Another attempt at a class not represented in the Hall. Started with Scimitar/Wakizashi/Ninjato ++ and Dagger ++.
Was almost killed in Candlekeep stealing the flamedance ring. Misclicked while forcing the lock before I had knocked the nobleman unconscious. The rest of Candlekeep was finished without issue.
Imoen, Xzar, and Montaron were killed for their equipment before grabbing the diamond and heading south to High Hedge. Shoal was entangled and killed, leveling me to 2/2. Headed to Beregost where I placated Marl and retrieved a book for Firebead. Also purchased a +1 sling and bullets +1 from Thunderhammer.
Quick trip south to Nashkel for the ankheg armor and CLW. Made my first ever attempt at activating the gnolls around Drizzt without stealth. Came in from the trees at the southeast. It wasn't looking good, as the gnolls started to attack me but then moments later switched to Drizzt. His gear was looted.
Headed to High Hedge and killed the flesh golems, leveling to 3/3. Purchased a potion case, potion of mirrored eyes (just in case), and the wand of sleep. Used a couple of charges of the wand of sleep in Beregost to kill the spiders at Landrin's. Turned in Zhurlong's and Mirianne's quests.
Headed to the FAI and grabbed the RoP, Elvenbane, and Evermemory. Tarnesh was more difficult than usual without silence or stealth, but I fortunately saved against horror, and my 3/3 hitpoints helped me survive his magic missiles long enough to put him down. Sold Evermemory and some other things and turned in Landrin's quest.
Killed an ankheg with the wand of sleep on the way to Ulgoth's Beard and hit level 3/4. Purchased the Greenstone Amulet and headed back to Beregost. Killed Algernon for his cloak then turned in the Colquetle's Amulet to get back to reputation 8. Killing Karlat brought me to 4/4, after which I turned in Perdue's quest. Silke was forced to cast magic missile on herself twice, which unfortunately caused me to lose out on her experience.
Neera was killed for her gem bag, and then I headed back to the FAI. Jaheira was charmed and fed to hobgoblins for her invisibility potion. Back to Ulgoth's Beard for Dushai's ring. I raised reputation back at the Temple. Next will be killing the sirines, Mutamin's Garden, reputation quests, and manual gathering.
Hard luck on that Emotion spell. Siege of Dragonspear has a lot of nasty status effects, but unlike BG2, you're generally not high enough level to cast Chaotic Commands without the use of a scroll, and the Greenstone Amulet only lasts so long.
When I think about it, SoD is actually the hardest game to beat no-reload in a solo run.
It was a dumb play on my part. That fight was completely avoidable and wouldn't have provided me any useful equipment. I also didn't use the Greenstone Amulet, which I should have started with, before using The One Gift Lost. By the time I realized I needed it, my aura was clouded, and there wasn't anything to do but fall down and die.
I should have continued that run, as I want to do some testing at Bridgeport. I have some ideas for mass use of the Nymph Cloak there (and at later zones), but I've already deleted everything.
Another attempt at a class not represented in the Hall. Started with Scimitar/Wakizashi/Ninjato ++ and Dagger ++.
Was almost killed in Candlekeep stealing the flamedance ring. Misclicked while forcing the lock before I had knocked the nobleman unconscious. The rest of Candlekeep was finished without issue.
Imoen, Xzar, and Montaron were killed for their equipment before grabbing the diamond and heading south to High Hedge. Shoal was entangled and killed, leveling me to 2/2. Headed to Beregost where I placated Marl and retrieved a book for Firebead. Also purchased a +1 sling and bullets +1 from Thunderhammer.
Quick trip south to Nashkel for the ankheg armor and CLW. Made my first ever attempt at activating the gnolls around Drizzt without stealth. Came in from the trees at the southeast. It wasn't looking good, as the gnolls started to attack me but then moments later switched to Drizzt. His gear was looted.
Headed to High Hedge and killed the flesh golems, leveling to 3/3. Purchased a potion case, potion of mirrored eyes (just in case), and the wand of sleep. Used a couple of charges of the wand of sleep in Beregost to kill the spiders at Landrin's. Turned in Zhurlong's and Mirianne's quests.
Headed to the FAI and grabbed the RoP, Elvenbane, and Evermemory. Tarnesh was more difficult than usual without silence or stealth, but I fortunately saved against horror, and my 3/3 hitpoints helped me survive his magic missiles long enough to put him down. Sold Evermemory and some other things and turned in Landrin's quest.
Killed an ankheg with the wand of sleep on the way to Ulgoth's Beard and hit level 3/4. Purchased the Greenstone Amulet and headed back to Beregost. Killed Algernon for his cloak then turned in the Colquetle's Amulet to get back to reputation 8. Killing Karlat brought me to 4/4, after which I turned in Perdue's quest. Silke was forced to cast magic missile on herself twice, which unfortunately caused me to lose out on her experience.
Neera was killed for her gem bag, and then I headed back to the FAI. Jaheira was charmed and fed to hobgoblins for her invisibility potion. Back to Ulgoth's Beard for Dushai's ring. I raised reputation back at the Temple. Next will be killing the sirines, Mutamin's Garden, reputation quests, and manual gathering.
Wow, brutal! I just stole the companions items while their backs were turned and I'm chaotic evil...
I am really new to the forums... As you can probably see ... I have been playing BG EE on and off for about 2 years now...
I generally play in a hardcore sort of style... But I get carried away when I play solo and end up using console to make everything really cheesy.
I have BG EE 2 but haven't gotten around to playing it as I haven't beat BG EE legit yet (did it once with an extremely broken party).
I think maybe playing multiplayer might help prevent me from cheating... Any ideas?
I am really into this game and it kills me that my perfectionism causes me to do this.
I find that playing solo up to level 4 and then picking up NPCs is the best. That way you level up quickly and the NPCs join at a higher level too. This does mean that you cannot choose where the pips go at level 3, but if that is a problem, it can be solved with EE Keeper (Level 1 NPCs does the same job more easily). If you wait for a while before joining up with Dynaheir she will already have memorised fireball which is a big advantage.
I would always install the BG1 NPC project as it makes the game much more interesting.
The other option is to play it at core difficulty.
Are there any game-breaking pitfalls to a solo Necromancer trilogy run? I'm just wondering if there's a reason nobody's done it yet...
Nothing game-breaking, but over a trilogy no-reload mages vulnerability often shows up. While they're extremely strong when buffed, it's not easy to keep playing safely for that length of time. Maybe you'll show how it's done though .
Sirines are disposed of. Was ambushed by half ogres after picking up Melicamp. Entangle was cast, and I kited around thanks to Eventar's Gift. They brought me to level 4/5. Melicamp survived this time, surprisingly. I get a summon insects off on Bassilus right as he hits me with rigid thinking. I didn't do the dialogue correctly, so the undead didn't die off, but only one zombie went hostile. Bassilus and the zombie are killed while I have no control.
I turn in the holy symbol and head to the Lighthouse. The first sirine killed gets me to level 5/5. I just ran into the middle of them and used Greenstone Amulet charges while hacking them down. Sil's sirines were charmed and killed one at a time, the second giving me level 5/6. I rush the charm trap while still under the effect of the Greenstone Amulet after killing Sil. It's a bit risky, as the flesh golem could have trapped me in the hallway, and did get a 19 damage hit on me, but I was down to my last Greenstone Amulet charge. The flesh golems are killed with a non-proficient sling.
The worgs at the Lighthouse are done next for the reputation bonus. I grab Brage on the way back to Nashkel and use the constitution manual. Oblek is told the truth. I head to the inn and cast summon insects on Neira, who also lands a rigid thinking on me. I thought she started with hold person. Another unnecessary risk on my part.
Caldo and Krumm are entangled and killed with throwing daggers. The dead cat was returned, bringing me to 19 reputation. Hairtooth and Gnarl are entangled and killed with throwing daggers. I grab the charisma manual. I charm an Amnian soldier at the Nashkel mines to assist with Greywolf, netting me 20 reputation. With the maximum discount I'll be able to receive, I recharge the Greenstone Amulet.
