@Flashburn: That's a narrow window, but it makes sense, and if that's how they're scripted, then short-range kiting could completely solve the problem, and make it possible for any class to handle ATweaks in Shadows of Amn.
Still not going to reinstall ATweaks demons or elementals. Doable or not, solo or party, that component is just no fun.
Back in the saddle after a year or so. Playing v32 RC9 SCS w. insane / insane plus options.
First run was an gnome assassin. Died in the druid grove of all places to a random spawn that had 3 spirit trolls in it.
The run was already in rough shape after earlier spirit trolls in the keep perma-killed most of my party. The trolls didn't actually chunk them, but I refuse to raise characters if I have to retreat from their bodies.
Anyway, it's funny how you spend so much time in deep BG2/TOB that you can forget whats dangerous early on. Spirit trolls without CC and strong melee DPS are just.... rough business.
Second run is a halfling assassin. I thought about doing a swashy which I still really want to do but decided to run another assassin.
It's a refreshing change of play style after previously always playing some version of a F/M charname (except once when I did a single class kensai).
Sure, he's comparatively garbage power wise, but those backstabs can get pretty sweet. Haven't found a staff of striking yet as I can't remember where they are. Not planning on recharging them or any other items, but will use them judiciously for key backstabs.
Working through chapter two still. At about 600k exp.
Party is charname (halfling assassin), korgan (never used before), jaheira (always use), cernd (never used before), jan (feels like a perfect compliment to a chaotic neutral charname) and edwin.
Cernd is actually pretty great; not sure why he has a reputation of being garbage. Maybe SCS changed his werewolf stats. Looking forward to playing around with the druid HLA shapechanges at some point, which I've never used.
Thought about removing Cernd from the party for the faldorn fight so I didn't have to deal with her improved form (i.e. let him story-kill her). I ultimately decided to keep him in the party, as I've never done that before. Casting II on Cernd before the fight pretty much defanged faldorn, as she can't open with an insect spell. Whereas Cernd can, and then once Faldorn has insects he can just summon a fire elemental, shapechange into a werewolf, and finish the job. I noticed that Faldorn uses potions in the fight. What a dirty cheater *eye roll*.
Did Cernd's character quest for the first time despite having played the game for the first time ~20 years ago. The quest line turns out to have a lich (!!!) in it. Did not have the courage to pick a fight with said lich...
Really liking the latest version of SCS. Sadly it appears the fireshield / insect interaction still doesn't work (despite the patch notes saying specifically that it got fixed). Druids are still pretty strong without bug spells though...
Considering swapping Jan for Sarevok when I get there. A little worried about only having one source of arcane magic, but then again I'm tired of drowning in arcane magic and having the game be too easy.
The session began with picking up a couple of necklaces of missiles in the City. A few more quests were then completed, like setting a nymph free from Ragefast's clutches.
We couldn't remember whether we'd done the poison quest last time, but after Gery came down with a bad case of morning sickness it became obvious that Marek was still around. Yertone was particularly anxious to find a cure and tried to save time by killing Marek before talking to him. I'm not sure if that's allowed in BGEE, so Yertone was called off before he could finish the job and Tabetha put the nymph cloak to good use to persuade Marek to hand over the antidote willingly - at which point the carnage recommenced .
Having already dealt with Ragefast meant Ramazith would be hostile. Tabetha suffered some missile damage going up his tower, but survived and the mage failed to defend his treasures well.
With main shopping having already been done, Gery put in a request to get a closer look at Drizzt's scimitars. Drizzt has pretty good AC, but not good enough to stand up long to fire from an archer using arrows of piercing.
Back in the City it was time to assault the Iron Throne. Yertone had intended to assault there under the protection of a PfM scroll, but got bored waiting for Gery to fish one out of his scroll case and attacked using a potion of magic shielding - that did the job nicely.
In Candlekeep a bit of time was saved by Gery and Tabetha looting the tombs and double-teaming the phase spiders, while Yertone indulged in his favorite occupation of killing ghasts while laughing at their attempts to hold him. The dopplegangers didn't last long and neither did Prat after being held in Tabetha's web.
With final levels still a little way off, the Trio took a quick tour of hot-spots not yet visited. Gery indulged himself by wasting the Doomsayer with acid arrows before the Revenant and Narcillicus provided further XP boosts.
There was still time to travel back to the City, where Slythe ran into a dispelling arrow and Krystin found she couldn't hide from an inquisitor's true sight.
Still looking for more XP for final levels, we paid a visit to Degrodel on the hunt for the Cloak of Balduran. The mage did no better than his guards there.
The next session should see BGEE resolved - one way or the other ...
I've not played any single player BG this week, but rather than go cold turkey I thought I'd have another go at this IWD challenge. I wanted to clear the caves near the caravan, but that's a near-impossibility with a lower-level monk due to the way the enemies try and surround you even under steath. Hence I once more ground away hundreds of orcs to get up to level 13 and access quivering palm. Last time I did that I made a mistake very quickly and got trapped, but this time I succeeded in finishing off the enemies.
The magic item claimed from the cave was a girdle giving permanent bless - that's not useless, but is far inferior for the purposes of this run to the ring with +2 to spell saves that I got last time.
Here's Tres' record before leaving Easthaven.
He's got 90 HPs (out of a maximum possible 98), which is extremely high even by EE standards. That was partly helped by restarting the game a couple of times to ensure that he got a good start from the beetles. However, something like an ogre could still come very close to one-shotting him with a critical, so there's not going to be much chance to relax during fights in this run ...
Atweaks is very faithful to P&P and has good AI, but the assumptions underlying p&p play can often be rather different to video gaming. In particular parties with diverse skills and weaknesses are expected, and 'old school' gamers are quite attached to mechanics which do not permit characters to feel competely safe. (Which encourages non-combat solutions.) I used to feel bad if I didn't go with all those components- except for fiendish gating which should be a bit more tightly circumscribed- but not so much now. Of course few DMs would allow some of the tricks no reloaders have used!
Not so much going out with a fiery bang as a flaming whimper ...
The intended tasks remaining in Baldur's Gate were carried out pretty smoothly with one slight exception when Tip overlooked that Twute would be coming down Ramazith's tower visible - and would drag enemies with him. Surrounded by ghasts Tip had no rage left, so had to quickly dive into his potion case for a potion of freedom.
The Mountain Maulers got mauled to provide Tip with a second magical axe and the Iron Throne party failed to put up a real fight thanks to blind and web.
Candlekeep saw Tip doing a bit of playing with lightning, but he didn't get hurt too much. Prat thought he had recovered his senses just in time as he went invisible after an unprovoked attack - but killing missiles were already in the air.
With both characters getting final levels in Candlekeep they went straight after Slythe (well, if you don't count the 13 rests required to get a final Bhaal power). He was meleed down rapidly, while Krystin failed to cast another spell after stepping into her own cloudkill.
At the palace Twute enquired whether Tip had left the letters out of his scroll case. He hadn't - which meant the guard inside refused to acknowledge Twute's right to enter. However, he took no stern measures and Tip was able to pacify him by talking direct. He still didn't take the letters out of the container though.
Summons and a few buffs should have taken care of the dopplegangers pretty quickly, but Tip found he didn't appear to be attacking at all in the early stages of the combat (I suspect that although he appeared next to his target on my screen, the computer was treating the target as blocked by other things). That delay in killing the dopplegangers nearly proved fatal as Belt expired and Liia was taken down to a single health bar before the battle was won.
Tip and Twute then tried to lead Liia to the back room to avoid her being attacked by Sarevok. With her at the back of the room though and with Tip in the doorway she suddenly changed direction (I think she must have been fixated on talking to Twute and went the other way because Tip was blocking her). She reappeared at the other door and forced a conversation with Twute before he could move away - Twute had to admit he couldn't find any evidence against Sarevok in his pockets and an order for a flame strike inevitably followed ...
Didn't know you could do that! That's much better than the normal way.
I like the Torgal fight because he seems relatively non threatening but sometimes he can get out ahead of your party's damage curve and be a real monster. Huge regen + accurate melee DPS is no joke if you run out of spells.
Insane SCS appears to add three spirit trolls to the fight. I can't remember if they used to be there, but if there were it was at most 2. Yikes.
Good thing the yuanti mage AI isn't smart enough to get out of cloudkill in this fight (enclosed area I guess?) or it would be extremely tough for a level 10 party. It can still get pretty rough.
I did also land an enfeeble on Torgal early in the fight, which was good and about halved his damage but I had thought it might do more. He must have like a 2d6 or 3d6 base weapon.
So far poison weapon has been... not good? I thought it might be a star against mages, but the assassin's low thac0 and 1 apr means he often doesn't get to apply it and even if he does it just mimics any weapon with any elemental damage, unless the mage fails his save. Which has basically never happened.
I took advantage of my wife being away to have an IWD afternoon / evening and made some good progress ...
Taking on the hordes of goblins all at once in Kuldahar Pass was not realistic, so Tres stealthed through the area to get to Kuldahar. He then returned and nibbled the enemies away a few at a time using stealth and quivering palm - jumping between the Vale of Shadows and Kuldahar Pass in order to rest quickly and without cost until he'd cleared an arrival area at the Pass. Clearing the rest of the area, including the valuable chickens, was enough to get up to level 14 and get a start on his magic resistance.
Moving on to the Vale of Shadows, Tres found his stun and palm attacks useless against undead. That slowed progress somewhat, but pulling a few enemies out of tombs at a time and then using stealth and weapon speed advantage still allowed him to make decent inroads. Missile weapons haven't had much use in the run so far, but slingshots were used against ghasts and ghouls - that's reasonably quick thanks to the fighter bonus APR that monks get in EE.
After clearing the first 2 tombs, Tres got another level on the way to the next one.
That pushed his fist damage up to a decent 7-26 at 3.5 APR. He spent a while clearing the penultimate tomb and got more XP than expected there. It was difficult to make too much progress without resting to heal, which resulted in spawning extra skeletons at 2,000 XP each and he eventually levelled up again by killing the last shadow there.
He was making reasonable progress at the start of the final tomb when he tried to rest to heal up and was interrupted. Going outside he tried again and was again interrupted. Now being chased by yetis, he went to the previous tomb to try and lose them in there. I knew a few skeletons would have respawned in there, but was caught out by just how many there were - the deeper he went into the tomb the more appeared. That resulted in the inevitable result of being trapped. He had an invisibility potion though as a result of giving Oswald some gnomish tools and fortunately these random spawns didn't have the follow-me script and wandered off once they couldn't see Tres.
Continuing to draw enemies away to kill one at a time, Tres made steady progress and picked up another level while fighting Mytos' guardians.
For Mytos himself Tres started with stealth shots, but once he seemed to be out of spells came into melee. He took too much damage to safely finish him off like that though, so reverted to missiles at the end.
A mummy was guarding the route down, but that had a slow weapon speed and failed to even get an attack in.
On the next level a trap spawned half a dozen tattered skeletons. Those can be quite tough even one on one and did have a follow-me script. That required taking them to an open space in the outside where Tres could leverage his movement and weapon speed advantages. Then it was back to cautiously working through the tomb - pulling all visible enemies back to reduce the danger from any hold type traps. He was also picking up XP from the respawning shadows outside when going back to sell stuff and he hadn't got too far into the downstairs area when he picked up an 18th level - maximising his standard fist attacks at 4 APR. The XP kept racking up though and there were still a number of enemies left when running another mummy round got Tres to level 19.
After clearing all the other guards the final skeletal mage was just meleed - it failed to complete a spell.
The final task was to go and deal with Lysan. Her and her yetis were another lot with follow-me scripts, so Tres ran away to be safe. He bounced back a couple of times to kill all but one of the yetis before taking out the priestess.
Rewards for that left him still a bit short of level 20, but that shouldn't take long to get at the Temple of the Forgotten God. Rather than ferry loot back and forward there, Tres has now invested in a Scarab of Goodwill and used the discount from that to purchase a bag of holding.
Monk 19, 112 HPs (incl. 10 from talisman), 1074 kills
All the resting done to heal damage means that Tres has almost completed 2 years of game time so far .
Okay, so I made the mistake of picking a fight with two ATweaks Glabrezus. But first, I thought the problem was with the drow, because, when I failed to land a fatal backstab on the drow wizard, we ended up with a very scary Time Stop spell. The Cloak of Mirroring and our excellent saving throws meant that we were safe from almost anything a wizard could throw out, but since I've gotten accustomed to viewing wizards as lethal threats whenever their spells are not actively being disrupted, I decide to use Shadowstep to make my escape.
But the enemy follows me, and it's an ugly sight.
We run all the way across the map, but the Glabrezus and wizard have a habit of teleporting after us. We slay a Stone Golem during a quiet period, but the Glabrezus are another issue. We can use Detect Illusions to remove the Glabrezus' Mirror Image spells and we can dual-wield with Belm and the Scarlet Ninja-to, but in ATweaks, Glabrezus also have a habit of going ethereal whenever they're put in even the slightest amount of danger. The instant we get rid of the Mirror Images, the Glabrezu vanishes--we can't actually land hits on it.
I spend many rounds running away from the wizard, lest he try to nail me with a Maze spell or something. We escape the wizard, but the Glabrezus follow--and they gate in additional copies of themselves.
Frisky Bits drinks a Potion of Absorption to help block the enemy's crushing damage attacks, but we still take damage simply because Glabrezus have 5 attacks per round, and they have lots of chances to make high attack rolls--and with 25 Strength (!?), Glabrezus also hit really hard when they do make contact. We, however, only get an excruciatingly brief window in which to actually harm the Glabrezus: whenever they appear, they have a full set of Mirror Images, and they disappear mere seconds after those Mirror Images go away. Even at high APR by dual-wielding speed weapons, we barely have a chance to even make an attack roll.
