@semiticgod I tried my hand at a solo cleric/ranger quadrilogy run twice, but both times I got thwarted by Abazigal and his dispel magic + maze combo, so the class is indeed still up for grabs
Breaching the spirit of my 1 hour per day rule, the Army set off again from Candlekeep. The first session followed the same route as the last run, making their way early on to find Drizzt. This time there were no oddities in his behavior as a single gnoll attacked him. Checking on progress of the battle after 15 minutes or so I saw that the gnoll was now attacking at +2 - showing it had broken its weapon. That would have been relatively early on, so meant it was going to be a long time before it would be able to beat Drizzt unconscious. I checked back on the odd occasion before seeing Drizzt was unconscious a couple of real-time hours later.
Killing him got everyone the XP for level 2 and I saved it after levelling up.
I just lost a solo mage run at the Ducal Palace. I don't know how exactly it went wrong, but I think Liia Jannath got confused by a Chaos spell from the doppelganger mage, and then attacked Sarevok, turning him hostile and causing him to attack her back, killing her in two hits.
Anybody ever see this happening before? Liia Jannath is still bugged to cast no spells during the fight in my install, but this time, her bugged status doesn't stop her from breaking invisibility (I cast Invisibility on her at the start of the fight) when she gets confused. It seems like the only way I could have prevented this would be to go all-out on the charm offensive and use Algernon's Cloak to draw some or all of the doppelgangers into one room, a safe distance from Liia Jannath. I wasn't aware that a Chaos spell could actually prompt her into breaking invisibility; I've never seen this happen, nor can I recall hearing about it.
Come to think of it, why not charm Liia Jannath herself and park her in a corner somewhere? I think you could get within range of charming her without getting close enough to Sarevok to start the dialog, and if you shoved her in a corner, she would be out of range of any Chaos spells and so forth that the mage might throw out.
If I remember correctly, I think that trying to charm Liia Jannath herself is considered a hostile act and so ends the game.
@semiticgod I would be reluctant to charm Liia. I think even trying that by spell would turn her hostile in my installation. Trying by cloak would not, but she would go hostile when the effect ended - and I've been auto-killed in that situation. I do remember one post in this thread from someone who managed to get her to do her closing dialogue despite her being hostile, so you might get lucky, but it seems chancy to me. If you're going to use charms, then doing that to the dopplegangers (like the mage) would seem the safer option.
Dreadnought has just won the Battle of Boareskyr Bridge. Edwin cast web followed by a couple of Fireballs. Tenya cast silence on the crusaders having already taken a potion of freedom of action. The others were immune to web due to items.
The crusaders were stopped from blowing up the bridge due to another web from Edwin. After that the battle was straightforward. The healing potions that were found were used. I believe that the number found was very close to the number used.
Before the battle the party had virtually no gold, however now they have 403 gp plus a lot of +1 weapons and armour which could be sold if necessary.
This run is playing very differently from my previous SoD runs. I don't know why. Alignment of my PC perhaps. All my former runs were with a good PC.
The session started in the golem cave where Chorba had died to the first golem last time. Taking on the second one he once more tried to dodge round, but there was again significant lag on the connection and he was soon in trouble. This screenshot illustrates the problem: on my screen Chorba was right next to the golem a fraction of a second earlier and I actually paused the game to tell Gate70 he was about to die - Chorba then teleported well away (to where he had always been on Gate70's screen), but too late to escape the blow.
After a temple run, Gate70 requested a diversion to the Cloud Peaks to get Krumm's belt to help against the golems.
We also took the charisma tome from the Gnoll Stronghold before returning for the final golem. This time Chorba tried tanking it and lasted just long enough to get the kill.
It wasn't too long though before death was stretching out his bony hand once more. This time Chorba was trying to run the Doomsayer round inside a Writhing Fog when he was hit by natural lightning. The shock took half his HPs and caused him to hesitate momentarily - the Doomsayer immediately took the opportunity to land a killing blow (helped by the bonus fire damage from wearing Gorion's belt to provide cold immunity).
Slug spent a while running the Doomsayer round himself before going back to the temple.
Back in Beregost, Silke resisted being silenced by spell - but naked force did the job just fine.
A couple more reputation gains then pushed that up to 20 and prompted a visit to Ulgoth's Beard for a bit of shopping.
It seemed appropriate then to pay a visit to the Nashkel Mine and that was traversed without difficulty. Mulahey was silenced by spell and not given a chance to recover.
Outside the mine several of the amazons managed to survive some traps and skeletons, but were badly injured and died a Foggy death.
The bandits have been defeated and we press on to the Cloakwood Forest. With ProPoison scroll, Potion of Freedom and Potion of Strength, we're more than happy to kick the spiders' nest in the second area. Storm Shield and Lightning Bolt are our choice No. 1 when facing large mobs of enemies in an enclosed space.
We're very careful with the area transitions (always resting before travelling), as Anomandra has not faced any of the assassin ambushes yet. Nevertheless, she manages to reach the mines without any delays (the druids are avoided altogether). Here, we had to decide on how to deal with Drasus & Co. Tired as we were from the long journey, it seemed that the most effective course of action would be to 1) separate Drasus from the rest of the crew, 2) overwhelm him with summons, 3) take his boots, and 4) take a nap.
The execution of our plan worked out well. Despite being a serious killing machine, the odds were not favorable for Drasus.
He fell to Wand of Heavens, just as he managed to crush the last of our skeletons. Anomandra doned her new boots and used the last of her spells (Sanctuary and DuHM) to unlock the chest with Potion of Magic Shielding inside the barracks, carefully avoiding Genthore and the two mages outside (this is one of the places where I really appreciate having Cloak Non-Detection at hand).
Rested and feeling determined, we proceed under the ground. At the second level of the mines, Anomandra talks to Ril, but otherwise avoids any contact with the enemy under Sanctuary until she reaches Davaeorn's chamber. We use Shield Amulet charge to run through the trapped entry corridor unharmed, while making sure that the mage doesn't notice us yet. Without taking further buffs, Anomandra then manages to lure both battle horrors out of the central room and blast them with Wand of Heavens.
Note: Those 8000exp were enough to hit our BG1 level cap - Anomandra will now stay as level 8 Priest of Talos until SoA (if we'll make it). The fact that single class clerics are unable to access L5 spells within the ToSC experience cap makes them feel a little handicapped towards the endgame. I'm looking at you - single class druids (with your Insect Plagues and Iron Skins). It seems that whereas clerics shine at levels 3 to 6, druids reach their power cap afterwards (and Avengers rock all the way).
Back to the fight at hand. With the battle horrors out of the picture, Anomandra waits out Davaeorn's opening buffs. After a while, she summons two skeletons in the kitchen, sets up two Glyphs of Warding into the adjacent corridor and casts Far Sight on the central room to get a better view of the battlefield.
All is set - time to confront Davaeorn. He releases his Web + Stinking Cloud sequencer and confidently teleports away. What he doesn't know is that we've got a nasty little surprise from him in the form of ProMagic scroll. And yes, we knew it would allow us to use our special ability spells.
(Pop-up question: Does anyone know where does his elemental damage resistance come from? Even in my previous playthoughs, I've never noticed Davy using any potions.)
However, what we didn't know was that the ProMagic globe will not protect Anomandra against her very own lightnings. Combine that with the fact that we also didn't know that the same goes for Necklace of Missiles and you can understand that we were in deep trouble.
Seeing this, Anomandra retreats and heals, adding a Potion of Regeneration on the top. Meanwhile, the skeletons are still holding on against the incoming guards. Eventually, they hold on long enough for us to able to peel Davaeorn's skins and pin him down for good.
We collect the loot, flood the mines (avoiding the happy miner on the surface to manage our reputation before getting further Bhallspawn powers) and proceed to Baldur's Gate.
With Ust Natha crushed, we decide to double cross Adalon for her blood and scales. It is a trivial matter while Gaspar has her charmed.
Back on the surface, we go to the docks and forge a bunch of shiny new items. At the De'Arnise Keep, resolving a quest gets Spaz and Rufus a level.
We head back to Watcher's Keep with our improved gear. The demon amazons always make me nervous. Y'tossi is the first one to go.
Xei Win Toh carves through Bruss' Super Saiyan 3 form even though he has a nearly-untouchable AC vs. slashing weapons of -26. SSJ3 offers AC modifiers for each damage type instead of a generic AC bonus so it will bypass the AC cap, but I'm doubting that AC modifiers actually do this. Gaspar has the Hive Mother charmed, greatly hindering its ability to spam rays. Xei Win Toh takes matters into her own hands and kills it.
Gaspar charms Xei Win Toh. I examined her .CRE file and she's not immune to level drain... We're stealing her. Rufus summons his Nighthaunts and Spaz helps them level drain her enough so that Gaspar can recruit her.
Next is Azamantes. Rufus and Bruss use PfU scrolls while everyone else hides behind the Eternal Warrior challenge gate. Azamantes stops time, but Bruss's aura was clouded, so only Rufus could move. He dispels Azamantes' mislead clone and uses his thief Detect Illusions to target the lich, then casts Black Ray of Destruction on him to shut off his spellcasting. The lich teleports over to our party and time resumes, but the Black Ray has now taken effect. Gaspar charms him as well, proving that his spellcasting is indeed disabled.
Bruss hurries over and executes a Dragon Fist, letting him and Krieg destroy the lich.
As Bruss mops up the Flaming Skulls, another Azamantes appears out of nowhere! Must be a simulacrum, but this one actually casts spells instead of doing nothing. The copy is not protected by SI: Abjuration, so Spaz devours its magic and it dies quickly.
Time for Demogorgon. Bruss is going to be taking the lead, as usual. He strikes the Lunar Stance and dares Demogorgon to come out and play.
Bruss gets several good hits on Demogorgon, but he throws up a Stoneskin while time is still stopped and then summons his demon host. This stymies Bruss's fists. Trying Melee Rush isn't a good idea because he might attack the wrong target. Now Demogorgon throws out a Storm of Vengeance. Luckily, all of us have good saves so the only thing that does is acid damage. Krieg joins in the demon slaying. Xei Win Toh is more fragile than she looked, because a Marilith takes her down.
Gaspar, now level 30, forces his Domination targets to save vs. spell at -7, but Demogorgon is a demon, which means he saves at a net -4 penalty. D has a save vs. spell of 6, so he will fail the save against Domination 50% of the time. Gaspar charms him!
Rufus casts Breaching Dark on D to remove his Stoneskins. Krieg and Bruss take this opportunity and destroy him, with Bruss getting the last hit.
Everyone except Gaspar and Spaz levels up from killing the multiverse's #1 demon. Rufus finally learns level 8 spells: -Merciless Blizzard: 30 ft. cold damage cloud that does 10d4 cold damage and slows all within for 2 rounds. Everyone hit by the blizzard takes a cumulative -20% cold resistance penalty for 1 turn and must save vs. spell at -2 or also be paralyzed for 1 round. Creatures that have 100% or more cold resistance are completely unaffected.
-Dark Passage: Party-wide power up that lasts for as long as the caster does not move. Entire party gains Haste, +4 to all stats, +4 THAC0/damage, +6 AC, 50% elemental resistance, 50% MR. For each round the caster maintains this link, he must save vs. death at -4 or lose 10% of his maximum HP. If the caster moves or manually severs the connection, the caster must save vs. death at -2 or be stunned for 2 rounds.
Time to fight Bodhi. She killed Spaz in his most recent no-reload attempt via Constitution drain. I'm pretty hesitant to send anyone in because of her damned Cloud of Bats ability, which lasts for a considerable duration, all but disables spellcasting, and will do damage at double speed if anyone is hasted. Krieg is especially vulnerable to it, as each hit he takes gives a -1 penalty to spell and AC, and 25% of the time he's hit, he must save vs. spell or go berserk. I reluctantly send in Bruss while he's under Lunar Stance and powered up to SSJ2, as SSJ3 would mean double damage from Cloud of Bats. Spaz follows up with Devour Magic while Rufus adds in a Sigil of Misfortune. Bruss uses Melee Rush on the now-defenseless Hazarmarveth.
Bodhi spots our spellcasters all clustered in the corridor and unleashes the Cloud of Bats as I thought she would. Spaz closes the door, leaving Bruss to duel Bodhi alone. Gaspar charms Bodhi for a short time. I wish I noticed that she was using her CON-drain claws instead of level-drain claws.
Bruss thoroughly trashes her. She heals to full after her panic dialogue, and Krieg comes to help now that her Cloud of Bats ability is expended. He gets the final hit on her for 91k XP.
Next is Venduris and co. I'm a bit nervous as usual, but I've got a good plan for him this time. Before entering the area, Rufus memorizes a Spell Trigger to load his ass-kicking spell combo again. Rufus begins the fight with a scroll of Time Stop from Ribald's premium store while Bruss strikes a Lunar Stance and instantly powers up to SSJ1, as the other transformations take too long to power up to. Yes, SSJ1 is still useful!
Rufus has to spend a little while before his thief Detect Illusions skill kicks in and reveals the enemy party. He activates his Spell Trigger and immediately lays into Venduris. Bruss kills Bodak Hangthorn, the archer with Arrows of Dispelling.
Kerith the Bleak is backstabbed to death as well. Bruss smacks Selina Shadowstorm with a Dragon Fist, and then he and Rufus get to work on breaking through Zaeron T'aene's Stoneskins. Just as the Time Stop ends, he dies as well.
Now defenseless against melee attacks, Shadowstorm is mopped up because her aura was clouded by her Spell Sequencer that she used at the start of the fight.
Somehow, Grok managed to escape Rufus' line of sight before the Time Stop and comes speeding out of the shadows to attack him. Unfortunately for him, Chromatic Demon sensed his presence because he has invisibility detection and alerted us. Rufus is still more than capable of defending himself even without Mislead clones. Krieg, Bruss, Rufus, and Chromatic Demon beat him down.
Chromatic Demon is sent in as a one-man trap-defusal squad and absorbs all the pre-laid traps around the city gate. Zaeron's cowardly Mislead clone is also killed. With all of Venduris' band's loot, everyone is moving at high speed except Gaspar. Rufus takes Venduris' Ring of Concealment as a special prize.
Returning the Lanthorn gives Gaspar, Rufus, Garos, and Spaz a level. Spaz takes Extra Invocation IV and learns Retributive Invisibility, which is basically Improved Invisibility with a duration of 3 rounds. At the end of its duration, it unleashes a small shockwave for 4d6 magical damage and stunning anyone in the AoE for a round, save vs. death for half and no stun.
Suldanessellar is next.
