After hearing about differences between versions of SCS2, and realizing I've been using an old version, I decide to switch to the most recent version, v30 or something. It requires a clean install, and some options are no longer present. The admittedly ludicrous Tactics Irenicus in Hell fight is no longer present, and it seems that Smarter Demons/Celestials/Dragons/Genies automatically sets them to cast spells instantly, whereas in previous versions you could choose to have such critters cast spells at normal speeds instead.
Anyway, I don't feel like fighting Suneer quite yet, and I really want to finish off SoA content before moving on to Irenicus, which means I have to take on the Twisted Rune.
But since the Twisted Rune is hard, and I don't know the last time I've played it with SCS, or at all, first I want to get some more XP. On to Watcher's Keep! We've got another three levels to go.
The 3rd level of Watcher's Keep has lots of ugly disablers, and multiple wild/dead magic rooms that tend to cripple caster-heavy parties. To avoid getting broken down by the demons' Demon Fear aura, I switch around some equipment on the party. Eliza has no defense against fear with her Resist Fear dispelled, but the rest of the party is immune: Gloom, by virtue of her HLAs, and our Seducer and Shadow Stealer by virtue of their low saves vs. spell.
Turns out even demons aren't immune to the Demon Fear effect. A Pit Fiend shadow gets scared and starts running off.
We have to rely on Lithos as a tank because Gloom and Eliza have no buffs here. It's a huge drain on our potions, and we're already running low. I've already sold dozens of potions so far, thinking we'd never need them.
Since the whole party is Chaotic Neutral, we're free to ally ourselves with Tahazzar, the big demon in the room past the dead magic room (I think those demons are Baatezu). We reach an agreement: if we murder their enemies, they'll give us a pretty gem. Sounds fair. We pick these guys because they're near the dead magic room. If we chose the other side, we'd have to fight a bunch of demons without any buffs.
I was a bit worried about the Succubus fight, but it turns out our melee power is sufficient to resolve the problem.
Plus, the enemy keeps trying to charm Margot, who is innately immune.
We run past several encounters on the way to the other big boss room, where Ka'rashur the tanar'ri (or whatever he is) lies in wait. We find that Eliza's Planetar is not immune to Demon Fear. We are not impressed.
Eliza casts Time Stop and pelts Ka'rashur with the Crimson Dart while Gloom chain-casts Horrid Wilting. It's a pretty devastating combination.
The Cornugons dispel our buffs with Remove Magic, but we manage to finish off the big guy with a little extra push.
For her next HLA, Gloom chooses Gate. We get a party-friendly Pit Fiend under our control for 30 rounds.
On returning Ka'rashur's Heart to his enemies, we get a pretty gem. Yay!
We continue through the maze. The Tiefling fight is optional, but one of the enemies drops a Wand of Spell Striking. We want that. All spells in this room are affected by wild magic, so things can get pretty screwy.
But we are in luck: the enemy mage fails its save against Steal Shadow, and the stolen shadow gets both Time Stop and Horrid Wilting off the ground successfully. It wrecks everything.
All that's left is a single Tiefling, whom Margot manages to Charm. Our attempts to get the Tiefling to kill itself aren't very effective.
Since Charm doesn't last as long as it used to, we can't charm-lock the Tiefling, and have to whomp it in the face instead. It's a bit less satisfying than having the mage Disintegrate itself, but it works.
The Demon Wraith is a bit more trouble. Its minions foil Eliza's Time Stop, which I hoped to use to get an instant kill on the wraith itself.
Also, Margot got spooked, as I forgot to have her equip Dragonslayer for the immunity to fear. This prevented us from disarming the traps.
But the Demon Wraith didn't do much, and its minions did little damage. We just killed the wraith with darts, and the rest of the dominoes fell like a house of cards. Checkmate.
We do a Projected Image Time Stop Crimson Dart and Horrid Wilting barrage on Aesgareth. It's kind of unfair.
A few darts finish off the wounded.
Finally, we Breach the cleric to render her vulnerable to darts, and she goes down as well. The way forward is open.
We get caught off-guard by a Mind Flayer ambush on the next level. Some quick inventory management gets the Ring of Free Action on Eliza, and Margot's and Lithos' saves vs. spell down below zero. A Planetar does most of the work.
The Githyanki are up next. We pile on more area-effect damage during Time Stop, and the effects are dramatic.
Cleaning up afterward is very simple. Margot gets a moment to shine (she hasn't been contributing much lately).
The local Mind Flayers are a bigger concern. One of them uses a Wand of Spell Striking, and can take down Chaotic Commands. But we can make the whole party immune to Psionic Blast without buffs: by now, Lithos' and Margot's saves vs. spell are at 1 and 0, respectively, and the Ring of Free Action still (erroneously, I think) protects against stun.
To speed things up, we take advantage of Gloom's huge supply of level 7 spells, and flood the first room with Fire Storm spells. Fire Storm bypasses the Mind Flayer's 90 base MR.
We bring in Gloom's Pit Fiend to help out. At 5 attacks per round, it's pretty tough.
Margot dies twice to INT drain, but she's really only needed to disarm a couple traps in the area. For the other big Mind Flayer fight, including the Ulitharid with a Wand of Spell Striking, we send in Lithos and have her distract the Mind Flayers while Gloom chain-casts Fire Storm.
The whole area proved surprisingly easy. The last time I came through here, the Mind Flayers really messed me up, because our protection from Psionic Blast was entirely dependent on Chaotic Commands, a dispellable resource.
After accidentally giving all of the Machine of Lum the Mad bonuses to Eliza (the WIS bonus was supposed to go to Gloom for more spell slots, not that she needs them), we pay a visit to Saladrex. Project Image->Improved Haste->Time Stop->Called Shot->Lower Resistance->Lower Resistance->Feeblemind.
Guaranteed failed save. A remaining sliver of MR could have blocked Feeblemind, but repeating the process with Eliza herself, instead of just her clone, would have truly guaranteed success, as it would have robbed Saladrex of the little MR he had left. Eliza has poor THAC0 when it comes to enemies like dragons, but Time Stop gives us automatic hits anyway. And because Called Shot modifies our darts, all of the penalties happen simultaneously, which means there's no time delay that dilutes the effects.
Another dragon falls to Feeblemind.
I think I'll avoid relying on Feeblemind for my next run of the game, but the main reason I picked an Archer/Mage in the first place is to guarantee failed saves. I'll stick with the tactic for now.
I don't much feel like fighting the Demi-Lich or the Twisted Rune just yet, so first I'll probably do the Final Seal, imprison Demogorgon, and kill Thaxll'ssillyia and Firkraag.
I might also add another one or two characters to the group. Gloom has already reached the apex of her power, and Eliza is pretty close, too. Plus, our Seducer and Shadow Stealer don't have any XP milestones ahead of them, since they're ages away from HLAs.
After hearing about differences between versions of SCS2, and realizing I've been using an old version, I decide to switch to the most recent version, v30 or something.
I think that makes sense. Recent editions materially enhance the gameplay experience, even if they have some drawbacks.
Sadly, stability is a major issue in OS X, in my experience.
Just be sure to patch Ascension. There are a few issues in v30
-Abazigal gets the wrong script: he gets the vanilla script -Tamah doesn't spawn -The Fallen Solars spawn with the vanilla mariliths, alu-fiends, and succubi (In Ascension they should spawn alone- this screwed up my last game) -Ascension Jonicus has a funky bug that nerfs his script and prevents his AoE spells from doing damage.
Also, Blade Barrier gets super-funky-cheesy sometimes in v30 (ToBEX issue). There's a fix for that, too.
Fixes are available over in the Bioware NR thread. I can post them here, if you like.
It seems that Smarter Demons/Celestials/Dragons/Genies automatically sets them to cast spells instantly, whereas in previous versions you could choose to have such critters cast spells at normal speeds instead.
Check the Stratagems.ini files. You'll see fields corresponding to the casting speeds of dragons, celestials, and fiends. If you'd like to nerf the casting speeds of your creatures, you can do so upon fresh install.
FYI, I'm tempted to force celestials to cast as normal wizards, since they're arguably overpowered with instant casting. My only concern is that this may confuse the script. I intend to experiment with it, at least.
Anyhoo, enjoy your adventure! I have no idea what's going on, since I haven't studied your kits, but it looks fun!
If I ever write a BG mod it will be named: No Kobolds Anywhere, Ever- Really I Promise
On a related note, I think every enemy in the Underdark should drop a stack of 10 Arrows of Kuo Toan Slaying. Upon impact, the arrows should chunk every Kuo-Toan within a 30' radius.
If I ever write a BG mod it will be named: No Kobolds Anywhere, Ever- Really I Promise
Amen and hallelujah!
--
By the way, an SCS2 question for @Alesia_BH@semiticgod and other experts: (in anticipation of my eventual BG2 run)
- is "Improved Fiends" ridiculous? I mean, the spoilers say that some of the fiends have "Remove Magic at will" not to mention a lot of CC spells. Can one reliably play a no-reload game with that?
- Similarly for improved beholders/illithids/githyanki/genies etc. and improved battles?
What would you regard are as a reasonable, balanced SCS2 install for a no-reload run for someone who has NOT memorized all encounters and enemies?
(The furthest I have gone in BG2 no-reload was to be killed in the Planar Sphere by an untouchably buffed Lavok, who annihilated my party with ADHW and worse. I don't use the "Mages insta-buff" component since then.)
I want reasonable challenges and intelligent opponents, but not ridiculously unbalanced puzzle-fights that require memorizing specific solutions.
@Alesia_BH: A quick rundown of the kits I'm using:
Shadow Stealer (fighter kit):
Advantages: May cast Steal Shadow at will. Steal Shadow: The Shadow Stealer compels the target creature to let go of its shadow on a failed save vs. polymorph. The creature's shadow acts as a simulacrum of the target creature, but only has half the levels, half the HP, and suffers a -3 penalty to hit, damage, saving throws, AC, and casting speed. The shadow deals 3 cold damage on a successful melee hit and forces the victim to save vs. death or lose one point of Strength for 5 rounds. The shadow itself is immune to poison, fatigue, disease, charm, fear, sleep, petrification, stun, Web, and Intelligence drain. Steal Shadow cannot take more than one shadow from a target, nor will it affect stolen shadows. If Steal Shadow is successful, the Shadow Stealer cannot steal another shadow for the next 5 rounds. Thus, the Shadow Stealer can have at most two stolen shadows active at a time. Steal Shadow will not affect allies.
Disadvantages: May not dual-class Restricted to three proficiencies in any weapon, and one proficiency in any weapon style Life Leech: the Shadow Stealer suffers -3 to damage, -1 to AC, -2 to saving throws, and -15% to all resistances.
Seducer (thief kit):
Advantages: +1 to Charisma. Immune to charm and domination. Slippery Mind: The Seducer may break free of any disabling effect after 3 rounds have passed. Breaking out of the disabler, however, imposes a -2 penalty to THAC0, AC, damage, and saving throws, if the Seducer fails a save vs. spell. May choose Resist Magic as a High-Level Ability. May cast Feeblemind, Confusion, and Sleep once every two rounds (all single-target; effects last 2 rounds; save vs. wand negates). May cast Charm once every three rounds: On a failed save vs. wand, the target creature is placed under the control of the caster for 6 rounds. The spell has a 25% chance of success even if the target makes its saving throw--there is always a 25% chance of success. Humanoids are always affected, but other creatures have a 50% chance of being charmed as well. Charm has a casting time of 0 and the caster may not take action for 3 seconds after casting the spell. Magic resistance, spell protections, and even charm immunity cannot block the effects of a Seducer's charm.
Disadvantages: All thieving skills are at half their normal value. Seducers gain traps and backstab multipliers at a reduced rate. A Seducer may set a trap at level 3 and every 10 levels thereafter, and gains +1 to their backstab multiplier at level 3 and every 8 levels thereafter. Loses access to normal thief trap HLAs, as well as Assassination and Use Any Item. May not dual-class.
Bog Witch (druid kit):
Advantages: Immunity to poison and disease Immune to cloud spells +1 to save vs. spell and wand +2 to save vs. polymorph and death +1 spell slot per spell level May cast Restoration and Raise Dead Learns a variety of new spells, which it casts from its druid spellbook: Level 1: Poison Arrow, Water Jet, Blindness, Spook Level 2: Stinking Cloud, Vampiric Touch, Mirror Image, Horror Level 3: Contagion, Invisibility, Summon Otyugh, Protection from the Elements Level 4: Acid Bloom, Hold Monster, Minor Spell Deflection, Confusion Level 5: Cloudkill, Spell Immunity, Flesh to Stone, Mislead, Summon Mummy Level 6: Spell Turning, Death Fog, Finger of Death, Breach, Khelben's Warding Whip Level 7: Energy Drain, Protection from Magical Weapons, Horrid Wilting, Wail of the Banshee, Imprisonment
There are some minor differences between the Bog Witch spells and their mage equivalents. -Energy Drain bypasses magic resistance and drains 3 levels per round for 3 rounds. -Imprisonment does not bypass magic resistance. -Acid Bloom does 10d6 area-effect acid damage with a save vs. breath for half, and strikes as a level 4 spell.
Disadvantages: May not cast normal druid summoning spells, including Summon Insects, Insect Plague, and Creeping Doom All healing spells and most defensive spells are cast as one level higher: Armor of Faith is a level 2 spell, Chaotic Commands is level 6, and so on. +3 penalty to casting time +3 penalty speed factor -2 to STR -2 to DEX -3 to CON All special spells cut movement rate by half for 3 rounds Immune to Haste and Improved Haste May not shapeshift
The Bog Witch gains unique HLAs in lieu of druid HLAs: -Heartless: By removing its heart from its body, the Bog Witch gains +15 maximum hit points and may regenerate one hit point per second. The Bog Witch's vital abilities are also impossible to influence, and the Bog Witch's Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution may no longer be modified by any means. This effect is permanent, and cannot be dispelled. -Mindless: Through an elaborate ritual, the Bog Witch permanently removes its brain and replaces it with a magical variant. The Bog Witch retains its normal faculties, but mind-affecting magic has no impact on the Bog Witch. This process grants immunity to stun, fear, confusion, charm and domination, unconsciousness, and sleep. The Bog Witch also no longer benefits from any bonuses or penalties to its Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, and Mind Flayers can no longer harvest its brain.~ -Soulless: Intensive exposure to the universe's subtle energies allows the Bog Witch to alter its own soul. The Bog Witch's soul functions much as it used to, but its life force can no longer be separated from its body except through severe trauma. This ability grants the caster immunity to instant death magic, vorpal strikes, and level drain. The Bog Witch is also unaffected by Maze or Imprisonment. If the main character chooses this HLA before Spellhold, he or she will retain their Bhaalspawn innate abilities for the rest of the game. Bodyless: After extensive meditation, the Bog Witch permanently transforms its body into a semi-transparent, non-corporeal form. The Bog Witch resists all nonmagical weapons, and its body can no longer be affected by Entangle, Web, Grease, hold spells, paralysis, disintegration, or petrification. Even the movement rate penalties of the Bog Witch's own spells do not have any effect. The caster also cannot be slowed or backstabbed, and is immune the effects of Time Stop.~ -Wish: The Bog Witch may cast Wish once per day. This spell functions as the mage spell in all respects. This ability may be selected up to five times. -Gate: The Bog Witch may gate in a Pit Fiend once per day for 30 rounds. Unlike the mage and cleric versions of the Gate spell, the Bog Witch retains control over the demon. This ability may be selected up to five times. -Black Blade of Disaster: The Bog Witch may cast Black Blade of Disaster once per day. There is a 50% chance that the blade either disintegrates the target on a failed save vs. death or drains 4 levels on a failed save and heals the wielder 20 hit points. The blade lasts for 20 rounds before vanishing. This ability may be selected up to five times.~
Basically, the Shadow Stealer and Seducer are very gimped characters, but gain the ability to turn the enemy's own strength against it. Their power is very situational, and very dependent on chance. The Bog Witch is a very powerful and versatile but very slow and fragile spellcaster. It's demonstrably better than a vanilla druid, but druids don't get very many useful spells in BG2, and are unfairly weakened as a result. I might still nerf it at some point before posting it at G3 or wherever (I haven't been able to register there for some reason).
