@Blackraven how did you revive Xzar & Monty in the middle of the mines ? Is there a resurrection spell/item from mods or did I miss something ?
Some of the temples sell Raise Dead scrolls in my (modded) install. The temple of wisdom has three if I'm not mistaken, and I think the temple of Helm in Nashkel and the Song of the Morning temple sell one each. So I raised both away from any incoming guards. (In fact I wasted one of my scrolls because I cast Raise Dead on Xzar whom I had just revived, instead of Montaron. )
Wow, so much activity here. I have been totally off for a few months and then returning now I see there are so many pages written. That is super great, but my apologies for not taking the time to read through everything that has been written since October 2019.
I will hopefully be more engaged now and will try to give my male cavalier paladin Hamilton a go once again after his tragic demise last time.
This time, no screwing around, no dying to kobolds haha (I almost promise)
Trio 22 Update
Corebard - human bard, protagonist (Corey_Russell)
Ubil - human cavalier (Gate70)
Highway - dwarven kensai (Grond0)
So the party found themselves near Melium's corpse. We look at map, and it looks like the great City of Baldur's gate is our next destination. Our rep is 20, and there weren't actually many upgrades here, but here's what we did:
* DEX tome went to Corebard
* Ogre Mage and crawlers dealt with. Corebard has mirror images up, which is a good thing as the ogre mage got a few spells off, but the party was victorious.
* We got poisoned by Marek and Lothander. As is usual for the party, we slaughtered the priestesses of Umberlee for the geas scroll. We then give the geas scroll, then kill him for his boots of speed. We then have shooting practice with Larze, with Ubil running, thinking he can tank Larze (he can't), then Ubil running again, with Corebard and HIghway shooting at Larze till he goes down, plus the odd magic missile. Marek himself dies fast.
* We turn in this boy's body we have been carrying around to a Priest of Tymora. We get a wisdom tome of marginal value for this party. Ragefast is talked to and killed.
* A basilisk in a warehouse was taken down, plus some gauntlets given to a lady, who gave us "much needed" potions of infravision.
* Dopplegangers at Seven Suns taken down. Scar was pleased with that, as well as with us dealing with the ogre mage and his pets. Scar says we need to "investigate" the Iron Throne. Ok we'll get to that.
* Rather than deal with Degrodel, Corebard decided to use a thieving potion and pick-pocket the cloak of Balduran for Ubil.
* For the Iron Throne 5th floor, we had Ubil take the burnt of initial attacks with him protected by a potion of magic blocking. We had wanted to use PfM scroll, but Ubil is too dumb to use it and we didn't have an potions of genius. He took a lot of damage, and so did Highway, but the party was victorious!
* We clear out Razamith's Tower. For the ghasts, Highway took the burnt of damage. While immune to hold, he did get hit quite a bit. Good thing he has good HP...as for Razamith himself, he fired off a lightning bolt, killing himself. These mages sure are suicidal.
* We head to Candlkeep. Shistal was dealt with. For the crypts, Highway and Ubil tripped the traps, while Corebard used knock to open the crypts. For the web trap by the spiders. Highway was protected by the Spider's Bane and Corebard handed the free action ring to Ubil and they cleared out the spiders near the Strength tome. Corebard tipped the repeating lightning trap on the way out, but he was protected by the boots of grounding that he wears.
We clear out a few more dopplegangers, then it's time to deal with prat and gang. We gave a bunch of potions and protection from magic to Highway who took the initial attacks then Ubil and Corebard assisted - Prat and gang defeated! Highway and Ubil then clear out the nearby spiders, although there were a few scares as sometimes the spiders teleported near Corebard who was alone. Each time Corebard manage to elude the spiders and waited till his team-mates could help. Basilisks at end defeated with PfP scroll.
* At our return, we take down Slythe easily enough. We were just about to do Duchal Palace, and then Gate70 says hey we didn't do Durlag's (it wasn't unlocked yet on the map). So we go to Durlag's. The party did very well against the doom guards and battle horrors, as our Thac0 is much better now. The odd frost wand blast from Corebard also helped in that respect. We even mostly managed to save vs. the stun trap. Basilisks were also cleared out, as well as the nearby nymph was freed with the "help" of the nearby thief, who we then killed.
We return to Duchal Palace and save our session here. That will be our next target next week.
Furia's run has come to a rather unfortunate end. Role-playing her as a volatile, aggressive chaotic evil priestess of Talos, I had her fight the Fist in Baldur's Gate (after having returned from Candlekeep). Talos demands their followers to show infidels strength instead of cowering before them. With an abysmal reputation, she got ambushed repeatedly by bounty hunters and Flaming Fist enforcers, to no avail.
But one such ambush took place right in front of the Ducal Palace, where the party was to have a rendezvous with Sarevok. Although the party ran away as fast as they could, the Flaming Fist guard who asks for the invitation went hostile as well (and ended up dying), ensuring the gate to the palace would forever remain closed for Furia and friends.
I imagine her traveling all over Faerun, introducing foreigners to the fury of Talos, while her siblings are busy killing each other over Bhaal's throne. A happy end of sorts.
That's sad. It feels like an oversight/bug somehow, but from a RP standpoint, it stands to logic that if the whole flaming fist is after your skin, the entrance guard would probably prevent you from entering too.
In a non no-reload game, I guess you could have charmed the guard after he turned hostile to hopefully gain access to the palace ? Although now that he's dead, that's obviously not an option.
Good point @monico, I just tested it, and charming Bill (he's actually a named character) works! Useful information!
A pity really that we killed Bill. It was definitely not my intention, I wasn't paying proper attention, so Bill seemed to be just one of the group of Flaming Fist mercenaries fighting the party.
Picking up where we left off, the party cleared what little remained of Durlag's Tower, leaving the Demon Knight for later. The Ice Island was next on the chopping block, and there was plenty of chopping done as Ajantis under a PfM scroll and some potions cleared the entire dungeon. Apart from Andris, Tellan put on a good show to the point that the PfM ran out, but fortunately we had some Skeleton Warriors up at the time, allowing Ajantis to retreat to safety as they finished the gnome off.
Ajantis still desperately needed experience, so we set sail for Balduran's Isle. Really not much to report: Ajantis has Bastard Sword proficiency so Balduran's Sword had a wielder for once, and it didn't help the Greater Wolfwere that Jaheira managed to land a Static Charge straight past its Magic Resistance.
Back on the mainland, Mendas only had time for a single (largely ineffective) Remove Magic before dropping all pretense and shifting into Loup Garou form. To no avail.
Candlekeep was next; neither Ogre Magi nor Prat & co stood much of a chance (same procedure as every time, Animate Dead and buffs). Back in the city, Slythe dropped before he managed to pop an Invisibility Potion, while his wife proved quite a bit more resilient: She had a Death Spell ready and managed to kill off five Skeleton Warriors as well as several hastily summoned Gnolls while still having some spells left, but finally fell before the combined onslaught of the entire party.
By now it was obvious that Ajantis would easily reach L7 simply by pressing on with the main plot, so I elected to once again just skip the Demon Knight and Aec'Letec. The fight at the Ducal Palace is always a little bit of a risk: The Doppleganger Mage might decide to lead with Chaos, and if that catches someone and they attack a Flaming Fist while confused...
Fortunately, nothing went wrong this time: The Doppleganger Mage went with Remove Magic first, and died before he could get a second spell off. With Stoneskin up, Carran also avoided being targetted by the Doppleganger Assassin, allowing us to pull off a comfortable victory.
We made our way through the Maze without incident, and treated the Iron Throne mercenaries to an obliterating barrage of Fireballs. I once again managed to talk to Tamoko with my lead character (Ajantis) instead of the protagonist (where only the latter had the stats to talk her out of fighting), and so had to kill her.
Tactics for Sarevok were tried and true: 4/6 of the party quaffed a Potion of Absorption and Potion of Invisibility, whilst Ajantis and Jaheira popped PfM and every buffing potion we had (and we had a lot).
Backed up by five Skeleton Warriors, they quickly cleared out the opposition (a Remove Magic from Imoen cleared up Sarevok's Haste effect), and apart from Semaj bugging out and constantly going invisible which forced us to use up 4 Detect Invisibility scrolls to be able to kill him, everything went smoothly, and Sarevok duly joined his acolytes in death.
Carran finishes BG1 as a L9 Human Invoker, and will be returning in SoD (never mind the 25 INT, he just scribed the final two scrolls he hadn't yet learned and hence had quaffed a few Potions of Genius).
