@RVNS Greywolf is no problem as he has no distance attack. Without SCS blind is a good option for him, but with SCS he will run all over the place if blinded (dragging other enemies in). You're better off just running him in circles and using spells and missiles (or wands if desired) to deal with him.
Mulahey is potentially a bit more of a problem. He starts slightly nearer the cave entrance with SCS, but it's still possible to come inside and rest immediately. I would be inclined to use something like web or stinking cloud to disable him from out of sight and kill him before he recovers.
@Grond0 awesome. That was what I was hoping to hear on those encounters. I'm thinking of grabbing my fifth level and haste to make the kiting of greywolf easier. I think web and stinking cloud are awesome ways of dealing with mulahey. Thanks for the advice! On another note how difficult is the grill stronghold on scs?
I have a question for where to proceed from here. I was thinking of going to do the quick and easy little quests in beregost then going to proceed to the sirines and then to greywolf for Varscona and then to mulahey. On Mulahey and Greywolf I have never fought them in scs. Anything I need to be concerned with or should watch out for? I am level 5 thief, level 4 mage, level 4 fighter and I am hoping to level fighter and mage to level 5 before proceeding there. Thoughts and tactics are appreciated here. Alternatively if someone thinks I should go grab loot from an area before I try this or if I should hold off just let me know. As I have said before I am not very familiar with scs.
@Grond0 gave excellent advice. An alternative is to run round and round the mountain where he attacks you. From time to time you will get a chance to hide. Do so and you then have a chance of a perfectly safe attack from a distance. Ranged weapons, magic missiles or wands come to mind. If he is nearly dead you could try a backstab so long as you are confident of your ability to run away afterwards if the backstab fails.
Remember the adage: he that fights and runs away lives to fight another day! Using this method is time consuming but safe. Playing no-reloads SAFE is good!
I collected the Bowl for Tenya and fought and beat Zargos Flintblade. Well that last comment isn't precisely true. I led him to the mine where the Amnish Guard badly wounded him. I then led him away to finish him off, but some stupid mine worker got between him and me and he went the long way round during which time the Amnish Guard killed him. I think that was about 650 exp lost.
On the positive side I know have a +1 Axe, my favourite weapon.
I then returned to the FAI. Tarnesh hurt me badly, but he died whereas I recovered.
I was given a number of antidotes to poison and I acquired some golden pantaloons. Afterwards Lena gave me an EXCEEDINGLY relaxing massage courtesy of RE.
On another note how difficult is the grill stronghold on scs?
The grill stronghold (watch out for their barbecue sauce) shouldn't be too hard for you. The calls for help mean you may be faced with a lot of enemies at once, but sleep will quickly cut them down to size and there are plenty of opportunities to run away and use stealth to break contact.
@Blackraven Welcome back! It's been a while! Hope you'll like your current idea of the run and will pursue it till the end (I still remember how unconfortable you felt while playing not a LoB game last time, or not a party run ).
Another important ender for no-reload runs is Power Word: Stun, because it offers no saving throw, can strike from a distance, has a casting speed of 1, and uses no projectile, making it nearly impossible to react to it before it hits. These are the things that grant immunity to Power Word: Stun:
1. The Sword of Arvoreen, usable only by halflings 2. Chaotic Commands 3. The Greenstone Amulet 4. Magic resistance 5. Spell deflection/reflection/trap spells (but not Minor Spell Turning, which only blocks level 4 spells and below) 6. Barbarian and Berserker rage 7. Having more than 90 hit points when the spell hits
Note that having HP in the 80s can reduce the stun effect to 1d4 rounds, but it gives enemies time to deal more damage to you, rendering you vulnerable to a re-cast Power Word: Stun spell that could prove fatal.
These things can also block the spell, but that depends on your install:
8. Ring of Free Action 9. Free Action spell 10. Arbane's Sword (pre-EE only, I think)
Power Word: Stun is a different opcode than the stun effect from Psionic Blast and Wands of Paralyzation, but the things that grant immunity to stun usually also grant immunity to Power Word: Stun.
