With nothing else left to do, we get a proper rest in, then swing by Adalon and get drowified.
On our way to rescue Phaere, we run roughshod over the adventuring party by the bridge. We over-prepared a little... they're pretty much all scrubs, apart from N'ashtar, who still cannot carry the fight by himself.
Phaere is duly rescued, and we take advantage of the rest offered to us by aquiring the Blade of Searing +3 via duel. Minsc can now go all-out on dual-wielding when the situation calls for it. Mazzy also clears out the monsters (with Death Ward so the Beholder has to lead with Anti-Magic Ray, buying Mazzy the round she needs to win).
We also swing by Quile's home, and by now Benedict/Imoen are high enough level that Remove Magic actually has a good chance of working, at least against the less grotesque enemy mages. Quile and her servants fall in short order.
We advance the plot, taking down the Beholder smuggling adamantine (Death Ward on everyone just in case). Finally, there's some shopping: Spear of Withering +4, The Sentinel +4, Firetooth +3 (going to Imoen), and a bundle of Potions of Genius. Plenty of money left still.
We speak with the Matron Mother, and accept her task (we want time to finish Ust Natha sidequests so do not mention that we already single-handedly destroyed entire cities of three of the Drow's most hated adversaries).
The Ghaunadaur (can't remember if that's the spelling, and honestly, am not that bothered about it if it isn't) sect is cleared out, but the mage leader Relonar pulls a nasty surprise: He throws ADHW at Jaheira. Who was standing next to Anomen! Again with the AI trying to kill off our healers, dang nabit. Jaheira quaffs an Oil of Speed and takes off, with Anomen running in the other direction.
Saved by Armor of Faith! Relonar has little time to curse his ill fortune, and falls shortly thereafter.
Next up, Deirex. Everyone gets long-lasting buffs (Chaotic Commands, Death Ward, PfE 10'), and Benedict gets special attention (Protection from Cold/Fire/Lightning/Magic Energy), topped off with a Haste so we can get out of Deirex's line of sight quickly. Deirex, much like Alchra Diagott, prefers hobbling along at a snail's pace looking for the party instead of attacking the Skeleton Warriors we've so thoughtfully provided him with. Eventually, he runs out of PfMW, and cannot keep saving against Azuredge indefinitely.
Good stuff all around! We loot the tower as well as the treasure chamber, and prepare for our (last run, ill-fated) assault on House Jae'llat. This time, we'll leave Mazzy to deal with mages, while Minsc and Jaheira make sure to hold the line against the guards, lest they sidle up to Benedict with malice in mind!
We apply every buff in the book. Once inside, an alpha strike takes down Rilloa before she can do anything.
Yes, that's Anomen casting Holy Word. No, Holy Word does not ignore magic resistance. I'll remember that next time. This battle is really surprisingly difficult: There are a lot of guards with very good THAC0 (Mazzy under Improved Invisibility is quite safe, but Minsc and Jaheira are most assuredly not), as well as several mages and clerics running around.
We conjure fodder, but they do not live very long. Still, we're making progress: Most enemy casters are down, and somehow, our tanks are holding the line. Jaheira takes a triple hit for 57 damage, but stays in one piece.
The battle rages. We're out of fodder and meaningful buffs. Benedict and Imoen try their luck with Magic Missile, but next to none land. We've burned through 2/3 of our healing potions (which we've barely used, at all, until now). Finally, the last major opponent, whom I can't even remember the name of (the dual-wielding fellow in full plate) falls. Victory!
I'm not sure that was worth the effort, but we did it anyway! Hooray!
We loot everything and depart.
There's little left to do. We get a good night's rest, return with the blood of three races, agree to betray the Matron Mother, agree to betray Phaere, and switch the eggs accordingly. The Demon Lord kills off both Ardulace and Phaere, we swipe the Gorgon Plate and Ring of Spell Turning, and flee under Haste (even so, we barely make it out before the city goes hostile).
Adalon duly teleports us and takes care of (most of) the enemies guarding the entrance to the temple.
We ascend into the light.
After having a chat with Elhan, we are left to our own devices. Here, I make a small mistake. We really, really should've rested. I applied full buffs before being teleported by Adalon, and the spells we have left are tailored to fighting drow. Still, in my infinite wisdom, I opt to just head back to Athkatla as is.
We bump into Drizzt on the way and enlist his aid against Bodhi, then head for the Copper Coronet.
You know, that's fine. Reviane is the only Harper that can somehow see through Invisibility, so we'll drag her with us, dispose of her, then turn around and take care of her compatriots.
Friggin'... grrr. That's Kruin, the Wild Mage come to reclaim our silver sword. He can't see through Invisibility, but he happily follows Benedict around all the same. Sigh.
Alright. The rest of the party takes care of Reviane while Benedict just stands next to Kruin.
I honestly don't quite recall what happened next. Probably I figured that Kruin would teleport in a bunch of friends next to himself once the fight started, but instead his fellows teleported in next to the party.
We conjure a Fire Elemental and start tossing out what few buffs we have, whilst the Gith get off Slow/Chaos and the like.
Damnit, Fire Elemental!
... I should just never summon anything except Skeleton Warriors.
So, with reputation down to 6, we clear the remaining Gith, finishing off Kruin last. Not much tactics involved, as we're out of options: Mazzy just threw Hangarn's Axe at him until he keeled over.
We go after the remaining Harpers with a vengeance, only to find that Sir Ryan Trawl (who's there to summon Anomen) has already killed one of them, and nabs the experience for another to boot.
Though I dislike bribing reputation up, I'll allow it under the circumstances. 3400 gold at the Temple of Ilmater later, we're back to 13 reputation. Anomen needs to report to the Order, but the journal states we have two days, and I think we've pushed our luck enough as it is.
The party retires to the Copper Coronet, where they solemnly vow never to go outside again unless they're ready for at least two fights back-to-back. Oh, and no more Fire Elementals in public places!
Shorty Power - Update 5
Brentan and his band of figthters
The party has pretty much finished up with Chapter 5, we are about to be sent off to Candlekeep. They usually breeze through their opposition, even strong opponents. Here is their battle against the Iron Throne (video):
Couldn't resist the easy xp (sorry @elminster). Taking out the old man took me to level 6. Gathered the belts, took out Tarnesh easily, sold the ring of wizardry and the ring of protection, returned Landrin's items and pillaged the Friendly Arms. Next up - Tenya and some zombie hunting...
Shorty Power - Update 6
Brentan and his band of fighters
Just before leaving for Candlekeep we batttled the 5 ogre mages in the house - we all opened with fireballs and that was decisive.
Candlekeep went by the numbers. We didn't fight Reiltar and destroyed the spiders, Pratt and the basilisks. Slythe fell almost instantly and with haste, Duchal Palace was easy enough. Maze was also no problem.
I decided to do something different with Rhavin's gang - why not buff with haste/max fire resistance, then use same buffs for Sarevok? We got hurt but we were victorious.
We realized we also needed magic protection, so did potion of magic shielding on 4 party members and portion of magic protection on the other 2. Then we pulled Sarevok and Semaj - Semaj fell quickly as two characters were using dispelling arrows on him. Sarevok did not last very long to our concentrated melee/raned power - victory!
Yesterday I've started an IWDEE Solo Insane Run. Looks like the difficult now means something other than more damage and XP - the orc cave had 4 ogres and AI seemed way smarter than I remember from my previous run (on Core).
Ironically, I'm not using mods. But my character is an EEKeepered Elf Skald. My first attempt was with a Blade, but he didn't went far (perished at Kuldahar Pass).
Thanks to some things I've learned here things are going smoothly. Timing my aura correctly allows me to benefit from my own song almost constantly. The micromanaging is a pain, though.
Easthaven is very generous with bards. IIRC I finished it at level 5 or 6 but I might be misremembering. Just the sword's quest and Old Jed gave me almost three levels - too bad scrolls are so scarce.
The orc's cave was a pain. I forgot that Sleep in IWDEE is not an "I Win" as it is in BG(2)EE, so I got overwhelmed in the first battle with the Orc Elite. I was able to finish it with 4 Hit Points what yeld me a trip back to Easthaven to lick my wounds.
I've breezed through Kuldahar's Pass. I reloaded there a couple of times because the goblins that eat beetles and the beetles that eat goblins kept ignoring me and I wanted a fair fight. Wasn't able to fix, though, so that was basically free XP and loot.
Speaking of loot, the game was quite generous so far. I retrieved the blessing belt at the orc cave and the cloak from the orc leader at Kuldahar's Pass. Both the best loot IMHO.
Now I'm at the Valley of Shadows. I need to reach level 8 ASAP to put a slot in Maces, otherwise I'll have a bad time with the skeletons to come.
I'm playing by the following rules:
1) No rest in dungeons, except for some specific parts of the game that were cleared designed for that end (like the party that watches you sleep at Dragon's Eye).
2) Kill every enemy in the area/explore the area entirely. I may leave and return later to kill remaining enemies (like I'll probably do with the mummy at the Black Wolf Temple).
3) No reload unless it is due to something related to bugs.
4) No glitch abuse.
I believe that the Valley of Shadows will be the second hardest part of the game (losing only to Dorn's Deep). Time will tell.
I hate my portrait, so I'm open to suggestions on that area (through PM to keep the thread clean). I've looked in Pinterest to some IWD-style portrait with no luck so far.
I have no idea when and if I'll be able to keep this campaign.
Yesterday I've started an IWDEE Solo Insane Run. Looks like the difficult now means something other than more damage and XP - the orc cave had 4 ogres and AI seemed way smarter than I remember from my previous run (on Core).
Ironically, I'm not using mods. But my character is an EEKeepered Elf Skald. My first attempt was with a Blade, but he didn't went far (perished at Kuldahar Pass).
Thanks to some things I've learned here things are going smoothly. Timing my aura correctly allows me to benefit from my own song almost constantly. The micromanaging is a pain, though.
Easthaven is very generous with bards. IIRC I finished it at level 5 or 6 but I might be misremembering. Just the sword's quest and Old Jed gave me almost three levels - too bad scrolls are so scarce.
The orc's cave was a pain. I forgot that Sleep in IWDEE is not an "I Win" as it is in BG(2)EE, so I got overwhelmed in the first battle with the Orc Elite. I was able to finish it with 4 Hit Points what yeld me a trip back to Easthaven to lick my wounds.
I've breezed through Kuldahar's Pass. I reloaded there a couple of times because the goblins that eat beetles and the beetles that eat goblins kept ignoring me and I wanted a fair fight. Wasn't able to fix, though, so that was basically free XP and loot.
Speaking of loot, the game was quite generous so far. I retrieved the blessing belt at the orc cave and the cloak from the orc leader at Kuldahar's Pass. Both the best loot IMHO.
Now I'm at the Valley of Shadows. I need to reach level 8 ASAP to put a slot in Maces, otherwise I'll have a bad time with the skeletons to come.
I'm playing by the following rules:
1) No rest in dungeons, except for some specific parts of the game that were cleared designed for that end (like the party that watches you sleep at Dragon's Eye).
2) Kill every enemy in the area/explore the area entirely. I may leave and return later to kill remaining enemies (like I'll probably do with the mummy at the Black Wolf Temple).
3) No reload unless it is due to something related to bugs.
4) No glitch abuse.
I believe that the Valley of Shadows will be the second hardest part of the game (losing only to Dorn's Deep). Time will tell.
I hate my portrait, so I'm open to suggestions on that area (through PM to keep the thread clean). I've looked in Pinterest to some IWD-style portrait with no luck so far.
I have no idea when and if I'll be able to keep this campaign.