And even when we do, our odds of landing a hit are very small indeed, as the Glabrezus have less than -10 AC. Fortunately, we occasionally manage to make contact.
The drow finally catch up to us at the svirfneblin settlement, forcing us to run away--unlike the Stone Golems and Glabrezus, the drow can't be thwarted with Potions of Absorption. We keep going, but it's an uphill battle. Basically every clash with the Glabrezus ends the same way: the Glabrezu appears, we have to wait until Detect Illusions removes its Mirror Images, we make a couple failed attack rolls, and then the Glabrezu instantly vanishes. There's simply nothing we can do to stop them.
Round after round after round after round, we run in circles, trying to land hits on the Glabrezus whenever they grace us with their presence, but I spend the majority of the time just waiting for an opportunity to make an attack roll.
There's nothing less satisfying in a game than having to wait for something to happen. And Jesus Christ, this stretches on for wages. I have no idea how many times I saw those Glabrezus disappear with that bluish swirl, robbing us of our chance to actually play the damn game.
I can't even tune out, either--I have to pay close attention to the timing of the plane shifts, or else I'll miss my opportunity to make progress.
After countless rounds of constant focus and mindless waiting, we slowly deal damage to the Glabrezus. It's such a relief to finally see them fall, and at the same time it's so aggravating to realize how much time we spent on a single enemy.
It's almost as bad as Tanova, except we have to deal with multiple Glabrezus; not just one stubborn vampire who won't engage us. Finally, finally the last one goes down.
It's one of the longest fights in this entire run, and by far the most repetitive. The worst part is that it's not even a problem restricted to a Shadowdancer. A fighter would have to do the exact same thing; he or she just wouldn't have to do it nearly as often.
We've still got to deal with the drow, and one of them is a thief. As I've mentioned before, we can't reveal hidden thieves with Detect Illusions unless they're hiding behind a spell or potion; normal stealth can't be broken by Detect Illusions. So how do we kill this thief, who could be anywhere, without exposing ourselves to a deadly backstab?
Simple: we use quicksaves to divine his position, summon Kitthix to bait him into breaking stealth, and then using Detect Invisibility when he switches to Potions of Invisibility.
That's what enemies should be like. They can pose unique threats that not all strategies can counter, but handling the thief can be done in multiple ways, and the game rewards a more sophisticated approach. Plus, you only have to do the same thing once in the same fight, instead of... well, God only knows how many times I had to repeat the same process with each one of the Glabrezus.
The other drow are perfectly visible and their buffs have long since worn off, so we can just backstab them and shoot down the mage with some arrows.
To deal with the mind flayer ambush at the start of the Ust Natha questline, we spawn a couple clones for sheer damage output. Another Shadow Clone spell helps us bring down the Beholder midway through the questline, and backstabs clear the way to the treasury chamber.
Hide in Plain Sight means we don't have to worry about getting spotted by Taso Kala or anything like that.
Back in Athkatla, we go on a shopping spree and buy up a bunch of high-level scrolls and the Sling of Everard, among other things. Since this isn't an EET install, I can't go back if I forget something; I have to make sure we have everything we need before proceeding to ToB.
At the forgotten temple the verbeeg and priests were vulnerable to both palm and stun, so it didn't take long to kill enough of those to get to level 20.
That was handy as Tres now had immunity to normal weapons - meaning the verbeegs couldn't hurt him. The priests were still potentially dangerous with their spells, but using stealth to draw them away from others reduced that danger to acceptable levels.
I was pleased when I found a magic ring there. Either a ring of protection or of spell saves would have been extremely welcome - but a ring of +10% missile resistance barely registered a flicker on the welcome meter. It didn't take long though to finish off that area and Tres was soon off to Dragon's Eye.
The lizard men there use normal weapons, so only their shamans were any concern. Trying to kite bombardier beetles around the tunnels could have been a problem, so Tres used stealth attacks with the palm against them - running immediately from their acid spray if the first attack failed. I was assuming though that it would take them a bit of time to spray the acid. After killing half a dozen or so of them I found out my mistake when one responded instantly to a failed attack. That would have been the end of most characters, but despite their deadly acid the beetles only have a non-magical attack and Tres was able to recover from being stunned several times when the beetles appeared to only have 2 acid attacks each available.
With XP coming at a rapid rate I initially missed that Tres got another level shortly after killing the last of the beetles - his long range fists beating up some spiders trapped in a narrow crevice.
There was a bit of carelessness against more spiders though when I got wrong whether they could get through another passage and was trapped.
Another potion of invisibility postponed death, but the spiders have the follow-me script, so it was still a dangerous situation. I thought I might need to use a potion of regeneration and then try and hack a way out, but fortunately there was just enough room for Tres to move around - causing the spiders to shift round enough to open up an exit route. The phase spiders could teleport past blockages, but with Tres being immune to poison they weren't too much of a threat if care was taken.
Even the lizard king had forgotten to pack a magic weapon and had to watch his court die around him before he got his turn - at some point in that combat Tres also got the XP for level 22.
The king's treasure included another magic ring - but a ring giving constitution -1 and intelligence +1 didn't even deserve a flicker on the welcome meter.
Getting established on the next level down took a while as there were loads of enemies, including bombardier beetles. However, trolls couldn't hurt Tres and his ability to kill them with the palm made them less annoying than usual. He still hadn't finished off the horde that surrounded the entrance when he picked up another level.
The last dozen or so of enemies though were easy when a group of trolls were kind enough to block access to the last few beetles - allowing Tres to sling them at his leisure.
There were plenty more beetles nearby, but they could all be pulled away individually. That meant they were no threat, despite their ability to release acidic vapor well after being stunned themselves (it's not obvious on the screenshot, but there was a significant gap between the beetle being stunned and using acid and I saw the same behavior from several other beetles).
With trolls also falling thick and fast that meant it wasn't long before getting a 24th level.
A group of talonite priests and their pet trolls all had group follow-me scripts. That certainly had potential for trouble (and it was the long-distance hold person spells from this group that killed the shaman I last tried this challenge with). Tres therefore led them all the way back to the entrance to allow a safe retreat before activating the palm.
With that lot out of the way Tres had access to the ability to rest without interruption by talking to Mother Egenia, though he just relied on his stealth anyway. He also tried donating to the church to raise reputation, but that didn't seem to have any effect. Going over the area again he found a couple of stray trolls and found level 25 had only taken a few minutes.
That level maximises his fists ability - they now act as +4 weapons.
The generally speedy run through the previous level came to an end as Tres moved down to find a horde of undead waiting. He could nearly always kill one of those before having to run for it, but with so many of them it took a while to chew through those. After that though, with more room to move around the other similar groups were marginally easier and he picked up another couple of levels doing that (unfortunately his MR tops out at 78% though).
I also confirmed during that the Undead Lieutenants are clearly just Lieutenants of Undead as, despite their appearance, both stun and palm work on them.
At the end of the area Presio's apprentice followed him back to the entrance with some imbued wights. After half a dozen failed attempts at palming him, Tres tried out a stun - and got that to stick.
Presio's personal army was drawn away next and pushed Tres on to level 28 - gaining his final weapon proficiency there.
Presio himself then found mirrors no help against the dreaded palm.
Next up will be the temple. I imagine the Summoner there could be a real pain in Heart of Fury mode, but I can't remember the details of the level - I might have to resort to reading a walkthrough I think to give Tres a chance of progressing further .
Monk 28, 130 HPs (incl. 10 from talisman), 1382 kills
In the Eldathyn temple Tres had a quick walk round and then confronted Albion - his palm failed to get a quick kill, but he still beat him up and picked up his key before retreating.
All the Eldathyn though had follow-me scripts and chased Tres despite his stealth right across the previous area. However, making a stand there confirmed that none of them had magic weapons and Tres picked up easy XP as a result (he initially used the Eldathyn as a screen against some elite yuan-ti that also followed, but testing on the last of those confirmed they couldn't hit him either).
Coming back again, Tres made his way directly to the High Summoner and finished him with the palm.
Retreating again he was again followed by lots of enemies, including a group of yuan-ti mages. Rather than retreat right across the area this time he rested on the run and tried a couple of times to palm one of the mages. That failed and Tres took nasty damage, particularly from vitriolic spheres,
but the 3rd attempt succeeded to get him his penultimate level.
After running round and picking off a couple more enemies he took a stand at the exit to finish off the last couple of mages.
Back at the Temple there were no further problems in clearing the area, including teaching the High Ritualist he should have equipped his guards with magic weapons.
Heading down the next level, Tres hit his cap at level 30 with his first victim there.
Traps were initially the main concern as he made his way down the spiral. However, in an attempt to save a bit of time he attacked directly the High Archer - and found his HPs disappearing rapidly as the elite yuan-tis got 3 criticals in quick succession with +1 arrows. Another potion of invisibility was used there as a result.
The histachii a bit further on were immune to palm and stun and could hit him, but not easily and not particularly hard. A big group of priests didn't have the spells to worry him,
while another large group of yuan-ti elites all had the follow-me script and lost the opportunity to use their bows to good effect. The High Baptist had the usual problem that his charmed commoners were unable to hit Tres.
Finally arriving at Yxunomei Tres retreated as soon as he spoke to her and hid - but a newly locked door meant he was unable to go back up the slope as done with previous groups. Instead he retreated into a side room where the enemies could only attack one at a time. The final yuan-ti mage got an acid arrow past his MR and Tres quickly took a potion of regeneration as the mage fell to be replaced by Yxunomei - but that was almost immediately dispelled by a pesky yuan-ti priest.
Tres didn't have another of those and then things got crowded when Yxunomei summoned some undead. That was a bad move from her though as it allowed Tres to use them as a shield and he started hitting Yxunomei from beyond her melee range while healing himself with lay on hands and a potion of heroism. I was concerned that the cloudkills would kill the near-dead priest that was shielding him, but when that wore off there was only going to be one victor - Tres wincing a bit as he saw 186k of XP wasted from her death.
He'd used a potion of frost giant strength during the fight and that allowed him to open all except one of the treasure chests (there wasn't anything particularly useful in there anyway though).
Back in Kuldahar Tres killed a few wandering orogs and bought the lucky scimitar to use as an off-hand weapon (his THACO is so good that the full penalties for dual-wielding are not a problem). He then talked to the dying Arundel and was told that the Severed Hand was the next location to visit. Rather to my surprise Tres will get the chance to visit there next ...
Monk 30, 134 HPs (incl. 10 from talisman), 1562 kills
I got further than I expected in this run, but ultimately took one chance too many .
At the Severed Hand most of the enemies couldn't hurt Tres. That meant no need to worry about being surrounded, which made combats much quicker and easier. The shadowed beings were immune to palm, but not stun - so that was used to prevent things like shamans from casting, while more dangerous melee enemies like ogres were normally hit from behind a shield of harmless orcs or goblins. It was a similar sort of story with skeletons - burning ones could be stunned, while bladed and armored versions only had normal weapons.
On the fourth level Tres found Lehland's shop and was able to identify items found in the tower so far. That was a more useful collection than previously, including:
- a ring giving +1 strength to give a combat boost and extra chance of opening containers.
- jester's bag of holding which can produce new items.
- bone marrow belt to reduce slashing damage.
- lesser promise sword giving a 5% chance of 1d6 healing (more useful to me than most as it can help get round my no healing items restriction).
In the towers most shadowed elves couldn't hurt Tres and the casters rarely completed spells. Wraith spiders could hurt him, but not easily or very much and it was just a matter of time to finish the tasks and restore the astrolabe. More magic item upgrades included a +3 sling and a ioun stone giving 5% magic resistance (pushing total to 83%). I still couldn't fully repair the astrolabe at the point I'd done everything though and after rechecking the upper towers several times realized I'd missed a small section of the first level of the main tower. With that done the astrolabe was duly put back in working order and Larrel divined the location for the next step in the journey.
Arriving at Dorn's Deep Tres ran into some blue myconids. Their spores allowed a save vs death and I was fairly confident that a save of 0 would protect against that. He killed the first half dozen or so singly without getting hit and was perhaps over-confident when finding another group of 2 and attacking directly - a critical hit for 76 damage reminded him that monks are pretty vulnerable when they can be hit.
Ettins could also hit hard, but were normally stunned before they got the chance - it was interesting to see though that ettins and myconids didn't like each other.
After spending a while in the original cave I tired of seeing enemies respawn and moved on to the next area. Scouting that out showed a bunch of drow, but fortunately most of them could be pulled individually rather than all moving as one group and were easily stunned (the monk's stuns are non-magical). One exception was a pair of drow vanguards that moved together and they were the hardest fight Tres had had for a long time - largely because his attempted lay on hands got interrupted. Eventually though he triumphed with the help of stealth attacks and was able to rest up.
The remaining drow were all tackled individually without problems and Tres moved on to the next level.
Krilag had a magic weapon, but that didn't do him much good after being stunned. There was no further route from the labyrinth, but going back into the library Tres found a secret door leading to a puzzle room. He correctly identified how to pass the outer circle there by matching the pattern on the table, but when he tried to match a pair of crossed axes he found he'd apparently mixed up swords and axes (a bit mean that as the correct symbol is not an exact match for the pattern on the table either - though it is admittedly closer if I'd studied the room more carefully)
and was hit by lightning bolts. At the point of this screenshot I could have taken an absorption potion, but don't often do that sort of thing .
I'd already used lay on hands for the day, so decided to just risk the possibility that the lightning bolts would return ...
