Introducing: Arbogast's party and the Legacy of Bhaal, Part I
This will be my first and propably only attempt at no-reloading a LoB-run. I'm using a full custom party, built for efficiency and personal comfort. Every character is named after an important NPC or god in the world of Aventuria, the setting of my favorite P&P RPG, The Dark Eye.
My Bhaalspawn is the totemic druid Arbogast - in The Dark Eye, Arbogast der Alte is the ancient archdruid of the kingdom of Andergast. Here, he's not quite so old and powerful - yet. His primary role is that of a summoner, as summons will be able to at least somewhat stand up to the powerful LoB-enemies in melee combat. His stats:
*Darts, *Slings - planning to get him *Clubs and *Quarterstaffs next
Next is the cleric/thief Sybia, named after Sultana Sybia von Zorgan, who happens to be a priestess of the god of thieves (and trade), Phex. In Baldur's Gate, this will be a pure support character: Thief abilities and cleric buffs/summons is what she'll provide. The stats:
*Slings, *War Hammers - planning to get *Quarterstaffs and *Flails next
As my third characer, we have Nahema, a fighter/illusionist. Nahema is a mysterious and powerful (and possibly immortal) mage with unknown goals, also known for being the only mage allowed to wear mail. My Nahema will propably not wear mail, but she'll certainly be able to fight. She's here as my primary tank for later in the game, primary arcane spellcaster and at least decent early damage dealer.
**Longbows, **Short Swords - planning to go for **Bastard Swords next
Aikar, a Kensai, is next. He'll serve as one of my two primary sources of damage and is named after the Aikar Brazoragh, a chosen servant of the primary god of the orcs. In the beginning, he will most likely use throwing daggers.
**Daggers, **Longswords, going for **Axes
My next primary damage source is Firun, an archer. Firun is the god of the winter, the hunt and archery, amongst other things.
**Shortbows, *Maces, *Weapon and Shield Style, his next points are all going to Shortbows
Finally, we have the leader of our little party, the skald Ifirn. Ifirn happens to be Firun's daughter, and she is the goddess of spring - people pray to her to appease her stern father. She also happens to be worshipped in the region of Thorwal, where the aventurian tradition of skalds originated. Ifirn will sing most of the time, though she might offer some arcane spellcasting support at times and use wands.
*Crossbows, *Two-Handed Swords, going for *Bastard Swords and *Axes
Despite all of the warnings I've read about them online, my first major battle was against the rats in Candlekeep. Thanks to the tanking abilities of Arbogast's spirit lion and my seemingly infinite patience, I eventually was able to kill them all:
This is my general strategy for wilderness areas, at least in the early levels: Scout ahead with a stealthed Firun, avoid any large groups of random spawns (run away if I happen to aggro one), fight small groups or single enemies by either kiting them around or having a spirit animal tank while trying to apply blindness. The important factor here is Nahema being an illusionist, so enemies get a -2 on their otherwise very good LoB-saves. With Evermemory, I should be able to blind multiple enemies at once, given enough time, allowing for my ranged weapon users to safely kill them. Arbogast's doom spell should also help quite a bit, though the casting time is quite long.
My first target was the belt ogre, as the girdle of piercing will be important for surviving certain ambushes. He was distracted by a spirit lion, doomed by Arbogast and eventually blinded by Nahema:
At FAI, I acquired the ever-important Evermemory and fought Tarnesh. For this, Arbogast summoned a spirit snake - and to my surprise, enemies are quite capable of failing saves against the spirit animal's special abilites, even in LoB. Tarnesh was poisoned with the very first hit, and his inability to cast spells was his downfall:
With the very same spirit snake, the group also took out the northern Hobgoblins and returned Joia's ring.
Let's see how we do in Beregost and where we decide to go and gather experience early on next time.
One of the changes made by the EE was to remove critical protection from ioun stones
Is that really the case? If so was it a 2.0 change?
It was shown as a change in the v2.0 Release Notes, but I must admit I hadn't tested it. Doing so just now on a v2.3 install ioun stones are still providing protection (this screenshot is with the Lavender, but I also checked with the Pearly White to confirm it was actually reducing damage as well as just giving a text message). Therefore M'lud I withdraw the aforesaid objection to the Lavender Ioun stone .
Looks like a nicely set up party @Enuhal - have fun. I agree that the abilities of the spirit animals are still relevant. At higher levels most enemies will be vulnerable to being stun-locked by multiple spirit wolves (save vs death to avoid at +1 bonus - which with malison and doom means no adjustment after taking account of the +5 benefit from LoB).
My first 63 attempts at an all-monk party were done in BGT installations - initially without other mods, while later attempts used SCS and a few other additions. It's a fair while since I gave this party a go though, so decided I should convert them to EE in an SCS / Ascension installation.
I thought about using the EE monk class variants, but decided to stick with the spirit of the original challenge. I've retained the same mix of 3 of them using slings, 2 darts and 1 daggers (though with the larger stack sizes, daggers are rather more tempting than they used to be). I have though maximised wisdom and intelligence on one of the monks rather than spreading attributes around as before - in order to avoid paying quite so much out for identification.
Progress in BGT had been made easier by using a custom script Gate70 had kindly done for me - the main benefit of that was that monks would automatically try and hide in shadows when not doing anything else, making attacking from stealth much less hassle to organise. In BGEE I've never experimented with scripts, but a bit of testing suggests that I can get that same hide in shadows functionality from the Thief Controlled script.
In nearly all my previous monk runs I've required them to thoroughly investigate all maps and in most of them not to have any party members die in the process, but I'm intending to relax both those rules this time. There are also a number of other points that make a run with the EE easier, e.g. the larger stack sizes, tendency for higher HPs and faster game speed. That should all enable pretty rapid progress through BG1 and give an increased chance for me to retain motivation deep into BG2 .
Thus far the monks have been to Beregost and killed Algernon for his cloak. Heading north they gave Tenya back her bowl, but attempted a sneak attack on her as she teleported away. That successfully stunned her, but they were not quite able to do enough damage to kill her before she disappeared.
At Ulgoth's Beard I typically just kill Dushai and take the reputation hit, but this time I decided to take a bit of extra trouble and stage a battle of the gnomes.
Back at the FAI, Joia got her ring back before Tarnesh became a first stunning victim.
The sirines at the Beregost temple were then cloaked and pulled outside for disposal - getting the monks their first level in the process.
The first fruits of the generous HP allowance in EE were provided there with everyone getting either 9 or 10 extra.
South of Beregost, Spectre found some nice stealthy boots. He was persuaded to give them back to Zhurlong - but only temporarily.
Silke was then recruited to take on some spiders, but regrettably she was badly injured in the contest and had to be put down for her own good - that merciful deed was enough to take everyone to level 3 (HPs that time not quite so good, though still above average).
Btw, Grond0. The return of the Phantasmic 6 reminded me of Alikae Domnica: The Black Hand, Shadow Assassin, Dark Moon Monk. I'm re-reading her RP-ed BG1 journals. I kinda-sorta regret abandoning her.
I don't have time now, but I feel I should revist her some day. I'd like to finish her story.
Does anyone remember Alikae? Any interest in seeing her return?
@Alesia_BH I think I can speak for everyone here in saying that your presence in this forum is highly appreciated and pretty much any run you'd want to post would be welcome ! For Alikae herself, I'd personally like to see you run a dark moon monk. Since @Blackraven has been missing in action for a while, there's a lack of RP playthrough. I for one can't really RP, not only because it's not really my style, but also because english is not my first language. An RP playthrough from me would be clunky at best.
I'm not familiar with Alikae though. If you plan on resuming her, maybe give us a link to her previous action.
As for me, I have an unkitted bard waiting to tackle Davaeorn. I'll try to post about Miluiel soon.
Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 137 part 1234 5 Hyra (Elf Ranger, Gate70); Dave (Half-elf Cleric/Ranger, Grond0)
Looks like we skipped a week. Our save said session 4ish though so hopefully not missed anything. We found ourselves in the Crusader camp near Boareskyr Bridge, having spoken to Kharm. That's right, we needed to go and ask for a wardstone at the temple we'd visited earlier.
Off we trudged, only to arrive at an ambush area. Myconids - pfah! The greenstone amulet resolutely remained in the gembag, while we um managed not to kill each other.
So, we reach the temple. Hyra responded with (1, 1) to the priestess instead of (1, read her response, choose) and a fight broke out - her two arial servants almost breaking Dave. He survived though, only for Hyra to wonder out loud what trap the nearby container would have. Never do that with Dave listening in - for the record, it was lightning and Dave barely survived.
With the wardstone retrieved we went to visit Khalid in Bridgefort (chuckling merrily as two unconscious defenders slid all the way from a negative matter object down to Jegg. At least it worked perfectly for host and client as Grond0 and I would never have believed each other if we'd not seen it for ourselves).
We told Khalid to listen out for the sound of combat and went back to camp. No sign of Lt Otilda though, so the assumption is she perished in a combat which also claimed the life of Corwin. It looks like we're on our own then.
Or maybe not, a minimal coalition reinforcement turns up to help us. It's all under control, almost. Eh, it's a mess really. More so when Hyra steps back to try and hide, only succeeding in bringing a group of hobgoblins in to flank us.
Our efforts at stopping the bridge from being destroyed are almost thwarted when the fire elemental cowers behind a door. After a minute or two Dave suggests Hyra should turn her AI on. Steady on Dave, that's almost as bad as drinking a blue potion. Just this once though.
With the bridge in safe hands we head to the Coalition camp, detour to rescue Skie, hunt down a few bugs near a druid and head over to the Underground River entrance. Dave has charmed a deer, while Hyra has charmed a couple of bears. We send them in to rip a cyclops apart and resort to fireballs when that fails.
After depositing explosives in the general area we head through the Warrens and into the basement of Dragonspear Castle. Dave poisons the water as Hyra poisons the food and we make a sneaky escape. Everyone insists on talking to us though despite our being hidden away.
Worse, the lift refuses to work until we pick a fight and by this time Dave is dying. We escape with 4hp to his name and Hyra throws him one of her two invisibility potions as we race out. He becomes visible again from a True Sight and Hyra passes her remaining potion which he gulps, just as she fails to hide.
She's right near the exit though and Dave arrives a moment or two later so only one attacker has time to attack before we're off and away.
(actually Dave gulped the other side of the bridge and had to meander across as Crusaders moved and jostled him)
The tale of Grant Pix, Part 2 "The Nobody of Parting"
There is precious little I can do in Beregost right now, as I don't have a way of keeping Bassilus locked in place and I don't have enough Charisma to get antidotes from Landrin. Before we leave, we grab us a bard on the way out. Garrick starts Armor and Color Spray in his spellbook, but that's about it. I also pick up a Sling +1 from Taerom, and fill up our ranged weaponry. That Army Scythe is looking really nice right now, but I'm not ready to blacklist myself from Thunderhammer Smithy just yet.
We start by heading south and getting a lost bit of mail and a stolen pair of boots (that I don't return for the reward as (1) that halfling's an asshole and (2) I need the stealth boost). We also nab some scrolls for Garrick to use as random loot (Armor and Color Spray). The cave here has a cache of healing potions, which will come in handy.
The flaming fist encounter at the south end of the Flooded House map used to be a free Plate Mail armor, but the Enhanced Edition added a couple more enforcers so that's no longer a guaranteed win at level 1. Heading south to unlock the way back for Samuel's quest leads to... a crash. The transition autosave at least keeps us moving forward. Anyhow, I don't want to hit Nashkel yet - I still have a letter to deliver and I want to rescue Brage on my way in since that lets me bypass the guard talking at me when I arrive.
We plough through the Hobgoblin squad to get the Colquetle Family Necklace (I don't believe this is tied to a quest reward in Unmodded but it doesn't hurt to have it since I'm going back to Beregost before hitting Nashkel anyway), which costs us a Healing Potion.
I open Nashkel, then head west instead to Fisherman's Lake (I wish all the maps were named on the World Map in Unmodded, but oh well I'll have to keep that in mind for my modded instance)... and run into an encounter that I definitely wasn't prepared for (Teyngan, Jemby, and Zekar. Fortunately, I have an out in that he only requests all of my money... which really wasn't all that much, maybe 300 gp or so. I bump into Drizzt's gnolls from too far north, which ends up letting me kite them more effectively (most of the Gnolls start on the north side). We get a bunch of swag and a couple level 2 scrolls (Horror and Acid Arrow) out of the detour, too. Neera memorizes Acid Arrow and Garrick takes Horror (I guess I'll keep him, he's fun to have around anyway).
I head west once more to reach the Archaeological Dig Site map (I know we're on the right one since we rest on arrival and get a lone Tasloi attacking us). I'd take care of Charleston Nib's request now but we bump into Brage before we get there. What's fun about doing this is that the game warps you to the Temple of Helm in Nashkel without spending any more time, so if you're tight on time after collecting Jaheira or Xzar you can Brage your way to Nashkel and end their timers. Anyhow, we collect the Ankheg Armor +1 and head southwest... and fail to get the Dorn encounter? Heading east to the Mines map solves this problem - does this only trigger heading to the Mines?
We start by having Neera throw a Chromatic Orb at Senjak and Garrick bother the archers with a Color Spray. This backfires by putting Neera out of commission, so Garrick engages the standing archer in Melee long enough to get Khalid over there. Garrick actually has decent tanking potential, it's just he has virtually no bulk for when his AC isn't enough (between having Rogue dice and having 9 constitution). Neera wakes up while we're dealing with Dorotea, but the latter makes her save vs. spell against the former's last Chromatic Missile (and I'm too nervous to risk NRDing Acid Arrow with Neera at one HP) so I have Neera burn her Burning Hands scroll.