Alea jacta est.
Bard is a tough choice for IWD solo. You'll need to get disabling and/or summoning spells and extra apr items to have a chance. Good luck!
The berserker summoning horn you can buy in Kuldahar could be a real boon. The only problem I have with it is that you don't get the xp for their kills. Might not be too bad in a solo run, though...
Everything but the main temple of the Valle of Shadows is done. Things were easier than I thought, to be honest. A composite longbow with skald's song allows me to two-shot a lot of critters.
I had a bad time while entering the Yeti's cave as three of them spawned and started chasing me. Kitting all three of them was a challenge, especially with the respawning lesser shadows reducing my room for maneuver but I was able to prevail.
Speaking about respawning lesser shadows, those saved me. I was in need of a level up to get my proficiency in Flail/Morningstar (to properly fight skeletons) and grinding them helped me achieve that.
As I'm playing solo and kitting a lot, I have to activate every trap when I have the opportunity to do so safely. That also made me get back to Kuldahar - but that's fine, I had a lot of loot to sale anyway.
While in Kuldahar I realized that I had a bad selection of spells memorized (Sleep - what doesn't work on undead), so I used that trip to rest as well. I also used this trip to buy a Shield scroll that I successfully scribed - that will be handy when facing Wights and their Magic Missiles.
And before returning to the Vale I returned Oswald's tools to him and got a potion of invisibility as a reward - that is almost a "Continue" in no-reloads runs, I suppose.
The AI is being more generous to me now than it was against the orcs - what makes sense, considering the intelligence of an orc and of a common undead.
The Yeti Chieftain gave me a Longsword +1. It is nice, but the Morningstar +1 would be better. Another random treasure chest gave me a Chain Mail +1, but I've decided to sell it as it can't be used with my cloak - that also gives me +1 to ST.
Got the Huge Longbow, but I've decided to sell it too. +3 dmg / -1 AC is a bad trade-off for +1 Thac0 / +2 dmg (Composite Long Bow).
Therik dropped the Ring of Warrior and that was what I was hoping for.
A Shadow almost got me in troubles, but I remembered some +1 arrows I had from the beetle-eating-goblin cave, so I was able to stand back and kill it safely instead of going melee with the Longsword +1.
In the last crypt I went, I almost forgot to pick up an Invisibility scroll - gladly I remembered it in time. I didn't remember that I had to fight my way out of that tomb, but no big deal. I also got a Protection from Evil scroll, but I don't remember where. Anyway, it will also be helpful. I wish I had any third circle scroll to scribe, though. I have an empty slot that makes me sad.
And to finish the loot topic and this post: I made another altering in the game to allow yeti pelts to stack. Sue me.
I don't think I'll have the firepower to make my way to Kresselack, but let's see what happens.
Edit: an important thing I'm doing is knowing how to prioritize my targets. A skeleton with a blunt weapon attacks me with a +2 bonus, while the others do so with a -2 penalty. At the start I was prioritizing the ones wielding the most damaging weapons (like two handed swords) but changing this train of thought reduced considerably the amount of damage I take to almost 0.
Shorty Power - Update 7
Brentan and his band of fighters
Brentan has made huge progress:
* We successfully made it out of Irenicus' Dungeon. This whole process was quite smooth, mostly due to our fighter/thief and our hard hitting power. Even the vampire got killed.
* Circus problem solved. By the numbers.
* Hendak freed. The beasts died quite fast with this group.
* Lilacor quest complete - April was glad for the upgrade of her old sword, sword of chaos.
* Slavers in moored ship defeated. We gulped quite a few potions and took quite a bit of damage which you can see in the screenshot, but nevertheless no deaths so all good. Hendak was happy for the freed children.
* Rune assassins defeated. For some odd reason, only one showed up. Reijek was exposed as the murderer, though he escaped.
* We did massive buffs for Captain Dennis, we wanted the full plates they had. Unfortunately I tried to pull them outside but 3 enemies completely disappeared and we only got one full plate. I won't try that method again.
* Maevar's quests all finished then he himself was defeated. Was an easy fight, our snares were a bit overkill.
* Rayic Gethras proved troublesome we took massive damage a lot of heal potion gulping by everyone, nevertheless he does manage to die without killing any of us.
* We were in many ambushes but weathered them well. Speaking of ambushes, we helped Renfeld then tried to help Xzar but he got killed by an assassin. We did get quite a few heal potions and also a protection from charm helmet so we were pretty happy about the deal.
* Prebek and Sansha defeated - they did manage to confuse two party members, but the other 4 easily dispatched them.
* Our front-liners (who dual-wield) used protection from petrification and then easily duoed the Trademeet Genies. Brentan appreciated the shield of harmony to keep him safe.
* Last thing was working on freeing D'Arnise Keep. We are still in the middle of it, but our team easily handles trolls, so not expecting any trouble here.
Bladeservant went to Werewolf Island and was able to return.
On the way back he called in at Paradise Island where he spent a pleasureable time doing what I was doing in RL today, but we have responsibilities and so could not stay there forever. Upon returning to Ulgoth's Beard, the last remaining werewolves were killed, so perhaps Lower Durlag's is now on the agenda as they have been given some Wardstones.
Bladeservant started going down through Lower Durlag's being mostly successful, but then tragedy struck. A trap was set off, (I think by a ghast) and Valerie was killed (The nearby traps had been dealt with by Vynd). Afterwards Tenya was able to heal the party but the main enemies are still to face. . The silly thing is that I was only going to that area for completion. There was nothing of value in that direction at all. A lack of wisdom there.
As we're standing inside the Planar Sphere it's obvious what our next steps are. We run into trouble almost from the off though, Grin throwing up his efreeti as Targun considers where to cloudkill. Kayardi ignores the fog of war to target Targun and the jester is stunned with two enemies next to him. Grin slices in with his two swords and saves the day before Targun's stoneskins are depleted.
We quickly work through the sphere and help Lavok come to his senses. He's got a plan so we agree to help him and soon have a demon heart ready to power the sphere up.
Tolgerias takes a couple of de-buffs and Grin takes advantage to chop him down.
Grin pushes his luck a bit too far against golems and dies. We've got no means of resurrecting him so Targun finishes the golem and re-activates the sphere before heading outside to a temple. Once inside we run into more golems and this time Targun is targeted. A potion of invisibility is sensibly used to get out of the way and let the dwarf take the strain.
With the sphere complete we head into the sewers to find a rod of resurrection. These guys don't have one and by the time they stun Grin they are in no state to capitalise. Targun finishes them off and leaves Grin to be attacked by a nearby kobold - he soon recovers and kills it together with all it's family and friends.
Mirror mirror on the wall who's the deadest of them all. Grin cheerily says the protection from magic casting was ingenious in skulltrap avoidance, only for Targun to say he hadn't thought about that and it's a bit of a waste of the skulltrap
Targun used malison and glitterdust next, with Grin in the line of fire all seemed well but the umber hulks used their multiplayer targeting to ignore Grin before the glitterdust and confuse Targun just as he finished casting. Grin knuckled down though and another dodgy moment avoided.
We moved on to the Unseeing Eye quest. Targun lightly buffed Grin and then used a death fog to help. In hindsight he would have been better to haste Grin and cast a skulltrap. Grin died but Targun felt safely out of sight.
The death fog upset the enemies though and they gave brief chase. Targun threw up the berserk warrior and retreated. A gauth still managed to hold him even while well out of sight.
The berserk warrior kept one enemy occupied but the death fog tickle upset another and it came across the map with evil intent. Without a dwarf minion to lackey away, Targun was reliant on stoneskins. They gave him a vital breather but ultimately not enough and he was still held fast as the shadow fiend began to injure him. With 6hp left all he could do was hope but it was not to be.
Just noticed that I was talking like an ape in the previous posts.
---
Kresselack's Tomb levels 1 and 2 were a breeze. Instead of buying the Horn of Valhalla I bought the Composite Longbow +1. Totally worth it.
I'm surprised about the efficiency of kitting with a bow versus skeletons. None of then had the chance to even touch my bard - the Skald's song and damage bonus are really being helpful.
Remember the Shield spell? Yup, forgot to cast it. The Imbued Wights punished me for that, but as my HP was full I could take it well.
As for the traps, I noticed that the Rabbit (my familiar) can detect and disarm traps. That made my life way, way easier.
Not much to say about loot. Got the gauntlet of weapon skill - with the Ring of Warrior and Kresselack's Amulet my Thac0 is very reliable, specially with ranged weapons. Also got a wand that casts Shield and Ghost Armor - only 24 charges, though (I will not sell and buy it to recharge).
Entering the third level of the tomb was a shock of reality. The room flooded with undead very quickly and I had to retreat with 2 Hit Points without putting anyone down. I'll get back with Invisibility to break the groups and see what comes up. No chocking points to use in my favor, so I'll have to be patient.
Just noticed that I was talking like an ape in the previous posts.
---
Kresselack's Tomb levels 1 and 2 were a breeze. Instead of buying the Horn of Valhalla I bought the Composite Longbow +1. Totally worth it.
I'm surprised about the efficiency of kitting with a bow versus skeletons. None of then had the chance to even touch my bard - the Skald's song and damage bonus are really being helpful.
Remember the Shield spell? Yup, forgot to cast it. The Imbued Wights punished me for that, but as my HP was full I could take it well.
As for the traps, I noticed that the Rabbit (my familiar) can detect and disarm traps. That made my life way, way easier.
Not much to say about loot. Got the gauntlet of weapon skill - with the Ring of Warrior and Kresselack's Amulet my Thac0 is very reliable, specially with ranged weapons. Also got a wand that casts Shield and Ghost Armor - only 24 charges, though (I will not sell and buy it to recharge).
Entering the third level of the tomb was a shock of reality. The room flooded with undead very quickly and I had to retreat with 2 Hit Points without putting anyone down. I'll get back with Invisibility to break the groups and see what comes up. No chocking points to use in my favor, so I'll have to be patient.
The rabbit can be even more useful if you cast Luck on it! I found it could disarm every trap until the final level of Dragon Eye. Too bad the little bunny can't drink potions...
Does anyone know if I can cast Cat's Grace on the rabbit?
Unless the rabbit has a dexterity of 20 already, I think it should work. I never thought of uaing that spell! Let me know if it works. I'm thinking the only way to know (barring a fellow forumite's knowledge) is to find a trap that it can't disarm, cast the spell and try it again.