Krieg - War Hulk 27 Garos - Warhorn Shaman 23 Bruss - Super Saiyan 3 Monk 29 Rufus - Thief 21/Shadow Adept 16 Spaz - Warlock 32 Gaspar - Seducer 32
The Army headed north to the ankheg area and started attacking some fishermen. One problem in that area is that bandits can appear on the random encounter spot there after you've passed it and also have a wandering script that means they can then run into you. I only became aware that one of them had appeared when an attack took Destiny down to a single HP, but some rapid movement meant the Army just managed to survive - or so I thought. It was only after the remaining bandits that had spawned were all blinded and under control that I realized that Dazzler had actually been killed outright before I had noticed the attack had started.
That seemed too early to take a casualty and continue on, so I ended the run there.
The assassin ambush by Molkar caught us on our way from Cloakwood to the city. Not wanting to spend any more resources, Anomandra avoids the fight altogether by quaffing a PoI and running away. Not heroical, true, but there are more important matters at stake right now.
Finally, we reach the big city. With reputation of only 10 (remember that Ender Sai chunking in Tazok's tent), Anomandra has to spend zillions of gold to restock on potions, scrolls and bullets by visiting Halbazzer Drin and Black Lily. She collects the DEX tome from the Thieves' Guild, the WIS tome in the course of her dealings with Marek and Lothander, and the INT tome from Ramazith's tower (after we've persuaded Ragefast to release his coveted nymph). Ring of Protection +2 has now replaced Sune's in our ring slot, with the other being occupied by the Claw. Oh and and we've also got our hands on the Helm of Balduran.
After lowering our reputation to 9, Anomandra searches the Iron Throne under Sancturary and reports back to duke Eltan. Eltan sends her back to Candlekeep, where she quaffs a quick Potion of Magic Protection to counter the ogre magi ambush.
Inside the crypts, Anomandra uses Shield Amulet, Storm Shield and Sanctuary to foil the traps and fool the enemies. She quaffs the Violet Potion to access the locked containers with STR and WIS tomes and rushes out. I was surprised to see Lamahla waylay us on our returning trip back to Baldur's Gate. I'll admit their determination - they must have been chasing us since Nashkel. Anomandra takes a PoI and buffs with Potion of Agility, Potion of Fortitude (to offset the penalties from the lingering Violet Potion), Greenstone Amulet, Holy Power and DuHM. They simply stood no chance. Note: That Holy Power of ours was, of course, a silly mistake in the context of the Violet Potion effects. Don't do that.
Back in the city, we take a few naps to retrieve our final Bhaalspawn powers before heading to the Undercellar. By managing her reputation, Anomandra's now got 2x CLW, 1x Slow Poison, 1x Horror, 1x Vampiric Touch, 1x DuHM.
Since competent backstabbers can be a nightmare for priests, we take our preparations for Slythe very seriously. Anomandra summons three skeletons and buffs with Potion of Mind Focusing, Oil of Speed, Shield Amulet, ProEvil, Strength of One, Holy Power, DuHM and Armor of Faith. The skellies do a great job of distracting Krystin, while Anomandra gets couple of hard sling shots on Slythe. He reaches Anomandra and pulls off one backstab only to get immediately incinerated by our Wand of Heavens.
We recover his correspondence and run. Anomandra still has some time left before the palace audience and so she rests to recover her strengths before what was clearly going to be her greatest challenge so far.
Expecting the worst, she prepares by raising three skeletons and adds Animal Summoning. She buffs with ProMagic scroll, Potion of Mind Focusing, Oil of Speed, Potion of Strength, Potion of Regeneration, Potion of Power and DuHM. Here we go.
Aule's quick enough to strike the fast moving doppes with its long reach - Anomandra uses her rounds to punch them with the staff and blast with Wand of Heavens. This is enough to take down at least one doppelganger per round. In the meantime, our summons are acting as a meat shield (or rather bone shield) for the dukes. We're looking good - only the shaman and the mage remain.
Now for the critical part of the battle, when the mage usually starts to cast very ugly spells such as Chaos and Lightning Bolt. Fortunately for us, he releases both these spells in the foyer room - affecting only one Flaming Fist guard and killing only our summoned wolf. His leftover MMMs, Chromatic Orbs and Magic Missiles are nothing to worry about.
In the end there's a scary exchange of blows between Belt and Sarevok, but eventually both dukes survived.
This run didn't further trouble the scorers for long this morning. We started the session with very few spells, but decided to take Nimbul on anyway. That looked like it might have been a bad decision when Chorba went into his view and got trapped by conversation lag while Nimbul started casting. However, Slug had one call lightning spell remaining and that hammered down through Nimbul's mirrors.
Back in Beregost a rest ensured all options were open for dealing with Tranzig. That should have been a simple fight and Slug decided to give spirit summons an outing for a change in concert with Chorba's skeletons. The skeletons got bored of waiting as Slug kept failing to add to a single spirit hound and attacked. They didn't do much hitting though and a number of rounds passed as they got worn down and finished off. By that time Slug had finally managed to produce a bear spirit as well and that soon got the killing blow - but not until Tranzig had managed to complete casting a lightning bolt.
Slug immediately saw (and felt) the danger as the bolt of lightning hit him and tried to move - but found he was stuck in place. For a brief moment I thought he was going to get away with it as the next couple of bounces seemed to miss him. However, the bolt kept bouncing and bouncing and Mulahey's boots of lightning proved far too little protection as the damage mounted and killed Slug before continuing to bounce merrily several further times across the room.
Random roll 171 sees a pair of sneaky characters hit the ground. Our usual approach bags us Shoal the Nereid before getting the bandit ambush at lowish levels (screenshot). Having escaped that we are chased away from High Hedge by a gnoll survivor and ever increasing numbers of skeletons.
Henn manages a rare hide in shadows, and backstabs Tarnesh successfully (screenshot). Qat has used several more backstabs by this time. Qat upgrades her staff courtesy of Silke while Henn grabs the Varscona longsword from Greywolf.
We decide to grab xp by heading to the basilisk area, but instead one ambushes us and gets a good gaze at Qat. We're running, and Qat saves (screenshot) so we escape. A quick lap around the rock garden sees us clear out the basilisks together with Mutamin. Some resting sees us trying to set snares and barely keeping up with our own damage from failing to set them. A few more rests and we are ready.
Qat backstabs Kirian and runs. A couple of arrows fail to finish Kirian but Lindin is taken down by traps. Baerin almost kills Qat but Henn kills their archer. Qat has 1hp left so Henn uses a cure light wounds, and then we return. Henn shoots Kirian as Qat drags Peter up to our last trap. Peter is near-dead but survives the trap so we shoot him down.
The sirines at the coast are top of the list for next time.
The Rejects barrel through the elven city. Upon reaching Nizi, I decide that I want to recruit him. Gaspar keeps him held still while Rufus' Nighthaunts level drain him to we can grab him.
But this just isn't working out. Not only is Nizi's size unwieldy, he is unable to use his dragon abilities and he cannot cast any spells either. He's just a walking HP pool. We regrettably put him down, though it I guess it had to be done eventually to summon Rillifane, as he was just too big for Spaz to pickpocket like he did with Chromatic Demon. Maybe he could've done it if I was running v2.5 with its screwy personal space mechanics. Spaz learns to construct mithril golems from the tome that was on Nizi's corpse.
At the temple of Rillifane, I decide to have Rillifane kill the enemies here. But Suneer's Globe of Invulnerability hilariously protects him from the god's wrath. Bruss just uses a Dragon Fist to breach him and kills him. But Suneer had summoned a Fallen Planetar without me noticing and it attacks Garos!
Thanks Rillifane! After this, we leave the city using Mallon's Shifting Heart to teleport back to Athkatla's slums, where Spaz constructs Perfect Clay Golem MK I inside the Planar Sphere.
He needs to be level 40 to build a Perfect Mithril Golem and that's 8 levels away. At least Chromatic Demon can be escorted using it, though Garos also has Farsight if I ever need it. We return to Suldanessellar and kill the parasites feeding on the Tree of Life. Rufus set down all of his traps beforehand to help take the edge off. Johnny starts the fight with two Perfect golems, one clay and one stone. Rufus takes out the Clay golem while his Time Trap runs out, then it splits in half into two normal Clay Golems.
Johnny has a Spell Shield up in addition to a huge amount of prebuffs, so Bruss opts for a Dragon Fist instead, which is a "screw you" ability to mages. Johnny is killed.
Down to hell we go. I get to try out this wonderful glitch to negate the penalties for taking the good path on the Selfishness trial. Spaz uses a scroll of Maze on Krieg, then Bruss opens all three of the good-path doors. Immediately upon Krieg's return, the demon gives him the Tear of Bhaal while suffering no penalties.
We cash the tear in four times by dropping it on the ground before the door consumes it for +40% magic resistance. We visit the trial of Greed and give the genie Blackrazor in return for the Tear that grants +2 saving throws.
But before using the Tear, we buff first to fight Slayer-Johnny. Garos throws out a Wrath of the Skies to lower enemy MR by 50%.
After Slayer-Johnny arrives with his demons and starts the fight, Rufus immediately uses Black Ray of Destruction on him, shutting off his spellcasting and causing his opening Time Stop to fail. Yet another "screw you" ability to mages, but at least Rufus has an excuse as he's a Shadow Mage and enjoys killing Weave-users.
With his spellcasting disabled, Johnny-Slayer tries to kill Rufus for this indignity, but Gaspar charms him and tells him to hold it right there.
Johnny is still buffed with PfMW, so Bruss gives him the ol' Dragon Fist. The last remaining Glabrezu tries its PW: Stun shennanigans on Gaspar, but our fighters quickly redirect their efforts to save him.
Johnny still has a Spell Trigger up his sleeve with PfMW and both fire shields. Unimpressed, Rufus casts Breaching Dark on Johnny to get rid of it.
With no options left, Johnny-Slayer reverts to normal form, indicating our success!
ToB begins and I redeem the level that Gaspar got during this fight, gaining the 5th and final Psionic Foresight ability for those succulent saving throws. Krieg has his Bhaal powers back and swaps out the Wooden Horse Necklace for the Amulet of Seldarine, which gives him a total of 55% magic resistance. Nice!
Each of the Rejects has an answer to the problem of enemy wizards. On their own they are merely adequate, but when they combine their powers to help each other, there is no mage that can stand up to them.
Krieg - War Hulk 28 Garos - Warhorn Shaman 23 Bruss - Super Saiyan 3 Monk 30 Rufus - Thief 21/Shadow Adept 16 Spaz - Warlock 33 Gaspar - Seducer 33
@Flashburn: Odd that you had trouble with Nizidramanii'yt. I don't remember having any trouble lugging him around dragons as party members in my old Seducer run... unless I periodically killed and resurrected them to get through tight areas, which wouldn't be possible for a follower.
@AionZ: I'm not as familiar with the kit, but if we're going for game balance, I think it might make more sense to make the disabler less reliable, rather than shorter in duration. Even two rounds of neutralized spellcasting without a saving throw is nearly enough to break any mage encounter, since mages depend so heavily on establishing advantages in the earliest rounds of combat.
I think you're both right. I'll be changing Black Ray in my install to require a save vs. spell at -2 to negate the dead magic and reduce the duration to just 1 round. -2 sounds about right, as mages have pretty good saves vs. spell and shadow magic typically carries a saving throw penalty.
Anomandra entered the Maze with ProMagic scroll from the palace battle still running. She quaffed a PoI, reached the Temple of Bhaal and rested.
To be honest, I was not looking forward to the final battle. Even though I don't recall ever loosing a character here (it's the Ducal Palace that takes the toll), the opponents can become really annoying with their invisibility/healing/constant damage, especially if you can't dispel Sarevok's haste.
Anomandra was going to this with barely touching her spellbook. Once inside the temple, she summoned four skeletons into the corner, buffed them with ProEvil 10' and used her last ProMagic scroll.
Next, she smacked a bat with her Bhallspawn Vampiric Touch.
With Potion of Mind Focusing, Potion of Strength, Oil of Speed and Potion of Regeneration running, Anomandra was now ready to engage.
Here's the opening set-up with the Big Brother, Diarmid (with his ProMagic scroll) and Angelo (with his Fire Shield: Blue). Tazok the Simpleton has just quaffed an Oil of Speed, followed by a Potion of Freedom - we don't expect him to be much trouble . Semaj is also staying invisible and, most likely, would continue to do so until our ProMagic wears off. For the time being, our skeletons remain hidden in the back of the temple.
Anomandra quaffs a Potion of Power and uses her movement speed advantage to outmanoeuvre the enemies, focusing her ranged attacks on Diarmid and, after he has revealed himself, Tazok (who also takes couple of Wand of Heavens charges). She sends in her skeletons to distract the remaining foes, hoping to lure both Angelo and Semaj into the fray.
We don't have all the actors on the stage for long as Tazok soon becomes the first casualty.
Anomandra uses a ProUndead scroll to avoid the post-mortem skeleton warriors and rumages through the potion case to find her ultimate weapon. There they are - our precious Potions of Firebreath. We've got five, and we're not afraid to use them all.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
With his lackeys out of the picture, Sarevok was no match for Anomandra's speed, sling and Wand of Heavens on his own.
Onwards to Athkatla (but let's not forget to optimize our spellbook and remove the Helm of Balduran before doing so)!
As a 'break' from BG I thought I would have another go at HoF in IWD. Some time ago I started a range of characters in that to test out their capabilities. I didn't want to rely on hordes of summons, or the use of a sorcerer to bypass spell availability issues. However, I've struggled to find other good options. The major problems have been: - The AI in IWD is set to activate groups of monsters at a time, who will then pursue you relentlessly - meaning tackling them one at a time can be difficult or impossible even for characters with stealth. - the very limited selection of spell scrolls makes things hard for most arcane users. - the cost of resting in an inn makes progression more difficult for fighter types (I don't use the rest until healed game option).
The most progress I made in that was with a first run with a bard, which got up to level 11. The main tactics there were run and shoot and paralyzation by chromatic orb. However, she had no summons and the lack of invisibility or blind as options made things increasingly difficult against hordes of enemies and she eventually got trapped when surrounded by lots of skeletons.
Trying again, Ebrie made the normal quick progress early on: - killing beetles in the inn for Grisella took Ebrie all the way up to level 5. - more tasks around town were enough for level 6. - the goblins to the south were pulled up one or two at a time, but I got careless against one of those and was killed while kiting it. I don't normally allow test runs, but I did load the autosave at that point to check if there was anything worth pickpocketing in the town - there wasn't.