Like with all of my kits, they're meant to open up weird new tactical possibilities. To prevent them from becoming game-breaking, they have awful, awful penalties as well. I balance them for no-reload SCS runs; they might not be balanced for other installs and challenges.
- is "Improved Fiends" ridiculous? I mean, the spoilers say that some of the fiends have "Remove Magic at will" not to mention a lot of CC spells. Can one reliably play a no-reload game with that?
- Similarly for improved beholders/illithids/githyanki/genies etc. and improved battles?
What would you regard are as a reasonable, balanced SCS2 install for a no-reload run for someone who has NOT memorized all encounters and enemies?
Fiends are really bad for no-reload runs. Illithids are almost as bad, and Beholders are much worse. That said, there are reliable ways to overcome these obstacles. Spell Sequencers and Spell Triggers are very excellent at taking down Beholders quickly. GOI, Spell Shield, SI: Enchantment, SI: Evocation, and SI: Alteration can block Beholder rays for a few seconds at least. Beholders also can't deal with clones at all. If you don't object to it, you can dual-wield greater werewolf tokens from the Shapeshifter kit and get 80% MR.
Sunfire and Fire Storm work well against Mind Flayers, and Chaotic Commands is still reliable, though one or two SCS Mind Flayers will dispel it with the Wand of Spell Striking, and the Master Brain can dispel protections as well. They also use other psionic abilities, for which you may need fire resistance.
Remove Magic, as always, can be blocked by SI: Abjuration. Otherwise, you'll need subzero saves vs. spell and/or item-based immunities. Notably, Dragonslayer provides immunity to fear. Also, Cornugons do bleeding damage, with I think should be blocked by the Periapt of Proof Against Poison.
Githyanki? I haven't found them to be a big problem, but their Mind Blast powers could be crippling, as they are nonmagical and knock the target unconscious. Negative saves vs. spell and Chaotic Commands can block it, though.
Genies? Protection from Petrification or Protection from Fire should be sufficient.
A reasonable SCS2 install for someone might entail: no HLAs or prebuffs for mages or clerics; no improvements to vampires, the Shade Lord, Beholders or Ust Natha's defenses; unnerfed Inquisitors; normal HP and normal casting time for celestials, dragons, demons, and so forth; no difficulty increases in level-dependent encounters; no moving or nerfing or removal of items like Shield of Balduran; vanilla-style Mantle spells; vanilla Minute Meteors; no items taken from the player in Spellhold; and no components with "Tactics" in the title.
- is "Improved Fiends" ridiculous? Can one reliably play a no-reload game with that?
I usually play with SCS Improved Fiends. I like them. All of my completed runs were with Improved Fiends.
I'm currently playing with ATweaks fiends. I like them, too, but in a different way.
I'll probably go back to SCS Improved Fiends after this run. I think they're fun.
While I like the SCS Improved Fiends, the combination of removes, symbol spells, on hit effects, and PW:S's can be brutal. No one would think less of you if you skipped them, and you might enjoy yourself more.
It's hard to advise on install options. We all have different playing styles and preferences.
Historically, I've gone with full pre-buffs, all creature improvements, and all tactical improvements save the Improved Sendai and Abazigal Enclaves. I liked that. That worked for me. But if I had a different playing style it might not work. If I, for example, played with full parties that didn't pre-buff, I'd get slaughtered.
For a first time, challenging but not murderous SCS no reload, I might try something like this:
-All Spell Tweaks (with slight adjustment to taste, I use everything except the Harm nerf) -All Item Nerfs (with slight adjustment to taste)
-Smarter General AI -Better Calls for Help -Add HLAs to Spellcaster (Only selected mages and priests in SoA and ToB) -Smarter Mages (long duration buffs only) -Smarter Priests (long duration buffs only) -Potions for NPCs (50% Breakage) -Improved Spider -Improved Golems (with stratagems.ini customization to remove cursed wounds) -Improved Fiends (w/o improved staying power, or skip) -Smarter Genies (w/o improved staying power, with stratagems.ini customization option to cast like normal wizards) -Smarter Celestials (w/o improved staying power, with stratagems.ini customization option to cast like normal wizards) -Smarter Dragons (with or w/o Improved Staying power. Not sure. I prefer with.) -Smarter Beholders (no burn through, PnP anti-magic ray) -Smarter Mind Flayers (enhanced damage resistance, can not see through invisibility) -Smarter Githyanki -Improved Vampires (NW: This is a tough call. Vampires need a boost, but a lot of players find the current vamps over the top. I like the older SCS vampires better)
-Smarter Throne of Bhaal Final Villian -Smarter Illasera -Smarter Gromnir -Smarter Abazigal -Give Ascension Versions of Irenicus and Bodhi SCS scripts and abilities -Give Ascension Demons SCS scripts and abilities -Make Starting Dungeon Slightly Harder -Spellcasting Demiliches -Increased Difficulty of Level Dependent Spawn (Mildly Increased) -Improved Random Encounters -Improved De'Arnise Keep (Spirit Trolls have normal game abilities) -Improved Faldorn -Improved Unseeing Eye -Improved Bodhi (toned down) (NW: This is a tough call. Bodhi needs a boost, but a lot of players find the current Bodhi over the top. I like the older SCS Bodhi better) -Improved Battle with Irenicus in Spellhold -Improved Sahuagin -Improved Beholder Hive -Prevent Resting in the Illithid City -Slightly Improved Drow -Improved Minor Encounters
(NW: I love the Improved Fire Giant Temple and Enhanced Sendai Enclave, but they can be a little puzzle-y. I'm ambivalent about the Improved Abazigal lair. With Ascension installed, I don't think it's necessary)
(And just to clarify, I can only recommend Improved Fiends, Improved Vampires, and Improved Bodhi with hesitation. I can't imagine playing without them, but I can also imagine them making life un-fun for some people)
Just be sure to patch Ascension. There are a few issues in v30
-Abazigal gets the wrong script: he gets the vanilla script -Tamah doesn't spawn -The Fallen Solars spawn with the vanilla mariliths, alu-fiends, and succubi (In Ascension they should spawn alone- this screwed up my last game) -Ascension Jonicus has a funky bug that nerfs his script and prevents his AoE spells from doing damage.
The first two points have the same root cause. I believe it is an old issue, not a v30 specific issue. Btw BP-ascension also implements a downgraded Abazigal.
@Ygramul If you want to play with an enhanced fiend mod, I suggest you give a look at aTweaks. IMHO this is, by far, the most advanced mod for fiends. It can be controlled by a couple of variables if you think that gating other fiends or going ethereal is too annoying/dangerous for a solo run. If I remember correclty, SCS fiends also modifies demogorgon and whilst the proposed modification is okay (I am no big fan), I think that forcing it is a bad idea. If you want a fiend (or beholder etc) to use one innate ability per round, it really makes sense to implement such abilities as instantly cast. Otherwise it becomes difficult to implement physical attacks in their AI scripts. And yes, they "cast" at will like most improved creatures.
The first two points have the same root cause. I believe it is an old issue, not a v30 specific issue.
Not unique to v30, but present in v30. Fortunately there is a fix.
The Abazigal issues are not present in earlier versions of SCS, which Semiticgod may have experience with.
If you want to play with an enhanced fiend mod, I suggest you give a look at aTweaks. IMHO this is, by far, the most advanced mod for fiends.
I'm currently playing with the ATweaks fiends. They have their merits, but I prefer the SCS fiends.
The ATweaks fiends were developed based on PnP source material. Some of their stats and abilities translate well to the BG world, others less so. The straight ATweaks fiends are too nerfy for BG play, I've found. Options which can remedy that issue, such as enabling gating, have the potential to create balancing issues in the opposite direction.
The ATweaks fiends are clever and interesting, but I find that David's fiends mesh better with the tactical world of SCS.
The ATweaks fiends are worth trying, nonetheless. Some players enjoy them.
As an aside, I intend to keep using the ATweaks mephits, elementals, undead, and feys. They're great.
If you want a fiend to use one innate ability per round, it really makes sense to implement such abilities as instantly cast. Otherwise it becomes difficult to implement physical attacks in their AI scripts. And yes, they "cast" at will like most improved creatures.
Agreed. Fiends should cast instantly. I'd recommend against forcing them to cast like normal wizards.
@Ygramul If you want to play with an enhanced fiend mod, I suggest you give a look at aTweaks. IMHO this is, by far, the most advanced mod for fiends. It can be controlled by a couple of variables if you think that gating other fiends or going ethereal is too annoying/dangerous for a solo run. If I remember correclty, SCS fiends also modifies demogorgon and whilst the proposed modification is okay (I am no big fan), I think that forcing it is a bad idea. If you want a fiend (or beholder etc) to use one innate ability per round, it really makes sense to implement such abilities as instantly cast. Otherwise it becomes difficult to implement physical attacks in their AI scripts. And yes, they "cast" at will like most improved creatures.
aTweaks takes Stratagems into account and it has to be installed after SCS.
You can even install SCS fiends and then partially (AI) override the component with the aTweaks PnP fiends (aTweaks offers three components related to fiends and a couple of installation options -> read the doc, it is well documented).
The tricksy three had explored most of the Sword Coast and reached the stage where they really had to look for excuses not to help the Nashkel mayor and his people with their troubles in the mines. They found one such excuse: the Ankhegs that had been terrorizing farms over Chionthar. This was urgent! Or not so urgent... On their way north, the Gnomes made a bit of detour, and ended up having an unfriendly encounter with four hunters near Mutamin's garden. With their Skeletons, Blindnesses and Hold Persons, a Web from Quayle, and a backstab by Bart, the Gnomes prevailed.
In the Ankheg-plagued farmland north of the FAI, plenty of Sleep spells and a couple of Skeletons helped the Gnomes drastically reduce the Ankheg population, making the lands a bit safer for their inhabitants. [Note: Bart reached lvl 6 as a Cleric there.]
The three then traveled south again, via Gullykin (where a second Sling +1 was procured, for Quayle), to the Nashkel Mines. They encountered them occupied by Kobolds, annoying little buggers - a racial enemy of sorts for Gnomes - and quite dangerous in large numbers. Stealth and invisibility allowed the trio to slip past most of the Kobolds. A few small packs they eliminated with fire though. Deep down in the mine they met a Half-Orc priest of Cyric, Mulahey, who proved to be the leader of the Kobolds. [I was still trying to roleplay here. The Gnomes didn't know for sure Mulahey was the leader, so they wouldn't attack before having spoken to him.] Mulahey got nervous when he faced the Gnomes. He betrayed his allegiance (to one Tazok), summoned Skeletal and Kobold minions, and started a familiar-sounding incantation. Imoen and Quayle cast Sleep at the approaching Kobolds, causing the creatures to lay down and block the way for Mulahey's Skeletons. The Half-Orc then Held Imoen, right before a painful sneak attack from Bart caused him to beg for mercy.
The Gnomes were willing to accept their foe's surrender, but he started casting another spell. Bart disrupted Mulahey's casting with a Flamestrike of a Wand of the Heavens he'd bought in Ulgoth's Beard. Quayle saw himself forced to cast a Web at the Kobolds - whom he had thought sound asleep - when an Elite Kobold somehow found its way to them. Bart then disrupted another of Mulahey's spells with a sling bullet, and saw his foe fall soon after.
Bart, Quayle, and (as soon as she could) Imoen finished off the Kobolds and Skeletons with fire and ranged attacks. The three released an Elven prisoner and made their way back to the surface through a long tunnel.
They resurfaced in the Valley of the Tombs, rested and met a wizard who was overly protective of his alleged intellectual property, a Slime Conjuration spell. He Blinded Bart for asking him for the components of the spell, and he might have Charmed Quayle if it weren't for the Helm of Charm Protection. All three Gnomes found ways to go invisible however, and they patiently waited for the wizard's buffs to exire. When that moment came, Uncle Quayle (Wand of the Heavens) and Imoen (Wand of Fire scorcher) fried the wizard.
Bart looted the area's tombs and, Protected from Undead, slew the undead creatures that were guarding the tombs.
The three reported back to the Nashkel mayor, and became local heroes in that town. This tasted sweet but the Gnomes had little reason to celebrate. They were no fools; they had studied some of Mulahey's letters. The letters suggested a link between the iron ore contamination in the Nashkel Mines and the rampant banditry on the Sword Coast, and so the Gnomes feared having become involved in a big plot to destabilize the land, and they feared having made powerful enemies. These fears proved justified when an assassin tried to kill them in front of the Nashkel inn. Thankfully Amnish soldiers intervened and made short work of the man, but the Amnish military would not accompany them elsewhere to guard them. The trio realized they'd have to try and find evidence in order to expose the conspirators, and maybe get the Flaming Fist to deal with them.
In Beregost a wizard who was clearly a member of the secret organization gave the Gnomes directions to the bandit stronghold before he died. There was also party of female assassins or bounty hunters that had come after them. Bart felt very sorry at this point about having dragged Imoen, who could have simply stayed at Candlekeep, and Uncle Quayle, who'd had a job at the Nashkel Carnival, into the mess he found himself in. [This was actually a nasty situation. I had just started the session this morning. Bart & co were standing at the Beregost town border where I had left them yesterday. Within a second or two Lamalha and her friends appeared out of thin air.]
Thankfully Quayle and Imoen were invisible (but so were Telka and Maneira, which was dangerous). Bart decided to quaff a potion to go invisible as well. He walked off and summoned two Skeletons at a safe distance to occupy the ladies (and to cause the invisible ones to reveal themselves). One of the rogues followed Bart into a house he had entered to hide in shadows. With a backstab, an Invisibility Purge, and another backstab Bart took care of the woman.
Back outside, Imoen Blinded a priestess when she tried in vain to Hold Bart. The two Gnomes finished her off with range attacks. A second priestess (who had been near the house that Bart had used for stealth purposes, and had thus missed the attack on the first priestess) awaited the same fate. This time it was Quayle who appeared from invisibility to cast Blindness.
The last amazon, a rogue, was invisible inside the aformentioned house. Quayle had the least HPs but with buffs (Ghost Armor, Blur, though no MI memorized), the best AC. He suffered a painful backstab before Imoen Blinded the woman outside the house.
The trio then finished her off with ranged attacks.
Bart's feeling of guilt toward his companions translated itself into him deciding to face the bandit camp alone. That is, the party infiltrated through a patrol of bandits in Peldvale, and Imoen emptied almost all the chests at the camp, but it was Bart who addressed the bandit leaders in the camp's main tent. These bandits were highly aggressive and included a wizard that removed a number of the Gnome's preventive protections. Bart swigged an invisibility potion, and three fire protection potions, so that the inferno he was about to bring about with his Necklace of Missiles and explosive potions would actually heal him.
The tent was soon cleared, save for an Elf who turned out to be a prisoner. The Gnomes released him, and in return the Elf had a name for the organization: the Iron Throne, with offices in Baldur's Gate and a secret base in Cloakwood.