So I finally managed to get a CHARNAME past BG1 and SoD... I guess I'll start at Candlekeep and see if my screenshots keep up, while I install a gazillion mods for BG2. First, my Weidu log:
// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~DLCMERGER/SETUP-DLCMERGER.TP2~ #0 #1 // Merge DLC into game -> "Siege of Dragonspear" DLC: 1.2
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project: Required Modifications: v24.0
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #10 // The BG1 NPC Project: Banters, Quests, and Interjections: v24.0
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #120 // The BG1 NPC Project: Bardic Reputation Adjustment: v24.0
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #130 // The BG1 NPC Project: Sarevok's Diary Adjustments -> SixofSpades Extended Sarevok's Diary: v24.0
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #200 // The BG1 NPC Project: Player-Initiated Dialogues: v24.0
~BG1NPCMUSIC/SETUP-BG1NPCMUSIC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project Music Pack -> Install All Audio: v6
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #200 // Feat System: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #205 // Revised Archery: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #210 // Bard Overhaul: Multiclass Bards: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #220 // Revised Multiclassing and Multiclass Kits: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #235 // Revised Beastmaster: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #240 // Improved Rangers: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #245 // Revised Movement Bonuses (Quickstride): 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #250 // Revised Berserker and Rage: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #260 // Revised Kensai: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #265 // Revised Monk Fists: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #310 // Add the Corsair (fighter kit): 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #350 // Add the Mage Hunter (ranger kit): 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #360 // Add the Barbarian Ranger (ranger kit): 4b8
~FAITHS_AND_POWERS/FAITHS_AND_POWERS.TP2~ #0 #102 // Select an installation method below: -> install eveerything (as designated in settings.ini): 0.75.21
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #100 // IWO - Yet Another Revised Armor System: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #101 // IWO - Aesthetic & Enchantment Tweaks -> Standardize Enchanted Equipment: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #102 // IWO - Functional Weapon Tweaks: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #109 // IWO - All Potions Usable by Any Class: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #122 // WPO - Systemic Proficiency Changes: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #125 // WPO - APR on Spec: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #160 // STO - Saving Throw Overhaul: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #200 // SBO - Stat Bonus Overhaul: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #202 // SBO - Full Strength for 2-Hand Weapons Only: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #204 // SBO - Enable Concentration Checks: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #207 // SBO - Hit Dice Overhaul -> Closer to average hit points: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #210 // XPO - Slower, standardized XP Tables: v5.16.2
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #2000 // NPC kit choices: v3.6
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #3000 // multiclass kit choice: v3.6
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Replace +1 arrows with nonmagical "fine" ones: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3505 // Wider selection of random scrolls: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3540 // Reduce the power of Inquisitors' Dispel Magic -> Inquisitors dispel at 1.5 x their level (not twice their level): v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3550 // Increase the power of Cure Wounds and Cause Wounds spells to the level found in 3rd Edition D&D -> Spells heal or inflict a random amount of damage (1d8 per level of the spell, plus 1 point per caster level, to a maximum of 5 points per spell level): v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3580 // Restoration and Lesser Restoration spells heal ability-score damage: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Faster Bears: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // More realistic wolves and wild dogs: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4115 // Thieves assign skill points in multiples of five: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4145 // Skip the Candlekeep tutorial sections -> Remove the tutorial NPCs from Candlekeep: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5000 // Ease-of-use party AI: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6300 // Smarter sirines and dryads: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6310 // Slightly harder carrion crawlers: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6320 // Smarter basilisks: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7000 // Improved doppelgangers: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7010 // Tougher Black Talons and Iron Throne guards: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7020 // Improved deployment for parties of assassins: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7040 // Relocated bounty hunters: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7050 // Improved Ulcaster: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7060 // Improved Balduran's Isle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7090 // Improved Cloakwood Druids: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7100 // Improved Bassilus: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7110 // Improved Drasus party: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7130 // Improved Red Wizards: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7140 // Improved Undercity party: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7200 // Tougher chapter-two end battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7210 // Tougher chapter-three end battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7220 // Tougher chapter-four end battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7230 // Tougher chapter-five end battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7250 // Improved final battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7900 // Improved minor encounters: v32 RC10
tldr: Might and Guile, SCS, Scales of Balance, Faith and Powers. I'm playing on core-ish with SCS, so pre-casts are things enemies will do.
After ~6 failed Sniper runs, I attempt a cleric using Faith and Powers, or more specifically, a Ranger/Cleric of Mielekki. Meet Carael, the unintentionally anagrammed "Caelar"!
The kit can get maximum pips in bows. I'll be playing solo (for the most part) in BG1, but full party in SoD and onwards. Config is set to 45 fps, so everything's zipping by slightly faster than I'm used to.
The opening path is my standard: Shoal to Beregost to calming Marl (level 2/3) and killing a bunch of spiders. Carael kills two Ogrillons for the scroll, a few Hobgoblins for the Worn Whispers (for his own use), and picks up the bloodstone amulet for the Colquetles. Amusingly, with the DEX penalties and Elf 20 DEX as well as the SoB Dex-to-armor conversion, Carael has a better AC with nothing versus when he wears the Ankheg mail.
Dodging in and out takes Neira out from the inn, and after grabbing the Prot. from Petrification, Carael finally gets his levels. Mutamin is paralyzed, so Korax stays relatively healthy
Korax is used to kill off the Kirian's party as well, mostly for the Golden Girdle. Same path from here, FAI, sell a ring, kill Tarnesh, talk to Dorn to get the encounter to spawn in the mines... At the mines themselves, something weird happens:
It's not even relevant to this run, but somehow Dorn's immortality has been cut out from this fight. Melicamp doesn't meet a good fate either, speaking of.
So Faith and Powers modifies a Priest's spell lists to match a bunch of spheres: I can't remember what exactly Mielekki has, but Carael has a bunch of nature-related spells such as Stinking Cloud and Ice Lance. A chance to Stun a medium level Cleric and Nimbul is always nice:
With Nimbul's boots, the Ankhegs are now safe. We have a wand of sleep anyways, though we burn it down to 2 charges by the end of the caves. Heading towards Ulgoth's beard, NPCs continue to have awful luck as Tenya refuses to surrender and has to be put down before she casts an actually dangerous spell.
We get the Cloak of Displacement and the Greenstone Amulet before running out of money. Using these items, Carael is safe to take out the Sirenes and Basillus. We recruit Safana for her pickpocketing, and get a Ring of Free Action to get basically all the non-reusable items Carael wants in the game.
Learning from the death of sniper#3 or so, Carael clears the Ghasts on Durlag's Tower before approaching the basilisks. A Greenstone amulet charge gets him the first WIS tome, and after killing the basilisks at the cost of 3 potions of mirrored eyes, Carael allows himself to be stunned with no enemies on the floor.
It seems I have no screenshots of the bandit camp: Carael stealthed into the tent, and opened with a potion of explosion + acid arrows at the mage. He did need to use a potion of invisibility afterwards when he got pinned in melee vs Hakt, but everyone else had missile weapons, and combined he can have something like -18 AC vs missiles.
We intended to get Spider's Bane for Minsc for SoD, but Sword Spiders deny the attempt: Carael only has 1APR in melee, and he takes far too much damage trying to fight the two Sword Spiders off, so he just flees to the bandit camp. Carael opens up similarly as most battles at Drasus and company: two Stinking Clouds, and an attempted stun with an Ice Lance. Drasus saves against the stun, and comes out to fight, but it seems the Stinking Clouds broken the calls for help. A potion of defense, absorption, and frost giant strength let Carael eventually win against Drasus, and he's going to be hasted for most of the game.
Davaeorn: Protection from Magic, Acid arrows, potion of explosions, done and done.
Baldur's gate: Doppelgangers, Ogre Mage, Lothander and Marek, Ramazith, investigating the Iron Throne invisibly, and taking out the entire temple of Umberlee. Umberlee was a bit rough, as Carael had to keep zoning in and out to avoid spells: I don't know what dangerous things they could have with all these new IWD spells added into the game. We did a couple extra things to attempt to get more gold, since arrows of dispelling and detonation are EXPENSIVE, and I want as many of them as I can get for SoD.
A potion of magic blocking is used to dodge the Ogre mages, and we rush up to the Gatewarden to be arrested. Shield, potion of Insulation, potion of fire resistance, ring of Free Action, potion of Storm Giant Strength is sufficient to loot all of the relevant tomes. Back in BG, after buying MOAR ARROWS, we summon 4 things (2 wolves and 2 beetles, I think?) for Slythe to backstab. Even so, Slythe automatically goes invisible if he ever goes out of sight of the party, so kiting him successfully is a bit rough. Krystin never joins th
e fight, though, so healing potions are enough to get Carael through.
Ducal palace: more summons, Oil of Speed, and for some reason I only have Greater Doppelgangers spawning, so we clear the palace without even Belt dying. After stealthing through the trapped maze with the appropriate elemental immunities, we approach Sarevok. The gameplan is the same as most solo characters: protection from magic, attempt to park Sarevok in a corner, kill Diarmid, hope the others aren't invisible, kill the others, kill Sarevok. Diarmid actually can't hit without a critical hit, and with an Oil of Speed and boots of the cheetah, Carael is safe from the melee attackers. Semaj and Angelo break invisibility for... something (?!?), and Tazok is also kited to death. A couple (dozen) arrows later...
Onto SoD once I'm less tired. Of note is that Carael has all the items a solo character would want, and almost no items useful to anyone else outside of a full-ish potion case and a scroll case with multiple green scrolls, which importantly includes 2 Prot. vs Poison scrolls and one Prot. vs Magic.
Ok, I had this huge post earlier on but Aurora made me lost that one.
I noticed that I forgot to mention that I got the flail with extra piercing damage from the earlier area. Nice, but I wanted the mage dagger as it would give me a free Mage Armor per day.
---
The divide and conquer technique worked fine. I was able to reduce the pressure over the entry point of the area and fortunately some creatures followed me all the way to the second part of the tomb, where I was able to use the chocking point right at its beginning.
Clearing the second hall was easy. The skeleton mage was isolated and could successfully cast a Stinking Cloud but to no effect - it didn't had the chance to cast anything else.
The north and south rooms, in another hand, were hell. The north one had two shadows and a mummy and that made me expend my whole arsenal of magical arrows (not that I had that much...). The south one had a mummy, two Imbued Wights and two chosen zombies - all of them required magical weapons to be damaged - so I had to go melee with them, what is never a good idea if you are a bard.
I started by the wights. With Shield I got an edge on that battle as their magic missiles were useless. I've tried to engulf them in a single Aganazzar's Scorcher, but I got rooted to the ground and that made me lost room to manouver as they got closer. I was able to outrun them enough to cast Haste (got the scroll from a trapped room at the first part of the tomb). A lot of hit and run latter, they were down. Just the mummy and two chosen zombies.
I forgot that chosen zombies are immune to common weapons, so I made the mistake of luring both one of them and the mummy at the same time. I released my rabbit to keep one of them busy as I fought the other - micromanaging the familiar to keep him away from the mummy was touch, but everything went fine at the end. The last chosen zombies fell two rounds before Haste ends - and the nasty fatigue starts.
All the way clear to Kresselack, time to talk with the Black Wolf himself. Got the mission to kick an Aurelite behind but before carrying it on I had to travel to Kuldahar: rest, heal, supply, sell loot. The usual.
Finally I bought the Horn of Valhalla. That was a good purchase as I would notice soon.
Back to the Valle, I went right to the ice cave. Dialogue and the battle started. I'll make a paragraph to rant about this battle:
IWD's battle are very well designed but this one is absolutely lame, like made my a lazy DM. The priestess is immune to common weapons because of reasons. Five yetis poops out of thing air. Horribly design.
Ok, back to reporting. The battle got complicated as five yetis appeared out of nowhere and I discovered that Lysan was immune to my arrows. I had to retreat, but the crew followed me. That moment I remembered about the Horn and blew it in a desperate Boromir scene. Four berserkers came to my aid and they held the line while I safely killed all the yetis with arrows. After a brief moment it was me, my minions and Lysan only.
They were not able to damage her (again, reasons) so I decided to retreat until the game allowed me to remove my armor. Once that was possible I came back and started a kitchen-sink strategy against her - and that worked fine.
Went back to report and got trolled by Kresselack. At his coffin I found a nice longsword +2.
The Skald's now at Kuldahar reporting to Arundel and preparing the trip to the Temple of the Forgotten God.
I'm quite surprised that I was able to prevail over the Valle of Shadows, especially Kresselack's tomb. Now I'm a little confident that I will be able to at least reach the main boss.