@Flashburn: That's a narrow window, but it makes sense, and if that's how they're scripted, then short-range kiting could completely solve the problem, and make it possible for any class to handle ATweaks in Shadows of Amn.
Still not going to reinstall ATweaks demons or elementals. Doable or not, solo or party, that component is just no fun.
I haven't used ATweaks in BG2. Is it just ridiculously hard?
14 Alturiak 1369: Silas, a servant & Lorekeeper of Ογημα, to posterity, presents greetings.
As I intended, I set out for the Lonely Peaks w/my entourage, intent on exploring there before seeing the Firewine Bridge & visiting Gullykin. What I didn’t intend is the ruins under the Firewine Bridge which I discovered. But I digress.
The Lonely Peaks is an area dominated by two tall peaks and a smaller one between in the NE corner for which the area is named. There is also a ridgeline that runs SW to NE in the center of the area. The grass is mostly scrub & there are few trees except in the SE where there are patches of cedars. This area was mostly inhabited by large humanoids, particularly Ogres. Half-Ogres, Ogrillons & Hobgoblins. I was once challenged by three Ruffians (Ioin, Billy, Dribben (Ftrs/6) but the curs were short work & I didn’t even break a sweat.
Next, I arrived at the Firewine Bridge. The bridge itself is an amazing piece of history & it was somewhat surreal to be there, especially when I met a Bard who relayed a story of the bridge from days past. Imoen gave him 10gp. Zombies, Skeletons & Kobolds inhabited the area enough to be an annoyance as I was trying to look around. I did have the pleasure of meeting Meilum, the greatest swordsman in Faerun, or so he said. He was better than Khalid, but then Khalid is an Archer. Once the battle got out of hand, the rest of us finished him off before I found it necessary to use a Raise Dead scroll. Meilum had Weapons of Expertise & a Long Sword +1, but we needed neither & sold both.
This is where I discovered the entrance to the Firewine Ruins, which I’d read about in my studies previously, but that I’d overlooked in planning this part of my journey. This very tight, 10’x8’ maze of tunnels is truly a challenge if one is not careful, which I was, making sure Khalid & Imoen inched their way along scouting well in front of the main body of my retinue. And it’s a good thing, traps were everywhere. And so were…
…Kobold Commando’s, 42 of them in all.
KEY EVENT: (Battle of Firewine Ruins) At one point, shortly after I’d arrived, Khalid & Imoen made contact w/Kobold Commando’s in a NE passage a short distance from the 50’x30’ room in which I & the main body were waiting. Kobold’s are barely gnats, but Kobold Commando’s w/their Arrow’s of Fire, are more like wasps – they need to be dealt w/immediately. Khalid & Imoen are capable of handling quite a few alone but they still must be given respect. In this case, back in the main room, I had someone positioned at every hallway leading out, just in case any other threats appeared. My caution paid off, as suddenly more Kobold Commando’s started attacking from the east hallway in force. Khalid & Imoen were not able to shift, as they were still being pressed. Branwen took up the brunt of the fight in the east passage aided by monsters summoned from Neera’s Wand of Monster Summoning. Otherwise, Neera was not involved in this fight for two reasons: well three. 1) She is my most vulnerable party member, 2) I didn’t want her casting spells I might need later, and 3) she’s Neera. Regardless, I won the battle on both fronts, killing 20+ Kobold Command’s, not even close to the most difficult battle I’ve led, but, the most satisfying from a strategy standpoint. Moving Faldorn at one point from East to NE to aid Khalid & Imoen was a master stroke. I have a proficient group.
EXHILERATING FIGHT!
Later, I finished clearing the black in the ruins, easily disposing of a mage, an Ogre Mage & four Ogrillons before exiting the ruins into a Hobbit home. My first experience with a Hobbit was with one that was thoroughly evil & was endangering all his fellow Hobbits to the evil Kobolds – another reason true neutrality is the only worldview.
I was rightfully hailed as a savior in Gullykin, although my compensation was disappointing. I took some time to visit Gullykin & explore the surrounding countryside. A few kobolds here, & three Ankheg’s. I was also attacked by an adventuring group that used my name claiming they’d been sent to kill me. I think two were knights, one a warrior priest & the fourth a dwarven Berserker maybe. Neera cast Web & tangled up all save the dwarf. As such, I had the other three dispatched one by one while keeping the dwarf busy until I could turn everyone on him.
ALMOST PERFECT
“Stifle no new ideas, no matter how false and crazed they seem”
Σιλας
In which Croll and his crew of miscreants wreak havok upon the Sword Coast and feed the spirits many pathetic souls
The Flaming Fist have made capturing or killing Croll a top priority. He is proving to be far worse than the iron crisis; worse than the plague of bandits; worse than the Chill and the Blacktalons combined. In the past week:
Croll encountered a woman who asked him to ferry an injured deserter, Samuel, to a healer. Neither the woman nor Samuel survived.
Creepy old Elminster made the mistake of bothering Croll once again at the entry to Baldur's Gate. The wizard managed to drop a cow on Dorn before succumbing to a concentrated assault.
Noralee asked Croll to fetch her gauntlets. Croll asked her corpse to fetch them itself.
At the Seven Suns, Jhasso asked Croll to do his worst. So he did.
Nadine the dwarf was going to ask Croll to deliver an amulet of protection to her son, Euric -- but then she got a bad feeling about the cruel-looking shaman. Her instincts were not wrong. Croll had already killed her son. He then struck her down, taking both of her magical necklaces.
Dabron Sashenstar came to avenge his brother, who Croll had murdered in the Cloakwood. The family is now short two sons.
Varci Roaringhorn asked Croll to help rescue her dead friend from the Temple of Umberlee. Croll doesn't do rescues.
The priest Chanthalas Ulbright refused to give Croll his tome of wisdom. Unwise.
Lothander poisoned Croll, then made him run around looking for a cure. After obtaining the potion from the foolish assassin, Croll killed him and took his boots. Unfortunately for bystanders like Maple Willow Aspen, Croll didn't stop with just one corpse.
Louise and Laerta were afraid of a boogey-man. They should have been afraid of the Shaman.
Gorpel Hind helped Croll fend off an assault by a braggart called Gretek and his crew. But the spirits, once unleashed, would not be appeased with just one party. Hind and his crew had to go down too.
Duke Silvershield's palace held many guards. The spirits feasted mightily, but the duke and his daughter managed to escape.
The priests of Gond got upset when Croll stole a few gems and a telescope from the Hall of Wonders. The priests, their guards, and dozens of Flaming Fist Enforcers all died attempting (and failing) to protect their museum.
Mad Arcand was so crazy, he didn't even fight back after Croll began stabbing him.
Croll found that the gnomes in Gullykin made good snacks. The only one who escaped was Alora.
Duke Eltan asked Croll to infiltrate the Iron Throne Tower. For some reason, the Duke overlooked the fact that Croll had just killed every Flaming Fist soldier in the building.
After the spirits swept the Iron Throne tower clean, feasting on a party of Sarevok's flunkies, Duke Eltan sent Croll to Candlekeep. There Croll murdered his childhood "friend" Imoen outside the gates.
Most of the inhabitants of Candlekeep died that day. Whether through an assault by dopplegangers, or at the hands of Croll the Cruel, none shall ever know.
After escaping the Catacombs, Croll decided that the Keeper of the Portal had asked for "a tome of great value" one too many times. The Keeper fought long and valiantly, but ultimately the spirits pinned him to the ground while Montaron tickled his chin with a poisoned dagger.
No children are safe. Even children who are actually devils in disguise.
Most famously, Croll engineered a devious act of revenge on that uppity mage, Shandalar. While working with the Thieves Guild, Croll discovered the wizard's daughters staying at an estate in Baldur's Gate. He let the spirits loose on them, taking no prisoners.
Croll returned to Ulgoth's Beard, where he showed Shandalar the corpses of his offspring. And then he put the grief-stricken mage out of his misery.
"No one ever teleports Croll without his permission," he said, angrily.
This is quite the run, @Blind_Visionary - your Croll the Cruel is making my evil characters look like absolute saints! Are you going to attempt the same behavior in BG 2? The enforcers there are far more dangerous...
@Flashburn: That's a narrow window, but it makes sense, and if that's how they're scripted, then short-range kiting could completely solve the problem, and make it possible for any class to handle ATweaks in Shadows of Amn.
Still not going to reinstall ATweaks demons or elementals. Doable or not, solo or party, that component is just no fun.
I haven't used ATweaks in BG2. Is it just ridiculously hard?
aTweaks can give fiends, elementals, undead, and fey the powers they have in PnP AD&D. Fights with those enemy types are much harder as a result. Demons, Earth Elementals, and Aerial Servants are especially dangerous.
Elementals in general are annoying because of their elemental concealment, which lets them go invisible every round if their surrounding environment is suited to their type (lots of air, earth, water, or fire nearby). Demons are more vicious than ever, with Balors being the top dog of demonkind (as they're supposed to be) with their 15% chance on-hit to perform a no-save no-MR vorpal hit that can only be negated by Death Ward. Demons, Devils, and mephits can gate in others of their kind to aid them with varying success rates depending on how far up the fiendish ladder they are, though the gated fiends cannot call for help themselves. Balors and Pit Fiends do so with 100% success rates and Pit Fiends can do this once per round. This gating component is optional but can still be turned off by using the console if installed.
Certain fiends can also use Plane Shift/Ethereal Jaunt to make themselves untouchable by any means, but they also can't do anything to you while ethereal. This plane shifting behavior is anti-fun so I always turn it off with the console.
Are you going to attempt the same behavior in BG 2?
I appreciate your confidence that I'll make it that far... however, it may be misplaced . things aren't going so well for Croll at the moment... I just attempted Balduran's Isle. It was my first time playing through that content (usually I'm scared to do TOTSC quests and just move on to Sarevok... which is probably what I should have done this time).
In which Croll fights a whole island, and is introduced to the concept of karma
In Ulgoth's Beard, Croll encountered a researcher interested in exploring what could be the wreckage of the lost ship of Balduran. Smelling profit, Croll took the job.
First up, the crew not-so-politely asked a sea captain at the Merchants' counting house for his navigation charts. The captain refused. So Croll killed him, and his entire crew; taking the charts by force.
The charts were accurate, but the ship they sailed was not. It crashed into a reef, stranding Croll and his miscreants on an island with some kind of village. Croll talked to the woman in charge of the settlement, Kaishas. She asked him to go slay some beasts on the other side of the island. Croll refused to help. But he wanted to explore a bit before feeding the villagers to his spirits, so he left the woman alive.
On the north side of the island, Croll encountered aggressive wolfweres. The spirits feasted on them, and gained a liking for lycanthropic flesh. Croll also met a loony old elf hiding in a hut. Claimed he was one of Balduran's crew. The elf didn't like Croll's tone, though, and decided to attack. His first spell killed Montaron, Viconia and Xzar, but Baeloth returned with the spirits and claimed his soul.
Croll and his miscreants then explored the ship, killing many wolfweres. The leader of the pack put up a bit of a fight, but in the end, the spirits swallowed him whole. Croll found a baby, but had no idea whose it might be. He left it there to die.
Returning to the original village, Croll discovered that this group, too, were a tribe of werewolves. The village elder even claimed that she had infected Croll with lycanthropy! Hogwash. Croll felt nothing but the burning need to set the spirits loose to feed.
The team discovered tunnels under one of the buildings, and followed them to a secret harbor, where Kaishas had built a ship. All she needed were the sea charts in order to sail free. She attacked, in force.
Werewolves boiled out of the tunnels in a hideous swarm, ambushing Croll and his team. Montaron, who had been looking for a place to hide, walked straight into them and was shredded instantly. Dorn buffed with potions to hit harder and faster, and swung away at Kaishas... but every cut regenerated almost instantly. With the battle turning against him, Croll decided to regroup. Baeloth cast Invisibility 15ft, and the party managed to retreat back inside the caves.
After a quick rest, Baeloth attempted to clear the werewolves out of the way with fire. Many died... but still more boiled out of the caves.
The party decided to sneak invisibly up to Kaishas. Dorn buffed to the hilt with his best potions, and picked up one of the only swords he had that could hurt the terrifying werewolf. While the rest of the crew attempted to stay out of the way, Dorn managed to overcome Kaishas' regeneration. He cut her down, and recovered the navigation charts needed to make it back to Ulgoth's Beard.
Dorn then cut a path to the ship. But still the werewolves came.
Croll had to swim, still invisible, over to the ship. Dorn cut the anchor loose, shoving werewolves into the water, and the party made its escape.
Back in Ulgoth's Beard, it became clear that the "researcher" was no such thing... and that Croll had been set up. Although he was angry, half the party was dead and the rest were pretty scratched up. Croll decided to head to the temple for healing before going after Mendas' head.
But the party had been infected with lycanthropy.
The infection bit while the party slept. Croll awoke, surrounded by greater wolfweres. Dorn, Viconia, Montaron, Xzar and Baeloth had all been reduced to hideous, slavering beasts. They would not speak to him; they only wanted blood.
Croll fled. He wondered why he alone had been spared... realizing that it must be his divine heritage as a Child of Bhaal that protected him in a way his companions were not.
He sought out new party members who might aid him in feeding souls to his spirits. But he was cursed. Anyone who spent time near him turned into a wolfwere.
Shar-Teel joined him. Soon she was gone.
Eldoth, too, could not resist the infection.
Croll is now returning to Baldur's Gate. He must take on Sarevok alone.
Good luck @Blind_Visionary - reminds me of my all paladin run where all my fellow paladins died and lost their equipment too - only my main character kept his equipment (didn't have bag of holding yet). Firkraag is what killed my party. We had terrible equipment for rest of the game.
