With no worries about taking damage, I whipped through the SoD dungeon using PfU. A couple of dispelling arrows ripped through Korlasz's defenses and she attempted to surrender, but was shot down before she could escape.
Baldur's Gate was just a brief stop to acquire more equipment before heading out in search of the Crusade. I hid behind the tent to avoid combat at the bridge before sneaking through the Troll Claw Woods on the way to the Forest of Wyrms. In the temple, rather than use fireballs from out of sight, Ziatar was webbed and stunned.
A few potions, including absorption, allowed me to melee the Neothelid.
Darts then stunned Akanna and her Aerial Servants.
Morentherene then got a dagger through the heart on the way out.
At Boareskyr Bridge Vichand was killed for his scroll before I surrendered the fort. The ring of energy disrupted the first attempted spell from the mage on the bridge and he was dispelled and shot down before he could try any more.
After checking in at the Coalition Camp I sneaked through Dead Man's Pass to rescue Skie at the Castle. Then it was on to the Underground River to place some Bwoosh and poison the Crusaders' supplies before running away invisibly.
Back at the Camp, 4 APR of exploding arrows saw all the invading waves go down in seconds.
Moving on to the siege, I went straight to find Ashatiel and a couple of darts spelled his doom.
Inside the castle I picked up the lower resistance scroll, but couldn't cast 5th level spells anyway - even after finally remembering to level up here. I ran through the first hellish area before clearing a first group of devils with more exploding arrows - even though the fire damage did nothing, their missile damage also applies to everyone affected by the explosion.
Thrix's summons fared no better and I moved on to the Hellevator. After resting and buffing up, the ride to the top was only briefly interrupted by enemy appearances.
I used several potions of power during the 6 rounds or so it then took to reach the top. I recruited Caelar, but there was no need to rely on her skills with this character and Caelar was allowed to die before I turned on to Belhifet.
I timed the fight from the moment I first attacked Belhifet, after Caelar's death - 35 seconds were required to finish him off, with no action taken by me other than renewing the attack after he went invisible.
A few more minutes spent running through the epilogue took me to just under 2 hours to complete SoD, without trying to be quick. Apart from the shorter nature of the game, that reflects I spent very little time on side quests there - unlike in BGEE.
When starting in BG2EE I forgot I was supposed to be posting on the run - hence I took no screenshots while going through the dungeon, doing the circus, killing all the Cowled Wizards so they wouldn't object to my using magic and clearing the first floor of Watcher's Keep. That was all easy enough, despite the presence of vampiric wraiths at the Keep - my skeleton warriors did a good job in blocking up the entrance long enough to kill those.
The Copper Coronet provided me with a shortbow upgrade. With the ability to disarm traps the sewers didn't take long. I was also being a bit more free with use of items than usual and a charge of a cloudkill wand meant no need to think about resting prior to doing the Slaver Wizards.
Another quick and easy area was the Graveyard, using PfU and Azuredge - even the Crypt King's immunity to missile damage didn't help him against the insta-kill effect there. Downstairs, more undead were killed before the scroll ran out, while Pai'Na and lots of her spider friends got their comeuppance.
Invisibility made a couple of ambushes simple and I took Renfeld back to the Docks. Pai'Na and Sanasha have no way of dealing with improved invisibility so quickly became further victims. Summons then killed the local pirates before I looted the harpers.
I went to get the silver pantaloons, but then decided I should give some thought to improving indifferent saving throws after having to use an invisibility potion when Tanova and her vampire appeared to ambush Sansuki. However, when I went to pay Gaelan Bayle he said I had already paid and should use the key. I didn't have the key and initially wondered if I had in fact forgotten I'd paid and lost the key. Checking the quest record though that did not say the fee had been paid, but was still asking for 20k gold. I was able to confirm this was a bug as the journal showed I was in chapter 3 and there was an automatic save made at the start of that chapter - but there was still no key in my inventory then. Even for clear bugs though I don't like reloading or altering parameters and I decided to end the run there.
Journal of Nigel de Naseby
At the carnival we watched "The Great Gazib's" show a number of times.
However, his exploding ogre got riled and we were forced to kill him.
We tried to enlist the Great Gazib's help by charming him, but he saved against our spell.
