Bronwynn here may be a Fighter/Thief, but his warrior side has yet to be discovered; only good with daggers given his time as a prospective chef, the little elf is not only -not- hardy, but his sense of wisdom has something to be desired, and beyond daggers and his agility, he has no true skills. F
I'll probably retire the scorcher loop after this run. Same goes for blind backstabbing, but maybe not for blind trap setting, which I haven't used to its full potential yet. Once I thoroughly experiment with a trick, I tend to stop using it--usually outright. This happened with the Wand of the Lightning trick, the Project Image summoning trick, the Project Image Chain Contingency trick, the Shocking Grasp+Polymorph Self trick, song stacking, the Nahal's Reckless Dweomer hotkey trick, the Chain Contingency hotkey trick the potion swap glitch, the Rift Device smuggling trick, Blur stacking, Armor of Faith stacking, dualing to thief from the Generic Archer kit from tactics to get area-effect STR drain, Protection from Undead, using rare scrolls via clones, dual-wielding shapeshifting tokens, and the Shapechange trick, all of which I stress-tested in various challenge runs.
There are so many ways to break this game. Infinite spells, infinite summons, infinite scrolls, invulnerability, instant death on plot-related enemies, permanent invisibility, party-wide 50 damage per hit at 10 APR, 100,000 damage with three spells... Even the console and Shadowkeeper can't do all of that.
Even so from your last post I get the feeling that you are not that satisfied..it also makes me wanna see your weidu log (for educational purposes also ).
I think you are doing a great job, I am curious what your next trick will be after the scorcher loop! Remember, you are being watched!!!
I really appreciate the enthusiasm, @Mirage. I'm very fond of breaking down systems and seeing how they work. If only we could do this for systems in real life... I'd love to be able to break down political affairs and diplomacy the same way. Unfortunately we haven't progressed that far yet.
I'm not yet satisfied. There's always been more to learn. I don't know what comes after the scorcher loop, but I'm considering using the blind thief trick on a Bounty Hunter instead, to do in-combat traps rather than backstabbing. I don't know what else I'll do in the next run.
I think this is 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] ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1000 // Initialise mod (all other components require this): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1910 // Protection from Normal Missiles also blocks Arrows of Fire/Cold/Acid and similar projectiles without pluses: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2010 // More consistent Breach spell (always affects liches and rakshasas; doesn't penetrate Spell Turning): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Antimagic attacks penetrate improved invisibility: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Iron Skins behaves like Stoneskin (can be brought down by Breach): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2041 // Modify the Harm spell so it does damage rather than reducing target to 1 hp -> Enemy and player Harm spells both do 150 hp of damage: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2050 // Allow individual versions of Spell Immunity to be placed into Contingencies and Spell Triggers: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2070 // Blade Barrier and Globe of Blades only affect hostile creatures: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2080 // Cap damage done by Skull Trap at 12d6: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // Make Power-Word: Blind single-target: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2100 // Make Minute Meteors into +2 weapons: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2110 // Reduce the power of Inquisitors' Dispel Magic -> Inquisitors dispel at 1.5 x their level (not twice their level): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2120 // Slightly weaken insect plague spells, and let fire shields block them: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Slightly increase the power of Mantle, Improved Mantle, and Absolute Immunity: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Make spell sequencers, spell triggers, and contingencies learnable by all mages: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2160 // Add an extra copy of some hard-to-find spell scrolls: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2170 // True Sight/True Seeing spells protect from magical blindness: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2180 // Prevent Simulacra and Projected Images from using magical items: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Replace +1 arrows with nonmagical "fine" ones: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3020 // Replace +1 magical weapons with Fine ones: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3041 // Reduce the number of Arrows of Dispelling in stores -> Stores sell a maximum of 5 Arrows of Dispelling: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Change Carsomyr so that its Dispel on contact power grants a saving throw: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Grant large, flying, non-solid or similar creatures protection from Web and Entangle: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4030 // Improved shapeshifting: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4040 // Make party members less likely to die irreversibly: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4180 // Make Freedom scrolls available earlier: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4210 // Randomise the maze in Watcher's Keep: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4215 // Remove unrealistically helpful items from certain areas: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4216 // Remove unrealistically convenient ammunition from certain areas -> Only remove nonmagical ammo from random containers: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5010 // Move Boo into Minsc's pack: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5020 // Remove the blur graphic effect from the Cloak of Displacement: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5030 // Remove animation from the Cloak of Mirroring (leave it for other spells and effects that use the same graphic): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6024 // Add high-level abilities (HLAs) to spellcasters -> All eligible spellcasters in Throne of Bhaal and Shadows of Amn get HLAs (very challenging and not really recommended!): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages -> Mages cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests -> Priests cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs -> All of the potions dropped by slain enemies are recoverable: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6500 // Improved golems: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6510 // Improved fiends -> Fiends have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6520 // Smarter genies -> Genies have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6530 // Smarter celestials -> Celestials have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6540 // Smarter dragons -> Dragons have a substantial hit point increase: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6551 // Smarter beholders -> Don't give beholder rays any chance of burning through spell protections; beholder antimagic blocks all spells, including harmful ones, for a round (simulates D&D rules): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6560 // Smarter mind flayers -> Illithids have only original-game resistances; Illithids can see through invisibility: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6570 // Smarter githyanki: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6580 // Improved Vampires: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6590 // Smarter Throne of Bhaal final villain: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8000 // Make the starting dungeon slightly harder: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8010 // Improved Shade Lord: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8020 // Spellcasting Demiliches: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8030 // More resilient trolls: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8042 // Increase difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings -> Almost-maximum difficulty (maximum for everything except liches): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8050 // Improved Random Encounters: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8060 // Improved de'Arnise Keep ("Tactics Remix") -> Spirit trolls have the same powers as in the original game: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8070 // Improved Unseeing Eye: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8081 // Improved Bodhi (Tactics Remix) -> Original Tactics Improved Bodhi with SCSII scripting: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8090 // Party's items are taken from them in Spellhold: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8100 // Improved battle with Irenicus in Spellhold: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8110 // Improved Sahuagin: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8120 // Improved Beholder hive (adapted from Quest Pack): v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8130 // Prevent resting in the Illithid city: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8140 // Slightly Improved Drow -> Upgrade Ust Natha's defences: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8150 // Slightly Improved Watcher's Keep: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8160 // Improved Fire Giant temple: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8170 // Enhanced Sendai's Enclave: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8180 // Improved Abazigal's Lair: v30 // Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8190 // Improved Minor Encounters: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8100 // Improved battle with Irenicus in Spellhold: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8110 // Improved Sahuagin: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8120 // Improved Beholder hive (adapted from Quest Pack): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8130 // Prevent resting in the Illithid city: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8140 // Slightly Improved Drow -> Upgrade Ust Natha's defences: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8150 // Slightly Improved Watcher's Keep: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8160 // Improved Fire Giant temple: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8170 // Enhanced Sendai's Enclave: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8180 // Improved Abazigal's Lair: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8190 // Improved Minor Encounters: v30
I don't know what it means when it says it uninstalled some of the components, but the lines below suggest I reinstalled them, which is what I meant to do. I'm not sure why the Watcher's Keep maze randomization is there, since I didn't install that. Sometimes I worry about my install having errors, because twice before I've played through a largely vanilla game without knowing it. I'm a little concerned about the lack of HLAs I've been seeing enemy mages use. Maybe it's because I've been invisible so often and the enemy mages are careful not to waste them.
I usually install everything. Most of my choices tend to be the harder difficulty stuff, with some limits (I'm not fond of random encounters with liches). I have automatic enemy pre-buffs on almost every run, since I prefer to pre-buff and it's more fair if the enemy does, too. Also, the enemy mages aren't nearly as hard without buffs. My parties are usually magic-heavy and can throw out multiple debuffers per round. Since there's usually only one or two enemy mages per encounter, debuffing them can be done very quickly.
The brave paladin and his party are venturing forth! They explored the whole Sword Coast and faced multiple enemies which granted them a lot of experience in battle. They just didn't visit the demonic "Durlag's Tower", it still seems a really dangerous place. Cloakwood forest has been explored with minimum difficulties, everybody was well prepared (carrying antidotes, cure poison spells for priests, Alora kept Finding traps all over). It is time they face a worthy opponent. They reached a mine base deep in the Cloakwood forest. Drasus is waiting for them...
The game has run very good so far, charname was never in actual danger. I was really confident and even got lost a bit playing enjoying the game. This is the time that I usually get overconfident and I die. Same thing almost happened now, but zaaappppp.... Hey man wake up we are facing Drasus now! One more thing that makes this even more exciting is that I am reaching the furthest point I've ever been in a no-reload run. This is actually -klaps- just before the Davaeorn fight, the silliest death ever, but that game was not modded (no SCS).
The fight is about to start!
Skull trap by Xan, he got wounded for this and retreated for a healing drink. Web by Quayle, Silence by Branwen. Everybody got silenced except Rezdan. Genthore died while webed. The Cavalier roams freely thanks to a ring of free action. A second silence by Quayle makes Rezdan to keep his mouth shut. In the meantime Drasus has just landed a hit on Kivan... To my surprice I see Rezdan casting a spell.. I get a bit anxious, wasn't he silenced? Cavaliers saves are very low thanks to potion of invulnerability. Death is actually 0. Any case I will spend another charge of greenstone amulet even though I am probably late for this. I also have Quayle cast a magic missile for a lucky spell interruption
Great! Rezdan casted vocalize! Cavalier is safe! Let's do it! He spell triggered invisibility mirror image. In the meantime Drasus (doomed now) is chasing Branwen..she already used an improved healing potion.
Quayle just died...this is getting weird Kysus fella is dead. Drasus remains and he attacks Branwen who is held by web. Rezdan is also invisible. He is in real trouble now! Fortunately Rezdan is playing chicken game, mercenary as he is...wait NO! I heard a spell trigger! Check the dialogue windowThe spell on the top of the screen is a bless one, being casted by Branwen.
IIRC Rezdan is an enchanter, I have to deal him immediately. But Drasus is near death, I will try an extra damage spell to kill him fast instead of kiting him. Which I did. I thought though that he would be hiding at the corner so I had Branwen summon some skeletons to keep him busy. Right now I guess the most experienced guys reading my post know I am wrong. I think the next pic speaks by itself.
Seems his remove magic spell failed.. he he. Xan will spell thrust him immediately. He is now cornered and with no magical protections. He just managed to confuse Branwen though. This snicky guy drank another invisibility potion. I set Alora to detect illusions, no time he casts CHAOS. The cavalier is well protected though the rest got affected and...wait ha ha ha He hadn't heard about the female gnome before!!!
The fight is over!! But ofc something more went wrong. Kivan killed Alora under CHAOS. But nevermind, boots of speed on the way!!!
Right now I am surprised with the smooth progression that the game had. I usually play only solo no-reload and right now all this blood spelt by my Bhaalspawns is finally paying off. Let's see how I will do with Davaeorn..
edit: I had a problem in Gullykin (misspell) . Jenkal, the evil gnome seemed to disappear twice while in battle. First time in his home, second during the fight with the evil Ogremagi. I got really pissed cause he killed Xan back then and I didn't punish him for it. Detect illusions and Detect invisibility didn't work, but I think I have seen this before in my very first run of bg:ee, I am not sure though. Is it a known bug? Or is it maybe caused by the installed mods....!?!
After meeting Xvar and Montaron (the former was not too thrilled when Bronwynn asked him about cooking dinner), the now party of four went to the Arm, and after a close battle with a certain mage went awry (Monty still has burn marks from those magic missles), we met up with Auntie Jaheira and Khalid, whom would bicker inncessently with our Zhentarim companions. Rather than kick one of these groups to the curb, Bronwynn was far too ignorant to foresee the impending fight. Anywho, Beregost!
While Khalid and Jaheira rested at the Burning Wizard, Zhent Co, Imoen, and tiny, hungry Bronwynn decided to steal from the townsfolk, given they weren't quite so well known yet, and would not be held accountable when news reached the Mayor the following morning. It was upon returning to the Inn that plan went up in smoke, as Monty saw fit to slaughter two thugs. So much for the heroes of the sword coast. The following day, we met Silke, and after an intense fight, Imoen and Monty lay dazed, but the rest cut the mischievous mage down.
Finally, after Xzar used his newly won lightning wand on a deranged fellow Zhentarim cleric, we claimed a prize of 5000 gold, and made for Nashkel. Bronwynn started to suspect his Harper and Zhentarim friends may be at eachother's throats soon enough. But for now, Nashkel!
@CharlestonianTemplar: Well met! I haven't seen you here before, only on the Bioware forums.
SoD would be Siege of Dragonspear. I understand it's an interquel for the BG saga.
Wow. Thanks for the info sg. Can't tell from reading it but I'm hoping it's compatible with original BG/TotSC (Tutu) and SoA/ToB. I would flip if it is. In some ways it reads like it's only compatible with EE which I just don't enjoy as much.
Took on the Planar Sphere. Nothing too scary. The big enemies here are all mages, and between Edwin, Imoen, Jan, and Aerie, we have enough debuffers to bring down even Lavok's defenses in short order. Without spell buffs, we have all kinds of disrupters and disablers to throw at them.
