I'm not going to report on every single minor quest in the city of Baldur's Gate - we completed all of them except one, which I'll come to later. Instead, let's just talk about some of the more interesting fights. I started out with some tome gathering - agility for Nahema, wisdom for Sybia:
Getting the wisdom tome also included the Marek&Lothander questline and a new shortbow for Firun. Ramazith's tower and the int tome (also for Nahema) involved luring lots of opponents downstairs into waiting summons, though I used a protection from undead scroll for the ghasts.
I also started fighting some of the various mages in the city. Skeletons are great against the necromancers in Sorcerous Sundries:
The same is true for Vay-ya:
We had a more interesting fight against the ogre mages. I started with wands of fear plus a spirit animal, though only 2 ogres were affected:
As a consequence, Aikar was hit by confusion and a flame arrow killed Ifirn:
However, by this point I had enough firepower and two spirit animals on the field, so all remaining cast attempts were disrupted and we resurrected Ifirn at the temple of Helm. More luring people outside to get our helm of glory:
Wands of fear and additional disables did quite well against the Maulers of the Undermountain:
Sunin was next on our list - however, one of his guards seems to have been turned into some kind of powerful Kensai: Two attacks on Sybia, two hits, and she's dead.
Luckily, we don't lack money for resurrections anymore. We dealt with Wiven's thieves by luring them to our summons:
Next, the party took down some doppelgangers:
The sewers turned out to be rather tricky - we got trapped between two groups of carrion crawlers as we retreated from the ogre mage for some shoot and run tactics. The other group spawned right in our back, and our summons, who were supposed to hold off the ogre's minions, got destroyed:
To keep the northern crawlers busy I used a monster summoning charge. Still, one of them was able to paralyze Aikar while I tried to stun it using a wand of paralyzation:
Firun was disabled as well, and I feared for his life:
However, Nahema managed to blind or stun all of the remaining crawlers, so the battle was ultimately won. The rest of the sewers caused no such problems.
Degrodel's house was by far the most difficult encounter in the city. Of course, we lured the opponents outside to meet our summons right away, but it was difficult to actually deal damage to these creatures. They tore through our entire army, and we quickly had to use a wand charge, then 2 - finally, with the help of wands of frost and of the heavens, we started to deal some reasonable damage ourselves:
Still, when the dust settled and we finally fought the final opponent, most of our party was seriously hurt and I had to use all my summon spells and three wand of monster summoning charges:
That's why I decided not to actually complete Degrodel's quest, but simply kill the mage after accepting it - with LoB's extra hp, there's also a serious risk that he would be able to disappear with the items before he could be killed anyway:
Finally, we had to investigate the Iron Throne HQ. For the final battle in there, I once again planned to lure the opponents downstairs - I had prepared groups of summons on both sides, buffed my party with defensive spells and waited for the onslaught. Only a few opponents followed the first time we tried to lure them - we blinded the one on the left and killed the ones on the right:
The second group mainly appeared on the left, and some good dart of wounding hits stopped any chance of spellcasting:
The day was ours, and we'll move on to Candlekeep next time!
@Corey_Russell Just to confirm, Evermemory is working for characters other than Imoen, correct?
Not sure - no other mages in group. Guess could recruit Edwin for a sec and see if he gets the bonus spells. But I also sold it, so would need to EE keeper it in I guess then destroy it for the test.
Virtually cookie to the person who identifies the second screwup based on the screenshot
Is Aestica using a shield? Another thing that might be a problem for me would be vulnerability to a malison cast so close to your character - resulting in the possibility of immediately getting stuck in the web. However, I doubt that's it as I imagine you would see the spell start to cast and have moved out of danger well before it would hit.
Aestica, Halfling Fighter: The Planar Sphere- Part 1
By the time Aestica entered the Planar Sphere, she was over-powered. That's the way I wanted it. The Planar Sphere quest is among the most dangerous in SoA. It's best saved until late.