That's sad. It feels like an oversight/bug somehow, but from a RP standpoint, it stands to logic that if the whole flaming fist is after your skin, the entrance guard would probably prevent you from entering too.
In a non no-reload game, I guess you could have charmed the guard after he turned hostile to hopefully gain access to the palace ? Although now that he's dead, that's obviously not an option.
I had to do that not too long ago in a no-reload when Bill went hostile... but then he followed me into the Ducal Palace too! I had to make sure he died in the resulting fight on Sarevok’s blade to ensure that Belt didn’t go hostile when the charm expired... thanks bro!
Hey,
Got a question:
Is it a bug if Nimbul vanishes after a few rounds of combat while you fight him?
I just used the spell horror on him with Imoen and he did not save against spell, so he ran around panicked, while I chased him with the party and suddenly he was just gone, I mean I saw him one second next to me and the next second then he was not there anymore.
So if this is truly a bug that is not intended at all, would this be a scenario where it is ok to go back to last autoload and fight Nimbul again?
You could try leaving the map and resting before coming back to see if he's there - as it's possible he went invisible when the horror expired. In the unmodded game he would typically attack quickly after doing that, but if you have something like SCS installed he has an annoying habit of hiding invisibly for quite a while.
Thanks for the replies, I do not have SCS installed, pretty sure he did not go invisible. I also checked buildings just in case and ran around the whole area multiple times.
Anyways I have proceeded without reloading, so my sort of rp story to this is simply that he got so scared that he ran off far away and never returned to complete his mission to kill me (bad for me since those boots would have been pretty helpful, but now I will just have to complete without his boots).
Even without the boots, with the Elve's Bane belt (+3 AC vs missile), the Claw of Kazgaroth (+4 AC), the Cloak of Displacement (+4 AC), a full plate armor (+3 AC vs missile) and a large shield (+1 AC vs missile) or even the Large Shield of Falling Stars from BG city (+4 AC vs missile), I don't think any enemy would have enough thac0 to hit you with ranged weaponry (max of +18 AC on top of your "normal" AC).
EDIT: also note that your max AC is capped at -20 anyway, only the DEX bonus and weapon proficiency (from 1 handed fighting style) can take it lower.
Btw I have another question for all the no-reloaders here:
I have noticed (a long time ago) that when I use the final save after killing Sarevok and import this saved game file to use the same character in BG2EE then I will start not with only 161,000 exp but any exp that I accumulated beyond the level cap during BG1EE will be added to the 161,000 exp from start in Irenicus' Dungeon in BG2EE.
I actually often go and kill Sarevok as soon as I hit the level cap in BG1EE just to make sure that I won't be too OP when beginning BG2EE. Only bad thing about this is that I cannot easily clear all content in BG1EE then if I wanted to.
So finally to my question:
How do you deal with this 'problem'? (if you think it is a problem at all)
Btw I have another question for all the no-reloaders here:
I have noticed (a long time ago) that when I use the final save after killing Sarevok and import this saved game file to use the same character in BG2EE then I will start not with only 161,000 exp but any exp that I accumulated beyond the level cap during BG1EE will be added to the 161,000 exp from start in Irenicus' Dungeon in BG2EE.
I actually often go and kill Sarevok as soon as I hit the level cap in BG1EE just to make sure that I won't be too OP when beginning BG2EE. Only bad thing about this is that I cannot easily clear all content in BG1EE then if I wanted to.
So finally to my question:
How do you deal with this 'problem'? (if you think it is a problem at all)
I've only started to dabble with this, sometimes it happened to me, sometimes not.
First, which device do you use ? I play on the iPad, and I think exports might work differently between platforms.
On my iPad, if I export from the Character file, no extra XP is exported, I start BG2 with 161k XP (not 100% positive).
If I export the savegame, only the extra XP since my last session is carried over (that's where i'm not sure how it works exactly).
From my non-thorough tests, as long as I keep playing, not reloading nor quiting the game, all the extra XP is added to my character, and will carry over to my 'export save'. If I reload/relaunch the game, my XP is 'reset' at 161k XP (and only XP gained after the reload will start piling up on top of those 161k XP).
So if you want to avoid extra XP, you might try to export your character file instead of the savegame.
Note though that it messes the items exported over (for the SoD ones at least, I think the BG1 ones are correctly exported even through the character sheet).
Or you could just make a save before fighting Sarevok, kill him, quit the game, reload the save before sarevok and 'save-export' to BG2. I think it should reset your XP to 161k.
EDIT: I suggest using the save before Sarevok, because when I load the Final-Save on iPad, there's always a script launching one of Semaj's spells, even if he's dead, preventing me from save-exporting.
That may be different on different platforms/settings.
EDIT: also note that your max AC is capped at -20 anyway, only the DEX bonus and weapon proficiency (from 1 handed fighting style) can take it lower.
That's true for the main displayed AC - that won't go below -28 (6 for dexterity and 2 for single weapon style). However, I think modifiers to AC for different weapon types are also unaffected by the cap, so you could get a considerably lower effective AC against missiles.
EDIT: also note that your max AC is capped at -20 anyway, only the DEX bonus and weapon proficiency (from 1 handed fighting style) can take it lower.
That's true for the main displayed AC - that won't go below -28 (6 for dexterity and 2 for single weapon style). However, I think modifiers to AC for different weapon types are also unaffected by the cap, so you could get a considerably lower effective AC against missiles.
Well, I had the same assumption before writing the above post, but then I had a doubt. The wiki (not always accurate) only lists DEX & single weapon style as exceptions to the -20 cap.
But I think it should also work for "specific" modifier, i'd say they work the same way as a debuff to the enemy (like when you cast Protection from Evil, which effectively lowers your AC by 2 but mechanically adds a -2 thac0 debuff to evil attackers), more than a buff to your general AC.
I agree the Wiki isn't as clear as it might be about the distinction between general and specific modifiers. They're correct here though that the cap only applies to general modifiers.
A relatively easy way to test it is to create a custom monk and custom archer and level up to L40. In this screenshot the buffed archer has a THAC0 of -32, which should easily hit the monk's AC of -23 on anything but a critical miss. However, the monk's bonus against missiles means that even this super archer is only hitting half the time.
It's been so long since I've done anything with this run. These screenshots have been sitting on my PC for six months and I'm tired of them taunting me. I kind of forget what exactly happened but let's see if I can piece it together.
Looks like the next major stop was the Planar Prison. Although I had access to the Nightwalker, I forgot I could summon it so the Warden was killed via mage fencing while my shadow minions held him off.
Next was Firkraag. This time I remembered I had an HLA summon. The dragon went down very quickly. The Nightwalker is an absolute beast at melee combat, far superior to the planetar in that respect.
Then came the Alhoon. Buffed as heavily as I was, I don't think it proved to be much of a challenge. The Nightwalker immediately disposed of it when its PfMW wore off.
Thaxll is the third dragon to be slain by Skarrj so far and I believe the fight was over in less than two rounds.
Now for the fight against the Shade Lord. Since I'm using EET and have redone my installation order, the Shade Lord is truly a force to be reckoned with now that he wields shadow magic.
I can't remember who put down this Merciless Blizzard, but I'm immune to it due to the elemental resistances provided by Annulment. I have to strip the Shade Lord of Shadow Screen and PfWfW first before I can attack him directly. I remember him being a slippery one, but I can't remember in what way. But a second or third Breaching Dark softens him up so I can attack him.
Now I can use Shade Form, but it sets my physical and magical resistance to 20% so I don't want to use it.
With all the sidequests in Amn complete, I beat up Bodhi, taking advantage of how she teleports in starting off neutral to get free damage on her.
Skaarj has just entered Watcher's Keep level 3. Although Tahazzar will not attack me this time, I'll get revenge for my previous run where he insta-gibbed Krieg with a vorpal hit. Death Ward will prevent that from happening to Skaarj.
We each take a deep breath, savouring the fresh(er) air of the Promenade. A few moments of this is enough to overwhelm our senses so we nip inside the circus tent to deal with a troublesome gnomish illusionist. Aerie tries to convince us of her worth but we're resolute in our go away attitude.
Gaelan Bayle wants to make a deal with us but requires cash in advance. Fine, we'll go plunder the Copper Coronet - even if Grond is unexpectedly spotted through a door that Stawk has just opened.