Aerie is the first member of our party to hit epic levels. She chooses Summon Deva as her first HLA. Jan isn't far behind. Sil's dual-classing set her back, while Edwin, Cernd, and especially Imoen are lagging behind because they joined the party so late.
I tried to pickpocket Firkraag for Carsomyr, but Jan can't get close enough to the dragon to nab the sword. In vanilla I was able to do it, but for some reason I can't do it in EE.
We get an early scare when Sil fails, twice, to hide herself from the enemy vampires.
With the Staff of the Magi and the Robe of Vecna, Aerie can rush to the rescue, but this is a tight area and SCS vampires like to summon allies, which can really clog up the hallways and prevent party members from reaching each other. It's a very unfriendly area.
How am I going to handle the vampires? Same way I dealt with Shangalar and Shyressa.
See that set of plate mail on the ground? That's a paladin. I decided to sit back and watch them for a bit. They failed to take down even a single vampire before the last paladin fell, or even get close. And the vampires are bound to regenerate everything they lost. In Nightmare mode, stat drain and level drain are vastly more powerful than in normal mode.
I decide to check in on Drizzt and company. Hopefully they're in okay shape.
They're not.
The place is just swarming with vampires. Even after I cleanse the pools to slow down the vampires, Drizzt and his friends collapse within a few rounds.
I check back on Sil to make sure she's still well hidden. She is, but if she ever turns visible, she's in an awful place to be.
You can see a faint white circle among the horde of red ones. She's boxed in by rats, all of whom have a nasty disease effect on hit. Thankfully, her stealth skills are both above 200. She'll be fine.
Aerie takes the Mace of Disruption from Sil and uses Protection from Undead so she can try out the Mace of Disruption on the enemies. Sil had trouble with the mace, but Aerie has a pip in maces, and her THAC0 with the mace is actually better than Sil's.
But even Aerie has trouble landing a hit. She calls in a friend to do the work for her.
That Deva cleans up the whole place and opens the way to Bodhi's lair. The XP brings Jan to epic levels.
He chooses Use Any Item as his first HLA. Now we just need to deal with Bodhi. In my install, she has all of the special abilities of the Tactics mod, and since Nightmare mode automatically sets the difficulty to Insane, she'll use all of those abilities at the maximum frequency.
I scour Athkatla for more scrolls of Protection from Undead, but we're down to four. I could use the Wand of Lightning trick to use a single scroll against every party member, but I don't want to do that. After setting up new sequencers and contingencies, I head back to Bodhi's lair.
I need lots of buffs to handle everything Bodhi's going to throw at me. All party members have Protection from Fire, Protection from Cold (because the SCS Tactics-style Bodhi has a blue Fire Shield active), Protection from Evil, and Remove Fear. The mages would have had Protection from Magical Energy, if I'd remembered to cast it (it was supposed to protect them from Bodhi's special Tactics-style Horrid Wilting ability). Sil, Cernd, Aerie, and Edwin have Chaotic Commands, since they're our most valuable characters. Sil and Edwin have Death Ward, since Sil is our Charname and Edwin has poor saves vs. death. Jan has Spell Shield, just because he can cast it. All mages have Spell Immunity: Abjuration to hold up their buffs. Edwin, Aerie, and Jan have Protection from Undead, because they're our main attackers. Imoen doesn't have it, even though I might need her, because I want the last one on Sil, just in case things go really badly. Imoen and Sil are invisible and hopefully will stay that way.
Finally, Cernd has Negative Plane Protection. His job is trigger Bodhi's dialog, begin the battle, purify the blood pools, and absorb the enemy's attacks while Edwin, Aerie, and Jan prepare the Death Ray Zorcher. Aerie's Deva is helping him out. There's also a Nymph on standby, as a minor barrier to an enemy approach.
Notice he's covered in the Insect Plague animation. Bodhi and some other SCS vampires get a Cloud of Bats ability that works similar to Insect Plague, and it's almost impossible to avoid. By going far ahead, Cernd can take the hit without the swarm spreading to other party members.
Edwin, Aerie, and Jan get into position and begin casting Spell Turning. Cernd is about to die, but the Deva will stick around for a while. I sent out Imoen for some reason I don't remember. As the Death Ray Zorcher begins, Imoen takes a dive.
It's a minor loss. The laser is what we need, and it's finally ready. I send out Aerie and Jan to fry Bodhi.
She doesn't take a single point of damage. I check the dialog box.
She's immune. Why?
If the Death Ray Zorcher doesn't work, we're in trouble. Sil uses our last Protection from Undead scroll and runs out to attack Bodhi. Bodhi's minion mages, Mandy and Hazzerbazzer, have already cast what I hope were their last Remove Magic spells, and Sil retains her immunity to cold, so she should be able to attack Bodhi without resistance.
Bodhi isn't fooled.
I pull Sil back. There's no way she can handle a fight with Bodhi. She doesn't even have immunity to level drain, much less the HP or AC she needs to hold off Bodhi's physical damage output. I consider my options. Discussion in spoilers.
We bought some Potions of Insight, which would let Edwin use Shapechange and Time Stop via Limited Wish, but he only has one casting of Limited Wish memorized. We'd have to rest and return to do that, and we've only got one scroll of Protection from Undead left.
I could have Jan combine Mislead with the Time Stop option, and backstab Bodhi with Belm and Kundane. I don't know if Bodhi would resist it, so I have Jan take a swing at Bodhi with Namarra. She's immune to +2 weapons. This also means Mind Flayer form wouldn't work on her. But I could still use Celestial Fury with Belm or Kundane. I go to Excel and do the math. I could expect Jan to do 510 damage during Time Stop, under the effects of Mislead, with Improved Haste from Aerie, dual-wielding Celestial Fury and Kundane.
But Bodhi has 629 HP in Nightmare mode. And she has 25% physical damage resistance. And a bit of regeneration. And she heals herself after getting to Near Death.
I check Bodhi's file and find that she's immune to level 2 spells. That's why the Death Ray Zorcher had no effect. As powerful as it is, sometimes it has no effect at all.
I think a moment. The reality sets in. We do not have the resources necessary to defeat Bodhi reliably.
To get those resources, we'd have to clear out Watcher's Keep or find a comparable source of XP elsewhere. Our party is actually very poorly designed to handle Nightmare mode. It's very defensive and evasion-oriented, and has rather poor damage output. Bodhi is immune to Agannazar's Scorcher, which means our best source of damage would Devas, Planetars, or backstabs from Sil.
Our Deva isn't strong enough. And Edwin is a ways away from getting a Planetar. And Sil needs at least to have the Amulet of Power--and therefore UAI, and therefore a lot more XP--to backstab Bodhi without being level-drained to death in the process.
I quit the game. I'm not willing to slog through the fight with the Statues at Watcher's Keep, much less any further in the dungeon, just to be able to beat Bodhi.
I decide to give up on this run. I feel I've used the scorcher loop and the blind backstabbing trick to their full potential, but both of them have been getting weaker as time has gone on. I knew from early on in this run that the party would start to run out of steam in the late game, as our abilities failed to keep pace with the enemy. It's a ludicrously powerful party, of course, but it's not well designed for Nightmare mode. I'm sure it's possible to do a no-reload SCS Nightmare run with the normal Bioware and Beamdog NPCs, but multiplayer is probably a lot more viable.
Then, midway through this post, I realize I still have one more option worth trying.
Bodhi might be immune to the Mind Flayer attack, but there's more to Shapechange than INT drain. It also offers Iron Golem form, which uses a +4 weapon that could easily hit Bodhi. That attack does 4d10 damage, with an extra 12 damage from the Iron Golem's base 24 STR, and a thief like Jan can backstab with it.
If Jan casts Mislead and uses Iron Golem form during Time Stop, using a couple of Limited Wish spells to make it happen, and has Aerie cast Improved Haste on him beforehand, he can deal 1,464 damage to Bodhi, or 1,098 thanks to her resistances. That's more than enough to bring her down.
I load up the game again. I check our spells.
But Jan doesn't have Limited Wish. I gave those spell scrolls to Imoen and Edwin, because they were single-classes, and to Aerie, because of her high WIS, but not to Jan. Nor could we have Edwin cast it and Jan speak to the djinni. EE fixed that trick: the djinni no longer has a circle, so you can't click on it with another character.
I could scavenge for XP to defeat Bodhi, I could fight her as is and suffer multiple reloads and/or multiple retreats and rests as I try to fight her in my current state, or I could quit the game. I choose the latter. It's a sad way to end the run, but the future of the run looks slow and uninteresting.
Sil's run has shed a lot of light for me into Nightmare mode and the blind thief trick.
Contrary to my earlier impressions, summons do scale well with levels in Nightmare mode. There are some places where a summoned critter's power may vary drastically, due to their weapon immunities or those of the enemy's, but in most cases, your summons will make a substantive difference both offensively and defensively. My impression earlier on was the opposite, as I saw Skeleton Warriors, Invisible Stalkers, and our Animal Summoning and Monster Summoning spells fail to harm enemies immune to nonmagical weapons (an SCS component turns +1 weapons, like a Skeleton Warrior's, into a nonmagical variant). This led me to underuse summoning spells as time went on.
Sil's blindness was a marvelous resource. Although it cost her the use of ranged weapons, it kept her much safer than the rest of the group. She was the only character without spells, but was better equipped than any of them to stay out of trouble. However, she lacked the ability to help out the others in any meaningful way when stuff went wrong. Her friends saved her life on multiple occasions. She never saved theirs.
And the scorcher loop is overpowered. Yup.
Items and spells of note:
Invisibility 10' Radius kept our party alive on many occasions throughout the run. SCS enemies only memorize so many divination spells, and once those are wasted, invisibility and patience proved to be our most powerful debuffers. The Wand of Paralyzation saw little use, but when I did use it, it let us bring down enemies we would otherwise have been unable to handle. Koshi would have been nearly impossible without the wand. The Balor, if anything, would have been worse. Call Woodland Beings provided a near-endless supply of disablers and let us break down the enemy even while the party was invisible. Nymphs made it possible for us to land hits on a lot of well-armored enemies in the early game. Conjure Fire Elemental was our trump card against various early game enemies. Its immunity to normal weapons rendered it invincible to many early and mid-game enemies. As time went on, it was reduced to a minor summons. The Staff of the Magi, which I've rarely used or fought for in the past, was ridiculous. Perpetual invisibility didn't make us invincible--as some enemies had a knack for slipping a Minute Meteor in for the fraction of a second between us casting a spell and turning invisible once again--but it kept off more spells and weapons than any other item we used, and probably blocked about as much damage as Stoneskin did. Silence 15' Radius broke the difficulty of a lot of early game encounters for us. Even higher-level mages succumbed to its effects after their MGOI spells wore off or were broken down, and because we had so many castings of the spell, we could overcome Vocalize. Hold Monster and Hold Person compensated for one of our greatest weaknesses: poor THAC0. These spells gave us automatic hits, and sometimes were the only reason we could bring down an enemy with low AC. In a run that relied so heavily on disablers, Greater Malison was a massive boost to our abilities.
Review of the party members:
Sil, the blind thief: I also underestimated Sil's performance in the late game. Although her backstab stopped growing, she was still a valuable source of damage throughout the run, and as she gained thief levels, she was able to use traps in the thick of combat, a trick I have yet to fully explore. She might not have been an optimized build for Nightmare mode, but she was fairly close, and would have been outrageously overpowered in normal mode.
It was a mistake, however, to concentrate so strongly in katanas. Although it did give her lots of extra damage power, she struggled in situations where Celestial Fury's power was blunted--especially against undead. The Kensai kit helped her land backstabs, but she would have gained a lot of versatility had she been able to use shields, helms, and armor. A Berserker/Thief would have been more optimal, since its poor ranged options are mostly meaningless to a blind character.
Jaheira, our only true fighter: I don't know if it was a mistake to have left Jaheira behind. I was concerned about reaching level 15, but Fighter/Druids at 3 million XP can stack Earth Elemental form with Hardiness and become nearly invincible, which a normal druid cannot match. Jaheira would have provided some much-needed offensive power, but in my desire to gain access to HLAs, I overlooked her strengths.
Cernd, our only true tank: Cernd quickly took on Jaheira's role as summoner and tank. With his superior AC and MR, he was definitely much harder to kill than Jaheira, but he had great difficulty hitting important targets unless they were disabled. Had the game continued, he would have been a stupendous summoner at level 15, capable of sending forth some of the toughest critters in the game without pause--because, due to an error in my SCS install I might not correct, mage and priest HLAs are still level 9 and 7 spells, not innate abilities, which means Cernd could have cast Elemental Summoning six times per day.
Aerie, our protector behind the scenes: Aerie did not surprise me. As always, she was an ideal support character with a response to every situation. Cleric/Mages are the most versatile characters in my experience, having access to cleric buffs to stop disablers, and mage buffs to stop attacks. She rescued us from many potentially fatal effects, and prevented many more.
Jan, the two-legged non-spider gnome: Jan was less effective than I had expected. His absolute dominance in the Party of Spiders run created some very high expectations, but in EE, shapeshifting is incompatible with weapon using--a trick I suppose I wasn't really planning to use anyway. It is no longer possible to dispel shapeshifting weapons with Shocking Grasp and maintain high APR with one's preferred weapon. Jan therefore was stuck with 1 APR instead of 4, and could no longer stun-lock hordes of enemies at once. He still proved a capable thief and mage, however, and his Detect Illusions ability came in useful on many occasions, as did his early access to Invisibility 10' Radius.