The Hungry-Hungry Halflings
I have a healthy respect for this battle I don't believe I've ever lost a character here, but that's probably because I view it as a significant hurdle, to be handled with care. To the fight.
After approaching cautiously, Aestica used a Whirlwind to drop Entu where he stood. Never trust a halfling with psionic.
Mogadish was next on the hit list. A hastily erected Physical Mirror kept him in the game. With no opening worth pursuing, Aestica vanished and sent in Ras. Was was immediately Death Spelled, and Aestica's invisibility was dispelled by Mogadish. A waste? Not at all. We wanted to draw out that Divination cast. And we wanted Kayardi's aura to be clouded when we were revealed.
RoAC II->MI->DUHM. With Divination out of play, our illusionary buffs will stick. And with our illusionary buffs in place, we've no need to fear Kayardi's spells. We've won. All that's left is the killing.
Paniced, Kayardi cast ProMW. Unenchanted Power Attack.
Everard finish.
Taibela and Necre
The details of the Taibela and Necre encounter differed, but they had a similar flavor. Aestica used invisibility and summons to grant her an opportunity to observe her opponents. Once she saw an opening, she broke invisibility and disabled her foes with Power Attack.
Taibela fell first.
Unlike Taibela, Necre awoke from stun. Elemental arrows kept him largely silent, however. The Reflex caught that Flame Arrow.
Finished with a solid critical
The Juggernaut Golem
You know what the difference is between doing a fight right, and doing it wrong? It's the difference between doing a fight right, and doing it wrong. No damage, no potions here. If only Aestica's golem encounter in the Pleasure Palace had been so easy...
Lavok
And we're off...
Lavok proved to be Aestica's trickiest arcane opponent to date for one simple reason: He is immune to stun. Sadly, I had't recalled that at the beginning of this fight, leading to some awkwardness. This was a fairly clean kill, nonetheless.
The opening went as expected. Lavok said "praeses," Aestica said "gulp." Time Stop averted.
We probably should have used Sandthief here, but I'm mildly disinclined to use it in combat. Since the item doesn't provide feedback, I'm not 100% certain how long the latency to effect it. Also, I try to avoid swapping out save granting items in combat: it's too easy to forget, and leave your character vulnerable.
Following the uneventful Time Stop, Lavok cast Improved Mantle. That, however, does enemies little good know that Aestica has Everard, Power Attack and Smite. ProMW works no better, of course. Nothing short of Absolute Immunity will keep a mage in the game now. Unless...Unless you're Lavok, and thus enjoy stun immunity. Here we see Aestica wasting a Smite due to my rustiness. Silly me. I won't forget again.
Lavok's stun immunity kept him alive just long enough to bring a pit fiend into the action. Whirlwind.
Back to Lavok. A ProMW cast sent us to the unenchanted darts. Once the skins were gone, we switched to Everard. Nercomancer down.
Another thing that might be a problem for me would be vulnerability to a malison cast so close to your character - resulting in the possibility of immediately getting stuck in the web.
That's a good thought, Grond0, but Conster had said "vita," not "cupio." Aestica was holding Harmony, too.
Note, also, that Web is a little less dangerous than it seems. It's an Evocation spell. Enchantment is the Invokers opposition school. An Invoker can't cast Malison, and a non-Invoker can't leverage the specialist penalty.
By now, Aestica can make a specialist's -4, post-Malison, with the aid of a Potion of Invulnerability. In a single mage battle, she can, in theory, make her save against Web post-Malison without the aid of a potion.
Aestica, Halfling Fighter: The Planar Sphere- Part 2
The second half of the Planar Sphere quest gave Aestica a chance topractice her dueling tactics. You'll soon see why neither mages nor warriors stand much of a chance against her in one on one combat.
First, the Tanar'ri. Aestica had a cunning and subtle plan for this fight: sling bullet in the face. That worked. EE's Everard is fracking wicked.