Well I'm glad to see I have lightened the mood today. @Wise_Grimwald@semiticgod@Ygramul Thank you for the advice/humor! The break down on Stun is particularly useful.
While revising proficiencies I had also swapped Lorbag's and Toke's round - so the latter took the +1 staff to beat up the basilisks. Half a dozen or so of those was enough to get everyone up to level 3 before Korax joined the Crew and successfully took down Mutamin and the 2 basilisks next to him (by that time the PfP scroll had expired, so care was needed not to wander into sight of the basilisks). As usual Kirian's friends deserted her before she was faced with a stream of summons coming out of nowhere to soak up the worst of her spells.
I then decided to have another go at working through the battle horrors at Durlag's Tower. The problem with that is the sheer time it takes and therefore it perhaps wasn't that surprising that once more lightning started flashing during the contest with the first battle horror. Up to that point I'd been playing it safe with all the monks dancing rather than trying to get attacks in themselves. That kept a constant stream of summons going which were making steady, if slow progress against the battle horror. Things quickly changed though when there was a strike on Chat. He had an odd number of HPs, which meant lightning was less dangerous for him (strikes do 50% of HPs, but rounded down - so it would take 3 strikes to kill him). However, that did divert my concentration from the battle horror somewhat. That didn't seem a problem as its spirit opponent still had plenty of HPs and should have been good for several more seconds combat (by which time another one would almost certainly have joined the fight - the battle horror had probably killed well over 30 of them sequentially in that fashion up to that point).
Regrettably though I'd been thinking about the impact of lightning on the shamans directly. What I hadn't considered was the indirect impact of lightning on a spirit. As a result of that the battle horror found itself without an opponent for the first time in the contest and, like lightning, it flashed through the gap to cut down Lorbag with a single blow before I realised what was happening.
That was a pretty nasty way to go, so I suspect that I'll have one more 'one more go' with them, but I'll decide that tomorrow.
Interrupting enemy spellcasters with your damage may be an efficient way of foiling their plans, however, it is once again a game of chance and therefore it shouldn't be relied upon without having a back-up plan. For example, if I was to try and disrupt a cleric's Hold Person cast with a ranged attack, I wouldn't do so without being prepared to take a Potion of Invisibility or Potion of Freedom in case it goes awry.
FYI - Because divine casters did NOT have the huge help that arcane casters have to avoid being hit while casting (mirror image, improved invisibility, armor, etc.), to give them a chance at all at casting their spells, BioWare put into the engine that ANY divine caster ALWAYS have a chance to get off their spells, even if hit a dozen times before actually casting their spell. Thus, relying on interrupting a divine caster will eventually lead to end of your run. Thus, immunities are your best bet (potions, green scrolls, items that protect like the greenstone amulet, etc.).
These things can also block the spell, but that depends on your install:
8. Ring of Free Action 9. Free Action spell 10. Arbane's Sword (pre-EE only, I think)
And just to clarify, the Ring of Free Action and the spell Free Action will protect against stun under the following circumstance:
1) You are playing in a classic install and have not patched with the G3 Fixpack 2) You are playing in a classic install with the G3 Fixpack or in an EE install, and have applied G3's Free Action Protects Against Stun component from the Optional But Cool section of the Fixpack.
Note, too, that if you are playing in an install where Free Action protects against stun, then there are a few other items to add to the above list: Ixil's Spike +6, the Flail of Ages + 5, and Potions of Freedom
Arbane will work if and only if you are playing in a classic install and have not patched with either Baldurdash or G3's Fixpack (core fix).
I have a question for where to proceed from here. I was thinking of going to do the quick and easy little quests in beregost then going to proceed to the sirines and then to greywolf for Varscona and then to mulahey. On Mulahey and Greywolf I have never fought them in scs. Anything I need to be concerned with or should watch out for? I am level 5 thief, level 4 mage, level 4 fighter and I am hoping to level fighter and mage to level 5 before proceeding there. Thoughts and tactics are appreciated here. Alternatively if someone thinks I should go grab loot from an area before I try this or if I should hold off just let me know. As I have said before I am not very familiar with scs.