Hexxat, the cold and distant vampire: Hexxat was redundant with Jan, and though she could backstab with some regularity, I did not often find it as useful as it would have been in normal mode. Thanks to SCS' AI, Hexxat was the standard weak link and was attacked relentlessly. She was usually the first to have to flee in any given encounter. Hexxat would have stayed in the party for the duration, but Jan's objection to her forced me to decide between them, and Jan won out. Hexxat was an interesting character, but struck me as rather cold. It was appropriate for her character, but it was not what I was looking for.
Edwin, the mage with the bottomless spellbook: Edwin has always been unreasonably overpowered, thanks to his amulet that grants him 2 extra spells per spell level. It vastly improved his versatility, but often his extra spells didn't come into play. Had his amulet only granted 1 extra spell slot per spell level, it would have made almost no difference. He's not necessarily the strongest of the mages, however, as Imoen and Nalia can use a much wider variety of items thanks to their thief levels. Sometimes being able to shoot an Acid Arrow makes a bigger difference than an extra Sunfire spell.
Imoen, the captive: As always, Imoen has been the backup mage for me. I only fetch her late in the adventure, and she's always underleveled when we get her. She had little time to show what she could do.
@semiticgod Even while you've decided to end your run, rest assured that each and every report you've made has been very insightful and fun to read. I've learned a lot only from reading it, so I can only imagine how much you have known from this run yourself.
It's sad that the SCS-Tactics-Nightmare Bodhi won against your party. But think about it - you've possible tried the hardest option available.
I honour your bravery and wisdom, semiticgod.
@Mirage Congrats on beating the Drasus party. I guess the fact that you have the Greenstone Amulets helps a lot in your run, doesn't it? In my own RP attempt I see no way for my party to go to the Ulgoth's Beard before reaching the Baldur's Gate city at least.
@Jared4242 I like thieves and fighter/thieves. Keep the good work!
I am gonna edit my Dragon Disciple's spell book this once to remove Spell Sequencer. (It may still be a useful later choice to be used once per day, but not an obvious game breaker to be used every round.)
I'm instead gonna pick Limited Wish. A more subdued defensive option & utility.
@Mirage Congrats on beating the Drasus party. I guess the fact that you have the Greenstone Amulets helps a lot in your run, doesn't it? In my own RP attempt I see no way for my party to go to the Ulgoth's Beard before reaching the Baldur's Gate city at least.
RP reason: After clearing the bandit camp, Charname decides to head up the coast to make sure there aren't any outlying groups still waylaying travelers. It makes tactical sense, too. He doesn't want to leave any potential enemy forces in his rear as he advances on the enemy stronghold.
I am gonna edit my Dragon Disciple's spell book this once to remove Spell Sequencer. (It may still be a useful later choice to be used once per day, but not an obvious game breaker to be used every round.)
I'm instead gonna pick Limited Wish. A more subdued defensive option & utility.
I used limited wish outside of combat in IWD, but I never used it in combat. I'll be interested to see how that works.
Nashkel! The hardest thing about this adventure, from an ooc perspective, will be the absence of grinding. With four members of the party hell bent on exploring the mines, we have little choice but to make minimal stops on our way, mostly at the insistence of our prospective chef and lover of food; "Auntie Jahiera, I swear I heard the Fair has great stuff! Toasted grubs for you and sweets for us!"
After getting club'd in the head by Jahiera, Bronwynn stops to rest, where he has a horrible dream. Something about roads and options, he was too hungry upon waking up to contemplate it much. We searched the Fair's tents for a food merchant, but found a hostile mage instead. Most of the party got knocked out, but Monty and Bronwynn took care of the mage, wailing on the exhausted spell user for a solid five minutes until we got through his mage armour.
After that craziness, Xzar promptly threw on the dead mages robes, bloodstains and all. The rest of the party could only watch as he giggled madly and ran about, the too-big robes flapping about him like a crazed bird. Monty just shook his head and gathered up the loose coins. Our heroes everyone! Anyway, we made for the mines, but heard the cooing of some fellow in the distance, and upon inspection, we discovered the a thieving artist with an obsession with Ellesime. Greywolf the bounty hunter promptly showed up, and thanks to the last charge of Xzar's wand, he fell. Gorion's dagger broke earlier, so the wicked Varscona replaced Bronwynn's weapon. At least he had his throwing knives to cut prepare meals, and the cool longsword to keep meat's refrigerated.
And then, after resting and stocking up on potions and plate mail, we made for the Mines. As the darkness surrounded the party, Auntie Jahiera and Khalid took the lead, Monty and Xzar watching cunningly from the back, and surrounded by these confident adventurers, were two very scared, very out of place thieves.
Note: If both Khalid and Jahiera, or both Xzar and Monty, fall, as a pair, then I will resurrect them for lore purposes, but insist they are too injured to go on with the adventure; deaths still mean something in these runs. I would like to take these six to the end, but the Mines may not be so forgiving. In addition, if we cannot get them to a Temple quickly, or expend a healing spell to "keep them "mostly dead", the same rule applies. Realism!
@Mirage Congrats on beating the Drasus party. I guess the fact that you have the Greenstone Amulets helps a lot in your run, doesn't it? In my own RP attempt I see no way for my party to go to the Ulgoth's Beard before reaching the Baldur's Gate city at least.
Interesting point! In the back of my mind I want to clear the rest of the areas like I did and proceed to Baldur's Gate. I could roleplay it and visit Ulgoth's Beard if I had a bard in the party or if I was told by someone. But neither of the 2 is true. I don't know lorewise how far Ulgoth's Beard is, but I guess it may be quite far and the map is just misleading. I don't think my party had any reason at all to visit Ulgoth's Beard, especially when they were about to explore the Cloakwood forest. Now it is obvious to me that it was just pure meta-gaming.
Moreover I realized that I like SCS at its touphest for BG1, except the mages & priest precasting - spells. The reason is I don't cheese and I like to enter a fight with minimum magical defenses. This kind of challenge adds to difficulty, enhances role-play and raises the adrenaline during the fight ofc! I think this is a good rule for my next playthrough!
@Jared4242 , as well as enjoying the current progress of your humble party, I was very curious to know how you acquired Imoen & Jaheira's BG2 portraits for BG:EE in perfect measurement. Do you also have Edwin, Viconia & Minsc's?
I'd love to get a hold of all of them myself. With the arguable exception of Edwin's, I find them all to be vastly superior. Let me know when you get the opportunity
Of course, one can always find a justification for himself, @BillyYank . But I find it very difficult to convince myself that a party can leave everything it has in terms of bandit quests etc and go as far to the North as Ulgoth's Beard. I can see a party going to the Ulcaster Ruins, to the Firewine Bridge because there're numerous references to these places if you talk to people in Beregost. I can see a party going to the seaside because these locations are just south to the Candlekeep.
Ulgoth's Beard came to the vanilla game with the expansion, so (to me) it should not be reachable from the start.
In original BG1 Ulgoth's Beard was accessible only from the northern edge of Wyrm's crossing on the Baldur's Gate side of the bridge, so that in oder to go there you had to complete everything related to the Cloakwood forest first. In BGEE it's accessible from either side of the bridge.
Even if I didn't know this, I would still think that the fact you can reach Ulgoth's Beard only if you enter the location in front of Baldur's Gate would mean that adventuring parties going to this village should be ready for challenges the city provides, thus they should be of those levels defeating Davaeorn provides.
One more thing. One of the quests in Ulgoth's Beard is closely connected to the events in the city - I mean Shandalar and his daughters.
This is from the game point of view. And this is what is written in the wiki:
According to the wiki, Ulgoth's Beard was a hamlet on the north bank of the river Chionthar, within sight of the Sea of Swords. It was home mostly to poor shepherds and fishermen. The purpose of the settlement was to warn Baldur's Gate of pending attacks or pirate raids. To travel to Ulgoth's Beard, one was required to navigate rolling grassy hills or arrive by boat as there was no road.
So, from the wiki, reaching the city should be the first step on the road to Ulgoth's Beard.
Protected from magic the cavalier will chase davaeorn around when he teleports, the trap triggered. After this bless spell I am gonna probably cast sweet air hmm...
The fight seems very easy until now. The party is handling the entrance perfectly. The cavalier is hitting Davaeorn constantly, making him using his mirror images and stoneskins. Battle horrors seem a joke against the lvl6 Cavalier even when I am using a 2h sword. I thought it would be more difficult...let's see
The fight is still on. A web spell is casted at entrance which really helps in handling enemy reinforcements. In the meanwhile I've lost Davaeorn during the fight and I can't find him. Walhand is searching all over Kivan is a worthy fighter, standing toe to toe with that battle horror. Plan now is to locate Davaeorn and bring sneakily Xan to spell thrust him...The fight continues, one battle horror left. Branwen show the meaning of being a frontline priest although you cannot see her at the right top corner.Only problem now is that Davaeorn has not appeared yet...either he is invisible or something is wrong..no there he is It is time he pays for his crimes...and he does
I must say that I am impressed. If you can handle the reinforcements and you have a fighter protected from magic chasing Davaeorn the fight is ridiculous. The evil conjurer had no options at all rather than hit me with a 20 roll with his stick. I expected much more of a challenge. I am not even happy for making it eventually to Baldur's Gate in a no-reload run.
Protection from Magic scroll is way too overpowered if you ask me...I must consider a rule for this...
Big update this. As we pressed through the mines, Monty proved vital as a scout and backstabber; by positioning himself by kobold archers, and stabbing as the rest of the party charged in, we made quick words of the SCS beefed Mines. That said, the larger groups required us to use some potions of explosive. At this point Bronwynn and Imoen let the more experienced four do the dirty work, the two shooting arrows and throwing daggers in desperation. Pressing into Mulahey's chambers, we made suprisingly quick work of the improved fight, so quick I only managed to nab a screenshot of the last skeleton falling.
Dragging ourselves from the mines, and a few looted graves later (Monty and Xzar giggling all the while as they clutched a mithral ring, and Bronwynn clutching a lovely dagger Monty had gifted him), we returned as heroes to Nashkel. Bronwynn didn't care much for being a hero however; all he wanted was a nap in the Nashkel Inn and a hearty meal. So of course, an assassin had to stop us in the streets. Clutching that newly won dagger, our hero but waited as the rest of his party fought Nimbel. Finally, hunger overtaking him, he charged right at Nimbul as Khalid struck down his defenses, driving the dagger deep into his enemies chest.
A large meal, a longer nap, and some counseling words from Auntie Jahiera and Khalid that the assassin had it coming, they poured over the letters they had retried so far. With all haste the party made for Beregost, nothing but stopping the bandits on their mind. Though this didn't stop the four to argue incessantly as they walked; I feel a fight coming. After a quick interrogating with Tranzig, the party had a choice; make right for the bandit keep, or try to learn more of them before confronting the veritable army. Two things swayed them; the magical weapons and goods they may find to the East and South of Beregost, and possibly heading off any reinforcements from Amn, should any take the mountain path. They party stocked up at the Thunderhammar Smithy (where an Ankheg suit of armour would wait for them on their return), and made east, where they were promptly chewed on by wolves.
Well, where Jahiera was gnawed on by wolves. She almost died, but a lengthy fight later, with Xzar's wand collection saving the day, we were able to go on, 4000 experience richer with the two vampire wolves. So far, Xzar's mad use of wands, Khalid's tanking, Jahiera's healing, and Monty's scouting has saved us more times than I can count. Meanwhile, Imoen and Bronwynn concerned themselves with picking what goodies they could, and hunting for a proper meal.
Finally, we began South and East, on the hunt for bandits and goodies. Bronwynn was nervous, but for the first time in their adventure, excited; he didn't think himself a hero, but by the day, his fighting skill and daring grew, for better or worse.
I just started and ended a run in Nightmare mode. Turning my previous run on its head, I decided to try a fighter-based party, and use no summons. We had a Fighter/Illusionist, Fighter/Magic/Cleric, Fighter/Mage/Thief, Fighter/Thief, Fighter/Cleric, and Fighter/Druid. Four characters died in the first fight with the Duergar. I decided to call it quits. Granted, they hadn't rested yet and weren't fighting at full power, but it was a pretty telling omen nonetheless. Go up against Nightmare mode enemies without summons, and you'll need strong AC, which we did not have.
Hey all, wanted to pop in and let you know I'll be updating sometime soon. Between work and school and planning for two P&P campaigns and trying to finish Dragon Age I've had my hands full. So the party will see the Vale, just not within the next day or so.
[Selyna the Dragon Disciple, accompanied by Keldorn, Jaheira, Jan, Aeria, Minsc]
Lvl 7 choice of Limited Wish proves useful as Negative Plane Protection provided by the Djinni is handy against level drain.
I am confident as Keldorn, Jaheira, and Minsc begin spanking the Fledgling Vampires left and right. I run into a certain "Tanova" and charge her straight on.
Then the whole hell breaks loose...
1. She casts a spell trigger with Mislead/Spell Imm:Div/Spell Shield. (SCS is earning its fee here.)
2. My NPP has run out; I will renew it, but that is almost 10 seconds of unprotected exposure. We begin to retreat. Selyna begins working on Tanova's multiple spell defenses.