On to Tolgerias. Yet another simple plan. Approach invisible. Send in Mr. Efreeti. Watch the Abjuration cast. If it's, ProMW, go Smite->Power Attack with unenchanted darts. If it's Improved Mantle, use Everard. Either way, they get stunned and probably don't survive to cast a spell.
Tolgerias went with Improved Mantle so he got Everard.
Stoneskins and a ProMW Contingency allowed Tolgerias to survive Aestica's opening assault.
If you're still puzzling over how that could have possibly happened, and in particular, what the cause for delay was, note the change of position between the stun and the kill shot.
Why would I have done that? Well, I was trying to avoid the ogrillion. Yes, the ogrillion. Not my finest moment. Had I been willing to weather an assault from an ogrillion, I would have spared Aestica a pit fiend. No matter. It's a chance to practice our warrior dueling tactics.
Here's the game plan. Approach with the Short Sword of the Mask in the main-hand, Saving Grace in the off. Swop in for a stab. Given the Short Sword of the Mask's zero speed factor, most enemies won't get in a roll before you can escape melee range. As for those rare enemies that have equally fast weapons, Saving Grace can mitigate risk from them. Once an Entangle stick, fade, equip The Reflex, give'em the sling. They're as good as dead. They can use neither melee, nor range weapons. All they can do is die. I'm not sure who has it worse: mages or warriors
Aestica lands an entangle while the pit fiend whiffs on a 17
Everard
Just the elemental rooms now. Poor ice salamanders: they have no idea that their cold damage is healing us.
Ditto for these kids.
So: What's next? Spellhold, I think. I'll consider the Planar Prison if and only if someone reminds me why I shouldn't be worried about the Warden's Black Blade of Disaster Time Stop melee.
@Alesia_BH What if you showed yourself just long enough for PfMW and/or Improved Mantle to show (you'll have the haste boots after all by that point), run far, far away, then try my idea once those buffs wear off?
@Alesia_BH You could trigger the encounter with summons blocking the way, get the hell out far away with boots of speed and haste (from Arbane or potion), wait for the Time Stop and protections to wane and go back to do the deed. Then, an arrow of dispelling will connect with him. That's pretty much how I did it with my solo fighter on LoB.
New run with a Champion of Azuth. Technically it is a Paladin kit which I have never tried before. In reality, it is halfway between a paladin and a fighter. This particular type of Champion has similarities to the Inquisitor, which is presumably why it is called Inquisitor of Azuth. However, Carbos proved to be too powerful and killed her with one blow. I am trying a half-elf version next. If she survives Candlekeep, she might do well.
Best of luck with your new run(s), @Wise_Grimwald - I know you know that the Carbos/Shank are not required combats. But since you are not playing vanilla BG 1, you should consider an alternative if their melee is too powerful. Take them outside to the fountain area in the center not far from the chanters. You can kite them around and shoot them relatively safely. I had do that for my mage characters.
Best of luck with your new run(s), @Wise_Grimwald - I know you know that the Carbos/Shank are not required combats. But since you are not playing vanilla BG 1, you should consider an alternative if their melee is too powerful. Take them outside to the fountain area in the center not far from the chanters. You can kite them around and shoot them relatively safely. I had do that for my mage characters.
I could probably have done the same inside. I just thought that a fighter should be able to take them on in melee despite me making them more powerful. I still think that most times I would win melee, but since it is now clear that they are more powerful than I thought, ranged weapons seems to be the way to go. Of course with some kits such as cavalier, ranged fightes are not an option. It will be interesting to discover if the watchers join in the battle using your suggestion.
Best of luck with your new run(s), @Wise_Grimwald - I know you know that the Carbos/Shank are not required combats. But since you are not playing vanilla BG 1, you should consider an alternative if their melee is too powerful. Take them outside to the fountain area in the center not far from the chanters. You can kite them around and shoot them relatively safely. I had do that for my mage characters.
I could probably have done the same inside. I just thought that a fighter should be able to take them on in melee despite me making them more powerful. I still think that most times I would win melee, but since it is now clear that they are more powerful than I thought, ranged weapons seems to be the way to go. Of course with some kits such as cavalier, ranged fightes are not an option. It will be interesting to discover if the watchers join in the battle using your suggestion.