With the Beastmaster dead we free Hendak and nudge him towards the front of inn where he takes control of the situation. This leaves us free to depart having added a slavers quest to our journal for a later date.
Suna Seni and her ambushers make an appearance but we're decently refreshed and even have enough inventory space to loot their corpses dry.
We reach the docks and are talking about vampires when we almost run into one. Stawk is of the opinion that Grond is up to facing Hareishan, and Grond is evidently of the same opinion.
That combat showed Grond could do with better armour so we detour into a nearby merchants to purchase the inn and relieve officer Dirth of his.
We must be ready to face anything now so we head over to Watchers Keep in search of Vampiric Wraiths. There are none so we pick on the mephits instead.
Grond once more demonstrates his lock-busting abilities and we use a small doorway to wedgie a large golem.
We take slightly more care than usual to pick off a group of statues within the keep, Stawk first brandishing the Foebane bastard sword (1 pip proficiency) until offhanding it in preference of Usuno's Blade (2 pip proficiency). Having cleared out the level we depart - the Helmites will eventually realise the Imprisoned One task is back with them. Maybe. Not our problem.
At about this time we realise we're both adding electrical damage on top of our attacks. That's quite effective and may last for some time (the +4 scimitar in particular will be hard to replace, the +2 hammer picked up at the start of the game is a decent enough weapon too).
Back in town we activate Neera's quest so we can never ever have to run into her again (this game) and test Grond against the Rune Assassins. He's dwarf enough to defeat them, just - having had to run for a moment or two until confident Stawk is supporting him.
Stawk asks Grond how he feels about a petrified door. The dwarf is somewhat circumspect until Stawk says maybe it is better for the elf to give it a try - nobody steps in front of Grond when traps are about. This of course gives us an opportunity to purchase a stone to flesh scroll and see how it works.
The orog ambush arrives next - perhaps they think they can take advantage of our recent doorstone encounter, and if so they are wrong.
It's all gone well so Stawk reckons it is time to clear three liches and a demilich from the city. He uses a Protection from Undead scroll while Grond does the same but uses a second as we activate Kangaxx (thanks to multiplayer metagaming knowledge where Kangaxx otherwise ignores apparent protection of client characters).
We squeeze in time to help kill Xzar (and fail to kill his assassin), before picking up a job for Mae'Var and are standing outside the temple of Talos so we know what to do next time.
Clerics appear to be becoming my favorite class. After the fun I had with my viking Battleguard of Tempus who fell in Avernus and with my Stormlord of Talos Furia, I decided to pick another kit I'd never played: the Priest of Helm. Honestly I've always found Helm somewhat boring and role-playing an infallible, lawful good paladin type even more, but with the EEs it's possible to play the priest of Helm as lawful evil in accordance with the 'one step' rule for priest and deity alignments, and that opens up interesting possibilities.
Now role-playing an evil cleric of Helm seems tricky at first sight if you take into account Helm's dogma from the Faiths & Avatars source book: Never betray your trust. Be vigilant. Stand, wait, and watch carefully. Be fair and diligent in the conduct of your orders. Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young, and do not sacrifice them for others or yourself. Anticipate attacks and be ready. Know your foes. Care for your weapons so they may perform their duties when called upon. Careful planning always defeats rushed actions in the end. Always obey orders, providing those orders follow the dictates of Helm. Demonstrate excellence and purity of loyalty in your role as a guardian and protector.
Most of this fits a lawful evil character perfectly, but to be required to "Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young, and not sacrifice them for others or yourself" seems to make overtly evil behavior problematic. However, that line doesn't say "do not sacrifice them for themselves". This leaves room for Charname to make sacrifices for the victims' own sake, e.g. "to stop them from further suffering" or "to serve a higher purpose in their best interests" (as well as those of others).
I'm going for a well-meaning protector type who works for a just cause, but whose rigid views and ruthless methods make him evil. A self-proclaimed lawful good servant of Helm, my priest will seek out lawful/good companions rather than chaotic/evil ones, offering me a nice change from my last chaotic evil priestess and her party. The party will do mostly good deeds, except for when my cleric crosses the line. It would be interesting to see this character descend into tyranny as the game progresses, but without violating the tenets of the faith. We'll see if that works out.
In addition to the above-mentioned tenets of being (i) honorable, (ii) vigilant, (iii) dutiful, (iv) "protective", (v) cautious, and (vi) loyal, I'm adding one more RP restriction (based on the Faiths & Avatars source book): (vii) priests of Helm aren't allowed to command undead, only to turn them. This means (1) no casting of Animate Dead for my cleric, and (2) if the Turn Undead ability leads to undead creatures being charmed, they may only be cornered and slain or used against other still hostile undead creatures in the area, but never against other enemies. (I would have liked to have the turn/explode ability of good and neutral-aligned clerics but I don't think there's a mod for that.)
Setup: most notable mods that affect game play are SCS (all AI enhancements and tactical challenges, most game play tweaks, Insane difficulty), and CDTweaks (with several ease of life tweaks, and for BG2 some tweaks that make single classes a bit more powerful compared to the still stronger dual/multi-classes). The rest is mainly quests and NPC stuff.
This is my cleric, Eyulf: And here comes the first part of his story.
Eyulf, LE Priest of Helm (1)
Recent times have been hectic. As a novice of Helm, mere days ago I was still a guardian priest in training for the Candlekeep library. I was to take charge of the citadel's defenses one day. But then my foster father Gorion had me join him on a trip away from home. Indeed it had been an unusual day, as I'd had to defend myself against two assassins that had somehow bypassed the protective wards and the guards.
A few hours into our journey disaster struck. Gorion and I were attacked by what seemed to be bandits. Their leader wanted Gorion to deliver me to him, but my foster father ordered me to run. I was used to following his orders and I didn't defy him then. In the distance I saw Gorion dispatch several of the bandits with his arcane magic until their leader struck him down! It is impossible for me at this point to put into words the pain of losing my foster father, the only family I knew, the man who had taken me in, raised me as his son, and financed my priestly training. Apart from my pain, Gorion's passing seems to have given me a new sense of purpose. My vocation is not to serve Helm in Candlekeep, where I'm no longer welcome. No, my calling is in the wider world outside the keep. The rampant unchecked crime that cost Gorion his life as it has taken and continues to take so many innocent lives is exactly what was to be expected in these lawless lands, but I shall make it my purpose not just to put Gorion's killers to justice, but to bring order and security and justice to the Sword Coast, with Helm's blessing.
The day after Gorion's fall I ran into my childhood friend Imoen (Swashbuckler), who had left the keep to join me and Gorion. She's a bit of a rascal, for as far as I know it was not agreed that she'd join Gorion and me. But with my foster father gone it made sense for us to travel together and look after one another. We interred Gorion and set out to the Friendly Arm Inn to meet Gorion's friends Khalid and Jaheira, which had been his last instruction for me. Along the way we met two travelers, a human mage named Xzar and a halfling rogue by the name of Montaron, who joined us.
We killed some gibberlings and an ogre but our journey was otherwise uneventful, until we reached the inn that is. The wizard Tarnesh awaited us there, and he attacked me and my companions. Xzar, Imoen and I injured him from afar and Montaron stabbed him in the back, but it wasn't enough to kill him. He hit all of us with a Sleep spell, then panicked as a result of his injuries and went berserk, slaying Montaron. He then ran off and when he regained his composure he killed Xzar too. Surely he would have dealt with Imoen and me as well, had he seen us, but apparently his terror had made him all but forget about us. Imoen hid in shadows and fatally struck him with an arrow.
An extremely close call. We buried the corpses of Xzar and Montaron behind the temple of wisdom, and finally met with Khalid (Fighter/Mage) and Jaheira (Fighter/Druid). We told them of Gorion's passing and they offered to travel with Imoen and me, and help us find our stride. They wanted us to visit Nashkel together, but it would take a number of days before we'd go there, as we were given several quests, at the FAI and in Beregost. Nothing major, but I gave these people my word to help and so we did. Dealing with hobgoblin bandits north of the inn led to us meeting Ajantis (Cavalier), a squire paladin of Helm whom I heartily welcomed into our ranks.
Sadly it didn't take long for Ajantis and me to clash. He may be stronger and more experienced than me but I'm less certain about his mental faculty. One moment he would pledge his sword to my cause,
and the next he would lash out at me for no good reason and threaten to leave.
Jaheira who had picked up on my doubts about Ajantis (I must keep my voice down when I'm thinking), tested him, and he seemed true to his promise to battle evil with me.