3. Tanova casts Horrid Wilting upon the retreating party.
4. Everybody is hurt badly. Aerie is instantly dead! Minsc yells out a battlecry and goes berserk. (Wait, that's good; now he is immune to level drain.)
5. Tanova casts Chaos Sphere! Uh oh! I pull everyone out of there. No way of reliably protecting to all possible nasty effects. Minsc doesn't even hear me (berserk, remember?).
6. Tanova casts PfMW. Minsc continues wailing at her to no effect. Refuses to walk out of the Chaos Sphere - or change weapons. Party begins to use potions to recover; Jaheira summons a Fire Elemental as fodder.
7. MINSC IS.... GONE!! My theory is that he got hit by a disintegrate beam from Chaos Sphere. Just gone. Nothing to resurrect. [[see picture]]
8. Tanova is confronted by summon fodder as she retreats into a spike room. Jan finds no traps in there, but it constantly harms Keldorn and Jaheira as they try to kill Tanova. Selyna renews Stoneskins and casts a few offensive spells and renews Limited Wish based NPP twice more. Jaheira lands the killing blow to Tanova, almost dead herself.
I risk resting to raise Aerie and heal.
Minsc is lost forever. His belongings lying on the floor (I wonder if I would have lost them, if I had Gore "on").
Dejected and heartbroken, the party heads back to surface.
The irreplaceable Minsc will have to be replaced, if I am to assail the Vampire Lair anew and rescue Imoen.
@Ygramul: Condolences on the loss of Minsc. I remember losing Cernd to a Flesh to Stone in a no-reload a while back, and it was hard to adjust.
Sphere of Chaos has a Disintegrate effect in it, but I just tested it and that doesn't permanently kill characters, even if I remove the "Disable Permanent Death" opcode, which SCS uses to prevent chunking, via EEKeeper. Maybe Minsc got polymorphed, which reduces your current and max HP, and then took enough damage to get chunked. I think excessive level drain can cause chunking as well.
Do you have a pre-death save on hand? If you view Minsc in EEKeeper and he doesn't have "Disable Permanent Death" under the "Effects" tab, then that would be your problem. If you installed the SCS component that blocks permanent deaths, then Minsc should have had that effect active... in which case a reload would be in order.
Condolences on the loss of Minsc .... Do you have a pre-death save on hand? If you view Minsc in EEKeeper and he doesn't have "Disable Permanent Death" under the "Effects" tab, then that would be your problem. If you installed the SCS component that blocks permanent deaths, then Minsc should have had that effect active... in which case a reload would be in order.
I did in fact have the SCS option to prevent permadeath (though it does warn that it is not foolproof).
I'm afraid I already overwrote the save. (I usually only use one major save slot and a secondary backup for script-heavy places that run the risk of breaking something.)
I thought that disintegrate was a perma-killer. I'm surprised that it isn't.
I think this party has good chances of making to the Underdark, but it is a bit frightening if I start to loose vital party members permanently.
--
NOTE:
I'm really liking Jan and am not quite willing to part with him past Spellhold. But since I hate redundancies, I may "headcannon" Imoen to ... err... something other than a T/M. (Currently considering a F/M multi... unless it would be munchkining.)
IWD-EE 1.4 Modded with: More Style for Mages Rogue Rebalancing Houserules for IWD BG2 Tweaks ATweaks Minor NPC Portraits Awesome Soundsets 1-4 (I installed IWD-NPC, but I'm not using any of the characters for this run.)
I didn't install everything from the tweak packs, only the ones I found appealing. Notably, I didn't install any of the extra kits. I also didn't install anything that I thought sounded too "cheaty".
Time to give this no-reload thing a try. I've never done one of these in any game, and I've been kicking around this party concept for a while, so I decided to go for it. My idea is to build a standard 4-character D&D party: Warrior, arcane, divine and rogue, but to use kits I haven't played before. This will be an RP run, so no stealing from NPCs and no pre-buffing without justification. Ability rolls were made with a straight best of 10 rerolls. I allowed myself one swap of ability scores. The full roll had to swapped, not individual points. I think this provides a good balance between non-minmaxing and the pain of abysmal primary stats.
The Party
Seers throughout the North agree there's trouble coming. They're not sure exactly where it is or what it's going to be, but they know it has the potential to be very bad. Many organizations send out adventurers and investigators to try to find the cause of the premonitions. In a tavern in the small town of Easthaven, a Paladin of Helm and an Avenger of Sylvanus meet and agree to combine forces.
Gudrun Gudrun's family has a long history of service to the Church. When she was a squire, her father died in a raid on a vampire's lair. She has since dedicated her life to ridding Faerun of the scourge of the undead. Despite this, she is generally cheerful, with a positive outlook on life. She has accepted that her father's death was caused in part by his own recklessness and is determined not to repeat his mistakes. Where her father was the consummate warrior, Gudrun strives to be a soldier, seeking victory as much through tactical acumen as by physical prowess. Favored weapon: Two-handed sword Backup weapon: Quarterstaff Missile weapon: Longbow Sound set: Fall-From-Grace
Total: 85 Swap: Int & Str
Celebrian Celebrian is an elf of the deep woods who saw her childhood home despoiled when it was overrun by orcs and goblins. She would like nothing better than to be the weapon of the injured woodlands, but her physical fragility has made her cautious. She recognizes that she needs allies in her struggle and that she needs to develop her magical abilities so she can protect her precious forests without dying needlessly. Favored weapon: Sling Backup weapon: Dagger Sound set: Faldorn
Total: 86 Swap: Wis & Cha I was really tempted to swap Int & Con, but I wanted that 18 in the primary stat, and I couldn't see a person with a 9 Int being sent on this mission.
Dunathain Dunathain is Gudrun's uncle. In many ways, he took the death of his younger brother much harder than Gudrun did. When she was chosen for this mission, he insisted on coming along to keep an eye on her. His magical powers manifested when he was a teenager, but he never felt the call to adventure. He stayed behind to manage the estates while his brother ran off to be a hero. Now that his sons are old enough to oversee the lands, he finds himself in this howling wilderness under his niece's command. Favored weapon: Sling Backup weapon: Quarterstaff Favored spell: Sleep Sound set: Male Mage 4
Total: 82 Swap: Dex & Int
Darien Darien is the classic rogue. He never stays in one place for long, he's always seeking new excitement. He's been a trader, a diplomat and a actor, among many other things. He was asked to come on this mission as Celebrian's bodyguard and liaison. Celebrian has never traveled outside of the elven woods, while Darien lived much of his life among humans and even "humanized" his name. Favored weapon: Longsword Missile weapon: Shortbow Sound set: Coran
Total: 83 Swap: none I forgot about the racial adjustments, I should have swapped Dex and Con to give Dex 17, Con 13, que-sera. I'm thinking of having him dual-wield eventually, sword and short-sword.
Just arrived in town.
Next up: "Orc hunting and ogre kiting", or "Never test your bright ideas in combat."
I started a Wizard Slayer-Thief run. She rolled two critical misses in a row trying to prevent a cleric from casting Hold Person, and then failed the save. I've mentioned before, but somehow forgot, that even attack rolls from fighters aren't reliable in no-reload runs.
I also started a Swashbuckler. Not Nightmare mode. Nightmare mode is kind of tedious; it would be more fun if you started at a higher level, or maybe did it with a better party than mine.
Margot is back!
I took a solo swashbuckler into ToB once, but that wasn't no-reload. I also considered a Bounty Hunter, and maybe that would have been a better idea, since I've been wanting to use Maze traps for ages now.
Now that I think about it, I should try a Bounty Hunter. But I already have stuff to report on Margot, so whatever.
Margot took down the Mephit Portals with an Oil of Speed. One really nice thing about EE is that the Radiant Mephits' Color Spray is no longer an instant death effect for solo characters in the Mephit Portal room, as you wake up on hit. This vastly simplifies solo no-reload runs of the first dungeon.
Margot used an Oil of Speed to run circles around Ilyich and his buddies, allowing her to divide the group and minimize her exposure to crossbow bolts. A Potion of Invisibility, courtesy of a Shadow Thief or Ellesime's clone, allowed her to nab the Girdle of Bluntness before an enemy mage could hit her with a potentially dangerous Chromatic Orb.
Beneath the Slums, her traps failed to hit Quallo's Carrion Crawler, as it was neutral, but this also allowed her to hide right in front of the thing, and use hit and fade tactics with a bow.
Once she got enough money to buy the Glasses of Identification, she identified the Ring of Human Influence and used it on Cohrvale.
We waited until nightfall so she could hide right after using the ring. That way, she could try again later if Cohrvale made his save.
I prepared to save Viconia by laying several traps. Turns out the fanatics really do burn her to death if you wait too long.
They also crash the game. They even crashed it when I reloaded and let her go in time. Not sure what's going on there, but it's a minor quest anyway.
Margot softened up Suna Seni and her friends with traps and finished them off with a short sword. Then, against the mage, Margot failed a save against a disabler.
She tried to slay the mage with her bow, and also her sword when the mage got close enough, but when that didn't work (we later learned the mage had Protection from Normal Missiles active), she drank another invisibility potion to wait out her disability.
On to the Docks! We use the Ring of Air Control when fighting the Mad Cleric of Cyric, and the Cowled Wizards come in to complain. Apparently the Ring of Air Control counts as a mage spell.
Margot buys the Nymph Cloak and uses it for a problem encounter.
Sanasha wastes all of her remaining spells and gets cut down quickly.
Inspired by the cloak's success, I decide to try it out on a much tougher opponent.
The nice thing about this area is that it's filled with no hostile critters. This means I can enter under the effects of Improved Invisibility, use the Nymph Cloak on Pai'Na, and if the charm fails, I can hide immediately after, rest, and return. Eventually I get control over her.
Unfortunately, I didn't come with a plan to deal with the spiders. Once Pai'Na turns hostile, the whole room floods with tiny spiders, and though my AC and save vs. death are both strong, I have no Elixirs of Health--I used to have four, from Chateau Irenicus. This means, if I do get poisoned, I'm pretty much screwed. I get two chances to cast Slow Poison, but if that fails, the spider's poison will deal 150 damage in total.
Instead, I drink another Potion of Invisibility and watch Pai'Na's Nymph, which she summoned during the charm, get devoured by the spiders. I decide to let Pai'Na go.
Thus ends Margot's run. If I'm going to do a thief run, it'll probably be a Bounty Hunter. A Swashbuckler is mostly just a Fighter/Thief clone.
An important realization is that the Nymph Cloak's charm effect lasts 12 hours. It strikes a level 8 spell and does not bypass magic resistance, and thus can be blocked by spell protections, but it uses a save vs. breath, which most mages will have difficulty resisting.
After mourning Minsc, we recruit (a rather underleveled) Haer'Dalis and clean up the Vampire Lair.
Brynnlaw and the pirates prove no match.
And here are, trapped by Irenicus and Bodhi in the Asylum labyrinth, rejoined with Imoen.
*** WARNING : "Headcannon" ahead ***
Imoen's traumatic dreams as well as the lives sapped from Shadow Thief members to crack her mind leave her mortal self altered. Within the dream shared with Selyna, Imoen absorbs from the essence of Sarevok/Bhaal and her very self changes irreversibly. When she wakes up in the labyrinth with Selyna, Imoen is a different person. No longer skulking in the shadows or worrying about stealth and subterfuge. Imoen is now an ... ARCANE WARRIOR.
[translation: Imoen will be a Fighter/Mage multiclass in my run, essentially because I want to keep Jan in the party as my thief. No stat changes will be given to Imoen, so, e.g., she's still 9 STR. Her proficiencies are being reset, but she still remembers a fondness for Short Swords.]
Comments
I think your knowledge about the game and your efforts make you the player to crack, exploit, test the game's vulnerabilities. Even so from your last post I get the feeling that you are not that satisfied..it also makes me wanna see your weidu log (for educational purposes also
I think you are doing a great job, I am curious what your next trick will be after the scorcher loop!
Remember, you are being watched!!!
I'm not yet satisfied. There's always been more to learn. I don't know what comes after the scorcher loop, but I'm considering using the blind thief trick on a Bounty Hunter instead, to do in-combat traps rather than backstabbing. I don't know what else I'll do in the next run.