Cavalier is a bad example - if they main proficiency is axes, they are allowed to use throwing axes (or daggers). Same is also true of the Kensai. I think all kits that come with the came the original game can do some kind of range, only mod kits I think might not be able to.
The Watchers really are "nothing more than a bundle of sticks", just as you can claim when returning to Candlekeep. They ignore you as your would-be-murderers try to kill you. You are on your own.
Saw the new thread title and was like like holy smokes - let familiars cast cantrips!!
Catnip.
Sorry, I was actually thinking catnip, for only a Chaotic Neutral mage would post such a title!
I would like to see a mod where familiars cast catnip:
Catnip. (Conjuration/Summoning) All Cat familiars within 30ft must Save vs Spell at -4 or go berserk for four rounds. In a successful save, the familiar will instead be affected by Mordenkainen's Incessant Purr.
I took a V-line to the next bridge (only pausing to grab a sling from a dank hole) and managed to surprise the crusaders guarding it.
We take our time entering under cover of web and fireballs but this makes the other defenders get over run so the husband of a certain druid I know is toast.
The two mages engage us as our reinforcements start to arrive... a 'slow' and 'fireball' (both targeting my peons next to us) forces me to stand my ground otherwise retreat into my army losing the bulk of them. with half my party dead and the monk held I popped my enate 'truesight' so the army could see their target and they actually helped (a first time) me take the camp.
I have 3 scrolls of 'raise dead' and the guys at the barrels will wait for me to get there before they try and blow this bridge.
bad news;
four of my party is dead, i get 2 rep for saving the camp and I'm going to need rest | resupply or a trip back to the old camp before I can safely progress...
I use my first scroll to rez Edwin who promptly spits the dummy about our high rep and walks away mumbling something about monkeys?
my next scroll rezs the Paladin because her high charisma will at least give us good prices for the loot we can pick up... I'm saving the last scroll for emergencies and wonder past Khalids corpse to find my wild mage.
the good news is I'm playing the Beamdog version so that extra point of intelligence (from intel book back in bg1) is still in her profile
party; Neera ... my mage | possible romance interest Rasaad ... magic dart and heavens wand with some scouting (cannon folder if I'm honest) Corwin ... currently dead but still in the party Safana ... currently dead but still in the party
M'khiin ... executed for morale of the troops Khalid ... died like a hero (Jaheira should be proud) Edwin ... whereabouts unknown
Best of luck with your new run(s), @Wise_Grimwald - I know you know that the Carbos/Shank are not required combats. But since you are not playing vanilla BG 1, you should consider an alternative if their melee is too powerful. Take them outside to the fountain area in the center not far from the chanters. You can kite them around and shoot them relatively safely. I had do that for my mage characters.
I could probably have done the same inside. I just thought that a fighter should be able to take them on in melee despite me making them more powerful. I still think that most times I would win melee, but since it is now clear that they are more powerful than I thought, ranged weapons seems to be the way to go. Of course with some kits such as cavalier, ranged fightes are not an option. It will be interesting to discover if the watchers join in the battle using your suggestion.
Cavalier is a bad example - if they main proficiency is axes, they are allowed to use throwing axes (or daggers). Same is also true of the Kensai. I think all kits that come with the came the original game can do some kind of range, only mod kits I think might not be able to.
The Watchers really are "nothing more than a bundle of sticks", just as you can claim when returning to Candlekeep. They ignore you as your would-be-murderers try to kill you. You are on your own.
Though Cavaliers CAN use axes, mine don't. It is only because of game engine limitations that they can. Serileth won't touch them with a barge pole!! The game warden WILL join in the fight. I tried to get Carbos to follow me outside, but he won't. The result of a mod no doubt. The fact that I was one-shotted at level 1 is also from a mod I believe, which one I don't know. However my next character beat all three of them and a a result got some unbreakable armour, only leather +1, but in a recent game my armour broke whilst fighting Tenya! Also got some daggers +1.