I head to Mutamin's Garden. Korax takes some damage pretty early on, and I get too close and trigger Mutamin. He leads with mirror image, and I summon insects. He's essentially out of the fight from then on. Mutamin gets me to level 6/7. I use a couple of minor cures on Korax, but he dies to the second greater basilisk. I drink a couple of mirrored eyes potion to finish clearing the basilisks.
Wasn't sure how I would handle Kirian's party, as I usually have Korax, a charmed basilisk, and silence. Instead I approached from the east and charmed Peter. He was fed to a flind. Next was Lindin from the north, who was fed to a black bear. I came in too far from the northwest and triggered Kirian before being able to safely charm Baerin, and he makes his save while hostile.
I summon insects on Kirian and run to lure Baerin away to kill in melee. I summon animals from out of sight of Kirian, which she promptly kills with a lightning bolt. As I re-approach, she cast horror on me, which I fortunately save on, as I hadn't used my Greenstone Amulet, and it doesn't activate in time while the spell is in the air. She land two melf's acid arrows while I summon another round of insects. I'm not interrupted, but she lands another acid arrow as the insects approach. She doesn't last long after the insects land. I'm down to around half health.
Wow, brutal! I just stole the companions items while their backs were turned and I'm chaotic evil...
There are unfortunately some violent murders before Charname gets the blood of Bhaal under control. I'm not particularly consistent with this from run to run. I usually avoid them completely and sometimes accept and kick them from my party. I doubt anyone would call me out on it not being a true solo run to accept, rob, and kick them.
Wow, brutal! I just stole the companions items while their backs were turned and I'm chaotic evil...
There are unfortunately some violent murders before Charname gets the blood of Bhaal under control. I'm not particularly consistent with this from run to run. I usually avoid them completely and sometimes accept and kick them from my party. I doubt anyone would call me out on it not being a true solo run to accept, rob, and kick them.
You can make your own rules on that, but the only recruitment of NPCs I allow in solo runs is:
- Caelar when facing Belhifet (I don't control her though in order to emulate how I think the battle should have been designed with her fighting the demon, but not as part of the party).
- Imoen in the cutscene at the start of BG2.
That does indeed lead to a fair amount of cold-blooded murder, even by the paladins of this world.
I head to Ulgoth's Beard and purchase an extra potion of mirrored eyes, a wand of the heavens, and the Sandthief's Ring. A quick stop at the Nashkel Carnival for the red and violet potions, protection from petrification scroll, and The One Gift Lost. East of Nashkel Mines for Batalista's Passport.
A quick jaunt through the mines leads to Mulahey. The kobolds notice me, and Mulahey saves against charm, so I have to kill him the old fashioned way. I entangle the entrance and summon insects on Mulahey. The insects interrupt every spell, and I use the wand of sleep on the kobolds that slip through. It's just a matter of mopping up.
I exit the mines and wrap around the amazons from the east. I charm Telka and feed her to a war dog. Maneira is next. I enlist Zeela's aid to assist wit the revenant. She falls quickly, but I get some safe hits in. I finish off the revenant with a call lightning and summoned insects. I don't realize Lamalha is a cleric, and she lands a rigid thinking as I summon insects. She gets me to 40/61 HP before I regain control. I use the Greenstone Amulet as she casts hold person, which Eventar's gift protects me from. She begins to cast another spell, but I attack in melee, interrupting her spell and killing her in the next attack.
I activate the Greenstone Amulet and approach Nimbul. Or at least I think I do, but I must move before it activates. I summon insects as he casts horror, and I'm surprised as it lands. Embarrassed... A combination of insects and Rasaad make short work of him before he damages me too much.
I head to Durlag's Tower and use call lightning and the wand of the heavens to kill the first two battle horrors. Casting call lightning is sooo slow. I kill the ghast near the basilisk exit before entering the third floor. Riggilo attacks me and is cut down. I use the Greenstone Amulet, grab the wisdom manual, and run down to the basilisk exit to avoid the stun trap. I use the protection from petrification scroll and exit, quickly killing the lesser basilisk. The greater basilisks get me to level 7/8, the max for the cap. I will unfortunately not be able to get pixie dust until SoD. Icingdeath and resist fire and cold make retrieving Rashad's Talon safe. I'm stunned on the way out.
I go to High Hedge to sell some stuff and trade my wand of sleep for a wand of fear. I go back to Durlag's Tower and enter the lower levels. I equip Talos's Gift, Icingdeath, Batalista's Passport, and drink a potion of insulation. I kill the mustard jellies and go to the lady's bedchamber. I use the Greenstone Amulet to grab the grapes and shapeshift to bear to open the chest. I retrieve The Practical Defense, which was the main reason for coming back. I leave. I may return later for Kiel's Helmet and Durlag's Goblet, but I haven't committed to that fully.
I for sure use the Greenstone Amulet before approaching Tranzig. Animals and insects are summoned, and he falls in just a couple of rounds. Next up is the Bandit Camp, once I decide how I'm going to handle the tent. Then a quick jaunt through Cloakwood and finally an unlocked Baldur's Gate.
Having decided what to do, I travel to Peldvale and join the bandits. I use Algernon's Cloak to charm Taurgosz, and a rogue hobgoblin elite kills him. I rest then cast protection from lightning on myself and use the Sandthief's Ring. I loot the chest and use another charge to get to the entrance of the tent. I attempt to charm Raemon and succeed. Raemon and I leave the tent and head south, where he makes the mistake of punching a black bear. I return to the tent, summon animals and insects, and kill the remaining named bandits.
In Cloakwood 1, I side with the druids. In Cloakwood 2, I use a protection from poison scroll and clear the area. In Cloakwood, I kill Amarande with a combination of conjured animals and insects, looting his +2 club. Cloakwood 4 is walked through.
At the Cloakwood Mines, I kill the guards and skirt the southern palisades. I make several attempts but eventually charm Genthore. I find a guard in the forest, and Genthore is brought to near death when the guard breaks his weapon. We kill the guard and continue searching the forest until a pair of wolves are found. I move slowly and charm Kysus on the second attempt. Kysys falls quickly to a group of tasloi.
I continue along the southern palisade and trigger Drasus and Rezdan. I debate attempting to charm Rezdan but opt for the Greenstone Amulet. While he's casting spells, I lure Drasus out of the camp. I charm Drasus on the first try. Drasus distracts Rezdan while I summon insects. Rezdan doesn't last long. I manage to land two call lightnings on Drasus before he can reach me, bringing him to near death. He falls to my next two melee attacks. I clear the remaining guards and head back to the FAI to identify and sell loot.
Back at the mines, I talk to the slaves, killing whichever guards get in my way. I use the secret passage on the second level to bypass most of the guards and talk to Rill. After bashing the door, I kill a couple of guards but alert the mage. She starts casting, so I move to the third level. I may have been able to activate the Sandthief's Ring, but I'm not sure what's faster, so I use a potion of invisibility instead. I bypass the third level under invisibility.
Davaeorn's guard is charmed and I activate the battle horrors. I mostly use the wand of the heavens to kill them. The charmed guard is set to attack Davaeorn before he starts his dialogue. Once again he begins combat with the guard without activating. Davaeorn launches a lightning bolt, somehow bouncing it down the hallway I'm standing in, and after several more unlucky bounces, Fig Dru dies. All while protection from lightning was available in my spellbook.
Those Lightning Bolts! It's so easy for them to end a run, and they move so quickly that it's almost impossible to react to them unless you get an auto-pause when your aura is clear--and even then, most of the time the only potential solution is a Potion of Magic Blocking or Absorption, a charge from Durlag's Goblet, or a Potion of Insulation or Magic Shielding if you have the Boots of Grounding or a lot of HP left. And even then, you might still be deep in the red, and it would only take a little more to bump you off.
A single hit from Davaeorn is just 10d6, but if it bounces the right way, you could get hit by 20-50d6 damage, enough to obliterate almost any character.