On the way to Mulahey there are some extra kobolds who can be a bit of a problem. A shaman, a chief and some kobold guards. They are fragile, but if you are not expecting them you get a nasty surprise.
@Blackraven. Heya! Apologies for taking so long to welcome you back to the forum. I was out of town catching a WNBA playoff game yesterday. It's great to see you! I'm looking forward to your run!
As for advice, RVNS, I'll just say this. There are so many things to learn, that neither I nor anyone else could possibly info dump all you need to know. The best way I can help, I think, is to assist you in cultivating a process that will ultimately lead you to acquire all you need on your own. And with that, here are my Five Principles for the Aspiring No Reloader. Interestingly, they work pretty well in RL, too. Cool, huh?
1) Study your predecessors and peers. There is no shame in learning from them. As Issac Newton said: "If I have seen further than most, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." And as Pablo Picasso put it: "A good artist borrows, a great artist steals." Gather ideas. Cultivate the best. Excellence comes from filtering the innovations of the past through the intelligence of the present.
2) The moment you think you have more to teach than to learn, you become a fool. Always read. Always think. Always grow.
3) Wisdom asks question where foolishness concludes. Do not assume. Probe the mechanics. Run tests if you have any doubt about how something works. Be a scientist.
4) Be present. Focus. In attention kills. "No activity can be successfully pursued by an individual who is preoccupied" -Seneca
5) Playfulness ceases to serve its serious purpose when it takes itself too seriously. Never forget to laugh.
2) You are playing in a classic install with the G3 Fixpack or in an EE install, and have applied G3's Free Action Protects Against Stun component from the Optional But Cool section of the Fixpack.
Like I am grossly wrong on this but... I thought that EE included the Fixpack?
My current install (EE/Steam/Mac) has only SCS as a mod. Shall I then assume that, e.g., the Free Action Ring does not protect against stun? (If so, I had a very lucky run so far assuming that it had. Though I keep my saving throws low.)
If not, what install order do you recommend?
FixPack -> SCS (Anything else considered essential here?)
** Bonus question: **
What, in your personal opinion, is the state of the Item Revisions+Spell Revisions+SCS[modified for SR] together?
I know there are recent beta releases for IR and SR but my game time is so little as is that I don't wanna risk wasting a run if they are not judged to be stable and balanced AND successfully incorporated to SCS yet.
Thanks again a whole lot of your insight on all this.
@Alesia_BH Lots too learn for me. I have not had any problems with the asking the question portion and I regularly read on the reload threads and the did you know threads. They so far have shaped my paths and my route I have been taking. Lots of good information from the best that the community has to offer in this thread.
I've really enjoyed my run so far, it's much more challenging than a standard run.
Like I am grossly wrong on this but... I thought that EE included the Fixpack?
It includes the Core fixes, not the Optional But Cool components.
(In the original adventure, Free Action, in all its forms, protected against stun. The consistency led to a belief that this was by intent. Perhaps it was, at the time. Nonetheless, years after the game's release (around 2006, I think) some members of the G3 community began to question the logic. Stun is a mental effect, not a movement restriction: Why should Free Action have any effect at all? Eventually, the G3 team asked David Gaider, and Gaider said that Free Action should not protect against stun. G3 developed and implemented a patch, in response. This made some people happy, others not so much, since it left players with too few options for defending against stun. In a conversation with Camdog on the old-old Bioware forums, I suggested that the G3 team should create a Free Action Protects Against Stun component for players who might find stun overpowered post fix. Eventually that happened. I'm not sure whether my conversation with Camdog had anything to do with that)
My current install (EE/Steam/Mac) has only SCS as a mod. Shall I then assume that, e.g., the Free Action Ring does not protect against stun?
Free Action should not protect against stun in your install. If you'd like Free Action to protect against stun, grab the Fixpack, start the installer, request display of the Optional But Cool Components, and then select Free Action Protects Against Stun.
So. The Forest of Wyrms. Not exacty the most difficult area, except for the dragon battle and the temple, right? Well... this is my LoB observation: The powerful enemies are very easy to kill - but the weak ones will destroy you.