So it was that the five of us completed several small quests in the region between the FAI and Nashkel. In that town we met the mayor and promised to investigate the local mines that had seen a number of suspect deaths and disappearances alongside a steep decline in the quality of the iron ore produced. Also in Nashkel we depetrified a Battleguard of Tempus named Branwen, who had been turned to stone by one Tranzig, an evil wizard. She was most thankful and joined our party.
Before we'd enter the mines we returned north to finish some of our quests, and to cull the ankheg population north of the FAI, relying on Branwen's Command spells and mine. We also solved a dispute between three fishermen and a young priestess. We had proof that the men had killed the girl's mother and stolen a ritual bowl but we were unable to put the men to justice. They had fled.
Another conflict with my fellow servant of Helm didn't take long to occur in spite of all our good deeds and our excellent reputation.
Before we enter the Nashkel Mines I shall find another warrior who could take Ajantis's place because I don't want us to come to blows.
Trio Update 22
Corebard - human bard, protagonist (Corey_Russell)
Ubil - human cavalier (Gate70)
Highway - dwarven kensai ( Grond0)
When we last heard of our protagonists, they were in front of the Duchal Palace. Group haste and slow carried the day. The maze went well, despite no thief in the party. We went around the Undercity Party and avoided them.
It took a while, but eventually Highway managed to pull Sarevok. We also got Semaj and Tazok, and then Angelo joined the fun. However, by this point, Sarevok had taken heavy damage, and was in fact killed by Angelo's arrows! Good thing, as Highway and Ubil were also near death at the time.
The party then made their way though Irenicus' dungeon. No real problems here. Ubil's immunity to poison was quite helpful on a number of traps. Minor problem was we lost the +1 bastard sword when we rested, as no one bothered to pick it up, and Corey_Russell has the rest on heal option enabled, which meant POOF! to the sword.
As for the vampire, Ulvaryl, she fell quickly, in part because of a flame arrow from Corebard. Ubil has protected the party with resist fear, so the mage was no threat and she fell quickly.
We then solved the circus problem. A few shadows were no match for the party, and neither was the gnome who was causing so much trouble. With the human influence ring for Corebard, entire party now has good CHA.
We then headed to the Tavern, though only to rest for a moment, then headed to Docks to pick up full plate for Ubil from Officer Dirth. We then came back and freed Hendak.
We then headed to Watcher's Keep to get the potion bag. We ran into the Suna Seni ambush, the mage fell fast thanks to Corebard's MMM's - the rest of the enemies then didn't stand a chance. Once we got the potion bag, Highway was disappointed that we didn't venture into the keep and encounter vampiric wraiths.
We then headed into the Copper Coronet sewers - some initial summons distracted the hobgoblins, allowing the party to wipe those hobgoblins out. The other group of kobolds didn't do much better. We carefully skirted the petrification trap. Highway appreciated the upgraded two-hand sword.
While here, decided to venture into the moored ship. Corebard took a lot of damage and had to run around, but an initial glitterdust helped keep the enemies manage-able. Success! Though we all took some good damage. Trolls of course taken down by fire arrows from Corebard (the other party members can't use a bow). For the last group, we didn't have much, but decided to risk the fight anyways - success again! But party badly damaged. The poision trap seemed unwise (at least for Highway and Corebard), so Corebard had the group go the long way back to the Copper Coronet.
By now, Corebard was burning a hole in his pocket, and he really wanted the AC 3 bracers from Ribald now that they had money. We had about 5 minutes left, and Gate70 suggested we do Galen Bayle as the last task of the session. Sold a few heal potions to get our 15k. We reported to Galen Bayle, went to the edge of the map, and saved here.
D'Arnise Keep will be our next target next session.
After a couple of successes with Blaggerd and Michio normality returns.
Cedlin the Shapeshifter completed most of BG:EE only to fall at a game of chess when he steps forward instead of casting a spell - attracting the ire of the few remaining opponents.
Bayen the Stalker kept boots of stealth equipped instead of grounding, and had insufficient hit points to act in that manner when facing Seniyad.
Slod the Priest of Helm is stood in Candlekeep trying to muster sufficient courage or interest in leaving with Gorion. Those chores won't do themselves.
Caer the Necromancer decided to not do the TotSC expansion and reached Sarevok. His party almost finished off Semaj when Angelo decided to photobomb everyone and rescue his mage buddy. Potions of invisibility failed to help many party members, with Caer and Tiax being the lucky ones. Caer tried to return the favour with oils of fiery burning and potions of explosions from out of sight but Angelo proved to be both mostly resistant to fire and keen to engage. Caer evaded him only for Sarevok to hunt him down with no remaining invisibility. Tiax survived obviously.
(saves also indicate two more unloved characters remain idle in Candlekeep between Blaggerd and Michio - an Undead Hunter and a Cleric / Ranger)
Barb started his SoD campaign in a dungeon. As an chaotic good kind of guy, he had to face the campaign alone - bar the beginning and the very end.
The plan was the same as all my solo runs. Gear up and get some xp fast, and avoid all the high risk encounters you can. The difficulty slider is set on insane, and since the difficulty slider actually means something in SoD, we are bound for a bumpy ride.
But let’s enjoy the company and begin the trek in a heavily trapped dungeon with loads of undead. With 2 thieves and 6 scrolls of undead this is actually a small feat.
In BG city Barb did the quests and set out.
The first map has some nice quests that gives both xp and some gold. Barb does all the quests and kills all he can.
The warrens of the undead, yields loads of xp. With protection from undead it’s not that big a deal.. Being stingy with the scrolls and potions (for no good reason), Coldheart reasurected and caught Barb with a timestop. Luckily Barb saved against the spells and shrugged off the damage. Since Coldheart can’t save against the secret revealed, the match ended in Barbs favour - again.
Advancing rapidly towards the xp cap, Barb rushed for the parley at the first bridge and then for the temple of Bhaal. All the cultist where done in first, and then Ziatar. Barb reached the xp cap doing so.
The Neolithid proved quite the task, since it wouldn’t come out and be killed.. Barb didn’t dare move on before it was done in, so a waiting game ensued. Every time the flying swords where summoned Barb fled into another room, and the Neolithid was manifest for a second. In the end it fell, but it sure took a while. Getting the ward stone, was the real prize in the temple any way, and once secured Barb fled the scene.
In Bridgefort a fort was surrendered and a crucial - and perhaps the most crucial - bottle neck was nigh. The Bridgefort bridge with insane difficulty!! After my latest runs ran into some problems with the fight, I had some tests done with and old save game with my last charname. Alone all the fighting scenarios would go sour. The only chance you have as a solo character, is killing the mage before the portal opens.. Barb wouldn’t be expected do that alone...
But then it struck me, last time I dragged the summons from the portal into the fort with my NPC’s. I finally realised that I needed help for the fight, and loads of it. Time to use the nymph cloak.
I charmed all the flaming fists, and tried to scout out some more. I settled for two hobgoblin archers and a bear, they kick ass but I couldn’t manage to charm more than the two hobgoblins (they start out hostile so charming them turns them on each other).
Barb gathered his bridge saving posse, and advanced. The mage being the first and only priority. I guess preparation and research saved the day, since the mage was shot down before the portal was opened. The rest of the crew fell shortly after - and the bridge was secure. I have had sleepless nights about that fight, but in the end we won the day - easily.
The final camp was now open. In the camp we did some questing for gear and brought out the genie vendor. I forgot who had ordered the lucky boots (+3 saves for dwarves), so I held on to those for the rest of the campaign... my bad.
The next crucial fight is the cyclops fight just outside the underground river. I buffed for hours for the fight, and brought out a stone golem (the stone ally figurine). The cyclops didn’t even have time to respond to my onslaught, since a lucky 60 damage critical hit took out his spunk. Barb could mob up the vanguard before the rest of the crusaders behind in the fortress charged. A much easier win than expected - but with buffs and planning most work out I guess...
In the underground river Barb did only the necessary, and ran to Hephernan. The fights is easy under a protection from magic. But it has to be completed before Hephernan can get help. Barb did his best, got Hephernan (making him flee at least) and fled the scene. A lot of potions where needed before he could flee the castle since the mages and priests kept dispelling his illusions. But in the end he got out.
Back at the camp, Barb did the parley. Buffing to the max at the dead mans pass (travel time 0). The first wave died to Barb exploding arrows, Barb taking zero damage. The second wave met the same fate, but since Barbs buffs where removed, some damage was taken...