I think the first hit was for over 50 and the second in the mid 20s, while I had an even 70 HPs. In retrospect, I had enough time to use a Potion of Absorption after the first hit and had three in my potion case (and two Potions of Magic Blocking), but instead used my remaining moments dancing around in a hallway like an idiot trying to dodge. In prospect, I will be buffing against lightning every time before facing Davaeorn.
Darm Oomon, solo dark moon monk L1, S18 D18 C17 I10 W9 Ch17
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
I complete all the Candlekeep quests. Imoen is killed for her equipment, although it takes about 6 shots. The diamond is grabbed. I attack Xzar with a sling. I miss, repeatedly. They both start chasing me. Xzar hits me with two LMD, so I use a healing potion. While kiting, I stop to sling at Montaron, but Xzar is too close, hits me, and I die.
Nothing special to report with Siercal, she has wandered through much of Cloakwood and poked her head into Durlag's without taking on the camp yet, reaching level 7. She now has Invisibility Sphere though which should make the camp much easier to sneak into, out of, and around. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the BG1 NPC project run Ajantis & Coran through a series of challenges to win her love though. Present party is Isra, Alora, Kale, Coran (Stalker), and Gavin. I think Gavin will take a rest soon as he's getting morose at not winning Siercal's affections and is bugged to turn undead at level 15 presently...
Unfortunately, my fighter mage died to a horror spell by Tarnesh... one failed saving throw and the run was over...:(. (I was half asleep and just sorta clicking around... I actually had a potion of clarity with me and I should have known the fight was coming. Just a reminder to never play haphazardly when doing no reloads...)
However, I had the genius idea of creating a Halfling Wizard Slayer... I don't think that it has been done before and I wanted to try it. It should add some interesting RP flavor as well as providing a challenge... I have also made some choices with my characters pips that gimp her in a way...(WS is all about attacking fast... I use a two handed weapon and range)
We'll see how it goes!
Edit: This was a really bad idea... died to a Tarnesh again straight out of Candlekeep just because I couldn't use potion of clarity... Any ideas on getting past this?
Unfortunately, my fighter mage died to a horror spell by Tarnesh... one failed saving throw and the run was over...:
Edit: This was a really bad idea... died to a Tarnesh again straight out of Candlekeep just because I couldn't use potion of clarity... Any ideas on getting past this?
Even if you want to go inside the inn, fighting him is actually optional unless playing EE. You can lead him away to the other side of the temple and then get out of sight before he gets a chance to talk to you.
However even with EE you can use an invisibility spell (available at High Hedge) to get past him.
You don't have to go to the FAI at all. Just go straight to Nashkel. From a role-playing perspective, you can avoid the FAI as Gorion's letter, which presumably Gorion's murderers have read, tells you to go there, so that is one place that you will avoid like the plague.
Those Lightning Bolts! It's so easy for them to end a run, and they move so quickly that it's almost impossible to react to them unless you get an auto-pause when your aura is clear--and even then, most of the time the only potential solution is a Potion of Magic Blocking or Absorption, a charge from Durlag's Goblet, or a Potion of Insulation or Magic Shielding if you have the Boots of Grounding or a lot of HP left. And even then, you might still be deep in the red, and it would only take a little more to bump you off.
A single hit from Davaeorn is just 10d6, but if it bounces the right way, you could get hit by 20-50d6 damage, enough to obliterate almost any character.
However if you charm him with Algernon's Cloak or with dire charm before he goes hostile, the guards that come when you trigger the last trap will kill him for you. I like doing that. It is ironic justice.
(You can do the same to Mulahey after the kobolds have arrived.)
Unfortunately, my fighter mage died to a horror spell by Tarnesh... one failed saving throw and the run was over...:(. (I was half asleep and just sorta clicking around... I actually had a potion of clarity with me and I should have known the fight was coming. Just a reminder to never play haphazardly when doing no reloads...)
...
Edit: This was a really bad idea... died to a Tarnesh again straight out of Candlekeep just because I couldn't use potion of clarity... Any ideas on getting past this?
It sounds like you're playing solo, as Imoen/Xzar/Montaron can distract him and absorb the magic missiles. If you're not using followers, there's really no pressing need to immediately enter the FAI. I usually don't mess with Tarnesh until at least level 3, and even then he can be a bit tricky depending on class.
As stated above, using the guards (he prioritizes Charname in my experience) or invisibility are viable strategies, along with stealth and sanctuary. A level 3 cleric can silence him from outside of visual range. You could probably lure him to the edge of the map and change zones, but I'm not sure if his position resets or not.
@TheMathemagician Everyone has given good suggestions on dealing with Tarnesh (or just not dealing with him at all). If you are solo, I would suggest the best use of that clarity potion is to get past the sirines guarding the CON tome. The sirines' charm is much more dangerous to a solo character, but the potion solves the problem nicely.
Un Dhun, solo undead hunter L1, S18/85 D18 C18 I10 W13 Ch18
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
First and final update.
I'm not roleplaying, so it's a pretty standard start. Complete Candlekeep. Kill Imoen, Xzar, and Montaron for their stuff. Kill Shoal (level 3). Talk down Marl, kill Algernon, retrieve Firebeard's book, and kill Neera for her gem bag. Raise rep to 11 to avoid becoming fallen. Head north, sell Evermemory, charm Jaheira and let hobgoblins kill her. Follow the river to avoid ankhegs and travel to Ulgoth's Beard. Purchase the Greenstone Amulet and Aule's Staff (going two handed weapons), then charm and kill Dushai.
Raise reputation to 12 then use Algernon's Cloak and the Greestone Amulet to kill sirines at the Temple (level 4). Start doing reputation quests while traveling. Travel south, stopping to get Drizzt killed by gnolls, then sell his equipment in Nashkel and pick up the ankheg armor. Purchase the red and violet potions from the Carnival along with a protection from petrification scroll. Travel to High Hedge and kill the flesh golems (level 5), then purchase the wand of sleep, potion case, and potion of mirrored eyes. Use the wand of sleep on Landrin's spiders and the ogre with the girdle fetish.
Mutamin's Garden is next. Make sure to grab a stone to flesh scroll for the statue. Utilize Korax. Mutamin's greater basilisk brought me to level 6. Korax was set on Mutamin before he could initiate dialogue, and he was held and fell quickly. Korax turned before I could complete the other greater basilisk group. I only had one mirrored eye potion, so I went to High Hedge to get a few more. Attempted to transform Melicamp back, but he didn't survive.
Back at Mutamin's Garden, Kirian's party are charmed away one at a time. The first two attacked a bear and gnoll unarmed. Baerin was taken to the bottom left and killed in melee. Kirian was still neutral. I used the Greenstone Amulet after her dialogue then beat her to death in melee. She cast a lightning bolt, but I guess the angle was wrong, as it didn't hit me. A quick trip to Firewine Bridge via Gullykin for Meilum's bracers.
Off to Lighthouse to kill sirines and flesh golems and grab the constitution manual. Used the Greenstone Amulet and ran into the middle of each sirine group. Had to use the Greenstone twice for the first group but only once for the second. I went up the right side through the cave and took the damage traps instead of using my second to last Greenstone charge. Did the worgs at the lighthouse quest and returned Brage to Nashkel (level 7). Neira was brought in and out of the inn to waste her spells.
Caldo, Krumm, and the dead cat brought reputation to 20. Grabbed the charisma manual, killing all in my way. Sold loot at High Hedge then headed to the FAI for Buckley's Buckler. Tired of having so many hit points and no good way to restore them.
Traveled to Durlag's Tower and killed the three battle horrors. Used a Greenstone Amulet charge to grab the constitution manual and bypass the stun trap. Used the protection from petrification scroll to kill the basilisks. I was clearing ghasts as well. Used a potion of clarity to kill the ghost on level 3 and Kirinhale. Killed the ghasts in the cellar and triggered a confusion trap. Failed my save, causing me to attack Bayard. He killed me with magic missiles.