A third run got her up to level 8 thanks to killing the first couple of groups of orcs in the caravan cave. The next group though includes 7 orc archers, 2 standard orcs and an orc shaman - all scripted to stay together. They will follow you out of their cave, but won't then go back in - meaning you can't run them around inside (because of the arrow damage) and can't run them around outside (due to the confined space). I therefore intended to move on to the next area at this point, but wanted to get a screenshot of the attackers first. The shaman got delayed though due to casting curse on me and by the time he appeared in the picture Ebrie found herself trapped by the others.
That was a particular shame as she had a really excellent 59 HPs at level 8.
Once more into the breach and Ebrie again got up to level 8 - though this time with a somewhat less impressive 49 HPs. She tried splitting the big group of orcs up and successfully trapped 3 of them in the cave using chromatic orb, but decided that even the remaining 7 was too large a group to safely run round outside. Hence she reported in to Hrothgar and left Easthaven for Kuldahar Pass. With far too many goblins there to fight she had to just try running for the other side of the Pass. Her first incarnation had made that, but it's a chancy business and she was cut down by missile fire as she tried to cross the bridge to her objective.
A 5th run made it to level 8 with 51 HPs before running the gauntlet at Kuldahar Pass - and this time made it pretty comfortably.
I don't hold out too much hope of her going too much further, but we'll see ...
Ebrie, Bard L8, 51 HPs, 25 kills
Edit: certainly didn't get much further. At the Vale of Shadows I'd run a couple of yetis back to the exit point. Going back there again I'd expected them to have gone back to where they were before, but they were right on top of me and both hit before I could run away again ...
Since I'm skipping SoD, I have exported Anomandra straight to SoA. Here's her starting character sheet for the reference. I'll add that her weapon proficiency points are distributed between slings, staves, flails and two-handed weapon style.
I'm not confident in tackling the starting dungeon without having a thief to disarm all those traps and so we team up with Imoen for the first part of our journey in Amn.
The first few mephits and duegars are handled with Anomandra's skeleton warriors, ProEvil 10' and Imoen's backstabs (she's running Strength, Armor and Stoneskin). We activate the sewers' cleaner golem and Anomandra discoveres Staff Spear +2 in one of the containers. That's a bummer, as I was really hoping for Arla's Dragonbane, although it's true that I'm not very sure about the precise rules on which of these items get "imported" based on your proficiencies.
Imoen takes care of the otyugh with a backstab, MMs and Chromatic Orb. By the way, this is by far my most favorite prop of the entire series - it's pure art.
We recover the Claw of Kazgaroth and clear the way towards the portal. Seeing our mostly untapped spellbooks, we decide to storm Ilych's party before moving on to the next level. Hasted skeletons, priest buffs, Storm Shield and Lightning Bolts are sufficent to turn the entire confrontation into a slaughter. Unfortunately, tis the only screenshot I've got from this battle.
Boosted by the victory, not even the Cambion can withstand the rage of our small army.
All right, it seems that we're done here. Anomandra has a chat with the dryads while Imoen searches Ellesime's room for the portal key. By defeating the security golems, both Anomandra and Imoen get a level-up (for Anomandra it's the first one since Cloakwood). This means we'll now have access to some interesting spell choices, including Righteous Magic, Flame Strike, Slay Living, True Sight and Chaotic Commands.
We proceed through the portal to say hi to Yoshimo and rest. Protected by MGoI, Imoen takes the lead in the mephit room, while hasted Anomandra and her skeletons bash the portals.
Taking advantage of the offensive boost provided by Haste, we press on to clear the adjacent corridor of mephits and duegars. In addition to that, we also eliminate the escaped Ellesime clone. For some reason, this scene always feels sad...
Deckard: The report read "Routine retirement of a replicant." That didn't make me feel any better about shooting a woman in the back.
Anyhow, there's not much left to report here - after collecting Ring of Protection +1 and Girdle of Bluntness, we were ready to face the assassins and leave for the surface.
Out on the Promenade, Anomandra sells the loot and orders a drink and a room at the Den of the Seven Vales.
In the morning, her steps lead her into the circus tent, where she manages to rescue Aerie and one-shot Kalah with the clerical version of backstab (i.e. Sanctuary + Slay Living).
Taking advantage of the discounts granted by our newly acquired Ring of Human Influence, we use our accumulated gold to finance some essential purchases at the Adventurers' Mart, namely RoAC, Reflection Shield and potions (Invisibility, Fire Breath). Here's the inventory screen just before leaving for the Slums.
Coremage the human berserker (for now) update Traveling with: Ajantis, Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen, Garrick
So the party finished up their chapter 5 quests. Some things accomplished
* Jardak and his butler were slain. We tried talking, but they were having none of it. * Unsurprisingly, Razamith (or is it Ragefast, always get them mixed up) didn't do well vs. massive attacks. His ghasts, on the other did quite well, killing Garrick (he's died quite a bit this run). We had to resurrect him at a nearby temple and come back. * Poison quest completed. Poor Lathander found out that we released him from his geas, only for him to be surrounded and killed for his boots. Khalid and his addiction to speed, I guess. Temple of Umberlee was slaughtered for the boy's body the High Priestess was carrying, and of course Lathandar's geas scroll. We were able to convince the Temple of Tymora we really needed the Wisdom tome (we didn't). * Didn't bother with Mountain Maulers. Forgot to get the helm of balduran too - hmm, oh well. * Since this party is not really strong, decided to try to pull a few outside of Degrodel's place. It didn't help much, all the enemies came but one, Coremage nearly died. We did eventually cleared them. * Durlag's Tower done for a few things. Killing the basilisks on the roof, as well as getting the wisdom tome, and finally helping the nymph there (why not, 4000 exp and don't even have to fight). * As this party is not terribly strong, decided to not fight 5th floor baddies at Iron Throne HQ either. Instead, Garrick went invisible to get the note, and another invisibility to return to the bottom floor. * Reported to Duke Eltan our findings, sent off to Candlkeep.
In Candlekeep, only did a few things * killed Shistal * rested until I got the DUHM power * Cleared 1st level of crypts without incident. When we have a great thief like Imoen (100 in traps/locks), there wasn't going to be much doubt of that. * Cleared 2nd level of crypts without much difficulty as well. * Prat's gang - had Khalid equip the best anti-missile equipment (so as not to be stunned by the darts of stunning) and he also buffed with what potions we could spare. He then unloaded arrows of detonation on Prat's gang. Unsurprisingly, Prat's gang didn't have a good answer for that. We also cleared the spiders, but careful of course to have free action and poison immunity. We didn't care about phase spider ambushes since Jaheira's wand of heavens make short work of the phase spiders. Basilisks were cleared by Khalid since he still had his buffs running, though of course Garrick protected Khalid from petrification by spell 1st.
We will sell our junk next session, and begin chapter 7.
I'm going to fight Johnny again after giving up the usage of Black Ray of Destruction, replacing it with Shadow Plague instead. - Shadowplague: As the SCS version of Creeping Doom, but it lasts for 6 rounds instead of 3 and ignores Magic Resistance.
This time, Rufus buffs a little more than usual, adding in Shar's Shield and Fireshield (Shadow). Slayer-Johnny gets his Time Stop off the ground, but Rufus and Bruss ignore it using the Staff of the Magi and Lunar Stance. Spaz devoured his magic before the Time Stop took effect, so Rufus and Bruss just beat him up while time is stopped, causing him to revert to normal form before its even over with.
Illasera is next. Rufus puts down his traps and starts beating her up before she even gets a chance to attack. When time resumes, the standard traps finish her off, though they also get reflected by the nearby enemy priest using Physical Mirror back to Rufus, causing significant damage to him. Illasera's goons are killed by Spaz's Devour Magic as Bruss chases them while SSJ3.
Half of the first challenge is cleared by Garos' Storm of Vengeance. Once the drow join the fray, Rufus puts Merciless Blizzard to the test for the first time. It ignores MR and does more damage the longer that enemies stay within it. Then comes Irenicus, Bodhi, and Sarevok. Irenicus's magic is devoured but he stops time, though Bruss counters yet again with Lunar Stance. However, Dragon Fist doesn't work during a time stop, so Bruss can't do anything to him at the moment. He heavily damages Bodhi in the meantime.
Once the Time Stop is over, Dragon Fist kills Irenicus. He tried to cast Absolute Immunity, but he was just slightly too late. Krieg kills Bodhi. Sarevok is barely a threat.
Saradush is just busy-work. Rufus levels up in the vampire prison.
The fight with Gromnir is where things start getting interesting. Krieg uses Resist Magic to get over 100% MR, Garos uses a Storm of Vengeance, Spaz with Devour Magic, Rufus with Shadowplague, and Gaspar going off to the side to charm whatever happens to survive after Karun the Black stops time. Rufus and Bruss defy the Time Stop as usual.
Bruss kills one of the Battlemages during the Time Stop and his simulacrum too. The other has PfMW up, so when Halbazzer Drin and the sirene join the fight, he teleports over with Melee Rush to kill them as well. I accidentally switch Rufus's weapon back to Pitchwife +5/Kundane, which causes him to get stopped in time.
The other mage will taste a Dragon Fist. Rufus casts Shatter Weave on her after time resumes. Storm of Vengeance is actually what finishes her off.
Gromnir and the two Perfect golems are struck with Shadowplague but Bruss puts a stop to Gromnir too. The rest of the enemies are wiped out with no trouble.
The fire giant temple is kind of frustrating because fire giants' THAC0 is ridiculously good and they have a lot of HP, which means that even Krieg and Bruss at SSJ2 working together still take some time to kill them as they get a lot of damage in. To deal with the Fire Lich, Bruss uses a scroll of PfU and goes SSJ3. The Fire Lich pulls all kinds of pre-buffs out of its hat, plus two simulacrums, 3 Mordy Swords, and a 3x Remove Magic sequencer on the swords to remove Bruss's scroll. It's nothing a good Dragon Fist can't cure. The swords are destroyed by a Night Terrors from Rufus.
Fire Salamanders greatly wound Bruss by lowering his fire resistance. He is at critical health at the end of the fight. We rest and he recovers fully, which lets him receive his 8th Zenkai Boost. It's been a long time since his last one. (+1 AC/THAC0/damage, +3 max HP)
Krieg destroys Imix in one hit using the Staff of Elemental Mastery +5.
The battle against Nyalee is extremely dangerous. She uses the Earth Elemental token to become immune to Bruss's crushing damage, rendering his Melee Rush totally ineffective. Rufus casts Shadowplague on the group after Spaz devours their magic. Nyalee has made a copy of Krieg, which could spell the end of one of the Rejects if they get hit.
Copy-Krieg is accumulating damage which fuels his rage and movement speed. This is increased even further when Copy-Krieg drinks an Oil of Speed. He can even outrun Bruss while he's SSJ3 at this much rage! Rufus has seen enough and activates his ass-kicking Spell Trigger to put an end to Nyalee's Mirror of Opposition. Krieg has to back off because his copy hits like a freight train.
Rufus focuses down Copy-Garos. Nyalee thinks she's safe for the moment and reverts to human form to try to cast spells. Spaz takes this opportunity and kills her with an Utterdark Blast. Copy-Krieg is targeting Gaspar, so he drinks an invisibility potion.
With Copy-Garos backstabbed to death, Rufus kills the last Shambling Mound while Garos tanks the enraged Copy-Krieg. Everyone piles onto him. While Hasted, poisoned, and afflicted by Shadowplague, Copy-Krieg has gone berserk and a hit from him will gib any of the Rejects! Copy-Krieg targets Garos who is protected by Ironskins. The hulking meat-beast is finally slain!
That was pretty scary. I'd be willing to bet just a normal hit from the enraged Copy-Krieg would've dealt over 250 damage. Bruss levels up and learns Super Saiyan 3 Mastery.
- SUPER SAIYAN 3 MASTERY: After extended training and experimentation with the form's limits to reduce its heavy strain, the Saiyan may now power up to Super Saiyan 3 far faster and can maintain it longer. The Constitution drain rate is reduced to 2 to 4 points every 2 turns (from 2-4/turn) and the fatigue penalty is reduced to 4 after 2 turns (from 6 after 2 turns). All other bonuses apply normally. Power up time: 5 (reduced from 29)
A lock of Nyalee's hair opens up a stairway where we fought the skeletons, leading downward. It's filled with poison gas so only our Perfect Clay Golem can enter.
Shadows and skeletons are dotted throughout the maze but Perfect Clay is immune to their attacks. In the middle of the maze there is a portal...
...which leads to a Demon Knight and Bone Fiend guarding something. Perfect Clay is immune to slashing attacks, so he defeats both of them with ease.
Back topside, Perfect Clay hands over this vial.
Solar Blood is needed to create Perfect Adamantite golems but Spaz needs to be level 43 to make one. Plus, the adamantite golem tome is split in half, with one page held by the now-defeated Watcher's Keep demilich and the other held by Vongoethe, and it must be reassembled by Cespenar for a nominal fee.
Yaga-Shura is going down next.
Krieg - War Hulk 30 Garos - Warhorn Shaman 25 Bruss - Super Saiyan 3 Monk 33 Rufus - Thief 22/Shadow Adept 17 Spaz - Warlock 35 Gaspar - Seducer 35
Our first stop after visiting Gaelan is the Copper Coronet. Having assessed the situation, Anomandra sneaks into the backstage under Sanctuary and solves the gladiators' struggle with a single stroke. No animals were harmed in the making of this quest (with the exception of a single winter wolf that is).
We purchase the Sling of Seeking and head over to the Graveyard Disctrict to return Littleman (stripped from Llynis' dead body).
Ah, that must be Suna Seni - we've been expecting her to show up sooner or later.
Seeing her ambushers approach, Anomandra quaffs a PoI, waits out the mage's initial protections in a distance, and then buffs with Free Action, Righteous Magic, DuHM and Strom Shield. She breaks the invisibility by landing a slingshot critical on the slaver cleric, immediately activating her RoAC (II).
Anomandra repositions herself and launches a Lightning Bolt, aiming at the mage.
She then switches to a melee weapon in anticipation of a backstab and targets Suna Seni with another Lightning Bolt and Holy Smite. Plate mail, Girdle of Piercing, Reflex Shield and buffed DEX are keeping our effective AC in the safe zone.
It looks like we're done here (that last armored archer fell to our Sling of Seeking + Reflection Shield).
Anomandra finally reaches the Graveyard District where we hand over Littleman and dig out Tidir.