The last wave and the final “all out assault” met its fate the same way. Drinking from Durlags goblet ensured Barb was alive and exploding arrows ensured the win. Time for the siege to move forward.
En route to Avernus we had a tete a tete with an angel. And the rest of the trip down to Avernus was equally effortless... The elevator ride and the pree buffing saw Barbs HP reaching 510 (buffed with potions of heroism).
In Avernus, Barb the gentleman let Caelar eat the dispel, and then took on Belhifet. But since Caelar is chaotic good, Barb took her in. Under invisibility she buffed and received gear from Barb (bracers, rings, amulets and such - she can’t wear everything since some of her slots are vacated, but she can be heavily buffed).
The gruesome twosome then took on the demons. Belhifet was badly damaged when Caelar joined the fray and the win was easy enough thanks to the excessive buffing. The buffed Caelar did her part
Barb will go to BG2:ee against all odds and much to my surprise. Not that I didn’t believe a dwarven barbarian with no scruples wouldn’t do well, but I didn’t think I could manage it. But luck was on my side in the end.
Watcher's Keep level 3. I indeed get revenge on Tahazzar though its the Nightwalker that gets the last hit.
I decide to take on the Demon Wraith. I wait out its PfMW and whack it with the Staff of the Magi, then wail on it for several rounds. Its damage resistance it very high but it finally falls. My Perfect Clay Golem was dehydrated into a Stone Golem from its Horrid Wilting.
Saladrex is dragon #4 on the chopping block. He even manages to kill the Nightwalker in a straight-up slugfest! Merciless Blizzard takes its toll on him so I finish him off with Nightsinger's Tithe. Shar shall be pleased by this sacrifice.
The demilich next door is up. I ignore his Time Stop using my staff and I counter his Improved Alacrity with one of my own using Relentless Assault. I shut off his spellcasting with Black Ray of Destruction, then follow up with Shatter Magic and Breaching Dark. This lets the Nightwalker and me beat him to death as I use Critical Strike to ensure hits.
Nothing interesting happened fighting the illithid and githyanki, nor Rock, Garock, or Carston (who was sacrificed to Shar immediately following his release). Time for the challenges of Watcher's Keep 4. Dragon #5 is easily killed despite its two castings of heal. Bitter Cone of Cold did a whopping 200+ damage to it since that spell does damage based on targets' max HP, so this spell would be good to use in LoB mode. It's controlled chaos on the orc endurance test - Merciless Blizzard, Storm of Vengeance, Nightfall, Negative Energy Burst... I should use Nightfall more often. Its diameter is massive. Its the purple rain.
I have a death wish so let's do something incredibly stupid: fight all 3 groups of seal guardians at once!
The Aurumach Rilmani goes down first since it didn't have any weapon protection buffs.
Next is Y'tossi, who dies when a flaming skull explodes from Merciless Blizzard. At the same time, I breach Azamantes and whack him with the Staff of the Magi, dispelling most of his buffs.
Azamantes is still under Improved Alacrity and throws up PfMW in response. Xei Win Toh is frozen to death by Merciless Blizzard.
Then goes the Hive Mother.
I breach Azamantes again and wail on him until he dies. That's what he gets for not using Spell Shield.
The Huntress, the drow lady, and a Flaming Skull are also beaten to death by the Nightwalker and me. No sweat. Shadow Screen + Impervious Sanctity of Mind + Entropy Shield = definitely not getting dispelled by anything.
Now it's Big D's turn. He is upset that the Nightwalker, a fellow demon, is fighting him and tries to dominate it to no effect since its immune. A casting of Darkbolt cuts Demo's HP in half and nullifies his magic resistance, causing Merciless Blizzard to slow him and it begins dealing increasing damage thanks to its cold resistance reduction each round.
I get Demo down to 1 HP and start fighting his gated demons. Since he's slowed from Merciless Blizzard, its taking longer than usual for him to die, but he goes down all the same. The Nightwalker and I mop up the remaining demons.
The Vigil Knights are slaughtered with Relentless Assault and tons of AoE effects. Brother Pol is the last one standing and gets sacrificed to Shar. I'm sure She'll be even more pleased to receive a faithful of Helm.
That's everything. Onto Spellhold and the Underdark.
Comments
Some of the temples sell Raise Dead scrolls in my (modded) install. The temple of wisdom has three if I'm not mistaken, and I think the temple of Helm in Nashkel and the Song of the Morning temple sell one each. So I raised both away from any incoming guards. (In fact I wasted one of my scrolls because I cast Raise Dead on Xzar whom I had just revived, instead of Montaron.
I will hopefully be more engaged now and will try to give my male cavalier paladin Hamilton a go once again after his tragic demise last time.
This time, no screwing around, no dying to kobolds haha (I almost promise)
Corebard - human bard, protagonist (Corey_Russell)
Ubil - human cavalier (Gate70)
Highway - dwarven kensai (Grond0)
So the party found themselves near Melium's corpse. We look at map, and it looks like the great City of Baldur's gate is our next destination. Our rep is 20, and there weren't actually many upgrades here, but here's what we did:
* DEX tome went to Corebard
* Ogre Mage and crawlers dealt with. Corebard has mirror images up, which is a good thing as the ogre mage got a few spells off, but the party was victorious.
* We got poisoned by Marek and Lothander. As is usual for the party, we slaughtered the priestesses of Umberlee for the geas scroll. We then give the geas scroll, then kill him for his boots of speed. We then have shooting practice with Larze, with Ubil running, thinking he can tank Larze (he can't), then Ubil running again, with Corebard and HIghway shooting at Larze till he goes down, plus the odd magic missile. Marek himself dies fast.
* We turn in this boy's body we have been carrying around to a Priest of Tymora. We get a wisdom tome of marginal value for this party. Ragefast is talked to and killed.
* A basilisk in a warehouse was taken down, plus some gauntlets given to a lady, who gave us "much needed" potions of infravision.
* Dopplegangers at Seven Suns taken down. Scar was pleased with that, as well as with us dealing with the ogre mage and his pets. Scar says we need to "investigate" the Iron Throne. Ok we'll get to that.
* Rather than deal with Degrodel, Corebard decided to use a thieving potion and pick-pocket the cloak of Balduran for Ubil.
* For the Iron Throne 5th floor, we had Ubil take the burnt of initial attacks with him protected by a potion of magic blocking. We had wanted to use PfM scroll, but Ubil is too dumb to use it and we didn't have an potions of genius. He took a lot of damage, and so did Highway, but the party was victorious!
* We clear out Razamith's Tower. For the ghasts, Highway took the burnt of damage. While immune to hold, he did get hit quite a bit. Good thing he has good HP...as for Razamith himself, he fired off a lightning bolt, killing himself. These mages sure are suicidal.
* We head to Candlkeep. Shistal was dealt with. For the crypts, Highway and Ubil tripped the traps, while Corebard used knock to open the crypts. For the web trap by the spiders. Highway was protected by the Spider's Bane and Corebard handed the free action ring to Ubil and they cleared out the spiders near the Strength tome. Corebard tipped the repeating lightning trap on the way out, but he was protected by the boots of grounding that he wears.
We clear out a few more dopplegangers, then it's time to deal with prat and gang. We gave a bunch of potions and protection from magic to Highway who took the initial attacks then Ubil and Corebard assisted - Prat and gang defeated! Highway and Ubil then clear out the nearby spiders, although there were a few scares as sometimes the spiders teleported near Corebard who was alone. Each time Corebard manage to elude the spiders and waited till his team-mates could help. Basilisks at end defeated with PfP scroll.
* At our return, we take down Slythe easily enough. We were just about to do Duchal Palace, and then Gate70 says hey we didn't do Durlag's (it wasn't unlocked yet on the map). So we go to Durlag's. The party did very well against the doom guards and battle horrors, as our Thac0 is much better now. The odd frost wand blast from Corebard also helped in that respect. We even mostly managed to save vs. the stun trap. Basilisks were also cleared out, as well as the nearby nymph was freed with the "help" of the nearby thief, who we then killed.
We return to Duchal Palace and save our session here. That will be our next target next week.
But one such ambush took place right in front of the Ducal Palace, where the party was to have a rendezvous with Sarevok. Although the party ran away as fast as they could, the Flaming Fist guard who asks for the invitation went hostile as well (and ended up dying), ensuring the gate to the palace would forever remain closed for Furia and friends.