Tough break @jessejmc - there are so many traps in Durlag's Tower, pretty risky in no-reload for a non-thief solo unless you have memorized each trap and defend against them (or know how to avoid/not trigger them). Good luck in your next attempt.
@Corey_Russell: I've triggered that trap many, many attempts back, but the room was cleared so it wasn't fatal, and I forgot about it. I think Bayard leaves after you talk to him, so if I had done that first, it may have been fine. The sad part is, there's absolutely nothing in the room where that trap is (directly below Bayard).
I've been trying to branch out into the more dangerous areas. Especially for this run, I was going to attempt retrieving Kiel's Helmet and Durlag's Goblet, although that would have been after returning from Candlekeep. I would have grabbed The Practical Defense before leaving, but it's only protected by fire, lightning, and some mustard jellies (and maybe some magic missiles).
Darm Oomon, solo dark moon monk L1 HP10, S18 D18 C17 I15 W9 Ch18
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
After a rather pitiful showing last time, I'm attempting a dark moon monk again. As before, complete all the Candlekeep quests. Avoid Imoen, Xzar, and Montaron, as the only really beneficial items are the potions of speed, and they're unusable. The wand of magic missiles typically sees minimal use,
Blind and kill Shoal (L3). Talk down Marl (L4). Kill Algernon for his cloak. Retrieve Firebead's book. Grab the Ring of Princes and Evermemory on the way to the FAI. Bribe rep from 7 to 10. Blind Tarnesh in two attempts and kill him. Sell Evermemory.
Travel to Ulgoth's beard and purchase the Wand of the Heavens and Greenstone Amulet. Charm Dushai and bring her to the southeast of the map, where she is killed for her ring. Back to the FAI where reputation is bribed from 6 to 11. Recover Joia's ring.
Back in Beregost, Neera is attacked but runs away into a building, which I didn't even know could happen, so I'm stuck with no gem bag. I debate starting over.
Travel to Nashkel, picking up Mirianne's letter, Zhurlong's boots, and Colquetle's amulet. Trigger the gnolls around Drizzt. They're all activate and well out of range, but a few seconds later, Drizzt attacks and kills two gnolls. He fortunately stops there and is killed. Loot his equipment. Grab the ankheg armor and sell everything but Icingdeath. Purchase the red and violet potions, The One Gift Lost, Shield Amulet, and a protection from petrification scroll at the carnival. Rest for CLW.
Back in Beregost, purchase a +1 sling and +1 bullets. Travel to High Hedge. Draw out one flesh golem, pick up a flind on the way, who gets a hit in. Kill them both and use CLW before heading back in. The second flesh golem keeps breaking sight and running in a different direction. In my attempts to get its attention, it hits for 27, bringing me to 7 HP. I finally get it in the circle around Thalantyr and kill it (L5). Purchase a potion case, three potions of mirrored eyes, and the wand of sleep.
Draw Karlat out of the inn and kite him around town, throwing daggers at him until he falls. Silke is blinded after several attempts. Talk to Garrick to start the scenario, then kill Silke and collect the potions. Kill and turn in Landrin's spiders. Kill the sirines at the Temple.
Return Brage to Nashkel. Melicamp survives! Kill the first batch of sirines at Lighthouse. It's pretty rough going. Sil's sirines are charmed away one at a time and killed. Flesh golems are pulled and killed from range. Complete the worg quest and head to Dryad Falls. Blind Caldo and Krumm and kill with throwing daggers. Turn in the dead cat. Stone to flesh at Mutamin's Garden brings rep to 20. With max discount, return to High Hedge for The Claw of Kazgaroth.
Back at Mutamin's Garden, charm a lesser basilisk and use the protection from petrification scroll on it. Kill the southern basilisk group (L7). Use Korax with the lesser basilisk to kill Mutamin. Kirian's party falls to their combined power. Quick trip back to Ulgoth's Beard for more mirrored eye potions.
At Durlag's Tower, burn down the battle horrors with the wand of the heavens. Use the Greenstone Amulet to grab the wisdom manual and bypass the stun trap. Potions of mirrored eyes and the wand of the heavens are used to kill the basilisks (L8). A quick trip to Firewine Bridge where Meilum is blinded and killed from range. The Greenstone Amulet is recharged. Use the wand of sleep on Gnarl and Hairtooth, then stealth for the charisma manual. Blind Neira and kill from range.
Next up, the Nashkel Mines and the critical path. This run is going pretty well, but I'm already greatly missing the gem bag. I'm carrying Edventar's Gift, Ring of Princes, The Claw of Kazgaroth, Greenstone Amulet, Shield Amulet, and The One Gift Lost. I would also like to pick up at least one Batalista's Passport, The Victor, and almost certainly Sandthief's Ring. I would normally get an extra couple The One Gift Lost but doubt I'll be able to this time. This will greatly decrease my ability to bring wealth into SoD, if I make it that far.
Long time, no update (RL interference). But I'm dropping in to say that, somehow, Croll the Cruel (Neutral Evil Half-orc Shaman) is still alive and still struggling with werewolves, who have pursued him into SoD.
The Spirits are Still Hungry, Part 11
Croll battled his way through trolls and displacer beasts, rescuing Jaheira and Voghiln from their clutches. The Druid and Bard decided that Croll was the greater threat (to their everlasting regret).
Croll fought his way to Bridgefort, where crusaders directed him to seek out a wardstone and a lost patrol. He fought his way through wyverns and bugbears to an abandoned temple, where he met and freed a Priestess of Bhaal, instructing her to murder.
He mercilessly killed a half-dragon (Ziatar) and her mother (Morenetherene), using poison resistance, beetles, and a throwing dagger.
Croll struggled to defeat a monster out of tales told to frighten half-orc children (a real, live Neothelid). It swallowed his beetles whole. But after a few attempts (where he lost his ironskins), Croll realized that a combination of poison resistance, absorption, girdle of slashing, chaotic commands, and summons enabled him to stab the beast with the Dagger of Venom enough times to kill it.
After freeing the priestess Akanna from the clutches of a mindflayer, Croll decided that he'd rather see her dead.
Croll then investigated a secret room. Unable to defeat the shadows; and unable to open the chest, he decided to flee. Wardstone in hand, Croll headed back toward Bridgefort; studiously avoiding the werewolf-filled coalition camp.
The two companions newly reunited with the team are, relatively, weak as kittens (although the other four are still, of course, as puny as cats to an elephant in comparison to the HoF opponents). For now we’ll generally keep them at the back. Still, Dundas the Bard will from now on be contributing to combat through his songs, Hwynevyr will be a competent slinger and sometimes healer, and both will catch up quickly as the XP flows liberally at this difficulty.
Dundas successfully scribes Chromatic Orb from Pomab’s bedroom (we’ve already sold Sleep). We will conserve all crucial and rare scrolls for occasional scribing sprees under Potions of Genius/Mind Focusing, but those potions are few, and we’d benefit from some firepower early. CO exists in several copies, so I don’t mind risking wasting it. It pays off, and we now have an immensely powerful disabler.
Rested and recovered, the team returns to the cave.
~ Ogres (are like onions) ~
Our tactic for this fight is to use the only entrance to the ogres’ cavern as a choke point, littering it with as many immobilised orcs as we can to prevent the larger ogres squeezing through and obliterating the team. We will then focus all our firepower on the ogres, keeping the frontline orcs occupied with our few summons. We prebuff with everything we have, wait for clean auras, then Linaea sneaks in under stealth and looses an arrow to initiate, and high-tails it out before the bow-wielding elites can retaliate. It’s on.
We form up in the antechamber, and immediately start lobbing crowd-control into the passage. We apply Hold Person to the orcs, and disable several. The ogres eventually join the party, and we start pelting them. A tense few minutes ensue, and our summons start to wear thin and the CC to run out. We only manage to kill one ogre before they break through the barrier.