Imoen and Uncle Quayle were still invisible when they left the tent. Bart was hidden in shadows. A potion of defense he had quaffed earlier was still effective, and so was his fire resistance. It occurred to the Gnome that he might try and leave an impression, a message that he and his friends weren't to be messed with. Slaughtering dozens of people was very unlike him, but he realized - with a sense of horror - that it might be the only way for him to be left in peace. And it was not like he was about to kill innocents. His first target was a Black Talon lieutenant clad in full plate mail, but soon after a number of bounty hunters turned up. Apparently they didn't see the bandits as competitors, for they operated in concerted action with the bandits.
[I could have had the trio travel to places they'd already visited for no other reason than to trigger Molkar's appearance before the Bandit Camp, but that wouldn't have felt true to the spirit of this more or less roleplayed run.] With an oil of speed Bartholomew could outrun his enemies (except one or two who also applied oils of speed, and had to be dealt with separately), hide in shadows, and find good spots for fireball-attacks.
This process had to be repeated several times before the coast was clear. It cost Bart all the remaining charges of his Necklace but one, all of his potions of explosions, and a second oil of speed. In return he got lots of sellable scalps, and some enchanted weapons and suits of armor. When he returned to Imoen and Uncle Quayle, a near death experience awaited him. A priest (Drasus) Commanded Bart to sleep right, and attacked with a hitherto invisible Gnomish battlemage. Both were hasted, courtesy of the latter, and very close to unconscious Bart. Ergo: both got two free hits each. It's a wonder that Bart still got up after that (he was down to 3 HPs). He did get up though, and crucially saved against another Command before he managed to gulp a potion of invisibility.
Imoen and Quayle saw Bart's plight and intervened, which moved the dandy Gnome to no small degree. He learned that his friends were there for him, whatever the circumstances. Uncle Quayle used a wand to paralyze the priest just after the latter Animated a Skeleton, and Imoen Blinded the battlemage. The summoned Skeleton and the appearance of two Hobgoblin bandits couldn't stop the trio from felling the priest and the mage,
nor from reaching the shelter of the FAI run by their Gnomish friends Bentley and Gellana Mirrorshade. The Mirrorshades told the companions that another Gnome had recently been with them, Finch, a priestess of Deneir and an old acquaintance of Bart who had previously visited Candlekeep when he still lived there. Finch had traveled to Beregost.
The trio decided to see if they could catch up with Finch in Beregost. (They were going that way anyway, to get Uncle Quayle a Robe of the Neutral Archmagi. Imoen had got herself a Good Archmagi Robe after the Lamlha & Co iirc.) The Gnomes split up to look for Finch. It was Bart who found her, at the Red Sheaf Inn. However that place also harbored a Dwarven assassin that was after Bart's hide. A backsmack had the Dwarf cower in panic, but when he regained his valor, he quaffed a (hill giant) strength potion and he brutally struck down Finch before Bart could finish the Dwarf.
[The disadvantage of the Level 1 NPCs mod's system of making NPC join at level 1.] Bart told Imoen and Quayle. Sorrow and sullenness took control of the trio.
Well, there's another dragon to fight on level 5. Wow. This time, we try killing it with damage.
But I get bored of the slow progress, since our summons, including that dragon shadow, are taking all of the pressure off of our own party, so the fight is really one-sided. Eventually I get tired and just hit it with Feeblemind.
Meh.
The orc endurance challenge isn't too tough. We just smash orcs until the ghost tells us to stop. I also don't bother with the monster summoning orbs: I just deposit the first colored orb into the right pillar to get the necessary key. We open the first lock on the seal, beginning the first fight, with Aurumach and Ferrumach Rilmani, whatever the hell those are. Aurumach fails a save vs. wand; the others fail their save vs. getting chomped by a Pit Fiend.
For some reason, Aurumach Rilmani can't be hurt. The Planetar can't hurt him, even when we pelt him with three Breach spells, at which point his PFMW or whatever spell would have worn off anyway. I just slay him with the Globe of Blades trick to save time.
Azamantes is debuffed during his own Time Stop. Breach follows when time resumes. His defenses are shot.
I really want to give high-level Bog Witches immunity to Time Stop and other crazy stuff, since it fits the weird mysterious theme of the kit, but it seems like a bit much. Still, I suppose a mage of equivalent level could debuff Azamantes just as well, using Improved Alacrity.
In any case, the party has gotten really overpowered really fast. Watcher's Keep just oozes XP. I thought we'd be struggling along given the chunking of half our party in late SoA... but I guess this is just how powerful Watcher's Keep makes your party.
One more fight before the way to Demogorgon is clear.
The Final Seal opens. Lots of high-level enemies with crazy abilities and immunities. Okay, whatever.
I have Gloom pre-cast Black Blade of Disaster, which for Bog Witches grants 3 APR (I might decrease it to 2, actually, since most players would have access to Belm). Eliza hides out in the far north, sending a couple of clones down to help out.
Why is this? This is to make sure we can get Time Stop off the ground, and let Gloom attack during Time Stop with BBoD.
We trash Xei Win Toh, but make little progress on the others. Gloom should have been breaking through the Hive Mother's Improved Mantle with BBoD, but she never did any damage. Turns out Gloom didn't have the 3 APR she was supposed to have. I'll have to fix that up.
The enemy dispels our clones. No problem. That just means Eliza comes on south to help out, and unlike her clones, she has HLAs.
The enemies start to falter. The Hive Mother scares off Eliza with an Anti-Magic Ray, but the others can hurt it just fine on their own.
Forced away by the Hive Mother's rays, Gloom finds a safe spot to cast Wish. We rest the whole party and blast the remaining enemies with our newfound spells.
Finally, only Y'tossi is left, and she gets charmed by Margot. We can put her down without her fighting back.
Meh.
The Imprisoned One makes a spectacular impression, as always. The ominous voice and the broken chains holding it down...
The bell nearby, furiously ringing in protest...
I don't feel like fighting him... I seal him away.
I've gotten kind of bored of this run. Recovering from the hideous setbacks around Spellhold was very satisfying, but now we've got HLAs, and HLAs rule the world in late-game BG2. It's much more simplistic, really.
But I think the main problem is simply that I've already discovered what I came here to see: I wanted to see how the Shadow Stealer and Seducer and Bog Witch played out in the actual game, and I've seen that.
@semiticgod, would you mind posting your screenshots in jpg? They should load a lot faster that way.
Bartholomew, 4th BG1 update
Will try to keep this brief. Dandy and Immy are well, but an immersion-breaking bug resulted in the departure of Quayle.
The three traveled to Cloakwood to find the Iron Throne base. They spoke little due to the still fresh incident with poor Finch. On a Tasloi they slew Imoen found Gurke's Cloak of Non-Detection. She donned it it after the Dwarf told her to keep it, back in Beregost. The three dealt with Silke (Blindness) after it became clear she had tried to fool them, and Imoen pickpocketed potions of defense off the men the Gnomes had been hired to kill. Two of those men went hostile, but the third thanked the Gnomes for their intervention. Garrick, however, was displeased with Imoen's roguish ways.
Bart told Imoen, who had seemed somehow attracted to Garrick, to not let him get to her. They were upright, genteel Gnomes. All they did was reserve the right to other people's properties, but that wasn't that bad.
An example of their good intentions was their attempt to peacefully resolve a dispute between Aldeth Sashenstar and Seniyad. The latter was implacable though, and Gnomes had to defend themselves. (All the Druids were Blinded before they fell.) Deeper in the woods, Bart went Spider hunting with his Ring of Free Action. He only had difficulty with the Sword Spiders, that were fast and too powerful to melee. The Wand of the Heavens and Animated Dead helped him there.
The trio reached the Iron Throne base in good order (transitioning invisibly between areas). Bart scouted Drasus and co, which justified the animation of three Skeletons. But roleplaying prohibited him from backstabbing Kysus or Rezdan.
Bart retreated as far as possible with the Skellies to buy some time before the wizards would join the fun. When he 'discovered' that Drasus was hasted, Bart, in true Blackraven-style, applied his last oil of speed while he had the ring of free action still equipped. The Skeletons managed to bring Drasus to injured before they fell, and they also soaked up a couple of spells from the Mages.
Invisible Quayle and Imoen were followed for a while by Kysus, but found a hiding spot away from the wizard. In the meantime Bart invested three invisibility potions in the elimination of Drasus.
Imoen (with 70 Detect Illusions) twice dispelled Kysus's Mirror Images and one Invisibility, allowing Bart to Flamestrike the wizard to death. I tried timing Greenstone-protected Bart's attacks in such a way that they'd disrupt Kysus's casting, but the shrewd wizard still pulled off a mean Flame Arrow before he fell.
Rezdan was Silenced, which prompted him to cast Vocalize. With a turbid aura, there was then little he could do against Bart's Flamestrike and Imoen's wand-scorcher.
Bart - injured in the screenshot below after he had enthusiastically rushed to Rezdan's corpse to pick up loot without heeding the prolonged scorcher effect of Imoen's wand - did Gentore in with backstabs.
The three entered the Cloakwood mine, and found it littered with guards. Bart hadn't forgotten how he had nearly overplayed his hand at the Bandit Camp, so he decided to rely on stealth this time. Quayle and Imoen were invisible and would remain invisible until the Gnomes found the master of the mine, Davaeorn. Bart slew a single guard at the entrance to Davaeorn's lair, disarmed a handful of traps, and quaffed two potions of magic protection to escape the effects of Davaeorn's magics. He then finished two Battle Horrors with sneak attacks.
Davaeorn would sometimes seek move to invisible Imoen and Quayle, but Bart intervened to make sure he'd be the wizard's target. When the Davaeorn's MIs expired, Imoen quaffed a potion of magic shielding and attacked with her acid arrows and wand of fire. In return she suffered moderate injuries from Davaeorn's MMMs. Quayle appeared not much later, but he got injured by a Magic Missile.
A WotH-Flamestrike disrupted Davaeorn's casting of Remove Magic. Bart's rapid movement enabled him to get out of sight of Davaeorn whenever the latter started casting his Invocation (fire/ice/lightning) spells. And Imoen's acid arrows and Bart's sneak attacks eventually got rid of Davaeorn's Stoneskins. The wizard's morale failed and caused him to run but Bartholomew, shod in the Boots of Speed, had no trouble keeping up and finishing his foe off.
The crew slew a Mustard Jelly, looted the place and supposedly flooded the mine. Due to a bug however only Imoen and Quayle would be placed outside the purportedly flooded mine. Bart stayed behind near the river plug. I quick-saved and reloaded from the auto-save from Davaeorn's lair and the same thing happened. In the end I removed Imoen and Quayle from the party, so that the game couldn't reprimand him for not gathering his party before venturing forth. Imoen rejoined outside but Quayle, presumably due to Bart's heroic reputation, was unwilling to associate himself any longer with Bart and Imoen.
I would roleplay that Quayle considered it time for the Imoen and Bart to stand on their own feet after his help in unraveling the mystery of the bandits and the iron crisis, but that's hardly reconcilable with Quayle's parting words:
I was very enthusiastic about this run. I already imagined Dandy Bart in Amn, reunited with Uncle Quayle and accomanied by Quayle's protege (and Bart's love interest) Aerie, and by Jan Jansen, searching for Imoen and Irenicus. But Quayle's parting on bad terms is rather meh Bart and Imoen have safely made it to Baldur's Gate, but I need to see whether I'm going to continue this run, and if so, whether it'll be with or without Quayle in SoA.
I thought all of my pictures were JPEGS. Paint automatically assumes PNG unless you're saving over a JPEG, so at some point there must have been an error. I'll be more careful in the future.
I'm considering starting a new run. I've seen what I needed to see from the new kits... I can balance the Bog Witch kit by nerfing the Pit Fiend, granting the Bog Witch immunity to opcode 1 (APR modifier) and removing the BBoD HLA to nerd the Time Stop immunity, and tweaking a few spells in minor fashion. I should reintroduce insect spells for thematic reasons, but remove Chaotic Commands and Death Ward and replace them with level-based immunities. Also, we really have to replace Warding Whip with Pierce Magic. It's just too good.
Seducers and Shadow Stealers are already balanced, amazingly enough. Their powers are unreliable enough that they can either be the strongest or weakest characters in a given fight. They are unbalanced if you use reloading to guarantee failed saves, but I can't change that without changing their fundamental nature. I'll just have to mention in the readme that the player could get bored if they fight every battle with charmed enemies or their shadows.
But maybe I can rig Charm and Steal Shadow to weaken the caster if the spell is successful.
Archer/Mages are a little broken. But just because Called Shot is so strong.
I thought all of my pictures were JPEGS. Paint automatically assumes PNG unless you're saving over a JPEG, so at some point there must have been an error. I'll be more careful in the future.
and removing the BBoD HLA to nerd the Time Stop immunity,
Hey Time Stop immunity isn't nerdy. On a more serious note, I really like some of your ideas your kits. The concept of Shadow stealing is imho plain brilliant. I can't advise on any modifications to your kits. The Seducer and the Shadow Stealer look fine to me (the Bog Witch is a bit too unique for my more traditional taste I think). Good luck with the fine-tuning.
With Finch's death still weighing on his mind, and with Quayle's sudden and inexplicable departure on bad terms, Bart had an unpleasant journey through the Cloakwood back to civilization. However, as time wore on, his mood improved. He turned frequently to his deity Baravar Cloakshadow, and there was always Imoen, his dearest friend who helped him remember not to lose his sense of humor and who moved him with a birthday gift, an amulet she'd secretly crafted in her own time.
Truth be told, in Baldur's Gate the duo had a great time. There was a lot of work for them in the big city. Much of it consisted in jobs that didn't necessarily involve killing but rather required sophistry, guile or bluff. Exactly the type of business the two rogues liked best.
Intelligent wizards like Ragefast, Ramazith, and Degrodel were all outwitted by the Gnomes. The duo also pulled off a number of burglaries of high profile buildings. These included the Hall of Wonders, where Imoen miraculously escaped the clutches of at least 15 Flaming Fist Enforcers,
the Silvershield Estate, and the Flaming Fist Compound. They made new some friends at the Thieves Guild in Black Lily, Rededge, and Narlen Darwalk who stopped guildmaster Alatos and a Haalruan wizardfrom betraying the Gnomes. They also met with their old friend Aldeth Sashenstar, and cleared his trading coster of Doppelgangers. An association with the Flaming Fist resulted in the Gnomes exposing a Doppelganger infiltration at the Seven Suns trading consortium and solving a murder mystery in the sewers.
The Gnomes survived a lethal food poisoning at the hands of Iron Throne employees by timely acquiring the antidote from one of the Throne lackeys,
and by way of payback, they wreaked havoc at the Irone Throne regional HQ, with a Flaming Fist mandate. By then the duo had become a well-attuned team. They never got into trouble. Potentially dangerous spells cast at them were easily neutralized with potions, oils of speed gave the duo a movement advantage, wands were used, and arrows of dispelling fired by Imoen at buffed opponents allowed Bart to land a number of devastating backstabs.
There was one uncomfortable moment for Bart: he got Spooked at one point by a wizard named Alai. His boots of speed kept the Gnome on the move though, and suffered no serious injuries even though Alai Hasted the warrior Zhalimar Cloudwulfe. There was some collateral damage in the death of the bartender. The consequences of that event for the duo's reputation facilitated Bart's obtaining of the Divine Wrath Bhaalpower that Blackraven likes so much.