I imagine her traveling all over Faerun, introducing foreigners to the fury of Talos, while her siblings are busy killing each other over Bhaal's throne. A happy end of sorts.
In a non no-reload game, I guess you could have charmed the guard after he turned hostile to hopefully gain access to the palace ? Although now that he's dead, that's obviously not an option.
A pity really that we killed Bill. It was definitely not my intention, I wasn't paying proper attention, so Bill seemed to be just one of the group of Flaming Fist mercenaries fighting the party.
BG1EE updates: 1, 2, 3
Ajantis still desperately needed experience, so we set sail for Balduran's Isle. Really not much to report: Ajantis has Bastard Sword proficiency so Balduran's Sword had a wielder for once, and it didn't help the Greater Wolfwere that Jaheira managed to land a Static Charge straight past its Magic Resistance.
Back on the mainland, Mendas only had time for a single (largely ineffective) Remove Magic before dropping all pretense and shifting into Loup Garou form. To no avail.
Candlekeep was next; neither Ogre Magi nor Prat & co stood much of a chance (same procedure as every time, Animate Dead and buffs). Back in the city, Slythe dropped before he managed to pop an Invisibility Potion, while his wife proved quite a bit more resilient: She had a Death Spell ready and managed to kill off five Skeleton Warriors as well as several hastily summoned Gnolls while still having some spells left, but finally fell before the combined onslaught of the entire party.
By now it was obvious that Ajantis would easily reach L7 simply by pressing on with the main plot, so I elected to once again just skip the Demon Knight and Aec'Letec. The fight at the Ducal Palace is always a little bit of a risk: The Doppleganger Mage might decide to lead with Chaos, and if that catches someone and they attack a Flaming Fist while confused...
Fortunately, nothing went wrong this time: The Doppleganger Mage went with Remove Magic first, and died before he could get a second spell off. With Stoneskin up, Carran also avoided being targetted by the Doppleganger Assassin, allowing us to pull off a comfortable victory.
We made our way through the Maze without incident, and treated the Iron Throne mercenaries to an obliterating barrage of Fireballs. I once again managed to talk to Tamoko with my lead character (Ajantis) instead of the protagonist (where only the latter had the stats to talk her out of fighting), and so had to kill her.
Tactics for Sarevok were tried and true: 4/6 of the party quaffed a Potion of Absorption and Potion of Invisibility, whilst Ajantis and Jaheira popped PfM and every buffing potion we had (and we had a lot).
Backed up by five Skeleton Warriors, they quickly cleared out the opposition (a Remove Magic from Imoen cleared up Sarevok's Haste effect), and apart from Semaj bugging out and constantly going invisible which forced us to use up 4 Detect Invisibility scrolls to be able to kill him, everything went smoothly, and Sarevok duly joined his acolytes in death.
Carran finishes BG1 as a L9 Human Invoker, and will be returning in SoD (never mind the 25 INT, he just scribed the final two scrolls he hadn't yet learned and hence had quaffed a few Potions of Genius).
I had to do that not too long ago in a no-reload when Bill went hostile... but then he followed me into the Ducal Palace too! I had to make sure he died in the resulting fight on Sarevok’s blade to ensure that Belt didn’t go hostile when the charm expired... thanks bro!
Got a question:
Is it a bug if Nimbul vanishes after a few rounds of combat while you fight him?
I just used the spell horror on him with Imoen and he did not save against spell, so he ran around panicked, while I chased him with the party and suddenly he was just gone, I mean I saw him one second next to me and the next second then he was not there anymore.
So if this is truly a bug that is not intended at all, would this be a scenario where it is ok to go back to last autoload and fight Nimbul again?
Anyways I have proceeded without reloading, so my sort of rp story to this is simply that he got so scared that he ran off far away and never returned to complete his mission to kill me (bad for me since those boots would have been pretty helpful, but now I will just have to complete without his boots).
EDIT: also note that your max AC is capped at -20 anyway, only the DEX bonus and weapon proficiency (from 1 handed fighting style) can take it lower.
Btw I have another question for all the no-reloaders here:
I have noticed (a long time ago) that when I use the final save after killing Sarevok and import this saved game file to use the same character in BG2EE then I will start not with only 161,000 exp but any exp that I accumulated beyond the level cap during BG1EE will be added to the 161,000 exp from start in Irenicus' Dungeon in BG2EE.
I actually often go and kill Sarevok as soon as I hit the level cap in BG1EE just to make sure that I won't be too OP when beginning BG2EE. Only bad thing about this is that I cannot easily clear all content in BG1EE then if I wanted to.
So finally to my question:
How do you deal with this 'problem'? (if you think it is a problem at all)
I've only started to dabble with this, sometimes it happened to me, sometimes not.
First, which device do you use ? I play on the iPad, and I think exports might work differently between platforms.
On my iPad, if I export from the Character file, no extra XP is exported, I start BG2 with 161k XP (not 100% positive).
If I export the savegame, only the extra XP since my last session is carried over (that's where i'm not sure how it works exactly).
From my non-thorough tests, as long as I keep playing, not reloading nor quiting the game, all the extra XP is added to my character, and will carry over to my 'export save'. If I reload/relaunch the game, my XP is 'reset' at 161k XP (and only XP gained after the reload will start piling up on top of those 161k XP).
So if you want to avoid extra XP, you might try to export your character file instead of the savegame.
Note though that it messes the items exported over (for the SoD ones at least, I think the BG1 ones are correctly exported even through the character sheet).
Or you could just make a save before fighting Sarevok, kill him, quit the game, reload the save before sarevok and 'save-export' to BG2. I think it should reset your XP to 161k.
EDIT: I suggest using the save before Sarevok, because when I load the Final-Save on iPad, there's always a script launching one of Semaj's spells, even if he's dead, preventing me from save-exporting.
That may be different on different platforms/settings.
Good tips and info, I will try it out.
That's true for the main displayed AC - that won't go below -28 (6 for dexterity and 2 for single weapon style). However, I think modifiers to AC for different weapon types are also unaffected by the cap, so you could get a considerably lower effective AC against missiles.
Well, I had the same assumption before writing the above post, but then I had a doubt. The wiki (not always accurate) only lists DEX & single weapon style as exceptions to the -20 cap.
But I think it should also work for "specific" modifier, i'd say they work the same way as a debuff to the enemy (like when you cast Protection from Evil, which effectively lowers your AC by 2 but mechanically adds a -2 thac0 debuff to evil attackers), more than a buff to your general AC.
I'm not sure how to test this though.
A relatively easy way to test it is to create a custom monk and custom archer and level up to L40. In this screenshot the buffed archer has a THAC0 of -32, which should easily hit the monk's AC of -23 on anything but a critical miss. However, the monk's bonus against missiles means that even this super archer is only hitting half the time.
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1085483#Comment_1085483
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1085622#Comment_1085622
SoD: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1085932#Comment_1085932
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1085972#Comment_1085972
BG2: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1086599#Comment_1086599
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1086608#Comment_1086608
It's been so long since I've done anything with this run. These screenshots have been sitting on my PC for six months and I'm tired of them taunting me. I kind of forget what exactly happened but let's see if I can piece it together.
Looks like the next major stop was the Planar Prison. Although I had access to the Nightwalker, I forgot I could summon it so the Warden was killed via mage fencing while my shadow minions held him off.
Now for the fight against the Shade Lord. Since I'm using EET and have redone my installation order, the Shade Lord is truly a force to be reckoned with now that he wields shadow magic.
With all the sidequests in Amn complete, I beat up Bodhi, taking advantage of how she teleports in starting off neutral to get free damage on her.
Skaarj has just entered Watcher's Keep level 3. Although Tahazzar will not attack me this time, I'll get revenge for my previous run where he insta-gibbed Krieg with a vorpal hit. Death Ward will prevent that from happening to Skaarj.
I am unsure when I'll return to this run.
Skaarj Sunspire - Fighter 25/Shadow Adept 21/Cleric 26
Stawk, ranger (Gate70)
Grond, berserker (Grond0)
We each take a deep breath, savouring the fresh(er) air of the Promenade. A few moments of this is enough to overwhelm our senses so we nip inside the circus tent to deal with a troublesome gnomish illusionist. Aerie tries to convince us of her worth but we're resolute in our go away attitude.