Journal of Ælfric, Elven Inquisitor of Azuth
In Candlekeep I was attacked by no fewer than three assassins, but revenge is sweet. As a result of the attacks, Gorion said that we should leave, but we clearly didn't leave soon enough as we were ambushed when we had barely left. Upon returning to the scene of the ambush, most of the equipment that I found on his body were what you might expect on a mage: a mage's robe, a couple of quite good daggers and a bag of holding, but there were two items that I did not expect: a two handed sword +1 which sadly I am not experienced with, and a moonblade. I felt strangely drawn to take the moonblade and gingerly reached out to touch it. To my intense relief it accepted me and I knew that from then onwards we were bound together. Why it chose me, I have no idea, but it did, and I now realise that Gorion knew it was for me. He himself must have been warded from its effect as normally no human could carry it.
Blaggerd's cautious(ish) run. Siege of Dragonspear Update 12345678 9
Blaggerd almost felt sorry for Neera. He'd not really put much effort into looking for the items she required. An aforementioned spiders leg had been skipped in a previous area, and was now inaccessible. All he could do was tell her to stick close, so he could watch whatever gruesome eventuality arose.
Neera was having nightmares about spider legs, which was strangely prescient for Blaggerd. He'd always wanted to die in his sleep, and today was to be that day.
Corwin and Voghiln turned against the party. What is the plan. Good question. Retreat?
Not once he'd joined the other side - Neera desperately trying to spook Corwin
Not while Neera held the battle on her own. All she manages is to drag more hostiles in. (Safana, Voghiln and M'Khiin dead, Blaggerd and Corwin dominated)
Not when Neera dies. (Corwin has come to her senses)
Last chance? Blaggerd and Corwin are both fighting fit. He's going to stick around.
The Gargantuan Spider manages one last effort. Corwin kills it but Blaggerd took a hit and failed his save. Unconscious with two Treants. Oh dear.
Corwin pulls out all the stops, and has a critical miss. She'll recover.
Comments
Previous posts:
Part II: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/903150/#Comment_903150
Part III: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/903226/#Comment_903226
Part IV: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/903521/#Comment_903521
Part V: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/903598/#Comment_903598
Part VI: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/903749/#Comment_903749
I'm not going to report on every single minor quest in the city of Baldur's Gate - we completed all of them except one, which I'll come to later. Instead, let's just talk about some of the more interesting fights.
I started out with some tome gathering - agility for Nahema, wisdom for Sybia:
Getting the wisdom tome also included the Marek&Lothander questline and a new shortbow for Firun. Ramazith's tower and the int tome (also for Nahema) involved luring lots of opponents downstairs into waiting summons, though I used a protection from undead scroll for the ghasts.
I also started fighting some of the various mages in the city. Skeletons are great against the necromancers in Sorcerous Sundries:
The same is true for Vay-ya:
We had a more interesting fight against the ogre mages. I started with wands of fear plus a spirit animal, though only 2 ogres were affected:
As a consequence, Aikar was hit by confusion and a flame arrow killed Ifirn:
However, by this point I had enough firepower and two spirit animals on the field, so all remaining cast attempts were disrupted and we resurrected Ifirn at the temple of Helm.
More luring people outside to get our helm of glory:
Wands of fear and additional disables did quite well against the Maulers of the Undermountain:
Sunin was next on our list - however, one of his guards seems to have been turned into some kind of powerful Kensai: Two attacks on Sybia, two hits, and she's dead.
Luckily, we don't lack money for resurrections anymore. We dealt with Wiven's thieves by luring them to our summons:
Next, the party took down some doppelgangers:
The sewers turned out to be rather tricky - we got trapped between two groups of carrion crawlers as we retreated from the ogre mage for some shoot and run tactics. The other group spawned right in our back, and our summons, who were supposed to hold off the ogre's minions, got destroyed:
To keep the northern crawlers busy I used a monster summoning charge. Still, one of them was able to paralyze Aikar while I tried to stun it using a wand of paralyzation:
Firun was disabled as well, and I feared for his life:
However, Nahema managed to blind or stun all of the remaining crawlers, so the battle was ultimately won. The rest of the sewers caused no such problems.