Carael, Elven Woodscout of Mielekki, update 1 Introduction
In SoD, I somehow convince Porios to surrender, despite not having either 18 STR or 18 CHA. From there, stealth is used to get through the lower levels, an arrow of dispelling and two of detonation are enough to force a surrender.
That level up is the last one I see before right before Dragonspear, for whatever it's worth. In the city, I attempt to recruit Safana only for a kit-change script to completely break the weapons she can use: she can't even equip a dagger after the failed script. Instead of attempt to fix it, I'll just get Glint for my thieving needs. Minsc and Dynaheir are recruited in the city, and Corwin in the camp. Only other thing in the city I did was return a potion bottle to Halbazzer, and get the spectacles.
The mage turning people to stone led to a pricey mistake: she cast Chaos, I had Minsc Berserk to avoid it, but he started attacking the statues, and he killed one dropping reputation to 11. Meh. I had a potion of mirrored eyes on Carael here, and used an amulet charge to avoid further Chaos effects on other members. In the west, Carael and co. side with the vampire for the regenerative Ioun stone, and here is where I'm so glad I'm running with a party: a wand of paralyzation targeted at Carael succeeds, but the other team members are sufficient to take pressure off him. Potions of explosion and arrows of detonation clear the bridge in 2-3 rounds, and we're off to the next chapter.
Without the number of Free Action items I normally build up, the troll cave proves too much for my squad to handle. I normally use layered Webs with Free Action on my main tanks and damage dealers, but without that I try Stinking Cloud. Against Trolls. I don't know why I thought that'd work. Dynaheir is cut down before we retreat for a Raise Dead (paid, sphere system means I don't have access to this spell yet). We give up and recruit Jaheira before heading to the Forest of Wyrms. The updated shapeshifting from Faith and Powers means Jaheira is freakishly hard to hit: she can hit -12 AC in Python form, whereas Minsc with a shield only reaches -1. She can actually tank the majority of enemies that rely on attack rolls to be dangerous.
In the Forest of Wyrms, we slay some spiders and the giant Beetle, and we again attempt an assassinate on Morentherene and again she wakes up. We retreat outside, buff with Prot. from Poison and Haste, and with two members with full pips in Bows and sufficient number of Arrows of Dispelling, we have some dragon scales.
We clear the Cultists before taking on Ziatar, who is webbed and killed by pointy sticks. The Neothelid is a bit of a pain, Dominating Jaheira and Minsc successfully. I have no idea what the thing's caster level is, because its domination lasts forever. The Neothelid fortunately pops above ground frequently, so it's quickly shot down and killed. Summons are used to bait the Aerial Servants into view, and Jaheira's insane AC to tank them after they chew through the summons. Shadow Aspect's backstab is baited by more summons, and only drains Jaheira's strength before falling down. But Jaheira's not even intended to deal damage, so I don't bother resting beyond spell recovery. In the Illithid room, Dynaheir remind me why I have her instead of any other mage: Cloudkill, Ice Storm and Fireballs demolish everyone inside the room.
At Bridgefort, we create Dragonscale armor which goes to Carael and the Rhino Beetle shield which goes to Jaheira. I want Void Tipped Arrows for Belhifet, so we do the Creeping Doom quest and actually complete the quest without making the entire crusader camp hostile. For no real reason, we also do the Wight quest and end up getting Jaheira and Minsc level drained, so we're fully rested upon surrendering the camp. Our reputation improves to 18, as there are donations available at the fort. For the first time since I've played SoD, the mage manages to open the portal, but no elementals survive more than 2 rounds upon spawn, and as soon as I start questioning how many waves there'll be, the waves stop.
In the camp, we use our first charge of the Spectacles to get the Genie for the items and gold for the rest of the game. We also do a few random quests for... completion, I guess, training some recruits and investigating a disease. In the woods, Jaheira is killed as a Bombadier Beetle gets a Stun on her while a Shambling Mound approaches. The run might've ended here if I didn't watch the console: I forgot entirely about the Greater Basilisk, but potions of Mirrored eyes are enough to clear it safely once I'm warned that it's targeting Glint.
Underground river, Dynaheir is again supreme in crowd killing. We clear the corrupted druid for the Awesome Amulet of Ankheg Summoning Acquisition, and we begin the dark magician fight. A slight error means we activate both sides of the rift, but sufficient firepower means the Ghost Jar shatters and we have a dragon on our side.
Jaheira is still killed by a rogue Arrow of Detonation in the chaos of the fight with the remaining undead: her AC means nothing when I'm not even rolling to hit. After returning for a Raise Dead, we assault the upper floor before fleeing invisibly after Hephernaan's cutscene. Back at the camp, I still have >50 Arrows of Detonation, and 3 characters with bows. 6 arrows are enough to clear each wave with no threat and no counterplay. A few more clear the "boss" battle, and Cloudkill is just insult to injury.
The siege itself: So. Many. Attack rolls. I don't even really know how to explain this battle. The important thing is that Minsc gets the Berserking sword here, since we somehow failed to convince them to abandon the crusade earlier. Ashatiel finally reveals herself, but she can't do anything in the face of a Potion of Magic Shielding, even after healing herself twice.
In Hell, I have a lot of potions of Clarity: I use said potions of Clarity from the beginning to have no Charm Person shenanigans this go around. Carael offers himself for the riddle, and Khalid gets his +3 weapon. After buffing in the elevator, the game crashes once: upon a reload, a series of bad dialogue choices insta-kills Caelar so we're fighting without our lunatic paladin. Potions of Clarity were mistimed slightly, and start running out mid-fight, and we don't have quite enough to fully shield everyone, and Dynaheir is Feared. I forget to put a Ring of Free Action on Khalid, and he's Held: Carael shoots him with an arrow of dispelling, and he just barely survives with ~10 health. Finally, though, Minsc and Carael deal enough damage to Big B. and down he falls! We end the game with an amusing gold amount.
Valerie was hurt again and again, dying twice. Fortunately during a break I remembered that Tenya was able to raise her as I had forgotten.
In addition to the death shown she was also killed by a trap that left her bleeding. She used a powerful healing potion and Bladeservant cast a remove magic spell but all to no avail. It was quite a while before I remembered that Tenya could raise her.
Valarie was also hurt fighting the skeleton archers mainly because the game has changed slightly so that she could no longer cast web without being seen.
The Phoenix was then attempted and the party had excellent results.
True sight and web made the invisible stalkers fairly easy to kill.
The wolves and polar bear were killed using brute force and ignorance.
Then the chess Board was straightforward due to using web and fireballs (Except for the fact that valerie was panicked so that great care was needed concerning the timing of the fireballs.
EDIT
The rest of the dungeon was straightforward until the final room.
The mirror was broken and the demonknight was attacked by a number of the party's enemies. After its death the party saw a confusion spell on its way, so they fled the room only to be met by another enemy party.
Immediately Valerie cast web and Tenya silence. That was sufficient.
Once the other party had been wiped out, Bladeservant and his party re-entered the room and were able to take on the last few enemies one at a time which was quiite easy. However, the last one cast a confusion spell. It died almost immediately afterwards, so the only danger lay in party members attacking each other.
By keeping their distance from those who were confused, this never happened and the battle was won.
They then went to Ulcaster and did the quest there including the finding of Karlini's Spell Book (Ascalon's Questpack). That was blundered into. At the FAI Bladeservant bought some armour that protects against Confusion and the like. It is not quite as good at protecting from hits, but it is pretty good and the protection from confusion could be a life-saver.
Disaster fighting Aec' Letec!
Tenya became a ghast and is no more.
The party used invisibility which didn't work with the result that Aec' Letec had to be killed several times.
I missed seeing Tenya being caught in Aec's spell and as a result she died.
This means that I will have to bring another cleric up to a decent level and it is a bit late in the game for that.
This I noticed.
This I didn't
I suppose this is what no reloads are all about, but rather disappointed when so near to the end.
I now have to choose between Gavin, Finch, Yeslick and Branwen I suppose or perhaps Jaheira, but I don't like the druid ethos..
What is almost as bad as the loss of Tenya is the loss of her equipment which was excellent. I wasn't previously aware that you lost the equipment as well as the NPC as this is a rare event for me.
I am thinking that Gavin could well be the best choice as Finch will only be level 1. Branwen Level 6, gavin level 7.
I couldn't find Yeslick and am not sure where Jet Laya is. I may try and find her to discover whether she would be a better choice even though I cannot do her quest due to DSoSC bugs.
First a disclaimer: I've noticed that I did mod my game, but very punctual things. The Black Knight summons 1x/day instead of only once and probably I did the same for the White Bishop. Those were made without Weidu, that's why I didn't notice before.
---
The Temple of the Forgotten God was an easy piece. The AI is dumb as a brick as the moment you vanish from their LoS the Verbeegs stop following you. This allowed me to kite my way through the Temple pretty much without damage - the only damage I took (5) was due to a Magic Stone cast by one of the Acolyte; even being shot twice his casting was not interrupted.
Three good things were achieved at the Temple: the Black Knight (I was hoping for the Badge of Bravery, though), a scroll of Skull Trap (that cost me a potion of mind focusing to "safely" [97%] learn) and a cold-based bastard sword that granted me 4K gold.
After cleaning the first floor and part of the second floor I made a trip back to Kuldahar to buy more arrows and rest to memorize Skull Trap (now being a bard instead of a wizard starts to pay off). I'm level 11 at the moment, so this spell is some nasty surprise for my enemies.
Back to the Temple of the Forgotten God, it was time for the last push: 5 Verbeegs and 3 Acolytes were detected by my hidden rabbit and my lame AC (-2) and APR (1 with a sword, 3/2 with a longbow) didn't put the odds on my favor. I went Boromir once more and this time three Berserkers came to my aid. I've hasted them, myself and my familiar and opened the fight with a skull trap that immediately killed one Acolyte and two Verbeegs - I've sent my berserkers to hold the line while I kept interrupting the casters. Once they were dealt with I've kited the giants to reduce the pressure over my minions. When the last berserker fell two Verbeegs were still alive, but both damaged. I retreat with my rabbit and ended the fight with another skull trap.
The next area had no enemy but the Heartstone Gem was missing. Looks like the princess is in another castle...
Kuldahar, resting, healing, supplying, Arundel being useful as a blunt knife, and the trip to Dragon's Eye begun. I was pretty sure that Orrick's store should be better by now but I stand incorrect - I need more scrolls, especially fourth level ones.
---
Dragon's Eye was an example that entering in places is always a hard task in Icewind Dale. Just entering the area threw me amid three Ice Trolls. I went West looking for a chocking point and found another one. I ran past them into the bridge, turning a 4 x 1 battle into a (1 + 1 + 1 + 1) x 1 battle - what was very helpful.
After beating the last one, I was a mess. The trolls could only hit me with 19 or 20 but looks like their d20 only had 19s and 20s. With 14 HP I had to retreat to Kuldahar, lick my wounds and travel back.
Once again in front of the cave, this time was time to enter. What did I find? Yup, another welcome party. A Shaman cast Strenght of One and I retreat hoping the lizards would follow me and I would be able to use the narrow bridge on my favor once again - but they didn't follow. Lizards apparently don't like battling in the snow and I remembered why I love this game's little details so much. It was time to reevaluate.
As they couldn't follow me, all I had to do is control the amount of damage I would take and keep the way to the exit open - and that was exactly what I did. Boring as hell, let me tell. From time to time I went outside to renew my bard song and join the fight once again. A Potion of Regeneration was used and that proved a good decision as I finished my entering - just the entering - with 9 HP (blessed be Kresselack's Amulet). I should have used my berserkers as I had to retreat anyway. A very valuable potion was expended maybe without real necessity. Who knows.