At this point, our stretched inventory capacity required us to travel to the Bridge District next, in order to get a potion case from Mrs. Cragmoon. Once there, we solve the local murder case (without trying to fight the Rune Assassins) and deal with the kidnappers by hunting down Reti (the dwarf has managed to escape).
At night, we also triggered the second guild war encounter - that's the one where two rogues turn against your party and attack. It ended up being probably the toughest SoA fight yet for Anomandra. She did not own any one-handed melee weapon at the time and had a hard time avoiding their constant flow backstabs. Eventually, at the cost of a PoI and a couple of healing potions, we prevailed thanks to our buffs and Hold Person.
It was a healthy lesson and it seems that rogues are indeed proving to be a cleric's nemesis.
Anyway, Anomandra is currently licking her wounds at the Five Flagons and considering her next course of action. She might want to check on those other slavers that Hendak mentioned earlier. We'll see.
The company was ambushed by ogre mages in front of Candlekeep. Thanks to Dynaheir's webs they had no trouble dispatching the monsters. Justice was dispensed on Rieltar and his company, primarily for the enslavement and murder of countless people. Again, Webs were the key element.
Brunos dropped the shadow armor and the dagger of venom, so he was a pretty kick-ass thief.
Inspection of the Candlekeep crypts yielded a pair of Hands of Takkok for Jaheira in addition to less useful loot. They pre-buffed to deal with Prat's gang. Other than a Slow that only affected Imoen, and two Melf's Acid Arrows cast at Minsc and Amahoro, they didn't produce any problematic magic, and in terms of martial prowess Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid and Amahoro were simply superior.
Dealing with Cythandria and her golems helped Amahoro obtain her final Cleric level for BG1.
The Ice Island was next. Spike Growths and elemental attacks accounted for the welcoming party and for Dezkiel.
The other, individual wizards aren't usually much of a threat at this stage of the game, and they weren't to Amahoro. Garan dropped the randomized TotSC tome, a manual of quickness of action. I would have preferred a third tome of understanding, as per vanilla, but with her amazing stats complaining would be ungrateful.
Imoen nicked the sea charts from Captain Tollar Kieres, and the party set sail to the Isle of Balduran. Specialized in bastard swords, Khalid stole the show against Karoug, while the others lured the remaining wolfweres away as much as possible.
Due to a misclick in Amahoro's chat with Durlyle, resulting in her being rude to him, the party had only Maralee to speak for them against Kaishas Gan, and that was not enough to placate her. With unbuffed Khalid meleeing her (receiving a Spirit Armor from Dynaheir and quaffing some potions in the process), and the others contributing with wands, the party managed to defeat her before too many wolfweres came to her aid.
Those wolfweres hit harder and seemed to have better Thac0 than I remember, which makes me wonder whether they are an example of SCS v32 insane difficulty buffing some enemies. Selaad Gan was lured outside where a rain of elemental missiles forced him into werewolf form, and Baresh didn't split into two greater werewolves, so reversing the lycanthropy the party had contracted wasn't too much of a hassle.
Durlag's Tower was next. Arla's Dragonbane was found, early on, much to Amahoro's delight. The Warders gave the companions a hard time. Pride turned out untankable for Amahoro, and Avarice was about, disappearing in and appearing from the shadows to deliver dangerous backstabs. This screenshot shows Amahoro reduced to 32 HPs with Pride gone but Avarice still around.
Level 3 provided a surprise in that the party was automatically transported to the chessboard upon completing the four elemental challenges. I was so disaccustomed to that, that no one was buffed at all, so everyone quaffed potions of absorption. Khalid was wearing the boots of speed, and paid for with his life as he drew all the aggro of the hasted enemies. Still, an fiery assault (necklaces, wand) saw the party prevail.
The final level provided no more scares, with a well-buffed party defeating the Demon Knight without taking any damage.
The return to Ulgoth's Beard proved much trickier. In fact I find the encounter with the cultists one of the harder battles in BG1. They have pre-buffed wizards and invisible backstabbers and we have no buffs and not enough casts of invisibility to arrive with an invisible party. Quaffing potions right after the battle starts may work, but I've had those wizards cast detection spells in that case. The party arrived with only Imoen and Dynaheir invisible. As the companions arrived pretty much right in the cultists' faces, there was little time to react to a Chaos cast by one the mages. It affected everyone except Amahoro and enraged Minsc. Amahoro cast Exaltation on Jaheira, so the three frontliners were all three there to try and stop the enemy. Gotta love those Icewind Dale spells! Imoen attacked, revealing herself, and was promptly slain, but Khalid and Dynaheir both wandered off, with Khalid having to contend with one assassin.
Both Khalid and Dynaheir survived their confusion, although the former was already badly injured when one of the mages summoned some ogres and lizard men around him. Dynaheir Webbed them, allowing Khalid (who was wearing a ring of free action) to finish them off.
Dynaheir cast more Webs around Minsc, Jaheira and Amahoro, and that decided the outcome of the battle. When all the cultists were removed, Aec'Letec was taken on. I was a bit nervous because we had very few arrows of dispelling (they had been removed from stores), and those are the only certain way I know of reversing the ghast curse. Everyone spread in order to minimize the impact of enemy AoE spells. Tracea Carol nevertheless managed to dispel both Jaheira and Imoen's buffs with a single Remove Magic. Amahoro escaped the effect of a Greater Malison by quaffing a potion of magic protection. Imoen struck hard with arrows of detonation, poisoned with a Rogue Rebalancing phial of poison.
Tracea Carol fell to elemental missiles, with Imoen taking the spotlight again as she got the kill. The remaining cultists were slain easily, no one got cursed by Aec'Letec, only Silenced, before Minsc struck him down.
A final trip to Durlag's Tower followed, to kill Kirinhale for Krotan's Skullcrusher (we had forgotten about her, but the mace hadn't showed up anywhere) so that Amahoro could dual-wield two +2 weapons.
Back in Baldur's Gate Imoen's 100 points in Detect Illusions and some wand summons from Dynaheir ensured victory over Slythe. (Only Khalid took a backstab.) Krystin proved the more intimidating half of the duo. She cast Stone to Flesh, thankfully at a summoned ogre.
Focused fire and summoned decoys ensured that she too bit the dust though, dropping the last stat tome: a tome of understanding. At the Ducal Palace, the companions pre-buffed with strength potions, oils of speed and immunity potions. No summons were used. The only worthy summons would have been undead, and that just doesn't suit Amahoro, whom I see as a holy warrior. I haven't used the spell at all in this run, and Dynaheir won't cast it either. The six focused on the mage, which was risky as it left the Dukes vulnerable to attacks from the other doppelgangers. Liia Jannath fell, and Belt needed a Bhaal heal. He was also dangerously eager to take on Sarevok as the latter attacked after being exposed, but he (barely) survived.
In the Undercity Spike Growth, Web, ranged attacks, and damage spells took care of the Iron Throne party. I finally got Khalid Varscona. Tamoko was convinced of Amahoro's honorable intentions.
Sarevok and his cohorts were engaged head-on, after some pre-buffing had been done, riskier but also more fun. The companions scattered, as usual to minimize the impact of disablers and debuffs. Semaj took a bit of time in showing up, but the other foes were quick to appear. Minsc and Amahoro rushed Diarmid as his arrows would otherwise wreak havoc. Hard-hitting Tazok appeared from invisibility at that spot too, complicating the encounter with Diarmid. Jaheira engaged Tazok though she wasn't really up to that task, so she switched to Diarmid and left Tazok to Minsc and Amahoro. A summoned nymph did little besides buying Khalid just enough time to dispel Sarevok's haste before she fell. Imoen remained invisible intially, detecting illusions near Angelo and Dynaheir cast a Secret Word, forcing the battlemage to worry about his defenses before attacking. Tazok and animated remains were the first to be dealt with, followed by Diarmid.
These were hard-fought victories with both Minsc and Khalid seeing their HPs dropping dangerously low. Jaheira mainly occupied herself with kiting Sarevok around. Semaj, a late bloomer, wasted a Malison on Amahoro (potion of magic protection), but started summoning and summoning and summoning: low HD monsters like ogres and hobgoblins, but also ettercaps, orcs, and elementals. Dynaheir crowd controlled them with Webs.
Another good example of the latest version of SCS making clear changes to a caster. They were manageable though, even the big elementals. Khalid Malisoned Sarevok and Angelo and Semaj. They all got stuck in the webs at different points. So the wizards were soon dispatched. A Doom from Jaheira and a Recitation by Amahoro further affected Sarevok's saving throws. In fact, with the inclusion of Icewind Dale spells it becomes possible to severely lower enemy saves. Curse (-1), Doom (-2), Chant (-1), Prayer (-1), Recitation (-2) are good for a staggering -7 penalty. With Greater Malison that becomes -11. If you take into account spell-specific save penalties and specialist mage penalties, lots of interesting possibilities open up.
Sarevok's bad saving throws allowed Dynaheir to polymorph him into a squirrel,
a blinded squirrel that is.
Imoen almost felt sorry as her arrow pierced the little creature...
We return to Copper Coronet to conclude our dealings with the slavers and their unsustainable business model.
Against the hobgoblins and the kobolds in the sewers, Anomandra relies mainly on Silence 15', clerical buffs and Holy Smite. Lacking a Potion of Freedom, she's eventually forced to quaff a Potion of Stoneform to foil a Hold Person cast by one of the hobgoblin shamans. I don't recall her exact save v. spell score, but I believe there was a 5 or 10 % chance of failing the save, whereas Chaotic Commands (unlike Shield of Harmony) do not grant immunity to hold effects.
We avoid the jellies with Sanctuary, solve the riddle by collecting all the ingredients and rest in preparation for Captain Haegan and his sailor boys.
Prior to the battle, Anomandra buffs with ProEvil, Chant and the Holy Trinity (Holy Power + Righteous Magic + DuHM). She enters the boat sanctuaried and waits for a divination incantation by the enemy cleric. Seeing that none is coming, she casts Slay Living and waits for her aura to clear. Then she strikes - bam!
With the caster off the stage, Anomandra quaffs an Oil of Speed and starts sniping the melee fighters with sling bullets, dealing a constant 18 points of damage per hit. She then sets-up her Storm Shield and, as soon as the enemy ranks become dense enough, pulls off one of her favorite Lightning Bolts.
As soon as her initial set of combat buffs started to fade, Anomandra switched her tactics to something more subtle. Rigid Thinking followed by a Hold Person seemed to be the right call.
There's only one last slaver guard left. He's just killed his partners and, unfortunately for him, his day is not over yet. After all, someone will have to help us tank the trolls. Anomandra -> Mental Domination: Slaver Guard -> Flame Blade.
That's it for the slavers.
We do not venture any further into the boat - Anomandra reports back to Hendak and leaves the Slums for the City Gates.
We run into Renfeld's captors on the way and decide to deal with them. As requested, Anomandra then delivers injured Renfeld to the Harpers, accepts Xzar's offer and follows Rylock's instructions. Prebek and Sanasha are dealt with in a most eloquent fashion by Sanctuary -> Slay Living: Prebek -> RoAC -> Lightning Bolt.
By finishing the Harper quest Anomandra earns enough XP to reach level 11, thus unlocking L6 spell slots for the first time.
As for improving our equipment, there were now couple of options how to spend our gold. Eventually, I decided not to get the Vhailor's Helm yet, as it felt too powerful for this stage of the game. Instead, we opted for the Fortress Shield, which will now complement our Reflex.
Our next destination is Trademeet and the Shield of Harmony.
I just lost a solo ranger named Drizzy O'Derper. Oddly enough, this time I died in SoA. A specialist mage school penalty from a nameless bandit mage bumped the odds of a successful Chromatic Orb on my character from 0% to 10%. Normally I go with gnomes, halflings, or dwarves because of the save bonuses, but rangers can't be any of those. Well, they can be in my install, but I didn't want to use a ranger build that was effectively buffed by access to new races.
It's a boring way to lose a run and I'm kind of bored with the challenge. I like SoA, but a saga run requires beating BG and SoD, which I don't find nearly as interesting. Mages just spam wands; warriors rely on Arrows of Dispelling; and I don't usually play single-classed priests or thieves.
Now that Bruss can power up to Super Saiyan 3 relatively fast and for less of a cost, he takes on the form just before crossing the bridge to Yaga-Shura's siege camp. We make our way to the middle of the battleground and Rufus goes invisible, then casts Dark Passage. Spaz should serve us well enough for any anti-mage needs.
The soldiers are all annihilated. We form up and wait for Yaga-Shura to come back himself. Spaz uses Call Fiend and gets a Nabassu. Bruss powers down to normal briefly.
Yaga arrives with a mage armed with tons of prebuffs and SI: Abjuration, so Spaz can't dispel him. Bruss tries a Dragon Fist but he has a PfMW contingency. Gaspar charms the mage, interrupting his Wish casting. Bruss tries a second Dragon Fist and kills the mage with a critical hit.
Bruss powers back up to SSJ3 and it takes no time at all since Dark Passage hastes him, decreasing the power up time. A Shadow Super Saiyan 3 is truly fearsome. Yaga-Shura is occupied with Krieg, but Krieg combines Hardiness, The Defender of Easthaven, Roranach's Horn, and Dark Passage to become completely invulnerable to Yaga-Shura fiery hammer.
With no space to move or change targets, Yaga-Shura is hopelessly swamped by our shadow-powered party. Bruss activates Tiger Strike. Every hit for two rounds causes Yaga-Shura to be stunned, even though he's immune to the knockback. Additionally, every hit in the first round is a crit.
When Tiger Strike wears off, Bruss uses Stunning Blow for the first time since BG1, stunning Yaga even longer.
Spaz joins the fray and poisons the giant several times with Water's Talon +4 for 2 damage per second per hit. But it is Krieg who puts Yaga-Shura out of his misery.
The Solar calls us back to the pocket plane and I'm nice to her to get the Mass Healing ability. The challenge is completed in less than a minute with Bruss getting a quick kill on Semaj with Dragon Fist. The Oasis is cleared by Rufus going ham on the Tethyrian army.
At Amkethran, we discover another teleport orb from More Style For Mages inside one of the chests in the smuggler's den. The Shifting Heart doesn't work since we're not in Amn anymore.
Rufus lays down traps for Vongoethe. We come back with Marlowe and the Spike Trap gibs the lich during the cutscene where he summons his undead goons. The Adamantite Golem tome is now ours, although I doubt Spaz is going to get high enough level to build a Perfect Adamantite golem.