5 Ches 1369: Silas, a servant & Lorekeeper of Ογημα, to posterity, presents greetings.
The calendar has turned to Ches, The Claw of the Sunsets. The Spring Equinox approaches & I look forward to the warmer weather to come.
I traveled to the Song of the Morning to see the landscape surrounding it. The area is dry and rocky with some scrub grass and few trees. There a ridgeline to the east and some smaller peaks to the SW. I destroyed a group of Hobgoblins after Khalid had scouted them during recon. I had Neera cast Web from beyond their sight range & then they were easily picked off one by one. I also came upon a large pack of mixed wolves, including two Vampiric Wolves & while I was having them dispatched, we were attacked in our flank by several Hobgoblin Elites. No sweat, but it reminds me that a perfect plan can go south quickly if you get flanked by an unforeseen enemy.
FLANKED BUT NO SWEAT
I moved to the Ulcaster next. Much of the area is a dry riverbed from a deep river that flowed here in ages past. Therein were Hobgoblins, Hobgoblin Elites, Skeleton, Zombies & Kobolds. The Ulcaster School ruins sit high up to the northeast. Now just a maze of crumbling buildings, they were inhabited by two Ghasts & some of the same creatures from the riverbed below. The Ghost of Ulcaster also roams herein, & in meeting him he seemed to want a tome buried beneath. I didn’t think much of it at the time.
There was a broken grate leading into the dungeon below which served as a den for various wolves where I found two dead bodies that were serving as a food source. We were attacked by a Revenant here also, who appeared to have been associated with the school, but was long since dead. He seemed to be confused about how long he’d been that way & was trying to find a host body so that he could exact revenge on those who betrayed the school. We found Boots of Stealth & a Cloak of Protection +2 in Ulcaster, so the adventure was lucrative.
KEY EVENT: (Return of the Tome) None of the usual type. I got satisfaction returning the tome to Ulcaster’s Ghost. It was in a Vampiric Wolf’s treasure pile & is a tome of knowledge. Oghma will be pleased.
“Stifle no new ideas; rather, let them be heard and considered.”
Σιλας
I did not know that Gorion's amulet gives armor protection +1 - you know the little 'birthday present' Imoen gives the PC? Just figured that out after playing BG for years.
I did not know that Gorion's amulet gives armor protection +1 - you know the little 'birthday present' Imoen gives the PC? Just figured that out after playing BG for years.
You must be talking about a mod item - not aware of any item like that in vanilla BG or BG EE.
Even though we have no pips in katanas and I have no intention of ever using them, I head to the Guarded Compound to retrieve Celestial Fury. We slay Koshi in seconds, but I stick around to finish off Sion and the rest. Our access to many castings of Shadow Clone means we can let the enemy fuss around with a clone while we bide our time and strike when Sion's defenses have run low.
We kill Valygar and head to the Planar Sphere. We try to wait out Lavok's opening defenses using Shadowstep, but we don't have the APR to break through his Stoneskins when time returns to normal, allowing him to get a Time Stop off the ground. He summons no Fallen Planetar, however, and once we wait out his Absolute Immunity spell with more Shadowstep spells, we can nail him with an Arrow of Dispelling and shoot him down.
I think the reason almost no mages have been using Summon Fallen Planetar in my runs lately is because I've uninstalled the component that makes level 9 mage HLAs into once-per-day abilities rather than level 9 spells, which means mages have to choose between memorizing Time Stop and memorizing Summon Fallen Planetar--and they appear to always pick the former, which I think is a poor choice.
Next up, we need a Demon Heart. Unfortunately, that means wrestling with a Glabrezu, so once again, we spend most of our time waiting for an opportunity to strike. Aside from an alarming PW: Stun that takes down our first clone, the process is just like the Glabrezu fights in the Underdark.
We nail Tolgerias with a backstab and even hit him with a follow-up Arrow of Dispelling, but he survives and his pre-buffs keep us at bay. He never did cast Time Stop, however, so all we have to do is run away from his Gelugon (which looks like a frost salamander in ATweaks, I guess because it's more accurate to PnP Glabrezus) and stay hidden until his weapon immunities are gone.
Tolgerias has ranged attacks, but can't see through invisibility, while his Gelugon can see through invisibility, but has no ranged attacks. Running away under invisibility prevented either of them from fighting back.
We buy some more high-level mage scrolls with the funds from looting the Guarded Compound and pay a visit to Mazzy Fentan's house, where the Nymph Cloak allows us to get her killed without having to get our hands dirty.
The Sword of Arvoreen grants immunity to stun and slow, which should be very useful against ATweaks demons.
Arrows of Dispelling and backstabs get us through most of the Planar Prison, but the Warden can see through invisibility and is not so easy to fool. We have two clones, one from Vhailor's Helm and one from Shadow Clone, help Frisky Bits break through the Warden's Stoneskins using nonmagical arrows, but the Warden is hasted and very aggressive. We can't really tank him at point-blank range, at least not with a ranged weapon.
Since we have a massive surplus of clones, we send them after him one after another to die. Only after his Improved Haste has worn off 20 rounds later do I finally rush in and nail him with an Arrow of Dispelling. With that gone, he doesn't have the defenses to tank us effectively.
We charm Haer'dalis with the Nymph Cloak and send him to die against the Rune Assassins I left over from the skinner quest, but we can't use his short swords in my install; apparently they closed an exploit in which a character with UAI could still use the Chaos Blade to land DEX drain kills.
We hunt down all the spare PFMW and Improved Haste scrolls we can find (we'll really want them for ToB) before returning to the Temple Ruins. I really want to have the Shadow Dragon Scale to help Frisky Bits survive Nizidramanii'yt's acid breath, so we need to pay a visit to Thaxll'ssillyia.
Unfortunately, while we can block the level drain effect of his breath weapon, we can't block the blindness effect without a True Seeing scroll (which we don't have), and even when we make our saving throw (which is always), we still suffer 6 seconds of blindness, preventing me from either kiting or tanking him, as his circle is too wide for us to keep in our field of vision even when we're right next to him.
Worse yet, he has a bad habit of vanishing under invisibility, prolonging the fight. We're not dependent on short-duration buffs, at least not as much as a mage, so it's not a problem tactically, but it does waste time.
I have our clone tank Thaxll'sillyia while Frisky Bits lobs rocks with the Sling of Everard, but since my clones can't use potions due to SCS, the clones don't last very long, and eventually we're forced to just kite the dragon--even with 70% damage resistance from Shadow Form and the Defender of Easthaven, the dragon does too much damage for us to tank him indefinitely.
Eventually, our Shadow Clone spell finally wears off, so we can replace the clone that got killed earlier (like Simulacrum, you can't re-cast Shadow Clone until it wears off, even if the clone dies earlier). Still, the clone doesn't last, and we have to go back to normal kiting.
Every few rounds, we get blinded and have to run away until it wears off. But after dozens of rounds, the sling damage builds up and finally pushes the dragon over the brink.
I don't normally set auto-pause to "target gone," but I used it here to get a nice screenshot of the final blow.
If you're wondering why Frisky Bits is still dealing with ATweaks demons despite me saying I uninstalled ATweaks after my unkitted fighter died to those demons, it's not because I have two different installs--these fights happened before I began my fighter run (most of my runs have a certain time delay between playing and posting). If I knew better, I would have uninstalled ATweaks for my Shadowdancer run as well.
Since we now have the Crom Faeyr scroll, we may as well go get the Hammer of Thunderbolts, and while we're at it, an even stronger weapon: the Wand of Wonder. Problem is, both of those items are in the mind flayer lair in the sewers, right next to the Alhoon.
The Alhoon isn't just a mind flayer lich. It's a mind flayer fighter/mage lich who can cast Tenser's Transformation and Time Stop. I don't have enough Potions of Absorption to force the Alhoon to roll a 20 to hit me; its THAC0 is just too low and there aren't that many Potions of Absorption available (I need them to fight demons and stuff).
Ordinary mind flayers are more doable. Being a dwarven thief with lots of late-game items means we have subzero saving throws and are immune to Psionic Blast, Psionic Domination, and Psionic Maze. Note that Ulitharids' Psionic Blast has a -4 save penalty, so a save vs. spell of 1 is not going to cut it. Psionic Maze also has a -4 save penalty, though it's much less common.
As for INT drain, we can't really stop mind flayers from rolling five critical hits in a row and draining 25 INT in one round. However, we've been buying dozens of Potions of Genius, and we drink about 20 before entering the mind flayer lair. I have auto-pause on hit to help me keep track of INT drain, so I'll always know to check the Record screen and make sure we're not dipping below 25 INT.
But, amazingly enough, the mind flayers actually manage to land so many critical hits that they almost cancel out our Potions of Genius, bring us down to 21 Intelligence--five hits away from instant death.
Fortunately, we have Use Any Item.
But if I hesitated even for one more second, I might have died, because by the time Mantle was actually active, Frisky Bits' INT dipped all the way down to 11. While I chop up the local calamari, I discover why we lost so much INT, so quickly.
My AC isn't good enough. They don't need critical hits to hit me--the Ulitharids can actually hit me on a 16!
Fortunately, INT drain only lasts 5 rounds, so by the time Mantle wears off (4 rounds), most of the previous INT drain has already worn off, and the mind flayers have been pared down enough that we don't have to worry about getting chomped at the last minute.
We use the Book of Daily Spell to cast Spell Turning and use a Protection from Undead scroll, but we're not done with the other mind flayers just yet--and I catch Frisky Bits at the brink of death.
I use Shadowstep to flee the area. Shadowstep is a fabulous escape option, and not just for buying time for a stealth check; it lets you cover a lot of ground without giving the enemy any chance to follow. All you need is a clear path.
We return with a fresh Protection from Undead scroll and more Potions of Genius, but we get overwhelmed with INT drain--our failure to use an extra Potion of Absorption or another 20 Potions of Genius ends up forcing us to use our second to last PFMW scroll, an invaluable resource.
We make it out, however, and we still have our Protection from Undead scroll active. Feeling bold, I decide to tackle the Alhoon even after I've snitched the Hammer of Thunderbolts and Wand of Wonder. I use a clone to force the Alhoon to break invisibility, and while the clone's Ring of the Ram does no damage (the Alhoon buffs with Protection from Magical Energy, as do many liches fearing a Sunray spell, even though the Alhoon already has 90% MR), it does disrupt the Alhoon's first spell.
Of course, the Alhoon also has permanent Improved Alacrity (!), but it fails to use any big spells against us before its Absolute Immunity spell wears off, paving the way for an Arrow of Dispelling. Once its Stoneskins are down, the Alhoon is taking so many hits from arrows that it can't get any more spells off the ground.
We forge Crom Faeyr!
Finally, we have a means of taking down ettins.
Just kidding. I know there's no ettins outside of City Sushi. Anyway, now that we can land instant kills on trolls, it's time to head to the De'Arnise Hold.
But on the way... we run into an ambush I've never seen before in over 18 years of playing this game.
I have no idea if this is an EE update or a mod-introduced encounter or something else, but this is completely new to me. This is the only ettin I've ever seen outside of IWD or the City of Caverns.
Luckily, we have Crom Faeyr, which kills it in one hit.
God only knows how we could have survived that without Crom Faeyr.
10 Ches 1369: Silas, a servant & Lorekeeper of Ογημα, to posterity, presents greetings.
KEY EVENT: (Death of Khalid) I have now lost a second important follower to the dangers of Basilisks. After spending time clearing the black in both the Coast Way & Lion’s Way, I led my retinue to Mutamin’s Garden. I’d recently released a woman from Petrification when I was near the Song of the Morning a few short days ago. She was quick to give me warning to be careful in this area – even gave me a Potion of Mirrored Eyes. And I was. Khalid, as always, was providing reconnaissance, using Boots of Stealth to augment his already uncanny ability as a Ranger/Archer, I thought sure he’d be okay. He’d come across two Lesser Basilisks & returned to let me know. Neera cast Protection from Petrification on Branwen & I sent her in to deal with the threat, keeping everyone else back beyond their visual range. It worked as expected. But the next time Khalid went out, he was spotted by what turned out to be a mage w/a Greater Basilisk & two Lesser Basilisks. Khalid had just recently traded his Boots of Speed for Boots of Stealth, preferring the added Hide In Shadow & Move Silently ability it gave him. The decision cost him - & me. I never actually found him – like Minsc in the Candlekeep Caves, he was just obliterated. I have plenty of Stone to Flesh scrolls, but I need something to cast the spell on. After a period, I decided to move ahead & had both Branwen & Neera given Protection from Petrification. They took care of the Basilisks – Neera used the final charge in her Wand of Monster Summoning & set the monsters of the Basilisks, while Branwen beat them with her Warhammer. Once they were out of the way, we were given the signal to join them & finish off the Gnome Necromancer.
BRANWEN & NEERA GETTING IT DONE - WITH A LTTLE HELP FROM THEIR FRIENDS
GETTING REVENGE ON THE GNOME FOR KHALID
I had two more battle there of some significance. One with an adventuring party of four that just talked too much & picked a fight. I just don’t take well to that stuff & neither does Imoen, who they challenged as she was out scouting – in place of Khalid. As seems to be the case recently, I end up dealing with multiple enemies in tough battles – in this case two Flinds joined the enemy early on, & then two Gnolls came up behind us. I won the battle, of course, but it was kind of sloppy. A short time later, Imoen found another Greater Basilisk & three more Lesser Basilisks. Between losing Khalid & this fight, I’d returned us to Beregost & had Neera learn multiple Protection from Petrification spells so that the entire party could be protected & used to fight any further Basilisks. That paid off & we defeated them easily before killing four Gnoll Veteran’s that Imoen had come across in the far south of the garden.