Another trip back to Kuldahar, another disappointing visit to Orrick, and now the bold bard stands once again inside Dragon's Eye. Let's see what he'll be able to achieve. If I can get through Yxunomei I'll probably be able to beat the game. Time will tell.
@Raduziel You said: "The Temple of the Forgotten God was an easy piece. The AI is dumb as a brick as the moment you vanish from their LoS the Verbeegs stop following you. "
The Verbeegs are SUPPOSED to be as dumb as bricks. They ARE stupid, so that is why they don't follow you.
The conversation with Red Toe makes that clear.
@Raduziel You said: "The Temple of the Forgotten God was an easy piece. The AI is dumb as a brick as the moment you vanish from their LoS the Verbeegs stop following you. "
The Verbeegs are SUPPOSED to be as dumb as bricks. They ARE stupid, so that is why they don't follow you.
The conversation with Red Toe makes that clear.
Yup. Another one of the little things that makes this game wonderful.
Ok, after solving Orrick's issue I was able to give myself some good spells - Minor Sequencer included.
Before departing, I've prepared a Minor Sequencer with Glitterdust and Web for a certain part of Dragon's Eye first floor.
This floor was surprisingly easy. The trick e to clean the upper part ASAP: there's a large room with a large stone in the middle where you can move around without chocking. Once I've dominated that part of the dungeon it was just a matter of luring and kitting.
A strange bug helped me, though: almost all spiders where advancing just at a certain point and then stopping even when they had me at thir LoS (unless theirs is smaller than mine). The exception were Phase Spiders that put on a helluva fight with well timed antidotes. Some potions after that part and I was at full HP once again.
After kitting pretty much everything just one room was crowded: the hall of the lizard king - that's where the sequence was handy.
I've summoned the berserkers - once again I had 4 - and got them at my back hasted. Fired a skull trap to explode and trigger the lizard's hostility and retreat a bit. When the first critter reappeared in my LoS I triggered the sequence: that held the line. One more retreat to wait for my aura cleansing and a second skull trap was fired killing pretty much anyone.
A final retreat to reach my berserkers and send them forward and begin the kitting time once again. Without a scratch in my bard (and a few deceased berserkers) the battle was over. The snake altar gave me the Fox Boot what will be very helpful as it increases my speed and grants me 1 AC bonus.
I went to the villagers to "ask them to guard my sleep" and after a full rest I went to the little girl that triggers their trip back to Kuldahar.
@Raduziel: Looks like all familiars in IWD:EE have 18 Dexterity, so Cat's Grace will bump them up to 20 (or 19 on a bad roll), which amounts to a +10% to Find Traps. Combine it with Luck and the rabbit familiar will have a Detect Traps of 50.
In the Yuan-ti area at the bottom of Dragon's Eye, most of the traps in the main hallways are at 50, but the traps in some of the side rooms, and the traps right before and in Yxunomei's room, are at 60. However, since trap detection apparently involves a 1d10 roll added to the base skill, it should be possible for a rabbit with Cat's Grace and Luck to find and disarm all traps in Dragon's Eye, though it will take a few tries for some of them.
Bladeservant completed the NToSC but certainly had some problems since both Xan and Vararie got killed and Bladeservant was badly hurt. It was the fireballs of the demonknights. Now I know about them, I will ensure that in future the mages at least have fire protection against them.
From completing the game's point of view, doing this mod definitely was a bad idea. I lost Tenya with all her experience and equipment (Which was very good) Because she had died my cleric couldn't raise dead so I had to use two scrolls of resurrection to raise the mages.
However, it was quite a fulfilling experience which made it worthwhile.
Screenshots below.
The questioon now is: Do I do the Drizzt Saga now or later? That too is a fulfilling mod but difficult. I am considering taking Gavin with me to boost his experience.
Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 180 (1st and final update) Misery (male half-elf blade, Grond0); Nollie (male human invoker, Gate70) Previous run
Another short and not-so-sweet attempt started and finished today. We were once more a pair of casters, wandering around without armor and hence vulnerable to attack. Shoal provided some extra HPs each and a few jobs on the way down to Nashkel saw Misery up to level 4 and Nollie to level 3.
I had taken the precaution of resting on the way south to avoid any chance of being ambushed by bandits, but left that up to chance for the journey back to Beregost. When an ambush duly triggered, Nollie was shot down before he could move far and Misery also took several hits before stopping near the map edge to quick-loot the body. I thought the prospects for survival were good with 11 HPs remaining and only 2 arrows that could be fired at him before starting travel. Unfortunately a critical from the first of those arrows proved enough to disrupt his travel plans permanently...
@Grond0 Hard luck!
At least you hadn't got far. I find it most annoying when a death comes near the end of BG1, when you have nearly beaten a game, but not quite.
Comments
BG1EE updates: 1, 2
SoD updates: 1, 2, 3, 4
BG2EE SoA updates: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
On our way to rescue Phaere, we run roughshod over the adventuring party by the bridge. We over-prepared a little... they're pretty much all scrubs, apart from N'ashtar, who still cannot carry the fight by himself.
Phaere is duly rescued, and we take advantage of the rest offered to us by aquiring the Blade of Searing +3 via duel. Minsc can now go all-out on dual-wielding when the situation calls for it. Mazzy also clears out the monsters (with Death Ward so the Beholder has to lead with Anti-Magic Ray, buying Mazzy the round she needs to win).
We also swing by Quile's home, and by now Benedict/Imoen are high enough level that Remove Magic actually has a good chance of working, at least against the less grotesque enemy mages. Quile and her servants fall in short order.
We advance the plot, taking down the Beholder smuggling adamantine (Death Ward on everyone just in case). Finally, there's some shopping: Spear of Withering +4, The Sentinel +4, Firetooth +3 (going to Imoen), and a bundle of Potions of Genius. Plenty of money left still.
We speak with the Matron Mother, and accept her task (we want time to finish Ust Natha sidequests so do not mention that we already single-handedly destroyed entire cities of three of the Drow's most hated adversaries).
The Ghaunadaur (can't remember if that's the spelling, and honestly, am not that bothered about it if it isn't) sect is cleared out, but the mage leader Relonar pulls a nasty surprise: He throws ADHW at Jaheira. Who was standing next to Anomen! Again with the AI trying to kill off our healers, dang nabit. Jaheira quaffs an Oil of Speed and takes off, with Anomen running in the other direction.
Saved by Armor of Faith! Relonar has little time to curse his ill fortune, and falls shortly thereafter.
Next up, Deirex. Everyone gets long-lasting buffs (Chaotic Commands, Death Ward, PfE 10'), and Benedict gets special attention (Protection from Cold/Fire/Lightning/Magic Energy), topped off with a Haste so we can get out of Deirex's line of sight quickly. Deirex, much like Alchra Diagott, prefers hobbling along at a snail's pace looking for the party instead of attacking the Skeleton Warriors we've so thoughtfully provided him with. Eventually, he runs out of PfMW, and cannot keep saving against Azuredge indefinitely.
Good stuff all around! We loot the tower as well as the treasure chamber, and prepare for our (last run, ill-fated) assault on House Jae'llat. This time, we'll leave Mazzy to deal with mages, while Minsc and Jaheira make sure to hold the line against the guards, lest they sidle up to Benedict with malice in mind!
We apply every buff in the book. Once inside, an alpha strike takes down Rilloa before she can do anything.
Yes, that's Anomen casting Holy Word. No, Holy Word does not ignore magic resistance. I'll remember that next time. This battle is really surprisingly difficult: There are a lot of guards with very good THAC0 (Mazzy under Improved Invisibility is quite safe, but Minsc and Jaheira are most assuredly not), as well as several mages and clerics running around.
We conjure fodder, but they do not live very long. Still, we're making progress: Most enemy casters are down, and somehow, our tanks are holding the line. Jaheira takes a triple hit for 57 damage, but stays in one piece.
The battle rages. We're out of fodder and meaningful buffs. Benedict and Imoen try their luck with Magic Missile, but next to none land. We've burned through 2/3 of our healing potions (which we've barely used, at all, until now). Finally, the last major opponent, whom I can't even remember the name of (the dual-wielding fellow in full plate) falls. Victory!
I'm not sure that was worth the effort, but we did it anyway! Hooray!
We loot everything and depart.
There's little left to do. We get a good night's rest, return with the blood of three races, agree to betray the Matron Mother, agree to betray Phaere, and switch the eggs accordingly. The Demon Lord kills off both Ardulace and Phaere, we swipe the Gorgon Plate and Ring of Spell Turning, and flee under Haste (even so, we barely make it out before the city goes hostile).
Adalon duly teleports us and takes care of (most of) the enemies guarding the entrance to the temple.
We ascend into the light.
After having a chat with Elhan, we are left to our own devices. Here, I make a small mistake. We really, really should've rested. I applied full buffs before being teleported by Adalon, and the spells we have left are tailored to fighting drow. Still, in my infinite wisdom, I opt to just head back to Athkatla as is.
We bump into Drizzt on the way and enlist his aid against Bodhi, then head for the Copper Coronet.
You know, that's fine. Reviane is the only Harper that can somehow see through Invisibility, so we'll drag her with us, dispose of her, then turn around and take care of her compatriots.
Friggin'... grrr. That's Kruin, the Wild Mage come to reclaim our silver sword. He can't see through Invisibility, but he happily follows Benedict around all the same. Sigh.
Alright. The rest of the party takes care of Reviane while Benedict just stands next to Kruin.
I honestly don't quite recall what happened next. Probably I figured that Kruin would teleport in a bunch of friends next to himself once the fight started, but instead his fellows teleported in next to the party.
We conjure a Fire Elemental and start tossing out what few buffs we have, whilst the Gith get off Slow/Chaos and the like.
Damnit, Fire Elemental!
... I should just never summon anything except Skeleton Warriors.
So, with reputation down to 6, we clear the remaining Gith, finishing off Kruin last. Not much tactics involved, as we're out of options: Mazzy just threw Hangarn's Axe at him until he keeled over.
We go after the remaining Harpers with a vengeance, only to find that Sir Ryan Trawl (who's there to summon Anomen) has already killed one of them, and nabs the experience for another to boot.
Though I dislike bribing reputation up, I'll allow it under the circumstances. 3400 gold at the Temple of Ilmater later, we're back to 13 reputation. Anomen needs to report to the Order, but the journal states we have two days, and I think we've pushed our luck enough as it is.
The party retires to the Copper Coronet, where they solemnly vow never to go outside again unless they're ready for at least two fights back-to-back. Oh, and no more Fire Elementals in public places!
Benedict is now a L16 Human Conjurer.
Brentan and his band of figthters
The party has pretty much finished up with Chapter 5, we are about to be sent off to Candlekeep. They usually breeze through their opposition, even strong opponents. Here is their battle against the Iron Throne (video):
Brentan and his band of fighters vs. Iron Throne (video)
Couldn't resist the easy xp (sorry @elminster). Taking out the old man took me to level 6. Gathered the belts, took out Tarnesh easily, sold the ring of wizardry and the ring of protection, returned Landrin's items and pillaged the Friendly Arms. Next up - Tenya and some zombie hunting...
Brentan and his band of fighters
Just before leaving for Candlekeep we batttled the 5 ogre mages in the house - we all opened with fireballs and that was decisive.
Candlekeep went by the numbers. We didn't fight Reiltar and destroyed the spiders, Pratt and the basilisks. Slythe fell almost instantly and with haste, Duchal Palace was easy enough. Maze was also no problem.
I decided to do something different with Rhavin's gang - why not buff with haste/max fire resistance, then use same buffs for Sarevok? We got hurt but we were victorious.