Dorn starts with 2000 exp, so while he's close to leveling up we do need to do some fluff to get him up to speed. He also has no ranged weapon proficiencies, but he's got 19 strength so he can actually use a certain longbow we'll get later (unlike Khalid), so once he hits Blackguard 3 I'll give him longbow proficiency. It won't carry over to SoA since it's Unmodded, but at least this way I can get some use out of the longbow.
The good news is that we have a working party now - three fighters, two arcanists, and a thief. The bad news is that since Jaheira kicked the bucket early I don't have a dedicated healer (Grant Pix gets one CLW per day). I give Dorotea's plate mail armor to Dorn and move Khalid to the middle rows with Imoen. We retreat to Beregost to tie up a few loose ends - I'm still going to use the Worn Whispers, but now that I have a few levels backing me up I'm less afraid of Landrin's house.
Time to do the stupid thing. I move the Ankheg Plate to Dorn and make him the Party Leader. Imoen fails her Set Snare check, which sucks, but that would have just sped things up. I NRD a sleep spell, which wild surges as Burst. This ended up doing nothing, but I planned around that - Garrick follows up with a Color Spray that works nicely. Dorn and Imoen both level from the combat. We return to Nashkel (to both verify that we've got clear pathing to the FAI for Samuel... and to go save Samuel) and confront Neira in the inn there. It's a very quick combat, but she lands Rigid Thinking on Grant Pix, and Khalid's sword breaks. I give Khalid the +1 Wakizashi we got from Senjak as a temporary measure (I want Garrick to use it as his melee weapon and neither of them are proficient with it right now, but Khalid's a fighter so the penalty for it is minimal).
We can't actually get to Samuel from here - we have to go southeast a bit but Gibberling Mountains are not available from either Nashkel or the Carnival, so we go east from the Carnival to the Valley of the Tombs. If I were confident in my abilities I'd raid the tombs but it's really not worth it right now (Heart of the Golem +2 is a very nice weapon for practically free but I'm not using any Dagger specialists today). We could also attempt to clear out an ambush, which would make the Nashkel Mines a little safer, but I don't have the right spells to make it a trivial fight and I really would like to get Samuel taken care of this session.
So... I got ambushed by Skeletons trying to get to Samuel. I was hoping they (and Kryll) wouldn't be there until after starting the next step in Dorn's quest chain, but I was wrong. Nobody died, but we're hurting pretty badly (I forgot to switch everyone back to their normal weapons, which meant that the party was split, which also meant that another pack of skeletons came at me from behind and started stabbing Neera), so we retreat to Nashkel for healing and a second attempt. I also keep forgetting to wait for Party AI resting since Neera now has Armor memorized and it's better to have it on than off.
I get Batalista's Passport (+40% fire resistance) and go attempt to reach Samuel again. Unfortunately, Kryll is already here despite us not talking to whatserface over in Nashkel, so I will have to take care of her before I can save Samuel. Imoen sets a snare, and I have everyone aside from Dorn cluster over by her trap in preparation. Kryll wastes her first Horror on Dorn, but he can't tank the hits from the Skeletons so I throw Grant into the mix. Except I forgot to have Grant use his rage (again) so he takes the full force of the second Horror. Really, I should know by now to use that. Fortunately, Kryll's minions die with her, so it's a non-issue. I have Garrick sing at Grant until his morale resets (it didn't seem to help but I felt better about it at least).
The good news is that we finally got to take Samuel (and this spider) to the Friendly Arm Inn! The bad news is nobody levelled from this. Amusingly, Neera's AI Armor cast wild surges into Held. That's... a sign that I need to close up for the day.
Who knows Les Miserables? Master of the House? Well sing it loud, kids.
Yuppers, indeedy! Aestica is master of De'Arnise Keep.
Now, some of you may be thinking: Woah, there! Throttle back buck-a-rina! What about the Druid Grove? You said you were going to the Druid Grove to do all the killin'. What about that? Well, yes, I did say that. And, yes, we did go to the Druid Grove. But I'm not covering it. I feel justified in assuming that no-one gives a flaming Jansen toenail about the Druid Grove, post Trademeet quests. There were trolls; there were spiders; there were mushrooms. Now there aren't. We met Adratha. We have Belm. Does anyone have any questions? I didn't think so.
(Right, so, back to the Keep...)
First things first: I owe you all an apology. As many of you recall, I have a long standing and intensely stupid tradition of posting a pic of the first dead troll in the De'Arnise Keep, with the oh-so-witty caption: Bam!. Sadly, I forgot to take that screenshot, so no bam for you. I warned you that I'm rusty.
You know what I didn't forget, though? Rex, Rover, Sparky and Spot. I always try to kill these four in an interesting fashion. The all time prize goes to my Jester, Alisa, who turned them into squirrels and made them fight to the death in a grease pit. Aestica, who is a fighter not a thespian, lacks Alisa dynamic range. She did the best she could. At least she did something new. You see, I've roasted them, I've frozen them, I've poisoned them- I've stabbed them, bludgeoned them, slashed them, but I'm fair certain that I've never electrocuted them. Aestica did, using the Keep's free Bolts of Lightning and +1 Light Crossbow. We picked them up just for this purpose. No regrets. It didn't look great, but it sounded cool. Woof, woof! Boioioioing! Good times.
Moving on...
The Trolly-Trolls
Not much to report here. But Aestica would like to share a few of her favorite troll fighting tips
1. Be Prepared! When fighting the SCS spirit trolls solo always, always, always bring Potions of Invisibility and never, never, never let them box you in. Why? Because if they get lucky and strength drain you repeatedly, a PoI is your ticket out of a dangerous situation. Avoiding box-ins is less essential than bringing a PoI, but resting does beat waiting a real time eon for your strength to come back. Here we see Aestica withdrawing invisible after a less-than-perfect engagement.
Also, be sure to use a fast weapon so you can give them a little stabby-stabby before they spirit-away. And, ooh! Remember the Girdle of Piercing? Wear that. Finally, if you're fighting the Tactics spirit trolls, be ready for Greater Command
2. Bring a Friend. The SCS spirit trolls have invisibility at will. Sometimes the invisibility effect kicks in just as they've fallen unconscious. If you're a warrior without a means of detecting the invisible or dealing AoE damage, that can be pretty annoying. Outsource the job to Mr. Effreeti.
3. Stack 'Em High!
(Because, yeah...)
The Keep Key Keeper Guy
The buffs for this fight were Aestica's renewables: RoAC II, Ilbratha MI, and DUHM. Those of you who have followed my warrior runs on the Bioware forums know what to expect here: A) range fighting to widen the counter window; B.) careful timing and aura management to be sure counters can alway be brought into play when needed; C) darts to remove skins at a high APR, while also holding the Shield of Harmony or the Reflection Shield; D) frequent use of tactical ammo (in this case darts of stunning). That's exactly how Aestica played this hand, and it worked beautifully.
Here we see Aestica's opening. She had entered invisible, seeking to draw out a Divination cast while her opponent was unprotected and easily disrupted. Illusionary buffs preserved.
The yuan-ti's buffs fired. With her opponent's aura clouded due to the disrupted divination cast, Aestica was free to put a spell equivalent action into play. Enter Mr. Efreeti. Advantage Aestica.
Conversely, this isn't going well for the mage. By now he should understand that in light of Aestica's saves, and use of The Reflex + Harmony, there's a very limited space of viable attack avenues (Malison->Stinking Cloud and Malison->Emotion). Eventually, he got that and put Malison into play.
The problem is that by now his ProMW is very nearly tapped, and he'll be facing Darts of Stunning soon. He has only a round, two at best, to make the right follow up move. Mind you, even if he does, Aestica, who is deliberately maintaining a clear aura, will just quaff a Potion of Invulnerability. The yuan ti has no chance of winning, but he can dig into the supply, at least. What will he do? Aestica grinned broadly when the yuan-ti turned to face Mr. Efreeti and went Enchantment. Odds are that's Chaos. In any case, we're ok. If it were Emotion he probably wouldn't have turned away from Aestica toward the distant, Harmony-less Mr.Efreeti, Stinking Cloud is Evocation. Our potion is safe for one more round.
The question now is whether we can get a dart to stick before he makes the right move. And?
Disco.
Glaicas
Glaicas was flat out over matched here. Aestica basically just stabbed him while he whiffed. Nonetheless, he stood his ground for most of the fight. His courage didn't leave him until he brought his two-hander down -hard- only to see it, just, like, bounce off the little stone floating over Aestica's head. He was all "What the rock? This is EE! It isn't even supposed to work that way. Screw this! I'm outta here!"
The Iron Golem
Simple, dimple: Protection from Poison + Girdle of Bluntness
@Alesia_BH I think I can speak for everyone here in saying that your presence in this forum is highly appreciated and pretty much any run you'd want to post would be welcome !
I'm not familiar with Alikae though. If you plan on resuming her, maybe give us a link to her previous action.
Sure. This was Alikae's intro post, just to give everyone a sense of where I was going with her:
Alikae Dominica: The Black Hand, Shadow Assassin, Dark Moon Monk
Introduction
Legends are made, not born. You hear that bon mot often in sawdust restaurants and cheap motels. It masquerades as wisdom amongst lesser lights, lesser peoples. But the truth: the truth is different. The truth is that destiny plays favorites: the dice are loaded. Some of us are chosen for greatness- chosen by fate, by the gods, by circumstance. Greatness pulls some of us like gravity: we can't resist- it's inescapable. It's a blessing, but also a curse. Because the truth about greatness is that it paves the way to doom.
I am Alikae Dominica: The Black Hand, Shadow Assassin, Dark Moon Monk. I am one of the chosen. This is my story.
Ever since I was a child I've been fascinated with physics, with speed, with force. Movement, to me, is poetry- the only true poetry. To master movement is to master the relationship between self and reality- it is to master the negotiation of space and time. Movement is truth. Movement is beauty. Movement is my art. You can keep your quills.
I've been studying the martial arts for as long as I can remember. My supposed mentor, Gorion, told me that I would have to defend myself one day. That may be true. And that day may be coming. But the martial arts, to me, are not about self defense. Combat is an arena, a proving ground- a place to test one's mastery of space and time, one's mastery of movement. I seek victory, because only through victory can I perfect my art. Combat is my meditation. Victory is my prayer.
My guardian, Gorion, approves of my studies. But he doesn't know about all of them. He doesn't know that I am in discourse with Shar. He doesn't know that I play the Shadow Weave. It is only logical, to me. Movement is founded on perception. Shar promises to tip the balance of perception in my favor. Devotion is not a word I would use. I know what I want from Shar. I fear the day when she will want something from me. This is the truth about gods.
I am done spilling words. Night is falling. It is time for me to awaken.
@Ygramul a pally no reload tends to be a solo run or a stand at the back fighter... I assume both these options are out unless you are ok with throwing daggers | axes?
Due to RP habits, I could never bring myself to use daggers on a Pally.
Due to similar OCD habits, I always party with a full team.
I don't think I have the discipline to survive a solo noreload -- with anything other than maybe a Sorcerer.
After much researching, I have a preliminary list of Honorable Mentions and the list of successes from the Bioware forum for you @Ygramul. This is not an exhuastive list. Please, pretty please everyone, feel free to suggest other memorable mentions.
Bioware Hall of Fame :
Note : the links to the Bioware successes won't work, because these runs are now on the archives provided by @Serg_BlackStrider. BG1 BG2
Character Name: Ogg Race: Half-Orc class: Fighter/Cleric Difficulty: Core Entered by Frabjous
Character Name: Alanis Race: Elf class: Sorcerer Notable Mods: Questpack, Tactics (Parts), Ascension Difficulty: Core Entered by Alesia_BH
Character Name: Hugh Race: Human class: Inquisitor Difficulty: Core Entered by Wizworm
Character Name: Urmgi Race: Half-Orc class: Cleric/Thief Difficulty: Core Entered by Frabjous
Character Name: Saros Race: Half-Elf class: F/M/T Notable Mods: SCS, IA 5.0 with Recommended Ease of Use Components Difficulty: Insane Entered by Saros Shadow Follower
Character Name: Alia Race: Half-Elf class: Blade Notable Mods: SCS, IA 5.0 with Recommended Ease of Use Components Difficulty: Insane Entered by Saros Shadow Follower
Character Name: Kalis Race: Human class: Druid Difficulty: Core Entered by Enuhal
Character Name: Naji the Unspeakable Race: Human class: Monk Difficulty: Core Entered by Enuhal****
Character Name: Numa Stoneguard Race: Dwarf. class: Cleric 23 – Illusionist 19. Notable Mods: Keto-SOAv3 + Sarahtob-beta2 Difficulty: Core Entered by UssNorway
Character: Blackstrider Race: Half-Elf Class: Blade Special: played as The Avatars:- Alesia_BH as Alesia (elven Mage/Thief) Grond0 as Grond (human Archer) Gate70 as Krimlor (dwarven Fighter/Cleric) The Potty 1 as Pot (human Mage) USSnorway as Cassia (gnomish Shapeshifter) Corey_Russell as Corey Russell (human Undead Hunter) Difficulty: Core Notable Mods: SCS 21 for both BG 1 and BG 2, Ascension Entered by: Serg Blackstrider Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=13947138 Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14770438 Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14793104 Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15856728
Thank you for the excellent advice and detailed comments!