The Gnomes learned that the Iron Throne leaders were in Candlekeep, and received a book from Duke Eltan in order to be allowed access to the citadel and continue their crusade. They got framed by Sarevok, who got them arrested for killing the Iron Throne leaders, but Tethtoril teleported the Gnomes to the catacombs below Candlekeep before they could be transported to Baldur's Gate for their sentencing. Vaults were emptied, Doppelgangers bypassed, and soon Bart and Imoen found themselves on the surface again. (A lot of gold was wasted at the FAI when I discovered that the Gnomes had started donating at the temple of Gellana Mirrorshade before having rested for the second Divine Wrath Bhaalpower. In my BGT install BG2 donation fees apply in BG1. Reputation was lowered again, with the help of a Bard at the FAI, before the party rested and continued donating. The thing is Divine Wrath is really good, while Divine Might = DUHM, of which Bart hasplenty already as a Cleric.)
Back in Baldur's Gate the companions saved Duke Eltan from a Doppelganger 'healer' who was actually poisoning him, and delivered him into the care of the Harbormaster. Vay-ya and Desreta relinquished a pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Power to Bart.
In the Undercellars, summons kept the assassins Slythe and Krystin busy, so that Imoen could dispel invisibilities with her Detect Illusions skill, and buffs with her arrows of dispelling.
(I hardly buffed here, only Stoneskins and AoE PfE I just made sure to keep auras clear to counter Krystin's spells in necessary.) Cythandria, who had Sarevok's diary, and her Golems were next (all backstabs), and then the one part of the game where I always concentrate: the Ducal Palace. No role-playing here, didn't want the game to end in the palace. I think that if approached every battle the way I approach the Ducal Palace, I might have pulled off a no-reload trilogy success by now. Both Bart and Immy buffed extensively. Bart started with violet potion and mitigating dex/con potions. The two also used mind focusing, defense, speed, power, and magic shielding. Five Skeletons were summoned and PfE by Bart, and Hasted by Imoen. Bart also cast Remove Fear. Bart set two snares (he had 80 Set Traps, but with his artificial 24 Dex, his score was 100 at that moment). Phials of poison were used to speed up the Greater Doppelgangers' dying. Immy applied the poison on her arrows of dispelling, Bart on his staff. The battle was over very soon, with both Dukes surviving.
The duo presented evidence of Sarevok's true intentions to Duke Belt, and rushed after Sarevok when he escaped the palace with the wizard Winski Perorate, through a maze, past awar party in the undercity, into a temple of Bhaal. The Gnomes refreshed a few buffs (speed, magic protection potions) and engaged Sarevok and few others. For the first time, neither Angelo nor Semaj managed to remove Bart's Str/Dex/Con buffs. This was very pleasing. Both quite stealthy, Bart and Immy explored the temple a bit, and found Angelo on his own. Imoen repeatedly failed to dispel Angelo's buffs and suffered some electricity damage from a wand he used. When she did eventually dispel, he didn't last long, thanks to Bart's stabs, even though he did injure Immy with triggered Magic Missiles.
Semaj, their next target, was dispelled much faster, and brought down by Bart with another backstab.
The others, including Sarevok, had no answer to the Gnomes' combination of backstabs (Bart) and ranged fire (Imoen) either. Imoen, with still two memorized Stoneskins even meleed Sarevok for a while, after she dispelled his Haste.
Former companion: - Quayle, Cleric/Illusionist, 1 death (Shoal the Nereid)
Bartholomew, 1st BG2 report
Bart and Imoen survived Chateau Irenicus. I'm going to keep this short because I've got other things to do.
Devoid of their equipment, bruised and battered in Irenicus' Dungeon, the Gnomes picked up some gear, looted the room with the glass containers and the one with the warden Golem. They caught the eye of several Duergar when trying to enter Rielev's room, but managed to park them in the glass container room.
Bart dealt with the Otyugh, and Imoen lured three Duergar that were blocking a corridor into the Otyugh room. They removed traps and picked locks in the master room to obtain the Helm of Balduran, Sarevok's Ring of Protection, and the Claw and Horn of Kazgaroth. (Bart hasn't used the Claw yet. Because of his 16 Con, I'm not sure whether he will.) Two snares nearly killed one of the Lesser Clay Golems;
the construct and its 'brother' were eventually done in by sneak attacks by (oil of speed) Hasted Bart. Slightly better equipped, Bart intrepidly ventured into Ilych's territory. Under Sanctuary he found and picked up Semaj's Cloak and a Wand of the Heavens. A Duergar Mage died to a backstab + Divine Wrath, before the Gnome retreated to hide in shadows and leave the the Duergar behind for the time being.
He then returned to Ilych's now empty room, summoned Skeletons and with their help, Holy Smite, and backstabs slew Ilych and most Duergar.
Imoen and Bart entered a mini plane of air, where they picked up a scroll and received a blade from a Genie in return for a flask. (Only two Mephits were slain.) Before moving on to the next level, the Gnomes with a group of angry Duergar on their trail liberated Minsc and Jaheira (and briefly recruited them for XP) . Sadly, Jaheira - level 1 NPC - got hit even after she had been dismissed from the party. She died.
The Gnomes made it safely to the next floor, where they rested out of Yoshimo's sight. Skeletons were PfE and Hasted, and were a great help in dealing with the Mephit and their Portals in the next room.
Stealth and Sanctuary then allowed the duo to convert keys into wands, loot a Duergar forge room, Cloudkill Ulvaryl, and slay Frennedan, without earning them the wrath of the Duergar. Yoshimo was then recruited to haul some loot out of the dungeon. (I didn't remember if/when Imoen drops her items.) The Skeletons, still around, helped kill three Assassins, including one that dropped three invisibility potions (It surprised me that the Assassin didn't use them, and that they didn't break, as I play with 50% breakage.)
On the surface, Imoen was sadly and wrongly arrested. Yoshimo dropped the contents of his pack and left for the Copper Coronet.
I just started a new minimal reload run. Minimal reload because... well, this is another weird run.
This is a Heart of Fury run. Icewind Dale 2 style. Everything but the party gets +10 to THAC0, +10 to all stats, +10 to all saving throws, and triple hit points plus 80 on top. But, the party gets double XP.
Our Charname is Phen, a tiny little gnomish Cleric/Illusionist.
Her WIS is low because I'm considering using the Limited Wish vampire trick. I haven't decided yet, though... I kinda want to avoid exploits in this run. Even though it's, you know. A Heart of Fury run.
There are a few important differences between this run and a normal HoF run in IWD2. First, AC is even less important here than it was in IWD2's HoF mode. Unlike in IWD2, we can't get our AC low enough to avoid hits, no matter what character build we have. The enemy will hit us. That's just a fact of life.
Also, the saving throw bonuses will render enemies more or less impervious to disablers. The early game critters will have saving throws in the single digits. Late game critters will be deep in the negatives. At no point in the adventure will we ever be able to rely on disablers--unlike in IWD2, where disablers were amazing even in HoF mode.
We could ameliorate the saving throw problem with Called Shot. But I don't want to do another multiplayer run, and I don't want to play an Archer again, either.
Heart of Fury mode is implemented with a double XP effect on all party members, plus a special spell which will add all the necessary HoF bonuses to everything on the map except for party members. The game begins!
The first enemy of the game arrives. Minsc handles this one.
He's a sneaky fellow. But if we're going to get anywhere, we need to get past that room, and Jaheira and Phen can't sneak. So Imoen summons some critters to handle the Mephit.
Never saw a kobold take that much damage without dying. The kobolds stab the Mephit to death. Haste plays an important role in this.
I also use the kobolds to lure some of the Duergar out of the hallway leading to the Otyugh room.
But they vanish before they can do anything else.
Minsc has already killed Rielev with the power of kindness and stolen the activation stone. But if he asks the golem to open the door, he turns visible, and the Mephit in that room will crush him. Minsc could run, but the Duergar would murder him instead. I have a solution, but first we have to rest.
But one of the Duergar follows us to our safe room. SCS AI makes enemies run around if you turn invisible. It's their way of avoiding backstabs. But this also allows them to chase us down.
We make it to the equipment room and close shut the door behind us. We're safe!
Then the door opens. Apparently we weren't able to keep the door shut. It makes sense: we shouldn't be able to hold a door shut against a dwarf with +10 Strength.
That dwarf could kill us awfully quick. We position Minsc at the front, as he's the only party member without summoning spells. It's not pretty.
Yes, that dwarf just rolled a 2. That wasn't a critical hit. That's just how much damage Heart of Fury enemies are going to do in this run.
We can't take this guy down, not without any summoning spells. I decide that Minsc has to sacrifice himself for the good of the group. With some careful positioning, I keep the dwarf focused on Minsc, allowing the other characters to slip out the door. I keep Minsc on the move to avoid the dwarf's attacks.
We make it to the portal room near Jaheira's cell before we finally let Minsc get hit. There was no stopping this.
The moment Minsc falls, we rest and gain our spells. To ensure our safety when we leave the room, Phen conjures her familiar.
We killed one enemy and lost one party member. Things look a teensy bit unbalanced so far.
Now that we've got our spells together, we can finally talk to the Sewage Golem without losing a party member. Only one person can handle this: Imoen.
Why is this? Imoen can block the Mephit's awful claw attacks with Stoneskin. And in case the Mephit if a Radiant Mephit, her MGOI can block the Color Spray.
But Imoen doesn't have an Invisibility spell. How does she escape?
This won't last as long, but it's enough to get her to safety.
We find a safe spot in the Otyugh room and conjure some skeletons. They're not immune to the Otyugh's disease, but they are immune to the poison damage.
This means they get slowed by the Otyugh's touch, but they can still weather its attacks.
We can't sneak past the next group of Duergar, because two of them are bunched up in such a way that they block off the hallway, so we have to lure them into the Otyugh room. Turns out damage spells are still useful: when the enemies start running, only Imoen can hit them.
We turn the whole party invisible once more. Imoen shifts her inventory to Phen and goes to loot the Portal Key room. Meanwhile, Jaheira monitors the hallway to the Otyugh room to look out for the Lesser Clay Golems, and Phen goes to the portal. Her skeletons follow, so I let them whomp on the Duergar a little.
Phen clicks on the portal and the whole party leaves the area. You only need one party member to be next to the portal to get the others through.
We conjure a wolf, turn invisible, and lure the Mephits out of the Mephit Portal room, into the other portal room. But a Magma Mephit won't follow, so we can't just shut the door on the Mephits and destroy the Mephit Portals in safety. Instead, we sneak out into the corner and summon some more critters out of sight. Yoshimo, still invisible, watches over them.
Since the animals survive the encounter, I send them after Ellesime's clone. They're pretty tough.
The clone falls, and the Shadow Thief follows suit. After looting the area, we turn everybody invisible, sneak out to Frennedan's room, loot that place, too, and sneak out of the dungeon without fighting anything else.
I didn't want to rely much on summons, but right now we don't have much choice. We just don't have any other options if we want to kill stuff.
We therefore slay Kalah with summons while hiding behind Invisibility 10' Radius. We do the same to get Lilarcor, but don't fight the slavers. We're not nearly tough enough yet.
We ditch both Yoshimo and Minsc, and as Minsc is dead, that means he's gone forever. There's nothing we could do with him anyway. As for Yoshimo, we'll be getting Nalia soon, and she will be the only thief we need.
We get ambushed by Suna Seni pretty early on the way to the Docks, but I pre-buffed with Invisibility 10' Radius inside the Copper Coronet. This allows us to flee to the northeast corner of the map.
Phen and Aerie summon some skeletons, while Jaheira casts Farsight to guide them to the enemy. They make slow progress against Suna Seni, our primary target.
We want Arbane's Sword and the immunities that come with it. Though I might remove the immunity to stun, since it's not really supposed to be there.
The skeletons are pretty tough with their innate resistances, and with their crazy HoF STR bonuses, they can actually take down big enemies like Suna Seni. Our Fire Elemental is even tougher: it's immune to nonmagical weapons entirely. Jaheira tries to contribute from the sidelines, and fails miserably.
Your eyes are not misleading you. She can't cast Call Lightning outdoors.
That spell rendered her visible, and therefore put her in harm's way. We fail to stop an important disabler from touching the party, but we maneuver Jaheira to minimize the damage.
Jaheira is really bad at this game.
Anyhoo, Jaheira's antics have brought the enemy to the party itself. And Insane mode doubles spell damage as well as physical damage. Aerie, with her base 30 HP, can't take much.
Now Phen is alone. She turns invisible and starts to flee to the southern corner of the map, where she can hide behind a wall. But the enemy cleric realizes what's going on.
I time a re-cast of Invisibility so Phen vanishes just as the cleric completes his spell. She hides in the south corner. Meanwhile, things to the north are looking up.
Jaheira is back, and because the enemy didn't attack her (they might not have even spotted her, as she was tucked around a corner), we have twice as many inventory slots to carry the loot home. The summons finally finish off the enemy, and we move on to the Docks.
I don't have time to post the rest, but right now the party is about to talk to Gaal.
Today was a national holiday here, so I took advantage and played for quite a few hours. There'll be less playing the rest of the week though, because I've been assigned more work.
Bart picked up his adventuring life with bringing law and order to the Copper Coronet. I'm still trying to play fair and to roleplay. This meant not backstabbing but sneaking past a blue-circled guard that would have called two wizard enforcers had he seen the Gnome. He proceeded to melee a Winter Wolf, two Gibberlings and a Panther before he Animated Dead to deal with other animals and monsters in the Beast Master's bestiary. The Skeletons didn't last long, due to especially a Grizzly Bear's forceful attacks, so he applied an oil of speed for trap-setting and backstabbing purposes. With HP and DUHM, the stabbing worked nicely.
The Gnome released Hendak the slave leader and the other slaves. The previously avoided guard was now red-circled, but more importantly, a battle between guards and freed slaves had broken out, so Bart had no qualms about doing this:
After watching Hendak strike Lethinan down, Bart rested and traveled to the Docks to present himself at the Shadow Thieves guild, and to start a nightly shoplifting session. That session took him to the Bridge District, where he solved a skinner murder mystery, the sewers below the Temple District (Roger the Fence for potions), and the fletcher at Waukeen's Promenade, who supplied the rogue with free sling bullets +2 aplenty. The fencing of stolen armor and weapons allowed the Gnome to purchase a suit of Armor of Deep Night +4, a Mercykiller Ring, Reflection Shield, and Sling of Seeking. His melee weapons were Aule's Staff +3 and the one-handed Staff Mace +2 (in order to be able to use a shield).
An ambush by a man with pinkish, fiery sword was ignored. (Again the most logical behavior from an RP perspective. Besides, as a Cleric, Bart had no use for Arbane's Sword. And even if he had been able to use it pre-UAI, the blade's usefulness is much more limited and situational than I had previously thought, as Norgath found out the hard way in my last run.) A poor, poisoned man named Renfeld, otoh, was saved without Bart fighting the poisoners.
Two ruffians, Bregg and Cohrvale, were dealt with, with the help of a city guard, when a rare HiS failure on Bart's part provoked the duo into attacking the Gnome.
Once properly outfitted, Bart accepted Renal Bloodscalp's job to find out and eliminate Mae'Var. The only hard task before having to deal with Mae'Var himself was killing Cowled Wizard Rayic Gethras for Mae'Var's assistant, a rude Red Wizard named Edwin. Near Rayic's home a Mad Cleric, a dangerous meleer once buffed, fell to sneak attacks, as did Rayic Gethras' Mephits and Golems. Bart had a special solution for Rayic Gethras. He smart-talked the wizard, whom he respected as a potentially dangerous adversary, into giving him his signet ring in order to convince Edwin that Rayic had been killed. At a later moment he would bring Edwin before Rayic, so that the latter could take care of the Red Wizard.