We realized we also needed magic protection, so did potion of magic shielding on 4 party members and portion of magic protection on the other 2. Then we pulled Sarevok and Semaj - Semaj fell quickly as two characters were using dispelling arrows on him. Sarevok did not last very long to our concentrated melee/raned power - victory!
Tried to get screenshots but didn't work.
Whole party moving onto Amn!
Ironically, I'm not using mods. But my character is an EEKeepered Elf Skald. My first attempt was with a Blade, but he didn't went far (perished at Kuldahar Pass).
Thanks to some things I've learned here things are going smoothly. Timing my aura correctly allows me to benefit from my own song almost constantly. The micromanaging is a pain, though.
Easthaven is very generous with bards. IIRC I finished it at level 5 or 6 but I might be misremembering. Just the sword's quest and Old Jed gave me almost three levels - too bad scrolls are so scarce.
The orc's cave was a pain. I forgot that Sleep in IWDEE is not an "I Win" as it is in BG(2)EE, so I got overwhelmed in the first battle with the Orc Elite. I was able to finish it with 4 Hit Points what yeld me a trip back to Easthaven to lick my wounds.
I've breezed through Kuldahar's Pass. I reloaded there a couple of times because the goblins that eat beetles and the beetles that eat goblins kept ignoring me and I wanted a fair fight. Wasn't able to fix, though, so that was basically free XP and loot.
Speaking of loot, the game was quite generous so far. I retrieved the blessing belt at the orc cave and the cloak from the orc leader at Kuldahar's Pass. Both the best loot IMHO.
Now I'm at the Valley of Shadows. I need to reach level 8 ASAP to put a slot in Maces, otherwise I'll have a bad time with the skeletons to come.
I'm playing by the following rules:
1) No rest in dungeons, except for some specific parts of the game that were cleared designed for that end (like the party that watches you sleep at Dragon's Eye).
2) Kill every enemy in the area/explore the area entirely. I may leave and return later to kill remaining enemies (like I'll probably do with the mummy at the Black Wolf Temple).
3) No reload unless it is due to something related to bugs.
4) No glitch abuse.
I believe that the Valley of Shadows will be the second hardest part of the game (losing only to Dorn's Deep). Time will tell.
I hate my portrait, so I'm open to suggestions on that area (through PM to keep the thread clean). I've looked in Pinterest to some IWD-style portrait with no luck so far.
I have no idea when and if I'll be able to keep this campaign.
Alea jacta est.
Bard is a tough choice for IWD solo. You'll need to get disabling and/or summoning spells and extra apr items to have a chance. Good luck!
The berserker summoning horn you can buy in Kuldahar could be a real boon. The only problem I have with it is that you don't get the xp for their kills. Might not be too bad in a solo run, though...
---
Everything but the main temple of the Valle of Shadows is done. Things were easier than I thought, to be honest. A composite longbow with skald's song allows me to two-shot a lot of critters.
I had a bad time while entering the Yeti's cave as three of them spawned and started chasing me. Kitting all three of them was a challenge, especially with the respawning lesser shadows reducing my room for maneuver but I was able to prevail.
Speaking about respawning lesser shadows, those saved me. I was in need of a level up to get my proficiency in Flail/Morningstar (to properly fight skeletons) and grinding them helped me achieve that.
As I'm playing solo and kitting a lot, I have to activate every trap when I have the opportunity to do so safely. That also made me get back to Kuldahar - but that's fine, I had a lot of loot to sale anyway.
While in Kuldahar I realized that I had a bad selection of spells memorized (Sleep - what doesn't work on undead), so I used that trip to rest as well. I also used this trip to buy a Shield scroll that I successfully scribed - that will be handy when facing Wights and their Magic Missiles.
And before returning to the Vale I returned Oswald's tools to him and got a potion of invisibility as a reward - that is almost a "Continue" in no-reloads runs, I suppose.
The AI is being more generous to me now than it was against the orcs - what makes sense, considering the intelligence of an orc and of a common undead.
The Yeti Chieftain gave me a Longsword +1. It is nice, but the Morningstar +1 would be better. Another random treasure chest gave me a Chain Mail +1, but I've decided to sell it as it can't be used with my cloak - that also gives me +1 to ST.
Got the Huge Longbow, but I've decided to sell it too. +3 dmg / -1 AC is a bad trade-off for +1 Thac0 / +2 dmg (Composite Long Bow).
Therik dropped the Ring of Warrior and that was what I was hoping for.
A Shadow almost got me in troubles, but I remembered some +1 arrows I had from the beetle-eating-goblin cave, so I was able to stand back and kill it safely instead of going melee with the Longsword +1.
In the last crypt I went, I almost forgot to pick up an Invisibility scroll - gladly I remembered it in time. I didn't remember that I had to fight my way out of that tomb, but no big deal. I also got a Protection from Evil scroll, but I don't remember where. Anyway, it will also be helpful. I wish I had any third circle scroll to scribe, though. I have an empty slot that makes me sad.
And to finish the loot topic and this post: I made another altering in the game to allow yeti pelts to stack. Sue me.
I don't think I'll have the firepower to make my way to Kresselack, but let's see what happens.
Edit: an important thing I'm doing is knowing how to prioritize my targets. A skeleton with a blunt weapon attacks me with a +2 bonus, while the others do so with a -2 penalty. At the start I was prioritizing the ones wielding the most damaging weapons (like two handed swords) but changing this train of thought reduced considerably the amount of damage I take to almost 0.
Brentan and his band of fighters
Brentan has made huge progress:
* We successfully made it out of Irenicus' Dungeon. This whole process was quite smooth, mostly due to our fighter/thief and our hard hitting power. Even the vampire got killed.
* Circus problem solved. By the numbers.
* Hendak freed. The beasts died quite fast with this group.
* Lilacor quest complete - April was glad for the upgrade of her old sword, sword of chaos.
* Slavers in moored ship defeated. We gulped quite a few potions and took quite a bit of damage which you can see in the screenshot, but nevertheless no deaths so all good. Hendak was happy for the freed children.
* Rune assassins defeated. For some odd reason, only one showed up. Reijek was exposed as the murderer, though he escaped.
* We did massive buffs for Captain Dennis, we wanted the full plates they had. Unfortunately I tried to pull them outside but 3 enemies completely disappeared and we only got one full plate. I won't try that method again.
* Maevar's quests all finished then he himself was defeated. Was an easy fight, our snares were a bit overkill.
* Rayic Gethras proved troublesome we took massive damage a lot of heal potion gulping by everyone, nevertheless he does manage to die without killing any of us.
* We were in many ambushes but weathered them well. Speaking of ambushes, we helped Renfeld then tried to help Xzar but he got killed by an assassin. We did get quite a few heal potions and also a protection from charm helmet so we were pretty happy about the deal.
* Prebek and Sansha defeated - they did manage to confuse two party members, but the other 4 easily dispatched them.
* Our front-liners (who dual-wield) used protection from petrification and then easily duoed the Trademeet Genies. Brentan appreciated the shield of harmony to keep him safe.
* Last thing was working on freeing D'Arnise Keep. We are still in the middle of it, but our team easily handles trolls, so not expecting any trouble here.
Will keep at it.
On the way back he called in at Paradise Island where he spent a pleasureable time doing what I was doing in RL today, but we have responsibilities and so could not stay there forever. Upon returning to Ulgoth's Beard, the last remaining werewolves were killed, so perhaps Lower Durlag's is now on the agenda as they have been given some Wardstones.
Bladeservant started going down through Lower Durlag's being mostly successful, but then tragedy struck. A trap was set off, (I think by a ghast) and Valerie was killed (The nearby traps had been dealt with by Vynd). Afterwards Tenya was able to heal the party but the main enemies are still to face.
Targun (male Jester, Gate70); Grin (male fighter, Grond0)
As we're standing inside the Planar Sphere it's obvious what our next steps are. We run into trouble almost from the off though, Grin throwing up his efreeti as Targun considers where to cloudkill. Kayardi ignores the fog of war to target Targun and the jester is stunned with two enemies next to him. Grin slices in with his two swords and saves the day before Targun's stoneskins are depleted.
Tolgerias takes a couple of de-buffs and Grin takes advantage to chop him down.
The berserk warrior kept one enemy occupied but the death fog tickle upset another and it came across the map with evil intent. Without a dwarf minion to lackey away, Targun was reliant on stoneskins. They gave him a vital breather but ultimately not enough and he was still held fast as the shadow fiend began to injure him. With 6hp left all he could do was hope but it was not to be.
---
Kresselack's Tomb levels 1 and 2 were a breeze. Instead of buying the Horn of Valhalla I bought the Composite Longbow +1. Totally worth it.
I'm surprised about the efficiency of kitting with a bow versus skeletons. None of then had the chance to even touch my bard - the Skald's song and damage bonus are really being helpful.
Remember the Shield spell? Yup, forgot to cast it. The Imbued Wights punished me for that, but as my HP was full I could take it well.
As for the traps, I noticed that the Rabbit (my familiar) can detect and disarm traps. That made my life way, way easier.
Not much to say about loot. Got the gauntlet of weapon skill - with the Ring of Warrior and Kresselack's Amulet my Thac0 is very reliable, specially with ranged weapons. Also got a wand that casts Shield and Ghost Armor - only 24 charges, though (I will not sell and buy it to recharge).
Entering the third level of the tomb was a shock of reality. The room flooded with undead very quickly and I had to retreat with 2 Hit Points without putting anyone down. I'll get back with Invisibility to break the groups and see what comes up. No chocking points to use in my favor, so I'll have to be patient.
The rabbit can be even more useful if you cast Luck on it! I found it could disarm every trap until the final level of Dragon Eye. Too bad the little bunny can't drink potions...
Does anyone know if I can cast Cat's Grace on the rabbit?
Unless the rabbit has a dexterity of 20 already, I think it should work. I never thought of uaing that spell! Let me know if it works. I'm thinking the only way to know (barring a fellow forumite's knowledge) is to find a trap that it can't disarm, cast the spell and try it again.