At Sendai's enclave, most of the Rejects level up in the Derro swarm tunnel. Rufus finally learns level 9 spells and takes his his spell HLA: Relentless Assault. These are the other two spells he chose: -Oblivion Pull: Imprisonment with 30' range. Enemies within 7.5ft. of initial target must save vs. spell at -6 or also be imprisoned. -Nightsinger's Tithe: Power Word: Kill, but ignores Magic Resistance. There is a 50% chance of gaining +1 max HP per kill made with this spell. When 50 enemies have been killed by Nightsinger's Tithe, the caster gains +2 CON, +1 saves, and -1 casting time.
At Odameron's home, he calls upon some undead servants: some skeleton warriors, a vampire mage, and a fellow lich. Odameron starts casting Time Stop, but Gaspar uses a Psionic Lock on him to keep him from doing anything for a round. Unfortunately, I already had Bruss use Lunar Stance to avoid the Time Stop, so he couldn't use a Dragon Fist to end the lich right there, assuming no PfMW contingency.
Bruss ends Odameron on the next round with a Dragon Fist since he was still in mental combat with Gaspar. Rufus uses the Staff of the Magi to dispel the vampire mage's buffs.
The vampire mage tries to counter with Mislead, but Spaz steps in and devours its magic, making it easy pickings for Bruss. Spaz tries an Utterdark Doom, but misses two of the Mordy Swords in an attempt to not hit Bruss too. The unnamed Lich is also persistent, having both SI: Abjuration up and a PfMW contingency. Rufus uses Shadowplague since Dragon Fist at least dispelled the blue fireshield, but Bruss kills the Lich using a 3rd Dragon Fist on the next round before the shadowplague swarm landed.
I forge Soul Reaver +6 back at the pocket plane and return to Odameron's hideout. Suddenly...
WTF! I don't remember this ambush! I mean, I didn't remember Odameron having backup either, but its a pair of beholders, TIME TO PANIC! Bruss can't even go Super Saiyan since I want to kill the beholders as fast as possible, so I have him use Melee Rush to get through the drow frontliners. Rufus tries Oblivion Pull since the drow are all clustered together, but it only works on one of them. Should've went with Relentless Assault instead. Garos tries getting close enough to use Nature's Beauty, but an anti-magic ray foils it.
Bruss kills one of the beholders and a priestess during Melee Rush. After he regains control, he takes a short time to go SSJ3 and kills the other beholder. A pair of Aerial Servants try attacking Spaz but they are killed with Night Terrors.
I hate surprises. I bet there are more waiting for me further ahead. We meet Diaytha and she wants us to kill Ogremoch, but he's a badass elemental prince and I'm gonna take control of him. Probably should've done that with Imix too... Bruss and Krieg kill his minions, then Gaspar charms him to hold Ogremoch still. While he's charmed, Rufus summons his Nighthaunts to drain some levels from him. 6 levels are all we need. Rufus then casts Shatter Weave on Ogremoch to negate his MR for 2 rounds. Spaz casts Noxious Blast to lower his saving throws and it works. Gaspar charms him again, then tries Recruit Follower. It sticks!
Awesome! Garos uses a scroll of Lesser Restoration on him. Ogremoch has invisibility detection like Chromatic Demon, plus Remove Magic, Suggestion, and Teleport Without Error at will. He's got 3x/day of Stoneskin and Flesh to Stone, plus 1x/day party-friendly Earthquake and Summon Allies. Can't wait to see what he can do. The problem is that the door that leads to Diaytha only opens if Ogremoch is killed. Hmm... Spaz and Rufus' teleport spells only work if they have line of sight. But wait, Gaspar can charm critters through walls...
Garos casts Farsight to reveal the ambush that awaits us. He charms the Balor first because of its nasty Vorpal blade. It gates in a pair of Nabassus, which aren't friendly. It kills the Glabrezu but is killed immediately afterward by the Hive Mother.
Undeterred, Gaspar charms one of the Nabassus. It gets petrified by the Hive Mother. He tries the other one, but it gets blown into a million pieces by a level-draining backstab from the vampire. The vampire is killed by a death ray.
Diaytha is the only one left. She is surprisingly resistant to the Hive Mother's rays, but Gaspar's charm on her leaves her just out of range of his ability. Hmmmm, how else can I get over there without being there? Enter: Wand of Lightning trick! I haven't used this trick yet in this run, but I really want Ogremoch and I don't see any other way to get over there without using ctrl+J. As long as the last lightning bolt is targeted at something within visual range, it doesn't matter where the other 5 bolts are targeted. Spaz summons 5 Improved Kitthix on the Hive Mother and one on himself!
The Hive Mother puts up a decent fight, but it eventually gets overwhelmed by their poison fangs.
Diaytha is now on the menu for the Improved Kitthix swarm. They can't hit her very often because of her drow full plate +5 and Darksteel Shield +4. She uses sanctuary to recover some health, but the Kitthix Swarm moves closer to the Rejects so she can get in range of Gaspar's Domination. It works. Gaspar helps sabotage Diaytha and the spiders finally eat her. The door to move on opens as well!
Sendai is next. I can't believe I had fun in ToB just now.
Krieg - War Hulk 32 Garos - Warhorn Shaman 26 Bruss - Super Saiyan 3 Monk 35 Rufus - Thief 23/Shadow Adept 18 Spaz - Warlock 37 Gaspar - Seducer 37
Comments
Previous run:
Breaching the spirit of my 1 hour per day rule, the Army set off again from Candlekeep. The first session followed the same route as the last run, making their way early on to find Drizzt. This time there were no oddities in his behavior as a single gnoll attacked him. Checking on progress of the battle after 15 minutes or so I saw that the gnoll was now attacking at +2 - showing it had broken its weapon. That would have been relatively early on, so meant it was going to be a long time before it would be able to beat Drizzt unconscious. I checked back on the odd occasion before seeing Drizzt was unconscious a couple of real-time hours later.
Dazzler (Dragon Disciple) - L2, 16 HPs, 1 kill, 0 deaths
Enya (Enchanter) - L2, 9 HPs, 3 kills, 0 deaths
Mazy (Pure-class) - L2, 12 HPs, 2 kills, 0 deaths
Iluse (Illusionist - PC) - L2, 34 HPs (incl. 22 from familiar), 0 kills
Succour (Sorcerer) - L2, 11 HPs, 2 kills, 0 deaths
Destiny (Diviner) - L2, 11 HPs, 90 kills, 0 deaths
The crusaders were stopped from blowing up the bridge due to another web from Edwin. After that the battle was straightforward. The healing potions that were found were used. I believe that the number found was very close to the number used.
Before the battle the party had virtually no gold, however now they have 403 gp plus a lot of +1 weapons and armour which could be sold if necessary.
This run is playing very differently from my previous SoD runs. I don't know why. Alignment of my PC perhaps.
All my former runs were with a good PC.
Slug (half-orc male shaman, Grond0); Chorba (gnome female cleric/thief, Gate70)
Previous updates:
The session started in the golem cave where Chorba had died to the first golem last time. Taking on the second one he once more tried to dodge round, but there was again significant lag on the connection and he was soon in trouble. This screenshot illustrates the problem: on my screen Chorba was right next to the golem a fraction of a second earlier and I actually paused the game to tell Gate70 he was about to die - Chorba then teleported well away (to where he had always been on Gate70's screen), but too late to escape the blow.
After a temple run, Gate70 requested a diversion to the Cloud Peaks to get Krumm's belt to help against the golems.
It wasn't too long though before death was stretching out his bony hand once more. This time Chorba was trying to run the Doomsayer round inside a Writhing Fog when he was hit by natural lightning. The shock took half his HPs and caused him to hesitate momentarily - the Doomsayer immediately took the opportunity to land a killing blow (helped by the bonus fire damage from wearing Gorion's belt to provide cold immunity).
Back in Beregost, Silke resisted being silenced by spell - but naked force did the job just fine.
It seemed appropriate then to pay a visit to the Nashkel Mine and that was traversed without difficulty. Mulahey was silenced by spell and not given a chance to recover.
Slug, shaman L6, 48 HPs, 116 kills
Chorba, cleric 5 / thief 6, 39 HPs, 47 kills, 3 deaths
Previous posts: 1, 2
We're very careful with the area transitions (always resting before travelling), as Anomandra has not faced any of the assassin ambushes yet. Nevertheless, she manages to reach the mines without any delays (the druids are avoided altogether). Here, we had to decide on how to deal with Drasus & Co. Tired as we were from the long journey, it seemed that the most effective course of action would be to 1) separate Drasus from the rest of the crew, 2) overwhelm him with summons, 3) take his boots, and 4) take a nap.
The execution of our plan worked out well. Despite being a serious killing machine, the odds were not favorable for Drasus.
He fell to Wand of Heavens, just as he managed to crush the last of our skeletons. Anomandra doned her new boots and used the last of her spells (Sanctuary and DuHM) to unlock the chest with Potion of Magic Shielding inside the barracks, carefully avoiding Genthore and the two mages outside (this is one of the places where I really appreciate having Cloak Non-Detection at hand).
Rested and feeling determined, we proceed under the ground. At the second level of the mines, Anomandra talks to Ril, but otherwise avoids any contact with the enemy under Sanctuary until she reaches Davaeorn's chamber. We use Shield Amulet charge to run through the trapped entry corridor unharmed, while making sure that the mage doesn't notice us yet. Without taking further buffs, Anomandra then manages to lure both battle horrors out of the central room and blast them with Wand of Heavens.
Note: Those 8000exp were enough to hit our BG1 level cap - Anomandra will now stay as level 8 Priest of Talos until SoA (if we'll make it). The fact that single class clerics are unable to access L5 spells within the ToSC experience cap makes them feel a little handicapped towards the endgame. I'm looking at you - single class druids (with your Insect Plagues and Iron Skins). It seems that whereas clerics shine at levels 3 to 6, druids reach their power cap afterwards (and Avengers rock all the way).
Back to the fight at hand. With the battle horrors out of the picture, Anomandra waits out Davaeorn's opening buffs. After a while, she summons two skeletons in the kitchen, sets up two Glyphs of Warding into the adjacent corridor and casts Far Sight on the central room to get a better view of the battlefield.
All is set - time to confront Davaeorn. He releases his Web + Stinking Cloud sequencer and confidently teleports away. What he doesn't know is that we've got a nasty little surprise from him in the form of ProMagic scroll. And yes, we knew it would allow us to use our special ability spells.
(Pop-up question: Does anyone know where does his elemental damage resistance come from? Even in my previous playthoughs, I've never noticed Davy using any potions.)
However, what we didn't know was that the ProMagic globe will not protect Anomandra against her very own lightnings. Combine that with the fact that we also didn't know that the same goes for Necklace of Missiles and you can understand that we were in deep trouble.
Seeing this, Anomandra retreats and heals, adding a Potion of Regeneration on the top. Meanwhile, the skeletons are still holding on against the incoming guards. Eventually, they hold on long enough for us to able to peel Davaeorn's skins and pin him down for good.
We collect the loot, flood the mines (avoiding the happy miner on the surface to manage our reputation before getting further Bhallspawn powers) and proceed to Baldur's Gate.
Regards,
B.
Flashburn's Rejects
BG1: Prologue, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6SoD: 1, 2
SoA: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
With Ust Natha crushed, we decide to double cross Adalon for her blood and scales. It is a trivial matter while Gaspar has her charmed.
Back on the surface, we go to the docks and forge a bunch of shiny new items. At the De'Arnise Keep, resolving a quest gets Spaz and Rufus a level.
We head back to Watcher's Keep with our improved gear. The demon amazons always make me nervous. Y'tossi is the first one to go.
Xei Win Toh carves through Bruss' Super Saiyan 3 form even though he has a nearly-untouchable AC vs. slashing weapons of -26. SSJ3 offers AC modifiers for each damage type instead of a generic AC bonus so it will bypass the AC cap, but I'm doubting that AC modifiers actually do this. Gaspar has the Hive Mother charmed, greatly hindering its ability to spam rays. Xei Win Toh takes matters into her own hands and kills it.
Gaspar charms Xei Win Toh. I examined her .CRE file and she's not immune to level drain... We're stealing her. Rufus summons his Nighthaunts and Spaz helps them level drain her enough so that Gaspar can recruit her.
Next is Azamantes. Rufus and Bruss use PfU scrolls while everyone else hides behind the Eternal Warrior challenge gate. Azamantes stops time, but Bruss's aura was clouded, so only Rufus could move. He dispels Azamantes' mislead clone and uses his thief Detect Illusions to target the lich, then casts Black Ray of Destruction on him to shut off his spellcasting. The lich teleports over to our party and time resumes, but the Black Ray has now taken effect. Gaspar charms him as well, proving that his spellcasting is indeed disabled.
Bruss hurries over and executes a Dragon Fist, letting him and Krieg destroy the lich.
As Bruss mops up the Flaming Skulls, another Azamantes appears out of nowhere! Must be a simulacrum, but this one actually casts spells instead of doing nothing. The copy is not protected by SI: Abjuration, so Spaz devours its magic and it dies quickly.
Time for Demogorgon. Bruss is going to be taking the lead, as usual. He strikes the Lunar Stance and dares Demogorgon to come out and play.
Bruss gets several good hits on Demogorgon, but he throws up a Stoneskin while time is still stopped and then summons his demon host. This stymies Bruss's fists. Trying Melee Rush isn't a good idea because he might attack the wrong target. Now Demogorgon throws out a Storm of Vengeance. Luckily, all of us have good saves so the only thing that does is acid damage. Krieg joins in the demon slaying. Xei Win Toh is more fragile than she looked, because a Marilith takes her down.
Gaspar, now level 30, forces his Domination targets to save vs. spell at -7, but Demogorgon is a demon, which means he saves at a net -4 penalty. D has a save vs. spell of 6, so he will fail the save against Domination 50% of the time. Gaspar charms him!
Rufus casts Breaching Dark on D to remove his Stoneskins. Krieg and Bruss take this opportunity and destroy him, with Bruss getting the last hit.
Everyone except Gaspar and Spaz levels up from killing the multiverse's #1 demon. Rufus finally learns level 8 spells:
-Merciless Blizzard: 30 ft. cold damage cloud that does 10d4 cold damage and slows all within for 2 rounds. Everyone hit by the blizzard takes a cumulative -20% cold resistance penalty for 1 turn and must save vs. spell at -2 or also be paralyzed for 1 round. Creatures that have 100% or more cold resistance are completely unaffected.