Bart continued working for Mae'Var and Edwin until he appeared to have gained the trust of the Thayvian. Edwin helped Bart to some incriminating documents and offered the Gnome to leave the guildhouse with him. Bart accepted and took him to Rayic Gethras' home. On the way there, he started having second thoughts about his deal with Rayic, about bringing hapless Edwin (who had just helped him) to his death. When they entered the house, Bart told Edwin that he sensed someone's presence. Maybe Rayic had somehow survived? Edwin pre-buffed himself with Armor, MGoI, Mirror Image, Minor Spell Turning, and a Fireshield. (Both Bart and I thought Edwin deserved a fair chance against Rayic's SCS insta-buffs.) Rayic was still alive indeed. What followed could have been an interesting mage battle, but turned out to be a bit disappointing. Rayic insta-buffed and for some reason approached Edwin. Both saw their attempts at casting spells fail to either disruption or their respective spell protections. Since Rayic found himself in melee range, with MMMs, he got hit many times by the Fireshield, and he died pretty fast. Edwin disappeared without a word right after that.
Bartholomew was cool with this turn of events.
He waited with fighting Mae'Var though, fearful of becoming a pincushion for the pink-trousered rogue and his assassins. Instead he explored the city a bit more. The Gnome's reconaissance led him to the Graveyard District, where he: - reunited a child spirit with its teddy bear, - battled Spiders and nearly got killed at it
(never the knew the smaller spiders were as venomous as Phase Spiders), brought Spiders' Bane to a Half-Drow Hive Mistress in return for a Black Spider Figurine, and - dug up a man who had been buried alive. (The buriers he found in the Bridge District; Kitthix and Skeletons dealt with them, helping Bart to a pair of Boots of Avoidance and, indirectly, a pair of Silver Pantaloons.
Back in the Docks District the Gnome ran into Xzar, a Necromancer he had once met on the Lion's Way near Candlekeep. Xzar asked Bart to release his Halfling companion Montaron from imprisonment in the Galvarey estate, a Harper base. In order to be allowee access into the building Bart had to perform a task for the Harpers first: to destroy the monsters summoned or created in the home of one Prebek. In the end he had to be glad that he wasn't the one being destroyed. Bart's strategy was to repeatedly enter and leave the home, and attack from the shadows. Neither Prebek nor a female companion nor the monsters followed him outside. This worked well for a while, until he got affected by an Emotion: Hopelessness that the woman cast on herself. He thanked Baravar Cloakshadow that he managed to get out before he actually dropped down in despair.
When he got up he reluctantly buffed with potions (magic shielding, speed), and then finished the job.
Bart found a bird that was supposed to be Montaron, but witnessed it transform into an assassin and kill Xzar. The Gnome, not against deceiving others himself, appreciated the trick he had been played, though that didn't stop him from felling three Spectral Harpists.
(He was Protected from Fear, which nullified their Death Song.)
He then considered the time ripe for a showdown with Mae'Var (even though he still hadn't acquired the Girdle of Piercing, as that item had become less accessible with the extra Ice level in the Circus tent in my setup). Detecting Illusions, invisible Bart dispelled red-circled Mae'Var's invisibility, didn't speak with him but started buffing himself: potion of defense, Chaotic Commands, Aid, Death Ward, Resist Fire/Cold, oil of speed, Free Action, HP, DUHM, RM. The question was: had Mae'Var a Stoneskin up? The answer:
(Crappy screenshot btw.) Bart quickly retreated upstairs, where he slaughtered a horde of thieves that attacked him.
Downstairs again, most of Mae'Var's buffs had expired (except of course Stoneskin). With the help of Kitty's webs and toxins, Bart prevailed without incident.
He picked up several invisibility potions, returned to Renal Bloodscalp and accepted from him the position of leader of the guild house he had just cleared. Bart was too free-spirited for the straitjacket of a function of subordinate in the guild hierarchy, but the autonomy to run his own guild house pretty much the way he wanted was something different.
Near the city gates Bart was accosted by a man reporting animal attacks in the town of Trademeet. Bart, still an eager traveler, as in his days on the Sword Coast with Imoen, offered to help out. Upon arrival he discovered that besides the animal attacks there was the problem of three Djinnis monopolizing the local trade. The Gnome tried to talk their leader, Khan Zahraa who was running a shop in a tent with a second Djinni, into leaving. But they refused. Bart placed three traps near Khan, and left and rested. He placed three more traps at the entrance, near the third Djinni, stepped inside the tent, and attacked Khan from the shadows. The traps that subsequently triggered, killed Khan Zahraa. The other Djinnis disappeared right after that. (And so did the Efreeti Bottle. Not very well played Blackraven, maybe a good price to pay for the traps cheese )
A guildmistress thanked Bart for getting rid of the bullies with a Shield of Harmony and an ample amount of gold and gems. Trade soon picked up again, allowing Bart to acquire a number of valuable items for himself: Blackblood, Necklace of Missiles (I believe I got this later, in the red tent after the Druids had been dealt with), Belt of Inertial Barrier, Cloak of Displacement.
He then traveled to a Shadow Druid Grove, the possible source of the animal attacks if an outsider Druid named Cernd was to be believed. In the forst the Gnome chose to stay invisible amidst Spiders, Trolls and Shadow Druids until he reached the actual grove, leaving the shadows only to loot a Troll mound (under Sanctuary), pick up an enchanted scimitar, and barter with an elderly lady who sold potions. Near the grove Bart slew three Shambling Mounds and several Grizzly Bears with attacks from the shadows, before he ran into a Shadow Druid war party. He summoned Kitthix and four Skeletons before he presented himself to the Druids. That proved to be a wise decision as the Druid's intentions weren't friendly.
He managed to land a nice backstab on one of the Druids (the Adherent I think), but then got Blinded by a Nymph's blinding beauty (permanent ability). This was uncomfortable because Bart had neither Cure Disease nor Neutralize Poison memorized. Thankfully Kitthix and (to a lesser extent) the Skellies stood their ground, and Bart still managed to kill the Nymphs with backstabs.
I also discovered here that Bart could easily hide in shadows while Blinded. I think the radically reduced line of sight was used to determine if he could hide from enemies, not the line of sight he would have normally had, which is debatable from a realism standpoint. Bart entered the Druid base with Cernd, who challenged the Shadow Druid leader Faldorn to a duel. Had to do this twice. First time Cernd had cast an Insect Plague at Faldorn when she was no longer invisible, and was in the process of summoning a Fire Elemental when the game crashed to desktop. The second time Bart, no exception to the rule that my characters tend to be dishonorable to some extent, passed Cernd two potions of firebreath, that he used to kill Faldorn.
Cernd stayed at the Grove to reorganize the Druid order. But Bart returned to Trademeet to receive his reward. He also dispatched a number of Skeletons to secure the Mantle of Waukeen for the town's High Merchant, and he timely saved a girl from the flayers that had also been responsible for the killings in the Athkatla Bridge District.
Back in Athkatla Bart dealt with two old friends of Mae'Var's that wanted to avenge the rogue.
And he restored a Circus Tent that a poor Gnome with an inferiority complex had transformed into his illusory playground. The Ice level was (again) the most interesting part of the quest. Kitthix finished an Orc wizard for Bart (for one of three required keys) before Ice giants sent the spider packing.
Bart read two green scrolls of PfCold for 100% cold protection. It enabled him to dispatch four Frost Salamanders (at 9000 XP apiece).
With the Necklace of Missiles Bart quickly killed a host of Gibberlings and Mephits, so that he could focus on the second key-bearer, a Death Rabbit. He applied an oil of speed and finished the creature with backstabs.
Still hasted, he then made his way to final hurdle, an Ooze called 'The Thing', which he dispatched in melee combat.
Kalah the Gnome (in Ogre form), was beaten down, and the Circus restored.
When the dust had settled, Aerie, an Elven Chorister Bard he had helped dispel her illusory Ogre appearance, offered to travel with Bartholomew, but good old Uncle Quayle, who surprisingly had also been a victim of Kalah, wouldn't. This is a bit of a bummer. I really expected the BG1NPCSoA mod to make Quayle available as a companion. I even recruited nearby Tiax with no problem, to see if Quayle would join, but nope... (Maybe Tiax had to be taken along through the circus quest, or maybe Aerie had to be accepted into the party at the first opportunity.) I'm not sure what I'll do now. Aerie without Quayle is not the same for the purpose of this run. Otoh the romance (never completed) could be interesting. Bart could also continue as a solo adventurer at least until he finds Imoen. And there's Jan of course, who was an intended companion as well. Oh well, I'll figure someting out.
Comments
Anyway, I don't feel like fighting Suneer quite yet, and I really want to finish off SoA content before moving on to Irenicus, which means I have to take on the Twisted Rune.
But since the Twisted Rune is hard, and I don't know the last time I've played it with SCS, or at all, first I want to get some more XP. On to Watcher's Keep! We've got another three levels to go.
The 3rd level of Watcher's Keep has lots of ugly disablers, and multiple wild/dead magic rooms that tend to cripple caster-heavy parties. To avoid getting broken down by the demons' Demon Fear aura, I switch around some equipment on the party. Eliza has no defense against fear with her Resist Fear dispelled, but the rest of the party is immune: Gloom, by virtue of her HLAs, and our Seducer and Shadow Stealer by virtue of their low saves vs. spell.
Turns out even demons aren't immune to the Demon Fear effect. A Pit Fiend shadow gets scared and starts running off.
We have to rely on Lithos as a tank because Gloom and Eliza have no buffs here. It's a huge drain on our potions, and we're already running low. I've already sold dozens of potions so far, thinking we'd never need them.
Since the whole party is Chaotic Neutral, we're free to ally ourselves with Tahazzar, the big demon in the room past the dead magic room (I think those demons are Baatezu). We reach an agreement: if we murder their enemies, they'll give us a pretty gem. Sounds fair. We pick these guys because they're near the dead magic room. If we chose the other side, we'd have to fight a bunch of demons without any buffs.
I was a bit worried about the Succubus fight, but it turns out our melee power is sufficient to resolve the problem.
Plus, the enemy keeps trying to charm Margot, who is innately immune.
We run past several encounters on the way to the other big boss room, where Ka'rashur the tanar'ri (or whatever he is) lies in wait. We find that Eliza's Planetar is not immune to Demon Fear. We are not impressed.
Eliza casts Time Stop and pelts Ka'rashur with the Crimson Dart while Gloom chain-casts Horrid Wilting. It's a pretty devastating combination.
The Cornugons dispel our buffs with Remove Magic, but we manage to finish off the big guy with a little extra push.
For her next HLA, Gloom chooses Gate. We get a party-friendly Pit Fiend under our control for 30 rounds.
On returning Ka'rashur's Heart to his enemies, we get a pretty gem. Yay!
We continue through the maze. The Tiefling fight is optional, but one of the enemies drops a Wand of Spell Striking. We want that. All spells in this room are affected by wild magic, so things can get pretty screwy.
But we are in luck: the enemy mage fails its save against Steal Shadow, and the stolen shadow gets both Time Stop and Horrid Wilting off the ground successfully. It wrecks everything.
All that's left is a single Tiefling, whom Margot manages to Charm. Our attempts to get the Tiefling to kill itself aren't very effective.
Since Charm doesn't last as long as it used to, we can't charm-lock the Tiefling, and have to whomp it in the face instead. It's a bit less satisfying than having the mage Disintegrate itself, but it works.
The Demon Wraith is a bit more trouble. Its minions foil Eliza's Time Stop, which I hoped to use to get an instant kill on the wraith itself.
Also, Margot got spooked, as I forgot to have her equip Dragonslayer for the immunity to fear. This prevented us from disarming the traps.
But the Demon Wraith didn't do much, and its minions did little damage. We just killed the wraith with darts, and the rest of the dominoes fell like a house of cards. Checkmate.
We do a Projected Image Time Stop Crimson Dart and Horrid Wilting barrage on Aesgareth. It's kind of unfair.
A few darts finish off the wounded.
Finally, we Breach the cleric to render her vulnerable to darts, and she goes down as well. The way forward is open.
The Githyanki are up next. We pile on more area-effect damage during Time Stop, and the effects are dramatic.
Cleaning up afterward is very simple. Margot gets a moment to shine (she hasn't been contributing much lately).
The local Mind Flayers are a bigger concern. One of them uses a Wand of Spell Striking, and can take down Chaotic Commands. But we can make the whole party immune to Psionic Blast without buffs: by now, Lithos' and Margot's saves vs. spell are at 1 and 0, respectively, and the Ring of Free Action still (erroneously, I think) protects against stun.
To speed things up, we take advantage of Gloom's huge supply of level 7 spells, and flood the first room with Fire Storm spells. Fire Storm bypasses the Mind Flayer's 90 base MR.
We bring in Gloom's Pit Fiend to help out. At 5 attacks per round, it's pretty tough.
Margot dies twice to INT drain, but she's really only needed to disarm a couple traps in the area. For the other big Mind Flayer fight, including the Ulitharid with a Wand of Spell Striking, we send in Lithos and have her distract the Mind Flayers while Gloom chain-casts Fire Storm.
The whole area proved surprisingly easy. The last time I came through here, the Mind Flayers really messed me up, because our protection from Psionic Blast was entirely dependent on Chaotic Commands, a dispellable resource.
After accidentally giving all of the Machine of Lum the Mad bonuses to Eliza (the WIS bonus was supposed to go to Gloom for more spell slots, not that she needs them), we pay a visit to Saladrex. Project Image->Improved Haste->Time Stop->Called Shot->Lower Resistance->Lower Resistance->Feeblemind.
Guaranteed failed save. A remaining sliver of MR could have blocked Feeblemind, but repeating the process with Eliza herself, instead of just her clone, would have truly guaranteed success, as it would have robbed Saladrex of the little MR he had left. Eliza has poor THAC0 when it comes to enemies like dragons, but Time Stop gives us automatic hits anyway. And because Called Shot modifies our darts, all of the penalties happen simultaneously, which means there's no time delay that dilutes the effects.
Another dragon falls to Feeblemind.
I think I'll avoid relying on Feeblemind for my next run of the game, but the main reason I picked an Archer/Mage in the first place is to guarantee failed saves. I'll stick with the tactic for now.
I don't much feel like fighting the Demi-Lich or the Twisted Rune just yet, so first I'll probably do the Final Seal, imprison Demogorgon, and kill Thaxll'ssillyia and Firkraag.
I might also add another one or two characters to the group. Gloom has already reached the apex of her power, and Eliza is pretty close, too. Plus, our Seducer and Shadow Stealer don't have any XP milestones ahead of them, since they're ages away from HLAs.
Total reloads: 2
Sadly, stability is a major issue in OS X, in my experience.
Just be sure to patch Ascension. There are a few issues in v30
-Abazigal gets the wrong script: he gets the vanilla script
-Tamah doesn't spawn
-The Fallen Solars spawn with the vanilla mariliths, alu-fiends, and succubi (In Ascension they should spawn alone- this screwed up my last game)
-Ascension Jonicus has a funky bug that nerfs his script and prevents his AoE spells from doing damage.
Also, Blade Barrier gets super-funky-cheesy sometimes in v30 (ToBEX issue). There's a fix for that, too.
Fixes are available over in the Bioware NR thread. I can post them here, if you like.
Check the Stratagems.ini files. You'll see fields corresponding to the casting speeds of dragons, celestials, and fiends. If you'd like to nerf the casting speeds of your creatures, you can do so upon fresh install.
FYI, I'm tempted to force celestials to cast as normal wizards, since they're arguably overpowered with instant casting. My only concern is that this may confuse the script. I intend to experiment with it, at least.
Anyhoo, enjoy your adventure! I have no idea what's going on, since I haven't studied your kits, but it looks fun!
Best,
A.
If I ever write a BG mod it will be named: No Kobolds Anywhere, Ever- Really I Promise
On a related note, I think every enemy in the Underdark should drop a stack of 10 Arrows of Kuo Toan Slaying. Upon impact, the arrows should chunk every Kuo-Toan within a 30' radius.