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~DLCMERGER/SETUP-DLCMERGER.TP2~ #0 #1 // Merge DLC into game -> "Siege of Dragonspear" DLC: 1.2
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project: Required Modifications: v24.0
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #10 // The BG1 NPC Project: Banters, Quests, and Interjections: v24.0
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #120 // The BG1 NPC Project: Bardic Reputation Adjustment: v24.0
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #130 // The BG1 NPC Project: Sarevok's Diary Adjustments -> SixofSpades Extended Sarevok's Diary: v24.0
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #200 // The BG1 NPC Project: Player-Initiated Dialogues: v24.0
~BG1NPCMUSIC/SETUP-BG1NPCMUSIC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project Music Pack -> Install All Audio: v6
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #200 // Feat System: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #205 // Revised Archery: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #210 // Bard Overhaul: Multiclass Bards: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #220 // Revised Multiclassing and Multiclass Kits: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #235 // Revised Beastmaster: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #240 // Improved Rangers: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #245 // Revised Movement Bonuses (Quickstride): 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #250 // Revised Berserker and Rage: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #260 // Revised Kensai: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #265 // Revised Monk Fists: 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #310 // Add the Corsair (fighter kit): 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #350 // Add the Mage Hunter (ranger kit): 4b8
~MIGHT_AND_GUILE/MIGHT_AND_GUILE.TP2~ #0 #360 // Add the Barbarian Ranger (ranger kit): 4b8
~FAITHS_AND_POWERS/FAITHS_AND_POWERS.TP2~ #0 #102 // Select an installation method below: -> install eveerything (as designated in settings.ini): 0.75.21
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #100 // IWO - Yet Another Revised Armor System: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #101 // IWO - Aesthetic & Enchantment Tweaks -> Standardize Enchanted Equipment: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #102 // IWO - Functional Weapon Tweaks: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #109 // IWO - All Potions Usable by Any Class: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #122 // WPO - Systemic Proficiency Changes: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #125 // WPO - APR on Spec: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #160 // STO - Saving Throw Overhaul: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #200 // SBO - Stat Bonus Overhaul: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #202 // SBO - Full Strength for 2-Hand Weapons Only: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #204 // SBO - Enable Concentration Checks: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #207 // SBO - Hit Dice Overhaul -> Closer to average hit points: v5.16.2
~SCALES_OF_BALANCE/SCALES_OF_BALANCE.TP2~ #0 #210 // XPO - Slower, standardized XP Tables: v5.16.2
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #2000 // NPC kit choices: v3.6
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #3000 // multiclass kit choice: v3.6
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Replace +1 arrows with nonmagical "fine" ones: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3505 // Wider selection of random scrolls: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3540 // Reduce the power of Inquisitors' Dispel Magic -> Inquisitors dispel at 1.5 x their level (not twice their level): v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3550 // Increase the power of Cure Wounds and Cause Wounds spells to the level found in 3rd Edition D&D -> Spells heal or inflict a random amount of damage (1d8 per level of the spell, plus 1 point per caster level, to a maximum of 5 points per spell level): v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3580 // Restoration and Lesser Restoration spells heal ability-score damage: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Faster Bears: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // More realistic wolves and wild dogs: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4115 // Thieves assign skill points in multiples of five: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4145 // Skip the Candlekeep tutorial sections -> Remove the tutorial NPCs from Candlekeep: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5000 // Ease-of-use party AI: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6300 // Smarter sirines and dryads: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6310 // Slightly harder carrion crawlers: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6320 // Smarter basilisks: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7000 // Improved doppelgangers: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7010 // Tougher Black Talons and Iron Throne guards: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7020 // Improved deployment for parties of assassins: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7040 // Relocated bounty hunters: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7050 // Improved Ulcaster: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7060 // Improved Balduran's Isle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7090 // Improved Cloakwood Druids: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7100 // Improved Bassilus: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7110 // Improved Drasus party: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7130 // Improved Red Wizards: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7140 // Improved Undercity party: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7200 // Tougher chapter-two end battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7210 // Tougher chapter-three end battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7220 // Tougher chapter-four end battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7230 // Tougher chapter-five end battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7250 // Improved final battle: v32 RC10
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7900 // Improved minor encounters: v32 RC10
After ~6 failed Sniper runs, I attempt a cleric using Faith and Powers, or more specifically, a Ranger/Cleric of Mielekki. Meet Carael, the unintentionally anagrammed "Caelar"!
The opening path is my standard: Shoal to Beregost to calming Marl (level 2/3) and killing a bunch of spiders. Carael kills two Ogrillons for the scroll, a few Hobgoblins for the Worn Whispers (for his own use), and picks up the bloodstone amulet for the Colquetles. Amusingly, with the DEX penalties and Elf 20 DEX as well as the SoB Dex-to-armor conversion, Carael has a better AC with nothing versus when he wears the Ankheg mail.
Dodging in and out takes Neira out from the inn, and after grabbing the Prot. from Petrification, Carael finally gets his levels. Mutamin is paralyzed, so Korax stays relatively healthy
Learning from the death of sniper#3 or so, Carael clears the Ghasts on Durlag's Tower before approaching the basilisks. A Greenstone amulet charge gets him the first WIS tome, and after killing the basilisks at the cost of 3 potions of mirrored eyes, Carael allows himself to be stunned with no enemies on the floor.
We intended to get Spider's Bane for Minsc for SoD, but Sword Spiders deny the attempt: Carael only has 1APR in melee, and he takes far too much damage trying to fight the two Sword Spiders off, so he just flees to the bandit camp. Carael opens up similarly as most battles at Drasus and company: two Stinking Clouds, and an attempted stun with an Ice Lance. Drasus saves against the stun, and comes out to fight, but it seems the Stinking Clouds broken the calls for help. A potion of defense, absorption, and frost giant strength let Carael eventually win against Drasus, and he's going to be hasted for most of the game.
Davaeorn: Protection from Magic, Acid arrows, potion of explosions, done and done.
Baldur's gate: Doppelgangers, Ogre Mage, Lothander and Marek, Ramazith, investigating the Iron Throne invisibly, and taking out the entire temple of Umberlee. Umberlee was a bit rough, as Carael had to keep zoning in and out to avoid spells: I don't know what dangerous things they could have with all these new IWD spells added into the game. We did a couple extra things to attempt to get more gold, since arrows of dispelling and detonation are EXPENSIVE, and I want as many of them as I can get for SoD.
A potion of magic blocking is used to dodge the Ogre mages, and we rush up to the Gatewarden to be arrested. Shield, potion of Insulation, potion of fire resistance, ring of Free Action, potion of Storm Giant Strength is sufficient to loot all of the relevant tomes. Back in BG, after buying MOAR ARROWS, we summon 4 things (2 wolves and 2 beetles, I think?) for Slythe to backstab. Even so, Slythe automatically goes invisible if he ever goes out of sight of the party, so kiting him successfully is a bit rough. Krystin never joins th
e fight, though, so healing potions are enough to get Carael through.
Ducal palace: more summons, Oil of Speed, and for some reason I only have Greater Doppelgangers spawning, so we clear the palace without even Belt dying. After stealthing through the trapped maze with the appropriate elemental immunities, we approach Sarevok. The gameplan is the same as most solo characters: protection from magic, attempt to park Sarevok in a corner, kill Diarmid, hope the others aren't invisible, kill the others, kill Sarevok. Diarmid actually can't hit without a critical hit, and with an Oil of Speed and boots of the cheetah, Carael is safe from the melee attackers. Semaj and Angelo break invisibility for... something (?!?), and Tazok is also kited to death. A couple (dozen) arrows later...
I noticed that I forgot to mention that I got the flail with extra piercing damage from the earlier area. Nice, but I wanted the mage dagger as it would give me a free Mage Armor per day.
---
The divide and conquer technique worked fine. I was able to reduce the pressure over the entry point of the area and fortunately some creatures followed me all the way to the second part of the tomb, where I was able to use the chocking point right at its beginning.
Clearing the second hall was easy. The skeleton mage was isolated and could successfully cast a Stinking Cloud but to no effect - it didn't had the chance to cast anything else.
The north and south rooms, in another hand, were hell. The north one had two shadows and a mummy and that made me expend my whole arsenal of magical arrows (not that I had that much...). The south one had a mummy, two Imbued Wights and two chosen zombies - all of them required magical weapons to be damaged - so I had to go melee with them, what is never a good idea if you are a bard.
I started by the wights. With Shield I got an edge on that battle as their magic missiles were useless. I've tried to engulf them in a single Aganazzar's Scorcher, but I got rooted to the ground and that made me lost room to manouver as they got closer. I was able to outrun them enough to cast Haste (got the scroll from a trapped room at the first part of the tomb). A lot of hit and run latter, they were down. Just the mummy and two chosen zombies.
I forgot that chosen zombies are immune to common weapons, so I made the mistake of luring both one of them and the mummy at the same time. I released my rabbit to keep one of them busy as I fought the other - micromanaging the familiar to keep him away from the mummy was touch, but everything went fine at the end. The last chosen zombies fell two rounds before Haste ends - and the nasty fatigue starts.
All the way clear to Kresselack, time to talk with the Black Wolf himself. Got the mission to kick an Aurelite behind but before carrying it on I had to travel to Kuldahar: rest, heal, supply, sell loot. The usual.
Finally I bought the Horn of Valhalla. That was a good purchase as I would notice soon.
Back to the Valle, I went right to the ice cave. Dialogue and the battle started. I'll make a paragraph to rant about this battle:
IWD's battle are very well designed but this one is absolutely lame, like made my a lazy DM. The priestess is immune to common weapons because of reasons. Five yetis poops out of thing air. Horribly design.
Ok, back to reporting. The battle got complicated as five yetis appeared out of nowhere and I discovered that Lysan was immune to my arrows. I had to retreat, but the crew followed me. That moment I remembered about the Horn and blew it in a desperate Boromir scene. Four berserkers came to my aid and they held the line while I safely killed all the yetis with arrows. After a brief moment it was me, my minions and Lysan only.
They were not able to damage her (again, reasons) so I decided to retreat until the game allowed me to remove my armor. Once that was possible I came back and started a kitchen-sink strategy against her - and that worked fine.
Went back to report and got trolled by Kresselack. At his coffin I found a nice longsword +2.
The Skald's now at Kuldahar reporting to Arundel and preparing the trip to the Temple of the Forgotten God.
I'm quite surprised that I was able to prevail over the Valle of Shadows, especially Kresselack's tomb. Now I'm a little confident that I will be able to at least reach the main boss.
Introduction
In SoD, I somehow convince Porios to surrender, despite not having either 18 STR or 18 CHA. From there, stealth is used to get through the lower levels, an arrow of dispelling and two of detonation are enough to force a surrender.
The mage turning people to stone led to a pricey mistake: she cast Chaos, I had Minsc Berserk to avoid it, but he started attacking the statues, and he killed one dropping reputation to 11. Meh. I had a potion of mirrored eyes on Carael here, and used an amulet charge to avoid further Chaos effects on other members. In the west, Carael and co. side with the vampire for the regenerative Ioun stone, and here is where I'm so glad I'm running with a party: a wand of paralyzation targeted at Carael succeeds, but the other team members are sufficient to take pressure off him. Potions of explosion and arrows of detonation clear the bridge in 2-3 rounds, and we're off to the next chapter.
Without the number of Free Action items I normally build up, the troll cave proves too much for my squad to handle. I normally use layered Webs with Free Action on my main tanks and damage dealers, but without that I try Stinking Cloud. Against Trolls. I don't know why I thought that'd work. Dynaheir is cut down before we retreat for a Raise Dead (paid, sphere system means I don't have access to this spell yet). We give up and recruit Jaheira before heading to the Forest of Wyrms. The updated shapeshifting from Faith and Powers means Jaheira is freakishly hard to hit: she can hit -12 AC in Python form, whereas Minsc with a shield only reaches -1. She can actually tank the majority of enemies that rely on attack rolls to be dangerous.
In the Forest of Wyrms, we slay some spiders and the giant Beetle, and we again attempt an assassinate on Morentherene and again she wakes up. We retreat outside, buff with Prot. from Poison and Haste, and with two members with full pips in Bows and sufficient number of Arrows of Dispelling, we have some dragon scales.
We clear the Cultists before taking on Ziatar, who is webbed and killed by pointy sticks. The Neothelid is a bit of a pain, Dominating Jaheira and Minsc successfully. I have no idea what the thing's caster level is, because its domination lasts forever. The Neothelid fortunately pops above ground frequently, so it's quickly shot down and killed. Summons are used to bait the Aerial Servants into view, and Jaheira's insane AC to tank them after they chew through the summons. Shadow Aspect's backstab is baited by more summons, and only drains Jaheira's strength before falling down. But Jaheira's not even intended to deal damage, so I don't bother resting beyond spell recovery. In the Illithid room, Dynaheir remind me why I have her instead of any other mage: Cloudkill, Ice Storm and Fireballs demolish everyone inside the room.