Some followup thoughts:
- The Claw: almost surprised to hear it, actually. I thought the +4 penalty to death saves was too risky. Can one reliably use Death Ward? (Probably dispelled at the worst moment.) Also, 2HP/lvl is not to cheap either.
The Ioun Stone seems... wasteful. Essentially TWO slots used then to achieve some +3 saves (except Death which barely breaks even). Helm of Balduran + a ring with +2 saves seems to give the same without the 2HP/lvl loss. Do I miss something here?
O, more generally, what Ring + Amulet + Cloak combination do you go for BG1->ToB?
- Don't Free Action items protect again Stun now? I'm surprised to hear that Stun is a problem late game (which I rarely survive to with a melee character). (Also, is there a Free Action ring in BG2?)
- (Forgot what 'NPP status' stands for.) Why should I not melee Vampires? (Assuming I have level drain protection.)
After much researching, I have a preliminary list of Honorable Mentions and the list of successes from the Bioware forum for you @Ygramul. This is not an exhuastive list. Please, pretty please everyone, feel free to suggest other memorable mentions.
- The Claw: almost surprised to hear it, actually.
Every item has it's comparative strengths and weaknesses. Those strength and weaknesses may be more evident in the context of some playing styles than others. What works best for some won't necessarily work best for others. For me, the Claw is the clear choice for the vast majority of my characters. I won't try to convince you what you should do. I'll just try to give you a window into my thinking.
I thought the +4 penalty to death saves was too risky.
That's a common misconception. Think of it this way. If you're NRing right, you should never -ever- roll to save against a disabler or insta-kill. If there is a possibility of a failed save, you'll need to quaff a potion to fill the gap. Saves v spells are far more common than saves v death. It's far less expensive to occasionally plug holes created by the save v death penalty than to continuously address an inadequate save v spells.
Note also that for warriors in particular save v spells are a comparative weak point in greater need of buttressing.
Consider, too, that saves v spells are more commonly associated with large penalties than saves v death
Most Insta-kill spells require a save v spells, not a save v death. You're more likely to need Death Ward without the Claw, than with (not that one needs Death Ward).
I rarely find that to be a cause for concern. I only find myself thinking about it around backstabbers and PW:S casters. I do have it removed from time to time.
1. The Claw can be used with protection items, while protection items can't be used with each other. Early, you can pair the Claw with the RoP + 2 from Aran. Late, you can pair it with the CoP +2 and Gaxx. You can't just look at the helm and ring slots: you have to consider the cloak slot, too. When you look across the the helm, cloak, and ring slots, having the Claw rather than Balduran gives you an additional -2 or -3 to saves v spells, depending on the stage of the adventure and what you choose to do with the helm slot. (ie- The Lavender Ioun Stone needn't be used in every battle; when saves v death aren't a concern, and they often aren't, you can equip the Helm of Defense, which confers -1, just like Balduran.)
The purpose of the Lavender Ioun Stone is to protect against weapons that vorpal at -4 or -6 while maintaining the best possible save v spells.
2. You get access to the +3 immediately. By combining RoAC II with the Chateau RoP +1 and the Claw, you can get -7 to spells in the Promenade. That significantly reduced early game risk and potion costs
3. You get access to items that offer undispellable save v death bonuses very early in the adventure (Spear of the Unicorn, Cloak of Displacement). There are no items offering comparable save v spells bonuses early. With the Claw, you end up with excellent saves once you get to Trademeet. Without the Claw, it takes longer.
4. When you get into the minutiae, the Claw looks even more appealing. Aestica, for example, has faced only three saves v death thus far: the shadow fiend weapon, the iron golem Gas Cloud, and Stinking Cloud. By the time she reached them she already had access to immunity, and or a negative saves v death, making the save v death penalty irrelevant in her adventure. The save v spell bonus, on the other hand, has been hugely beneficial. It's easy to delay critical saves v death until late in the adventure, when you're saves are excellent and you have a wide array of resources at your disposal. It's far more difficult to do the same with save v spells. Further, Balduran is arguably obsoleted by the Helm of Defense (in my opinion it is), and during the period in which Balduran has not been obsoleted, the Claw is more valuable.
Don't Free Action items protect again Stun now? I'm surprised to hear that Stun is a problem late game (which I rarely survive to with a melee character). (Also, is there a Free Action ring in BG2?)
Stun can be a concern depending on your setup. Absent the Fixpack's Free Action Protects Against Stun component, found in the Optional But Cool category, Free Action does not protect against stun. Additionally, even if you have installed Free Action Protects Against Stun, Free Action cancels movement rate bonuses, absent another tweak, making Free Action awkward to use at times (ie- By the late game, a soloist will often want to be fast and immune to stun.)
Note : the links to the Bioware successes won't work, because these runs are now on the archives provided by @Serg_BlackStrider. BG1 BG2
Most of those success links (which were on the latest forum.bioware.com, not on the former social.bioware.com) will work if someone edit them this way: 1. Add *blackstrider.net/forum_bioware_arhiv* at the beginning of the link 2. Replace /?p=XXXXXXXX with proper /page-XXX.html#entryXXXXXXXX at the end
But to make #2 one need to browse those archives all over again to find needed entries. Which just means creating the most part of the Hall from the scratch.
I remember running into before, but never paid much attention to it.
Wait? What! The Jansen Spectroscopes provide immunity to Blindness?! I had no idea!
Okay, one more question:
Would you use the Amulet of Power for a Cavalier? (Remember I have a full party, so Imoen/Jan/Viconia/Jaheira etc. will be contending for it, but I want to make sure that charname gets the best protection.)
P.S. I am not sure if I actually use SCS-enhanced vampires. After getting frustrated at an earlier run on SCS-enhanced dopplegangers I had decided not to use components of SCS that change creature abilities drastically.
Gate70: Teere, human female Priest of Lathander nee Tyr. Corey Russell: Corarcher, elf male Archer. Grond0: Mis, elf female Archer.
Our seasoned adventurers make their seventh appearance for another two hours (slightly less) of mayhem. I had a look at restoring the Tyr powers but didn't do it, maybe for next time. Previous savename mentions the de'Arnise Keep so that's where we head.
As usual we clear the main area, head outside, then back in and upstairs. Corarcher started handing elixirs of health around at one point but Teere struck lucky and cured her poison then cured Mis too. Corarcher must sometimes wonder what he's let himself in for.
Teere was busy looting containers when she realised Glaicas had been suitably incensed to be chasing archers around his room so she threw in a Command and that was pretty much the end for him.
Tor'Gal and his minions had no answer for converging arrows, so we were free to tell Nalia to make her own way in life.
On to Trademeet where the Dao Djinn found flesh to stone was sub-optimal against fleshless skeleton warriors. The one outside was Commanded, but remained on his feet upright.
The Druid Grove was strolled through, Teere playing frontwoman as Corarcher and Mis twanged their bows to great effect. We then returned to the Bridge district to pick off Rejiek Hidesman, Corarcher not realising one Rune Assassin would target him despite stealth. Corarcher ran as Teere blocked the enemy and Mis shot it down.
On our way back to the area exit Corarcher decided fighting vampires and muggers at the same time (2 groups) was trouble so he activated his Shield Amulet. Please don't do that again.
We safely negotiated our way back without getting into the 'Neerazone' only for Corarcher to suggest we should go pick on Dracandros and gang. Mis took a pumelling but survived and Teere healed everyone up before we left the building.
Mis then won the 'Neerazone' award by trying to sneak past her opening cutscene. They don't care if they can see you Mis, and so it turned out as the wild mage cutscene kicked in. Fortunately we had no enemies nearby otherwise they would have had between one and two minutes free attacks.
No deaths so far, but then Mis found time to multiplayer bump with salamanders after freeing Haer'Daelis and since she was already badly wounded the acid blob trap near the portal gem pulpit was easily enough to kill her. Good job we'd wiped Mekrath out a moment earlier and had a rod of resurrection to ignore - Teere choosing to memorise Raise Dead and have a rest before using the spell instead.
With the session end drawing close we kicked open some doors in preparation for hunting liches. We only have two scrolls of protection from undead though so may need to purchase another one before starting.
Moving down to Nashkel and beyond the party took on Greywolf. The fighter failed to withstand the first stunning blow from one of the 2 monks in stealth when he appeared and he did not survive as everyone else piled in with further stuns.
Chimera rested to get Bhaal LMD before a reputation drive started with Oublek seeming relieved not to be relieved of 200 gold. Then Arabelle was saved (the monks with longer range weapons engaging the xvarts to start with to avoid them mobbing the cow).
However, the monks then decided to have a detour to Firewine Bridge, which proved a mistake. They attempted to stealth past a huge group of kobolds, but after 4 of them had done that the remaining 2 failed to hide and wandering kobolds spotted them. Everyone managed to get away there, but after returning the SCS kobolds actively sought them out. As resting or area travel wouldn't prevent the kobolds' search, the monks tried to kill a few before the bulk of them arrived - but Phantom was on the wrong end of a critical from a kobold commando.
After a visit to the temple they returned once more to Firewine. There were plenty more kobolds, but this time I was more patient and used stealth to split them up and pick them off one by one. With the route open 4 of them tried a joint stealth attack on Meilum - he resisted their stunning blows, but that just meant a slightly more lingering death for him.
A spot of healing up at the Carnival was followed by more easy reputation gains from Bjornin, Ardrouine, Mr Colquetle, Brage and Charleston Nib. The Doomsayer could have been killed using stealth attacks, but I decided not to bother with that hassle for now. Melicamp was then successfully revived, with Spook able to top up his dagger stocks from a group of skeletons at High Hedge.
Reuniting Rufie and Albert was enough for everyone to get to level 4. The HP gains there weren't much cop, but still added enough security for the monks to take on Sendai & co all together.
A bit further into the Cloakwood and little jobs for the Dryad and Drienne pushed reputation up to 20. The monks also went on to pick up the charisma tome before heading for the shops. Initial purchases included the Necklace of Missiles and Wand of the Heavens.
Some +2 bullets had also been bought and they were used while shooting up the wolf pack at the Beregost Temple.
The monks then proceeded on to the basilisk area where Wraith (with an impressive maximum of 40 HPs at that stage) soloed the basilisks. She successfully drew away Mutamin's pets and they got everyone to level 5.
Mutamin managed to charm Spirit, but she showed no signs of actively helping him as he was shot down.
Stealth shots drew Kirian's companions one by one away to their doom, before she became almost the final victim of the area (Korax being sought out after that) .
Progress continues to be swift with not that much more time spent so far on this than would have been the case solo. In addition to the factors I listed in the first update, another reason for that is that respawning in BGEE occurs far less often than in the BGT installation I was using previously. In the latter it was very common to fight your way past one encounter point and move on to another - then try and retreat back to where you had come from a few seconds earlier to find another group of enemies had arrived. That very rarely happens in EE.
At Durlag's Tower a stealth shot pulled one battle horror away. A single blast from the Wand of Heavens badly wounded it and mob attacks finished it off before it could do too much damage.
After resting quite a while (as Chimera chose to get LMD, resting is their only source of healing at the moment), they came back to Durlag's to finish off the other battle horror on the path in a very similar fashion. The battle horror on the walls was worn down entirely by stealth attacks, until Chimera gained a first victim for his LMD.
The doom guard was dragged inside where initially all the monks tried attacking using stealth, but that proved difficult to manage, so Phantom started acting on his own. He annoyingly missed numerous attacks though with the doom guard almost dead until eventually carelessness crept in - at which point Chimera said enough was enough and used his deadly LMD once more.
After a trip to High Hedge to get some more free daggers for Spook, the monks cleared out the inside of Durlag's Tower of ghasts. I was tempted by the ghost and Kirinale, but left them alone for now. However, the monks did decide to test out Riggilo's saving throws - not good enough was the model answer.
Three of the four mirrored eye potions bought at Ulgoth's Beard were then sufficient for Phantom to hack down the basilisks - he added in potions of heroism and hill giant strength just to make sure there.
Spook then bravely opened the trapped container, despite having no fire protection (2 of the monks have scimitar proficiency).
After resting enough to safely pass out through the trap inside the tower, the monks sought some more quick XP in the ankheg area. By stealthing into position around an ankheg before one of them showed themselves they were able to attack with devastating results - not a single ankheg in the nest managing a single attack let alone hit. The ankhegs in the fields are far more dangerous and the monks only killed a few of those before reporting to Gerde and taking some shells back to Beregost to sell.
A second party death occurred when Spectre offered Shoal the opportunity for a kiss.
Droth saved against one stunning blow and the party were already beginning to disperse when Spook tagged him just before his stunning attack expired. Everyone quickly reapplied their stun attack to ensure he wouldn't recover.
After a rest to get their stunning attacks back they reported in to Shoal. She thought she was free to go, but 5,000 XP is not to be sniffed at and her lack of a melee weapon made her an easy kill for the monks hiding around her.
After another extended rest the monks returned to the area to run round the ogre clan. With them out of the way they moved on to the sirines. Initial stealth attacks stunned 2 of them and the feeblemind effect the final one tagged Spirit with was only a minor inconvenience compared to the 6th level everyone picked up - there was also another excellent set of HPs that time, with 7 being the lowest gained.
Buoyed by their success the monks tried another lot of sirines, but this time things didn't go according to plan. None of the sirines were stunned initially and the 6 nearby hobgoblins were also a potential threat - particularly after Spectre was immediately feebleminded. The others managed to kill 2 of the sirines, but only at the expense of Chimera being charmed. When Wraith also switched sides and Phantom also fell into a daze things didn't look great, but Spook hurried back and managed to finish the last sirine off with a throwing dagger to prevent things deteriorating further. However, Wraith was too close to Phantom for it to be possible to drag her away and she kicked his head in just as Chimera recovered his senses.