I think this is 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]
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1000 // Initialise mod (all other components require this): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1910 // Protection from Normal Missiles also blocks Arrows of Fire/Cold/Acid and similar projectiles without pluses: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2010 // More consistent Breach spell (always affects liches and rakshasas; doesn't penetrate Spell Turning): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Antimagic attacks penetrate improved invisibility: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Iron Skins behaves like Stoneskin (can be brought down by Breach): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2041 // Modify the Harm spell so it does damage rather than reducing target to 1 hp -> Enemy and player Harm spells both do 150 hp of damage: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2050 // Allow individual versions of Spell Immunity to be placed into Contingencies and Spell Triggers: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2070 // Blade Barrier and Globe of Blades only affect hostile creatures: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2080 // Cap damage done by Skull Trap at 12d6: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // Make Power-Word: Blind single-target: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2100 // Make Minute Meteors into +2 weapons: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2110 // Reduce the power of Inquisitors' Dispel Magic -> Inquisitors dispel at 1.5 x their level (not twice their level): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2120 // Slightly weaken insect plague spells, and let fire shields block them: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Slightly increase the power of Mantle, Improved Mantle, and Absolute Immunity: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Make spell sequencers, spell triggers, and contingencies learnable by all mages: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2160 // Add an extra copy of some hard-to-find spell scrolls: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2170 // True Sight/True Seeing spells protect from magical blindness: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2180 // Prevent Simulacra and Projected Images from using magical items: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Replace +1 arrows with nonmagical "fine" ones: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3020 // Replace +1 magical weapons with Fine ones: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3041 // Reduce the number of Arrows of Dispelling in stores -> Stores sell a maximum of 5 Arrows of Dispelling: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Change Carsomyr so that its Dispel on contact power grants a saving throw: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Grant large, flying, non-solid or similar creatures protection from Web and Entangle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4030 // Improved shapeshifting: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4040 // Make party members less likely to die irreversibly: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4180 // Make Freedom scrolls available earlier: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4210 // Randomise the maze in Watcher's Keep: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4215 // Remove unrealistically helpful items from certain areas: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4216 // Remove unrealistically convenient ammunition from certain areas -> Only remove nonmagical ammo from random containers: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5010 // Move Boo into Minsc's pack: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5020 // Remove the blur graphic effect from the Cloak of Displacement: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5030 // Remove animation from the Cloak of Mirroring (leave it for other spells and effects that use the same graphic): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6024 // Add high-level abilities (HLAs) to spellcasters -> All eligible spellcasters in Throne of Bhaal and Shadows of Amn get HLAs (very challenging and not really recommended!): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages -> Mages cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests -> Priests cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs -> All of the potions dropped by slain enemies are recoverable: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6500 // Improved golems: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6510 // Improved fiends -> Fiends have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6520 // Smarter genies -> Genies have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6530 // Smarter celestials -> Celestials have about 50 percent more hit points than normal: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6540 // Smarter dragons -> Dragons have a substantial hit point increase: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6551 // Smarter beholders -> Don't give beholder rays any chance of burning through spell protections; beholder antimagic blocks all spells, including harmful ones, for a round (simulates D&D rules): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6560 // Smarter mind flayers -> Illithids have only original-game resistances; Illithids can see through invisibility: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6570 // Smarter githyanki: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6580 // Improved Vampires: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6590 // Smarter Throne of Bhaal final villain: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8000 // Make the starting dungeon slightly harder: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8010 // Improved Shade Lord: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8020 // Spellcasting Demiliches: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8030 // More resilient trolls: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8042 // Increase difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings -> Almost-maximum difficulty (maximum for everything except liches): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8050 // Improved Random Encounters: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8060 // Improved de'Arnise Keep ("Tactics Remix") -> Spirit trolls have the same powers as in the original game: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8070 // Improved Unseeing Eye: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8081 // Improved Bodhi (Tactics Remix) -> Original Tactics Improved Bodhi with SCSII scripting: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8090 // Party's items are taken from them in Spellhold: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8100 // Improved battle with Irenicus in Spellhold: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8110 // Improved Sahuagin: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8120 // Improved Beholder hive (adapted from Quest Pack): v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8130 // Prevent resting in the Illithid city: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8140 // Slightly Improved Drow -> Upgrade Ust Natha's defences: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8150 // Slightly Improved Watcher's Keep: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8160 // Improved Fire Giant temple: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8170 // Enhanced Sendai's Enclave: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8180 // Improved Abazigal's Lair: v30
// Recently Uninstalled: ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8190 // Improved Minor Encounters: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8100 // Improved battle with Irenicus in Spellhold: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8110 // Improved Sahuagin: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8120 // Improved Beholder hive (adapted from Quest Pack): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8130 // Prevent resting in the Illithid city: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8140 // Slightly Improved Drow -> Upgrade Ust Natha's defences: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8150 // Slightly Improved Watcher's Keep: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8160 // Improved Fire Giant temple: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8170 // Enhanced Sendai's Enclave: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8180 // Improved Abazigal's Lair: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #8190 // Improved Minor Encounters: v30
I don't know what it means when it says it uninstalled some of the components, but the lines below suggest I reinstalled them, which is what I meant to do. I'm not sure why the Watcher's Keep maze randomization is there, since I didn't install that. Sometimes I worry about my install having errors, because twice before I've played through a largely vanilla game without knowing it. I'm a little concerned about the lack of HLAs I've been seeing enemy mages use. Maybe it's because I've been invisible so often and the enemy mages are careful not to waste them.
I usually install everything. Most of my choices tend to be the harder difficulty stuff, with some limits (I'm not fond of random encounters with liches). I have automatic enemy pre-buffs on almost every run, since I prefer to pre-buff and it's more fair if the enemy does, too. Also, the enemy mages aren't nearly as hard without buffs. My parties are usually magic-heavy and can throw out multiple debuffers per round. Since there's usually only one or two enemy mages per encounter, debuffing them can be done very quickly.
The brave paladin and his party are venturing forth!
They explored the whole Sword Coast and faced multiple enemies which granted them a lot of experience in battle. They just didn't visit the demonic "Durlag's Tower", it still seems a really dangerous place.
Cloakwood forest has been explored with minimum difficulties, everybody was well prepared (carrying antidotes, cure poison spells for priests, Alora kept Finding traps all over).
It is time they face a worthy opponent. They reached a mine base deep in the Cloakwood forest.
Drasus is waiting for them...
The game has run very good so far, charname was never in actual danger. I was really confident and even got lost a bit playing enjoying the game. This is the time that I usually get overconfident and I die. Same thing almost happened now, but zaaappppp.... Hey man wake up we are facing Drasus now! One more thing that makes this even more exciting is that I am reaching the furthest point I've ever been in a no-reload run. This is actually -klaps- just before the Davaeorn fight, the silliest death ever, but that game was not modded (no SCS).
The fight is about to start!
Skull trap by Xan, he got wounded for this and retreated for a healing drink. Web by Quayle, Silence by Branwen. Everybody got silenced except Rezdan. Genthore died while webed. The Cavalier roams freely thanks to a ring of free action. A second silence by Quayle makes Rezdan to keep his mouth shut. In the meantime Drasus has just landed a hit on Kivan...
Great! Rezdan casted vocalize! Cavalier is safe! Let's do it!
He spell triggered invisibility mirror image. In the meantime Drasus (doomed now) is chasing Branwen..she already used an improved healing potion.
Kysus fella is dead. Drasus remains and he attacks Branwen who is held by web. Rezdan is also invisible.
He is in real trouble now! Fortunately Rezdan is playing chicken game, mercenary as he is...wait NO! I heard
a spell trigger! Check the dialogue window
IIRC Rezdan is an enchanter, I have to deal him immediately. But Drasus is near death, I will try an extra damage spell to kill him fast instead of kiting him. Which I did. I thought though that he would be hiding at the corner so I had Branwen summon some skeletons to keep him busy. Right now I guess the most experienced guys reading my post know I am wrong. I think the next pic speaks by itself.
This snicky guy drank another invisibility potion. I set Alora to detect illusions, no time he casts CHAOS. The cavalier is well protected though the rest got affected and...wait ha ha ha
The fight is over!! But ofc something more went wrong. Kivan killed Alora under CHAOS. But nevermind, boots of speed on the way!!!
Right now I am surprised with the smooth progression that the game had. I usually play only solo no-reload and right now all this blood spelt by my Bhaalspawns is finally paying off.
Let's see how I will do with Davaeorn..
edit: I had a problem in Gullykin (misspell) . Jenkal, the evil gnome seemed to disappear twice while in battle. First time in his home, second during the fight with the evil Ogremagi. I got really pissed cause he killed Xan back then and I didn't punish him for it. Detect illusions and Detect invisibility didn't work, but I think I have seen this before in my very first run of bg:ee, I am not sure though. Is it a known bug? Or is it maybe caused by the installed mods....!?!
After meeting Xvar and Montaron (the former was not too thrilled when Bronwynn asked him about cooking dinner), the now party of four went to the Arm, and after a close battle with a certain mage went awry (Monty still has burn marks from those magic missles), we met up with Auntie Jaheira and Khalid, whom would bicker inncessently with our Zhentarim companions. Rather than kick one of these groups to the curb, Bronwynn was far too ignorant to foresee the impending fight. Anywho, Beregost!
While Khalid and Jaheira rested at the Burning Wizard, Zhent Co, Imoen, and tiny, hungry Bronwynn decided to steal from the townsfolk, given they weren't quite so well known yet, and would not be held accountable when news reached the Mayor the following morning. It was upon returning to the Inn that plan went up in smoke, as Monty saw fit to slaughter two thugs. So much for the heroes of the sword coast. The following day, we met Silke, and after an intense fight, Imoen and Monty lay dazed, but the rest cut the mischievous mage down.
Finally, after Xzar used his newly won lightning wand on a deranged fellow Zhentarim cleric, we claimed a prize of 5000 gold, and made for Nashkel. Bronwynn started to suspect his Harper and Zhentarim friends may be at eachother's throats soon enough. But for now, Nashkel!
Progress!
Bronwynn~Fighter1/Thief2
Imoen~Thief3
Auntie Jahiera~Fighter2/Druid2
Khalid~Fighter2
Monty~Fighter1/Thief2
Xzar~Necromancer1
Aerie is the first member of our party to hit epic levels. She chooses Summon Deva as her first HLA. Jan isn't far behind. Sil's dual-classing set her back, while Edwin, Cernd, and especially Imoen are lagging behind because they joined the party so late.
I tried to pickpocket Firkraag for Carsomyr, but Jan can't get close enough to the dragon to nab the sword. In vanilla I was able to do it, but for some reason I can't do it in EE.
We get an early scare when Sil fails, twice, to hide herself from the enemy vampires.
With the Staff of the Magi and the Robe of Vecna, Aerie can rush to the rescue, but this is a tight area and SCS vampires like to summon allies, which can really clog up the hallways and prevent party members from reaching each other. It's a very unfriendly area.
How am I going to handle the vampires? Same way I dealt with Shangalar and Shyressa.
See that set of plate mail on the ground? That's a paladin. I decided to sit back and watch them for a bit. They failed to take down even a single vampire before the last paladin fell, or even get close. And the vampires are bound to regenerate everything they lost. In Nightmare mode, stat drain and level drain are vastly more powerful than in normal mode.
I decide to check in on Drizzt and company. Hopefully they're in okay shape.
They're not.
The place is just swarming with vampires. Even after I cleanse the pools to slow down the vampires, Drizzt and his friends collapse within a few rounds.
I check back on Sil to make sure she's still well hidden. She is, but if she ever turns visible, she's in an awful place to be.
You can see a faint white circle among the horde of red ones. She's boxed in by rats, all of whom have a nasty disease effect on hit. Thankfully, her stealth skills are both above 200. She'll be fine.
Aerie takes the Mace of Disruption from Sil and uses Protection from Undead so she can try out the Mace of Disruption on the enemies. Sil had trouble with the mace, but Aerie has a pip in maces, and her THAC0 with the mace is actually better than Sil's.
But even Aerie has trouble landing a hit. She calls in a friend to do the work for her.
That Deva cleans up the whole place and opens the way to Bodhi's lair. The XP brings Jan to epic levels.
He chooses Use Any Item as his first HLA. Now we just need to deal with Bodhi. In my install, she has all of the special abilities of the Tactics mod, and since Nightmare mode automatically sets the difficulty to Insane, she'll use all of those abilities at the maximum frequency.
I scour Athkatla for more scrolls of Protection from Undead, but we're down to four. I could use the Wand of Lightning trick to use a single scroll against every party member, but I don't want to do that. After setting up new sequencers and contingencies, I head back to Bodhi's lair.
I need lots of buffs to handle everything Bodhi's going to throw at me. All party members have Protection from Fire, Protection from Cold (because the SCS Tactics-style Bodhi has a blue Fire Shield active), Protection from Evil, and Remove Fear. The mages would have had Protection from Magical Energy, if I'd remembered to cast it (it was supposed to protect them from Bodhi's special Tactics-style Horrid Wilting ability). Sil, Cernd, Aerie, and Edwin have Chaotic Commands, since they're our most valuable characters. Sil and Edwin have Death Ward, since Sil is our Charname and Edwin has poor saves vs. death. Jan has Spell Shield, just because he can cast it. All mages have Spell Immunity: Abjuration to hold up their buffs. Edwin, Aerie, and Jan have Protection from Undead, because they're our main attackers. Imoen doesn't have it, even though I might need her, because I want the last one on Sil, just in case things go really badly. Imoen and Sil are invisible and hopefully will stay that way.
Finally, Cernd has Negative Plane Protection. His job is trigger Bodhi's dialog, begin the battle, purify the blood pools, and absorb the enemy's attacks while Edwin, Aerie, and Jan prepare the Death Ray Zorcher. Aerie's Deva is helping him out. There's also a Nymph on standby, as a minor barrier to an enemy approach.
Notice he's covered in the Insect Plague animation. Bodhi and some other SCS vampires get a Cloud of Bats ability that works similar to Insect Plague, and it's almost impossible to avoid. By going far ahead, Cernd can take the hit without the swarm spreading to other party members.
Edwin, Aerie, and Jan get into position and begin casting Spell Turning. Cernd is about to die, but the Deva will stick around for a while. I sent out Imoen for some reason I don't remember. As the Death Ray Zorcher begins, Imoen takes a dive.
It's a minor loss. The laser is what we need, and it's finally ready. I send out Aerie and Jan to fry Bodhi.
