have a couple of very important weapons: a +2 throwing dagger with 5 APR and Doufas' Saber, which is a +3 scimitar that paralyzes and deals magic damage on hit and grants 3 APR, easily the most overpowered weapon in BG1 (and in all honesty, better than almost any vanilla BG2 weapon). As it turns out, we can win this fight entirely with Frisky Bits' Seducer abilities, charming Tristan into killing Isolde and then backstabbing him to land a kill with Betrayal.
We march to the Nashkel mines, where we use the Wand of Fire and Domination to deal with some mod-introduced dwarven bounty hunters of some sort.
Then, when I realize that the leader of the group, Gorken Bloodaxe, is coded as a mage, I use Seduction on him and discover that he is extremely, extremely powerful despite only being level 3.
Incredible stats across the board, including illegal values for both DEX and CON, plus 2.5 base attacks per round and a base THAC0 of 5, like a level 15 warrior.
Think about that. A single-classed mage who has fighter-grade stats. Testing even finds that he keeps his low THAC0 when he levels up. This guy's going to be a powerful character even into Throne of Bhaal.
Deeper in the mines, we use Domination to rob Mulahey of his spells. Back in Nashkel, we use Betrayal to put down Nimbul.
Tranzig has a better save vs. spell, but he needs a save vs. polymorph to resist the Doofus Saber.
At the bandit camp, Confusion frustrates the enemy fighters, and while both our mages and our kitty cat fail saves against Slow, Frisky Bits has excellent saving throws and is also a pretty lucky shot with Arrows of Biting.
And when Frisky Bits gets surprised, we have potions on hand to keep them safe.
One of my mods allows mages to craft potions and scrolls, and eventually wands at higher levels, and Gorken Bloodaxe got assigned that ability via a script, which means we can get as many Potions of Invisibility as we want, as long as we have the gold.
To bolster the party's offensive power, we seduce a Carrion Crawler on the way to the Flesh Golem cave. To get an anti-mage tank, we also seduce a Gray Ooze from the Nashkel mines. When things get hectic, as they do in Ulcaster, we use wands to secure the advantage. Gorken Bloodaxe is our star character, with the ability to tank, cast spells, use wands, and hit hard and often.
Deeper in the Ulcaster ruins is a mod-introduced area with some stupidly overpowered items I've mentioned before. Turns out the rather dangerous enemies here have no ability to handle invisibility--you can walk right past them. The only danger is traps, which our Gray Ooze can handle easily.
We grab our prize, the Amulet of Wyvren Summoning, and use it to wipe out all the enemies and also generate a bunch of sellable wyvern heads that we can store in the Turquoise Bag of Holding we got from Thalantyr.
I already beat BG1 once with a solo Seducer; I'm not doing this for the challenge. I just want to have a full tetralogy run with a new character. The wyverns trivialize everything, including mod enemies, so it's the perfect way for me to get through the game I already played and get back to the game I didn't get to finish: BG2.
Of course, sometimes even the wyverns aren't fast enough for me.
Only a handful of encounters really matter at this point. In any situation in which we are not ambushed and therefore have all the time we want to buff the party, the wyverns are functionally identical to CTRL-Y.
Again, this is mostly just me going through the motions to get to BG2.
Even though we can use mod items in this run, selling off the extra ones is enough to buy several kingdoms.
Of course, we don't always have time to summon a horde of wyverns, which is where other tactics come in. Sometimes that can be as simple as using the Doofus Saber...
...but for the Iron Throne fight, things aren't quite so easy. Gorken Bloodaxe loses all of his defenses to Remove Magic, and both our party and the enemy end up crippled due to Confusion.
The enemy is mostly dead by the time we lose control of our wyverns, but it doesn't take long before those confused wyverns destroy our party, including chunking our Gray Ooze.
How does Frisky Bits survive these bouts of bad luck? Easy: they stay invisible all the time. Gorken Bloodaxe fights the last enemy on a dramatic battle on the roof.
I bring back the Gray Ooze via my typical chunking-related workaround (multiplayer save file stuff), but really, it's just because I don't know who else to put in that sixth party slot. It's not like I'll keep it for long, anyway.
No screenshots from Candlekeep; there's nothing interesting there. Our Carrion Crawler's poor defenses come into play in the fight with Cythandria, but Gorken Bloodaxe and the Doofus Saber still win the day. He honestly could solo the game with ease.