After another temple visit and long rest, the monks returned to the Lighthouse area where Sil and her companions failed to offer a threat despite one of them cheesily going invisible by script while stunned.
The golems were all hacked down with melee weapons to save resources - the monks accepting a couple of hits in return.
Typically with this party I've aimed to get them up to 7th level before going to the Nashkel Mine. That requires a thorough cleansing of other areas though and I'm not taking the time to do that this run (incidentally another reason for the faster run this time is inventory management is far easier in the EE with much more stacking availability in addition to the gem, scroll and potion containers). After saving Samuel, that meant the last area to be investigated for the moment was the Valley of the Tombs.
On the way there, Chimera became the first of the monks to be struck by lightning this run. Normally in the EE additional strikes on the same person don't cause extra damage, but I have seen exceptions and Chimera immediately reacted by using LMD on a companion to get his HPs above 50%.
After resting up they continued and made short work of the tomb occupants.
Narcillicus was potentially more of a challenge, but his mustard jellies were drawn away separately and only got a single hit in each (typically I don't bother checking whether characters in a party are wearing the right girdle, but on this occasion I did set the fight up against a monk wearing the girdle of bluntness).
Spook's stealth broke as the monks were approaching the mage and Spook started running away to minimise the effect of the emotion or chaos being prepared for him - but Narcillicus was unable to complete his spell anyway.
Aestica's battle with Torgal felt all too familiar for me. And it may seem all too familiar for some of our readers. Irrespective of the character, the sequence of events surrounding Torgal is almost invariant in my runs. It goes something like this.
1) I arrive at Torgal's inner sanctum with too little experience. I resolve to leave Torgal for later. I walk away, leaving the door unopened.
2) Next, I decide I can't leave the quest unfinished. I consider using Torgal's invisibility detection via script to separate him from his allies. I decide against it, in the interest of embracing the challenge and taking the high ground. I muster my courage. I open the door. I lose my nerve. I close the door.
3) At this point, I usually close BG, get online, log into the forums, and then whine about how I want to complete the quest, but am too afraid of Torgal's army and don't want to separate him. Typically, no one responds and no on cares, because they all know what's going to happen next. I resolve to leave Torgal for later. At that very moment, scattered people in scattered places all around the world laugh hysterically. They know that's not how it works: I never actually leave Torgal for later.
4) Then, I fire BG back up. I see that door again and I can't resist. I buff. I open the door. I sally-forth with a battle-march in my head. And then I see this- knowing that there's a couple invisibly spirit trolls there, too:
That's when I freak and run away, and by virtue of doing so, end up separating Torgal, even though I didn't really intend to. Cowardice as tactics, I suppose.
Aestica was furious with me. She knew she could take down Torgal and his army all at once. Some of her weaker predecessors have done it. I had robbed her of her glory. And for no reason other than fear. Torgal had no real chance here. Due to RoAC II + Ilbratha MI + full plate + Girdle of Piercing + Shield of Harmony, he never landed a blow. Saves foiled his Cloak of Fear. Credit Mr. Efreeti with the finish. Flame Arrow
And that left Torgal's merry band of minions. This got weird. Shortly after Aestica engaged, the yuan ti mages unloaded Stinking Clouds and Webs. The Stinking Clouds I get, because trolls are immune to sleep and our post Malison saves v death is +3, but the Webs? Strange call. That led to a strange call on my part: I instructed Aestica to quaff a Potion of Invulnerability as a prophylactic against Malison.
Why not wait and see if Malison is even in the cards? Good question. The problem is that yuan-ti don't incant and they were casting from outside of line of sight on a very crowded battle field. It would be too easy to miss a Malison under those circumstance. In the end the Malison, never came, but that doesn't mean the Potion of Invulnerability was the wrong call. Hedging, judiciously, against a probabilistic threat does not become an erroneous call just because the threat didn't ultimately materialize. Decisions should be judged based on the information available at the time. No outcome bias here, darling dears. In any case, the field was ours now and it would take 2 uncountered spell equivalent actions (Remove->Malison) to take it from us .
Winding down now. Most of the damage taken here was a result of a missing item: the Glasses of Identification. Had we brought the glasses, we could have identified the Shield Amulet and foiled the yuan-ti's Magic Missiles. Those were the only things that really hurt us.
Last troll.
Aestica is currently at the Copper Coronet, resting, recuperating, and enjoying her newly acquired Glasses of Identification. She's not sure where she's headed next, but there is a gentleman who has an offer, if she wishes to hear it.
Before going to the Nashkel Mine the monks tidied up a few loose ends. Perdue's sword had been in backpacks for far too long and Karlat was no longer a real threat even before being stunned. Next the Doomsayer was assaulted: several of the monks got hits in their initial stealth attack, but they were losing out badly in straight-up melee and had to switch to taking turns at stealth attacks while the Doomsayer chased a colleague around.
Their final catch-up target was Bassilus. He often seems to come pre-buffed with stun immunity (presumably from chaotic commands) and that was the case here - but he still died in the initial assault.
I've played the Nashkel Mine a fair amount solo on LoB and that's hard work if not using invisibility / stealth, but playing just on core the monks made short work of it. The kobold shaman was lurking invisibly and took the opportunity to cast horror, but a couple of monks had saved up stunning blows for him and he didn't have the opportunity to do any more damage (I'd also deliberately tripped the traps already to avoid the possibility of anyone already injured dying in those while running round).
Mulahey had failed to take the precaution of buffing against stun and didn't have time to raise the alarm.
Resting back at the Carnival, Chimera picked up CLW ability - which will significantly reduce the amount of future resting required (currently on day 274 so struggling to get this job done within a year ). There was no appreciable delay with Nimbul though - the monks didn't even bother with stunning blows there, knowing his vulnerability to damage.
At Beregost I forgot that Tranzig would see people in a party coming up the stairs, but the monks were still able to execute (him with) a sneak attack.
Teven provided a lift to the Bandit Camp where Tazok was presented with copious gifts of missiles to persuade him to allow the monks to stay. They took advantage of that hospitality by charming a few of the trickier enemies outside the tent. With the odds evened a bit they all used the shield amulet before attacking. They kept a close eye out for Venkt arriving and managed to kill him before he cast anything with the help of a couple of charges from the Wand of Heavens.
A few fireballs helped deal with the remainder of the rush and the rest of the camp was easily subdued with none of the monks being badly hurt. A potion of frost giant strength was invested to help loot the camp.
On the way to sell stuff the amazons appeared. Wraith ran round with the aim of distracting the backstabbers while Chimera successfully charmed Lamalha and the others dealt with Zeela - though at the expense of Spirit being held. Lamalha was offered as an easy target, but the other amazons seemed immune to that temptation. Wraith therefore slowed down her running in the hope of getting one of the backstabbers to begin an attack (and thus become visible) without actually being able to complete it. That's not easy to do though and failed to work this time, but Maneira only got a backstab for 10 damage and Telka for 16 - they were swiftly finished off after that before Lamalha equipped her fists and stood in the middle of the monks ...
Up to this point everyone except Spook had been using the ammunition bought at Candlekeep. The sling users still had plenty of bullets, but the dart users were running short and stocked up again in anticipation of the long journey through the Cloakwood.
First though I wanted to buy the remaining goodies at the shops, such as Sandthief's ring and the Claw of Kazgaroth. The monks therefore headed for Ulgoth's Beard - only to find Molkar & co in the way. This time though all the opponents were visible and when Chimera charmed Molkar and the other monks stunned Halacan and Drakar there was just a bit of mop-up required before victory was declared with no damage taken.
With the shops empty and their backpacks full the monks then did one final side-errand to Gullykin - picking up another +1 sling there for the cost of a hill giant potion as well as teaching Jenkal a lesson.
Along with all the mods that I installed I also made the assassins in Candlekeep a little stronger by giving them +1 weapons and armour. Today one of them beat my Gallant, the first time that they have ever beaten a fighter! He wasn't a weakling either! I will probably play him again some time.
My first encounter was with Neera and the red wizards. In preparation, I summoned a spirit bear. Right at the start of the battle, Sybia managed to command the thayan wizard, so his initial spellcasting attempts were disrupted:
The mercenaries attacked Neera and eventually killed her, but she bought us some time - meanwhile, the rest of the party managed to bring the wizard really low, and eventually the spirit bear applied his fear debuff while Aikar lured the mercenaries away:
The party shot the mercenaries and looted the gem bag.
Silke was next on our list, as I still had my spirit bear. I threw doom, blindness and command on her while my damage dealers disrupted her spells, but once again, spirit bear fear took hold and made it easy to win this encounter:
Sybia also lured Karlat outside, so the spirit bear could help us deal with him as well. The party rested, completed the quests for Marl and Firebead, and Arbogast summoned a spirit snake while Sybia lured Landrin's spiders outside. Nahema managed to blind three spiders, making this an easy fight.
Now, trying to clear wilderness areas with a level 1 party seems like a really bad idea, as everyone is quite capable of dying to a single hit, and my spell flexibility is certainly lacking, plus the level 1 spirit animals die very quickly. My source of quick experience were to be the basilisks, as I had Nahema learn protection from petrification as one of her starting spells (in addition to blindness and sleep - sleep never worked when I tried it, so I stopped using it alltogether).
So, I entered the basilisk area, avoided a hostile gnoll group thanks to Firun's scouting, summoned a spirit lion and protected him from petrification. This way, I managed to kill two basilisks and a greater basilisk for some great experience:
However, the last basilisk in the southern part of the map caused a bit of a problem. I realized earlier that, when the basilisks stop using their petrifying gaze and attack instead, thinks can get rough, as they are quite capable of quickly killing the spirit lion and onehitting any party members. The other problem: It took forever to actually kill the basilisks on LoB, so protection from petrification or the spirit animal summon duration could easily be over unexpectedly. This basilisk managed to switch to normal attacks and kill the spirit lion before I could react, and while he was almost dead, he managed to petrify Ifirn:
However, that was the last thing he did:
I had to return to the Beregost temple and buy two stone to flesh scrolls (one of them for Tamah). After rescuing Ifirn, the party searched for the northern basilisks, avoiding any other encounters. I found a group of two basilisks, though they quickly started attacking instead of just gazing at a protected spirit lion, so I had to kite them. The thing is, these things sometimes tend to go back to gazing after some random amount of time, so I started protecting the kiting party members with additional protection from petrification spells. While one of the basilisks was almost dead, Sybia kited the other one and accidentally came too close to Mutamin:
Luckily, Mutamin himself didn't chase the retreating party, but one of his greater basilisks did - as the nearly dead basilisk had managed to kill the spirit lion by now, I had to try and tank him with a party member - the protected Sybia, in this case. I got close to him to make sure he wouldn't choose another target, but at this point he started attacking, and one hit was easily enough to kill our cleric/thief:
I was able to make him attack Firun next, who was also protected, and he was able to kite successfully, so I could retreat to the temple once again and resurrect Sybia.
Finally, I recruited Korax for Mutamin and the final couple of basilisks. He managed to paralyze the mage:
Thus, all the basilisks were defeated and the party reached levels 3/4, allowing me to use a) the level 3 spirit animals, b) hold person and c) some potential level 2 mage spells (which I don't have right now - I'd need money for scrolls).
Time to rest up in Beregost - next time, we will make our way to Nashkell and look for more ways to gain experience.
We survived! I collected some magic items and fetched moss for an alchemist without traps killing me with shades... well evil they certainly are but its a good thing for me they can't turn a door nob.
I waved goodbye to most my party and I'm heading back to my palisade room to get some well earned rest
A flurry of progress to update as I had a free morning, but attended by some bugs. First we took our ship...only to have Aran Linvail show the way! None of the conversational options were of the "Hey, I thought you were dead" variety so we just sort of whistled and looked the other way... awkward...
The rest of Brynnlaw went as usual, we saved Sanik, dealt with Galvena and killed Perth. Cromarty didn't feel like flapping and pretending so he could get trussed up like a chicken and bundled off to the madhouse so we headed to the asylum under our own speed. Irenicus showed his usual hospitality and Cromarty sacrificed some of his wits in the dream, only to find himself at the bottom of a dark dungeon with Bodhi gloating over the drained body of Imoen like some hideous fly.
Subsequently however the bugs began to come in in earnest. Yvette was swept off into a magic mirror rather earlier than she should have been, leaving us both clericless and thiefless. We got through the labyrinth fine enough, beating a hasty retreat at one point from a timestopping lich, but then discovered that our magical containers seemed to be malfunctioning and losing random items. Hopefully I didn't lose many things while CLUAing in what I could remember, and then later I had to CLUA back to grab a container that got left behind during a transition. On top of this we could no longer rest or save easily due to constant monsters are about warnings... even in Brynnlaw! I also managed to mess up and miss a few of the Spellhold items while trying to deal with all of this.
Happily we managed to pass through the more mundane dangers of Spellhold, defeating the nicely named Hopereaper who was trying to claim Yvette...
and then Irenicus himself.
Sadly there was no room for Tiax afterwards, though I was tempted. "Yvette my sweet cinnamon cookie, it's over, I'm throwing you over for a meglomaniacal gnome with seductively low breeches. Never mind about the Dark Sun Tiax, I want to see the whole of your moon." Then we aided Saemon in Brynnlaw and brought about a revolution among the Sahaugin, and now we stand on the brink of descending into the yawning maw of the Underdark.