There’s a Ranger near Thalantyr’s manor in High Hedge. I don’t want him with me, but I see no alternative as I need that skill. I’ll head there next, grab him & clear the black before swinging over to the Lighthouse and the Shipwreck’s Coast. After that, I’m going to move north and west of Baldur’s Gate, eventually to Ulgoth’s Beard.
“Never slay a singer, nor stand by as others do so.”
Σιλας
We buy some more high-level mage scrolls with the funds from looting the Guarded Compound and pay a visit to Mazzy Fentan's house, where the Nymph Cloak allows us to get her killed without having to get our hands dirty. The Sword of Arvoreen grants immunity to stun and slow, which should be very useful against ATweaks demons.
We charm Haer'dalis with the Nymph Cloak and send him to die against the Rune Assassins I left over from the skinner quest, but we can't use his short swords in my install; apparently they closed an exploit in which a character with UAI could still use the Chaos Blade to land DEX drain kills.
I thought that they'd made a general change to UAI so that it no longer allowed the use of any personal equipment - I don't use any such items myself though so I don't have direct knowledge of that. I think the reason you can still use Mazzy's sword is that it was never restricted just to her in the original game - halflings in general could use it.
@Grond0: Technically there were no changes to the UAI spell itself; they just tacked on opcodes to NPC items that prevented other characters from using it, and UAI didn't grant immunity to those opcodes, so the opcodes overrode UAI. Since Mazzy's swords were never intended to be exclusive to Mazzy herself and were instead available to all halflings who could use short swords and short bows, they never added those opcodes to her gear, allowing non-halflings to use it if they had UAI.
Haer'dalis' Chaos Blade used to lack that opcode due to an oversight, allowing thieves and bards with UAI to wield it, but at some point they added the opcode in a patch.
It's not hardcoded, so you can mod the game to make those items usable again, either by removing the opcodes or possibly by modifying UAI itself to grant immunity to those opcodes.
Comments
Still not going to reinstall ATweaks demons or elementals. Doable or not, solo or party, that component is just no fun.
First run was an gnome assassin. Died in the druid grove of all places to a random spawn that had 3 spirit trolls in it.
The run was already in rough shape after earlier spirit trolls in the keep perma-killed most of my party. The trolls didn't actually chunk them, but I refuse to raise characters if I have to retreat from their bodies.
Anyway, it's funny how you spend so much time in deep BG2/TOB that you can forget whats dangerous early on. Spirit trolls without CC and strong melee DPS are just.... rough business.
Second run is a halfling assassin. I thought about doing a swashy which I still really want to do but decided to run another assassin.
It's a refreshing change of play style after previously always playing some version of a F/M charname (except once when I did a single class kensai).
Sure, he's comparatively garbage power wise, but those backstabs can get pretty sweet. Haven't found a staff of striking yet as I can't remember where they are. Not planning on recharging them or any other items, but will use them judiciously for key backstabs.
Working through chapter two still. At about 600k exp.
Party is charname (halfling assassin), korgan (never used before), jaheira (always use), cernd (never used before), jan (feels like a perfect compliment to a chaotic neutral charname) and edwin.
Cernd is actually pretty great; not sure why he has a reputation of being garbage. Maybe SCS changed his werewolf stats. Looking forward to playing around with the druid HLA shapechanges at some point, which I've never used.
Thought about removing Cernd from the party for the faldorn fight so I didn't have to deal with her improved form (i.e. let him story-kill her). I ultimately decided to keep him in the party, as I've never done that before. Casting II on Cernd before the fight pretty much defanged faldorn, as she can't open with an insect spell. Whereas Cernd can, and then once Faldorn has insects he can just summon a fire elemental, shapechange into a werewolf, and finish the job. I noticed that Faldorn uses potions in the fight. What a dirty cheater *eye roll*.
Did Cernd's character quest for the first time despite having played the game for the first time ~20 years ago. The quest line turns out to have a lich (!!!) in it. Did not have the courage to pick a fight with said lich...
Really liking the latest version of SCS. Sadly it appears the fireshield / insect interaction still doesn't work (despite the patch notes saying specifically that it got fixed). Druids are still pretty strong without bug spells though...
Considering swapping Jan for Sarevok when I get there. A little worried about only having one source of arcane magic, but then again I'm tired of drowning in arcane magic and having the game be too easy.
Gery - half-elf archer (Grond0)
Yertone - human inquisitor (Corey_Russell)
Tabetha - gnome illusionist / thief (Gate70)
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1047141/#Comment_1047141
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1050824/#Comment_1050824
The session began with picking up a couple of necklaces of missiles in the City. A few more quests were then completed, like setting a nymph free from Ragefast's clutches.
We couldn't remember whether we'd done the poison quest last time, but after Gery came down with a bad case of morning sickness it became obvious that Marek was still around. Yertone was particularly anxious to find a cure and tried to save time by killing Marek before talking to him. I'm not sure if that's allowed in BGEE, so Yertone was called off before he could finish the job and Tabetha put the nymph cloak to good use to persuade Marek to hand over the antidote willingly - at which point the carnage recommenced
Having already dealt with Ragefast meant Ramazith would be hostile. Tabetha suffered some missile damage going up his tower, but survived and the mage failed to defend his treasures well.
With main shopping having already been done, Gery put in a request to get a closer look at Drizzt's scimitars. Drizzt has pretty good AC, but not good enough to stand up long to fire from an archer using arrows of piercing.
Back in the City it was time to assault the Iron Throne. Yertone had intended to assault there under the protection of a PfM scroll, but got bored waiting for Gery to fish one out of his scroll case and attacked using a potion of magic shielding - that did the job nicely.
In Candlekeep a bit of time was saved by Gery and Tabetha looting the tombs and double-teaming the phase spiders, while Yertone indulged in his favorite occupation of killing ghasts while laughing at their attempts to hold him. The dopplegangers didn't last long and neither did Prat after being held in Tabetha's web.
With final levels still a little way off, the Trio took a quick tour of hot-spots not yet visited. Gery indulged himself by wasting the Doomsayer with acid arrows before the Revenant and Narcillicus provided further XP boosts.
There was still time to travel back to the City, where Slythe ran into a dispelling arrow and Krystin found she couldn't hide from an inquisitor's true sight.
The next session should see BGEE resolved - one way or the other ...
Archer - L7, 87 HPs (incl. 5 from Helm), 307 kills
Inquisitor - L7, 98 HPs, 177 kills, 0 deaths
Illusionist/thief - L7/7, 36 HPs, 65 kills, 1 death
Previous run
I've not played any single player BG this week, but rather than go cold turkey I thought I'd have another go at this IWD challenge. I wanted to clear the caves near the caravan, but that's a near-impossibility with a lower-level monk due to the way the enemies try and surround you even under steath. Hence I once more ground away hundreds of orcs to get up to level 13 and access quivering palm. Last time I did that I made a mistake very quickly and got trapped, but this time I succeeded in finishing off the enemies.
Here's Tres' record before leaving Easthaven.
Monk 13, 90 HPs, 577 kills
Tip (male dwarf barbarian, Grond0); Twute (male elf mage, Gate70)
Previous updates
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1052148/#Comment_1052148
Not so much going out with a fiery bang as a flaming whimper ...
The intended tasks remaining in Baldur's Gate were carried out pretty smoothly with one slight exception when Tip overlooked that Twute would be coming down Ramazith's tower visible - and would drag enemies with him. Surrounded by ghasts Tip had no rage left, so had to quickly dive into his potion case for a potion of freedom.
Candlekeep saw Tip doing a bit of playing with lightning, but he didn't get hurt too much. Prat thought he had recovered his senses just in time as he went invisible after an unprovoked attack - but killing missiles were already in the air.
With both characters getting final levels in Candlekeep they went straight after Slythe (well, if you don't count the 13 rests required to get a final Bhaal power). He was meleed down rapidly, while Krystin failed to cast another spell after stepping into her own cloudkill.
At the palace Twute enquired whether Tip had left the letters out of his scroll case. He hadn't - which meant the guard inside refused to acknowledge Twute's right to enter. However, he took no stern measures and Tip was able to pacify him by talking direct. He still didn't take the letters out of the container though.
Summons and a few buffs should have taken care of the dopplegangers pretty quickly, but Tip found he didn't appear to be attacking at all in the early stages of the combat (I suspect that although he appeared next to his target on my screen, the computer was treating the target as blocked by other things). That delay in killing the dopplegangers nearly proved fatal as Belt expired and Liia was taken down to a single health bar before the battle was won.
Tip and Twute then tried to lead Liia to the back room to avoid her being attacked by Sarevok. With her at the back of the room though and with Tip in the doorway she suddenly changed direction (I think she must have been fixated on talking to Twute and went the other way because Tip was blocking her). She reappeared at the other door and forced a conversation with Twute before he could move away - Twute had to admit he couldn't find any evidence against Sarevok in his pockets and an order for a flame strike inevitably followed ...
Didn't know you could do that! That's much better than the normal way.
I like the Torgal fight because he seems relatively non threatening but sometimes he can get out ahead of your party's damage curve and be a real monster. Huge regen + accurate melee DPS is no joke if you run out of spells.
Insane SCS appears to add three spirit trolls to the fight. I can't remember if they used to be there, but if there were it was at most 2. Yikes.
Good thing the yuanti mage AI isn't smart enough to get out of cloudkill in this fight (enclosed area I guess?) or it would be extremely tough for a level 10 party. It can still get pretty rough.
I did also land an enfeeble on Torgal early in the fight, which was good and about halved his damage but I had thought it might do more. He must have like a 2d6 or 3d6 base weapon.
So far poison weapon has been... not good? I thought it might be a star against mages, but the assassin's low thac0 and 1 apr means he often doesn't get to apply it and even if he does it just mimics any weapon with any elemental damage, unless the mage fails his save. Which has basically never happened.
Previous updates
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1052242/#Comment_1052242
I took advantage of my wife being away to have an IWD afternoon / evening and made some good progress ...
Taking on the hordes of goblins all at once in Kuldahar Pass was not realistic, so Tres stealthed through the area to get to Kuldahar. He then returned and nibbled the enemies away a few at a time using stealth and quivering palm - jumping between the Vale of Shadows and Kuldahar Pass in order to rest quickly and without cost until he'd cleared an arrival area at the Pass. Clearing the rest of the area, including the valuable chickens, was enough to get up to level 14 and get a start on his magic resistance.
Moving on to the Vale of Shadows, Tres found his stun and palm attacks useless against undead. That slowed progress somewhat, but pulling a few enemies out of tombs at a time and then using stealth and weapon speed advantage still allowed him to make decent inroads. Missile weapons haven't had much use in the run so far, but slingshots were used against ghasts and ghouls - that's reasonably quick thanks to the fighter bonus APR that monks get in EE.
After clearing the first 2 tombs, Tres got another level on the way to the next one.
He was making reasonable progress at the start of the final tomb when he tried to rest to heal up and was interrupted. Going outside he tried again and was again interrupted. Now being chased by yetis, he went to the previous tomb to try and lose them in there. I knew a few skeletons would have respawned in there, but was caught out by just how many there were - the deeper he went into the tomb the more appeared. That resulted in the inevitable result of being trapped. He had an invisibility potion though as a result of giving Oswald some gnomish tools and fortunately these random spawns didn't have the follow-me script and wandered off once they couldn't see Tres.
Continuing to draw enemies away to kill one at a time, Tres made steady progress and picked up another level while fighting Mytos' guardians.
On the next level a trap spawned half a dozen tattered skeletons. Those can be quite tough even one on one and did have a follow-me script. That required taking them to an open space in the outside where Tres could leverage his movement and weapon speed advantages. Then it was back to cautiously working through the tomb - pulling all visible enemies back to reduce the danger from any hold type traps. He was also picking up XP from the respawning shadows outside when going back to sell stuff and he hadn't got too far into the downstairs area when he picked up an 18th level - maximising his standard fist attacks at 4 APR. The XP kept racking up though and there were still a number of enemies left when running another mummy round got Tres to level 19.
The final task was to go and deal with Lysan. Her and her yetis were another lot with follow-me scripts, so Tres ran away to be safe. He bounced back a couple of times to kill all but one of the yetis before taking out the priestess.
Monk 19, 112 HPs (incl. 10 from talisman), 1074 kills
All the resting done to heal damage means that Tres has almost completed 2 years of game time so far
Part 8: Shadows of Amn
Okay, so I made the mistake of picking a fight with two ATweaks Glabrezus. But first, I thought the problem was with the drow, because, when I failed to land a fatal backstab on the drow wizard, we ended up with a very scary Time Stop spell. The Cloak of Mirroring and our excellent saving throws meant that we were safe from almost anything a wizard could throw out, but since I've gotten accustomed to viewing wizards as lethal threats whenever their spells are not actively being disrupted, I decide to use Shadowstep to make my escape.
But the enemy follows me, and it's an ugly sight.
And even when we do, our odds of landing a hit are very small indeed, as the Glabrezus have less than -10 AC. Fortunately, we occasionally manage to make contact.
There's nothing less satisfying in a game than having to wait for something to happen. And Jesus Christ, this stretches on for wages. I have no idea how many times I saw those Glabrezus disappear with that bluish swirl, robbing us of our chance to actually play the damn game.
I can't even tune out, either--I have to pay close attention to the timing of the plane shifts, or else I'll miss my opportunity to make progress.