Fango tries tanking for 3 seconds, only to regret the decision massively. Our plan in pieces and Fango nearly the same, we leg it for the caves’ exit!
Outside we heal up, then pop straight back in, so that Dundas can try out a Chromatic Orb: it works! We manage to take out one more ogre, but the pressure from the others is too much and we’re out of resources, so we duck out again. (Sorry, no pics, but you can see the ogre’s winter-wolf-pelt at the top edge of the next one!)
We rest, and capitalise on a few level-ups at the same time. Then it’s back into the den. We hang out by the main entrance, summoning our undead legion and waiting for the remaining enemies to close in on us. Eventually the same tactics of disabling and blocking with summons allow us to finish off the last two ogres. Chromatic Orb is the true winner of the day.
Victorious, we return to Hrothgar, remembering to turn in the caravan contract to the Fishmonger, and then taking the supplies list to Pomab for some fetch-quest XP. We stock up on plenty of ammo, grab a few healing potions from Everard, and then we pack our bags. We’re off to:
~ Kuldahar Pass ~
The frost giant ambush escaped, our immediate concerns are of a much smaller variety, and quite honestly significantly harder than the much later battles with giants. The goblin hordes infesting this pass use Call to Arms to great effect, and can easily overwhelm an under-prepared party. I play especially cautiously this time.
[My last experience here went disastrously. I had a different party and my only cleric was the triple-class, whose slower levelling meant no summons yet. They scraped through the first goblin encounter, tried to squeeze past the next and took heavy losses, and then tried running to Kuldahar. Only the bard made it through, and funds were so low there was no way to Raise enough companions to allow continuing. I abandoned the run, taking away the fundamental lesson: get summons ASAP!]
We tackle every group individually, to avoid them swarming us, and use natural terrain features like corners and choke-points to control the enemies' movement and ability to injure us. The goblin archers are the most dangerous, and we usually send our summons to close with them as quickly as possible, to force them to change to melee weapons. Combining this with Hold Person, Color Spray, Entangle, Grease and Spike Growth we are able to eliminate each group, in turn. At the tower Anaya gives the pained ogre a head-ache cure, and inside the mill Dundas intimidates Uligar to back down, then we kill the orcs anyway, stunning their leader with CO.
The battle in the gorge north of the mill is particularly tense, since we arrive surrounded by goblins on all sides, and we have to work hard to disable and control them in the most efficient way possible, keeping our weaker members safe. Most of the harder battles in the game are like this. Unlike in Baldur's Gate and sequels, were you usually have one hard boss with a ton of mage spells, here we will generally face huge crowds of enemies, with one or two special abilities and generally packing a melee punch.
Another powerful tactic to use against the goblins is Charm, but we want every experience point we can get so in this play-through we avoid it as much as possible.
Eventually we toil through all the remaining goblins, and travel deeper into the Spine.
~ Kuldahar ~
This tree-roots-hamlet is probably my favourite base-area in any CRPG, not least for the spell-binding music and sounds. Arriving here really feels like coming home. Well done, Bioware.
We get to work on gathering XP: Fango converts a Townsperson to Ilmater before Anaya reconverts the poor sheep to Sylvanus. Then we save another Townsperson from Yetis, stock up on arrows, buy two suits of plate mail (we'll find a third one before too long), steal a hammer from Conlan, force Aldwin to 'fess up about the Evening Shade Inn, and finally chat with nature-dude Arundel, who asks us to check out some temple with undead nasties. Since they're undead, they're obviously to blame for all the world's problems.
It's also at this point I remember Neutrals get the same XP-boost as Enemies, so we bump off Kuldahar's cow-herd, then pop back to the Pass to hunt some chickens. While there we take out the head-achey Goblin by the mill.
We've done everything we can to boost out bloated XP, so we head to Aldwin and rest up before our journey to the Vale of Shadows. Before sleeping we replace Hold Person with self-buffs like DUHM and Aid, and a few more Cure spells, in preparation for the Hold-immune undead.
[I just want to say I am completely in awe of you guys who can play so much of these games, and also find time to write up your progress in such detail!]
Comments
That's why I think I'm going to avoid it with my Necromancer (assuming she makes it that far).
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
Another attempt at a class not represented in the Hall. Started with Scimitar/Wakizashi/Ninjato ++ and Dagger ++.
Was almost killed in Candlekeep stealing the flamedance ring. Misclicked while forcing the lock before I had knocked the nobleman unconscious. The rest of Candlekeep was finished without issue.
Imoen, Xzar, and Montaron were killed for their equipment before grabbing the diamond and heading south to High Hedge. Shoal was entangled and killed, leveling me to 2/2. Headed to Beregost where I placated Marl and retrieved a book for Firebead. Also purchased a +1 sling and bullets +1 from Thunderhammer.
Quick trip south to Nashkel for the ankheg armor and CLW. Made my first ever attempt at activating the gnolls around Drizzt without stealth. Came in from the trees at the southeast. It wasn't looking good, as the gnolls started to attack me but then moments later switched to Drizzt. His gear was looted.
Headed to High Hedge and killed the flesh golems, leveling to 3/3. Purchased a potion case, potion of mirrored eyes (just in case), and the wand of sleep. Used a couple of charges of the wand of sleep in Beregost to kill the spiders at Landrin's. Turned in Zhurlong's and Mirianne's quests.
Headed to the FAI and grabbed the RoP, Elvenbane, and Evermemory. Tarnesh was more difficult than usual without silence or stealth, but I fortunately saved against horror, and my 3/3 hitpoints helped me survive his magic missiles long enough to put him down. Sold Evermemory and some other things and turned in Landrin's quest.
Killed an ankheg with the wand of sleep on the way to Ulgoth's Beard and hit level 3/4. Purchased the Greenstone Amulet and headed back to Beregost. Killed Algernon for his cloak then turned in the Colquetle's Amulet to get back to reputation 8. Killing Karlat brought me to 4/4, after which I turned in Perdue's quest. Silke was forced to cast magic missile on herself twice, which unfortunately caused me to lose out on her experience.
Neera was killed for her gem bag, and then I headed back to the FAI. Jaheira was charmed and fed to hobgoblins for her invisibility potion. Back to Ulgoth's Beard for Dushai's ring. I raised reputation back at the Temple. Next will be killing the sirines, Mutamin's Garden, reputation quests, and manual gathering.
It was a dumb play on my part. That fight was completely avoidable and wouldn't have provided me any useful equipment. I also didn't use the Greenstone Amulet, which I should have started with, before using The One Gift Lost. By the time I realized I needed it, my aura was clouded, and there wasn't anything to do but fall down and die.
I should have continued that run, as I want to do some testing at Bridgeport. I have some ideas for mass use of the Nymph Cloak there (and at later zones), but I've already deleted everything.
Wow, brutal! I just stole the companions items while their backs were turned and I'm chaotic evil...
I find that playing solo up to level 4 and then picking up NPCs is the best. That way you level up quickly and the NPCs join at a higher level too. This does mean that you cannot choose where the pips go at level 3, but if that is a problem, it can be solved with EE Keeper (Level 1 NPCs does the same job more easily). If you wait for a while before joining up with Dynaheir she will already have memorised fireball which is a big advantage.
I would always install the BG1 NPC project as it makes the game much more interesting.
The other option is to play it at core difficulty.
Nothing game-breaking, but over a trilogy no-reload mages vulnerability often shows up. While they're extremely strong when buffed, it's not easy to keep playing safely for that length of time. Maybe you'll show how it's done though
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
Previous updates:
Sirines are disposed of. Was ambushed by half ogres after picking up Melicamp. Entangle was cast, and I kited around thanks to Eventar's Gift. They brought me to level 4/5. Melicamp survived this time, surprisingly. I get a summon insects off on Bassilus right as he hits me with rigid thinking. I didn't do the dialogue correctly, so the undead didn't die off, but only one zombie went hostile. Bassilus and the zombie are killed while I have no control.