-Dark Passage: Party-wide power up that lasts for as long as the caster does not move. Entire party gains Haste, +4 to all stats, +4 THAC0/damage, +6 AC, 50% elemental resistance, 50% MR. For each round the caster maintains this link, he must save vs. death at -4 or lose 10% of his maximum HP. If the caster moves or manually severs the connection, the caster must save vs. death at -2 or be stunned for 2 rounds.
Time to fight Bodhi. She killed Spaz in his most recent no-reload attempt via Constitution drain. I'm pretty hesitant to send anyone in because of her damned Cloud of Bats ability, which lasts for a considerable duration, all but disables spellcasting, and will do damage at double speed if anyone is hasted. Krieg is especially vulnerable to it, as each hit he takes gives a -1 penalty to spell and AC, and 25% of the time he's hit, he must save vs. spell or go berserk. I reluctantly send in Bruss while he's under Lunar Stance and powered up to SSJ2, as SSJ3 would mean double damage from Cloud of Bats. Spaz follows up with Devour Magic while Rufus adds in a Sigil of Misfortune. Bruss uses Melee Rush on the now-defenseless Hazarmarveth.
Bodhi spots our spellcasters all clustered in the corridor and unleashes the Cloud of Bats as I thought she would. Spaz closes the door, leaving Bruss to duel Bodhi alone. Gaspar charms Bodhi for a short time. I wish I noticed that she was using her CON-drain claws instead of level-drain claws.
Bruss thoroughly trashes her. She heals to full after her panic dialogue, and Krieg comes to help now that her Cloud of Bats ability is expended. He gets the final hit on her for 91k XP.
Next is Venduris and co. I'm a bit nervous as usual, but I've got a good plan for him this time. Before entering the area, Rufus memorizes a Spell Trigger to load his ass-kicking spell combo again. Rufus begins the fight with a scroll of Time Stop from Ribald's premium store while Bruss strikes a Lunar Stance and instantly powers up to SSJ1, as the other transformations take too long to power up to. Yes, SSJ1 is still useful!
Rufus has to spend a little while before his thief Detect Illusions skill kicks in and reveals the enemy party. He activates his Spell Trigger and immediately lays into Venduris. Bruss kills Bodak Hangthorn, the archer with Arrows of Dispelling.
Kerith the Bleak is backstabbed to death as well. Bruss smacks Selina Shadowstorm with a Dragon Fist, and then he and Rufus get to work on breaking through Zaeron T'aene's Stoneskins. Just as the Time Stop ends, he dies as well.
Now defenseless against melee attacks, Shadowstorm is mopped up because her aura was clouded by her Spell Sequencer that she used at the start of the fight.
Somehow, Grok managed to escape Rufus' line of sight before the Time Stop and comes speeding out of the shadows to attack him. Unfortunately for him, Chromatic Demon sensed his presence because he has invisibility detection and alerted us. Rufus is still more than capable of defending himself even without Mislead clones. Krieg, Bruss, Rufus, and Chromatic Demon beat him down.
Chromatic Demon is sent in as a one-man trap-defusal squad and absorbs all the pre-laid traps around the city gate. Zaeron's cowardly Mislead clone is also killed. With all of Venduris' band's loot, everyone is moving at high speed except Gaspar. Rufus takes Venduris' Ring of Concealment as a special prize.
Returning the Lanthorn gives Gaspar, Rufus, Garos, and Spaz a level. Spaz takes Extra Invocation IV and learns Retributive Invisibility, which is basically Improved Invisibility with a duration of 3 rounds. At the end of its duration, it unleashes a small shockwave for 4d6 magical damage and stunning anyone in the AoE for a round, save vs. death for half and no stun.
Suldanessellar is next.
Krieg - War Hulk 27
Garos - Warhorn Shaman 23
Bruss - Super Saiyan 3 Monk 29
Rufus - Thief 21/Shadow Adept 16
Spaz - Warlock 32
Gaspar - Seducer 32
Previous updates:
The Army headed north to the ankheg area and started attacking some fishermen. One problem in that area is that bandits can appear on the random encounter spot there after you've passed it and also have a wandering script that means they can then run into you. I only became aware that one of them had appeared when an attack took Destiny down to a single HP, but some rapid movement meant the Army just managed to survive - or so I thought. It was only after the remaining bandits that had spawned were all blinded and under control that I realized that Dazzler had actually been killed outright before I had noticed the attack had started.
Previous posts: 1, 2, 3
Finally, we reach the big city. With reputation of only 10 (remember that Ender Sai chunking in Tazok's tent), Anomandra has to spend zillions of gold to restock on potions, scrolls and bullets by visiting Halbazzer Drin and Black Lily. She collects the DEX tome from the Thieves' Guild, the WIS tome in the course of her dealings with Marek and Lothander, and the INT tome from Ramazith's tower (after we've persuaded Ragefast to release his coveted nymph). Ring of Protection +2 has now replaced Sune's in our ring slot, with the other being occupied by the Claw. Oh and and we've also got our hands on the Helm of Balduran.
After lowering our reputation to 9, Anomandra searches the Iron Throne under Sancturary and reports back to duke Eltan. Eltan sends her back to Candlekeep, where she quaffs a quick Potion of Magic Protection to counter the ogre magi ambush.
Inside the crypts, Anomandra uses Shield Amulet, Storm Shield and Sanctuary to foil the traps and fool the enemies. She quaffs the Violet Potion to access the locked containers with STR and WIS tomes and rushes out. I was surprised to see Lamahla waylay us on our returning trip back to Baldur's Gate. I'll admit their determination - they must have been chasing us since Nashkel. Anomandra takes a PoI and buffs with Potion of Agility, Potion of Fortitude (to offset the penalties from the lingering Violet Potion), Greenstone Amulet, Holy Power and DuHM. They simply stood no chance.
Note: That Holy Power of ours was, of course, a silly mistake in the context of the Violet Potion effects. Don't do that.
Back in the city, we take a few naps to retrieve our final Bhaalspawn powers before heading to the Undercellar. By managing her reputation, Anomandra's now got 2x CLW, 1x Slow Poison, 1x Horror, 1x Vampiric Touch, 1x DuHM.
Since competent backstabbers can be a nightmare for priests, we take our preparations for Slythe very seriously. Anomandra summons three skeletons and buffs with Potion of Mind Focusing, Oil of Speed, Shield Amulet, ProEvil, Strength of One, Holy Power, DuHM and Armor of Faith. The skellies do a great job of distracting Krystin, while Anomandra gets couple of hard sling shots on Slythe. He reaches Anomandra and pulls off one backstab only to get immediately incinerated by our Wand of Heavens.
We recover his correspondence and run. Anomandra still has some time left before the palace audience and so she rests to recover her strengths before what was clearly going to be her greatest challenge so far.
Expecting the worst, she prepares by raising three skeletons and adds Animal Summoning. She buffs with ProMagic scroll, Potion of Mind Focusing, Oil of Speed, Potion of Strength, Potion of Regeneration, Potion of Power and DuHM. Here we go.
Aule's quick enough to strike the fast moving doppes with its long reach - Anomandra uses her rounds to punch them with the staff and blast with Wand of Heavens. This is enough to take down at least one doppelganger per round. In the meantime, our summons are acting as a meat shield (or rather bone shield) for the dukes. We're looking good - only the shaman and the mage remain.
Now for the critical part of the battle, when the mage usually starts to cast very ugly spells such as Chaos and Lightning Bolt. Fortunately for us, he releases both these spells in the foyer room - affecting only one Flaming Fist guard and killing only our summoned wolf. His leftover MMMs, Chromatic Orbs and Magic Missiles are nothing to worry about.
In the end there's a scary exchange of blows between Belt and Sarevok, but eventually both dukes survived.
We're off to hunt down Saravok in his lair.
Regards,
B.
Slug (half-orc male shaman, Grond0); Chorba (gnome female cleric/thief, Gate70)
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1041530/#Comment_1041530
This run didn't further trouble the scorers for long this morning. We started the session with very few spells, but decided to take Nimbul on anyway. That looked like it might have been a bad decision when Chorba went into his view and got trapped by conversation lag while Nimbul started casting. However, Slug had one call lightning spell remaining and that hammered down through Nimbul's mirrors.
Back in Beregost a rest ensured all options were open for dealing with Tranzig. That should have been a simple fight and Slug decided to give spirit summons an outing for a change in concert with Chorba's skeletons. The skeletons got bored of waiting as Slug kept failing to add to a single spirit hound and attacked. They didn't do much hitting though and a number of rounds passed as they got worn down and finished off. By that time Slug had finally managed to produce a bear spirit as well and that soon got the killing blow - but not until Tranzig had managed to complete casting a lightning bolt.
Slug immediately saw (and felt) the danger as the bolt of lightning hit him and tried to move - but found he was stuck in place. For a brief moment I thought he was going to get away with it as the next couple of bounces seemed to miss him. However, the bolt kept bouncing and bouncing and Mulahey's boots of lightning proved far too little protection as the damage mounted and killed Slug before continuing to bounce merrily several further times across the room.
Henn (dwarf fighter/thief, Gate70); Qat (dwarf thief, Grond0)
Random roll 171 sees a pair of sneaky characters hit the ground. Our usual approach bags us Shoal the Nereid before getting the bandit ambush at lowish levels (screenshot). Having escaped that we are chased away from High Hedge by a gnoll survivor and ever increasing numbers of skeletons.
Henn manages a rare hide in shadows, and backstabs Tarnesh successfully (screenshot). Qat has used several more backstabs by this time. Qat upgrades her staff courtesy of Silke while Henn grabs the Varscona longsword from Greywolf.
We decide to grab xp by heading to the basilisk area, but instead one ambushes us and gets a good gaze at Qat. We're running, and Qat saves (screenshot) so we escape. A quick lap around the rock garden sees us clear out the basilisks together with Mutamin. Some resting sees us trying to set snares and barely keeping up with our own damage from failing to set them. A few more rests and we are ready.
Qat backstabs Kirian and runs. A couple of arrows fail to finish Kirian but Lindin is taken down by traps. Baerin almost kills Qat but Henn kills their archer. Qat has 1hp left so Henn uses a cure light wounds, and then we return. Henn shoots Kirian as Qat drags Peter up to our last trap. Peter is near-dead but survives the trap so we shoot him down.
The sirines at the coast are top of the list for next time.
No, the matron mothers do not have any special items on them. The drow army is a great source of Potions of Invulnerability, though.
Flashburn's Rejects
BG1: Prologue, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6SoD: 1, 2
SoA: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
The Rejects barrel through the elven city. Upon reaching Nizi, I decide that I want to recruit him. Gaspar keeps him held still while Rufus' Nighthaunts level drain him to we can grab him.
But this just isn't working out. Not only is Nizi's size unwieldy, he is unable to use his dragon abilities and he cannot cast any spells either. He's just a walking HP pool. We regrettably put him down, though it I guess it had to be done eventually to summon Rillifane, as he was just too big for Spaz to pickpocket like he did with Chromatic Demon. Maybe he could've done it if I was running v2.5 with its screwy personal space mechanics. Spaz learns to construct mithril golems from the tome that was on Nizi's corpse.
At the temple of Rillifane, I decide to have Rillifane kill the enemies here. But Suneer's Globe of Invulnerability hilariously protects him from the god's wrath. Bruss just uses a Dragon Fist to breach him and kills him. But Suneer had summoned a Fallen Planetar without me noticing and it attacks Garos!
Thanks Rillifane! After this, we leave the city using Mallon's Shifting Heart to teleport back to Athkatla's slums, where Spaz constructs Perfect Clay Golem MK I inside the Planar Sphere.
He needs to be level 40 to build a Perfect Mithril Golem and that's 8 levels away. At least Chromatic Demon can be escorted using it, though Garos also has Farsight if I ever need it. We return to Suldanessellar and kill the parasites feeding on the Tree of Life. Rufus set down all of his traps beforehand to help take the edge off. Johnny starts the fight with two Perfect golems, one clay and one stone. Rufus takes out the Clay golem while his Time Trap runs out, then it splits in half into two normal Clay Golems.
Johnny has a Spell Shield up in addition to a huge amount of prebuffs, so Bruss opts for a Dragon Fist instead, which is a "screw you" ability to mages. Johnny is killed.
Down to hell we go. I get to try out this wonderful glitch to negate the penalties for taking the good path on the Selfishness trial. Spaz uses a scroll of Maze on Krieg, then Bruss opens all three of the good-path doors. Immediately upon Krieg's return, the demon gives him the Tear of Bhaal while suffering no penalties.
We cash the tear in four times by dropping it on the ground before the door consumes it for +40% magic resistance. We visit the trial of Greed and give the genie Blackrazor in return for the Tear that grants +2 saving throws.
But before using the Tear, we buff first to fight Slayer-Johnny. Garos throws out a Wrath of the Skies to lower enemy MR by 50%.
After Slayer-Johnny arrives with his demons and starts the fight, Rufus immediately uses Black Ray of Destruction on him, shutting off his spellcasting and causing his opening Time Stop to fail. Yet another "screw you" ability to mages, but at least Rufus has an excuse as he's a Shadow Mage and enjoys killing Weave-users.
With his spellcasting disabled, Johnny-Slayer tries to kill Rufus for this indignity, but Gaspar charms him and tells him to hold it right there.
Johnny is still buffed with PfMW, so Bruss gives him the ol' Dragon Fist. The last remaining Glabrezu tries its PW: Stun shennanigans on Gaspar, but our fighters quickly redirect their efforts to save him.
Johnny still has a Spell Trigger up his sleeve with PfMW and both fire shields. Unimpressed, Rufus casts Breaching Dark on Johnny to get rid of it.
With no options left, Johnny-Slayer reverts to normal form, indicating our success!
ToB begins and I redeem the level that Gaspar got during this fight, gaining the 5th and final Psionic Foresight ability for those succulent saving throws. Krieg has his Bhaal powers back and swaps out the Wooden Horse Necklace for the Amulet of Seldarine, which gives him a total of 55% magic resistance. Nice!
Each of the Rejects has an answer to the problem of enemy wizards. On their own they are merely adequate, but when they combine their powers to help each other, there is no mage that can stand up to them.
Krieg - War Hulk 28
Garos - Warhorn Shaman 23
Bruss - Super Saiyan 3 Monk 30
Rufus - Thief 21/Shadow Adept 16
Spaz - Warlock 33
Gaspar - Seducer 33
@AionZ: I'm not as familiar with the kit, but if we're going for game balance, I think it might make more sense to make the disabler less reliable, rather than shorter in duration. Even two rounds of neutralized spellcasting without a saving throw is nearly enough to break any mage encounter, since mages depend so heavily on establishing advantages in the earliest rounds of combat.