In Beregost we came upon Neera and helped her against the red wizards. After killing a few ankheg to pay for needed equipment we helped Neera by going to Adoy's enclave.
We got the belt for Neera. However both she and Seductra got killed fighting the red wizards. After raising them we dropped her off despite the fact that she liked me.
The Nashkel Mines proved to be easy, even Mulahey not causing any problems.
We escorted Xan out of the mines and once he was safely out we bid him farewell.
We used web/fireball to kill Lamalha and her cohorts, killed some ankheg and then a Revenant.
Ghasts and Narcillicus were the next to fall.
At Nashkel Oublek's help was enlisted against Nimbul. He died a hero's death which is perhaps more than he deserved.
Whilst Oublek may have taken the brunt of Nimbul's attack, Schune was also badly hurt. We picked up a lot of gold and two emeralds from Oublek's body.
We helped Viconia on the way to the bandit camp whereupon she joined us. However when we discovered her evil nature we asked her to leave the party. She was extremely happy to do so.
After visiting the camp and pretending to be bandits we killed Deke and friends on the way to Beregost where we killed Tranzig.
The Bandit Camp proved to be easy, even Taurgosz.
and so did the Cloakwood Mines probably due to doing the harder areas before going there.
After killing Davaeorn, we returned upstairs to aquire a +1 katana.
We handed over the key and proceeded to Baldur's Gate where we found a tome which helped Percy's dexterity.
We were attacked by larze who hurt me badly before he fell.
Marek poisoned me and died for his temerity.
We then raided Razemith's Tower. The ghasts killed Percy before dying themselves. We raised him and then cleared the tower. He made the mistake of wearing leathers and not plate. He could always have changed into leather at the top.
Jeanluc and his band of FALLEN paladins (and Imoen) Update
Jeanluc, Heather, April, Forrest - human fallen paladins
Keldorn - human inquisitor
Imoen - human thief/mage
The party did very well in the Underdark. However, we came unstuck when encountering the Githyanki in Waukeen's Promenade. They confused a party member and it looks like before the confusion could be dispelled they must have attacked a commoner - in the ensuing commotion our reputation became 3 and the MP paladins all became FALLEN! Just as bad, bounty hunters came after us and killed two of us! Despite being fallen, we were able to fight them off. We immediately donated to the temple to raise our rep to 9 - no more bounty hunters.
Unfortunately, we have already done Windspear Hills and the Paladin Stronghold so cannot remove the fallen status. Still, we press on. We engaged Thaxxy and despite being fallen, we were able to defeat the dragon.
Bodhi is next...in case some of you not aware, basically a fallen paladin is an inferior fighter. No spells, no special abilities, etc. Weapons, armor and potions is about all we got. We do have excellent weapons and armor, we'll have to see if that will be enough...
Ouch. That's not the only way that encounter can tank your reputation, too. I recall one time when Kruin cast a lightning bolt at a party member wearing the cloak of reflection... the bounces killed multiple commoners, and the kills were charged against the cloak wearer. Such inconsiderate folk, attacking you in the open where anyone could get hurt.
@jmerry actually one of my party members was wearing the cloak of reflection - and I do believe a lightning bolt got fired off and I think it did hit commoners - that could be exactly what happened.
Found the most intriguing little bug related to my fallen paladins - even though I cannot manually cast any spells, and also even though I cannot un-memorize spells either as the divine spell button doesn't show me anything, the AI WILL cast my paladin spells in combat!!! While paladin spells are pretty weak, so doesn't really make much difference in the long run, this is a rather curious bug.
Dorn loathed Angmar with a searing passion. He hated him because he spoke down to him or ignored him altogether - except when the fighting started. But he respected Angmar also . . . and was jealous of him. Best he could figure, Talos the Storm Lord granted some of his abilities to his clerics and warriors. Angmar had a Shocking Grasp and recently Called Lightning down on a Bounty Hunter in Nashkel. They were both Black Guards so Dorn knew those abilities well and they did not include electricity, so what was it if not Talos? The Eye of Gruumsh did not even seem to notice Dorn or hear his prayers, much less grant him divine abilities. Another reason to hate Angmar.