Comments
This will be my first and propably only attempt at no-reloading a LoB-run. I'm using a full custom party, built for efficiency and personal comfort. Every character is named after an important NPC or god in the world of Aventuria, the setting of my favorite P&P RPG, The Dark Eye.
My Bhaalspawn is the totemic druid Arbogast - in The Dark Eye, Arbogast der Alte is the ancient archdruid of the kingdom of Andergast. Here, he's not quite so old and powerful - yet. His primary role is that of a summoner, as summons will be able to at least somewhat stand up to the powerful LoB-enemies in melee combat. His stats:
*Darts, *Slings - planning to get him *Clubs and *Quarterstaffs next
Next is the cleric/thief Sybia, named after Sultana Sybia von Zorgan, who happens to be a priestess of the god of thieves (and trade), Phex. In Baldur's Gate, this will be a pure support character: Thief abilities and cleric buffs/summons is what she'll provide. The stats:
*Slings, *War Hammers - planning to get *Quarterstaffs and *Flails next
As my third characer, we have Nahema, a fighter/illusionist. Nahema is a mysterious and powerful (and possibly immortal) mage with unknown goals, also known for being the only mage allowed to wear mail. My Nahema will propably not wear mail, but she'll certainly be able to fight. She's here as my primary tank for later in the game, primary arcane spellcaster and at least decent early damage dealer.
**Longbows, **Short Swords - planning to go for **Bastard Swords next
Aikar, a Kensai, is next. He'll serve as one of my two primary sources of damage and is named after the Aikar Brazoragh, a chosen servant of the primary god of the orcs. In the beginning, he will most likely use throwing daggers.
**Daggers, **Longswords, going for **Axes
My next primary damage source is Firun, an archer. Firun is the god of the winter, the hunt and archery, amongst other things.
**Shortbows, *Maces, *Weapon and Shield Style, his next points are all going to Shortbows
Finally, we have the leader of our little party, the skald Ifirn. Ifirn happens to be Firun's daughter, and she is the goddess of spring - people pray to her to appease her stern father. She also happens to be worshipped in the region of Thorwal, where the aventurian tradition of skalds originated. Ifirn will sing most of the time, though she might offer some arcane spellcasting support at times and use wands.
*Crossbows, *Two-Handed Swords, going for *Bastard Swords and *Axes
Despite all of the warnings I've read about them online, my first major battle was against the rats in Candlekeep. Thanks to the tanking abilities of Arbogast's spirit lion and my seemingly infinite patience, I eventually was able to kill them all:
This is my general strategy for wilderness areas, at least in the early levels: Scout ahead with a stealthed Firun, avoid any large groups of random spawns (run away if I happen to aggro one), fight small groups or single enemies by either kiting them around or having a spirit animal tank while trying to apply blindness. The important factor here is Nahema being an illusionist, so enemies get a -2 on their otherwise very good LoB-saves. With Evermemory, I should be able to blind multiple enemies at once, given enough time, allowing for my ranged weapon users to safely kill them. Arbogast's doom spell should also help quite a bit, though the casting time is quite long.
My first target was the belt ogre, as the girdle of piercing will be important for surviving certain ambushes. He was distracted by a spirit lion, doomed by Arbogast and eventually blinded by Nahema:
At FAI, I acquired the ever-important Evermemory and fought Tarnesh. For this, Arbogast summoned a spirit snake - and to my surprise, enemies are quite capable of failing saves against the spirit animal's special abilites, even in LoB. Tarnesh was poisoned with the very first hit, and his inability to cast spells was his downfall:
With the very same spirit snake, the group also took out the northern Hobgoblins and returned Joia's ring.
Let's see how we do in Beregost and where we decide to go and gather experience early on next time.
Enuhal
My first 63 attempts at an all-monk party were done in BGT installations - initially without other mods, while later attempts used SCS and a few other additions. It's a fair while since I gave this party a go though, so decided I should convert them to EE in an SCS / Ascension installation.
Progress in BGT had been made easier by using a custom script Gate70 had kindly done for me - the main benefit of that was that monks would automatically try and hide in shadows when not doing anything else, making attacking from stealth much less hassle to organise. In BGEE I've never experimented with scripts, but a bit of testing suggests that I can get that same hide in shadows functionality from the Thief Controlled script.
In nearly all my previous monk runs I've required them to thoroughly investigate all maps and in most of them not to have any party members die in the process, but I'm intending to relax both those rules this time. There are also a number of other points that make a run with the EE easier, e.g. the larger stack sizes, tendency for higher HPs and faster game speed. That should all enable pretty rapid progress through BG1 and give an increased chance for me to retain motivation deep into BG2
Thus far the monks have been to Beregost and killed Algernon for his cloak. Heading north they gave Tenya back her bowl, but attempted a sneak attack on her as she teleported away. That successfully stunned her, but they were not quite able to do enough damage to kill her before she disappeared.
At Ulgoth's Beard I typically just kill Dushai and take the reputation hit, but this time I decided to take a bit of extra trouble and stage a battle of the gnomes.
Back at the FAI, Joia got her ring back before Tarnesh became a first stunning victim.
South of Beregost, Spectre found some nice stealthy boots. He was persuaded to give them back to Zhurlong - but only temporarily.
Chimera - L3, 25 HPs, 15 kills
Phantom - L3, 29 HPs, 14 kills, 0 deaths
Spectre - L3, 24 HPs, 10 kills, 0 deaths
Wraith - L3, 30 HPs, 14 kills, 0 deaths
Spook - L3, 29 HPs, 9 kills, 0 deaths
Spirit - L3, 26 HPs, 10 kills, 0 deaths
@Enuhal. Your party looks great. Best of luck with them!
@Grond0. The Phantasmic 6 is back! Wow! After all this time!
(I don't know if you recall, but you had been running them just before I left the Bioware forums.)
(And, yes: I'm over-using exclamation points. I'll work on that!)
Best,
A.
I don't have time now, but I feel I should revist her some day. I'd like to finish her story.
Does anyone remember Alikae? Any interest in seeing her return?
Best,
A.
I'm not familiar with Alikae though. If you plan on resuming her, maybe give us a link to her previous action.
As for me, I have an unkitted bard waiting to tackle Davaeorn. I'll try to post about Miluiel soon.
Hyra (Elf Ranger, Gate70); Dave (Half-elf Cleric/Ranger, Grond0)
Looks like we skipped a week. Our save said session 4ish though so hopefully not missed anything. We found ourselves in the Crusader camp near Boareskyr Bridge, having spoken to Kharm. That's right, we needed to go and ask for a wardstone at the temple we'd visited earlier.
Off we trudged, only to arrive at an ambush area. Myconids - pfah! The greenstone amulet resolutely remained in the gembag, while we um managed not to kill each other.
We told Khalid to listen out for the sound of combat and went back to camp. No sign of Lt Otilda though, so the assumption is she perished in a combat which also claimed the life of Corwin. It looks like we're on our own then.
Or maybe not, a minimal coalition reinforcement turns up to help us. It's all under control, almost. Eh, it's a mess really. More so when Hyra steps back to try and hide, only succeeding in bringing a group of hobgoblins in to flank us.
Worse, the lift refuses to work until we pick a fight and by this time Dave is dying. We escape with 4hp to his name and Hyra throws him one of her two invisibility potions as we race out. He becomes visible again from a True Sight and Hyra passes her remaining potion which he gulps, just as she fails to hide.
She's right near the exit though and Dave arrives a moment or two later so only one attacker has time to attack before we're off and away.
"The Nobody of Parting"
There is precious little I can do in Beregost right now, as I don't have a way of keeping Bassilus locked in place and I don't have enough Charisma to get antidotes from Landrin. Before we leave, we grab us a bard on the way out. Garrick starts Armor and Color Spray in his spellbook, but that's about it. I also pick up a Sling +1 from Taerom, and fill up our ranged weaponry. That Army Scythe is looking really nice right now, but I'm not ready to blacklist myself from Thunderhammer Smithy just yet.
We start by heading south and getting a lost bit of mail and a stolen pair of boots (that I don't return for the reward as (1) that halfling's an asshole and (2) I need the stealth boost). We also nab some scrolls for Garrick to use as random loot (Armor and Color Spray). The cave here has a cache of healing potions, which will come in handy.
The flaming fist encounter at the south end of the Flooded House map used to be a free Plate Mail armor, but the Enhanced Edition added a couple more enforcers so that's no longer a guaranteed win at level 1. Heading south to unlock the way back for Samuel's quest leads to... a crash. The transition autosave at least keeps us moving forward. Anyhow, I don't want to hit Nashkel yet - I still have a letter to deliver and I want to rescue Brage on my way in since that lets me bypass the guard talking at me when I arrive.
We plough through the Hobgoblin squad to get the Colquetle Family Necklace (I don't believe this is tied to a quest reward in Unmodded but it doesn't hurt to have it since I'm going back to Beregost before hitting Nashkel anyway), which costs us a Healing Potion.
I open Nashkel, then head west instead to Fisherman's Lake (I wish all the maps were named on the World Map in Unmodded, but oh well I'll have to keep that in mind for my modded instance)... and run into an encounter that I definitely wasn't prepared for (Teyngan, Jemby, and Zekar. Fortunately, I have an out in that he only requests all of my money... which really wasn't all that much, maybe 300 gp or so. I bump into Drizzt's gnolls from too far north, which ends up letting me kite them more effectively (most of the Gnolls start on the north side). We get a bunch of swag and a couple level 2 scrolls (Horror and Acid Arrow) out of the detour, too. Neera memorizes Acid Arrow and Garrick takes Horror (I guess I'll keep him, he's fun to have around anyway).
I head west once more to reach the Archaeological Dig Site map (I know we're on the right one since we rest on arrival and get a lone Tasloi attacking us). I'd take care of Charleston Nib's request now but we bump into Brage before we get there. What's fun about doing this is that the game warps you to the Temple of Helm in Nashkel without spending any more time, so if you're tight on time after collecting Jaheira or Xzar you can Brage your way to Nashkel and end their timers. Anyhow, we collect the Ankheg Armor +1 and head southwest... and fail to get the Dorn encounter? Heading east to the Mines map solves this problem - does this only trigger heading to the Mines?
We start by having Neera throw a Chromatic Orb at Senjak and Garrick bother the archers with a Color Spray. This backfires by putting Neera out of commission, so Garrick engages the standing archer in Melee long enough to get Khalid over there. Garrick actually has decent tanking potential, it's just he has virtually no bulk for when his AC isn't enough (between having Rogue dice and having 9 constitution). Neera wakes up while we're dealing with Dorotea, but the latter makes her save vs. spell against the former's last Chromatic Missile (and I'm too nervous to risk NRDing Acid Arrow with Neera at one HP) so I have Neera burn her Burning Hands scroll.
Dorn starts with 2000 exp, so while he's close to leveling up we do need to do some fluff to get him up to speed. He also has no ranged weapon proficiencies, but he's got 19 strength so he can actually use a certain longbow we'll get later (unlike Khalid), so once he hits Blackguard 3 I'll give him longbow proficiency. It won't carry over to SoA since it's Unmodded, but at least this way I can get some use out of the longbow.
The good news is that we have a working party now - three fighters, two arcanists, and a thief. The bad news is that since Jaheira kicked the bucket early I don't have a dedicated healer (Grant Pix gets one CLW per day). I give Dorotea's plate mail armor to Dorn and move Khalid to the middle rows with Imoen. We retreat to Beregost to tie up a few loose ends - I'm still going to use the Worn Whispers, but now that I have a few levels backing me up I'm less afraid of Landrin's house.
Time to do the stupid thing. I move the Ankheg Plate to Dorn and make him the Party Leader. Imoen fails her Set Snare check, which sucks, but that would have just sped things up. I NRD a sleep spell, which wild surges as Burst. This ended up doing nothing, but I planned around that - Garrick follows up with a Color Spray that works nicely. Dorn and Imoen both level from the combat. We return to Nashkel (to both verify that we've got clear pathing to the FAI for Samuel... and to go save Samuel) and confront Neira in the inn there. It's a very quick combat, but she lands Rigid Thinking on Grant Pix, and Khalid's sword breaks. I give Khalid the +1 Wakizashi we got from Senjak as a temporary measure (I want Garrick to use it as his melee weapon and neither of them are proficient with it right now, but Khalid's a fighter so the penalty for it is minimal).
We can't actually get to Samuel from here - we have to go southeast a bit but Gibberling Mountains are not available from either Nashkel or the Carnival, so we go east from the Carnival to the Valley of the Tombs. If I were confident in my abilities I'd raid the tombs but it's really not worth it right now (Heart of the Golem +2 is a very nice weapon for practically free but I'm not using any Dagger specialists today). We could also attempt to clear out an ambush, which would make the Nashkel Mines a little safer, but I don't have the right spells to make it a trivial fight and I really would like to get Samuel taken care of this session.
So... I got ambushed by Skeletons trying to get to Samuel. I was hoping they (and Kryll) wouldn't be there until after starting the next step in Dorn's quest chain, but I was wrong. Nobody died, but we're hurting pretty badly (I forgot to switch everyone back to their normal weapons, which meant that the party was split, which also meant that another pack of skeletons came at me from behind and started stabbing Neera), so we retreat to Nashkel for healing and a second attempt. I also keep forgetting to wait for Party AI resting since Neera now has Armor memorized and it's better to have it on than off.