Degrodel's house was by far the most difficult encounter in the city. Of course, we lured the opponents outside to meet our summons right away, but it was difficult to actually deal damage to these creatures. They tore through our entire army, and we quickly had to use a wand charge, then 2 - finally, with the help of wands of frost and of the heavens, we started to deal some reasonable damage ourselves:
Still, when the dust settled and we finally fought the final opponent, most of our party was seriously hurt and I had to use all my summon spells and three wand of monster summoning charges:
That's why I decided not to actually complete Degrodel's quest, but simply kill the mage after accepting it - with LoB's extra hp, there's also a serious risk that he would be able to disappear with the items before he could be killed anyway:
Finally, we had to investigate the Iron Throne HQ. For the final battle in there, I once again planned to lure the opponents downstairs - I had prepared groups of summons on both sides, buffed my party with defensive spells and waited for the onslaught. Only a few opponents followed the first time we tried to lure them - we blinded the one on the left and killed the ones on the right:
The second group mainly appeared on the left, and some good dart of wounding hits stopped any chance of spellcasting:
The day was ours, and we'll move on to Candlekeep next time!
Enuhal
Best,
A.
Appreciate the detailed answer.
I will consider it for a future run. (Don't want to risk breaking this one.)
By the time Aestica entered the Planar Sphere, she was over-powered. That's the way I wanted it. The Planar Sphere quest is among the most dangerous in SoA. It's best saved until late.
The Hungry-Hungry Halflings
I have a healthy respect for this battle I don't believe I've ever lost a character here, but that's probably because I view it as a significant hurdle, to be handled with care. To the fight.
After approaching cautiously, Aestica used a Whirlwind to drop Entu where he stood. Never trust a halfling with psionic.
Mogadish was next on the hit list. A hastily erected Physical Mirror kept him in the game. With no opening worth pursuing, Aestica vanished and sent in Ras. Was was immediately Death Spelled, and Aestica's invisibility was dispelled by Mogadish. A waste? Not at all. We wanted to draw out that Divination cast. And we wanted Kayardi's aura to be clouded when we were revealed.
RoAC II->MI->DUHM. With Divination out of play, our illusionary buffs will stick. And with our illusionary buffs in place, we've no need to fear Kayardi's spells. We've won. All that's left is the killing.
Paniced, Kayardi cast ProMW. Unenchanted Power Attack.
Everard finish.
Taibela and Necre
The details of the Taibela and Necre encounter differed, but they had a similar flavor. Aestica used invisibility and summons to grant her an opportunity to observe her opponents. Once she saw an opening, she broke invisibility and disabled her foes with Power Attack.
Taibela fell first.
Unlike Taibela, Necre awoke from stun. Elemental arrows kept him largely silent, however. The Reflex caught that Flame Arrow.
Finished with a solid critical
The Juggernaut Golem
You know what the difference is between doing a fight right, and doing it wrong? It's the difference between doing a fight right, and doing it wrong. No damage, no potions here. If only Aestica's golem encounter in the Pleasure Palace had been so easy...
Lavok
And we're off...
Lavok proved to be Aestica's trickiest arcane opponent to date for one simple reason: He is immune to stun. Sadly, I had't recalled that at the beginning of this fight, leading to some awkwardness. This was a fairly clean kill, nonetheless.
The opening went as expected. Lavok said "praeses," Aestica said "gulp." Time Stop averted.
We probably should have used Sandthief here, but I'm mildly disinclined to use it in combat. Since the item doesn't provide feedback, I'm not 100% certain how long the latency to effect it. Also, I try to avoid swapping out save granting items in combat: it's too easy to forget, and leave your character vulnerable.