Gaelan Bayle wants to make a deal with us but requires cash in advance. Fine, we'll go plunder the Copper Coronet - even if Grond is unexpectedly spotted through a door that Stawk has just opened.
Suna Seni and her ambushers make an appearance but we're decently refreshed and even have enough inventory space to loot their corpses dry.
At about this time we realise we're both adding electrical damage on top of our attacks. That's quite effective and may last for some time (the +4 scimitar in particular will be hard to replace, the +2 hammer picked up at the start of the game is a decent enough weapon too).
Back in town we activate Neera's quest so we can never ever have to run into her again (this game) and test Grond against the Rune Assassins. He's dwarf enough to defeat them, just - having had to run for a moment or two until confident Stawk is supporting him.
Party inventory. Stawk has 103 kills, Grond 122.
Now role-playing an evil cleric of Helm seems tricky at first sight if you take into account Helm's dogma from the Faiths & Avatars source book: Never betray your trust. Be vigilant. Stand, wait, and watch carefully. Be fair and diligent in the conduct of your orders. Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young, and do not sacrifice them for others or yourself. Anticipate attacks and be ready. Know your foes. Care for your weapons so they may perform their duties when called upon. Careful planning always defeats rushed actions in the end. Always obey orders, providing those orders follow the dictates of Helm. Demonstrate excellence and purity of loyalty in your role as a guardian and protector.
Most of this fits a lawful evil character perfectly, but to be required to "Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young, and not sacrifice them for others or yourself" seems to make overtly evil behavior problematic. However, that line doesn't say "do not sacrifice them for themselves". This leaves room for Charname to make sacrifices for the victims' own sake, e.g. "to stop them from further suffering" or "to serve a higher purpose in their best interests" (as well as those of others).
I'm going for a well-meaning protector type who works for a just cause, but whose rigid views and ruthless methods make him evil. A self-proclaimed lawful good servant of Helm, my priest will seek out lawful/good companions rather than chaotic/evil ones, offering me a nice change from my last chaotic evil priestess and her party. The party will do mostly good deeds, except for when my cleric crosses the line. It would be interesting to see this character descend into tyranny as the game progresses, but without violating the tenets of the faith. We'll see if that works out.
In addition to the above-mentioned tenets of being (i) honorable, (ii) vigilant, (iii) dutiful, (iv) "protective", (v) cautious, and (vi) loyal, I'm adding one more RP restriction (based on the Faiths & Avatars source book): (vii) priests of Helm aren't allowed to command undead, only to turn them. This means (1) no casting of Animate Dead for my cleric, and (2) if the Turn Undead ability leads to undead creatures being charmed, they may only be cornered and slain or used against other still hostile undead creatures in the area, but never against other enemies. (I would have liked to have the turn/explode ability of good and neutral-aligned clerics but I don't think there's a mod for that.)
Setup: most notable mods that affect game play are SCS (all AI enhancements and tactical challenges, most game play tweaks, Insane difficulty), and CDTweaks (with several ease of life tweaks, and for BG2 some tweaks that make single classes a bit more powerful compared to the still stronger dual/multi-classes). The rest is mainly quests and NPC stuff.
This is my cleric, Eyulf:
Eyulf, LE Priest of Helm (1)
Recent times have been hectic. As a novice of Helm, mere days ago I was still a guardian priest in training for the Candlekeep library. I was to take charge of the citadel's defenses one day. But then my foster father Gorion had me join him on a trip away from home. Indeed it had been an unusual day, as I'd had to defend myself against two assassins that had somehow bypassed the protective wards and the guards.
A few hours into our journey disaster struck. Gorion and I were attacked by what seemed to be bandits. Their leader wanted Gorion to deliver me to him, but my foster father ordered me to run. I was used to following his orders and I didn't defy him then. In the distance I saw Gorion dispatch several of the bandits with his arcane magic until their leader struck him down! It is impossible for me at this point to put into words the pain of losing my foster father, the only family I knew, the man who had taken me in, raised me as his son, and financed my priestly training. Apart from my pain, Gorion's passing seems to have given me a new sense of purpose. My vocation is not to serve Helm in Candlekeep, where I'm no longer welcome. No, my calling is in the wider world outside the keep. The rampant unchecked crime that cost Gorion his life as it has taken and continues to take so many innocent lives is exactly what was to be expected in these lawless lands, but I shall make it my purpose not just to put Gorion's killers to justice, but to bring order and security and justice to the Sword Coast, with Helm's blessing.
The day after Gorion's fall I ran into my childhood friend Imoen (Swashbuckler), who had left the keep to join me and Gorion. She's a bit of a rascal, for as far as I know it was not agreed that she'd join Gorion and me. But with my foster father gone it made sense for us to travel together and look after one another. We interred Gorion and set out to the Friendly Arm Inn to meet Gorion's friends Khalid and Jaheira, which had been his last instruction for me. Along the way we met two travelers, a human mage named Xzar and a halfling rogue by the name of Montaron, who joined us.
We killed some gibberlings and an ogre but our journey was otherwise uneventful, until we reached the inn that is. The wizard Tarnesh awaited us there, and he attacked me and my companions. Xzar, Imoen and I injured him from afar and Montaron stabbed him in the back, but it wasn't enough to kill him. He hit all of us with a Sleep spell, then panicked as a result of his injuries and went berserk, slaying Montaron. He then ran off and when he regained his composure he killed Xzar too. Surely he would have dealt with Imoen and me as well, had he seen us, but apparently his terror had made him all but forget about us. Imoen hid in shadows and fatally struck him with an arrow.
Sadly it didn't take long for Ajantis and me to clash. He may be stronger and more experienced than me but I'm less certain about his mental faculty. One moment he would pledge his sword to my cause,
Before we'd enter the mines we returned north to finish some of our quests, and to cull the ankheg population north of the FAI, relying on Branwen's Command spells and mine. We also solved a dispute between three fishermen and a young priestess. We had proof that the men had killed the girl's mother and stolen a ritual bowl but we were unable to put the men to justice. They had fled.
Another conflict with my fellow servant of Helm didn't take long to occur in spite of all our good deeds and our excellent reputation.
Party:
- Eyulf, Priest of Helm, lvl 3, * hammers, * slings, 18 kills (ankheg)
- Imoen, Swashbuckler, lvl 3, * short swords, * shortbows, 9 kills (ankheg)
- Khalid, Fighter/Mage, lvl 3/2, ** bastard swords, ** longbows, * katana, 14 kills (ankheg)
- Jaheira, Fighter/Druid, lvl 3/3, ** clubs, ** slings, * staves, 5 kills (ankheg)
- Ajantis, Cavalier, lvl 3, ** longswords, ** axes, * TWS, 4 kills (ankheg)
- Branwen, Battleguard of Tempus, lvl 3, * hammers, * slings, 1 kill (zombie)
Edited for typos.
Corebard - human bard, protagonist (Corey_Russell)
Ubil - human cavalier (Gate70)
Highway - dwarven kensai ( Grond0)
When we last heard of our protagonists, they were in front of the Duchal Palace. Group haste and slow carried the day. The maze went well, despite no thief in the party. We went around the Undercity Party and avoided them.
It took a while, but eventually Highway managed to pull Sarevok. We also got Semaj and Tazok, and then Angelo joined the fun. However, by this point, Sarevok had taken heavy damage, and was in fact killed by Angelo's arrows! Good thing, as Highway and Ubil were also near death at the time.
The party then made their way though Irenicus' dungeon. No real problems here. Ubil's immunity to poison was quite helpful on a number of traps. Minor problem was we lost the +1 bastard sword when we rested, as no one bothered to pick it up, and Corey_Russell has the rest on heal option enabled, which meant POOF! to the sword.
As for the vampire, Ulvaryl, she fell quickly, in part because of a flame arrow from Corebard. Ubil has protected the party with resist fear, so the mage was no threat and she fell quickly.
We then solved the circus problem. A few shadows were no match for the party, and neither was the gnome who was causing so much trouble. With the human influence ring for Corebard, entire party now has good CHA.
We then headed to the Tavern, though only to rest for a moment, then headed to Docks to pick up full plate for Ubil from Officer Dirth. We then came back and freed Hendak.
We then headed to Watcher's Keep to get the potion bag. We ran into the Suna Seni ambush, the mage fell fast thanks to Corebard's MMM's - the rest of the enemies then didn't stand a chance. Once we got the potion bag, Highway was disappointed that we didn't venture into the keep and encounter vampiric wraiths.