Best,
A.
--
By the way, an SCS2 question for @Alesia_BH @semiticgod and other experts:
(in anticipation of my eventual BG2 run)
- is "Improved Fiends" ridiculous?
I mean, the spoilers say that some of the fiends have "Remove Magic at will" not to mention a lot of CC spells. Can one reliably play a no-reload game with that?
- Similarly for improved beholders/illithids/githyanki/genies etc. and improved battles?
What would you regard are as a reasonable, balanced SCS2 install for a no-reload run for someone who has NOT memorized all encounters and enemies?
(The furthest I have gone in BG2 no-reload was to be killed in the Planar Sphere by an untouchably buffed Lavok, who annihilated my party with ADHW and worse. I don't use the "Mages insta-buff" component since then.)
I want reasonable challenges and intelligent opponents, but not ridiculously unbalanced puzzle-fights that require memorizing specific solutions.
All advice welcome.
Shadow Stealer (fighter kit):
Advantages:
May cast Steal Shadow at will.
Steal Shadow: The Shadow Stealer compels the target creature to let go of its shadow on a failed save vs. polymorph. The creature's shadow acts as a simulacrum of the target creature, but only has half the levels, half the HP, and suffers a -3 penalty to hit, damage, saving throws, AC, and casting speed. The shadow deals 3 cold damage on a successful melee hit and forces the victim to save vs. death or lose one point of Strength for 5 rounds. The shadow itself is immune to poison, fatigue, disease, charm, fear, sleep, petrification, stun, Web, and Intelligence drain.
Steal Shadow cannot take more than one shadow from a target, nor will it affect stolen shadows. If Steal Shadow is successful, the Shadow Stealer cannot steal another shadow for the next 5 rounds. Thus, the Shadow Stealer can have at most two stolen shadows active at a time. Steal Shadow will not affect allies.
Disadvantages:
May not dual-class
Restricted to three proficiencies in any weapon, and one proficiency in any weapon style
Life Leech: the Shadow Stealer suffers -3 to damage, -1 to AC, -2 to saving throws, and -15% to all resistances.
Seducer (thief kit):
Advantages:
+1 to Charisma.
Immune to charm and domination.
Slippery Mind: The Seducer may break free of any disabling effect after 3 rounds have passed. Breaking out of the disabler, however, imposes a -2 penalty to THAC0, AC, damage, and saving throws, if the Seducer fails a save vs. spell.
May choose Resist Magic as a High-Level Ability.
May cast Feeblemind, Confusion, and Sleep once every two rounds (all single-target; effects last 2 rounds; save vs. wand negates).
May cast Charm once every three rounds:
On a failed save vs. wand, the target creature is placed under the control of the caster for 6 rounds. The spell has a 25% chance of success even if the target makes its saving throw--there is always a 25% chance of success. Humanoids are always affected, but other creatures have a 50% chance of being charmed as well. Charm has a casting time of 0 and the caster may not take action for 3 seconds after casting the spell. Magic resistance, spell protections, and even charm immunity cannot block the effects of a Seducer's charm.
Disadvantages:
All thieving skills are at half their normal value.
Seducers gain traps and backstab multipliers at a reduced rate. A Seducer may set a trap at level 3 and every 10 levels thereafter, and gains +1 to their backstab multiplier at level 3 and every 8 levels thereafter.
Loses access to normal thief trap HLAs, as well as Assassination and Use Any Item.
May not dual-class.
Bog Witch (druid kit):
Advantages:
Immunity to poison and disease
Immune to cloud spells
+1 to save vs. spell and wand
+2 to save vs. polymorph and death
+1 spell slot per spell level
May cast Restoration and Raise Dead
Learns a variety of new spells, which it casts from its druid spellbook:
Level 1: Poison Arrow, Water Jet, Blindness, Spook
Level 2: Stinking Cloud, Vampiric Touch, Mirror Image, Horror
Level 3: Contagion, Invisibility, Summon Otyugh, Protection from the Elements
Level 4: Acid Bloom, Hold Monster, Minor Spell Deflection, Confusion
Level 5: Cloudkill, Spell Immunity, Flesh to Stone, Mislead, Summon Mummy
Level 6: Spell Turning, Death Fog, Finger of Death, Breach, Khelben's Warding Whip
Level 7: Energy Drain, Protection from Magical Weapons, Horrid Wilting, Wail of the Banshee, Imprisonment
There are some minor differences between the Bog Witch spells and their mage equivalents.
-Energy Drain bypasses magic resistance and drains 3 levels per round for 3 rounds.
-Imprisonment does not bypass magic resistance.
-Acid Bloom does 10d6 area-effect acid damage with a save vs. breath for half, and strikes as a level 4 spell.
Disadvantages:
May not cast normal druid summoning spells, including Summon Insects, Insect Plague, and Creeping Doom
All healing spells and most defensive spells are cast as one level higher: Armor of Faith is a level 2 spell, Chaotic Commands is level 6, and so on.
+3 penalty to casting time
+3 penalty speed factor
-2 to STR
-2 to DEX
-3 to CON
All special spells cut movement rate by half for 3 rounds
Immune to Haste and Improved Haste
May not shapeshift
The Bog Witch gains unique HLAs in lieu of druid HLAs:
-Heartless: By removing its heart from its body, the Bog Witch gains +15 maximum hit points and may regenerate one hit point per second. The Bog Witch's vital abilities are also impossible to influence, and the Bog Witch's Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution may no longer be modified by any means. This effect is permanent, and cannot be dispelled.
-Mindless: Through an elaborate ritual, the Bog Witch permanently removes its brain and replaces it with a magical variant. The Bog Witch retains its normal faculties, but mind-affecting magic has no impact on the Bog Witch. This process grants immunity to stun, fear, confusion, charm and domination, unconsciousness, and sleep. The Bog Witch also no longer benefits from any bonuses or penalties to its Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, and Mind Flayers can no longer harvest its brain.~
-Soulless: Intensive exposure to the universe's subtle energies allows the Bog Witch to alter its own soul. The Bog Witch's soul functions much as it used to, but its life force can no longer be separated from its body except through severe trauma. This ability grants the caster immunity to instant death magic, vorpal strikes, and level drain. The Bog Witch is also unaffected by Maze or Imprisonment. If the main character chooses this HLA before Spellhold, he or she will retain their Bhaalspawn innate abilities for the rest of the game.
Bodyless: After extensive meditation, the Bog Witch permanently transforms its body into a semi-transparent, non-corporeal form. The Bog Witch resists all nonmagical weapons, and its body can no longer be affected by Entangle, Web, Grease, hold spells, paralysis, disintegration, or petrification. Even the movement rate penalties of the Bog Witch's own spells do not have any effect. The caster also cannot be slowed or backstabbed, and is immune the effects of Time Stop.~
-Wish: The Bog Witch may cast Wish once per day. This spell functions as the mage spell in all respects. This ability may be selected up to five times.
-Gate: The Bog Witch may gate in a Pit Fiend once per day for 30 rounds. Unlike the mage and cleric versions of the Gate spell, the Bog Witch retains control over the demon. This ability may be selected up to five times.
-Black Blade of Disaster: The Bog Witch may cast Black Blade of Disaster once per day. There is a 50% chance that the blade either disintegrates the target on a failed save vs. death or drains 4 levels on a failed save and heals the wielder 20 hit points. The blade lasts for 20 rounds before vanishing. This ability may be selected up to five times.~
Basically, the Shadow Stealer and Seducer are very gimped characters, but gain the ability to turn the enemy's own strength against it. Their power is very situational, and very dependent on chance. The Bog Witch is a very powerful and versatile but very slow and fragile spellcaster. It's demonstrably better than a vanilla druid, but druids don't get very many useful spells in BG2, and are unfairly weakened as a result. I might still nerf it at some point before posting it at G3 or wherever (I haven't been able to register there for some reason).
Like with all of my kits, they're meant to open up weird new tactical possibilities. To prevent them from becoming game-breaking, they have awful, awful penalties as well. I balance them for no-reload SCS runs; they might not be balanced for other installs and challenges.
Sunfire and Fire Storm work well against Mind Flayers, and Chaotic Commands is still reliable, though one or two SCS Mind Flayers will dispel it with the Wand of Spell Striking, and the Master Brain can dispel protections as well. They also use other psionic abilities, for which you may need fire resistance.
Remove Magic, as always, can be blocked by SI: Abjuration. Otherwise, you'll need subzero saves vs. spell and/or item-based immunities. Notably, Dragonslayer provides immunity to fear. Also, Cornugons do bleeding damage, with I think should be blocked by the Periapt of Proof Against Poison.
Githyanki? I haven't found them to be a big problem, but their Mind Blast powers could be crippling, as they are nonmagical and knock the target unconscious. Negative saves vs. spell and Chaotic Commands can block it, though.
Genies? Protection from Petrification or Protection from Fire should be sufficient.
A reasonable SCS2 install for someone might entail: no HLAs or prebuffs for mages or clerics; no improvements to vampires, the Shade Lord, Beholders or Ust Natha's defenses; unnerfed Inquisitors; normal HP and normal casting time for celestials, dragons, demons, and so forth; no difficulty increases in level-dependent encounters; no moving or nerfing or removal of items like Shield of Balduran; vanilla-style Mantle spells; vanilla Minute Meteors; no items taken from the player in Spellhold; and no components with "Tactics" in the title.
I've responded to a couple of your comments below I usually play with SCS Improved Fiends. I like them. All of my completed runs were with Improved Fiends.
I'm currently playing with ATweaks fiends. I like them, too, but in a different way.
I'll probably go back to SCS Improved Fiends after this run. I think they're fun.
While I like the SCS Improved Fiends, the combination of removes, symbol spells, on hit effects, and PW:S's can be brutal. No one would think less of you if you skipped them, and you might enjoy yourself more. It's hard to advise on install options. We all have different playing styles and preferences.
Historically, I've gone with full pre-buffs, all creature improvements, and all tactical improvements save the Improved Sendai and Abazigal Enclaves. I liked that. That worked for me. But if I had a different playing style it might not work. If I, for example, played with full parties that didn't pre-buff, I'd get slaughtered.
For a first time, challenging but not murderous SCS no reload, I might try something like this:
-All Spell Tweaks (with slight adjustment to taste, I use everything except the Harm nerf)
-All Item Nerfs (with slight adjustment to taste)
-Smarter General AI
-Better Calls for Help
-Add HLAs to Spellcaster (Only selected mages and priests in SoA and ToB)
-Smarter Mages (long duration buffs only)
-Smarter Priests (long duration buffs only)
-Potions for NPCs (50% Breakage)
-Improved Spider
-Improved Golems (with stratagems.ini customization to remove cursed wounds)
-Improved Fiends (w/o improved staying power, or skip)
-Smarter Genies (w/o improved staying power, with stratagems.ini customization option to cast like normal wizards)
-Smarter Celestials (w/o improved staying power, with stratagems.ini customization option to cast like normal wizards)
-Smarter Dragons (with or w/o Improved Staying power. Not sure. I prefer with.)
-Smarter Beholders (no burn through, PnP anti-magic ray)
-Smarter Mind Flayers (enhanced damage resistance, can not see through invisibility)
-Smarter Githyanki
-Improved Vampires (NW: This is a tough call. Vampires need a boost, but a lot of players find the current vamps over the top. I like the older SCS vampires better)
-Smarter Throne of Bhaal Final Villian
-Smarter Illasera
-Smarter Gromnir
-Smarter Abazigal
-Give Ascension Versions of Irenicus and Bodhi SCS scripts and abilities
-Give Ascension Demons SCS scripts and abilities
-Make Starting Dungeon Slightly Harder
-Spellcasting Demiliches
-Increased Difficulty of Level Dependent Spawn (Mildly Increased)
-Improved Random Encounters
-Improved De'Arnise Keep (Spirit Trolls have normal game abilities)
-Improved Faldorn
-Improved Unseeing Eye
-Improved Bodhi (toned down) (NW: This is a tough call. Bodhi needs a boost, but a lot of players find the current Bodhi over the top. I like the older SCS Bodhi better)
-Improved Battle with Irenicus in Spellhold
-Improved Sahuagin
-Improved Beholder Hive
-Prevent Resting in the Illithid City
-Slightly Improved Drow
-Improved Minor Encounters
(NW: I love the Improved Fire Giant Temple and Enhanced Sendai Enclave, but they can be a little puzzle-y. I'm ambivalent about the Improved Abazigal lair. With Ascension installed, I don't think it's necessary)
(And just to clarify, I can only recommend Improved Fiends, Improved Vampires, and Improved Bodhi with hesitation. I can't imagine playing without them, but I can also imagine them making life un-fun for some people)
Good hunting, Ygramul!
Best,
A.
Best,
A.
I'll revisit my SCS2 install (after I finish my BG1 run; *IF* I finish my BG1 run) based on both your advice.
Btw BP-ascension also implements a downgraded Abazigal.
@Ygramul
If you want to play with an enhanced fiend mod, I suggest you give a look at aTweaks. IMHO this is, by far, the most advanced mod for fiends. It can be controlled by a couple of variables if you think that gating other fiends or going ethereal is too annoying/dangerous for a solo run.
If I remember correclty, SCS fiends also modifies demogorgon and whilst the proposed modification is okay (I am no big fan), I think that forcing it is a bad idea.
If you want a fiend (or beholder etc) to use one innate ability per round, it really makes sense to implement such abilities as instantly cast. Otherwise it becomes difficult to implement physical attacks in their AI scripts. And yes, they "cast" at will like most improved creatures.
The Abazigal issues are not present in earlier versions of SCS, which Semiticgod may have experience with.
I'm currently playing with the ATweaks fiends. They have their merits, but I prefer the SCS fiends.
The ATweaks fiends were developed based on PnP source material. Some of their stats and abilities translate well to the BG world, others less so. The straight ATweaks fiends are too nerfy for BG play, I've found. Options which can remedy that issue, such as enabling gating, have the potential to create balancing issues in the opposite direction.
The ATweaks fiends are clever and interesting, but I find that David's fiends mesh better with the tactical world of SCS.
The ATweaks fiends are worth trying, nonetheless. Some players enjoy them.
As an aside, I intend to keep using the ATweaks mephits, elementals, undead, and feys. They're great.
Agreed. Fiends should cast instantly. I'd recommend against forcing them to cast like normal wizards.
Best,
A.
What would you and @Alesia_BH recommend on the install order for aTweaks (never used before)?
Currently, my mod install is very simple:
BG2EE + bg2tweaks -> SCS2 [I hear that bg2fixpack is redundant with EE]
Where should aTweaks go and does it interact well with SCS?
Thanks in advance.
You can even install SCS fiends and then partially (AI) override the component with the aTweaks PnP fiends (aTweaks offers three components related to fiends and a couple of installation options -> read the doc, it is well documented).
The tricksy three had explored most of the Sword Coast and reached the stage where they really had to look for excuses not to help the Nashkel mayor and his people with their troubles in the mines. They found one such excuse: the Ankhegs that had been terrorizing farms over Chionthar. This was urgent!
Or not so urgent... On their way north, the Gnomes made a bit of detour, and ended up having an unfriendly encounter with four hunters near Mutamin's garden. With their Skeletons, Blindnesses and Hold Persons, a Web from Quayle, and a backstab by Bart, the Gnomes prevailed.