We started things with some nice wolf and giant-killing - refreshingly easy. The first group of wyverns and greater wyvern stood no chance, though we had to replace some summons during the battle. Still, no trouble at all. The second group of wyverns... I have to admit, I have no idea what happened. I was actually quite focused during this session. I wasn't sleepy, I was ready to play and ready to do well. The thing is, when I usually target my opponents, as one generally does with ranged weapon users, I select everyone in my party, unselect Ifirn (my skald) and click the enemy I want to kill - as Ifirn is supposed to sing, unless circumstances require her to cast a spell, use a wand etc. She also happens to generally have a melee weapon equipped - her longsword gives her a +2 bonus to her saving throws versus spells, and the buckler +1 is nice if someone gets into melee range against her. So here's what I think went down: I was just fighting this wyvern group, another easy battle, summons in front, getting replenished by Sybia and Arbogast, the party using ranged weapons, Ifirn singing... or so I thought. When targetting a new wyvern, I must have somehow forgotten to unselect Ifirn (though this is basically muscle memory for me - I propably tried to unselect her and misclicked), and she charged into melee range, unprotected. I didn't notice this at all. I had no idea she was losing hp - as far as I was concerned, Ifirn was safely standing at the back of my party. Her song was very much active, thanks to the bard hat - if I didn't have that one equipped, I might have noticed that something was very, very wrong. Looking at the combat log, it seems like she got hit three times by wyverns and greater wyverns. The last hit was a big one; She was chunked. Only 4 of our original crew remain:
Now, while this is a huge blow, it isn't actually THAT bad for SoD, as I can easily replace Ifirn with Voghiln, who is basically the same character with slightly weaker stats. He is lacking Ifirn's spell selection, when I make some more money I'm going to have him buy the most important scrolls. I have no idea what to do with this party slot in BG2, if I ever make it there - it seems more and more unlikely. The annoying thing is, I easily cleared up the remaining wyverns with my party, it took no effort at all - these are relatively weak opponents, nothing bad should have happened here! I'm getting quite angry at myself.
Anyway... let's continue.
We killed some more wyverns, a big spider group and eventually, fire elementals took care of some bugbears - who were completely unable to hurt them:
I entered the dragon cave and a hasted Aikar threw two throwing daggers at the sleeping dragon. The second one hit. Result: Dead dragon.
Now, if you never heard about throwing daggers killing Morentherene, you might be very confused. I recently saw a screenshot of this happening, and I didn't really believe that a mechanic like this would be part of the game - but I decided to haste my party and try anyway, just in case, planning to leave the cave right away if the whole thing turned out to be a hoax - but it seems like it works. I don't know what the circumstances have to be - does the throwing dagger have to be non-magical? does the dragon have to be still asleep? No idea.
Does this feel like a cheap way to kill a dragon? Yes, though they must have had a reason for including it. I'm not really broken up about it, because this likely would've happened anyway, even if I never heard about it before, since throwing daggers are Aikar's main weapon, and I wouldn't have had any reason to change that during this battle. Next up, the spider cave: Our summons were quite capable of tanking the spiders for now, and I switched to rings of free action if someone was endangered by a web. I missed my timing only once, and Aikar was webbed by a gargantuan spider, though Nahema's invisibility spell prevented any further damage:
The problem here: After killing all the spiders in the cave, the rhino beetle didn't appear. When reading up on this online, I learned that this is a known bug - it never happened for me before, the thing appeared just fine in my previous two runs. I checked my console variables and made sure to step on the trigger to spawn it many, many times with different characters, but it never showed. Too bad - I would've liked some rhino beetle armor.
Finally, we cleared the bugbear caverns the boring way - nothing in there, except one spell in the bugbear elder's arsenal, can harm fire elementals, so they did all the work while the party remained invisible:
Next time, we'll try not to die in the Temple of Bhaal. I'm guessing that will be quite the challenge.
Comments
Mulahey is potentially a bit more of a problem. He starts slightly nearer the cave entrance with SCS, but it's still possible to come inside and rest immediately. I would be inclined to use something like web or stinking cloud to disable him from out of sight and kill him before he recovers.
Ahem. Carry on.
(One imagines that he dual wields spatulas.)