She doesn't take a single point of damage. I check the dialog box.
She's immune. Why?
If the Death Ray Zorcher doesn't work, we're in trouble. Sil uses our last Protection from Undead scroll and runs out to attack Bodhi. Bodhi's minion mages, Mandy and Hazzerbazzer, have already cast what I hope were their last Remove Magic spells, and Sil retains her immunity to cold, so she should be able to attack Bodhi without resistance.
Bodhi isn't fooled.
I pull Sil back. There's no way she can handle a fight with Bodhi. She doesn't even have immunity to level drain, much less the HP or AC she needs to hold off Bodhi's physical damage output. I consider my options. Discussion in spoilers.
We bought some Potions of Insight, which would let Edwin use Shapechange and Time Stop via Limited Wish, but he only has one casting of Limited Wish memorized. We'd have to rest and return to do that, and we've only got one scroll of Protection from Undead left.
I could have Jan combine Mislead with the Time Stop option, and backstab Bodhi with Belm and Kundane. I don't know if Bodhi would resist it, so I have Jan take a swing at Bodhi with Namarra. She's immune to +2 weapons. This also means Mind Flayer form wouldn't work on her. But I could still use Celestial Fury with Belm or Kundane. I go to Excel and do the math. I could expect Jan to do 510 damage during Time Stop, under the effects of Mislead, with Improved Haste from Aerie, dual-wielding Celestial Fury and Kundane.
But Bodhi has 629 HP in Nightmare mode. And she has 25% physical damage resistance. And a bit of regeneration. And she heals herself after getting to Near Death.
I check Bodhi's file and find that she's immune to level 2 spells. That's why the Death Ray Zorcher had no effect. As powerful as it is, sometimes it has no effect at all.
I think a moment. The reality sets in. We do not have the resources necessary to defeat Bodhi reliably.
To get those resources, we'd have to clear out Watcher's Keep or find a comparable source of XP elsewhere. Our party is actually very poorly designed to handle Nightmare mode. It's very defensive and evasion-oriented, and has rather poor damage output. Bodhi is immune to Agannazar's Scorcher, which means our best source of damage would Devas, Planetars, or backstabs from Sil.
Our Deva isn't strong enough. And Edwin is a ways away from getting a Planetar. And Sil needs at least to have the Amulet of Power--and therefore UAI, and therefore a lot more XP--to backstab Bodhi without being level-drained to death in the process.
I quit the game. I'm not willing to slog through the fight with the Statues at Watcher's Keep, much less any further in the dungeon, just to be able to beat Bodhi.
I decide to give up on this run. I feel I've used the scorcher loop and the blind backstabbing trick to their full potential, but both of them have been getting weaker as time has gone on. I knew from early on in this run that the party would start to run out of steam in the late game, as our abilities failed to keep pace with the enemy. It's a ludicrously powerful party, of course, but it's not well designed for Nightmare mode. I'm sure it's possible to do a no-reload SCS Nightmare run with the normal Bioware and Beamdog NPCs, but multiplayer is probably a lot more viable.
Then, midway through this post, I realize I still have one more option worth trying.
Bodhi might be immune to the Mind Flayer attack, but there's more to Shapechange than INT drain. It also offers Iron Golem form, which uses a +4 weapon that could easily hit Bodhi. That attack does 4d10 damage, with an extra 12 damage from the Iron Golem's base 24 STR, and a thief like Jan can backstab with it.
If Jan casts Mislead and uses Iron Golem form during Time Stop, using a couple of Limited Wish spells to make it happen, and has Aerie cast Improved Haste on him beforehand, he can deal 1,464 damage to Bodhi, or 1,098 thanks to her resistances. That's more than enough to bring her down.
I load up the game again. I check our spells.
But Jan doesn't have Limited Wish. I gave those spell scrolls to Imoen and Edwin, because they were single-classes, and to Aerie, because of her high WIS, but not to Jan. Nor could we have Edwin cast it and Jan speak to the djinni. EE fixed that trick: the djinni no longer has a circle, so you can't click on it with another character.
I could scavenge for XP to defeat Bodhi, I could fight her as is and suffer multiple reloads and/or multiple retreats and rests as I try to fight her in my current state, or I could quit the game. I choose the latter. It's a sad way to end the run, but the future of the run looks slow and uninteresting.
MVP: Aerie.
Most Valuable Spell: Summon Deva.
Contrary to my earlier impressions, summons do scale well with levels in Nightmare mode. There are some places where a summoned critter's power may vary drastically, due to their weapon immunities or those of the enemy's, but in most cases, your summons will make a substantive difference both offensively and defensively. My impression earlier on was the opposite, as I saw Skeleton Warriors, Invisible Stalkers, and our Animal Summoning and Monster Summoning spells fail to harm enemies immune to nonmagical weapons (an SCS component turns +1 weapons, like a Skeleton Warrior's, into a nonmagical variant). This led me to underuse summoning spells as time went on.
Sil's blindness was a marvelous resource. Although it cost her the use of ranged weapons, it kept her much safer than the rest of the group. She was the only character without spells, but was better equipped than any of them to stay out of trouble. However, she lacked the ability to help out the others in any meaningful way when stuff went wrong. Her friends saved her life on multiple occasions. She never saved theirs.
And the scorcher loop is overpowered. Yup.
Items and spells of note:
Invisibility 10' Radius kept our party alive on many occasions throughout the run. SCS enemies only memorize so many divination spells, and once those are wasted, invisibility and patience proved to be our most powerful debuffers.
The Wand of Paralyzation saw little use, but when I did use it, it let us bring down enemies we would otherwise have been unable to handle. Koshi would have been nearly impossible without the wand. The Balor, if anything, would have been worse.
Call Woodland Beings provided a near-endless supply of disablers and let us break down the enemy even while the party was invisible. Nymphs made it possible for us to land hits on a lot of well-armored enemies in the early game.
Conjure Fire Elemental was our trump card against various early game enemies. Its immunity to normal weapons rendered it invincible to many early and mid-game enemies. As time went on, it was reduced to a minor summons.
The Staff of the Magi, which I've rarely used or fought for in the past, was ridiculous. Perpetual invisibility didn't make us invincible--as some enemies had a knack for slipping a Minute Meteor in for the fraction of a second between us casting a spell and turning invisible once again--but it kept off more spells and weapons than any other item we used, and probably blocked about as much damage as Stoneskin did.
Silence 15' Radius broke the difficulty of a lot of early game encounters for us. Even higher-level mages succumbed to its effects after their MGOI spells wore off or were broken down, and because we had so many castings of the spell, we could overcome Vocalize.
Hold Monster and Hold Person compensated for one of our greatest weaknesses: poor THAC0. These spells gave us automatic hits, and sometimes were the only reason we could bring down an enemy with low AC.
In a run that relied so heavily on disablers, Greater Malison was a massive boost to our abilities.
Review of the party members:
Sil, the blind thief:
I also underestimated Sil's performance in the late game. Although her backstab stopped growing, she was still a valuable source of damage throughout the run, and as she gained thief levels, she was able to use traps in the thick of combat, a trick I have yet to fully explore. She might not have been an optimized build for Nightmare mode, but she was fairly close, and would have been outrageously overpowered in normal mode.
It was a mistake, however, to concentrate so strongly in katanas. Although it did give her lots of extra damage power, she struggled in situations where Celestial Fury's power was blunted--especially against undead. The Kensai kit helped her land backstabs, but she would have gained a lot of versatility had she been able to use shields, helms, and armor. A Berserker/Thief would have been more optimal, since its poor ranged options are mostly meaningless to a blind character.
Jaheira, our only true fighter:
I don't know if it was a mistake to have left Jaheira behind. I was concerned about reaching level 15, but Fighter/Druids at 3 million XP can stack Earth Elemental form with Hardiness and become nearly invincible, which a normal druid cannot match. Jaheira would have provided some much-needed offensive power, but in my desire to gain access to HLAs, I overlooked her strengths.
Cernd, our only true tank:
Cernd quickly took on Jaheira's role as summoner and tank. With his superior AC and MR, he was definitely much harder to kill than Jaheira, but he had great difficulty hitting important targets unless they were disabled. Had the game continued, he would have been a stupendous summoner at level 15, capable of sending forth some of the toughest critters in the game without pause--because, due to an error in my SCS install I might not correct, mage and priest HLAs are still level 9 and 7 spells, not innate abilities, which means Cernd could have cast Elemental Summoning six times per day.
Aerie, our protector behind the scenes:
Aerie did not surprise me. As always, she was an ideal support character with a response to every situation. Cleric/Mages are the most versatile characters in my experience, having access to cleric buffs to stop disablers, and mage buffs to stop attacks. She rescued us from many potentially fatal effects, and prevented many more.
Jan, the two-legged non-spider gnome:
Jan was less effective than I had expected. His absolute dominance in the Party of Spiders run created some very high expectations, but in EE, shapeshifting is incompatible with weapon using--a trick I suppose I wasn't really planning to use anyway. It is no longer possible to dispel shapeshifting weapons with Shocking Grasp and maintain high APR with one's preferred weapon. Jan therefore was stuck with 1 APR instead of 4, and could no longer stun-lock hordes of enemies at once. He still proved a capable thief and mage, however, and his Detect Illusions ability came in useful on many occasions, as did his early access to Invisibility 10' Radius.
Hexxat, the cold and distant vampire:
Hexxat was redundant with Jan, and though she could backstab with some regularity, I did not often find it as useful as it would have been in normal mode. Thanks to SCS' AI, Hexxat was the standard weak link and was attacked relentlessly. She was usually the first to have to flee in any given encounter. Hexxat would have stayed in the party for the duration, but Jan's objection to her forced me to decide between them, and Jan won out. Hexxat was an interesting character, but struck me as rather cold. It was appropriate for her character, but it was not what I was looking for.
Edwin, the mage with the bottomless spellbook:
Edwin has always been unreasonably overpowered, thanks to his amulet that grants him 2 extra spells per spell level. It vastly improved his versatility, but often his extra spells didn't come into play. Had his amulet only granted 1 extra spell slot per spell level, it would have made almost no difference. He's not necessarily the strongest of the mages, however, as Imoen and Nalia can use a much wider variety of items thanks to their thief levels. Sometimes being able to shoot an Acid Arrow makes a bigger difference than an extra Sunfire spell.
Imoen, the captive:
As always, Imoen has been the backup mage for me. I only fetch her late in the adventure, and she's always underleveled when we get her. She had little time to show what she could do.
It's sad that the SCS-Tactics-Nightmare Bodhi won against your party. But think about it - you've possible tried the hardest option available.
I honour your bravery and wisdom, semiticgod.
@Mirage Congrats on beating the Drasus party. I guess the fact that you have the Greenstone Amulets helps a lot in your run, doesn't it? In my own RP attempt I see no way for my party to go to the Ulgoth's Beard before reaching the Baldur's Gate city at least.
@Jared4242 I like thieves and fighter/thieves. Keep the good work!
@CharlestonianTemplar It's been officially stated that Siege of Dragonspear would require Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition. It's an expansion that uses the improved engine and won't be compatible with vanilla games. Moreover, there will be special patches for BGEE and BG2EE in the light of SoD. You can read about all the known facts here: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/40963/baldurs-gate-siege-of-dragonspear-previously-known-as-the-adventure-y-project#latest
I have edited my own house rules in the original post to include:
"Do unto the AI as you would have the AI do unto you."
Following the discussion here
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/44257/7-3x4-8-3x6-9-3x8
.... and based on @subtledoctor 's comments
I am gonna edit my Dragon Disciple's spell book this once to remove Spell Sequencer. (It may still be a useful later choice to be used once per day, but not an obvious game breaker to be used every round.)
I'm instead gonna pick Limited Wish. A more subdued defensive option & utility.
After clearing the bandit camp, Charname decides to head up the coast to make sure there aren't any outlying groups still waylaying travelers. It makes tactical sense, too. He doesn't want to leave any potential enemy forces in his rear as he advances on the enemy stronghold. I used limited wish outside of combat in IWD, but I never used it in combat. I'll be interested to see how that works.
Nashkel! The hardest thing about this adventure, from an ooc perspective, will be the absence of grinding. With four members of the party hell bent on exploring the mines, we have little choice but to make minimal stops on our way, mostly at the insistence of our prospective chef and lover of food; "Auntie Jahiera, I swear I heard the Fair has great stuff! Toasted grubs for you and sweets for us!"
After getting club'd in the head by Jahiera, Bronwynn stops to rest, where he has a horrible dream. Something about roads and options, he was too hungry upon waking up to contemplate it much. We searched the Fair's tents for a food merchant, but found a hostile mage instead. Most of the party got knocked out, but Monty and Bronwynn took care of the mage, wailing on the exhausted spell user for a solid five minutes until we got through his mage armour.
After that craziness, Xzar promptly threw on the dead mages robes, bloodstains and all. The rest of the party could only watch as he giggled madly and ran about, the too-big robes flapping about him like a crazed bird. Monty just shook his head and gathered up the loose coins. Our heroes everyone! Anyway, we made for the mines, but heard the cooing of some fellow in the distance, and upon inspection, we discovered the a thieving artist with an obsession with Ellesime. Greywolf the bounty hunter promptly showed up, and thanks to the last charge of Xzar's wand, he fell. Gorion's dagger broke earlier, so the wicked Varscona replaced Bronwynn's weapon. At least he had his throwing knives to cut prepare meals, and the cool longsword to keep meat's refrigerated.