Previous posts: 1, 2, 3, 4
To be honest, I was not looking forward to the final battle. Even though I don't recall ever loosing a character here (it's the Ducal Palace that takes the toll), the opponents can become really annoying with their invisibility/healing/constant damage, especially if you can't dispel Sarevok's haste.
Anomandra was going to this with barely touching her spellbook. Once inside the temple, she summoned four skeletons into the corner, buffed them with ProEvil 10' and used her last ProMagic scroll.
Next, she smacked a bat with her Bhallspawn Vampiric Touch.
With Potion of Mind Focusing, Potion of Strength, Oil of Speed and Potion of Regeneration running, Anomandra was now ready to engage.
Here's the opening set-up with the Big Brother, Diarmid (with his ProMagic scroll) and Angelo (with his Fire Shield: Blue). Tazok the Simpleton has just quaffed an Oil of Speed, followed by a Potion of Freedom - we don't expect him to be much trouble
Anomandra quaffs a Potion of Power and uses her movement speed advantage to outmanoeuvre the enemies, focusing her ranged attacks on Diarmid and, after he has revealed himself, Tazok (who also takes couple of Wand of Heavens charges). She sends in her skeletons to distract the remaining foes, hoping to lure both Angelo and Semaj into the fray.
We don't have all the actors on the stage for long as Tazok soon becomes the first casualty.
Anomandra uses a ProUndead scroll to avoid the post-mortem skeleton warriors and rumages through the potion case to find her ultimate weapon. There they are - our precious Potions of Firebreath. We've got five, and we're not afraid to use them all.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
With his lackeys out of the picture, Sarevok was no match for Anomandra's speed, sling and Wand of Heavens on his own.
Onwards to Athkatla (but let's not forget to optimize our spellbook and remove the Helm of Balduran before doing so)!
Regards,
B.
As a 'break' from BG I thought I would have another go at HoF in IWD. Some time ago I started a range of characters in that to test out their capabilities. I didn't want to rely on hordes of summons, or the use of a sorcerer to bypass spell availability issues. However, I've struggled to find other good options. The major problems have been:
- The AI in IWD is set to activate groups of monsters at a time, who will then pursue you relentlessly - meaning tackling them one at a time can be difficult or impossible even for characters with stealth.
- the very limited selection of spell scrolls makes things hard for most arcane users.
- the cost of resting in an inn makes progression more difficult for fighter types (I don't use the rest until healed game option).
The most progress I made in that was with a first run with a bard, which got up to level 11. The main tactics there were run and shoot and paralyzation by chromatic orb. However, she had no summons and the lack of invisibility or blind as options made things increasingly difficult against hordes of enemies and she eventually got trapped when surrounded by lots of skeletons.
Trying again, Ebrie made the normal quick progress early on:
- killing beetles in the inn for Grisella took Ebrie all the way up to level 5.
- more tasks around town were enough for level 6.
- the goblins to the south were pulled up one or two at a time, but I got careless against one of those and was killed while kiting it. I don't normally allow test runs, but I did load the autosave at that point to check if there was anything worth pickpocketing in the town - there wasn't.
A third run got her up to level 8 thanks to killing the first couple of groups of orcs in the caravan cave. The next group though includes 7 orc archers, 2 standard orcs and an orc shaman - all scripted to stay together. They will follow you out of their cave, but won't then go back in - meaning you can't run them around inside (because of the arrow damage) and can't run them around outside (due to the confined space). I therefore intended to move on to the next area at this point, but wanted to get a screenshot of the attackers first. The shaman got delayed though due to casting curse on me and by the time he appeared in the picture Ebrie found herself trapped by the others.
Once more into the breach and Ebrie again got up to level 8 - though this time with a somewhat less impressive 49 HPs. She tried splitting the big group of orcs up and successfully trapped 3 of them in the cave using chromatic orb, but decided that even the remaining 7 was too large a group to safely run round outside. Hence she reported in to Hrothgar and left Easthaven for Kuldahar Pass. With far too many goblins there to fight she had to just try running for the other side of the Pass. Her first incarnation had made that, but it's a chancy business and she was cut down by missile fire as she tried to cross the bridge to her objective.
A 5th run made it to level 8 with 51 HPs before running the gauntlet at Kuldahar Pass - and this time made it pretty comfortably.
Ebrie, Bard L8, 51 HPs, 25 kills
Edit: certainly didn't get much further. At the Vale of Shadows I'd run a couple of yetis back to the exit point. Going back there again I'd expected them to have gone back to where they were before, but they were right on top of me and both hit before I could run away again ...
Previous posts (BG1): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Since I'm skipping SoD, I have exported Anomandra straight to SoA. Here's her starting character sheet for the reference. I'll add that her weapon proficiency points are distributed between slings, staves, flails and two-handed weapon style.
I'm not confident in tackling the starting dungeon without having a thief to disarm all those traps and so we team up with Imoen for the first part of our journey in Amn.
The first few mephits and duegars are handled with Anomandra's skeleton warriors, ProEvil 10' and Imoen's backstabs (she's running Strength, Armor and Stoneskin). We activate the sewers' cleaner golem and Anomandra discoveres Staff Spear +2 in one of the containers. That's a bummer, as I was really hoping for Arla's Dragonbane, although it's true that I'm not very sure about the precise rules on which of these items get "imported" based on your proficiencies.
Imoen takes care of the otyugh with a backstab, MMs and Chromatic Orb. By the way, this is by far my most favorite prop of the entire series - it's pure art.
We recover the Claw of Kazgaroth and clear the way towards the portal. Seeing our mostly untapped spellbooks, we decide to storm Ilych's party before moving on to the next level. Hasted skeletons, priest buffs, Storm Shield and Lightning Bolts are sufficent to turn the entire confrontation into a slaughter. Unfortunately, tis the only screenshot I've got from this battle.
Boosted by the victory, not even the Cambion can withstand the rage of our small army.
All right, it seems that we're done here. Anomandra has a chat with the dryads while Imoen searches Ellesime's room for the portal key. By defeating the security golems, both Anomandra and Imoen get a level-up (for Anomandra it's the first one since Cloakwood). This means we'll now have access to some interesting spell choices, including Righteous Magic, Flame Strike, Slay Living, True Sight and Chaotic Commands.
We proceed through the portal to say hi to Yoshimo and rest. Protected by MGoI, Imoen takes the lead in the mephit room, while hasted Anomandra and her skeletons bash the portals.
Taking advantage of the offensive boost provided by Haste, we press on to clear the adjacent corridor of mephits and duegars. In addition to that, we also eliminate the escaped Ellesime clone. For some reason, this scene always feels sad...
Deckard: The report read "Routine retirement of a replicant." That didn't make me feel any better about shooting a woman in the back.
Anyhow, there's not much left to report here - after collecting Ring of Protection +1 and Girdle of Bluntness, we were ready to face the assassins and leave for the surface.
Out on the Promenade, Anomandra sells the loot and orders a drink and a room at the Den of the Seven Vales.
In the morning, her steps lead her into the circus tent, where she manages to rescue Aerie and one-shot Kalah with the clerical version of backstab (i.e. Sanctuary + Slay Living).
Taking advantage of the discounts granted by our newly acquired Ring of Human Influence, we use our accumulated gold to finance some essential purchases at the Adventurers' Mart, namely RoAC, Reflection Shield and potions (Invisibility, Fire Breath). Here's the inventory screen just before leaving for the Slums.
Regards,
B.
Traveling with: Ajantis, Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen, Garrick
So the party finished up their chapter 5 quests. Some things accomplished
* Jardak and his butler were slain. We tried talking, but they were having none of it.
* Unsurprisingly, Razamith (or is it Ragefast, always get them mixed up) didn't do well vs. massive attacks. His ghasts, on the other did quite well, killing Garrick (he's died quite a bit this run). We had to resurrect him at a nearby temple and come back.
* Poison quest completed. Poor Lathander found out that we released him from his geas, only for him to be surrounded and killed for his boots. Khalid and his addiction to speed, I guess. Temple of Umberlee was slaughtered for the boy's body the High Priestess was carrying, and of course Lathandar's geas scroll. We were able to convince the Temple of Tymora we really needed the Wisdom tome (we didn't).
* Didn't bother with Mountain Maulers. Forgot to get the helm of balduran too - hmm, oh well.
* Since this party is not really strong, decided to try to pull a few outside of Degrodel's place. It didn't help much, all the enemies came but one, Coremage nearly died. We did eventually cleared them.
* Durlag's Tower done for a few things. Killing the basilisks on the roof, as well as getting the wisdom tome, and finally helping the nymph there (why not, 4000 exp and don't even have to fight).
* As this party is not terribly strong, decided to not fight 5th floor baddies at Iron Throne HQ either. Instead, Garrick went invisible to get the note, and another invisibility to return to the bottom floor.
* Reported to Duke Eltan our findings, sent off to Candlkeep.
In Candlekeep, only did a few things
* killed Shistal
* rested until I got the DUHM power
* Cleared 1st level of crypts without incident. When we have a great thief like Imoen (100 in traps/locks), there wasn't going to be much doubt of that.
* Cleared 2nd level of crypts without much difficulty as well.
* Prat's gang - had Khalid equip the best anti-missile equipment (so as not to be stunned by the darts of stunning) and he also buffed with what potions we could spare. He then unloaded arrows of detonation on Prat's gang. Unsurprisingly, Prat's gang didn't have a good answer for that. We also cleared the spiders, but careful of course to have free action and poison immunity. We didn't care about phase spider ambushes since Jaheira's wand of heavens make short work of the phase spiders. Basilisks were cleared by Khalid since he still had his buffs running, though of course Garrick protected Khalid from petrification by spell 1st.
We will sell our junk next session, and begin chapter 7.
Flashburn's Rejects
BG1: Prologue, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6SoD: 1, 2
SoA: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
I'm going to fight Johnny again after giving up the usage of Black Ray of Destruction, replacing it with Shadow Plague instead.
- Shadowplague: As the SCS version of Creeping Doom, but it lasts for 6 rounds instead of 3 and ignores Magic Resistance.
This time, Rufus buffs a little more than usual, adding in Shar's Shield and Fireshield (Shadow). Slayer-Johnny gets his Time Stop off the ground, but Rufus and Bruss ignore it using the Staff of the Magi and Lunar Stance. Spaz devoured his magic before the Time Stop took effect, so Rufus and Bruss just beat him up while time is stopped, causing him to revert to normal form before its even over with.
Illasera is next. Rufus puts down his traps and starts beating her up before she even gets a chance to attack. When time resumes, the standard traps finish her off, though they also get reflected by the nearby enemy priest using Physical Mirror back to Rufus, causing significant damage to him. Illasera's goons are killed by Spaz's Devour Magic as Bruss chases them while SSJ3.
Half of the first challenge is cleared by Garos' Storm of Vengeance. Once the drow join the fray, Rufus puts Merciless Blizzard to the test for the first time. It ignores MR and does more damage the longer that enemies stay within it. Then comes Irenicus, Bodhi, and Sarevok. Irenicus's magic is devoured but he stops time, though Bruss counters yet again with Lunar Stance. However, Dragon Fist doesn't work during a time stop, so Bruss can't do anything to him at the moment. He heavily damages Bodhi in the meantime.
Once the Time Stop is over, Dragon Fist kills Irenicus. He tried to cast Absolute Immunity, but he was just slightly too late. Krieg kills Bodhi. Sarevok is barely a threat.
Saradush is just busy-work. Rufus levels up in the vampire prison.
The fight with Gromnir is where things start getting interesting. Krieg uses Resist Magic to get over 100% MR, Garos uses a Storm of Vengeance, Spaz with Devour Magic, Rufus with Shadowplague, and Gaspar going off to the side to charm whatever happens to survive after Karun the Black stops time. Rufus and Bruss defy the Time Stop as usual.
Bruss kills one of the Battlemages during the Time Stop and his simulacrum too. The other has PfMW up, so when Halbazzer Drin and the sirene join the fight, he teleports over with Melee Rush to kill them as well. I accidentally switch Rufus's weapon back to Pitchwife +5/Kundane, which causes him to get stopped in time.
The other mage will taste a Dragon Fist. Rufus casts Shatter Weave on her after time resumes. Storm of Vengeance is actually what finishes her off.
Gromnir and the two Perfect golems are struck with Shadowplague but Bruss puts a stop to Gromnir too. The rest of the enemies are wiped out with no trouble.
The fire giant temple is kind of frustrating because fire giants' THAC0 is ridiculously good and they have a lot of HP, which means that even Krieg and Bruss at SSJ2 working together still take some time to kill them as they get a lot of damage in. To deal with the Fire Lich, Bruss uses a scroll of PfU and goes SSJ3. The Fire Lich pulls all kinds of pre-buffs out of its hat, plus two simulacrums, 3 Mordy Swords, and a 3x Remove Magic sequencer on the swords to remove Bruss's scroll. It's nothing a good Dragon Fist can't cure. The swords are destroyed by a Night Terrors from Rufus.
Fire Salamanders greatly wound Bruss by lowering his fire resistance. He is at critical health at the end of the fight. We rest and he recovers fully, which lets him receive his 8th Zenkai Boost. It's been a long time since his last one. (+1 AC/THAC0/damage, +3 max HP)
Krieg destroys Imix in one hit using the Staff of Elemental Mastery +5.
The battle against Nyalee is extremely dangerous. She uses the Earth Elemental token to become immune to Bruss's crushing damage, rendering his Melee Rush totally ineffective. Rufus casts Shadowplague on the group after Spaz devours their magic. Nyalee has made a copy of Krieg, which could spell the end of one of the Rejects if they get hit.
Copy-Krieg is accumulating damage which fuels his rage and movement speed. This is increased even further when Copy-Krieg drinks an Oil of Speed. He can even outrun Bruss while he's SSJ3 at this much rage! Rufus has seen enough and activates his ass-kicking Spell Trigger to put an end to Nyalee's Mirror of Opposition. Krieg has to back off because his copy hits like a freight train.
Rufus focuses down Copy-Garos. Nyalee thinks she's safe for the moment and reverts to human form to try to cast spells. Spaz takes this opportunity and kills her with an Utterdark Blast. Copy-Krieg is targeting Gaspar, so he drinks an invisibility potion.
With Copy-Garos backstabbed to death, Rufus kills the last Shambling Mound while Garos tanks the enraged Copy-Krieg. Everyone piles onto him. While Hasted, poisoned, and afflicted by Shadowplague, Copy-Krieg has gone berserk and a hit from him will gib any of the Rejects! Copy-Krieg targets Garos who is protected by Ironskins. The hulking meat-beast is finally slain!