Angmar was a coward too. Dorn took note when Angmar avoided the Nashkel Mines after reconnoitering the area around the caves. In battle, he never put himself up front. Sure, he would cast spells from a distance, but he only entered the melee when the outcome was already decided. Dorn begrudgingly respected that in Angmar. He wished he possessed an aura that would get his retainers to do his fighting for him. But, then again, it made him envious – he did not like being second to anyone.
Angmar never tired either, always driving on hours after the entire group had reached exhaustion. Their requests to set up camp or find an inn fell on deaf ears. Angmar seemed to get fiendish pleasure from hearing their groans. Dorn tried to play it off, trying to get his leader to halt because he was exhausted - it never worked. Despite it all, Dorn felt at home in this group. They were thoroughly evil: a heartless Berserker, a Drow Assassin, a Rakshasa Ranger, a Dragon Disciple with Red Dragon’s breath weapon, a Tiefling Black Guard of Talos and a Half-Orc Black Guard of Gruumsh. They were truly despicable and Dorn liked that.
WATCH OUT FOR FRIENDLY FIRE WHEN YOU HAVE A RED DRAGON DISCIPLE IN YOUR PARTY
In the past 223 days, they force marched to the Nashkel Mines and Gibberling Mountains, through the Fire Leaf Forest and Dryad Falls, assaulted the Gnoll Stronghold, traveled to Bear River, visited the Nashkel Carnival and then pushed east to the Valley of the Tombs, before finally returning and descending into the Nashkel Mines. At some point, they earned the ire of all Nashkel and could not return without being attacked on sight by Amnian Soldiers, so they had to use Beregost to resupply and obtain temple services. Once, Angmar tried slipping into the Temple of Helm in Nashkel – Healing Potions were in great demand. The foray was not successful and they were attacked not only by soldiers but by a Bounty Hunter who they took down in the street. Dorm looked with particular disdain on Kelddath Ormlyr who he knew to be an avaricious, hypocrite – as long as you have gold he is more than willing to serve you no matter who you are, even if you are as despised as Angmar seems to be. Although tiresome, his time with Angmar was delightfully fulfilling at times. Dorn took malevolent pleasure in slaughtering a Paladin and a sculptor near the Nashkel Mines - the two emeralds were a bonus. He was with Angmar when Angmar executed a couple of Bards in Beregost and he relished the experience of cutting down a lone Flaming Fist in the Gibberling Mountains. The list of corpses was long, including a Half-Orc Cleric of Cyric at the bottom of the Nashkel Mines. Dorn had no reservations about killing another Half-Orc, none whatsoever.
PARTY INFORMATION
ORDER OF MARCH: Shar-teel (point), Dorn, Verr’Sza, Angmar (leader), Vynd (stealth, traps, assassins), Flara (arcane support)
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE (ordered alphabetically by value): (Gold earned = ~8045 - Current purse = 13466)
Armor & Weapons: Blessed Mail +2, Minotaur Axe +2, Studded Leather +2 (Telbar’s Studded Leather +2), Short Sword +2, Leather +2, Full Plate +1 (Fallorain’s Plate +1), Brage’s Sword +1, Chain Mail +1, Flail +1 (3), Halberd +1, Large Shield +1, Long Swords +1 (2), Mace +1, Medium Shield +1, Studded Leather +1 (2), Quarter Staff +1, Scimitar +1, Short Sword +1 (2), Small Shield +1, Wakizashi +1, Amulet of Spell Warding, Gauntlet of Dexterity, Bracers of Archery, Ankheg Shell, Knaves Robe, Mage Robe of Electrical Resistance, Short Bow of Streaming Energy, Travelers Robe, Plate Mail (3), Splint Mail (3), Composite Long Bows (6), Two-Handed Swords (5), Long Bows (2), Bandit Scalps (3), Bastard Swords (17), Wakizashi, Studded Leather (10), Nome Stikkah (6), Short Bows (50), Light Crossbows (4), Long Swords (7), Halberds (50), Short Swords (253), Medium Shields (10), Battle Axes (9), Dagger, Flaming Fist Helmet, Helmets (11), Leather (20), Mace, Morning Stars (4), Skulls (12), Small Shields (2), Spear, Warhammer,