At Bridgefort, we create Dragonscale armor which goes to Carael and the Rhino Beetle shield which goes to Jaheira. I want Void Tipped Arrows for Belhifet, so we do the Creeping Doom quest and actually complete the quest without making the entire crusader camp hostile. For no real reason, we also do the Wight quest and end up getting Jaheira and Minsc level drained, so we're fully rested upon surrendering the camp. Our reputation improves to 18, as there are donations available at the fort. For the first time since I've played SoD, the mage manages to open the portal, but no elementals survive more than 2 rounds upon spawn, and as soon as I start questioning how many waves there'll be, the waves stop.
In the camp, we use our first charge of the Spectacles to get the Genie for the items and gold for the rest of the game. We also do a few random quests for... completion, I guess, training some recruits and investigating a disease. In the woods, Jaheira is killed as a Bombadier Beetle gets a Stun on her while a Shambling Mound approaches. The run might've ended here if I didn't watch the console: I forgot entirely about the Greater Basilisk, but potions of Mirrored eyes are enough to clear it safely once I'm warned that it's targeting Glint.
Underground river, Dynaheir is again supreme in crowd killing. We clear the corrupted druid for the Awesome Amulet of Ankheg Summoning Acquisition, and we begin the dark magician fight. A slight error means we activate both sides of the rift, but sufficient firepower means the Ghost Jar shatters and we have a dragon on our side.
The siege itself: So. Many. Attack rolls. I don't even really know how to explain this battle. The important thing is that Minsc gets the Berserking sword here, since we somehow failed to convince them to abandon the crusade earlier. Ashatiel finally reveals herself, but she can't do anything in the face of a Potion of Magic Shielding, even after healing herself twice.
In Hell, I have a lot of potions of Clarity: I use said potions of Clarity from the beginning to have no Charm Person shenanigans this go around. Carael offers himself for the riddle, and Khalid gets his +3 weapon. After buffing in the elevator, the game crashes once: upon a reload, a series of bad dialogue choices insta-kills Caelar so we're fighting without our lunatic paladin. Potions of Clarity were mistimed slightly, and start running out mid-fight, and we don't have quite enough to fully shield everyone, and Dynaheir is Feared. I forget to put a Ring of Free Action on Khalid, and he's Held: Carael shoots him with an arrow of dispelling, and he just barely survives with ~10 health. Finally, though, Minsc and Carael deal enough damage to Big B. and down he falls! We end the game with an amusing gold amount.
Valerie was hurt again and again, dying twice. Fortunately during a break I remembered that Tenya was able to raise her as I had forgotten.
In addition to the death shown she was also killed by a trap that left her bleeding. She used a powerful healing potion and Bladeservant cast a remove magic spell but all to no avail. It was quite a while before I remembered that Tenya could raise her.
Valarie was also hurt fighting the skeleton archers mainly because the game has changed slightly so that she could no longer cast web without being seen.
The Phoenix was then attempted and the party had excellent results.
True sight and web made the invisible stalkers fairly easy to kill.
The wolves and polar bear were killed using brute force and ignorance.
Then the chess Board was straightforward due to using web and fireballs (Except for the fact that valerie was panicked so that great care was needed concerning the timing of the fireballs.
EDIT
The rest of the dungeon was straightforward until the final room.
The mirror was broken and the demonknight was attacked by a number of the party's enemies. After its death the party saw a confusion spell on its way, so they fled the room only to be met by another enemy party.
Immediately Valerie cast web and Tenya silence. That was sufficient.
Once the other party had been wiped out, Bladeservant and his party re-entered the room and were able to take on the last few enemies one at a time which was quiite easy. However, the last one cast a confusion spell. It died almost immediately afterwards, so the only danger lay in party members attacking each other.
By keeping their distance from those who were confused, this never happened and the battle was won.
They then went to Ulcaster and did the quest there including the finding of Karlini's Spell Book (Ascalon's Questpack). That was blundered into.
Tenya became a ghast and is no more.
The party used invisibility which didn't work with the result that Aec' Letec had to be killed several times.
I missed seeing Tenya being caught in Aec's spell and as a result she died.
This means that I will have to bring another cleric up to a decent level and it is a bit late in the game for that.
This I noticed.
This I didn't
I suppose this is what no reloads are all about, but rather disappointed when so near to the end.
I now have to choose between Gavin, Finch, Yeslick and Branwen I suppose or perhaps Jaheira, but I don't like the druid ethos..
What is almost as bad as the loss of Tenya is the loss of her equipment which was excellent. I wasn't previously aware that you lost the equipment as well as the NPC as this is a rare event for me.
I am thinking that Gavin could well be the best choice as Finch will only be level 1. Branwen Level 6, gavin level 7.
I couldn't find Yeslick and am not sure where Jet Laya is. I may try and find her to discover whether she would be a better choice even though I cannot do her quest due to DSoSC bugs.
---
The Temple of the Forgotten God was an easy piece. The AI is dumb as a brick as the moment you vanish from their LoS the Verbeegs stop following you. This allowed me to kite my way through the Temple pretty much without damage - the only damage I took (5) was due to a Magic Stone cast by one of the Acolyte; even being shot twice his casting was not interrupted.
Three good things were achieved at the Temple: the Black Knight (I was hoping for the Badge of Bravery, though), a scroll of Skull Trap (that cost me a potion of mind focusing to "safely" [97%] learn) and a cold-based bastard sword that granted me 4K gold.
After cleaning the first floor and part of the second floor I made a trip back to Kuldahar to buy more arrows and rest to memorize Skull Trap (now being a bard instead of a wizard starts to pay off). I'm level 11 at the moment, so this spell is some nasty surprise for my enemies.
Back to the Temple of the Forgotten God, it was time for the last push: 5 Verbeegs and 3 Acolytes were detected by my hidden rabbit and my lame AC (-2) and APR (1 with a sword, 3/2 with a longbow) didn't put the odds on my favor. I went Boromir once more and this time three Berserkers came to my aid. I've hasted them, myself and my familiar and opened the fight with a skull trap that immediately killed one Acolyte and two Verbeegs - I've sent my berserkers to hold the line while I kept interrupting the casters. Once they were dealt with I've kited the giants to reduce the pressure over my minions. When the last berserker fell two Verbeegs were still alive, but both damaged. I retreat with my rabbit and ended the fight with another skull trap.
The next area had no enemy but the Heartstone Gem was missing. Looks like the princess is in another castle...
Kuldahar, resting, healing, supplying, Arundel being useful as a blunt knife, and the trip to Dragon's Eye begun. I was pretty sure that Orrick's store should be better by now but I stand incorrect - I need more scrolls, especially fourth level ones.
---
Dragon's Eye was an example that entering in places is always a hard task in Icewind Dale. Just entering the area threw me amid three Ice Trolls. I went West looking for a chocking point and found another one. I ran past them into the bridge, turning a 4 x 1 battle into a (1 + 1 + 1 + 1) x 1 battle - what was very helpful.
After beating the last one, I was a mess. The trolls could only hit me with 19 or 20 but looks like their d20 only had 19s and 20s. With 14 HP I had to retreat to Kuldahar, lick my wounds and travel back.
Once again in front of the cave, this time was time to enter. What did I find? Yup, another welcome party. A Shaman cast Strenght of One and I retreat hoping the lizards would follow me and I would be able to use the narrow bridge on my favor once again - but they didn't follow. Lizards apparently don't like battling in the snow and I remembered why I love this game's little details so much. It was time to reevaluate.
As they couldn't follow me, all I had to do is control the amount of damage I would take and keep the way to the exit open - and that was exactly what I did. Boring as hell, let me tell. From time to time I went outside to renew my bard song and join the fight once again. A Potion of Regeneration was used and that proved a good decision as I finished my entering - just the entering - with 9 HP (blessed be Kresselack's Amulet). I should have used my berserkers as I had to retreat anyway. A very valuable potion was expended maybe without real necessity. Who knows.
Another trip back to Kuldahar, another disappointing visit to Orrick, and now the bold bard stands once again inside Dragon's Eye. Let's see what he'll be able to achieve. If I can get through Yxunomei I'll probably be able to beat the game. Time will tell.
The Verbeegs are SUPPOSED to be as dumb as bricks. They ARE stupid, so that is why they don't follow you.
The conversation with Red Toe makes that clear.
Yup. Another one of the little things that makes this game wonderful.
I'll search a workaround it.
---
Ok, apparently a variable that needs to be set don't understand that you're in chapter 2 to do what it have to do.
Traveling back and forth from DE to Kuldahar did the trick.
Before departing, I've prepared a Minor Sequencer with Glitterdust and Web for a certain part of Dragon's Eye first floor.
This floor was surprisingly easy. The trick e to clean the upper part ASAP: there's a large room with a large stone in the middle where you can move around without chocking. Once I've dominated that part of the dungeon it was just a matter of luring and kitting.
A strange bug helped me, though: almost all spiders where advancing just at a certain point and then stopping even when they had me at thir LoS (unless theirs is smaller than mine). The exception were Phase Spiders that put on a helluva fight with well timed antidotes. Some potions after that part and I was at full HP once again.
After kitting pretty much everything just one room was crowded: the hall of the lizard king - that's where the sequence was handy.
I've summoned the berserkers - once again I had 4 - and got them at my back hasted. Fired a skull trap to explode and trigger the lizard's hostility and retreat a bit. When the first critter reappeared in my LoS I triggered the sequence: that held the line. One more retreat to wait for my aura cleansing and a second skull trap was fired killing pretty much anyone.
A final retreat to reach my berserkers and send them forward and begin the kitting time once again. Without a scratch in my bard (and a few deceased berserkers) the battle was over. The snake altar gave me the Fox Boot what will be very helpful as it increases my speed and grants me 1 AC bonus.
I went to the villagers to "ask them to guard my sleep" and after a full rest I went to the little girl that triggers their trip back to Kuldahar.
Dragon's Eye 2 will be next.
In the Yuan-ti area at the bottom of Dragon's Eye, most of the traps in the main hallways are at 50, but the traps in some of the side rooms, and the traps right before and in Yxunomei's room, are at 60. However, since trap detection apparently involves a 1d10 roll added to the base skill, it should be possible for a rabbit with Cat's Grace and Luck to find and disarm all traps in Dragon's Eye, though it will take a few tries for some of them.
From completing the game's point of view, doing this mod definitely was a bad idea. I lost Tenya with all her experience and equipment (Which was very good) Because she had died my cleric couldn't raise dead so I had to use two scrolls of resurrection to raise the mages.
However, it was quite a fulfilling experience which made it worthwhile.
Screenshots below.
The questioon now is: Do I do the Drizzt Saga now or later? That too is a fulfilling mod but difficult. I am considering taking Gavin with me to boost his experience.
Misery (male half-elf blade, Grond0); Nollie (male human invoker, Gate70)
Previous run
Another short and not-so-sweet attempt started and finished today. We were once more a pair of casters, wandering around without armor and hence vulnerable to attack. Shoal provided some extra HPs each and a few jobs on the way down to Nashkel saw Misery up to level 4 and Nollie to level 3.
I had taken the precaution of resting on the way south to avoid any chance of being ambushed by bandits, but left that up to chance for the journey back to Beregost. When an ambush duly triggered, Nollie was shot down before he could move far and Misery also took several hits before stopping near the map edge to quick-loot the body. I thought the prospects for survival were good with 11 HPs remaining and only 2 arrows that could be fired at him before starting travel. Unfortunately a critical from the first of those arrows proved enough to disrupt his travel plans permanently...
At least you hadn't got far. I find it most annoying when a death comes near the end of BG1, when you have nearly beaten a game, but not quite.