And then, after resting and stocking up on potions and plate mail, we made for the Mines. As the darkness surrounded the party, Auntie Jahiera and Khalid took the lead, Monty and Xzar watching cunningly from the back, and surrounded by these confident adventurers, were two very scared, very out of place thieves.
Progress!
Bronwynn~Fighter2/Thief2
Imoen~Thief3
Auntie Jahiera~Fighter2/Druid2
Khalid~Fighter2
Monty~Fighter2/Thief2
Xzar~Necromancer2
Note: If both Khalid and Jahiera, or both Xzar and Monty, fall, as a pair, then I will resurrect them for lore purposes, but insist they are too injured to go on with the adventure; deaths still mean something in these runs. I would like to take these six to the end, but the Mines may not be so forgiving. In addition, if we cannot get them to a Temple quickly, or expend a healing spell to "keep them "mostly dead", the same rule applies. Realism!
In the back of my mind I want to clear the rest of the areas like I did and proceed to Baldur's Gate. I could roleplay it and visit Ulgoth's Beard if I had a bard in the party or if I was told by someone. But neither of the 2 is true. I don't know lorewise how far Ulgoth's Beard is, but I guess it may be quite far and the map is just misleading. I don't think my party had any reason at all to visit Ulgoth's Beard, especially when they were about to explore the Cloakwood forest. Now it is obvious to me that it was just pure meta-gaming.
Moreover I realized that I like SCS at its touphest for BG1, except the mages & priest precasting - spells. The reason is I don't cheese and I like to enter a fight with minimum magical defenses.
This kind of challenge adds to difficulty, enhances role-play and raises the adrenaline during the fight ofc!
I think this is a good rule for my next playthrough!
I'd love to get a hold of all of them myself. With the arguable exception of Edwin's, I find them all to be vastly superior. Let me know when you get the opportunity
Ulgoth's Beard came to the vanilla game with the expansion, so (to me) it should not be reachable from the start.
In original BG1 Ulgoth's Beard was accessible only from the northern edge of Wyrm's crossing on the Baldur's Gate side of the bridge, so that in oder to go there you had to complete everything related to the Cloakwood forest first. In BGEE it's accessible from either side of the bridge.
Even if I didn't know this, I would still think that the fact you can reach Ulgoth's Beard only if you enter the location in front of Baldur's Gate would mean that adventuring parties going to this village should be ready for challenges the city provides, thus they should be of those levels defeating Davaeorn provides.
One more thing. One of the quests in Ulgoth's Beard is closely connected to the events in the city - I mean Shandalar and his daughters.
This is from the game point of view. And this is what is written in the wiki:
According to the wiki, Ulgoth's Beard was a hamlet on the north bank of the river Chionthar, within sight of the Sea of Swords. It was home mostly to poor shepherds and fishermen. The purpose of the settlement was to warn Baldur's Gate of pending attacks or pirate raids. To travel to Ulgoth's Beard, one was required to navigate rolling grassy hills or arrive by boat as there was no road.
So, from the wiki, reaching the city should be the first step on the road to Ulgoth's Beard.
We've had a good discussion on this matter here: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/15827/does-anyone-restrict-themselves-from-visiting-ulgoths-beard-too-early/
Let's begin
Protected from magic the cavalier will chase davaeorn around when he teleports, the trap triggered. After this bless spell I am gonna probably cast sweet air hmm...
The fight seems very easy until now. The party is handling the entrance perfectly. The cavalier is hitting Davaeorn constantly, making him using his mirror images and stoneskins. Battle horrors seem a joke against the lvl6 Cavalier even when I am using a 2h sword. I thought it would be more difficult...let's see
It is time he pays for his crimes...and he does
I must say that I am impressed. If you can handle the reinforcements and you have a fighter protected from magic chasing Davaeorn the fight is ridiculous. The evil conjurer had no options at all rather than hit me with a 20 roll with his stick. I expected much more of a challenge. I am not even happy for making it eventually to Baldur's Gate in a no-reload run.
Protection from Magic scroll is way too overpowered if you ask me...I must consider a rule for this...
Though I do use entire stack of potions for fights like Daveorn. (Besides her mercilessly dispels most of them.)
Big update this. As we pressed through the mines, Monty proved vital as a scout and backstabber; by positioning himself by kobold archers, and stabbing as the rest of the party charged in, we made quick words of the SCS beefed Mines. That said, the larger groups required us to use some potions of explosive. At this point Bronwynn and Imoen let the more experienced four do the dirty work, the two shooting arrows and throwing daggers in desperation. Pressing into Mulahey's chambers, we made suprisingly quick work of the improved fight, so quick I only managed to nab a screenshot of the last skeleton falling.
Dragging ourselves from the mines, and a few looted graves later (Monty and Xzar giggling all the while as they clutched a mithral ring, and Bronwynn clutching a lovely dagger Monty had gifted him), we returned as heroes to Nashkel. Bronwynn didn't care much for being a hero however; all he wanted was a nap in the Nashkel Inn and a hearty meal. So of course, an assassin had to stop us in the streets. Clutching that newly won dagger, our hero but waited as the rest of his party fought Nimbel. Finally, hunger overtaking him, he charged right at Nimbul as Khalid struck down his defenses, driving the dagger deep into his enemies chest.
A large meal, a longer nap, and some counseling words from Auntie Jahiera and Khalid that the assassin had it coming, they poured over the letters they had retried so far. With all haste the party made for Beregost, nothing but stopping the bandits on their mind. Though this didn't stop the four to argue incessantly as they walked; I feel a fight coming. After a quick interrogating with Tranzig, the party had a choice; make right for the bandit keep, or try to learn more of them before confronting the veritable army. Two things swayed them; the magical weapons and goods they may find to the East and South of Beregost, and possibly heading off any reinforcements from Amn, should any take the mountain path. They party stocked up at the Thunderhammar Smithy (where an Ankheg suit of armour would wait for them on their return), and made east, where they were promptly chewed on by wolves.
Well, where Jahiera was gnawed on by wolves. She almost died, but a lengthy fight later, with Xzar's wand collection saving the day, we were able to go on, 4000 experience richer with the two vampire wolves. So far, Xzar's mad use of wands, Khalid's tanking, Jahiera's healing, and Monty's scouting has saved us more times than I can count. Meanwhile, Imoen and Bronwynn concerned themselves with picking what goodies they could, and hunting for a proper meal.
Finally, we began South and East, on the hunt for bandits and goodies. Bronwynn was nervous, but for the first time in their adventure, excited; he didn't think himself a hero, but by the day, his fighting skill and daring grew, for better or worse.
Progress!
Bronwynn~Fighter3/Thief3
Imoen~Thief4
Auntie Jahiera~Fighter3/Druid3
Khalid~Fighter4
Monty~Fighter2/Thief3
Xzar~Necromancer3
[Selyna the Dragon Disciple, accompanied by Keldorn, Jaheira, Jan, Aeria, Minsc]
Lvl 7 choice of Limited Wish proves useful as Negative Plane Protection provided by the Djinni is handy against level drain.
I am confident as Keldorn, Jaheira, and Minsc begin spanking the Fledgling Vampires left and right. I run into a certain "Tanova" and charge her straight on.
Then the whole hell breaks loose...
1. She casts a spell trigger with Mislead/Spell Imm:Div/Spell Shield. (SCS is earning its fee here.)
2. My NPP has run out; I will renew it, but that is almost 10 seconds of unprotected exposure. We begin to retreat. Selyna begins working on Tanova's multiple spell defenses.
3. Tanova casts Horrid Wilting upon the retreating party.
4. Everybody is hurt badly. Aerie is instantly dead! Minsc yells out a battlecry and goes berserk. (Wait, that's good; now he is immune to level drain.)
5. Tanova casts Chaos Sphere!
Uh oh! I pull everyone out of there. No way of reliably protecting to all possible nasty effects.
Minsc doesn't even hear me (berserk, remember?).
6. Tanova casts PfMW. Minsc continues wailing at her to no effect. Refuses to walk out of the Chaos Sphere - or change weapons. Party begins to use potions to recover; Jaheira summons a Fire Elemental as fodder.
7. MINSC IS.... GONE!!
My theory is that he got hit by a disintegrate beam from Chaos Sphere. Just gone. Nothing to resurrect.
[[see picture]]
8. Tanova is confronted by summon fodder as she retreats into a spike room. Jan finds no traps in there, but it constantly harms Keldorn and Jaheira as they try to kill Tanova. Selyna renews Stoneskins and casts a few offensive spells and renews Limited Wish based NPP twice more. Jaheira lands the killing blow to Tanova, almost dead herself.
I risk resting to raise Aerie and heal.
Minsc is lost forever. His belongings lying on the floor (I wonder if I would have lost them, if I had Gore "on").
Dejected and heartbroken, the party heads back to surface.
The irreplaceable Minsc will have to be replaced, if I am to assail the Vampire Lair anew and rescue Imoen.
Sphere of Chaos has a Disintegrate effect in it, but I just tested it and that doesn't permanently kill characters, even if I remove the "Disable Permanent Death" opcode, which SCS uses to prevent chunking, via EEKeeper. Maybe Minsc got polymorphed, which reduces your current and max HP, and then took enough damage to get chunked. I think excessive level drain can cause chunking as well.
Do you have a pre-death save on hand? If you view Minsc in EEKeeper and he doesn't have "Disable Permanent Death" under the "Effects" tab, then that would be your problem. If you installed the SCS component that blocks permanent deaths, then Minsc should have had that effect active... in which case a reload would be in order.
I did in fact have the SCS option to prevent permadeath (though it does warn that it is not foolproof).
I'm afraid I already overwrote the save.
(I usually only use one major save slot and a secondary backup for script-heavy places that run the risk of breaking something.)
I thought that disintegrate was a perma-killer. I'm surprised that it isn't.
I think this party has good chances of making to the Underdark, but it is a bit frightening if I start to loose vital party members permanently.
--
NOTE:
I'm really liking Jan and am not quite willing to part with him past Spellhold. But since I hate redundancies, I may "headcannon" Imoen to ... err... something other than a T/M. (Currently considering a F/M multi... unless it would be munchkining.)
The Alliance
A no-reload 4-character modded IWD run
The Game
IWD-EE 1.4Modded with:
More Style for Mages
Rogue Rebalancing
Houserules for IWD
BG2 Tweaks
ATweaks
Minor NPC Portraits
Awesome Soundsets 1-4
(I installed IWD-NPC, but I'm not using any of the characters for this run.)
I didn't install everything from the tweak packs, only the ones I found appealing. Notably, I didn't install any of the extra kits. I also didn't install anything that I thought sounded too "cheaty".