That was pretty scary. I'd be willing to bet just a normal hit from the enraged Copy-Krieg would've dealt over 250 damage. Bruss levels up and learns Super Saiyan 3 Mastery.
Power up time: 5 (reduced from 29)
A lock of Nyalee's hair opens up a stairway where we fought the skeletons, leading downward. It's filled with poison gas so only our Perfect Clay Golem can enter.
Shadows and skeletons are dotted throughout the maze but Perfect Clay is immune to their attacks. In the middle of the maze there is a portal...
...which leads to a Demon Knight and Bone Fiend guarding something. Perfect Clay is immune to slashing attacks, so he defeats both of them with ease.
Back topside, Perfect Clay hands over this vial.
Solar Blood is needed to create Perfect Adamantite golems but Spaz needs to be level 43 to make one. Plus, the adamantite golem tome is split in half, with one page held by the now-defeated Watcher's Keep demilich and the other held by Vongoethe, and it must be reassembled by Cespenar for a nominal fee.
Yaga-Shura is going down next.
Krieg - War Hulk 30
Garos - Warhorn Shaman 25
Bruss - Super Saiyan 3 Monk 33
Rufus - Thief 22/Shadow Adept 17
Spaz - Warlock 35
Gaspar - Seducer 35
Previous posts (BG1): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Previous posts (SoA): 6
Our first stop after visiting Gaelan is the Copper Coronet. Having assessed the situation, Anomandra sneaks into the backstage under Sanctuary and solves the gladiators' struggle with a single stroke. No animals were harmed in the making of this quest (with the exception of a single winter wolf that is).
We purchase the Sling of Seeking and head over to the Graveyard Disctrict to return Littleman (stripped from Llynis' dead body).
Ah, that must be Suna Seni - we've been expecting her to show up sooner or later.
Seeing her ambushers approach, Anomandra quaffs a PoI, waits out the mage's initial protections in a distance, and then buffs with Free Action, Righteous Magic, DuHM and Strom Shield. She breaks the invisibility by landing a slingshot critical on the slaver cleric, immediately activating her RoAC (II).
Anomandra repositions herself and launches a Lightning Bolt, aiming at the mage.
She then switches to a melee weapon in anticipation of a backstab and targets Suna Seni with another Lightning Bolt and Holy Smite. Plate mail, Girdle of Piercing, Reflex Shield and buffed DEX are keeping our effective AC in the safe zone.
It looks like we're done here (that last armored archer fell to our Sling of Seeking + Reflection Shield).
Anomandra finally reaches the Graveyard District where we hand over Littleman and dig out Tidir.
At this point, our stretched inventory capacity required us to travel to the Bridge District next, in order to get a potion case from Mrs. Cragmoon. Once there, we solve the local murder case (without trying to fight the Rune Assassins) and deal with the kidnappers by hunting down Reti (the dwarf has managed to escape).
At night, we also triggered the second guild war encounter - that's the one where two rogues turn against your party and attack. It ended up being probably the toughest SoA fight yet for Anomandra. She did not own any one-handed melee weapon at the time and had a hard time avoiding their constant flow backstabs. Eventually, at the cost of a PoI and a couple of healing potions, we prevailed thanks to our buffs and Hold Person.
It was a healthy lesson and it seems that rogues are indeed proving to be a cleric's nemesis.
Anyway, Anomandra is currently licking her wounds at the Five Flagons and considering her next course of action. She might want to check on those other slavers that Hendak mentioned earlier. We'll see.
Regards,
B.
BG1: 1, 2, 3
The company was ambushed by ogre mages in front of Candlekeep. Thanks to Dynaheir's webs they had no trouble dispatching the monsters. Justice was dispensed on Rieltar and his company, primarily for the enslavement and murder of countless people. Again, Webs were the key element.
Inspection of the Candlekeep crypts yielded a pair of Hands of Takkok for Jaheira in addition to less useful loot. They pre-buffed to deal with Prat's gang. Other than a Slow that only affected Imoen, and two Melf's Acid Arrows cast at Minsc and Amahoro, they didn't produce any problematic magic, and in terms of martial prowess Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid and Amahoro were simply superior.
Dealing with Cythandria and her golems helped Amahoro obtain her final Cleric level for BG1.
The Ice Island was next. Spike Growths and elemental attacks accounted for the welcoming party and for Dezkiel.
Imoen nicked the sea charts from Captain Tollar Kieres, and the party set sail to the Isle of Balduran. Specialized in bastard swords, Khalid stole the show against Karoug, while the others lured the remaining wolfweres away as much as possible.
Selaad Gan was lured outside where a rain of elemental missiles forced him into werewolf form, and Baresh didn't split into two greater werewolves, so reversing the lycanthropy the party had contracted wasn't too much of a hassle.
Durlag's Tower was next. Arla's Dragonbane was found, early on, much to Amahoro's delight. The Warders gave the companions a hard time. Pride turned out untankable for Amahoro, and Avarice was about, disappearing in and appearing from the shadows to deliver dangerous backstabs. This screenshot shows Amahoro reduced to 32 HPs with Pride gone but Avarice still around.
When all the cultists were removed, Aec'Letec was taken on. I was a bit nervous because we had very few arrows of dispelling (they had been removed from stores), and those are the only certain way I know of reversing the ghast curse. Everyone spread in order to minimize the impact of enemy AoE spells. Tracea Carol nevertheless managed to dispel both Jaheira and Imoen's buffs with a single Remove Magic. Amahoro escaped the effect of a Greater Malison by quaffing a potion of magic protection. Imoen struck hard with arrows of detonation, poisoned with a Rogue Rebalancing phial of poison.
Back in Baldur's Gate Imoen's 100 points in Detect Illusions and some wand summons from Dynaheir ensured victory over Slythe. (Only Khalid took a backstab.) Krystin proved the more intimidating half of the duo. She cast Stone to Flesh, thankfully at a summoned ogre.
At the Ducal Palace, the companions pre-buffed with strength potions, oils of speed and immunity potions. No summons were used. The only worthy summons would have been undead, and that just doesn't suit Amahoro, whom I see as a holy warrior. I haven't used the spell at all in this run, and Dynaheir won't cast it either.
The six focused on the mage, which was risky as it left the Dukes vulnerable to attacks from the other doppelgangers. Liia Jannath fell, and Belt needed a Bhaal heal. He was also dangerously eager to take on Sarevok as the latter attacked after being exposed, but he (barely) survived.
In the Undercity Spike Growth, Web, ranged attacks, and damage spells took care of the Iron Throne party. I finally got Khalid Varscona. Tamoko was convinced of Amahoro's honorable intentions.
Sarevok and his cohorts were engaged head-on, after some pre-buffing had been done, riskier but also more fun. The companions scattered, as usual to minimize the impact of disablers and debuffs. Semaj took a bit of time in showing up, but the other foes were quick to appear. Minsc and Amahoro rushed Diarmid as his arrows would otherwise wreak havoc. Hard-hitting Tazok appeared from invisibility at that spot too, complicating the encounter with Diarmid. Jaheira engaged Tazok though she wasn't really up to that task, so she switched to Diarmid and left Tazok to Minsc and Amahoro. A summoned nymph did little besides buying Khalid just enough time to dispel Sarevok's haste before she fell. Imoen remained invisible intially, detecting illusions near Angelo and Dynaheir cast a Secret Word, forcing the battlemage to worry about his defenses before attacking. Tazok and animated remains were the first to be dealt with, followed by Diarmid.
Jaheira mainly occupied herself with kiting Sarevok around. Semaj, a late bloomer, wasted a Malison on Amahoro (potion of magic protection), but started summoning and summoning and summoning: low HD monsters like ogres and hobgoblins, but also ettercaps, orcs, and elementals. Dynaheir crowd controlled them with Webs.
In fact, with the inclusion of Icewind Dale spells it becomes possible to severely lower enemy saves. Curse (-1), Doom (-2), Chant (-1), Prayer (-1), Recitation (-2) are good for a staggering -7 penalty. With Greater Malison that becomes -11. If you take into account spell-specific save penalties and specialist mage penalties, lots of interesting possibilities open up.
Sarevok's bad saving throws allowed Dynaheir to polymorph him into a squirrel,
Amahoro and party move on to Dragonspear.
Previous posts (BG1): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Previous posts (SoA): 6, 7
We return to Copper Coronet to conclude our dealings with the slavers and their unsustainable business model.
Against the hobgoblins and the kobolds in the sewers, Anomandra relies mainly on Silence 15', clerical buffs and Holy Smite. Lacking a Potion of Freedom, she's eventually forced to quaff a Potion of Stoneform to foil a Hold Person cast by one of the hobgoblin shamans. I don't recall her exact save v. spell score, but I believe there was a 5 or 10 % chance of failing the save, whereas Chaotic Commands (unlike Shield of Harmony) do not grant immunity to hold effects.
We avoid the jellies with Sanctuary, solve the riddle by collecting all the ingredients and rest in preparation for Captain Haegan and his sailor boys.
Prior to the battle, Anomandra buffs with ProEvil, Chant and the Holy Trinity (Holy Power + Righteous Magic + DuHM). She enters the boat sanctuaried and waits for a divination incantation by the enemy cleric. Seeing that none is coming, she casts Slay Living and waits for her aura to clear. Then she strikes - bam!
With the caster off the stage, Anomandra quaffs an Oil of Speed and starts sniping the melee fighters with sling bullets, dealing a constant 18 points of damage per hit. She then sets-up her Storm Shield and, as soon as the enemy ranks become dense enough, pulls off one of her favorite Lightning Bolts.
As soon as her initial set of combat buffs started to fade, Anomandra switched her tactics to something more subtle. Rigid Thinking followed by a Hold Person seemed to be the right call.
There's only one last slaver guard left. He's just killed his partners and, unfortunately for him, his day is not over yet. After all, someone will have to help us tank the trolls. Anomandra -> Mental Domination: Slaver Guard -> Flame Blade.
That's it for the slavers.
We do not venture any further into the boat - Anomandra reports back to Hendak and leaves the Slums for the City Gates.
We run into Renfeld's captors on the way and decide to deal with them. As requested, Anomandra then delivers injured Renfeld to the Harpers, accepts Xzar's offer and follows Rylock's instructions. Prebek and Sanasha are dealt with in a most eloquent fashion by Sanctuary -> Slay Living: Prebek -> RoAC -> Lightning Bolt.
By finishing the Harper quest Anomandra earns enough XP to reach level 11, thus unlocking L6 spell slots for the first time.
As for improving our equipment, there were now couple of options how to spend our gold. Eventually, I decided not to get the Vhailor's Helm yet, as it felt too powerful for this stage of the game. Instead, we opted for the Fortress Shield, which will now complement our Reflex.
Our next destination is Trademeet and the Shield of Harmony.
Regards,
B.
It's a boring way to lose a run and I'm kind of bored with the challenge. I like SoA, but a saga run requires beating BG and SoD, which I don't find nearly as interesting. Mages just spam wands; warriors rely on Arrows of Dispelling; and I don't usually play single-classed priests or thieves.
Flashburn's Rejects
BG1: Prologue, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6SoD: 1, 2
SoA: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
ToB: 1
Now that Bruss can power up to Super Saiyan 3 relatively fast and for less of a cost, he takes on the form just before crossing the bridge to Yaga-Shura's siege camp. We make our way to the middle of the battleground and Rufus goes invisible, then casts Dark Passage. Spaz should serve us well enough for any anti-mage needs.
The soldiers are all annihilated. We form up and wait for Yaga-Shura to come back himself. Spaz uses Call Fiend and gets a Nabassu. Bruss powers down to normal briefly.
The Solar calls us back to the pocket plane and I'm nice to her to get the Mass Healing ability. The challenge is completed in less than a minute with Bruss getting a quick kill on Semaj with Dragon Fist. The Oasis is cleared by Rufus going ham on the Tethyrian army.
At Amkethran, we discover another teleport orb from More Style For Mages inside one of the chests in the smuggler's den. The Shifting Heart doesn't work since we're not in Amn anymore.
Rufus lays down traps for Vongoethe. We come back with Marlowe and the Spike Trap gibs the lich during the cutscene where he summons his undead goons. The Adamantite Golem tome is now ours, although I doubt Spaz is going to get high enough level to build a Perfect Adamantite golem.
At Sendai's enclave, most of the Rejects level up in the Derro swarm tunnel. Rufus finally learns level 9 spells and takes his his spell HLA: Relentless Assault. These are the other two spells he chose:
-Oblivion Pull: Imprisonment with 30' range. Enemies within 7.5ft. of initial target must save vs. spell at -6 or also be imprisoned.
-Nightsinger's Tithe: Power Word: Kill, but ignores Magic Resistance. There is a 50% chance of gaining +1 max HP per kill made with this spell. When 50 enemies have been killed by Nightsinger's Tithe, the caster gains +2 CON, +1 saves, and -1 casting time.
At Odameron's home, he calls upon some undead servants: some skeleton warriors, a vampire mage, and a fellow lich. Odameron starts casting Time Stop, but Gaspar uses a Psionic Lock on him to keep him from doing anything for a round. Unfortunately, I already had Bruss use Lunar Stance to avoid the Time Stop, so he couldn't use a Dragon Fist to end the lich right there, assuming no PfMW contingency.
I forge Soul Reaver +6 back at the pocket plane and return to Odameron's hideout. Suddenly...
I hate surprises. I bet there are more waiting for me further ahead. We meet Diaytha and she wants us to kill Ogremoch, but he's a badass elemental prince and I'm gonna take control of him. Probably should've done that with Imix too... Bruss and Krieg kill his minions, then Gaspar charms him to hold Ogremoch still. While he's charmed, Rufus summons his Nighthaunts to drain some levels from him. 6 levels are all we need. Rufus then casts Shatter Weave on Ogremoch to negate his MR for 2 rounds. Spaz casts Noxious Blast to lower his saving throws and it works. Gaspar charms him again, then tries Recruit Follower. It sticks!
Garos casts Farsight to reveal the ambush that awaits us. He charms the Balor first because of its nasty Vorpal blade. It gates in a pair of Nabassus, which aren't friendly. It kills the Glabrezu but is killed immediately afterward by the Hive Mother.
Sendai is next. I can't believe I had fun in ToB just now.
Krieg - War Hulk 32
Garos - Warhorn Shaman 26
Bruss - Super Saiyan 3 Monk 35
Rufus - Thief 23/Shadow Adept 18
Spaz - Warlock 37
Gaspar - Seducer 37