Following the uneventful Time Stop, Lavok cast Improved Mantle. That, however, does enemies little good know that Aestica has Everard, Power Attack and Smite. ProMW works no better, of course. Nothing short of Absolute Immunity will keep a mage in the game now. Unless...Unless you're Lavok, and thus enjoy stun immunity. Here we see Aestica wasting a Smite due to my rustiness. Silly me. I won't forget again.
Lavok's stun immunity kept him alive just long enough to bring a pit fiend into the action. Whirlwind.
Back to Lavok. A ProMW cast sent us to the unenchanted darts. Once the skins were gone, we switched to Everard. Nercomancer down.
Part 2 coming up.
Best,
A.
Ahem. Nevermind. Carry on.
Note, also, that Web is a little less dangerous than it seems. It's an Evocation spell. Enchantment is the Invokers opposition school. An Invoker can't cast Malison, and a non-Invoker can't leverage the specialist penalty.
By now, Aestica can make a specialist's -4, post-Malison, with the aid of a Potion of Invulnerability. In a single mage battle, she can, in theory, make her save against Web post-Malison without the aid of a potion.
Best,
A.
The second half of the Planar Sphere quest gave Aestica a chance topractice her dueling tactics. You'll soon see why neither mages nor warriors stand much of a chance against her in one on one combat.
First, the Tanar'ri. Aestica had a cunning and subtle plan for this fight: sling bullet in the face. That worked. EE's Everard is fracking wicked.
On to Tolgerias. Yet another simple plan. Approach invisible. Send in Mr. Efreeti. Watch the Abjuration cast. If it's, ProMW, go Smite->Power Attack with unenchanted darts. If it's Improved Mantle, use Everard. Either way, they get stunned and probably don't survive to cast a spell.
Tolgerias went with Improved Mantle so he got Everard.
Stoneskins and a ProMW Contingency allowed Tolgerias to survive Aestica's opening assault.
If you're still puzzling over how that could have possibly happened, and in particular, what the cause for delay was, note the change of position between the stun and the kill shot.
Why would I have done that? Well, I was trying to avoid the ogrillion. Yes, the ogrillion. Not my finest moment. Had I been willing to weather an assault from an ogrillion, I would have spared Aestica a pit fiend. No matter. It's a chance to practice our warrior dueling tactics.
Here's the game plan. Approach with the Short Sword of the Mask in the main-hand, Saving Grace in the off. Swop in for a stab. Given the Short Sword of the Mask's zero speed factor, most enemies won't get in a roll before you can escape melee range. As for those rare enemies that have equally fast weapons, Saving Grace can mitigate risk from them. Once an Entangle stick, fade, equip The Reflex, give'em the sling. They're as good as dead. They can use neither melee, nor range weapons. All they can do is die. I'm not sure who has it worse: mages or warriors
Aestica lands an entangle while the pit fiend whiffs on a 17
Everard
Just the elemental rooms now. Poor ice salamanders: they have no idea that their cold damage is healing us.
Ditto for these kids.
So: What's next? Spellhold, I think. I'll consider the Planar Prison if and only if someone reminds me why I shouldn't be worried about the Warden's Black Blade of Disaster Time Stop melee.
Best,
A.
You have to go under ProMW unenchanted or over Improved Mantle with a +5, depending on the cast, unless you're willing to wait.
Best,
A.
The over/under Smite->Power Attack strategy is quicker and cheaper, since it doesn't rely on consumables.
Also, I'm trying to wean myself off of dispelling arrows. I'd like to switch to the SCS component that reduces the stack numbers from 40 to 5.
Note, too, that demons, and, later, planetars may be summoned while you're waiting for the Abjuration school stuff to expire.
We will use dispelling arrows against dragons, Irenicus, the 5 and at The Throne.
Best,
A.
The Watchers really are "nothing more than a bundle of sticks", just as you can claim when returning to Candlekeep. They ignore you as your would-be-murderers try to kill you. You are on your own.
Get 'em next time!