Remember the adage: he that fights and runs away lives to fight another day! Using this method is time consuming but safe. Playing no-reloads SAFE is good!
Perhaps they torture her by putting her on a spit roast.
Journal of Aglazuth
I collected the Bowl for Tenya and fought and beat Zargos Flintblade. Well that last comment isn't precisely true. I led him to the mine where the Amnish Guard badly wounded him. I then led him away to finish him off, but some stupid mine worker got between him and me and he went the long way round during which time the Amnish Guard killed him. I think that was about 650 exp lost.On the positive side I know have a +1 Axe, my favourite weapon.
I then returned to the FAI. Tarnesh hurt me badly, but he died whereas I recovered.
I was given a number of antidotes to poison and I acquired some golden pantaloons. Afterwards Lena gave me an EXCEEDINGLY relaxing massage courtesy of RE.
(Meanwhile, keeping things PG13, despite acknowledging entendres.)
If you intend to use the Shadowdancer, please, apply this fix by @subtledoctor and @kjeron - https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/850917/#Comment_850917 (as the current version of the game contains a bug where shadows twins (just as Simulacrums) disappear after being hit once or several times.
1. The Sword of Arvoreen, usable only by halflings
2. Chaotic Commands
3. The Greenstone Amulet
4. Magic resistance
5. Spell deflection/reflection/trap spells (but not Minor Spell Turning, which only blocks level 4 spells and below)
6. Barbarian and Berserker rage
7. Having more than 90 hit points when the spell hits
Note that having HP in the 80s can reduce the stun effect to 1d4 rounds, but it gives enemies time to deal more damage to you, rendering you vulnerable to a re-cast Power Word: Stun spell that could prove fatal.
These things can also block the spell, but that depends on your install:
8. Ring of Free Action
9. Free Action spell
10. Arbane's Sword (pre-EE only, I think)
Power Word: Stun is a different opcode than the stun effect from Psionic Blast and Wands of Paralyzation, but the things that grant immunity to stun usually also grant immunity to Power Word: Stun.
Previous updates
While revising proficiencies I had also swapped Lorbag's and Toke's round - so the latter took the +1 staff to beat up the basilisks. Half a dozen or so of those was enough to get everyone up to level 3 before Korax joined the Crew and successfully took down Mutamin and the 2 basilisks next to him (by that time the PfP scroll had expired, so care was needed not to wander into sight of the basilisks). As usual Kirian's friends deserted her before she was faced with a stream of summons coming out of nowhere to soak up the worst of her spells.
I then decided to have another go at working through the battle horrors at Durlag's Tower. The problem with that is the sheer time it takes and therefore it perhaps wasn't that surprising that once more lightning started flashing during the contest with the first battle horror. Up to that point I'd been playing it safe with all the monks dancing rather than trying to get attacks in themselves. That kept a constant stream of summons going which were making steady, if slow progress against the battle horror. Things quickly changed though when there was a strike on Chat. He had an odd number of HPs, which meant lightning was less dangerous for him (strikes do 50% of HPs, but rounded down - so it would take 3 strikes to kill him). However, that did divert my concentration from the battle horror somewhat. That didn't seem a problem as its spirit opponent still had plenty of HPs and should have been good for several more seconds combat (by which time another one would almost certainly have joined the fight - the battle horror had probably killed well over 30 of them sequentially in that fashion up to that point).
Regrettably though I'd been thinking about the impact of lightning on the shamans directly. What I hadn't considered was the indirect impact of lightning on a spirit. As a result of that the battle horror found itself without an opponent for the first time in the contest and, like lightning, it flashed through the gap to cut down Lorbag with a single blow before I realised what was happening.
That was a pretty nasty way to go, so I suspect that I'll have one more 'one more go' with them, but I'll decide that tomorrow.
Interrupting enemy spellcasters with your damage may be an efficient way of foiling their plans, however, it is once again a game of chance and therefore it shouldn't be relied upon without having a back-up plan. For example, if I was to try and disrupt a cleric's Hold Person cast with a ranged attack, I wouldn't do so without being prepared to take a Potion of Invisibility or Potion of Freedom in case it goes awry.