I get Batalista's Passport (+40% fire resistance) and go attempt to reach Samuel again. Unfortunately, Kryll is already here despite us not talking to whatserface over in Nashkel, so I will have to take care of her before I can save Samuel. Imoen sets a snare, and I have everyone aside from Dorn cluster over by her trap in preparation. Kryll wastes her first Horror on Dorn, but he can't tank the hits from the Skeletons so I throw Grant into the mix. Except I forgot to have Grant use his rage (again) so he takes the full force of the second Horror. Really, I should know by now to use that. Fortunately, Kryll's minions die with her, so it's a non-issue. I have Garrick sing at Grant until his morale resets (it didn't seem to help but I felt better about it at least).
The good news is that we finally got to take Samuel (and this spider) to the Friendly Arm Inn! The bad news is nobody levelled from this. Amusingly, Neera's AI Armor cast wild surges into Held. That's... a sign that I need to close up for the day.
Who knows Les Miserables? Master of the House? Well sing it loud, kids.
Yuppers, indeedy! Aestica is master of De'Arnise Keep.
Now, some of you may be thinking: Woah, there! Throttle back buck-a-rina! What about the Druid Grove? You said you were going to the Druid Grove to do all the killin'. What about that? Well, yes, I did say that. And, yes, we did go to the Druid Grove. But I'm not covering it. I feel justified in assuming that no-one gives a flaming Jansen toenail about the Druid Grove, post Trademeet quests. There were trolls; there were spiders; there were mushrooms. Now there aren't. We met Adratha. We have Belm. Does anyone have any questions? I didn't think so.
(Right, so, back to the Keep...)
First things first: I owe you all an apology. As many of you recall, I have a long standing and intensely stupid tradition of posting a pic of the first dead troll in the De'Arnise Keep, with the oh-so-witty caption: Bam!. Sadly, I forgot to take that screenshot, so no bam for you. I warned you that I'm rusty.
You know what I didn't forget, though? Rex, Rover, Sparky and Spot. I always try to kill these four in an interesting fashion. The all time prize goes to my Jester, Alisa, who turned them into squirrels and made them fight to the death in a grease pit. Aestica, who is a fighter not a thespian, lacks Alisa dynamic range. She did the best she could. At least she did something new. You see, I've roasted them, I've frozen them, I've poisoned them- I've stabbed them, bludgeoned them, slashed them, but I'm fair certain that I've never electrocuted them. Aestica did, using the Keep's free Bolts of Lightning and +1 Light Crossbow. We picked them up just for this purpose. No regrets. It didn't look great, but it sounded cool. Woof, woof! Boioioioing! Good times.
Moving on...
The Trolly-Trolls
Not much to report here. But Aestica would like to share a few of her favorite troll fighting tips
1. Be Prepared! When fighting the SCS spirit trolls solo always, always, always bring Potions of Invisibility and never, never, never let them box you in. Why? Because if they get lucky and strength drain you repeatedly, a PoI is your ticket out of a dangerous situation. Avoiding box-ins is less essential than bringing a PoI, but resting does beat waiting a real time eon for your strength to come back. Here we see Aestica withdrawing invisible after a less-than-perfect engagement.
Also, be sure to use a fast weapon so you can give them a little stabby-stabby before they spirit-away. And, ooh! Remember the Girdle of Piercing? Wear that. Finally, if you're fighting the Tactics spirit trolls, be ready for Greater Command
2. Bring a Friend. The SCS spirit trolls have invisibility at will. Sometimes the invisibility effect kicks in just as they've fallen unconscious. If you're a warrior without a means of detecting the invisible or dealing AoE damage, that can be pretty annoying. Outsource the job to Mr. Effreeti.
3. Stack 'Em High!
(Because, yeah...)
The Keep Key Keeper Guy
The buffs for this fight were Aestica's renewables: RoAC II, Ilbratha MI, and DUHM. Those of you who have followed my warrior runs on the Bioware forums know what to expect here: A) range fighting to widen the counter window; B.) careful timing and aura management to be sure counters can alway be brought into play when needed; C) darts to remove skins at a high APR, while also holding the Shield of Harmony or the Reflection Shield; D) frequent use of tactical ammo (in this case darts of stunning). That's exactly how Aestica played this hand, and it worked beautifully.
Here we see Aestica's opening. She had entered invisible, seeking to draw out a Divination cast while her opponent was unprotected and easily disrupted. Illusionary buffs preserved.
The yuan-ti's buffs fired. With her opponent's aura clouded due to the disrupted divination cast, Aestica was free to put a spell equivalent action into play. Enter Mr. Efreeti. Advantage Aestica.
ProMW->unenchanted darts; Flame Arrow->The Reflex. Looking good.
Conversely, this isn't going well for the mage. By now he should understand that in light of Aestica's saves, and use of The Reflex + Harmony, there's a very limited space of viable attack avenues (Malison->Stinking Cloud and Malison->Emotion). Eventually, he got that and put Malison into play.
The problem is that by now his ProMW is very nearly tapped, and he'll be facing Darts of Stunning soon. He has only a round, two at best, to make the right follow up move. Mind you, even if he does, Aestica, who is deliberately maintaining a clear aura, will just quaff a Potion of Invulnerability. The yuan ti has no chance of winning, but he can dig into the supply, at least. What will he do? Aestica grinned broadly when the yuan-ti turned to face Mr. Efreeti and went Enchantment. Odds are that's Chaos. In any case, we're ok. If it were Emotion he probably wouldn't have turned away from Aestica toward the distant, Harmony-less Mr.Efreeti, Stinking Cloud is Evocation. Our potion is safe for one more round.
The question now is whether we can get a dart to stick before he makes the right move. And?
Disco.
Glaicas
Glaicas was flat out over matched here. Aestica basically just stabbed him while he whiffed. Nonetheless, he stood his ground for most of the fight. His courage didn't leave him until he brought his two-hander down -hard- only to see it, just, like, bounce off the little stone floating over Aestica's head. He was all "What the rock? This is EE! It isn't even supposed to work that way. Screw this! I'm outta here!"
The Iron Golem
Simple, dimple: Protection from Poison + Girdle of Bluntness
(NW: I'm not playing with cursed wounds)
Oops! Gotta go. I'll cover Torgal next time.
Best,
A.
Sure. This was Alikae's intro post, just to give everyone a sense of where I was going with her:
Alikae Dominica: The Black Hand, Shadow Assassin, Dark Moon Monk
Introduction
Legends are made, not born. You hear that bon mot often in sawdust restaurants and cheap motels. It masquerades as wisdom amongst lesser lights, lesser peoples. But the truth: the truth is different. The truth is that destiny plays favorites: the dice are loaded. Some of us are chosen for greatness- chosen by fate, by the gods, by circumstance. Greatness pulls some of us like gravity: we can't resist- it's inescapable. It's a blessing, but also a curse. Because the truth about greatness is that it paves the way to doom.
I am Alikae Dominica: The Black Hand, Shadow Assassin, Dark Moon Monk. I am one of the chosen. This is my story.
Ever since I was a child I've been fascinated with physics, with speed, with force. Movement, to me, is poetry- the only true poetry. To master movement is to master the relationship between self and reality- it is to master the negotiation of space and time. Movement is truth. Movement is beauty. Movement is my art. You can keep your quills.
I've been studying the martial arts for as long as I can remember. My supposed mentor, Gorion, told me that I would have to defend myself one day. That may be true. And that day may be coming. But the martial arts, to me, are not about self defense. Combat is an arena, a proving ground- a place to test one's mastery of space and time, one's mastery of movement. I seek victory, because only through victory can I perfect my art. Combat is my meditation. Victory is my prayer.
My guardian, Gorion, approves of my studies. But he doesn't know about all of them. He doesn't know that I am in discourse with Shar. He doesn't know that I play the Shadow Weave. It is only logical, to me. Movement is founded on perception. Shar promises to tip the balance of perception in my favor. Devotion is not a word I would use. I know what I want from Shar. I fear the day when she will want something from me. This is the truth about gods.
I am done spilling words. Night is falling. It is time for me to awaken.
Mods: Enhanced Edition, SCS v30, ATweaks
Proficiencies: Darts, Long Swords
Best,
A.
Due to similar OCD habits, I always party with a full team.
I don't think I have the discipline to survive a solo noreload -- with anything other than maybe a Sorcerer.
After much researching, I have a preliminary list of Honorable Mentions and the list of successes from the Bioware forum for you @Ygramul. This is not an exhuastive list. Please, pretty please everyone, feel free to suggest other memorable mentions.
Bioware Hall of Fame :
Note : the links to the Bioware successes won't work, because these runs are now on the archives provided by @Serg_BlackStrider.
BG1
BG2
Character Name: Ogg
Race: Half-Orc
class: Fighter/Cleric
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Frabjous
Character Name: Alanis
Race: Elf
class: Sorcerer
Notable Mods: Questpack, Tactics (Parts), Ascension
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Alesia_BH
Character Name: Hugh
Race: Human
class: Inquisitor
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Wizworm
Character Name: Urmgi
Race: Half-Orc
class: Cleric/Thief
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Frabjous
Character Name: Saros
Race: Half-Elf
class: F/M/T
Notable Mods: SCS, IA 5.0 with Recommended Ease of Use Components
Difficulty: Insane
Entered by Saros Shadow Follower
Character Name: Alia
Race: Half-Elf
class: Blade
Notable Mods: SCS, IA 5.0 with Recommended Ease of Use Components
Difficulty: Insane
Entered by Saros Shadow Follower
Character Name: Kalis
Race: Human
class: Druid
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Enuhal
Character Name: Naji the Unspeakable
Race: Human
class: Monk
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Enuhal****
Character Name: Numa Stoneguard
Race: Dwarf.
class: Cleric 23 – Illusionist 19.
Notable Mods: Keto-SOAv3 + Sarahtob-beta2
Difficulty: Core
Entered by UssNorway
Character Name: Candar
Race: Dwarf
class: Berserker
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Corey_Russell
BG1 Start: http://social.biowar...4065/14#5606675
BG1 Fin: http://social.biowar...4065/17#5794527
SoA Start: http://social.biowar...0942/35#5804114
Mel: http://social.biowar...0942/60#7750216
Character: Lotan
Race: Human
class: Fighter/Druid (dual from level 9 fighter)
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Corey_Russell
BG1 Start: http://social.biowar...4065/90#7894578
BG1 Fin: http://social.biowar...4065/93#7958273
SoA Start: http://social.biowar...0942/79#7958710
Mel: http://social.biowar...0942/82#8059615
Character: Weirdo
Race: Gnome
class: Thief/Illusionist
Difficulty: Core
Notable Mods: BG1- aTweaks, SCS; BG2- aTweaks, Ascension, Randomiser, SCS II, Weimer Item Upgrades
Entered by Weirdo
Start BG 1: http://social.biowar...4065/17#5820267
Finish BG 1: http://social.biowar...4065/43#7076949
Begin BG 2: http://social.biowar...0942/40#7111414
Melissan: http://social.biowar...942/134#8803115
Character Name: Anatole
Race: Human
class: Assassin
Difficulty: Insane
Entered by BBMorti
Start BG 1: http://social.biowar...065/149#8688503
Finish BG 1: http://social.biowar...065/152#8704165
Begin BG 2: http://social.biowar...942/120#8706461
Melissan: http://social.biowar...942/136#8815327
Character: Vessen
Race: Halfling
Class: Priest of Lathander
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Corey Russell
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...enge/?p=7004411
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...enge/?p=7041015
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...enge/?p=7041455
Melissan: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=7476436
Character: (Multi-player): Pendal
Race: gnome
Class: Fighter/Illlusionist
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Gate70 - assisted by Thimble (Grond0)
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=11429443
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=11659947
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=11692592
Melissan: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=12775234
Character: Alyssa
Race: Elf
Class: Mage/Thief
Difficulty: Core
Notable mods: SCS for both BG 1 and BG 2, Ascension
Entered by: Alesia_BH
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=11381587
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=11405196
Begin BG2: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=11436501
Melissan: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=12412328
Character: Klonk
Race: Half-Orc
class: Berserker
Difficulty: Core
Entered by: Gate70
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14896009
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14916519
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14916605
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14964643
Character: Alisa
Race: Half-Elf
class: Jester
Difficulty: Core
Notable mods: SCS for both BG 1 and BG 2, Ascension
Entered by: Alesia_BH
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14826902
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14837088
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14837284
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15093147
Character: Blackstrider
Race: Half-Elf
Class: Blade
Special: played as The Avatars:-
Alesia_BH as Alesia (elven Mage/Thief)
Grond0 as Grond (human Archer)
Gate70 as Krimlor (dwarven Fighter/Cleric)
The Potty 1 as Pot (human Mage)
USSnorway as Cassia (gnomish Shapeshifter)
Corey_Russell as Corey Russell (human Undead Hunter)
Difficulty: Core
Notable Mods: SCS 21 for both BG 1 and BG 2, Ascension
Entered by: Serg Blackstrider
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=13947138
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14770438
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14793104
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15856728
Character: Corbeast
Race: Human
Class: Beastmaster
Difficulty: Core
Entered by: Corey Russell
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15799875
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15805769
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...ge/?p=15818343
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15995154
Character: Russell V (Russell the fifth)
Race: Human
Class: FALLEN Inquisitor
Diffficulty: Core
Entered by: Corey_Russell
Unusual Group: 5 paladins and cleric/thief for entire trilogy, no arcane
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16002207
Finish BG1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16092275
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16092286
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16104299
Character: Krak
Race: Dwarf
Class: Barbarian
Difficulty: Core
Special: Solo, no healing potions, antidotes (except 1 in BG 1), or RoR heals used in entire run.