After countless rounds of constant focus and mindless waiting, we slowly deal damage to the Glabrezus. It's such a relief to finally see them fall, and at the same time it's so aggravating to realize how much time we spent on a single enemy.
We've still got to deal with the drow, and one of them is a thief. As I've mentioned before, we can't reveal hidden thieves with Detect Illusions unless they're hiding behind a spell or potion; normal stealth can't be broken by Detect Illusions. So how do we kill this thief, who could be anywhere, without exposing ourselves to a deadly backstab?
Simple: we use quicksaves to divine his position, summon Kitthix to bait him into breaking stealth, and then using Detect Invisibility when he switches to Potions of Invisibility.
The other drow are perfectly visible and their buffs have long since worn off, so we can just backstab them and shoot down the mage with some arrows.
To deal with the mind flayer ambush at the start of the Ust Natha questline, we spawn a couple clones for sheer damage output. Another Shadow Clone spell helps us bring down the Beholder midway through the questline, and backstabs clear the way to the treasury chamber.
Back in Athkatla, we go on a shopping spree and buy up a bunch of high-level scrolls and the Sling of Everard, among other things. Since this isn't an EET install, I can't go back if I forget something; I have to make sure we have everything we need before proceeding to ToB.
Previous run
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1052347/#Comment_1052347
At the forgotten temple the verbeeg and priests were vulnerable to both palm and stun, so it didn't take long to kill enough of those to get to level 20.
I was pleased when I found a magic ring there. Either a ring of protection or of spell saves would have been extremely welcome - but a ring of +10% missile resistance barely registered a flicker on the welcome meter. It didn't take long though to finish off that area and Tres was soon off to Dragon's Eye.
The lizard men there use normal weapons, so only their shamans were any concern. Trying to kite bombardier beetles around the tunnels could have been a problem, so Tres used stealth attacks with the palm against them - running immediately from their acid spray if the first attack failed. I was assuming though that it would take them a bit of time to spray the acid. After killing half a dozen or so of them I found out my mistake when one responded instantly to a failed attack. That would have been the end of most characters, but despite their deadly acid the beetles only have a non-magical attack and Tres was able to recover from being stunned several times when the beetles appeared to only have 2 acid attacks each available.
With XP coming at a rapid rate I initially missed that Tres got another level shortly after killing the last of the beetles - his long range fists beating up some spiders trapped in a narrow crevice.
Even the lizard king had forgotten to pack a magic weapon and had to watch his court die around him before he got his turn - at some point in that combat Tres also got the XP for level 22.
Getting established on the next level down took a while as there were loads of enemies, including bombardier beetles. However, trolls couldn't hurt Tres and his ability to kill them with the palm made them less annoying than usual. He still hadn't finished off the horde that surrounded the entrance when he picked up another level.
A group of talonite priests and their pet trolls all had group follow-me scripts. That certainly had potential for trouble (and it was the long-distance hold person spells from this group that killed the shaman I last tried this challenge with). Tres therefore led them all the way back to the entrance to allow a safe retreat before activating the palm.
The generally speedy run through the previous level came to an end as Tres moved down to find a horde of undead waiting. He could nearly always kill one of those before having to run for it, but with so many of them it took a while to chew through those. After that though, with more room to move around the other similar groups were marginally easier and he picked up another couple of levels doing that (unfortunately his MR tops out at 78% though).
At the end of the area Presio's apprentice followed him back to the entrance with some imbued wights. After half a dozen failed attempts at palming him, Tres tried out a stun - and got that to stick.
Next up will be the temple. I imagine the Summoner there could be a real pain in Heart of Fury mode, but I can't remember the details of the level - I might have to resort to reading a walkthrough I think to give Tres a chance of progressing further
Monk 28, 130 HPs (incl. 10 from talisman), 1382 kills
Previous run
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1052347/#Comment_1052347
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1052432/#Comment_1052432
In the Eldathyn temple Tres had a quick walk round and then confronted Albion - his palm failed to get a quick kill, but he still beat him up and picked up his key before retreating.
Coming back again, Tres made his way directly to the High Summoner and finished him with the palm.
Back at the Temple there were no further problems in clearing the area, including teaching the High Ritualist he should have equipped his guards with magic weapons.
The histachii a bit further on were immune to palm and stun and could hit him, but not easily and not particularly hard. A big group of priests didn't have the spells to worry him,
Finally arriving at Yxunomei Tres retreated as soon as he spoke to her and hid - but a newly locked door meant he was unable to go back up the slope as done with previous groups. Instead he retreated into a side room where the enemies could only attack one at a time. The final yuan-ti mage got an acid arrow past his MR and Tres quickly took a potion of regeneration as the mage fell to be replaced by Yxunomei - but that was almost immediately dispelled by a pesky yuan-ti priest.
Back in Kuldahar Tres killed a few wandering orogs and bought the lucky scimitar to use as an off-hand weapon (his THACO is so good that the full penalties for dual-wielding are not a problem). He then talked to the dying Arundel and was told that the Severed Hand was the next location to visit. Rather to my surprise Tres will get the chance to visit there next ...
Monk 30, 134 HPs (incl. 10 from talisman), 1562 kills
Previous run
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1052347/#Comment_1052347
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1052432/#Comment_1052432
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1052480/#Comment_1052480
I got further than I expected in this run, but ultimately took one chance too many
At the Severed Hand most of the enemies couldn't hurt Tres. That meant no need to worry about being surrounded, which made combats much quicker and easier. The shadowed beings were immune to palm, but not stun - so that was used to prevent things like shamans from casting, while more dangerous melee enemies like ogres were normally hit from behind a shield of harmless orcs or goblins. It was a similar sort of story with skeletons - burning ones could be stunned, while bladed and armored versions only had normal weapons.
On the fourth level Tres found Lehland's shop and was able to identify items found in the tower so far. That was a more useful collection than previously, including:
- a ring giving +1 strength to give a combat boost and extra chance of opening containers.
- jester's bag of holding which can produce new items.
- bone marrow belt to reduce slashing damage.
- lesser promise sword giving a 5% chance of 1d6 healing (more useful to me than most as it can help get round my no healing items restriction).
In the towers most shadowed elves couldn't hurt Tres and the casters rarely completed spells. Wraith spiders could hurt him, but not easily or very much and it was just a matter of time to finish the tasks and restore the astrolabe. More magic item upgrades included a +3 sling and a ioun stone giving 5% magic resistance (pushing total to 83%). I still couldn't fully repair the astrolabe at the point I'd done everything though and after rechecking the upper towers several times realized I'd missed a small section of the first level of the main tower. With that done the astrolabe was duly put back in working order and Larrel divined the location for the next step in the journey.
Arriving at Dorn's Deep Tres ran into some blue myconids. Their spores allowed a save vs death and I was fairly confident that a save of 0 would protect against that. He killed the first half dozen or so singly without getting hit and was perhaps over-confident when finding another group of 2 and attacking directly - a critical hit for 76 damage reminded him that monks are pretty vulnerable when they can be hit.
Krilag had a magic weapon, but that didn't do him much good after being stunned. There was no further route from the labyrinth, but going back into the library Tres found a secret door leading to a puzzle room. He correctly identified how to pass the outer circle there by matching the pattern on the table, but when he tried to match a pair of crossed axes he found he'd apparently mixed up swords and axes (a bit mean that as the correct symbol is not an exact match for the pattern on the table either - though it is admittedly closer if I'd studied the room more carefully)
I haven't used ATweaks in BG2. Is it just ridiculously hard?
Not mine. Mine ran their worlds with an iron fist.
I find the comments about ATweaks interesting. To me it's one of the most interesting mods since I wasa late 70s/early 80s D&D player.
As I intended, I set out for the Lonely Peaks w/my entourage, intent on exploring there before seeing the Firewine Bridge & visiting Gullykin. What I didn’t intend is the ruins under the Firewine Bridge which I discovered. But I digress.
The Lonely Peaks is an area dominated by two tall peaks and a smaller one between in the NE corner for which the area is named. There is also a ridgeline that runs SW to NE in the center of the area. The grass is mostly scrub & there are few trees except in the SE where there are patches of cedars. This area was mostly inhabited by large humanoids, particularly Ogres. Half-Ogres, Ogrillons & Hobgoblins. I was once challenged by three Ruffians (Ioin, Billy, Dribben (Ftrs/6) but the curs were short work & I didn’t even break a sweat.
Next, I arrived at the Firewine Bridge. The bridge itself is an amazing piece of history & it was somewhat surreal to be there, especially when I met a Bard who relayed a story of the bridge from days past. Imoen gave him 10gp. Zombies, Skeletons & Kobolds inhabited the area enough to be an annoyance as I was trying to look around. I did have the pleasure of meeting Meilum, the greatest swordsman in Faerun, or so he said. He was better than Khalid, but then Khalid is an Archer. Once the battle got out of hand, the rest of us finished him off before I found it necessary to use a Raise Dead scroll. Meilum had Weapons of Expertise & a Long Sword +1, but we needed neither & sold both.
This is where I discovered the entrance to the Firewine Ruins, which I’d read about in my studies previously, but that I’d overlooked in planning this part of my journey. This very tight, 10’x8’ maze of tunnels is truly a challenge if one is not careful, which I was, making sure Khalid & Imoen inched their way along scouting well in front of the main body of my retinue. And it’s a good thing, traps were everywhere. And so were…
…Kobold Commando’s, 42 of them in all.
KEY EVENT: (Battle of Firewine Ruins) At one point, shortly after I’d arrived, Khalid & Imoen made contact w/Kobold Commando’s in a NE passage a short distance from the 50’x30’ room in which I & the main body were waiting. Kobold’s are barely gnats, but Kobold Commando’s w/their Arrow’s of Fire, are more like wasps – they need to be dealt w/immediately. Khalid & Imoen are capable of handling quite a few alone but they still must be given respect. In this case, back in the main room, I had someone positioned at every hallway leading out, just in case any other threats appeared. My caution paid off, as suddenly more Kobold Commando’s started attacking from the east hallway in force. Khalid & Imoen were not able to shift, as they were still being pressed. Branwen took up the brunt of the fight in the east passage aided by monsters summoned from Neera’s Wand of Monster Summoning. Otherwise, Neera was not involved in this fight for two reasons: well three. 1) She is my most vulnerable party member, 2) I didn’t want her casting spells I might need later, and 3) she’s Neera. Regardless, I won the battle on both fronts, killing 20+ Kobold Command’s, not even close to the most difficult battle I’ve led, but, the most satisfying from a strategy standpoint. Moving Faldorn at one point from East to NE to aid Khalid & Imoen was a master stroke. I have a proficient group.
EXHILERATING FIGHT!
Later, I finished clearing the black in the ruins, easily disposing of a mage, an Ogre Mage & four Ogrillons before exiting the ruins into a Hobbit home. My first experience with a Hobbit was with one that was thoroughly evil & was endangering all his fellow Hobbits to the evil Kobolds – another reason true neutrality is the only worldview.
I was rightfully hailed as a savior in Gullykin, although my compensation was disappointing. I took some time to visit Gullykin & explore the surrounding countryside. A few kobolds here, & three Ankheg’s. I was also attacked by an adventuring group that used my name claiming they’d been sent to kill me. I think two were knights, one a warrior priest & the fourth a dwarven Berserker maybe. Neera cast Web & tangled up all save the dwarf. As such, I had the other three dispatched one by one while keeping the dwarf busy until I could turn everyone on him.