Best,
A.
Anyways, stay safe vis-à-vis the Warden!
Best,
A.
Sorry, I was actually thinking catnip, for only a Chaotic Neutral mage would post such a title!
I would like to see a mod where familiars cast catnip:
Catnip. (Conjuration/Summoning)
All Cat familiars within 30ft must Save vs Spell at -4 or go berserk for four rounds. In a successful save, the familiar will instead be affected by Mordenkainen's Incessant Purr.
PT-3,
Good news and bad news,I took a V-line to the next bridge (only pausing to grab a sling from a dank hole) and managed to surprise the crusaders guarding it.
We take our time entering under cover of web and fireballs but this makes the other defenders get over run so the husband of a certain druid I know is toast.
The two mages engage us as our reinforcements start to arrive... a 'slow' and 'fireball' (both targeting my peons next to us) forces me to stand my ground otherwise retreat into my army losing the bulk of them. with half my party dead and the monk held I popped my enate 'truesight' so the army could see their target and they actually helped (a first time) me take the camp.
I have 3 scrolls of 'raise dead' and the guys at the barrels will wait for me to get there before they try and blow this bridge.
bad news;
four of my party is dead, i get 2 rep for saving the camp and I'm going to need rest | resupply or a trip back to the old camp before I can safely progress...
I use my first scroll to rez Edwin who promptly spits the dummy about our high rep and walks away mumbling something about monkeys?
my next scroll rezs the Paladin because her high charisma will at least give us good prices for the loot we can pick up... I'm saving the last scroll for emergencies and wonder past Khalids corpse to find my wild mage.
the good news is I'm playing the Beamdog version so that extra point of intelligence (from intel book back in bg1) is still in her profile
party;
Neera ... my mage | possible romance interest
Rasaad ... magic dart and heavens wand with some scouting (cannon folder if I'm honest)
Corwin ... currently dead but still in the party
Safana ... currently dead but still in the party
M'khiin ... executed for morale of the troops
Khalid ... died like a hero (Jaheira should be proud)
Edwin ... whereabouts unknown
Journal of Ælfric, Elven Inquisitor of Azuth
In Candlekeep I was attacked by no fewer than three assassins, but revenge is sweet.
As a result of the attacks, Gorion said that we should leave, but we clearly didn't leave soon enough as we were ambushed when we had barely left. Upon returning to the scene of the ambush, most of the equipment that I found on his body were what you might expect on a mage: a mage's robe, a couple of quite good daggers and a bag of holding, but there were two items that I did not expect: a two handed sword +1 which sadly I am not experienced with, and a moonblade. I felt strangely drawn to take the moonblade and gingerly reached out to touch it. To my intense relief it accepted me and I knew that from then onwards we were bound together. Why it chose me, I have no idea, but it did, and I now realise that Gorion knew it was for me. He himself must have been warded from its effect as normally no human could carry it.
Update 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Blaggerd almost felt sorry for Neera. He'd not really put much effort into looking for the items she required. An aforementioned spiders leg had been skipped in a previous area, and was now inaccessible. All he could do was tell her to stick close, so he could watch whatever gruesome eventuality arose.
Neera was having nightmares about spider legs, which was strangely prescient for Blaggerd. He'd always wanted to die in his sleep, and today was to be that day.
Corwin and Voghiln turned against the party. What is the plan. Good question. Retreat?
Not once he'd joined the other side - Neera desperately trying to spook Corwin
Not while Neera held the battle on her own. All she manages is to drag more hostiles in.
(Safana, Voghiln and M'Khiin dead, Blaggerd and Corwin dominated)
Not when Neera dies. (Corwin has come to her senses)
Last chance? Blaggerd and Corwin are both fighting fit. He's going to stick around.
The Gargantuan Spider manages one last effort. Corwin kills it but Blaggerd took a hit and failed his save. Unconscious with two Treants. Oh dear.
Corwin pulls out all the stops, and has a critical miss. She'll recover.
Unlike some.