I turn in the holy symbol and head to the Lighthouse. The first sirine killed gets me to level 5/5. I just ran into the middle of them and used Greenstone Amulet charges while hacking them down. Sil's sirines were charmed and killed one at a time, the second giving me level 5/6. I rush the charm trap while still under the effect of the Greenstone Amulet after killing Sil. It's a bit risky, as the flesh golem could have trapped me in the hallway, and did get a 19 damage hit on me, but I was down to my last Greenstone Amulet charge. The flesh golems are killed with a non-proficient sling.
The worgs at the Lighthouse are done next for the reputation bonus. I grab Brage on the way back to Nashkel and use the constitution manual. Oblek is told the truth. I head to the inn and cast summon insects on Neira, who also lands a rigid thinking on me. I thought she started with hold person. Another unnecessary risk on my part.
Caldo and Krumm are entangled and killed with throwing daggers. The dead cat was returned, bringing me to 19 reputation. Hairtooth and Gnarl are entangled and killed with throwing daggers. I grab the charisma manual. I charm an Amnian soldier at the Nashkel mines to assist with Greywolf, netting me 20 reputation. With the maximum discount I'll be able to receive, I recharge the Greenstone Amulet.
I head to Mutamin's Garden. Korax takes some damage pretty early on, and I get too close and trigger Mutamin. He leads with mirror image, and I summon insects. He's essentially out of the fight from then on. Mutamin gets me to level 6/7. I use a couple of minor cures on Korax, but he dies to the second greater basilisk. I drink a couple of mirrored eyes potion to finish clearing the basilisks.
Wasn't sure how I would handle Kirian's party, as I usually have Korax, a charmed basilisk, and silence. Instead I approached from the east and charmed Peter. He was fed to a flind. Next was Lindin from the north, who was fed to a black bear. I came in too far from the northwest and triggered Kirian before being able to safely charm Baerin, and he makes his save while hostile.
I summon insects on Kirian and run to lure Baerin away to kill in melee. I summon animals from out of sight of Kirian, which she promptly kills with a lightning bolt. As I re-approach, she cast horror on me, which I fortunately save on, as I hadn't used my Greenstone Amulet, and it doesn't activate in time while the spell is in the air. She land two melf's acid arrows while I summon another round of insects. I'm not interrupted, but she lands another acid arrow as the insects approach. She doesn't last long after the insects land. I'm down to around half health.
If you don't have mirror image, as a mage, then next best thing is use LMD and vampiric touch on a minion(s) to temporarily boost your HP.
There are unfortunately some violent murders before Charname gets the blood of Bhaal under control. I'm not particularly consistent with this from run to run. I usually avoid them completely and sometimes accept and kick them from my party. I doubt anyone would call me out on it not being a true solo run to accept, rob, and kick them.
You can make your own rules on that, but the only recruitment of NPCs I allow in solo runs is:
- Caelar when facing Belhifet (I don't control her though in order to emulate how I think the battle should have been designed with her fighting the demon, but not as part of the party).
- Imoen in the cutscene at the start of BG2.
That does indeed lead to a fair amount of cold-blooded murder, even by the paladins of this world.
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1063400/#Comment_1063400
I head to Ulgoth's Beard and purchase an extra potion of mirrored eyes, a wand of the heavens, and the Sandthief's Ring. A quick stop at the Nashkel Carnival for the red and violet potions, protection from petrification scroll, and The One Gift Lost. East of Nashkel Mines for Batalista's Passport.
A quick jaunt through the mines leads to Mulahey. The kobolds notice me, and Mulahey saves against charm, so I have to kill him the old fashioned way. I entangle the entrance and summon insects on Mulahey. The insects interrupt every spell, and I use the wand of sleep on the kobolds that slip through. It's just a matter of mopping up.
I exit the mines and wrap around the amazons from the east. I charm Telka and feed her to a war dog. Maneira is next. I enlist Zeela's aid to assist wit the revenant. She falls quickly, but I get some safe hits in. I finish off the revenant with a call lightning and summoned insects. I don't realize Lamalha is a cleric, and she lands a rigid thinking as I summon insects. She gets me to 40/61 HP before I regain control. I use the Greenstone Amulet as she casts hold person, which Eventar's gift protects me from. She begins to cast another spell, but I attack in melee, interrupting her spell and killing her in the next attack.
I activate the Greenstone Amulet and approach Nimbul. Or at least I think I do, but I must move before it activates. I summon insects as he casts horror, and I'm surprised as it lands. Embarrassed... A combination of insects and Rasaad make short work of him before he damages me too much.
I head to Durlag's Tower and use call lightning and the wand of the heavens to kill the first two battle horrors. Casting call lightning is sooo slow. I kill the ghast near the basilisk exit before entering the third floor. Riggilo attacks me and is cut down. I use the Greenstone Amulet, grab the wisdom manual, and run down to the basilisk exit to avoid the stun trap. I use the protection from petrification scroll and exit, quickly killing the lesser basilisk. The greater basilisks get me to level 7/8, the max for the cap. I will unfortunately not be able to get pixie dust until SoD. Icingdeath and resist fire and cold make retrieving Rashad's Talon safe. I'm stunned on the way out.
I go to High Hedge to sell some stuff and trade my wand of sleep for a wand of fear. I go back to Durlag's Tower and enter the lower levels. I equip Talos's Gift, Icingdeath, Batalista's Passport, and drink a potion of insulation. I kill the mustard jellies and go to the lady's bedchamber. I use the Greenstone Amulet to grab the grapes and shapeshift to bear to open the chest. I retrieve The Practical Defense, which was the main reason for coming back. I leave. I may return later for Kiel's Helmet and Durlag's Goblet, but I haven't committed to that fully.
I for sure use the Greenstone Amulet before approaching Tranzig. Animals and insects are summoned, and he falls in just a couple of rounds. Next up is the Bandit Camp, once I decide how I'm going to handle the tent. Then a quick jaunt through Cloakwood and finally an unlocked Baldur's Gate.
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1063400/#Comment_1063400
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1063480/#Comment_1063480
Having decided what to do, I travel to Peldvale and join the bandits. I use Algernon's Cloak to charm Taurgosz, and a rogue hobgoblin elite kills him. I rest then cast protection from lightning on myself and use the Sandthief's Ring. I loot the chest and use another charge to get to the entrance of the tent. I attempt to charm Raemon and succeed. Raemon and I leave the tent and head south, where he makes the mistake of punching a black bear. I return to the tent, summon animals and insects, and kill the remaining named bandits.
In Cloakwood 1, I side with the druids. In Cloakwood 2, I use a protection from poison scroll and clear the area. In Cloakwood, I kill Amarande with a combination of conjured animals and insects, looting his +2 club. Cloakwood 4 is walked through.
At the Cloakwood Mines, I kill the guards and skirt the southern palisades. I make several attempts but eventually charm Genthore. I find a guard in the forest, and Genthore is brought to near death when the guard breaks his weapon. We kill the guard and continue searching the forest until a pair of wolves are found. I move slowly and charm Kysus on the second attempt. Kysys falls quickly to a group of tasloi.
I continue along the southern palisade and trigger Drasus and Rezdan. I debate attempting to charm Rezdan but opt for the Greenstone Amulet. While he's casting spells, I lure Drasus out of the camp. I charm Drasus on the first try. Drasus distracts Rezdan while I summon insects. Rezdan doesn't last long. I manage to land two call lightnings on Drasus before he can reach me, bringing him to near death. He falls to my next two melee attacks. I clear the remaining guards and head back to the FAI to identify and sell loot.
Back at the mines, I talk to the slaves, killing whichever guards get in my way. I use the secret passage on the second level to bypass most of the guards and talk to Rill. After bashing the door, I kill a couple of guards but alert the mage. She starts casting, so I move to the third level. I may have been able to activate the Sandthief's Ring, but I'm not sure what's faster, so I use a potion of invisibility instead. I bypass the third level under invisibility.