Gems/Jewelry: Ring of Sune, Ring of the Halberd Chanter, Emeralds (2), Pearl Necklace, Mithral Rings (2), Ring of Infravision, Sphene Gems (2), Flamedance Ring, Angel Skin Rings (2), Jade Rings (6), Bloodstone Ring, Onyx Ring, Tiger Cowrie Necklace, Moonstone Gems (2), Zircon Gems (2), Agni Mani Necklaces (6), Lol Gem, Jasper Gems (8), Andar Gems (14), Bluestone Necklaces (12), Sunstone Gems (18), Lynx Eye Gems (11), Greenstone Rings (6), Silver Necklaces (2), Silver Rings (2),
Potions: Greater Healing, Fire Giant Strength, Frost Giant Strength, Hill Giant Strength, Invulnerability, Power, Oil of Fiery Burning, Heroism (2), Healing, Heroism, Antidote, Invisibility, Stone Form, Insulation, Cold Resistance, Fire Resistance, Violet Potion, Red Potion
Scrolls: Flame Strike, Lightning Bolt, Web, Magic Missile (2), Stinking Cloud, Detect Invisibility, Chromatic Orb, Protection from Petrification (2), Identify (2), Stone to Flesh, Burning Hands (2), Chill Touch, Shield, Sleep, Color Spray (5), Larloch’s Minor Drain, Armor (4), Protection from Cold, Find Familiar, Infravision
Wands: Magic Missiles, Monster Summoning, Sleep
Misc & Artifacts: Amulet of Spell Warding, Gauntlet of Dexterity, Tome of Leadership and Influence, Kozah statue, Book of Living Tales, Mulahey’s Cyric Holy Symbol
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Beregost, High Hedge, Temple resting, recuperating, resupplying
NEXT STEPS: Archaeological Site, Fisherman’s Lake, North Nashkel Road, Lonely Peaks
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 4 – Dispised: -2 enlisted Dorn, +2 Temple of the Morning, -2 enlisted Verr’Sza)
Angmar: CE Anti-Paladin (Black Guard of Talos)/4 (HP 33 ); Armor: Full Plate +1 (Fallorain’s Plate +1), Gauntlets of Dexterity, Amulet of Spell Warding, Boots of Avoidance (Senses of the Cat); Weapons: Spear**, Flail** (Two-Handed Weapon Style*); Items: Ring of Human Influence; Special Abilities: Absorb Health, Aura of Despair, Drain Life, Poison Weapon, Shocking Grasp; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Dorn: NE Paladin (Black Guard of Grumsh)/4 (HP 30); Armor: Blessed Mail +2, Ring of Protection +1, Boots of Grounding (Tolos’s Gift); Weapons: Two-Handed Sword +1 (Rancor)**, Mace +1* (Two-Handed Weapon Style**, Mace/Morning Star*); Items: None; Special Abilities: Absord Health, Aura of Despair, Poison Weapon; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Shar-teel: CE Fighter (Berserker)/4 (HP 30 ); Armor: Blessed Mail +2, Courier’s Boots; Weapons: Long Sword +1**, Long Sword +1**, (Dagger*, Two-Weapon Style**); Items: None; Special Abilities: Berserkers Rage; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Verr’Sza: CE Nazlharune Ranger/4 (HP 32 ); Armor: Chain Mail of Transgression; Weapons: Ninjato**, Short Sword +1**, Dagger** (Two-Weapon Style**, Katana/Wakizashi*); Items: None; Special Abilities: Claws, Shapeshift Human Form, Set Snare;
Spells: Blindness, Larloch’s Minor Drain, Reflected Image; Skills; MS53, HS58, ST60; High-Level Abilities: None
Vynd: NE Thief (Drow Assassin)/4 (HP 24 ); Armor: Studded Leather +2 (Telbar’s Studded Leather +2); Weapons: Short Sword +1*, Darts of Acid +1* w/ Bracers of Archery (Long Sword*); Items: None; Special Abilities: Poison Weapon (2), Set Snare (2); Spells: None; Skills; OL25, FT15, PP35, MS55, HS55, DI10, ST35, BSx3; High-Level Abilities: None
Flara: CN Dragon Disciple/3 (HP 20); Armor: Bracers of Defence AC8, Traveler’s Robe; Weapons: Dagger +2* (Heart of the Golem +2), Throwing Daggers*; Items: Wands of Magic Missile, Monster Summoning, Sleep; Special Abilities: Breath Weapon; High-Level Abilities: None; Skills; None; Spells: Burning Hands (4), Magic Missile (4), Shield (4)
MOD USED: Convenient Enhanced Edition NPCs v4.0, Ajantis BG1 v15, NPC Aura BG1, BG1 NPC Project v24-8, BG1 Romantic Encounters V4, BGEE NPC Tweaks, BG Quests and Encounters v22, Brage’s Redemption v4, Tweaks Anthology Beta 4, Deities of Faerun v1.9.7.6.1, Distinguishable Clubs, Divine Remix v8 Beta, NPC Drake, Dark Side of the Sword Coast v102, NPC Emily BG1, NPC Finch v4.0 Beta 7, NPC Gavin V14, NPC Glam Pack v3, I Hate Undead Kitpack v3.8
@CharlestonianTemplar I like the write-up. Where did you get the Dorn Portrait? It's pretty good. Not pretty and not good, but you know what I mean.