The three then traveled south again, via Gullykin (where a second Sling +1 was procured, for Quayle), to the Nashkel Mines. They encountered them occupied by Kobolds, annoying little buggers - a racial enemy of sorts for Gnomes - and quite dangerous in large numbers. Stealth and invisibility allowed the trio to slip past most of the Kobolds. A few small packs they eliminated with fire though. Deep down in the mine they met a Half-Orc priest of Cyric, Mulahey, who proved to be the leader of the Kobolds.
[I was still trying to roleplay here. The Gnomes didn't know for sure Mulahey was the leader, so they wouldn't attack before having spoken to him.]
Mulahey got nervous when he faced the Gnomes. He betrayed his allegiance (to one Tazok), summoned Skeletal and Kobold minions, and started a familiar-sounding incantation. Imoen and Quayle cast Sleep at the approaching Kobolds, causing the creatures to lay down and block the way for Mulahey's Skeletons. The Half-Orc then Held Imoen, right before a painful sneak attack from Bart caused him to beg for mercy.
They resurfaced in the Valley of the Tombs, rested and met a wizard who was overly protective of his alleged intellectual property, a Slime Conjuration spell. He Blinded Bart for asking him for the components of the spell, and he might have Charmed Quayle if it weren't for the Helm of Charm Protection. All three Gnomes found ways to go invisible however, and they patiently waited for the wizard's buffs to exire. When that moment came, Uncle Quayle (Wand of the Heavens) and Imoen (Wand of Fire scorcher) fried the wizard.
The three reported back to the Nashkel mayor, and became local heroes in that town. This tasted sweet but the Gnomes had little reason to celebrate. They were no fools; they had studied some of Mulahey's letters. The letters suggested a link between the iron ore contamination in the Nashkel Mines and the rampant banditry on the Sword Coast, and so the Gnomes feared having become involved in a big plot to destabilize the land, and they feared having made powerful enemies. These fears proved justified when an assassin tried to kill them in front of the Nashkel inn. Thankfully Amnish soldiers intervened and made short work of the man, but the Amnish military would not accompany them elsewhere to guard them. The trio realized they'd have to try and find evidence in order to expose the conspirators, and maybe get the Flaming Fist to deal with them.
In Beregost a wizard who was clearly a member of the secret organization gave the Gnomes directions to the bandit stronghold before he died.
There was also party of female assassins or bounty hunters that had come after them. Bart felt very sorry at this point about having dragged Imoen, who could have simply stayed at Candlekeep, and Uncle Quayle, who'd had a job at the Nashkel Carnival, into the mess he found himself in. [This was actually a nasty situation. I had just started the session this morning. Bart & co were standing at the Beregost town border where I had left them yesterday. Within a second or two Lamalha and her friends appeared out of thin air.]
Thankfully Quayle and Imoen were invisible (but so were Telka and Maneira, which was dangerous). Bart decided to quaff a potion to go invisible as well. He walked off and summoned two Skeletons at a safe distance to occupy the ladies (and to cause the invisible ones to reveal themselves). One of the rogues followed Bart into a house he had entered to hide in shadows. With a backstab, an Invisibility Purge, and another backstab Bart took care of the woman.
Bart's feeling of guilt toward his companions translated itself into him deciding to face the bandit camp alone. That is, the party infiltrated through a patrol of bandits in Peldvale, and Imoen emptied almost all the chests at the camp, but it was Bart who addressed the bandit leaders in the camp's main tent. These bandits were highly aggressive and included a wizard that removed a number of the Gnome's preventive protections. Bart swigged an invisibility potion, and three fire protection potions, so that the inferno he was about to bring about with his Necklace of Missiles and explosive potions would actually heal him.
Imoen and Uncle Quayle were still invisible when they left the tent. Bart was hidden in shadows. A potion of defense he had quaffed earlier was still effective, and so was his fire resistance. It occurred to the Gnome that he might try and leave an impression, a message that he and his friends weren't to be messed with. Slaughtering dozens of people was very unlike him, but he realized - with a sense of horror - that it might be the only way for him to be left in peace. And it was not like he was about to kill innocents.
His first target was a Black Talon lieutenant clad in full plate mail, but soon after a number of bounty hunters turned up. Apparently they didn't see the bandits as competitors, for they operated in concerted action with the bandits.
With an oil of speed Bartholomew could outrun his enemies (except one or two who also applied oils of speed, and had to be dealt with separately), hide in shadows, and find good spots for fireball-attacks.
The trio decided to see if they could catch up with Finch in Beregost. (They were going that way anyway, to get Uncle Quayle a Robe of the Neutral Archmagi. Imoen had got herself a Good Archmagi Robe after the Lamlha & Co iirc.)
The Gnomes split up to look for Finch. It was Bart who found her, at the Red Sheaf Inn. However that place also harbored a Dwarven assassin that was after Bart's hide. A backsmack had the Dwarf cower in panic, but when he regained his valor, he quaffed a (hill giant) strength potion and he brutally struck down Finch before Bart could finish the Dwarf.
But I get bored of the slow progress, since our summons, including that dragon shadow, are taking all of the pressure off of our own party, so the fight is really one-sided. Eventually I get tired and just hit it with Feeblemind.
Meh.
The orc endurance challenge isn't too tough. We just smash orcs until the ghost tells us to stop. I also don't bother with the monster summoning orbs: I just deposit the first colored orb into the right pillar to get the necessary key. We open the first lock on the seal, beginning the first fight, with Aurumach and Ferrumach Rilmani, whatever the hell those are. Aurumach fails a save vs. wand; the others fail their save vs. getting chomped by a Pit Fiend.
For some reason, Aurumach Rilmani can't be hurt. The Planetar can't hurt him, even when we pelt him with three Breach spells, at which point his PFMW or whatever spell would have worn off anyway. I just slay him with the Globe of Blades trick to save time.
Azamantes is debuffed during his own Time Stop. Breach follows when time resumes. His defenses are shot.
I really want to give high-level Bog Witches immunity to Time Stop and other crazy stuff, since it fits the weird mysterious theme of the kit, but it seems like a bit much. Still, I suppose a mage of equivalent level could debuff Azamantes just as well, using Improved Alacrity.
In any case, the party has gotten really overpowered really fast. Watcher's Keep just oozes XP. I thought we'd be struggling along given the chunking of half our party in late SoA... but I guess this is just how powerful Watcher's Keep makes your party.
One more fight before the way to Demogorgon is clear.
I have Gloom pre-cast Black Blade of Disaster, which for Bog Witches grants 3 APR (I might decrease it to 2, actually, since most players would have access to Belm). Eliza hides out in the far north, sending a couple of clones down to help out.
Why is this? This is to make sure we can get Time Stop off the ground, and let Gloom attack during Time Stop with BBoD.
We trash Xei Win Toh, but make little progress on the others. Gloom should have been breaking through the Hive Mother's Improved Mantle with BBoD, but she never did any damage. Turns out Gloom didn't have the 3 APR she was supposed to have. I'll have to fix that up.
The enemy dispels our clones. No problem. That just means Eliza comes on south to help out, and unlike her clones, she has HLAs.
The enemies start to falter. The Hive Mother scares off Eliza with an Anti-Magic Ray, but the others can hurt it just fine on their own.
Forced away by the Hive Mother's rays, Gloom finds a safe spot to cast Wish. We rest the whole party and blast the remaining enemies with our newfound spells.
Finally, only Y'tossi is left, and she gets charmed by Margot. We can put her down without her fighting back.
Meh.
The Imprisoned One makes a spectacular impression, as always. The ominous voice and the broken chains holding it down...
The bell nearby, furiously ringing in protest...
I don't feel like fighting him... I seal him away.
I've gotten kind of bored of this run. Recovering from the hideous setbacks around Spellhold was very satisfying, but now we've got HLAs, and HLAs rule the world in late-game BG2. It's much more simplistic, really.
But I think the main problem is simply that I've already discovered what I came here to see: I wanted to see how the Shadow Stealer and Seducer and Bog Witch played out in the actual game, and I've seen that.
Total reloads: 2
Bartholomew, 4th BG1 update
Will try to keep this brief. Dandy and Immy are well, but an immersion-breaking bug resulted in the departure of Quayle.
The three traveled to Cloakwood to find the Iron Throne base. They spoke little due to the still fresh incident with poor Finch. On a Tasloi they slew Imoen found Gurke's Cloak of Non-Detection. She donned it it after the Dwarf told her to keep it, back in Beregost. The three dealt with Silke (Blindness) after it became clear she had tried to fool them, and Imoen pickpocketed potions of defense off the men the Gnomes had been hired to kill. Two of those men went hostile, but the third thanked the Gnomes for their intervention. Garrick, however, was displeased with Imoen's roguish ways.
An example of their good intentions was their attempt to peacefully resolve a dispute between Aldeth Sashenstar and Seniyad. The latter was implacable though, and Gnomes had to defend themselves. (All the Druids were Blinded before they fell.)
Deeper in the woods, Bart went Spider hunting with his Ring of Free Action. He only had difficulty with the Sword Spiders, that were fast and too powerful to melee. The Wand of the Heavens and Animated Dead helped him there.
The trio reached the Iron Throne base in good order (transitioning invisibly between areas). Bart scouted Drasus and co, which justified the animation of three Skeletons. But roleplaying prohibited him from backstabbing Kysus or Rezdan.
The Skeletons managed to bring Drasus to injured before they fell, and they also soaked up a couple of spells from the Mages.
The three entered the Cloakwood mine, and found it littered with guards. Bart hadn't forgotten how he had nearly overplayed his hand at the Bandit Camp, so he decided to rely on stealth this time. Quayle and Imoen were invisible and would remain invisible until the Gnomes found the master of the mine, Davaeorn.
Bart slew a single guard at the entrance to Davaeorn's lair, disarmed a handful of traps, and quaffed two potions of magic protection to escape the effects of Davaeorn's magics. He then finished two Battle Horrors with sneak attacks.
I would roleplay that Quayle considered it time for the Imoen and Bart to stand on their own feet after his help in unraveling the mystery of the bandits and the iron crisis, but that's hardly reconcilable with Quayle's parting words:
I'm considering starting a new run. I've seen what I needed to see from the new kits... I can balance the Bog Witch kit by nerfing the Pit Fiend, granting the Bog Witch immunity to opcode 1 (APR modifier) and removing the BBoD HLA to nerd the Time Stop immunity, and tweaking a few spells in minor fashion. I should reintroduce insect spells for thematic reasons, but remove Chaotic Commands and Death Ward and replace them with level-based immunities. Also, we really have to replace Warding Whip with Pierce Magic. It's just too good.
Seducers and Shadow Stealers are already balanced, amazingly enough. Their powers are unreliable enough that they can either be the strongest or weakest characters in a given fight. They are unbalanced if you use reloading to guarantee failed saves, but I can't change that without changing their fundamental nature. I'll just have to mention in the readme that the player could get bored if they fight every battle with charmed enemies or their shadows.
But maybe I can rig Charm and Steal Shadow to weaken the caster if the spell is successful.
Archer/Mages are a little broken. But just because Called Shot is so strong.
I think that a reconciliation with Quayle makes sense. After all you are going to save both the gnome and his protegee.
On a more serious note, I really like some of your ideas your kits. The concept of Shadow stealing is imho plain brilliant. I can't advise on any modifications to your kits. The Seducer and the Shadow Stealer look fine to me (the Bog Witch is a bit too unique for my more traditional taste I think). Good luck with the fine-tuning. Thanks@Musigny, I'm indeed inclined to RP there was an altercation (not sure yet about the details), so that a reunion in Amn makes sense.
With Finch's death still weighing on his mind, and with Quayle's sudden and inexplicable departure on bad terms, Bart had an unpleasant journey through the Cloakwood back to civilization. However, as time wore on, his mood improved. He turned frequently to his deity Baravar Cloakshadow, and there was always Imoen, his dearest friend who helped him remember not to lose his sense of humor and who moved him with a birthday gift, an amulet she'd secretly crafted in her own time.
Intelligent wizards like Ragefast, Ramazith, and Degrodel were all outwitted by the Gnomes. The duo also pulled off a number of burglaries of high profile buildings. These included the Hall of Wonders, where Imoen miraculously escaped the clutches of at least 15 Flaming Fist Enforcers,
The Gnomes survived a lethal food poisoning at the hands of Iron Throne employees by timely acquiring the antidote from one of the Throne lackeys,
There was some collateral damage in the death of the bartender. The consequences of that event for the duo's reputation facilitated Bart's obtaining of the Divine Wrath Bhaalpower that Blackraven likes so much.
The Gnomes learned that the Iron Throne leaders were in Candlekeep, and received a book from Duke Eltan in order to be allowed access to the citadel and continue their crusade. They got framed by Sarevok, who got them arrested for killing the Iron Throne leaders, but Tethtoril teleported the Gnomes to the catacombs below Candlekeep before they could be transported to Baldur's Gate for their sentencing. Vaults were emptied, Doppelgangers bypassed, and soon Bart and Imoen found themselves on the surface again.
(A lot of gold was wasted at the FAI when I discovered that the Gnomes had started donating at the temple of Gellana Mirrorshade before having rested for the second Divine Wrath Bhaalpower. In my BGT install BG2 donation fees apply in BG1. Reputation was lowered again, with the help of a Bard at the FAI, before the party rested and continued donating. The thing is Divine Wrath is really good, while Divine Might = DUHM, of which Bart hasplenty already as a Cleric.)
Back in Baldur's Gate the companions saved Duke Eltan from a Doppelganger 'healer' who was actually poisoning him, and delivered him into the care of the Harbormaster. Vay-ya and Desreta relinquished a pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Power to Bart.
Cythandria, who had Sarevok's diary, and her Golems were next (all backstabs), and then the one part of the game where I always concentrate: the Ducal Palace. No role-playing here, didn't want the game to end in the palace.
I think that if approached every battle the way I approach the Ducal Palace, I might have pulled off a no-reload trilogy success by now. Both Bart and Immy buffed extensively. Bart started with violet potion and mitigating dex/con potions. The two also used mind focusing, defense, speed, power, and magic shielding. Five Skeletons were summoned and PfE by Bart, and Hasted by Imoen. Bart also cast Remove Fear. Bart set two snares (he had 80 Set Traps, but with his artificial 24 Dex, his score was 100 at that moment). Phials of poison were used to speed up the Greater Doppelgangers' dying. Immy applied the poison on her arrows of dispelling, Bart on his staff. The battle was over very soon, with both Dukes surviving.
The duo presented evidence of Sarevok's true intentions to Duke Belt, and rushed after Sarevok when he escaped the palace with the wizard Winski Perorate, through a maze, past awar party in the undercity, into a temple of Bhaal. The Gnomes refreshed a few buffs (speed, magic protection potions) and engaged Sarevok and few others. For the first time, neither Angelo nor Semaj managed to remove Bart's Str/Dex/Con buffs. This was very pleasing. Both quite stealthy, Bart and Immy explored the temple a bit, and found Angelo on his own. Imoen repeatedly failed to dispel Angelo's buffs and suffered some electricity damage from a wand he used. When she did eventually dispel, he didn't last long, thanks to Bart's stabs, even though he did injure Immy with triggered Magic Missiles.
Final BG1 stats:
- Bartholomew, Cleric/Thief lvl 7/8, 67 HPs, 384 kills (Angelo)
- Imoen, Illusionist/Thief lvl 7/8, 53 HPs, 86 kills (Jalantha Mistmyr), 2 deaths (early-game ambush, Bassilus Unholy Blight)
Former companion:
- Quayle, Cleric/Illusionist, 1 death (Shoal the Nereid)
Bartholomew, 1st BG2 report
Bart and Imoen survived Chateau Irenicus. I'm going to keep this short because I've got other things to do.