ALMOST PERFECT
“Stifle no new ideas, no matter how false and crazed they seem”
Σιλας
Best Kill Competition:
1. Khalid (Tuth), Imoen (Greater Doppelganger) (4000 exp each),
2. Faldorn (Vampiric Wolf, 2000 exp)
3. Neera, Branwen (Winter Wolf, 975 exp ea)
ORDER OF MARCH: In ruins: Khalid (reconnaissance), Imoen (traps), Branwen (shock), Me, Neera, Faldorn (rear guard)
MONSTERS DEFEATED:
Lonely Peaks: Dread Wolves (3), Ogre Berserker, Ruffians (3 – Ioin, Billy, Drebbin, Ftrs/6), Ogres (5), Half-Ogre (4), Ogrillons (3), Hobgoblin Elite (2), Xvarts (12)
Firewine Bridge: Swordsman (Meilum, Ftr/6), Skeleton (18), Zombies (20), Kobolds (19)
Firewine Ruins: Mage (Lendarn – Mg/Invoker//7), Ogre Mage, Ogrillons (4), Kobold Commando (42), Kobold (2)
Gullykin: Knight (Molkar – Ftr/6), Knight (Halacan – Ftr/Mg 6/6), Priest (Drakar – Ftr/Cl 5/5), Dwarf (Morvin -Ftr/5), Kobold Commando (4), Kobolds (7)
CASUALTIES: Faldorn (Kobold Commando)
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE: (Purse = 17,566gp) Armor & weapons: Jewelry: Ring of Protection +2, Ring of Human Influence, S/Sword +2; Scrolls: Fireball (3), Invisibility, Mirror Image; Potions: Genius, Mind Focusing; Wands & Artifacts
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Resting, recovering, resupplying in Beregost @ the Burning Wizard
NEXT STEPS: Temple area & Ulcaster
LEVEL UP: None
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 12)
• Silas Cl/7 (Lorekeeper of Oghma) (HP35) S/mail +1, Boots/Grounding, Girdle of Piercing, w/Gauntlets
of Dexterity & Ring of Free Action w/M/star* (Flail*), & Rg of Energy; Spells: D/Harmony, Prot/Evil 15’,
A/Dead, C/Disease, Zone of Sweet Air, Holy Might, F/Blade, H/Person, Silence 15’, S/Poison, Bless,
Cmd (3), Doom, P/Evil; S/ability: Divine Wrath, Heal Touch (2), Affliction, Friends; (Doomsayer) (AI
none)
• Khalid Rgr/6(Archer)(HP50) S/Leather +2 w/Clk/Non-det, L/bow*** & B/swor`d +1* w/Gauntlet’s
Wpns Exp; Skills: MS 62, HS 62(Tuth, Ftr/9) (AI: Ftr Ranged Atk)(2)
• Imoen Th/7 (Adventurer)(HP41) Shadow Armor +3 w/Eagle Bow +2* (w/Bracers of Archery) & S/sword
+1*; Skills: OL 70, FT 75, PP 45, MS 65, HS 65, DI 25, ST 20; (Greater Doppelganger) (Thf Rgd Atk)(3)
• Faldorn Dr/6 (HP31) S/Leather +1 w/Club*, Dart of Fire +1* (Q/Staff*) & Gauntlets of Ogre Power;
Spells: Moonblade, Summon Insects, Barkskin, B/Claw, Ch/Person/Mammal, S/Poison, Ar/Faith, Bless,
Entangle, CLWs, Shillelagh, (Vampiric Wolf) (Cl agg)(4)
• Neera Mg/6 (Wild Mage) (HP17) Traveler’s Robe w/Bracers of Def AC6 & Clk of Prot +1, Q/Staff +1* &
Wand of Monster Summoning, Spells:Melf’s Minute Meteors, Haste, D/magic, C/Shield, Web, Blur,
Blindness, Chromatic Orb, MM, Armor, Nahal’s RD; (Winter Wolf) ( AI: Mage Def) (5)
• Branwen, Cl/6 (Battleguard of Tempus), (HP42), S/Mail, Shield +1 & RoP +2, w/Warhammer +1**
(S&SS*) & Gauntlet’s of Weapons Skill; Spells: D/Magic, H/Smite, R/Thinking, DUHM, F/Blade,
H/Person, Silence 15’, Spirit/Hammer, Armor/Faith, Cmd, Doom, P/Evil, Shillelagh; S/Ability: Enrage,
Prayer (6), (Winter Wolf) (AI: Cl Agg)
MOD USED: BG NPC v23.3, BG NPC Music v6, Plane Toduched Races _v0,0, Indira v12, Isra v2.3, Finch v4.0, Gavin v14, Drake, Sirene v2.5, Verr’sza v5.2, BG UB v16, Tweaks Anthology Beta 4, Song & Silence v9, Deities of Faerun, Rogue Rebalancing v491, Level 1 NPCs, SCS v31, aTweaks, Item Randomizer v7
In which Croll and his crew of miscreants wreak havok upon the Sword Coast and feed the spirits many pathetic souls
The Flaming Fist have made capturing or killing Croll a top priority. He is proving to be far worse than the iron crisis; worse than the plague of bandits; worse than the Chill and the Blacktalons combined. In the past week:
Most famously, Croll engineered a devious act of revenge on that uppity mage, Shandalar. While working with the Thieves Guild, Croll discovered the wizard's daughters staying at an estate in Baldur's Gate. He let the spirits loose on them, taking no prisoners.
Croll returned to Ulgoth's Beard, where he showed Shandalar the corpses of his offspring. And then he put the grief-stricken mage out of his misery.
"No one ever teleports Croll without his permission," he said, angrily.
Next up: Croll visits Balduran's Isle
aTweaks can give fiends, elementals, undead, and fey the powers they have in PnP AD&D. Fights with those enemy types are much harder as a result. Demons, Earth Elementals, and Aerial Servants are especially dangerous.
Certain fiends can also use Plane Shift/Ethereal Jaunt to make themselves untouchable by any means, but they also can't do anything to you while ethereal. This plane shifting behavior is anti-fun so I always turn it off with the console.
I appreciate your confidence that I'll make it that far... however, it may be misplaced
In which Croll fights a whole island, and is introduced to the concept of karma
In Ulgoth's Beard, Croll encountered a researcher interested in exploring what could be the wreckage of the lost ship of Balduran. Smelling profit, Croll took the job.
First up, the crew not-so-politely asked a sea captain at the Merchants' counting house for his navigation charts. The captain refused. So Croll killed him, and his entire crew; taking the charts by force.
The charts were accurate, but the ship they sailed was not. It crashed into a reef, stranding Croll and his miscreants on an island with some kind of village. Croll talked to the woman in charge of the settlement, Kaishas. She asked him to go slay some beasts on the other side of the island. Croll refused to help. But he wanted to explore a bit before feeding the villagers to his spirits, so he left the woman alive.
On the north side of the island, Croll encountered aggressive wolfweres. The spirits feasted on them, and gained a liking for lycanthropic flesh. Croll also met a loony old elf hiding in a hut. Claimed he was one of Balduran's crew. The elf didn't like Croll's tone, though, and decided to attack. His first spell killed Montaron, Viconia and Xzar, but Baeloth returned with the spirits and claimed his soul.
Croll and his miscreants then explored the ship, killing many wolfweres. The leader of the pack put up a bit of a fight, but in the end, the spirits swallowed him whole. Croll found a baby, but had no idea whose it might be. He left it there to die.
Returning to the original village, Croll discovered that this group, too, were a tribe of werewolves. The village elder even claimed that she had infected Croll with lycanthropy! Hogwash. Croll felt nothing but the burning need to set the spirits loose to feed.
The team discovered tunnels under one of the buildings, and followed them to a secret harbor, where Kaishas had built a ship. All she needed were the sea charts in order to sail free. She attacked, in force.
Werewolves boiled out of the tunnels in a hideous swarm, ambushing Croll and his team. Montaron, who had been looking for a place to hide, walked straight into them and was shredded instantly. Dorn buffed with potions to hit harder and faster, and swung away at Kaishas... but every cut regenerated almost instantly. With the battle turning against him, Croll decided to regroup. Baeloth cast Invisibility 15ft, and the party managed to retreat back inside the caves.
After a quick rest, Baeloth attempted to clear the werewolves out of the way with fire. Many died... but still more boiled out of the caves.
The party decided to sneak invisibly up to Kaishas. Dorn buffed to the hilt with his best potions, and picked up one of the only swords he had that could hurt the terrifying werewolf. While the rest of the crew attempted to stay out of the way, Dorn managed to overcome Kaishas' regeneration. He cut her down, and recovered the navigation charts needed to make it back to Ulgoth's Beard.
Dorn then cut a path to the ship. But still the werewolves came.
Croll had to swim, still invisible, over to the ship. Dorn cut the anchor loose, shoving werewolves into the water, and the party made its escape.
Back in Ulgoth's Beard, it became clear that the "researcher" was no such thing... and that Croll had been set up. Although he was angry, half the party was dead and the rest were pretty scratched up. Croll decided to head to the temple for healing before going after Mendas' head.
But the party had been infected with lycanthropy.
The infection bit while the party slept. Croll awoke, surrounded by greater wolfweres. Dorn, Viconia, Montaron, Xzar and Baeloth had all been reduced to hideous, slavering beasts. They would not speak to him; they only wanted blood.
Croll fled. He wondered why he alone had been spared... realizing that it must be his divine heritage as a Child of Bhaal that protected him in a way his companions were not.
He sought out new party members who might aid him in feeding souls to his spirits. But he was cursed. Anyone who spent time near him turned into a wolfwere.
Shar-Teel joined him. Soon she was gone.
Eldoth, too, could not resist the infection.
Croll is now returning to Baldur's Gate. He must take on Sarevok alone.
The calendar has turned to Ches, The Claw of the Sunsets. The Spring Equinox approaches & I look forward to the warmer weather to come.
I traveled to the Song of the Morning to see the landscape surrounding it. The area is dry and rocky with some scrub grass and few trees. There a ridgeline to the east and some smaller peaks to the SW. I destroyed a group of Hobgoblins after Khalid had scouted them during recon. I had Neera cast Web from beyond their sight range & then they were easily picked off one by one. I also came upon a large pack of mixed wolves, including two Vampiric Wolves & while I was having them dispatched, we were attacked in our flank by several Hobgoblin Elites. No sweat, but it reminds me that a perfect plan can go south quickly if you get flanked by an unforeseen enemy.
FLANKED BUT NO SWEAT
I moved to the Ulcaster next. Much of the area is a dry riverbed from a deep river that flowed here in ages past. Therein were Hobgoblins, Hobgoblin Elites, Skeleton, Zombies & Kobolds. The Ulcaster School ruins sit high up to the northeast. Now just a maze of crumbling buildings, they were inhabited by two Ghasts & some of the same creatures from the riverbed below. The Ghost of Ulcaster also roams herein, & in meeting him he seemed to want a tome buried beneath. I didn’t think much of it at the time.
There was a broken grate leading into the dungeon below which served as a den for various wolves where I found two dead bodies that were serving as a food source. We were attacked by a Revenant here also, who appeared to have been associated with the school, but was long since dead. He seemed to be confused about how long he’d been that way & was trying to find a host body so that he could exact revenge on those who betrayed the school. We found Boots of Stealth & a Cloak of Protection +2 in Ulcaster, so the adventure was lucrative.
KEY EVENT: (Return of the Tome) None of the usual type. I got satisfaction returning the tome to Ulcaster’s Ghost. It was in a Vampiric Wolf’s treasure pile & is a tome of knowledge. Oghma will be pleased.
“Stifle no new ideas; rather, let them be heard and considered.”
Σιλας
Best Kill Competition:
1. Khalid (Tuth), Imoen (Greater Doppelganger) (4000 exp each),
2. Faldorn (Vampiric Wolf, 2000 exp)
3. Neera, Branwen (Winter Wolf, 975 exp ea)
ORDER OF MARCH: In ruins: Khalid (reconnaissance), Imoen (traps), Branwen (shock), Me, Neera, Faldorn (rear guard)
MONSTERS DEFEATED:
Temple: Vampiric Wolves (2), Dread Wolves (5), Worgs (3), Hobgoblins (14 – incl’s Cattlalck), Wild Dogs (3)
Ulcaster: Ghasts (2), Hobgoblin Elite (8), Hobgoblins (7), Skeletons (5), Zombies (7), Kobolds (4)
Ulcaster Ruins: Revenant (Mal-Kalen), Vampiric Wolf, Dread Wolves (8), Dire Wolves (2), Giant Spiders (4), Skeleton Warrior,
CASUALTIES: None
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE: (Purse = 20,027gp) Armor & weapons: Cloak/Prot +2, Boots of Stealth; Jewelry: Scrolls: Potions: Genius, Wands & Artifacts:
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Resting, recovering, resupplying in Beregost @ the Burning Wizard
NEXT STEPS: Coast Way, Mutamin’s Garden, Lions Way
LEVEL UP: Faldorn, Druid/8; Neera, Mage (Wild Mage)/7; Imoen, Thief (Adventurer)/8
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 13)
• Silas Cl/7 (Lorekeeper of Oghma) (HP35) S/mail +1, Boots/Grounding, Girdle of Piercing, w/Gauntlets of Dexterity & Ring of Free Action w/M/star* (Flail*), & Rg of Energy; Spells: D/Harmony, Prot/Evil 15’, A/Dead, C/Disease, Zone of Sweet Air, Holy Might, F/Blade, H/Person, Silence 15’, S/Poison, Bless, Cmd (3), Doom, P/Evil; S/ability: Divine Wrath, Heal Touch (2), Affliction, Friends; (Doomsayer) (AI none)
• Khalid Rgr/6(Archer)(HP50) S/Leather +2 w/Clk/Non-det, L/bow*** & B/swor`d +1* w/Gauntlet’s Wpns Exp; Skills: MS 62, HS 62 (Tuth, Ftr/9) (AI: Ftr Ranged Atk)(2)
• Imoen Th/8 (Adventurer)(HP47) Shadow Armor +3 w/Eagle Bow +2* (w/Bracers of Archery) & S/sword +1*; Skills: OL 85, FT 90, PP 50, MS 90, HS 100, DI 25, ST 30; (Greater Doppelganger) (Thf Rgd Atk)(3)
• Faldorn Dr/7 (HP40) S/Leather +1 w/Club*, Dart of Fire +1* (Q/Staff*) & Gauntlets of Ogre Power; Spells: Call Woodland Beings, Smashing Wave, S/Insects, Hold Animal, CMWs, B/Claw, Ch/Person/Mammal, S/Poison, Fl/Blade, Resist Fire/Cold, Ar/Faith, Bless, Entangle, CLWs, Shillelagh, (Vampiric Wolf) (Cl agg)(4)
• Neera Mg/7 (Wild Mage) (HP19) Traveler’s Robe w/Bracers of Def AC6 & Cloak/Prot +2, Q/Staff +1* & Wand of Fire, Spells: Minor Sequencer, MG/Inv, Melf’s Minute Meteors, Fireball, D/magic, C/Shield, Web, Blur, Invisibility, MM, P/Evil, Blindness, ID, Ch/Person, Chr/Orb, B/Hands, P/Petrification, Nahal’s RD, Sleep; (Winter Wolf) ( AI: Mage Def)(5)
• Branwen, Cl/6 (Battleguard of Tempus), (HP42), S/Mail, Shield +1 & RoP +2, w/Warhammer +1** (S&SS*) & Gauntlet’s of Weapons Skill; Spells: D/Magic, H/Smite, R/Thinking, DUHM, F/Blade, H/Person, Silence 15’, Spirit/Hammer, Armor/Faith, Cmd, Doom, P/Evil, Shillelagh; S/Ability: Enrage, Prayer (6), (Winter Wolf) (AI: Cl Agg)
MOD USED: BG NPC v23.3, BG NPC Music v6, Plane Touched Races _v0,0, Indira v12, Isra v2.3, Finch v4.0, Gavin v14, Drake, Sirene v2.5, Verr’sza v5.2, BG UB v16, Tweaks Anthology Beta 4, Song & Silence v9, Deities of Faerun, Rogue Rebalancing v491, Level 1 NPCs, SCS v31, aTweaks, Item Randomizer v7
You must be talking about a mod item - not aware of any item like that in vanilla BG or BG EE.