Entered by: Grond0
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16139435
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16142008
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16143225
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16196263
Character: Rifft
Race: Dwarf
Class: Swashbuckler
Difficulty: Core
Special: Solo, no healing potions used in entire run nor mage scrolls.
Entered by: Grond0
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16197557
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16201324
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16201484
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16222069
Character: Augur
Race: Dwarf
Class: Wizard Slayer, solo (!)
Difficulty: Core
Special: No heal potions used in entire run
Entered by Grond0
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16302541
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16303353
Begin BG 2:http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16303609
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16340984
Character: Hale
Race: Elf
Class: Wild Mage, solo(!)
Entered by Grond0
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17192212
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17197841
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17204023
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17282162
Character: Coremonk III
Race: Human
Class: Monk
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Corey_Russell
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17287810
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17320922
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17323179
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17707671
Character: Delilah
Race: Human
Class: Cavalier (solo)
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Grond0
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18319102
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18320754
Begin BG 2:http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18328562
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18401887
Character: Corarcher
Race: Elf
Class: Archer
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Corey_Russell
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17989819
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18155910
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18159133
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18750103
Character: Sage
Race: Elf
Class: Mage
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Grond0
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18791102
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18815158
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18815373
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18901745
No potions used during this run.
Character: Arcadia
Race: Half-Elf
Class: Fighter/Mage
Difficulty: Core
Notable mods: SCS, Ascension
Entered by Alesia_BH
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18721189
Finish BG 1:http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18747979
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18749185
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18922231
Character: Eren, Last Child
Race: Human
Class: level 9 fighter/level 39 thief
Difficulty: Core
Notable mods: Enhanced Edition) SCS, Ascension, Rogue Rebalancing, Tweaks. [/size]
Entered by Golden28[/size]
Start BG 1: [/size][url=http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19114876[/url]
Finish BG 1: [/size] [/size][url=http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19114876[/url]
[background=#f8f8f8]Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=19125318]http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=19125318
[background=#f8f8f8]Melissan: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=19259093]http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=19259093
Character: Arkona
Race: Halfling
Class: Barbarian
Difficulty: Core
Notable mods: SCS, Ascension, ATweaks
Special: First solo no-reload SCS Watcher's Keep
Entered by Alesia_BH
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19542961
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19544761
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19545045
Melissan: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=19596228
Character: Kaxir
Race: Dwarf
Class: Kensai (solo)
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Gate70
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19672705
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19672705
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19683619
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19716619
Character: Sir Gawain
Race: Human
Class: Fighter
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Charlestonian Knight Templar
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17190325
Finish BG 1:http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18839075
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18839075
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19887351
Character: Russell VI
Race: Human
Class: Inquisitor
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Corey_Russell
Special: Only paladins from Candlekeep to Melissan, except Mazzy allowed as a paladin of Avoreen
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19945421
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19947817
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19948265
Finish BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19966456
Character: Sahal
Race: Gnome
Class: Cleric/Illusionist
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Enuhal
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19974486
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19989633
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19991808
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=20029643
Character: Dyara
Race: elf
Class: Fighter/Mage/Thief (solo)
Difficulty: core
Entered by: Dyara
Mods: SCS, Ascension, Item Upgrade,...
Candlekeep (21.2.16): https://forum.biowar...nge/?p=20094890
End of BG1EE (10.3.16): https://forum.biowar...nge/?p=20094890
Starting BG2EE (27.4.16): https://forum.biowar...nge/?p=20224136
End of SoA: (29.6.16): https://forum.biowar...nge/?p=20358921
Start of ToB: (7.7.16) https://forum.biowar...nge/?p=20372293
End of ToB: (2.8.16) https://forum.biowar...nge/?p=20425087
Honorable Mentions :
Thani the Wizard Slayer dwarf : @Blackraven ; solo, made it deep into ToB (SCS/Acsension)
Start
Finish
Alesia the Bounty Hunter : @Alesia_BH ; solo, failed at the final fight (SCS/Acsension)
BG1
Start
Finish
BG2
Start
Finish
Successful final battle (with reload)
Sil the human cleric of Lathander --> mage : @semiticgod ; full BG2 no reload (SCS/Acsension)
Start
Finish
Carl the (elven) Llama Sorcerer : @semiticgod ; conquest of Ust Natha (SCS on LoB difficulty)
Start
Finish
Frisky Bits the human Seducer (thief kit) : @semiticgod ; "solo", full trilogy, single reload (SCS/Acsension)
Start
Finish
Yahiko the half-elf Totemic Druid : @JuliusBorisov ; solo, full trilogy no reload, failed at the final fight (SCS/Acsension)
Start
Finish
Thank you for the excellent advice and detailed comments!
Some followup thoughts:
- The Claw: almost surprised to hear it, actually.
I thought the +4 penalty to death saves was too risky. Can one reliably use Death Ward? (Probably dispelled at the worst moment.) Also, 2HP/lvl is not to cheap either.
The Ioun Stone seems... wasteful. Essentially TWO slots used then to achieve some +3 saves (except Death which barely breaks even).
Helm of Balduran + a ring with +2 saves seems to give the same without the 2HP/lvl loss.
Do I miss something here?
O, more generally, what Ring + Amulet + Cloak combination do you go for BG1->ToB?
Maybe:
cloak: [Balduran -> +2 protection]
rings: [Free Action] + [fire prot -> +2 prot]
amulet: [something with save bonus]
?
- Don't Free Action items protect again Stun now? I'm surprised to hear that Stun is a problem late game (which I rarely survive to with a melee character).
(Also, is there a Free Action ring in BG2?)
- (Forgot what 'NPP status' stands for.)
Why should I not melee Vampires? (Assuming I have level drain protection.)
Thanks again.
Thanks!
Note also that for warriors in particular save v spells are a comparative weak point in greater need of buttressing.
Consider, too, that saves v spells are more commonly associated with large penalties than saves v death Most Insta-kill spells require a save v spells, not a save v death. You're more likely to need Death Ward without the Claw, than with (not that one needs Death Ward). I rarely find that to be a cause for concern. I only find myself thinking about it around backstabbers and PW:S casters. I do have it removed from time to time. 1. The Claw can be used with protection items, while protection items can't be used with each other. Early, you can pair the Claw with the RoP + 2 from Aran. Late, you can pair it with the CoP +2 and Gaxx. You can't just look at the helm and ring slots: you have to consider the cloak slot, too. When you look across the the helm, cloak, and ring slots, having the Claw rather than Balduran gives you an additional -2 or -3 to saves v spells, depending on the stage of the adventure and what you choose to do with the helm slot. (ie- The Lavender Ioun Stone needn't be used in every battle; when saves v death aren't a concern, and they often aren't, you can equip the Helm of Defense, which confers -1, just like Balduran.)
The purpose of the Lavender Ioun Stone is to protect against weapons that vorpal at -4 or -6 while maintaining the best possible save v spells.
2. You get access to the +3 immediately. By combining RoAC II with the Chateau RoP +1 and the Claw, you can get -7 to spells in the Promenade. That significantly reduced early game risk and potion costs
3. You get access to items that offer undispellable save v death bonuses very early in the adventure (Spear of the Unicorn, Cloak of Displacement). There are no items offering comparable save v spells bonuses early. With the Claw, you end up with excellent saves once you get to Trademeet. Without the Claw, it takes longer.
4. When you get into the minutiae, the Claw looks even more appealing. Aestica, for example, has faced only three saves v death thus far: the shadow fiend weapon, the iron golem Gas Cloud, and Stinking Cloud. By the time she reached them she already had access to immunity, and or a negative saves v death, making the save v death penalty irrelevant in her adventure. The save v spell bonus, on the other hand, has been hugely beneficial. It's easy to delay critical saves v death until late in the adventure, when you're saves are excellent and you have a wide array of resources at your disposal. It's far more difficult to do the same with save v spells. Further, Balduran is arguably obsoleted by the Helm of Defense (in my opinion it is), and during the period in which Balduran has not been obsoleted, the Claw is more valuable. Stun can be a concern depending on your setup. Absent the Fixpack's Free Action Protects Against Stun component, found in the Optional But Cool category, Free Action does not protect against stun. Additionally, even if you have installed Free Action Protects Against Stun, Free Action cancels movement rate bonuses, absent another tweak, making Free Action awkward to use at times (ie- By the late game, a soloist will often want to be fast and immune to stun.) NPP is negative plain protection. SCS vamps drain constitution, in addition to levels. NPP will not protect you from con drain. De nada, my friend!
Best,
A.
1. Add *blackstrider.net/forum_bioware_arhiv* at the beginning of the link
2. Replace /?p=XXXXXXXX with proper /page-XXX.html#entryXXXXXXXX at the end
But to make #2 one need to browse those archives all over again to find needed entries. Which just means creating the most part of the Hall from the scratch.
Best,
A.
Also, the immunity list is very interesting:
https://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/SpellsReference/Immunities.htm
I remember running into before, but never paid much attention to it.
Wait? What!
The Jansen Spectroscopes provide immunity to Blindness?!
I had no idea!
Okay, one more question:
Would you use the Amulet of Power for a Cavalier? (Remember I have a full party, so Imoen/Jan/Viconia/Jaheira etc. will be contending for it, but I want to make sure that charname gets the best protection.)
P.S. I am not sure if I actually use SCS-enhanced vampires. After getting frustrated at an earlier run on SCS-enhanced dopplegangers I had decided not to use components of SCS that change creature abilities drastically.
Gate70: Teere, human female Priest of Lathander nee Tyr.
Corey Russell: Corarcher, elf male Archer.
Grond0: Mis, elf female Archer.
Our seasoned adventurers make their seventh appearance for another two hours (slightly less) of mayhem. I had a look at restoring the Tyr powers but didn't do it, maybe for next time. Previous savename mentions the de'Arnise Keep so that's where we head.
As usual we clear the main area, head outside, then back in and upstairs. Corarcher started handing elixirs of health around at one point but Teere struck lucky and cured her poison then cured Mis too. Corarcher must sometimes wonder what he's let himself in for.
On to Trademeet where the Dao Djinn found flesh to stone was sub-optimal against fleshless skeleton warriors. The one outside was Commanded, but remained
on his feetupright.On our way back to the area exit Corarcher decided fighting vampires and muggers at the same time (2 groups) was trouble so he activated his Shield Amulet. Please don't do that again.
No deaths so far, but then Mis found time to multiplayer bump with salamanders after freeing Haer'Daelis and since she was already badly wounded the acid blob trap near the portal gem pulpit was easily enough to kill her. Good job we'd wiped Mekrath out a moment earlier and had a rod of resurrection to ignore - Teere choosing to memorise Raise Dead and have a rest before using the spell instead.
With the session end drawing close we kicked open some doors in preparation for hunting liches. We only have two scrolls of protection from undead though so may need to purchase another one before starting.
Previous updates:
Moving down to Nashkel and beyond the party took on Greywolf. The fighter failed to withstand the first stunning blow from one of the 2 monks in stealth when he appeared and he did not survive as everyone else piled in with further stuns.
Chimera rested to get Bhaal LMD before a reputation drive started with Oublek seeming relieved not to be relieved of 200 gold. Then Arabelle was saved (the monks with longer range weapons engaging the xvarts to start with to avoid them mobbing the cow).
After a visit to the temple they returned once more to Firewine. There were plenty more kobolds, but this time I was more patient and used stealth to split them up and pick them off one by one. With the route open 4 of them tried a joint stealth attack on Meilum - he resisted their stunning blows, but that just meant a slightly more lingering death for him.
A spot of healing up at the Carnival was followed by more easy reputation gains from Bjornin, Ardrouine, Mr Colquetle, Brage and Charleston Nib. The Doomsayer could have been killed using stealth attacks, but I decided not to bother with that hassle for now. Melicamp was then successfully revived, with Spook able to top up his dagger stocks from a group of skeletons at High Hedge.
Reuniting Rufie and Albert was enough for everyone to get to level 4. The HP gains there weren't much cop, but still added enough security for the monks to take on Sendai & co all together.
Some +2 bullets had also been bought and they were used while shooting up the wolf pack at the Beregost Temple.
Progress continues to be swift with not that much more time spent so far on this than would have been the case solo. In addition to the factors I listed in the first update, another reason for that is that respawning in BGEE occurs far less often than in the BGT installation I was using previously. In the latter it was very common to fight your way past one encounter point and move on to another - then try and retreat back to where you had come from a few seconds earlier to find another group of enemies had arrived. That very rarely happens in EE.
Chimera - L5, 36 HPs, 49 kills
Phantom - L5, 33 HPs, 52 kills, 1 death
Spectre - L5, 43 HPs, 32 kills, 0 deaths
Wraith - L5, 47 HPs, 48 kills, 0 deaths
Spook - L5, 47 HPs, 41 kills, 0 deaths
Spirit - L5, 42 HPs, 48 kills, 0 deaths
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/903092/#Comment_903092
At Durlag's Tower a stealth shot pulled one battle horror away. A single blast from the Wand of Heavens badly wounded it and mob attacks finished it off before it could do too much damage.
After a trip to High Hedge to get some more free daggers for Spook, the monks cleared out the inside of Durlag's Tower of ghasts. I was tempted by the ghost and Kirinale, but left them alone for now. However, the monks did decide to test out Riggilo's saving throws - not good enough was the model answer.
After resting enough to safely pass out through the trap inside the tower, the monks sought some more quick XP in the ankheg area. By stealthing into position around an ankheg before one of them showed themselves they were able to attack with devastating results - not a single ankheg in the nest managing a single attack let alone hit. The ankhegs in the fields are far more dangerous and the monks only killed a few of those before reporting to Gerde and taking some shells back to Beregost to sell.