Devoid of their equipment, bruised and battered in Irenicus' Dungeon, the Gnomes picked up some gear, looted the room with the glass containers and the one with the warden Golem. They caught the eye of several Duergar when trying to enter Rielev's room, but managed to park them in the glass container room.
Two snares nearly killed one of the Lesser Clay Golems;
Before moving on to the next level, the Gnomes with a group of angry Duergar on their trail liberated Minsc and Jaheira (and briefly recruited them for XP) . Sadly, Jaheira - level 1 NPC - got hit even after she had been dismissed from the party. She died.
On the surface, Imoen was sadly and wrongly arrested. Yoshimo dropped the contents of his pack and left for the Copper Coronet.
This is a Heart of Fury run. Icewind Dale 2 style. Everything but the party gets +10 to THAC0, +10 to all stats, +10 to all saving throws, and triple hit points plus 80 on top. But, the party gets double XP.
Our Charname is Phen, a tiny little gnomish Cleric/Illusionist.
Her WIS is low because I'm considering using the Limited Wish vampire trick. I haven't decided yet, though... I kinda want to avoid exploits in this run. Even though it's, you know. A Heart of Fury run.
There are a few important differences between this run and a normal HoF run in IWD2. First, AC is even less important here than it was in IWD2's HoF mode. Unlike in IWD2, we can't get our AC low enough to avoid hits, no matter what character build we have. The enemy will hit us. That's just a fact of life.
Also, the saving throw bonuses will render enemies more or less impervious to disablers. The early game critters will have saving throws in the single digits. Late game critters will be deep in the negatives. At no point in the adventure will we ever be able to rely on disablers--unlike in IWD2, where disablers were amazing even in HoF mode.
We could ameliorate the saving throw problem with Called Shot. But I don't want to do another multiplayer run, and I don't want to play an Archer again, either.
Heart of Fury mode is implemented with a double XP effect on all party members, plus a special spell which will add all the necessary HoF bonuses to everything on the map except for party members. The game begins!
The first enemy of the game arrives. Minsc handles this one.
He's a sneaky fellow. But if we're going to get anywhere, we need to get past that room, and Jaheira and Phen can't sneak. So Imoen summons some critters to handle the Mephit.
Never saw a kobold take that much damage without dying. The kobolds stab the Mephit to death. Haste plays an important role in this.
I also use the kobolds to lure some of the Duergar out of the hallway leading to the Otyugh room.
But they vanish before they can do anything else.
Minsc has already killed Rielev with the power of kindness and stolen the activation stone. But if he asks the golem to open the door, he turns visible, and the Mephit in that room will crush him. Minsc could run, but the Duergar would murder him instead. I have a solution, but first we have to rest.
But one of the Duergar follows us to our safe room. SCS AI makes enemies run around if you turn invisible. It's their way of avoiding backstabs. But this also allows them to chase us down.
We make it to the equipment room and close shut the door behind us. We're safe!
Then the door opens. Apparently we weren't able to keep the door shut. It makes sense: we shouldn't be able to hold a door shut against a dwarf with +10 Strength.
That dwarf could kill us awfully quick. We position Minsc at the front, as he's the only party member without summoning spells. It's not pretty.
Yes, that dwarf just rolled a 2. That wasn't a critical hit. That's just how much damage Heart of Fury enemies are going to do in this run.
We can't take this guy down, not without any summoning spells. I decide that Minsc has to sacrifice himself for the good of the group. With some careful positioning, I keep the dwarf focused on Minsc, allowing the other characters to slip out the door. I keep Minsc on the move to avoid the dwarf's attacks.
We make it to the portal room near Jaheira's cell before we finally let Minsc get hit. There was no stopping this.
The moment Minsc falls, we rest and gain our spells. To ensure our safety when we leave the room, Phen conjures her familiar.
We killed one enemy and lost one party member. Things look a teensy bit unbalanced so far.
Why is this? Imoen can block the Mephit's awful claw attacks with Stoneskin. And in case the Mephit if a Radiant Mephit, her MGOI can block the Color Spray.
But Imoen doesn't have an Invisibility spell. How does she escape?
This won't last as long, but it's enough to get her to safety.
We find a safe spot in the Otyugh room and conjure some skeletons. They're not immune to the Otyugh's disease, but they are immune to the poison damage.
This means they get slowed by the Otyugh's touch, but they can still weather its attacks.
We can't sneak past the next group of Duergar, because two of them are bunched up in such a way that they block off the hallway, so we have to lure them into the Otyugh room. Turns out damage spells are still useful: when the enemies start running, only Imoen can hit them.
We turn the whole party invisible once more. Imoen shifts her inventory to Phen and goes to loot the Portal Key room. Meanwhile, Jaheira monitors the hallway to the Otyugh room to look out for the Lesser Clay Golems, and Phen goes to the portal. Her skeletons follow, so I let them whomp on the Duergar a little.
Phen clicks on the portal and the whole party leaves the area. You only need one party member to be next to the portal to get the others through.
We conjure a wolf, turn invisible, and lure the Mephits out of the Mephit Portal room, into the other portal room. But a Magma Mephit won't follow, so we can't just shut the door on the Mephits and destroy the Mephit Portals in safety. Instead, we sneak out into the corner and summon some more critters out of sight. Yoshimo, still invisible, watches over them.
Since the animals survive the encounter, I send them after Ellesime's clone. They're pretty tough.
The clone falls, and the Shadow Thief follows suit. After looting the area, we turn everybody invisible, sneak out to Frennedan's room, loot that place, too, and sneak out of the dungeon without fighting anything else.
We therefore slay Kalah with summons while hiding behind Invisibility 10' Radius. We do the same to get Lilarcor, but don't fight the slavers. We're not nearly tough enough yet.
We ditch both Yoshimo and Minsc, and as Minsc is dead, that means he's gone forever. There's nothing we could do with him anyway. As for Yoshimo, we'll be getting Nalia soon, and she will be the only thief we need.
We get ambushed by Suna Seni pretty early on the way to the Docks, but I pre-buffed with Invisibility 10' Radius inside the Copper Coronet. This allows us to flee to the northeast corner of the map.
Phen and Aerie summon some skeletons, while Jaheira casts Farsight to guide them to the enemy. They make slow progress against Suna Seni, our primary target.
We want Arbane's Sword and the immunities that come with it. Though I might remove the immunity to stun, since it's not really supposed to be there.
The skeletons are pretty tough with their innate resistances, and with their crazy HoF STR bonuses, they can actually take down big enemies like Suna Seni. Our Fire Elemental is even tougher: it's immune to nonmagical weapons entirely. Jaheira tries to contribute from the sidelines, and fails miserably.
Your eyes are not misleading you. She can't cast Call Lightning outdoors.
That spell rendered her visible, and therefore put her in harm's way. We fail to stop an important disabler from touching the party, but we maneuver Jaheira to minimize the damage.
Jaheira is really bad at this game.
Anyhoo, Jaheira's antics have brought the enemy to the party itself. And Insane mode doubles spell damage as well as physical damage. Aerie, with her base 30 HP, can't take much.
Now Phen is alone. She turns invisible and starts to flee to the southern corner of the map, where she can hide behind a wall. But the enemy cleric realizes what's going on.
I time a re-cast of Invisibility so Phen vanishes just as the cleric completes his spell. She hides in the south corner. Meanwhile, things to the north are looking up.
Jaheira is back, and because the enemy didn't attack her (they might not have even spotted her, as she was tucked around a corner), we have twice as many inventory slots to carry the loot home. The summons finally finish off the enemy, and we move on to the Docks.
I don't have time to post the rest, but right now the party is about to talk to Gaal.
Today was a national holiday here, so I took advantage and played for quite a few hours. There'll be less playing the rest of the week though, because I've been assigned more work.
Bart picked up his adventuring life with bringing law and order to the Copper Coronet.
I'm still trying to play fair and to roleplay. This meant not backstabbing but sneaking past a blue-circled guard that would have called two wizard enforcers had he seen the Gnome. He proceeded to melee a Winter Wolf, two Gibberlings and a Panther before he Animated Dead to deal with other animals and monsters in the Beast Master's bestiary. The Skeletons didn't last long, due to especially a Grizzly Bear's forceful attacks, so he applied an oil of speed for trap-setting and backstabbing purposes. With HP and DUHM, the stabbing worked nicely.
That session took him to the Bridge District, where he solved a skinner murder mystery, the sewers below the Temple District (Roger the Fence for potions), and the fletcher at Waukeen's Promenade, who supplied the rogue with free sling bullets +2 aplenty. The fencing of stolen armor and weapons allowed the Gnome to purchase a suit of Armor of Deep Night +4, a Mercykiller Ring, Reflection Shield, and Sling of Seeking. His melee weapons were Aule's Staff +3 and the one-handed Staff Mace +2 (in order to be able to use a shield).
An ambush by a man with pinkish, fiery sword was ignored. (Again the most logical behavior from an RP perspective. Besides, as a Cleric, Bart had no use for Arbane's Sword. And even if he had been able to use it pre-UAI, the blade's usefulness is much more limited and situational than I had previously thought, as Norgath found out the hard way in my last run.) A poor, poisoned man named Renfeld, otoh, was saved without Bart fighting the poisoners.
Two ruffians, Bregg and Cohrvale, were dealt with, with the help of a city guard, when a rare HiS failure on Bart's part provoked the duo into attacking the Gnome.
Once properly outfitted, Bart accepted Renal Bloodscalp's job to find out and eliminate Mae'Var. The only hard task before having to deal with Mae'Var himself was killing Cowled Wizard Rayic Gethras for Mae'Var's assistant, a rude Red Wizard named Edwin.
Near Rayic's home a Mad Cleric, a dangerous meleer once buffed, fell to sneak attacks, as did Rayic Gethras' Mephits and Golems.
Bart had a special solution for Rayic Gethras. He smart-talked the wizard, whom he respected as a potentially dangerous adversary, into giving him his signet ring in order to convince Edwin that Rayic had been killed. At a later moment he would bring Edwin before Rayic, so that the latter could take care of the Red Wizard.
When they entered the house, Bart told Edwin that he sensed someone's presence. Maybe Rayic had somehow survived? Edwin pre-buffed himself with Armor, MGoI, Mirror Image, Minor Spell Turning, and a Fireshield. (Both Bart and I thought Edwin deserved a fair chance against Rayic's SCS insta-buffs.) Rayic was still alive indeed. What followed could have been an interesting mage battle, but turned out to be a bit disappointing. Rayic insta-buffed and for some reason approached Edwin. Both saw their attempts at casting spells fail to either disruption or their respective spell protections. Since Rayic found himself in melee range, with MMMs, he got hit many times by the Fireshield, and he died pretty fast. Edwin disappeared without a word right after that.
He waited with fighting Mae'Var though, fearful of becoming a pincushion for the pink-trousered rogue and his assassins. Instead he explored the city a bit more. The Gnome's reconaissance led him to the Graveyard District, where he:
- reunited a child spirit with its teddy bear,
- battled Spiders and nearly got killed at it
brought Spiders' Bane to a Half-Drow Hive Mistress in return for a Black Spider Figurine, and
- dug up a man who had been buried alive. (The buriers he found in the Bridge District; Kitthix and Skeletons dealt with them, helping Bart to a pair of Boots of Avoidance and, indirectly, a pair of Silver Pantaloons.
Back in the Docks District the Gnome ran into Xzar, a Necromancer he had once met on the Lion's Way near Candlekeep. Xzar asked Bart to release his Halfling companion Montaron from imprisonment in the Galvarey estate, a Harper base. In order to be allowee access into the building Bart had to perform a task for the Harpers first: to destroy the monsters summoned or created in the home of one Prebek. In the end he had to be glad that he wasn't the one being destroyed. Bart's strategy was to repeatedly enter and leave the home, and attack from the shadows. Neither Prebek nor a female companion nor the monsters followed him outside. This worked well for a while, until he got affected by an Emotion: Hopelessness that the woman cast on herself. He thanked Baravar Cloakshadow that he managed to get out before he actually dropped down in despair.
He then considered the time ripe for a showdown with Mae'Var (even though he still hadn't acquired the Girdle of Piercing, as that item had become less accessible with the extra Ice level in the Circus tent in my setup). Detecting Illusions, invisible Bart dispelled red-circled Mae'Var's invisibility, didn't speak with him but started buffing himself: potion of defense, Chaotic Commands, Aid, Death Ward, Resist Fire/Cold, oil of speed, Free Action, HP, DUHM, RM. The question was: had Mae'Var a Stoneskin up? The answer:
Near the city gates Bart was accosted by a man reporting animal attacks in the town of Trademeet. Bart, still an eager traveler, as in his days on the Sword Coast with Imoen, offered to help out. Upon arrival he discovered that besides the animal attacks there was the problem of three Djinnis monopolizing the local trade. The Gnome tried to talk their leader, Khan Zahraa who was running a shop in a tent with a second Djinni, into leaving. But they refused. Bart placed three traps near Khan, and left and rested. He placed three more traps at the entrance, near the third Djinni, stepped inside the tent, and attacked Khan from the shadows. The traps that subsequently triggered, killed Khan Zahraa. The other Djinnis disappeared right after that. (And so did the Efreeti Bottle. Not very well played Blackraven, maybe a good price to pay for the traps cheese
A guildmistress thanked Bart for getting rid of the bullies with a Shield of Harmony and an ample amount of gold and gems. Trade soon picked up again, allowing Bart to acquire a number of valuable items for himself: Blackblood, Necklace of Missiles (I believe I got this later, in the red tent after the Druids had been dealt with), Belt of Inertial Barrier, Cloak of Displacement.
He then traveled to a Shadow Druid Grove, the possible source of the animal attacks if an outsider Druid named Cernd was to be believed. In the forst the Gnome chose to stay invisible amidst Spiders, Trolls and Shadow Druids until he reached the actual grove, leaving the shadows only to loot a Troll mound (under Sanctuary), pick up an enchanted scimitar, and barter with an elderly lady who sold potions.
Near the grove Bart slew three Shambling Mounds and several Grizzly Bears with attacks from the shadows, before he ran into a Shadow Druid war party. He summoned Kitthix and four Skeletons before he presented himself to the Druids. That proved to be a wise decision as the Druid's intentions weren't friendly.
Bart entered the Druid base with Cernd, who challenged the Shadow Druid leader Faldorn to a duel. Had to do this twice. First time Cernd had cast an Insect Plague at Faldorn when she was no longer invisible, and was in the process of summoning a Fire Elemental when the game crashed to desktop. The second time Bart, no exception to the rule that my characters tend to be dishonorable to some extent, passed Cernd two potions of firebreath, that he used to kill Faldorn.
Back in Athkatla Bart dealt with two old friends of Mae'Var's that wanted to avenge the rogue.
The Ice level was (again) the most interesting part of the quest. Kitthix finished an Orc wizard for Bart (for one of three required keys) before Ice giants sent the spider packing.
When the dust had settled, Aerie, an Elven Chorister Bard he had helped dispel her illusory Ogre appearance, offered to travel with Bartholomew, but good old Uncle Quayle, who surprisingly had also been a victim of Kalah, wouldn't.
This is a bit of a bummer. I really expected the BG1NPCSoA mod to make Quayle available as a companion. I even recruited nearby Tiax with no problem, to see if Quayle would join, but nope... (Maybe Tiax had to be taken along through the circus quest, or maybe Aerie had to be accepted into the party at the first opportunity.) I'm not sure what I'll do now. Aerie without Quayle is not the same for the purpose of this run. Otoh the romance (never completed) could be interesting. Bart could also continue as a solo adventurer at least until he finds Imoen. And there's Jan of course, who was an intended companion as well. Oh well, I'll figure someting out.
I'm so confused: which mod puts the Ice Temple for IWD inside a tent?