Part 9: Shadows of Amn
Even though we have no pips in katanas and I have no intention of ever using them, I head to the Guarded Compound to retrieve Celestial Fury. We slay Koshi in seconds, but I stick around to finish off Sion and the rest. Our access to many castings of Shadow Clone means we can let the enemy fuss around with a clone while we bide our time and strike when Sion's defenses have run low.
Next up, we need a Demon Heart. Unfortunately, that means wrestling with a Glabrezu, so once again, we spend most of our time waiting for an opportunity to strike. Aside from an alarming PW: Stun that takes down our first clone, the process is just like the Glabrezu fights in the Underdark.
We buy some more high-level mage scrolls with the funds from looting the Guarded Compound and pay a visit to Mazzy Fentan's house, where the Nymph Cloak allows us to get her killed without having to get our hands dirty.
Arrows of Dispelling and backstabs get us through most of the Planar Prison, but the Warden can see through invisibility and is not so easy to fool. We have two clones, one from Vhailor's Helm and one from Shadow Clone, help Frisky Bits break through the Warden's Stoneskins using nonmagical arrows, but the Warden is hasted and very aggressive. We can't really tank him at point-blank range, at least not with a ranged weapon.
We hunt down all the spare PFMW and Improved Haste scrolls we can find (we'll really want them for ToB) before returning to the Temple Ruins. I really want to have the Shadow Dragon Scale to help Frisky Bits survive Nizidramanii'yt's acid breath, so we need to pay a visit to Thaxll'ssillyia.
Unfortunately, while we can block the level drain effect of his breath weapon, we can't block the blindness effect without a True Seeing scroll (which we don't have), and even when we make our saving throw (which is always), we still suffer 6 seconds of blindness, preventing me from either kiting or tanking him, as his circle is too wide for us to keep in our field of vision even when we're right next to him.
I have our clone tank Thaxll'sillyia while Frisky Bits lobs rocks with the Sling of Everard, but since my clones can't use potions due to SCS, the clones don't last very long, and eventually we're forced to just kite the dragon--even with 70% damage resistance from Shadow Form and the Defender of Easthaven, the dragon does too much damage for us to tank him indefinitely.
Every few rounds, we get blinded and have to run away until it wears off. But after dozens of rounds, the sling damage builds up and finally pushes the dragon over the brink.
Part 10: Shadows of Amn
Since we now have the Crom Faeyr scroll, we may as well go get the Hammer of Thunderbolts, and while we're at it, an even stronger weapon: the Wand of Wonder. Problem is, both of those items are in the mind flayer lair in the sewers, right next to the Alhoon.
The Alhoon isn't just a mind flayer lich. It's a mind flayer fighter/mage lich who can cast Tenser's Transformation and Time Stop. I don't have enough Potions of Absorption to force the Alhoon to roll a 20 to hit me; its THAC0 is just too low and there aren't that many Potions of Absorption available (I need them to fight demons and stuff).
Ordinary mind flayers are more doable. Being a dwarven thief with lots of late-game items means we have subzero saving throws and are immune to Psionic Blast, Psionic Domination, and Psionic Maze. Note that Ulitharids' Psionic Blast has a -4 save penalty, so a save vs. spell of 1 is not going to cut it. Psionic Maze also has a -4 save penalty, though it's much less common.
As for INT drain, we can't really stop mind flayers from rolling five critical hits in a row and draining 25 INT in one round. However, we've been buying dozens of Potions of Genius, and we drink about 20 before entering the mind flayer lair. I have auto-pause on hit to help me keep track of INT drain, so I'll always know to check the Record screen and make sure we're not dipping below 25 INT.
But, amazingly enough, the mind flayers actually manage to land so many critical hits that they almost cancel out our Potions of Genius, bring us down to 21 Intelligence--five hits away from instant death.
Fortunately, we have Use Any Item.
Fortunately, INT drain only lasts 5 rounds, so by the time Mantle wears off (4 rounds), most of the previous INT drain has already worn off, and the mind flayers have been pared down enough that we don't have to worry about getting chomped at the last minute.
We use the Book of Daily Spell to cast Spell Turning and use a Protection from Undead scroll, but we're not done with the other mind flayers just yet--and I catch Frisky Bits at the brink of death.
We return with a fresh Protection from Undead scroll and more Potions of Genius, but we get overwhelmed with INT drain--our failure to use an extra Potion of Absorption or another 20 Potions of Genius ends up forcing us to use our second to last PFMW scroll, an invaluable resource.
We make it out, however, and we still have our Protection from Undead scroll active. Feeling bold, I decide to tackle the Alhoon even after I've snitched the Hammer of Thunderbolts and Wand of Wonder. I use a clone to force the Alhoon to break invisibility, and while the clone's Ring of the Ram does no damage (the Alhoon buffs with Protection from Magical Energy, as do many liches fearing a Sunray spell, even though the Alhoon already has 90% MR), it does disrupt the Alhoon's first spell.
Of course, the Alhoon also has permanent Improved Alacrity (!), but it fails to use any big spells against us before its Absolute Immunity spell wears off, paving the way for an Arrow of Dispelling. Once its Stoneskins are down, the Alhoon is taking so many hits from arrows that it can't get any more spells off the ground.
Just kidding. I know there's no ettins outside of City Sushi. Anyway, now that we can land instant kills on trolls, it's time to head to the De'Arnise Hold.
But on the way... we run into an ambush I've never seen before in over 18 years of playing this game.
Luckily, we have Crom Faeyr, which kills it in one hit.
KEY EVENT: (Death of Khalid) I have now lost a second important follower to the dangers of Basilisks. After spending time clearing the black in both the Coast Way & Lion’s Way, I led my retinue to Mutamin’s Garden. I’d recently released a woman from Petrification when I was near the Song of the Morning a few short days ago. She was quick to give me warning to be careful in this area – even gave me a Potion of Mirrored Eyes. And I was. Khalid, as always, was providing reconnaissance, using Boots of Stealth to augment his already uncanny ability as a Ranger/Archer, I thought sure he’d be okay. He’d come across two Lesser Basilisks & returned to let me know. Neera cast Protection from Petrification on Branwen & I sent her in to deal with the threat, keeping everyone else back beyond their visual range. It worked as expected. But the next time Khalid went out, he was spotted by what turned out to be a mage w/a Greater Basilisk & two Lesser Basilisks. Khalid had just recently traded his Boots of Speed for Boots of Stealth, preferring the added Hide In Shadow & Move Silently ability it gave him. The decision cost him - & me. I never actually found him – like Minsc in the Candlekeep Caves, he was just obliterated. I have plenty of Stone to Flesh scrolls, but I need something to cast the spell on. After a period, I decided to move ahead & had both Branwen & Neera given Protection from Petrification. They took care of the Basilisks – Neera used the final charge in her Wand of Monster Summoning & set the monsters of the Basilisks, while Branwen beat them with her Warhammer. Once they were out of the way, we were given the signal to join them & finish off the Gnome Necromancer.
BRANWEN & NEERA GETTING IT DONE - WITH A LTTLE HELP FROM THEIR FRIENDS
GETTING REVENGE ON THE GNOME FOR KHALID
I had two more battle there of some significance. One with an adventuring party of four that just talked too much & picked a fight. I just don’t take well to that stuff & neither does Imoen, who they challenged as she was out scouting – in place of Khalid. As seems to be the case recently, I end up dealing with multiple enemies in tough battles – in this case two Flinds joined the enemy early on, & then two Gnolls came up behind us. I won the battle, of course, but it was kind of sloppy. A short time later, Imoen found another Greater Basilisk & three more Lesser Basilisks. Between losing Khalid & this fight, I’d returned us to Beregost & had Neera learn multiple Protection from Petrification spells so that the entire party could be protected & used to fight any further Basilisks. That paid off & we defeated them easily before killing four Gnoll Veteran’s that Imoen had come across in the far south of the garden.
There’s a Ranger near Thalantyr’s manor in High Hedge. I don’t want him with me, but I see no alternative as I need that skill. I’ll head there next, grab him & clear the black before swinging over to the Lighthouse and the Shipwreck’s Coast. After that, I’m going to move north and west of Baldur’s Gate, eventually to Ulgoth’s Beard.
“Never slay a singer, nor stand by as others do so.”
Σιλας
Best Kill Competition:
1. Imoen (Greater Basilisk) (7000 exp)
2. Faldorn (Vampiric Wolf, 2000 exp)
3. Neera, Branwen (Lesser Basilisk, 1400 exp ea)
ORDER OF MARCH: Imoen (recon), Branwen (shock), Me, Neera, Faldorn (rear guard)
MONSTERS DEFEATED:
Coast Way: Ogre, Caravan Bandit Leader (Ftr/4), Caravan Bandits (2 – Ftr/1), Bandits (3), Gibberlings (7), Xvarts (16)
Lion’s Way: Diseased Gibberling
Mutamin’s Garden: Greater Basilisks (2), Lesser Basilisks (5), Peter (Ftr/Cl 5/5), Kirian (Ftr/Mage 5/5), Mutamin (Necromancer/6), Lindin (Ftr/6), Baerin (Ftr/6), Flinds (2), Gnoll Veterans (4), Gnolls (4)
CASUALTIES: Khalid (Basilisk - disintegrated)
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE: (Purse = 22,124gp) Armor & weapons: Jewelry: Scrolls: Potions: Wands & Artifacts:
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Resting, recovering, resupplying in Beregost @ the Burning Wizard
NEXT STEPS: High Hedge, Lighthouse, Shipwreck’s Coast
LEVEL UP: Branwen, Battleguard of Tempus)/7,
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 13)
• Silas Cl/7 (Lorekeeper of Oghma) (HP35) S/mail +1, Boots/Grounding, Girdle of Piercing, w/Gauntlets of Dexterity & Ring of Free Action w/M/star* (Flail*), & Rg of Energy; Spells: D/Harmony, Prot/Evil 15’, A/Dead, C/Disease, Zone of Sweet Air, Holy Might, F/Blade, H/Person, Silence 15’, S/Poison, Bless, Cmd (3), Doom, P/Evil; S/ability: Divine Wrath, Heal Touch (2), Affliction, Friends; (Doomsayer) (AI none)
• Imoen Th/8 (Adventurer)(HP47) Shadow Armor +3 w/Eagle Bow +2* (w/Bracers of Archery) & S/sword +1*; Skills: OL 85, FT 90, PP 50, MS 90, HS 100, DI 25, ST 30; (Greater Doppelganger) (Thf Rgd Atk)(2)
• Faldorn Dr/7 (HP40) S/Leather +1 w/Club*, Dart of Fire +1* (Q/Staff*) & Gauntlets of Ogre Power; Spells: Call Woodland Beings, Smashing Wave, S/Insects, Hold Animal, CMWs, B/Claw, Ch/Person/Mammal, S/Poison, Fl/Blade, Resist Fire/Cold, Ar/Faith, Bless, Entangle, CLWs, Shillelagh, (Vampiric Wolf) (Cl agg)(3)
• Neera Mg/7 (Wild Mage) (HP19) Traveler’s Robe w/Bracers of Def AC6 & Cloak/Prot +2, Q/Staff +1* & Wand of Fire, Spells: Minor Sequencer, MG/Inv, Melf’s Minute Meteors, Fireball, D/magic, C/Shield, Web, Blur, Invisibility, MM, P/Evil, Blindness, ID, Ch/Person, Chr/Orb, B/Hands, P/Petrification, Nahal’s RD, Sleep; (Winter Wolf) ( AI: Mage Def)(4)
• Branwen, Cl/7 (Battleguard of Tempus), (HP55), S/Mail, Shield +1 & RoP +2, w/Warhammer +1** (S&SS*) & Gauntlet’s of Weapons Skill; Spells: M/Domination, D/Magic, H/Smite, R/Thinking, DUHM, F/Blade, H/Person, Silence 15’, Spirit/Hammer, Armor/Faith, Cmd, Doom, P/Evil, Shillelagh; S/Ability: Enrage, Prayer (6), (Winter Wolf) (AI: Cl Agg)(5)
MOD USED: BG NPC v23.3, BG NPC Music v6, Plane Touched Races _v0,0, Indira v12, Isra v2.3, Finch v4.0, Gavin v14, Drake, Sirene v2.5, Verr’sza v5.2, BG UB v16, Tweaks Anthology Beta 4, Song & Silence v9, Deities of Faerun, Rogue Rebalancing v491, Level 1 NPCs, SCS v31, aTweaks, Item Randomizer v7
I thought that they'd made a general change to UAI so that it no longer allowed the use of any personal equipment - I don't use any such items myself though so I don't have direct knowledge of that. I think the reason you can still use Mazzy's sword is that it was never restricted just to her in the original game - halflings in general could use it.
Haer'dalis' Chaos Blade used to lack that opcode due to an oversight, allowing thieves and bards with UAI to wield it, but at some point they added the opcode in a patch.
It's not hardcoded, so you can mod the game to make those items usable again, either by removing the opcodes or possibly by modifying UAI itself to grant immunity to those opcodes.