A second party death occurred when Spectre offered Shoal the opportunity for a kiss.
After another extended rest the monks returned to the area to run round the ogre clan. With them out of the way they moved on to the sirines. Initial stealth attacks stunned 2 of them and the feeblemind effect the final one tagged Spirit with was only a minor inconvenience compared to the 6th level everyone picked up - there was also another excellent set of HPs that time, with 7 being the lowest gained.
Buoyed by their success the monks tried another lot of sirines, but this time things didn't go according to plan. None of the sirines were stunned initially and the 6 nearby hobgoblins were also a potential threat - particularly after Spectre was immediately feebleminded. The others managed to kill 2 of the sirines, but only at the expense of Chimera being charmed. When Wraith also switched sides and Phantom also fell into a daze things didn't look great, but Spook hurried back and managed to finish the last sirine off with a throwing dagger to prevent things deteriorating further. However, Wraith was too close to Phantom for it to be possible to drag her away and she kicked his head in just as Chimera recovered his senses.
After another temple visit and long rest, the monks returned to the Lighthouse area where Sil and her companions failed to offer a threat despite one of them cheesily going invisible by script while stunned.
Typically with this party I've aimed to get them up to 7th level before going to the Nashkel Mine. That requires a thorough cleansing of other areas though and I'm not taking the time to do that this run (incidentally another reason for the faster run this time is inventory management is far easier in the EE with much more stacking availability in addition to the gem, scroll and potion containers). After saving Samuel, that meant the last area to be investigated for the moment was the Valley of the Tombs.
On the way there, Chimera became the first of the monks to be struck by lightning this run. Normally in the EE additional strikes on the same person don't cause extra damage, but I have seen exceptions and Chimera immediately reacted by using LMD on a companion to get his HPs above 50%.
Chimera - L6, 46 HPs, 76 kills
Phantom - L6, 40 HPs, 93 kills, 2 deaths
Spectre - L6, 50 HPs, 51 kills, 1 death
Wraith - L6, 56 HPs, 85 kills, 0 deaths
Spook - L6, 57 HPs, 77 kills, 0 deaths
Spirit - L6, 50 HPs, 71 kills, 0 deaths
Aestica's battle with Torgal felt all too familiar for me. And it may seem all too familiar for some of our readers. Irrespective of the character, the sequence of events surrounding Torgal is almost invariant in my runs. It goes something like this.
1) I arrive at Torgal's inner sanctum with too little experience. I resolve to leave Torgal for later. I walk away, leaving the door unopened.
2) Next, I decide I can't leave the quest unfinished. I consider using Torgal's invisibility detection via script to separate him from his allies. I decide against it, in the interest of embracing the challenge and taking the high ground. I muster my courage. I open the door. I lose my nerve. I close the door.
3) At this point, I usually close BG, get online, log into the forums, and then whine about how I want to complete the quest, but am too afraid of Torgal's army and don't want to separate him. Typically, no one responds and no on cares, because they all know what's going to happen next. I resolve to leave Torgal for later. At that very moment, scattered people in scattered places all around the world laugh hysterically. They know that's not how it works: I never actually leave Torgal for later.
4) Then, I fire BG back up. I see that door again and I can't resist. I buff. I open the door. I sally-forth with a battle-march in my head. And then I see this- knowing that there's a couple invisibly spirit trolls there, too:
That's when I freak and run away, and by virtue of doing so, end up separating Torgal, even though I didn't really intend to. Cowardice as tactics, I suppose.
Aestica was furious with me. She knew she could take down Torgal and his army all at once. Some of her weaker predecessors have done it. I had robbed her of her glory. And for no reason other than fear. Torgal had no real chance here. Due to RoAC II + Ilbratha MI + full plate + Girdle of Piercing + Shield of Harmony, he never landed a blow. Saves foiled his Cloak of Fear. Credit Mr. Efreeti with the finish. Flame Arrow
And that left Torgal's merry band of minions. This got weird. Shortly after Aestica engaged, the yuan ti mages unloaded Stinking Clouds and Webs. The Stinking Clouds I get, because trolls are immune to sleep and our post Malison saves v death is +3, but the Webs? Strange call. That led to a strange call on my part: I instructed Aestica to quaff a Potion of Invulnerability as a prophylactic against Malison.
Why not wait and see if Malison is even in the cards? Good question. The problem is that yuan-ti don't incant and they were casting from outside of line of sight on a very crowded battle field. It would be too easy to miss a Malison under those circumstance. In the end the Malison, never came, but that doesn't mean the Potion of Invulnerability was the wrong call. Hedging, judiciously, against a probabilistic threat does not become an erroneous call just because the threat didn't ultimately materialize. Decisions should be judged based on the information available at the time. No outcome bias here, darling dears. In any case, the field was ours now and it would take 2 uncountered spell equivalent actions (Remove->Malison) to take it from us .
Winding down now. Most of the damage taken here was a result of a missing item: the Glasses of Identification. Had we brought the glasses, we could have identified the Shield Amulet and foiled the yuan-ti's Magic Missiles. Those were the only things that really hurt us.
Last troll.
Aestica is currently at the Copper Coronet, resting, recuperating, and enjoying her newly acquired Glasses of Identification. She's not sure where she's headed next, but there is a gentleman who has an offer, if she wishes to hear it.
Current character record and inventory:
Best,
A.
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/903092/#Comment_903092
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/903108/#Comment_903108
Before going to the Nashkel Mine the monks tidied up a few loose ends. Perdue's sword had been in backpacks for far too long and Karlat was no longer a real threat even before being stunned. Next the Doomsayer was assaulted: several of the monks got hits in their initial stealth attack, but they were losing out badly in straight-up melee and had to switch to taking turns at stealth attacks while the Doomsayer chased a colleague around.
I've played the Nashkel Mine a fair amount solo on LoB and that's hard work if not using invisibility / stealth, but playing just on core the monks made short work of it. The kobold shaman was lurking invisibly and took the opportunity to cast horror, but a couple of monks had saved up stunning blows for him and he didn't have the opportunity to do any more damage (I'd also deliberately tripped the traps already to avoid the possibility of anyone already injured dying in those while running round).
Resting back at the Carnival, Chimera picked up CLW ability - which will significantly reduce the amount of future resting required (currently on day 274 so struggling to get this job done within a year
Teven provided a lift to the Bandit Camp where Tazok was presented with copious gifts of missiles to persuade him to allow the monks to stay. They took advantage of that hospitality by charming a few of the trickier enemies outside the tent. With the odds evened a bit they all used the shield amulet before attacking. They kept a close eye out for Venkt arriving and managed to kill him before he cast anything with the help of a couple of charges from the Wand of Heavens.
On the way to sell stuff the amazons appeared. Wraith ran round with the aim of distracting the backstabbers while Chimera successfully charmed Lamalha and the others dealt with Zeela - though at the expense of Spirit being held. Lamalha was offered as an easy target, but the other amazons seemed immune to that temptation. Wraith therefore slowed down her running in the hope of getting one of the backstabbers to begin an attack (and thus become visible) without actually being able to complete it. That's not easy to do though and failed to work this time, but Maneira only got a backstab for 10 damage and Telka for 16 - they were swiftly finished off after that before Lamalha equipped her fists and stood in the middle of the monks ...
Up to this point everyone except Spook had been using the ammunition bought at Candlekeep. The sling users still had plenty of bullets, but the dart users were running short and stocked up again in anticipation of the long journey through the Cloakwood.
First though I wanted to buy the remaining goodies at the shops, such as Sandthief's ring and the Claw of Kazgaroth. The monks therefore headed for Ulgoth's Beard - only to find Molkar & co in the way. This time though all the opponents were visible and when Chimera charmed Molkar and the other monks stunned Halacan and Drakar there was just a bit of mop-up required before victory was declared with no damage taken.
Chimera - L6, 46 HPs, 101 kills
Phantom - L6, 40 HPs, 138 kills, 2 deaths
Spectre - L6, 50 HPs, 72 kills, 1 death
Wraith - L6, 56 HPs, 104 kills, 0 deaths
Spook - L6, 57 HPs, 105 kills, 0 deaths
Spirit - L6, 50 HPs, 98 kills, 0 deaths
I will probably play him again some time.
Previous posts:
The way to Beregost was relatively uneventful.
My first encounter was with Neera and the red wizards. In preparation, I summoned a spirit bear. Right at the start of the battle, Sybia managed to command the thayan wizard, so his initial spellcasting attempts were disrupted:
The mercenaries attacked Neera and eventually killed her, but she bought us some time - meanwhile, the rest of the party managed to bring the wizard really low, and eventually the spirit bear applied his fear debuff while Aikar lured the mercenaries away:
The party shot the mercenaries and looted the gem bag.
Silke was next on our list, as I still had my spirit bear. I threw doom, blindness and command on her while my damage dealers disrupted her spells, but once again, spirit bear fear took hold and made it easy to win this encounter:
Sybia also lured Karlat outside, so the spirit bear could help us deal with him as well. The party rested, completed the quests for Marl and Firebead, and Arbogast summoned a spirit snake while Sybia lured Landrin's spiders outside. Nahema managed to blind three spiders, making this an easy fight.
Now, trying to clear wilderness areas with a level 1 party seems like a really bad idea, as everyone is quite capable of dying to a single hit, and my spell flexibility is certainly lacking, plus the level 1 spirit animals die very quickly. My source of quick experience were to be the basilisks, as I had Nahema learn protection from petrification as one of her starting spells (in addition to blindness and sleep - sleep never worked when I tried it, so I stopped using it alltogether).
So, I entered the basilisk area, avoided a hostile gnoll group thanks to Firun's scouting, summoned a spirit lion and protected him from petrification. This way, I managed to kill two basilisks and a greater basilisk for some great experience:
However, the last basilisk in the southern part of the map caused a bit of a problem. I realized earlier that, when the basilisks stop using their petrifying gaze and attack instead, thinks can get rough, as they are quite capable of quickly killing the spirit lion and onehitting any party members. The other problem: It took forever to actually kill the basilisks on LoB, so protection from petrification or the spirit animal summon duration could easily be over unexpectedly. This basilisk managed to switch to normal attacks and kill the spirit lion before I could react, and while he was almost dead, he managed to petrify Ifirn:
However, that was the last thing he did:
I had to return to the Beregost temple and buy two stone to flesh scrolls (one of them for Tamah). After rescuing Ifirn, the party searched for the northern basilisks, avoiding any other encounters. I found a group of two basilisks, though they quickly started attacking instead of just gazing at a protected spirit lion, so I had to kite them. The thing is, these things sometimes tend to go back to gazing after some random amount of time, so I started protecting the kiting party members with additional protection from petrification spells. While one of the basilisks was almost dead, Sybia kited the other one and accidentally came too close to Mutamin:
Luckily, Mutamin himself didn't chase the retreating party, but one of his greater basilisks did - as the nearly dead basilisk had managed to kill the spirit lion by now, I had to try and tank him with a party member - the protected Sybia, in this case. I got close to him to make sure he wouldn't choose another target, but at this point he started attacking, and one hit was easily enough to kill our cleric/thief:
I was able to make him attack Firun next, who was also protected, and he was able to kite successfully, so I could retreat to the temple once again and resurrect Sybia.
Finally, I recruited Korax for Mutamin and the final couple of basilisks. He managed to paralyze the mage:
Thus, all the basilisks were defeated and the party reached levels 3/4, allowing me to use a) the level 3 spirit animals, b) hold person and c) some potential level 2 mage spells (which I don't have right now - I'd need money for scrolls).
Time to rest up in Beregost - next time, we will make our way to Nashkell and look for more ways to gain experience.
Enuhal
PT-1,
We survived!I collected some magic items and fetched moss for an alchemist without traps killing me with shades... well evil they certainly are but its a good thing for me they can't turn a door nob.
I waved goodbye to most my party and I'm heading back to my palisade room to get some well earned rest
... what could go wrong?
The rest of Brynnlaw went as usual, we saved Sanik, dealt with Galvena and killed Perth. Cromarty didn't feel like flapping and pretending so he could get trussed up like a chicken and bundled off to the madhouse so we headed to the asylum under our own speed. Irenicus showed his usual hospitality and Cromarty sacrificed some of his wits in the dream, only to find himself at the bottom of a dark dungeon with Bodhi gloating over the drained body of Imoen like some hideous fly.
Subsequently however the bugs began to come in in earnest. Yvette was swept off into a magic mirror rather earlier than she should have been, leaving us both clericless and thiefless. We got through the labyrinth fine enough, beating a hasty retreat at one point from a timestopping lich, but then discovered that our magical containers seemed to be malfunctioning and losing random items. Hopefully I didn't lose many things while CLUAing in what I could remember, and then later I had to CLUA back to grab a container that got left behind during a transition. On top of this we could no longer rest or save easily due to constant monsters are about warnings... even in Brynnlaw! I also managed to mess up and miss a few of the Spellhold items while trying to deal with all of this.
Happily we managed to pass through the more mundane dangers of Spellhold, defeating the nicely named Hopereaper who was trying to claim Yvette...
and then Irenicus himself.
Sadly there was no room for Tiax afterwards, though I was tempted. "Yvette my sweet cinnamon cookie, it's over, I'm throwing you over for a meglomaniacal gnome with seductively low breeches. Never mind about the Dark Sun Tiax, I want to see the whole of your moon." Then we aided Saemon in Brynnlaw and brought about a revolution among the Sahaugin, and now we stand on the brink of descending into the yawning maw of the Underdark.