I think it is the one included in the latest version of the game if I am not mistaken. I don't have any portrait packs installed, so that is my assumption - although almost all of my NPCs have a different portrait than the usual, so I assume that's it.
Starting the session at the FAI, we elected to go north. As usual we briefly discussed taking on the ankhegs, but once more decided that way led madness and Kencore quickly activated his shield amulet and rushed to the attack before Siri's plaintive whining "what about a few sleep spells" could register. As long as the ankhegs stuck to missile attacks and Kencore could get close to them before they attacked, they needed a critical to hit - and they had a pretty limited chance to get those with Thwaka waiting in stealth to deliver devastating backstabs, while Siri watched for a chance to nip in with wand scorchers when a backstab was not fatal. Those tactics worked well and it didn't take long to clear the nest.
Having had one taste of how useful shield can be for a kensai, Kencore selected the next target as the sirines at the Lighthouse. The potion of clarity allowed him to get up close and personal while Thwaka nipped in and out with his backstabs.
Kencore added a potion of absorption for the golem cave to help melee those.
Back in Beregost a few items sitting in inventories were used to complete various quests. Karlat was standing in the way of going to find Perdue, so Thwaka lined him up for a backstab - but missed. Siri didn't fancy using a fire wand in the crowded inn, but after a moment's thought he remembered that he's learnt dire charm from the ankheg horde. Successfully charming Karlat he shifted his weapon of choice to fists and bent him over to expose his neck to a deadly Thwak .
A couple more reputation tasks maximised that and Siri spent a bit of time depleting Thalantyr's stock. Then it was on to Durlag's Tower, where more quick XP was on offer. Siri did now know skull trap, but chose to blind the battle horrors on the path - as everyone had 2-handed weapons that allowed us to attack the battle horrors from outside their sight range.
The battle horror on the wall looked like it might gain a victim when Kencore got surrounded by skeletons, but he was able to beat down one of them to create an exit path just in time.
He'd used the constitution tome, so now was able to regenerate - making it easier to get his health back - and that battle horror soon joined its compatriots. The doom guard on the wall at the other side of the Tower also caused more trouble than expected. It saved against blindness 4 times and Siri resorted to wand use there to finish it off (as an enchanter he can't use magic missiles, which would normally be an obvious tactic for a mage).
Upstairs, Riggilo accepted a lock of demon hair, before realizing it acted as another form of lock. On the roof, Siri used another new spell to protect Kencore from basilisks. He complained about them being perfect targets for Thwaka's backstabs, but in fact Kencore got the killing blow on 2 out of the 3.
Coming back in from the roof, Siri found himself with only 3 HPs left after being hit by the stun trap.
That's because he'd bought the Claw of Kazgaroth and equipped that, despite only having a constitution of 16 - dropping his HPs from 29 to 17. That may not seem to be a very wise thing to do, but for some reason Siri still can't see any problem, even after having read the tome from the Tower ...