What about Slythe and Kristin? Well, no bedside antics this time, so we don't have to worry about Frisky Bits getting caught with their pants down, like Mollyboo did. Instead, we smash Slythe, wait out Kristin's Protection from Magical Weapons spell, and then Gorken Bloodaxe cuts through her defenses with the Doofus Saber.
We head to the Ducal Palace. I have no intention of fighting fair here. Especially not after what happened in my first tetralogy no-reload run.
What about Sarevok himself? No, I'm not here for the challenge. I just want to take a Seducer all the way to Melissan. And Sarevok's party is getting in the way.
Then I let the wyverns die and have Gorken Bloodaxe tackle Semaj and Sarevok more or less on his own.
Sarevok goes down! BG1 is ours!
Riding to Siege of Dragonspear on the backs of wyverns fills us with determination.
Current party:
Frisky Bits, Seducer
Gorken Bloodaxe, Mage
Cat, Fighter
Carrion Crawler, Fighter
Gray Ooze, Fighter
Bat, Mage
Frisky Bits: A "Solo" Seducer in Siege of Dragonspear
Part 19
Previous posts here:https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899226/#Comment_899226
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899249/#Comment_899249
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899476/#Comment_899476
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899528/#Comment_899528
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899532/#Comment_899532
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899677/#Comment_899677
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899690/#Comment_899690
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899705/#Comment_899705
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/899899/#Comment_899899
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900093/#Comment_900093
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900164/#Comment_900164
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900364/#Comment_900364
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900440/#Comment_900440
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900689/#Comment_900689
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900912/#Comment_900912
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900928/#Comment_900928
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900951/#Comment_900951
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/900997/#Comment_900997
First order of business in SoD is money. We have a bunch of extra wyvern heads, which solves that problem more or less instantly.
We speed through the first dungeon and the second as well. These days, I fight the lich properly: using the Secret Revealed to avoid having to fight it properly at all.
I still want Morentherene in the party. The Amulet of Wyvren Summoning might win us practically every battle in SoD, but it will not win us the final fight. We'll need heavy hitter like Morentherene for that. Like last time, it's a long fight in which our cat takes a lot of punches until our wight, seduced in the second dungeon, level drains the green dragon enough for us to bring it into the party. Unlike last time, I use Feeblemind to keep things safe, and use Remove Magic to dispel it so the Seduction script can trigger.
Same goes for Ziatar. She's honestly not that great, but it would be weird to bring Morentherene without her sister.
Power considerations aside, having Morentherene on the team is just plain cool.
As always, Darskhelin takes a lot more work due to his excellent saving throws and 90% magic resistance. We accidentally kill our wight early on, though.
The Wand of Paralyzation once again buys us time, and a Raise Dead scroll from Ziatar lets us get the wight back in order without having to rest and lose our progress against Darskhelin.
After getting Darskhelin, we no longer need to seduce anyone until BG2. Frisky Bits therefore dual-classes to mage; we don't need any Seducer levels for the rest of SoD. I originally intended on getting a single-classed Seducer to Melissan, but I'm concerned about Frisky Bits' defenses when we get back to the Chosen of Cyric encounter.
On to Bridgefort! I ran into a problem here.
See, in the level drain thingy questline, you have to get a scroll from a guy in the Crusader camp in order to save the folks in the cellar beneath Bridgefort. We intimidate him into handing over the scroll, which is otherwise stored in a container. But when we try to open the container again, after we already persuaded him not to mess with us...
...he turns the entire camp hostile.
We hurry to make our escape, but getting past all those red circles is a nightmare, especially when the enemy has divination spells to screw with our escape plans.
I prioritize getting Frisky Bits out safely, but the rest of the party has trouble. Drained of a level each and completely unbuffed, our party is really not ready to tackle an entire army while flanked on all sides.
Wands do awful things to the enemy, but they're not enough to bail us out.
In the interests of overpoweredness, I've taken advantage of one of my mods, which allows me to assign kits to unkitted characters--which means Darskhelin is a Dwarven Defender somehow. But even those overwhelming advantages aren't enough to win this fight.
Morentherene and the cat are still extremely, extremely resilient, but they're surrounded by enemies, and they don't have remotely as much offensive potential as the entire Crusader camp put together. They're trapped.
Morentherene may have sky-high HP, but it's a finite resource, and even her subterranean AC can't keep off an enemy force with APR in the double digits.