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]
~SETUP-WEIDU.TP2~ #0 #0 // 23800
~SETUP-BWS.TP2~ #0 #0 // 20150812 - Updated by Silent
~IWDNPC/SETUP-IWDNPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // Icewind Dale NPCs: v5
~MSFM.TP2~ #0 #14 // Add Staff of Wizardry: v1.42
~MSFM.TP2~ #0 #15 // Add custom inventory animation to the Staff of Wizardry: v1.42
~MSFM.TP2~ #0 #16 // Add circlets: v1.42
~MSFM.TP2~ #0 #18 // Add robe tweaks -> Add robes with no colorsets: v1.42
~MSFM.TP2~ #0 #19 // Add Robes of Archimagi with colorsets from Mr. Pennyway's Cosmetic Changes mod: v1.42
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #1 // Thief kit revisions: v4.90b1
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #3 // Proper racial adjustments for thieving skills: v4.90b1
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #4 // Bard kit revisions: v4.90b1
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #6 // Proper spell progression for Bards: v4.90b1
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #7 // Additional equipment for Thieves and Bards: v4.90b1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #20 // Reveal City Maps -> Reveal Kuldahar, Easthaven & Lonleywood: 1.1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #30 // Pomab & Conlan sell Convenient Ammunition: 1.1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #32 // Emmerich sells +1 Convenient Ammunition: 1.1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #61 // Conlan sells Magic Clubs: 1.1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #35 // Orrick Sells All His Items: 1.1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #36 // No Save for Fire Arrows: 1.1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #70 // Jiedra and Doluv Bonus Merchants: 1.1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #170 // Class HLAs: 1.1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #200 // Kit Tomes for IWDEE: 1.1
~S9HOUSERULES/SETUP-S9HOUSERULES.TP2~ #0 #201 // Panver's Merchandise -> Panver Sells 01 Tome per Kit: 1.1
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #60 // Weapon Animation Tweaks: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #110 // Icon Improvements: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #120 // Change Avatar When Wearing Robes or Armor (Galactygon): v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #130 // Force All Dialogue to Pause Game: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1010 // More Interjections: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1120 // Stores Sell Higher Stacks of Items: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Two-Handed Bastard Swords: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Two-Handed Katanas: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2035 // Two-Handed Axes: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2040 // Universal Clubs: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // Change Experience Point Cap -> Remove Experience Cap: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2100 // Allow Thieving and Stealth in Heavy Armor: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2120 // Allow Arcane Spellcasting in Heavy Armor: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Wear Multiple Protection Items -> P&P Restrictions: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2161 // Alter Weapon Proficiency System -> BG-Style Weapon Proficiencies, With Weapon Styles (the bigg): v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2192 // Limit Ability of Storekeepers to Identify Items -> Hybrid of Both Methods: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2200 // Multi-Class Grandmastery (Weimer): v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2210 // True Grandmastery (Baldurdash): v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2240 // Un-Nerfed THAC0 Table: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2250 // Un-Nerfed Sorcerer Spell Progression Table: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2260 // Alter Mage Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2281 // Alter Cleric Spell Progression Table -> PnP Table: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2291 // Alter Druid Spell and Level Progression Tables -> No Level Progression Changes, PnP Druid/Cleric Spell Table Only: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2320 // Trap Cap Removal (Ardanis/GeN1e): v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2330 // Remove Delay for Magical Traps (Ardanis/GeN1e): v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2339 // Remove Summoning Cap for Regular Summons: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Higher HP on Level Up -> Maximum: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3125 // Neutral Characters Make Happy Comments at Mid-Range Reputation: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3200 // Sellable Items (Icelus): v16
~A7#IMPROVEDARCHER/SETUP-A7#IMPROVEDARCHER.TP2~ #0 #100 // Add +4 arrows, bolts and two powerful bows to the game: v2.1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #102 // Change Spiritual Hammer into a ranged force weapon: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #104 // PnP Color Spray: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #105 // PnP Dimension Door: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #117 // Allow Mages to scribe memorized spells onto scrolls -> Scrolls can only be scribed at inns and strongholds: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #125 // Rangers' Animal Empathy improves with experience: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #130 // Additional racial traits for Dwarves: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #140 // Additional racial traits for Gnomes: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #185 // PnP Fey creatures: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #186 // Revised Call Woodland Beings spell: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #201 // Instant casting for warrior innates: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #204 // Prevent Mislead clones from singing Bard songs: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #205 // Prevent Project Image and Simulacrum clones from using quickslot items: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #211 // Make Death Ward protect against Vorpal Hits: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #210 // Restore the Dispel Magic vulnerability to Nishruu and Hakeashars: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #212 // Make alignment detection spells more accurate: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #213 // Expanded saving throw bonus tables for Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #261 // Altered XP rewards from locks, traps and scrolls -> Improved (lowered) XP rewards from locks, traps and scrolls: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #220 // Simple Thief script: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #239 // Simple Cleric/Paladin script: v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #500 // Slightly expanded storage capacity for containers -> Use the recommended storage capacity value (999): v4.50b1
~ATWEAKS/SETUP-ATWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #510 // Expanded temple services: v4.50b1
~MINORNPCPORTRAITSFORIWDEE/SETUP-MINORNPCPORTRAITSFORIWDEE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Minor NPC Portraits for IWDEE: 1.04
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #110 // Ajantis Ilvarstarr: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #120 // Alora: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #140 // Coran: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #170 // Eldoth Kron: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #180 // Faldorn: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #190 // Garrick: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #230 // Khalid: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #270 // Quayle: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #280 // Safana: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #290 // Shar-Teel Dosan: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #300 // Skie Silvershield: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #310 // Tiax: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #330 // Xan: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #340 // Xzar: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL1/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL1.TP2~ #0 #350 // Yeslick Orothair: 1.1
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #100 // FThief1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #110 // FThief2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #120 // F_Barb: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #130 // F_Bard: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #140 // F_Drow: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #150 // F_Fgt01: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #160 // F_Fgt02: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #170 // F_Fgt03: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #180 // F_Fgt04: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #190 // F_Fgt05: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #200 // F_HOrc1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #210 // F_HoW1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #220 // F_HoW2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #230 // F_HoW3: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #240 // F_Mage1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #250 // F_Mage2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #260 // F_Mage3: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #270 // F_Mage4: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #280 // F_Mage5: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #290 // F_Monk1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #300 // F_Sorc1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #310 // MThief1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #320 // MThief2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #330 // M_Barb: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #340 // M_Bard: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #350 // M_Drow: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #360 // M_Fgt01: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #370 // M_Fgt02: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #380 // M_Fgt03: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #390 // M_Fgt04: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #400 // M_Fgt05: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #410 // M_HOrc1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #420 // M_HoW1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #430 // M_HoW2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #440 // M_HoW3: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #450 // M_Mage1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #460 // M_Mage2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #470 // M_Mage3: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #480 // M_Mage4: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #490 // M_Mage5: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #500 // M_Monk1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #510 // M_Sorc1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL3/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL3.TP2~ #0 #100 // Annah-of-the-Shadows: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL3/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL3.TP2~ #0 #110 // Dak'kon: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL3/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL3.TP2~ #0 #120 // Fall-From-Grace: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL3/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL3.TP2~ #0 #130 // Ignus: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL3/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL3.TP2~ #0 #140 // Morte: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL3/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL3.TP2~ #0 #160 // The Nameless One: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL3/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL3.TP2~ #0 #170 // Vhailor: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #100 // Cutthroat Bill: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #110 // Elaine's Cook: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #120 // Edward Van Helgen: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #130 // Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #140 // LeChuckie: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #145 // GP LeChuck: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #150 // Mort the Gravedigger: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #160 // Murray: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #170 // Pirate #1: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #180 // Captain Rottingham: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL4/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL4.TP2~ #0 #190 // Wally B. Feed: 1.00
The Concept
Time to give this no-reload thing a try. I've never done one of these in any game, and I've been kicking around this party concept for a while, so I decided to go for it.My idea is to build a standard 4-character D&D party: Warrior, arcane, divine and rogue, but to use kits I haven't played before. This will be an RP run, so no stealing from NPCs and no pre-buffing without justification.
Ability rolls were made with a straight best of 10 rerolls. I allowed myself one swap of ability scores. The full roll had to swapped, not individual points. I think this provides a good balance between non-minmaxing and the pain of abysmal primary stats.
The Party
Seers throughout the North agree there's trouble coming. They're not sure exactly where it is or what it's going to be, but they know it has the potential to be very bad. Many organizations send out adventurers and investigators to try to find the cause of the premonitions. In a tavern in the small town of Easthaven, a Paladin of Helm and an Avenger of Sylvanus meet and agree to combine forces.Gudrun
Gudrun's family has a long history of service to the Church. When she was a squire, her father died in a raid on a vampire's lair. She has since dedicated her life to ridding Faerun of the scourge of the undead. Despite this, she is generally cheerful, with a positive outlook on life. She has accepted that her father's death was caused in part by his own recklessness and is determined not to repeat his mistakes. Where her father was the consummate warrior, Gudrun strives to be a soldier, seeking victory as much through tactical acumen as by physical prowess.
Favored weapon: Two-handed sword
Backup weapon: Quarterstaff
Missile weapon: Longbow
Sound set: Fall-From-Grace
Total: 85
Swap: Int & Str
Celebrian
Celebrian is an elf of the deep woods who saw her childhood home despoiled when it was overrun by orcs and goblins. She would like nothing better than to be the weapon of the injured woodlands, but her physical fragility has made her cautious. She recognizes that she needs allies in her struggle and that she needs to develop her magical abilities so she can protect her precious forests without dying needlessly.
Favored weapon: Sling
Backup weapon: Dagger
Sound set: Faldorn
Total: 86
Swap: Wis & Cha
I was really tempted to swap Int & Con, but I wanted that 18 in the primary stat, and I couldn't see a person with a 9 Int being sent on this mission.
Dunathain
Dunathain is Gudrun's uncle. In many ways, he took the death of his younger brother much harder than Gudrun did. When she was chosen for this mission, he insisted on coming along to keep an eye on her. His magical powers manifested when he was a teenager, but he never felt the call to adventure. He stayed behind to manage the estates while his brother ran off to be a hero. Now that his sons are old enough to oversee the lands, he finds himself in this howling wilderness under his niece's command.
Favored weapon: Sling
Backup weapon: Quarterstaff
Favored spell: Sleep
Sound set: Male Mage 4
Total: 82
Swap: Dex & Int
Darien
Darien is the classic rogue. He never stays in one place for long, he's always seeking new excitement. He's been a trader, a diplomat and a actor, among many other things. He was asked to come on this mission as Celebrian's bodyguard and liaison. Celebrian has never traveled outside of the elven woods, while Darien lived much of his life among humans and even "humanized" his name.
Favored weapon: Longsword
Missile weapon: Shortbow
Sound set: Coran
Total: 83
Swap: none
I forgot about the racial adjustments, I should have swapped Dex and Con to give Dex 17, Con 13, que-sera.
I'm thinking of having him dual-wield eventually, sword and short-sword.
Just arrived in town.
Next up: "Orc hunting and ogre kiting", or "Never test your bright ideas in combat."
I started a Wizard Slayer-Thief run. She rolled two critical misses in a row trying to prevent a cleric from casting Hold Person, and then failed the save. I've mentioned before, but somehow forgot, that even attack rolls from fighters aren't reliable in no-reload runs.
I also started a Swashbuckler. Not Nightmare mode. Nightmare mode is kind of tedious; it would be more fun if you started at a higher level, or maybe did it with a better party than mine.
Margot is back!
I took a solo swashbuckler into ToB once, but that wasn't no-reload. I also considered a Bounty Hunter, and maybe that would have been a better idea, since I've been wanting to use Maze traps for ages now.
Now that I think about it, I should try a Bounty Hunter. But I already have stuff to report on Margot, so whatever.
Margot took down the Mephit Portals with an Oil of Speed. One really nice thing about EE is that the Radiant Mephits' Color Spray is no longer an instant death effect for solo characters in the Mephit Portal room, as you wake up on hit. This vastly simplifies solo no-reload runs of the first dungeon.
Margot used an Oil of Speed to run circles around Ilyich and his buddies, allowing her to divide the group and minimize her exposure to crossbow bolts. A Potion of Invisibility, courtesy of a Shadow Thief or Ellesime's clone, allowed her to nab the Girdle of Bluntness before an enemy mage could hit her with a potentially dangerous Chromatic Orb.
Beneath the Slums, her traps failed to hit Quallo's Carrion Crawler, as it was neutral, but this also allowed her to hide right in front of the thing, and use hit and fade tactics with a bow.
Once she got enough money to buy the Glasses of Identification, she identified the Ring of Human Influence and used it on Cohrvale.
We waited until nightfall so she could hide right after using the ring. That way, she could try again later if Cohrvale made his save.
I prepared to save Viconia by laying several traps. Turns out the fanatics really do burn her to death if you wait too long.
They also crash the game. They even crashed it when I reloaded and let her go in time. Not sure what's going on there, but it's a minor quest anyway.
Margot softened up Suna Seni and her friends with traps and finished them off with a short sword. Then, against the mage, Margot failed a save against a disabler.
She tried to slay the mage with her bow, and also her sword when the mage got close enough, but when that didn't work (we later learned the mage had Protection from Normal Missiles active), she drank another invisibility potion to wait out her disability.
On to the Docks! We use the Ring of Air Control when fighting the Mad Cleric of Cyric, and the Cowled Wizards come in to complain. Apparently the Ring of Air Control counts as a mage spell.
Margot buys the Nymph Cloak and uses it for a problem encounter.
Sanasha wastes all of her remaining spells and gets cut down quickly.
Inspired by the cloak's success, I decide to try it out on a much tougher opponent.
The nice thing about this area is that it's filled with no hostile critters. This means I can enter under the effects of Improved Invisibility, use the Nymph Cloak on Pai'Na, and if the charm fails, I can hide immediately after, rest, and return. Eventually I get control over her.
Unfortunately, I didn't come with a plan to deal with the spiders. Once Pai'Na turns hostile, the whole room floods with tiny spiders, and though my AC and save vs. death are both strong, I have no Elixirs of Health--I used to have four, from Chateau Irenicus. This means, if I do get poisoned, I'm pretty much screwed. I get two chances to cast Slow Poison, but if that fails, the spider's poison will deal 150 damage in total.
Instead, I drink another Potion of Invisibility and watch Pai'Na's Nymph, which she summoned during the charm, get devoured by the spiders. I decide to let Pai'Na go.
Thus ends Margot's run. If I'm going to do a thief run, it'll probably be a Bounty Hunter. A Swashbuckler is mostly just a Fighter/Thief clone.
An important realization is that the Nymph Cloak's charm effect lasts 12 hours. It strikes a level 8 spell and does not bypass magic resistance, and thus can be blocked by spell protections, but it uses a save vs. breath, which most mages will have difficulty resisting.
After mourning Minsc, we recruit (a rather underleveled) Haer'Dalis and clean up the Vampire Lair.
Brynnlaw and the pirates prove no match.
And here are, trapped by Irenicus and Bodhi in the Asylum labyrinth, rejoined with Imoen.
*** WARNING : "Headcannon" ahead ***
Imoen's traumatic dreams as well as the lives sapped from Shadow Thief members to crack her mind leave her mortal self altered.
Within the dream shared with Selyna, Imoen absorbs from the essence of Sarevok/Bhaal and her very self changes irreversibly.
When she wakes up in the labyrinth with Selyna, Imoen is a different person. No longer skulking in the shadows or worrying about stealth and subterfuge. Imoen is now an ... ARCANE WARRIOR.
[translation: Imoen will be a Fighter/Mage multiclass in my run, essentially because I want to keep Jan in the party as my thief. No stat changes will be given to Imoen, so, e.g., she's still 9 STR. Her proficiencies are being reset, but she still remembers a fondness for Short Swords.]