FYI - Because divine casters did NOT have the huge help that arcane casters have to avoid being hit while casting (mirror image, improved invisibility, armor, etc.), to give them a chance at all at casting their spells, BioWare put into the engine that ANY divine caster ALWAYS have a chance to get off their spells, even if hit a dozen times before actually casting their spell. Thus, relying on interrupting a divine caster will eventually lead to end of your run. Thus, immunities are your best bet (potions, green scrolls, items that protect like the greenstone amulet, etc.).
1) You are playing in a classic install and have not patched with the G3 Fixpack
2) You are playing in a classic install with the G3 Fixpack or in an EE install, and have applied G3's Free Action Protects Against Stun component from the Optional But Cool section of the Fixpack.
Note, too, that if you are playing in an install where Free Action protects against stun, then there are a few other items to add to the above list: Ixil's Spike +6, the Flail of Ages + 5, and Potions of Freedom
Arbane will work if and only if you are playing in a classic install and have not patched with either Baldurdash or G3's Fixpack (core fix).
Best,
A.
@Arctodus. Glad to see you in action!
@RVNS. Welcome to the challenge! Super-pleased to see that you decided to join us!
1) Study your predecessors and peers. There is no shame in learning from them. As Issac Newton said: "If I have seen further than most, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." And as Pablo Picasso put it: "A good artist borrows, a great artist steals." Gather ideas. Cultivate the best. Excellence comes from filtering the innovations of the past through the intelligence of the present.
2) The moment you think you have more to teach than to learn, you become a fool. Always read. Always think. Always grow.
3) Wisdom asks question where foolishness concludes. Do not assume. Probe the mechanics. Run tests if you have any doubt about how something works. Be a scientist.
4) Be present. Focus. In attention kills. "No activity can be successfully pursued by an individual who is preoccupied" -Seneca
5) Playfulness ceases to serve its serious purpose when it takes itself too seriously. Never forget to laugh.
Best,
A.
I thought that EE included the Fixpack?
My current install (EE/Steam/Mac) has only SCS as a mod. Shall I then assume that, e.g., the Free Action Ring does not protect against stun?
(If so, I had a very lucky run so far assuming that it had. Though I keep my saving throws low.)
If not, what install order do you recommend?
FixPack -> SCS
(Anything else considered essential here?)
** Bonus question: **
What, in your personal opinion, is the state of the Item Revisions+Spell Revisions+SCS[modified for SR] together?
I know there are recent beta releases for IR and SR but my game time is so little as is that I don't wanna risk wasting a run if they are not judged to be stable and balanced AND successfully incorporated to SCS yet.
Thanks again a whole lot of your insight on all this.
I've really enjoyed my run so far, it's much more challenging than a standard run.
(In the original adventure, Free Action, in all its forms, protected against stun. The consistency led to a belief that this was by intent. Perhaps it was, at the time. Nonetheless, years after the game's release (around 2006, I think) some members of the G3 community began to question the logic. Stun is a mental effect, not a movement restriction: Why should Free Action have any effect at all? Eventually, the G3 team asked David Gaider, and Gaider said that Free Action should not protect against stun. G3 developed and implemented a patch, in response. This made some people happy, others not so much, since it left players with too few options for defending against stun. In a conversation with Camdog on the old-old Bioware forums, I suggested that the G3 team should create a Free Action Protects Against Stun component for players who might find stun overpowered post fix. Eventually that happened. I'm not sure whether my conversation with Camdog had anything to do with that) Free Action should not protect against stun in your install. If you'd like Free Action to protect against stun, grab the Fixpack, start the installer, request display of the Optional But Cool Components, and then select Free Action Protects Against Stun.
Best,
A.
7) Don't just think about how things can go right. Think about how they can go wrong, and patch the holes.
8) When things go to hell, seek out friends until you're ready to dive back in.
Previous posts:
BG1 end: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/904835/#Comment_904835
SoD start: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/904866/#Comment_904866
Part XIV: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/904934/#Comment_904934
Part XV: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/904982/#Comment_904982
Part XVI: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/905032/#Comment_905032
So. The Forest of Wyrms. Not exacty the most difficult area, except for the dragon battle and the temple, right?