The cat has the Defender of Easthaven, which we bought back in BG1 from Joluv in Sorcerous Sundries, and the flail gives the cat 100% resistance to crushing, piercing, and slashing damage. But his missile damage resistance is still 90% and he has no elemental resistances aside from what he gets from a Potion of Magic Shielding. Which means the enemy can slowly grind him down with scratch damage.
Even with potions, the cat can't heal itself fast enough. Not even a kitty cat can stand up against an army.
But after all this time, Frisky Bits has had many rounds to summon Greater Wyverns. We send them through the gates in groups alongside the Flaming Fist, who arrive a while after the fight begins. Those wyverns do everything that our entire party could not, because they are truly infinite in number. Frisky Bits waits at a safe distance, lest they get caught off-guard and somehow killed.
The wyverns also stop the Crusaders from blowing up the bridge. That amulet can do basically anything up until the final battle of SoD.
Overwhelming offensive power carries us through the endgame, including the mage fight that ended my first, undocumented Seducer run.
Also, check out the kitty cat's resistances when we give it the Helm of Dumathoin and the gargoyle cloak.
The fight with Hephernaan is very hectic, but overwhelming force wins us that fight, too.
I even overdo it with the wyverns at the invasion of the Coalition Camp. I let them fight the last batch of enemies for too long. By the time the rest of the party bothered to engage the enemy, there was no one left to fight.
I forgot to obtain and place the Barrel of Bwoosh, which means we have to enter the Dragonspear Castle grounds from the back route. With a horde of Greater Wyverns as our wall and Morentherene as an archer with her throwing axe, the enemies crumble in turn.
I don't even have screenshots for the rest of the siege. Nothing stood a chance.
The final battle is another story. Greater Wyverns can't touch Belhifet; all they can do in this fight is soak up damage and take up space--which doesn't work very well in a fight with no choke points and where the enemies run around and spawn in scattered places.
Fortunately, we still have high damage output. Gorken Bloodaxe (which, now that I think about, is basically just Korgan Bloodaxe's name with the K and G switched out) butchers Hephernaan with the Doofus Saber.
I cast Enchanted Weapon on Darskhelin to try to get an early INT drain kill on Bellyfat, but the damage alone kills him. Gorken Bloodaxe lands the final blow.
Victory!
Things will be very different from now on. I'll still have some mod items in Shadows of Amn, but nothing nearly as game-breaking as the Amulet of Wyvren Summoning or the Doofus Saber. Instead, we'll have to rely on our party members more, which means combat in SoA will be much more interesting and much more dangerous.
Plus, I have some big new ideas for what kind of critters to bring into the party.
Siege of Dragonspear comes to an end. Being accused of murdering Duke Silvershield's daughter and watching the city of Baldur's Gate turn against us fills us with determination.
Similarly when fighting the likes of Mal-Kalen in the future, perhaps a protection from the undead scroll might be what was required. However, I decided not to try that out until I was MUCH stronger.
Setup/WeiDU: (BWS/BGT: SCS/Spell Revisions/Item Revisions/aTweaks/Polytweak/Item Randomiser)
TOC:
1. Einleitung.
2. Chapter I.
3. Chapter II.
4. Chapter III .
Chapter IV.
In the Bandit Camp we, just like last time, took a position in the South-Eastern corner of the area, then Imoen scouted ahead and sounded the alarm.
We had some skellies for distraction and filled an approaches to our positions with Obscuring Mists (Skellies are immune to it and archers, who are the main forces of our enemies, are heavily handicapped). This time Taugosz Khosann saved vs Hold Person but was distracted by skellies long enough for us to deal with Raemon, who advanced too close to us (Flame Strike+some Arrows of Fire):
Meanwhile Jaheira cast Entangle into the mix, me - Web and we all concentrated on Taugosz - a dangerous heavy hitter under Oil of Speed buff.
With him gone Britik got the same treatment while Venkt was elecrocuted:
Some carpet bombing with Fireballs alone with a bit of Acid from Melf's Arrow spelled Hakt's and Credus' doom. Imoen shot down Ardenor Crush.
A few more Fireballs and only smoldering corpses cover the clearing. The loot is quite rich. Full Plate Mail (for sale - Item Revisions made them very unappealing), Girdle of Piercing, Boots of Grounding, Manual of Quickness of Action, Spell Thrust scroll to remove those irritating MGoIs, Tome of Leadership and Influence. The latter is very useful with IR Store Revisions installed, as general reputation doesn't provide shopping discounts anymore and only Charisma does (CHR 15/16 (-5%), CHR 17/18 (-10%), CHR 19/20 (-15%), CHR 21/22 (-20%), CHR 23/24 (-25%), CHR 25 (-30%)) so every point invested counts.