Davaeorn's guard is charmed and I activate the battle horrors. I mostly use the wand of the heavens to kill them. The charmed guard is set to attack Davaeorn before he starts his dialogue. Once again he begins combat with the guard without activating. Davaeorn launches a lightning bolt, somehow bouncing it down the hallway I'm standing in, and after several more unlucky bounces, Fig Dru dies. All while protection from lightning was available in my spellbook.
A single hit from Davaeorn is just 10d6, but if it bounces the right way, you could get hit by 20-50d6 damage, enough to obliterate almost any character.
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
I complete all the Candlekeep quests. Imoen is killed for her equipment, although it takes about 6 shots. The diamond is grabbed. I attack Xzar with a sling. I miss, repeatedly. They both start chasing me. Xzar hits me with two LMD, so I use a healing potion. While kiting, I stop to sling at Montaron, but Xzar is too close, hits me, and I die.
However, I had the genius idea of creating a Halfling Wizard Slayer... I don't think that it has been done before and I wanted to try it. It should add some interesting RP flavor as well as providing a challenge... I have also made some choices with my characters pips that gimp her in a way...(WS is all about attacking fast... I use a two handed weapon and range)
We'll see how it goes!
Edit: This was a really bad idea... died to a Tarnesh again straight out of Candlekeep just because I couldn't use potion of clarity... Any ideas on getting past this?
I have actually completed BG1 a number of times without anyone in my party killing anyone. In BG1 killing is a choice unlike BG2.
Even if you want to go inside the inn, fighting him is actually optional unless playing EE. You can lead him away to the other side of the temple and then get out of sight before he gets a chance to talk to you.
However even with EE you can use an invisibility spell (available at High Hedge) to get past him.
You don't have to go to the FAI at all. Just go straight to Nashkel. From a role-playing perspective, you can avoid the FAI as Gorion's letter, which presumably Gorion's murderers have read, tells you to go there, so that is one place that you will avoid like the plague.
However if you charm him with Algernon's Cloak or with dire charm before he goes hostile, the guards that come when you trigger the last trap will kill him for you. I like doing that. It is ironic justice.
(You can do the same to Mulahey after the kobolds have arrived.)
or (roleplay) you could face tarnesh level 1 and use the guards by luring him into them. The rules of the inn are very strict
It sounds like you're playing solo, as Imoen/Xzar/Montaron can distract him and absorb the magic missiles. If you're not using followers, there's really no pressing need to immediately enter the FAI. I usually don't mess with Tarnesh until at least level 3, and even then he can be a bit tricky depending on class.
As stated above, using the guards (he prioritizes Charname in my experience) or invisibility are viable strategies, along with stealth and sanctuary. A level 3 cleric can silence him from outside of visual range. You could probably lure him to the edge of the map and change zones, but I'm not sure if his position resets or not.
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
First and final update.
I'm not roleplaying, so it's a pretty standard start. Complete Candlekeep. Kill Imoen, Xzar, and Montaron for their stuff. Kill Shoal (level 3). Talk down Marl, kill Algernon, retrieve Firebeard's book, and kill Neera for her gem bag. Raise rep to 11 to avoid becoming fallen. Head north, sell Evermemory, charm Jaheira and let hobgoblins kill her. Follow the river to avoid ankhegs and travel to Ulgoth's Beard. Purchase the Greenstone Amulet and Aule's Staff (going two handed weapons), then charm and kill Dushai.
Raise reputation to 12 then use Algernon's Cloak and the Greestone Amulet to kill sirines at the Temple (level 4). Start doing reputation quests while traveling. Travel south, stopping to get Drizzt killed by gnolls, then sell his equipment in Nashkel and pick up the ankheg armor. Purchase the red and violet potions from the Carnival along with a protection from petrification scroll. Travel to High Hedge and kill the flesh golems (level 5), then purchase the wand of sleep, potion case, and potion of mirrored eyes. Use the wand of sleep on Landrin's spiders and the ogre with the girdle fetish.
Mutamin's Garden is next. Make sure to grab a stone to flesh scroll for the statue. Utilize Korax. Mutamin's greater basilisk brought me to level 6. Korax was set on Mutamin before he could initiate dialogue, and he was held and fell quickly. Korax turned before I could complete the other greater basilisk group. I only had one mirrored eye potion, so I went to High Hedge to get a few more. Attempted to transform Melicamp back, but he didn't survive.
Back at Mutamin's Garden, Kirian's party are charmed away one at a time. The first two attacked a bear and gnoll unarmed. Baerin was taken to the bottom left and killed in melee. Kirian was still neutral. I used the Greenstone Amulet after her dialogue then beat her to death in melee. She cast a lightning bolt, but I guess the angle was wrong, as it didn't hit me. A quick trip to Firewine Bridge via Gullykin for Meilum's bracers.
Off to Lighthouse to kill sirines and flesh golems and grab the constitution manual. Used the Greenstone Amulet and ran into the middle of each sirine group. Had to use the Greenstone twice for the first group but only once for the second. I went up the right side through the cave and took the damage traps instead of using my second to last Greenstone charge. Did the worgs at the lighthouse quest and returned Brage to Nashkel (level 7). Neira was brought in and out of the inn to waste her spells.
Caldo, Krumm, and the dead cat brought reputation to 20. Grabbed the charisma manual, killing all in my way. Sold loot at High Hedge then headed to the FAI for Buckley's Buckler. Tired of having so many hit points and no good way to restore them.
Traveled to Durlag's Tower and killed the three battle horrors. Used a Greenstone Amulet charge to grab the constitution manual and bypass the stun trap. Used the protection from petrification scroll to kill the basilisks. I was clearing ghasts as well. Used a potion of clarity to kill the ghost on level 3 and Kirinhale. Killed the ghasts in the cellar and triggered a confusion trap. Failed my save, causing me to attack Bayard. He killed me with magic missiles.
I've been trying to branch out into the more dangerous areas. Especially for this run, I was going to attempt retrieving Kiel's Helmet and Durlag's Goblet, although that would have been after returning from Candlekeep. I would have grabbed The Practical Defense before leaving, but it's only protected by fire, lightning, and some mustard jellies (and maybe some magic missiles).
Difficulty: core
Mods: none
After a rather pitiful showing last time, I'm attempting a dark moon monk again. As before, complete all the Candlekeep quests. Avoid Imoen, Xzar, and Montaron, as the only really beneficial items are the potions of speed, and they're unusable. The wand of magic missiles typically sees minimal use,
Blind and kill Shoal (L3). Talk down Marl (L4). Kill Algernon for his cloak. Retrieve Firebead's book. Grab the Ring of Princes and Evermemory on the way to the FAI. Bribe rep from 7 to 10. Blind Tarnesh in two attempts and kill him. Sell Evermemory.
Travel to Ulgoth's beard and purchase the Wand of the Heavens and Greenstone Amulet. Charm Dushai and bring her to the southeast of the map, where she is killed for her ring. Back to the FAI where reputation is bribed from 6 to 11. Recover Joia's ring.
Back in Beregost, Neera is attacked but runs away into a building, which I didn't even know could happen, so I'm stuck with no gem bag. I debate starting over.
Travel to Nashkel, picking up Mirianne's letter, Zhurlong's boots, and Colquetle's amulet. Trigger the gnolls around Drizzt. They're all activate and well out of range, but a few seconds later, Drizzt attacks and kills two gnolls. He fortunately stops there and is killed. Loot his equipment. Grab the ankheg armor and sell everything but Icingdeath. Purchase the red and violet potions, The One Gift Lost, Shield Amulet, and a protection from petrification scroll at the carnival. Rest for CLW.
Back in Beregost, purchase a +1 sling and +1 bullets. Travel to High Hedge. Draw out one flesh golem, pick up a flind on the way, who gets a hit in. Kill them both and use CLW before heading back in. The second flesh golem keeps breaking sight and running in a different direction. In my attempts to get its attention, it hits for 27, bringing me to 7 HP. I finally get it in the circle around Thalantyr and kill it (L5). Purchase a potion case, three potions of mirrored eyes, and the wand of sleep.