Well... this is my LoB observation: The powerful enemies are very easy to kill - but the weak ones will destroy you.
We started things with some nice wolf and giant-killing - refreshingly easy. The first group of wyverns and greater wyvern stood no chance, though we had to replace some summons during the battle. Still, no trouble at all. The second group of wyverns... I have to admit, I have no idea what happened. I was actually quite focused during this session. I wasn't sleepy, I was ready to play and ready to do well. The thing is, when I usually target my opponents, as one generally does with ranged weapon users, I select everyone in my party, unselect Ifirn (my skald) and click the enemy I want to kill - as Ifirn is supposed to sing, unless circumstances require her to cast a spell, use a wand etc. She also happens to generally have a melee weapon equipped - her longsword gives her a +2 bonus to her saving throws versus spells, and the buckler +1 is nice if someone gets into melee range against her.
So here's what I think went down: I was just fighting this wyvern group, another easy battle, summons in front, getting replenished by Sybia and Arbogast, the party using ranged weapons, Ifirn singing... or so I thought. When targetting a new wyvern, I must have somehow forgotten to unselect Ifirn (though this is basically muscle memory for me - I propably tried to unselect her and misclicked), and she charged into melee range, unprotected. I didn't notice this at all. I had no idea she was losing hp - as far as I was concerned, Ifirn was safely standing at the back of my party. Her song was very much active, thanks to the bard hat - if I didn't have that one equipped, I might have noticed that something was very, very wrong.
Looking at the combat log, it seems like she got hit three times by wyverns and greater wyverns. The last hit was a big one; She was chunked. Only 4 of our original crew remain:
Now, while this is a huge blow, it isn't actually THAT bad for SoD, as I can easily replace Ifirn with Voghiln, who is basically the same character with slightly weaker stats. He is lacking Ifirn's spell selection, when I make some more money I'm going to have him buy the most important scrolls. I have no idea what to do with this party slot in BG2, if I ever make it there - it seems more and more unlikely.
The annoying thing is, I easily cleared up the remaining wyverns with my party, it took no effort at all - these are relatively weak opponents, nothing bad should have happened here! I'm getting quite angry at myself.
Anyway... let's continue.
We killed some more wyverns, a big spider group and eventually, fire elementals took care of some bugbears - who were completely unable to hurt them:
I entered the dragon cave and a hasted Aikar threw two throwing daggers at the sleeping dragon. The second one hit. Result: Dead dragon.
Now, if you never heard about throwing daggers killing Morentherene, you might be very confused. I recently saw a screenshot of this happening, and I didn't really believe that a mechanic like this would be part of the game - but I decided to haste my party and try anyway, just in case, planning to leave the cave right away if the whole thing turned out to be a hoax - but it seems like it works. I don't know what the circumstances have to be - does the throwing dagger have to be non-magical? does the dragon have to be still asleep? No idea.
Does this feel like a cheap way to kill a dragon? Yes, though they must have had a reason for including it. I'm not really broken up about it, because this likely would've happened anyway, even if I never heard about it before, since throwing daggers are Aikar's main weapon, and I wouldn't have had any reason to change that during this battle.
Next up, the spider cave: Our summons were quite capable of tanking the spiders for now, and I switched to rings of free action if someone was endangered by a web. I missed my timing only once, and Aikar was webbed by a gargantuan spider, though Nahema's invisibility spell prevented any further damage:
The problem here: After killing all the spiders in the cave, the rhino beetle didn't appear. When reading up on this online, I learned that this is a known bug - it never happened for me before, the thing appeared just fine in my previous two runs. I checked my console variables and made sure to step on the trigger to spawn it many, many times with different characters, but it never showed. Too bad - I would've liked some rhino beetle armor.
Finally, we cleared the bugbear caverns the boring way - nothing in there, except one spell in the bugbear elder's arsenal, can harm fire elementals, so they did all the work while the party remained invisible:
Next time, we'll try not to die in the Temple of Bhaal. I'm guessing that will be quite the challenge.
Enuhal