We then headed into the Copper Coronet sewers - some initial summons distracted the hobgoblins, allowing the party to wipe those hobgoblins out. The other group of kobolds didn't do much better. We carefully skirted the petrification trap. Highway appreciated the upgraded two-hand sword.
While here, decided to venture into the moored ship. Corebard took a lot of damage and had to run around, but an initial glitterdust helped keep the enemies manage-able. Success! Though we all took some good damage. Trolls of course taken down by fire arrows from Corebard (the other party members can't use a bow). For the last group, we didn't have much, but decided to risk the fight anyways - success again! But party badly damaged. The poision trap seemed unwise (at least for Highway and Corebard), so Corebard had the group go the long way back to the Copper Coronet.
By now, Corebard was burning a hole in his pocket, and he really wanted the AC 3 bracers from Ribald now that they had money. We had about 5 minutes left, and Gate70 suggested we do Galen Bayle as the last task of the session. Sold a few heal potions to get our 15k. We reported to Galen Bayle, went to the edge of the map, and saved here.
D'Arnise Keep will be our next target next session.
Cedlin the Shapeshifter completed most of BG:EE only to fall at a game of chess when he steps forward instead of casting a spell - attracting the ire of the few remaining opponents.
Caer the Necromancer decided to not do the TotSC expansion and reached Sarevok. His party almost finished off Semaj when Angelo decided to photobomb everyone and rescue his mage buddy. Potions of invisibility failed to help many party members, with Caer and Tiax being the lucky ones. Caer tried to return the favour with oils of fiery burning and potions of explosions from out of sight but Angelo proved to be both mostly resistant to fire and keen to engage. Caer evaded him only for Sarevok to hunt him down with no remaining invisibility. Tiax survived obviously.
Before
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1116893/#Comment_1116893
Barb started his SoD campaign in a dungeon. As an chaotic good kind of guy, he had to face the campaign alone - bar the beginning and the very end.
The plan was the same as all my solo runs. Gear up and get some xp fast, and avoid all the high risk encounters you can. The difficulty slider is set on insane, and since the difficulty slider actually means something in SoD, we are bound for a bumpy ride.
But let’s enjoy the company and begin the trek in a heavily trapped dungeon with loads of undead. With 2 thieves and 6 scrolls of undead this is actually a small feat.
In BG city Barb did the quests and set out.
The first map has some nice quests that gives both xp and some gold. Barb does all the quests and kills all he can.
The warrens of the undead, yields loads of xp. With protection from undead it’s not that big a deal.. Being stingy with the scrolls and potions (for no good reason), Coldheart reasurected and caught Barb with a timestop. Luckily Barb saved against the spells and shrugged off the damage. Since Coldheart can’t save against the secret revealed, the match ended in Barbs favour - again.
Advancing rapidly towards the xp cap, Barb rushed for the parley at the first bridge and then for the temple of Bhaal. All the cultist where done in first, and then Ziatar. Barb reached the xp cap doing so.
The Neolithid proved quite the task, since it wouldn’t come out and be killed.. Barb didn’t dare move on before it was done in, so a waiting game ensued. Every time the flying swords where summoned Barb fled into another room, and the Neolithid was manifest for a second. In the end it fell, but it sure took a while. Getting the ward stone, was the real prize in the temple any way, and once secured Barb fled the scene.
In Bridgefort a fort was surrendered and a crucial - and perhaps the most crucial - bottle neck was nigh. The Bridgefort bridge with insane difficulty!! After my latest runs ran into some problems with the fight, I had some tests done with and old save game with my last charname. Alone all the fighting scenarios would go sour. The only chance you have as a solo character, is killing the mage before the portal opens.. Barb wouldn’t be expected do that alone...
But then it struck me, last time I dragged the summons from the portal into the fort with my NPC’s. I finally realised that I needed help for the fight, and loads of it. Time to use the nymph cloak.
I charmed all the flaming fists, and tried to scout out some more. I settled for two hobgoblin archers and a bear, they kick ass but I couldn’t manage to charm more than the two hobgoblins (they start out hostile so charming them turns them on each other).
Barb gathered his bridge saving posse, and advanced. The mage being the first and only priority. I guess preparation and research saved the day, since the mage was shot down before the portal was opened. The rest of the crew fell shortly after - and the bridge was secure. I have had sleepless nights about that fight, but in the end we won the day - easily.
The final camp was now open. In the camp we did some questing for gear and brought out the genie vendor. I forgot who had ordered the lucky boots (+3 saves for dwarves), so I held on to those for the rest of the campaign... my bad.
The next crucial fight is the cyclops fight just outside the underground river. I buffed for hours for the fight, and brought out a stone golem (the stone ally figurine). The cyclops didn’t even have time to respond to my onslaught, since a lucky 60 damage critical hit took out his spunk. Barb could mob up the vanguard before the rest of the crusaders behind in the fortress charged. A much easier win than expected - but with buffs and planning most work out I guess...
In the underground river Barb did only the necessary, and ran to Hephernan. The fights is easy under a protection from magic. But it has to be completed before Hephernan can get help. Barb did his best, got Hephernan (making him flee at least) and fled the scene. A lot of potions where needed before he could flee the castle since the mages and priests kept dispelling his illusions. But in the end he got out.
Back at the camp, Barb did the parley. Buffing to the max at the dead mans pass (travel time 0). The first wave died to Barb exploding arrows, Barb taking zero damage. The second wave met the same fate, but since Barbs buffs where removed, some damage was taken...
The last wave and the final “all out assault” met its fate the same way. Drinking from Durlags goblet ensured Barb was alive and exploding arrows ensured the win. Time for the siege to move forward.
En route to Avernus we had a tete a tete with an angel. And the rest of the trip down to Avernus was equally effortless... The elevator ride and the pree buffing saw Barbs HP reaching 510 (buffed with potions of heroism).
In Avernus, Barb the gentleman let Caelar eat the dispel, and then took on Belhifet. But since Caelar is chaotic good, Barb took her in. Under invisibility she buffed and received gear from Barb (bracers, rings, amulets and such - she can’t wear everything since some of her slots are vacated, but she can be heavily buffed).
The gruesome twosome then took on the demons. Belhifet was badly damaged when Caelar joined the fray and the win was easy enough thanks to the excessive buffing. The buffed Caelar did her part
Barb will go to BG2:ee against all odds and much to my surprise. Not that I didn’t believe a dwarven barbarian with no scruples wouldn’t do well, but I didn’t think I could manage it. But luck was on my side in the end.
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1085483#Comment_1085483
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1085622#Comment_1085622
SoD: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1085932#Comment_1085932
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1085972#Comment_1085972
BG2: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1086599#Comment_1086599
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1086608#Comment_1086608
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1118282#Comment_1118282
Watcher's Keep level 3. I indeed get revenge on Tahazzar though its the Nightwalker that gets the last hit.
Saladrex is dragon #4 on the chopping block. He even manages to kill the Nightwalker in a straight-up slugfest! Merciless Blizzard takes its toll on him so I finish him off with Nightsinger's Tithe. Shar shall be pleased by this sacrifice.
Nothing interesting happened fighting the illithid and githyanki, nor Rock, Garock, or Carston (who was sacrificed to Shar immediately following his release). Time for the challenges of Watcher's Keep 4. Dragon #5 is easily killed despite its two castings of heal. Bitter Cone of Cold did a whopping 200+ damage to it since that spell does damage based on targets' max HP, so this spell would be good to use in LoB mode. It's controlled chaos on the orc endurance test - Merciless Blizzard, Storm of Vengeance, Nightfall, Negative Energy Burst... I should use Nightfall more often. Its diameter is massive. Its the purple rain.
I have a death wish so let's do something incredibly stupid: fight all 3 groups of seal guardians at once!
Now it's Big D's turn. He is upset that the Nightwalker, a fellow demon, is fighting him and tries to dominate it to no effect since its immune. A casting of Darkbolt cuts Demo's HP in half and nullifies his magic resistance, causing Merciless Blizzard to slow him and it begins dealing increasing damage thanks to its cold resistance reduction each round.
The Vigil Knights are slaughtered with Relentless Assault and tons of AoE effects. Brother Pol is the last one standing and gets sacrificed to Shar. I'm sure She'll be even more pleased to receive a faithful of Helm.
That's everything. Onto Spellhold and the Underdark.
Skaarj Sunspire - Fighter 29/Shadow Adept 24/Cleric 31