Further in the Camp we found the weapon which Khalid will use for the remainder of the game:
In the Cloakwood Lodge Jaheira managed to peacefully resolve Aldeth Sashenstar vs Seniyad dispute given that we will help some other Druids-in-Distress. The task is not new to us so we agreed.
Next area is filled with all kinds of Spiders but they are not a major threat for us anymore.
Druids though, with all their 'charming' summons and abilities, are. We just can't have enough Break Enchantment spell memorized to counter all their numerous Charms.
"Vanilla" Druids aren't that bad if we have some space for maneuver
but if you come to the new area, after a lengthy ambush fight with two Wyverns and three Giant Spiders, weary and drained of spells, and immediately have to fight a bunch of some mod-introduced Druids alone with old good Hamadryad and a pack of animals, things are completely different...
Five Druids, at least two of Hamadryads for each of those, not counting a local Hamadryad skulking nearby, who happily joined the fray immediately, means loads (no - LOADS!) of Charm Person flying around... This was just a mess... And the closest call I've had in the whole run... An opposition itself isn't particuarly strong but our best ranged hunters (Jaheira, with her excellent skills, and Khalid, with his new crossbow), being charmed - are...
First, we immediatelly ran east, dropping some Ogres from the wand for distraction followed with Obscuring Mist, Entangle, Web, Slow and some Skellies. Next Xan applied Haste and Viconia some buffs.
One Druid died but remaining finished their Call Woodland Beings spells and began to throw Charm Person spells. First succumbed Imoen, but just as Viconia cured her with Break Enchantment, both Jaheira and Khalid where charmed as well. Now I began to chant the spell on Khalid but he managed to severely injure Imoen before being cured.
But this is not over yet, as he was immediately charmed again and scored another critical on poor Imoen. She sipped the Potion of Invisibility to stay alive while Xan, being Jaheira's target, began to chant Invisibility spell. But he was quickly overwhelmed by a bunch of snakes besides Jaheira's attacks and soon was dropped down to 2hp left. Worrying he will be interrupted with such an amount of attacks I had him drink a potion of Invisibility instead. Under the heavy pressure he managed to do that just in time.
With no other valid targets for them in view I became the one. And I'm entangled. To survive I have to use our one last Potion of Invisibility. And I've barely managed to do that.
Viconia stayed one last standing while even more Hamadryads appeared so she cast Sanctuary and withdrew to the east to wait them down.
Jaheira regained her sences and applied the IR Potion of Invulnerability which allowed her to indure the non-magical animals' or guards' attacks. With some enemies unsummoned and some eliminated we, brushed and bruised, finally clawed through this encounter.
All subsequent encounters in the woods pales in comparison with this one... For our troubles we got some weapons we'll hardly use (even though they are nice ones).
to be continued...
It's now some kind of undead-specific Protection from Evil spell and that's it.
Just be aware of that.
I want to do a trilogy run, but want to use a kit of the sort below. I wonder if any of the learned folks here are capable of cooking up a mod for this.
*** Sorceror kit -- "Eldritch Knight" ***
(based on NWN2 prestige class)
advantages:
+1 Thac0 every 3 levels up to 20
+1/2 APR at lvl 10 and 20
+ weapon selection every 4 levels (and one extra at lvl 1)
+ ability to specialize in any melee weapon and style (for flavor,
probably exclude shields)
+ hit dice: d6
disadvantages:
- can cast 1 less spell per level (like DD)
- caster level reduced by 1/4th (rounded up)
- spell progression reduced by 1/4th (e.g. you get your first 3rd
level spell at lvl 8 etc.)
The idea is that you play this as a spellsword where you select buffs for your spells.
Example: at end of SoA you have an 18th level Edlritch Knight (effective Sorcerer level of 14) that knows
1 lvl 7 spell, 2 lvl 6 spells, can cast stone skin 4 times a day etc., dual wielding katanas for 3APR and thac0 of 7.
It is then comparable to Fighter/Mage at same XP, but on a sorcerer chassis.
"Here is a file. Put it in this here directory."
The kit by 'Tome', though a sorcerer, appears to be unbalanced and overpowered.