Draw Karlat out of the inn and kite him around town, throwing daggers at him until he falls. Silke is blinded after several attempts. Talk to Garrick to start the scenario, then kill Silke and collect the potions. Kill and turn in Landrin's spiders. Kill the sirines at the Temple.
Return Brage to Nashkel. Melicamp survives! Kill the first batch of sirines at Lighthouse. It's pretty rough going. Sil's sirines are charmed away one at a time and killed. Flesh golems are pulled and killed from range. Complete the worg quest and head to Dryad Falls. Blind Caldo and Krumm and kill with throwing daggers. Turn in the dead cat. Stone to flesh at Mutamin's Garden brings rep to 20. With max discount, return to High Hedge for The Claw of Kazgaroth.
Back at Mutamin's Garden, charm a lesser basilisk and use the protection from petrification scroll on it. Kill the southern basilisk group (L7). Use Korax with the lesser basilisk to kill Mutamin. Kirian's party falls to their combined power. Quick trip back to Ulgoth's Beard for more mirrored eye potions.
At Durlag's Tower, burn down the battle horrors with the wand of the heavens. Use the Greenstone Amulet to grab the wisdom manual and bypass the stun trap. Potions of mirrored eyes and the wand of the heavens are used to kill the basilisks (L8). A quick trip to Firewine Bridge where Meilum is blinded and killed from range. The Greenstone Amulet is recharged. Use the wand of sleep on Gnarl and Hairtooth, then stealth for the charisma manual. Blind Neira and kill from range.
Next up, the Nashkel Mines and the critical path. This run is going pretty well, but I'm already greatly missing the gem bag. I'm carrying Edventar's Gift, Ring of Princes, The Claw of Kazgaroth, Greenstone Amulet, Shield Amulet, and The One Gift Lost. I would also like to pick up at least one Batalista's Passport, The Victor, and almost certainly Sandthief's Ring. I would normally get an extra couple The One Gift Lost but doubt I'll be able to this time. This will greatly decrease my ability to bring wealth into SoD, if I make it that far.
L8 HP69, S18 D18 C18 I15 W10 Ch19
The Spirits are Still Hungry, Part 11
Croll battled his way through trolls and displacer beasts, rescuing Jaheira and Voghiln from their clutches. The Druid and Bard decided that Croll was the greater threat (to their everlasting regret).
Croll fought his way to Bridgefort, where crusaders directed him to seek out a wardstone and a lost patrol. He fought his way through wyverns and bugbears to an abandoned temple, where he met and freed a Priestess of Bhaal, instructing her to murder.
He mercilessly killed a half-dragon (Ziatar) and her mother (Morenetherene), using poison resistance, beetles, and a throwing dagger.
Croll struggled to defeat a monster out of tales told to frighten half-orc children (a real, live Neothelid). It swallowed his beetles whole. But after a few attempts (where he lost his ironskins), Croll realized that a combination of poison resistance, absorption, girdle of slashing, chaotic commands, and summons enabled him to stab the beast with the Dagger of Venom enough times to kill it.
After freeing the priestess Akanna from the clutches of a mindflayer, Croll decided that he'd rather see her dead.
Croll then investigated a secret room. Unable to defeat the shadows; and unable to open the chest, he decided to flee. Wardstone in hand, Croll headed back toward Bridgefort; studiously avoiding the werewolf-filled coalition camp.
Previous parts:
Party composition:
Anaya, Half-Elf F/D
Fango, Gnome F/C
Phlebas, Half-Elf F/M/C
Linaea, Elf F/M/T
Dundas, Half-Elf Bard
The two companions newly reunited with the team are, relatively, weak as kittens (although the other four are still, of course, as puny as cats to an elephant in comparison to the HoF opponents). For now we’ll generally keep them at the back. Still, Dundas the Bard will from now on be contributing to combat through his songs, Hwynevyr will be a competent slinger and sometimes healer, and both will catch up quickly as the XP flows liberally at this difficulty.
Dundas successfully scribes Chromatic Orb from Pomab’s bedroom (we’ve already sold Sleep). We will conserve all crucial and rare scrolls for occasional scribing sprees under Potions of Genius/Mind Focusing, but those potions are few, and we’d benefit from some firepower early. CO exists in several copies, so I don’t mind risking wasting it. It pays off, and we now have an immensely powerful disabler.
Rested and recovered, the team returns to the cave.
~ Ogres (are like onions) ~
Our tactic for this fight is to use the only entrance to the ogres’ cavern as a choke point, littering it with as many immobilised orcs as we can to prevent the larger ogres squeezing through and obliterating the team. We will then focus all our firepower on the ogres, keeping the frontline orcs occupied with our few summons. We prebuff with everything we have, wait for clean auras, then Linaea sneaks in under stealth and looses an arrow to initiate, and high-tails it out before the bow-wielding elites can retaliate. It’s on.
Fango tries tanking for 3 seconds, only to regret the decision massively. Our plan in pieces and Fango nearly the same, we leg it for the caves’ exit!
We rest, and capitalise on a few level-ups at the same time. Then it’s back into the den. We hang out by the main entrance, summoning our undead legion and waiting for the remaining enemies to close in on us. Eventually the same tactics of disabling and blocking with summons allow us to finish off the last two ogres. Chromatic Orb is the true winner of the day.
~ Kuldahar Pass ~
The frost giant ambush escaped, our immediate concerns are of a much smaller variety, and quite honestly significantly harder than the much later battles with giants. The goblin hordes infesting this pass use Call to Arms to great effect, and can easily overwhelm an under-prepared party. I play especially cautiously this time.
[My last experience here went disastrously. I had a different party and my only cleric was the triple-class, whose slower levelling meant no summons yet. They scraped through the first goblin encounter, tried to squeeze past the next and took heavy losses, and then tried running to Kuldahar. Only the bard made it through, and funds were so low there was no way to Raise enough companions to allow continuing. I abandoned the run, taking away the fundamental lesson: get summons ASAP!]
We tackle every group individually, to avoid them swarming us, and use natural terrain features like corners and choke-points to control the enemies' movement and ability to injure us. The goblin archers are the most dangerous, and we usually send our summons to close with them as quickly as possible, to force them to change to melee weapons. Combining this with Hold Person, Color Spray, Entangle, Grease and Spike Growth we are able to eliminate each group, in turn. At the tower Anaya gives the pained ogre a head-ache cure, and inside the mill Dundas intimidates Uligar to back down, then we kill the orcs anyway, stunning their leader with CO.
The battle in the gorge north of the mill is particularly tense, since we arrive surrounded by goblins on all sides, and we have to work hard to disable and control them in the most efficient way possible, keeping our weaker members safe. Most of the harder battles in the game are like this. Unlike in Baldur's Gate and sequels, were you usually have one hard boss with a ton of mage spells, here we will generally face huge crowds of enemies, with one or two special abilities and generally packing a melee punch.
Eventually we toil through all the remaining goblins, and travel deeper into the Spine.
~ Kuldahar ~
This tree-roots-hamlet is probably my favourite base-area in any CRPG, not least for the spell-binding music and sounds. Arriving here really feels like coming home. Well done, Bioware.
We get to work on gathering XP: Fango converts a Townsperson to Ilmater before Anaya reconverts the poor sheep to Sylvanus. Then we save another Townsperson from Yetis, stock up on arrows, buy two suits of plate mail (we'll find a third one before too long), steal a hammer from Conlan, force Aldwin to 'fess up about the Evening Shade Inn, and finally chat with nature-dude Arundel, who asks us to check out some temple with undead nasties. Since they're undead, they're obviously to blame for all the world's problems.
We've done everything we can to boost out bloated XP, so we head to Aldwin and rest up before our journey to the Vale of Shadows. Before sleeping we replace Hold Person with self-buffs like DUHM and Aid, and a few more Cure spells, in preparation for the Hold-immune undead.
[I just want to say I am completely in awe of you guys who can play so much of these games, and also find time to write up your progress in such detail!]