Kencore was keen to find some more sirines to play with. There were no more potions of clarity for the moment, but Siri had bought a potion of magic blocking at High Hedge and that allowed Kencore a few rounds to mix it up with the sirines - and ignore the skull traps being lobbed in from a distance.
With levels coming along nicely, we decided it was time to hit the Nashkel Mine. After a quick trip through there a brief consultation about how to deal with Mulahey confirmed that none of us could cast silence. However, Thwaka thought his backstab might offer an alternative route to silence the cleric. That wasn't entirely successful, but the damage was sufficient to throw Mulahey into a short-lived panic before he could summon any assistance.
Outside the mine, we owed the amazons a death or two for ending a recent run. A couple of skull traps killed the 2 ranged characters there, but the clerics saw a potential opportunity to strike back as Thwaka's stealth failed - but couldn't complete their spells before a 3rd skull landed.
Nimbul was backstabbed on the way to Beregost to find Tranzig. Kencore sloped off to the shop first, meaning he had to rely on the others to be patient until he arrived - fat chance of that . Siri started casting blinds, which would not make Tranzig hostile if they failed to take effect. He was a bit surprised that Thwaka allowed him to try even a couple of those, but eventually the assassin swung his staff (I guess he might have been coming out of stealth) and that was that.
The session ended with us starting to work through the hordes at the Bandit Camp, so we shouldn't find it difficult next time to remember what we were doing ...
Enchanter - L6, 17 HPs, 51 kills
Kensai - L7, 45 HPs, 97 kills, 0 deaths
Assassin - L6, 66 HPs, 98 kills, 0 deaths The trophy for most kills is being keenly contested this time. Thwaka won that session, but Kencore is grimly hanging on to the overall lead ...
Journal of Nigel de Naseby
Nigel died on Werewolf Island.
All the werewolves were killed except the one carrying tha baby that kept regenerating every time it was badly hurt.
I used the Sword of Balduran, Werebane and my mage used magical damage: Lightning Bolts, Magic Missiles, Otilukes Minute Missiles and the like and still he wouldn't fall.
Is there a bug in EE?
I don't think that I could have played it any better. None of my characters could be any more powerful as they were virtually at the level cap.
I even tried running and going to the south side of the island to recover but it followed me there and then back so never got a chance to rest!
I never had such a problem before EE.
Afterwards I realised that I could have used invisibility potions in order to rest, but that wouldn't have solved the problem that it wouldn't die.
Unless there is a bug and a bug fix is available it looks as if I'll have to avoid the island in future.
I reloaded and Ctrl Y does work but that seems to be the only way to kill it.
EDIT
I have discovered that it IS killable. I put Nigel in the middle of Cloudkill and then used a lot of wand of the Heavens spells and other spells and EVENTUALLY he panicked and later on died. It is far, far harder than pre-EE.
So it wasn't a bug, so game over. I don't think that future Charnames will be visiting the island though. It is way too dangerous for a no-reload game.
I have discovered that it IS killable. I put Nigel in the middle of Cloudkill and then used a lot of wand of the Heavens spells and other spells and EVENTUALLY he panicked and later on died. It is far, far harder than pre-EE.
So it wasn't a bug, so game over. I don't think that future Charnames will be visiting the island though. It is way too dangerous for a no-reload game.
It is ridiculously hard but I make myself go there. Once through there I am usually pretty sure of success. I usually don't even start posting my PC runs until AFTER The Isle of Balduran for the very reason you state. I use the notes I make to go back and do the write-ups.
Upstairs, Riggilo accepted a lock of demon hair, before realizing it acted as another form of lock.
It was actually nymph hair, not demon hair. I would have thought a demon and a nymph look quite a bit different. Do demons even have hair?
A succubus demon is nearly as comely as a nymph and has hair. The thing that gives the player a lock of her hair in Durlag's Tower to trick Riggilo is a succubus, if I am not mistaken.
So, after killing some sirines last session, we found ourselves in front of the golem cave asking "what could possibly go wrong?". With only Hubris having anything that could hurt them and Ill being very vulnerable to both traps and combat damage, the answer to that should have been fairly obvious. The position was quickly clarified when Hubris was clipped by a golem he was trying to shoot and hobbled away bleeding - and we gave up on that area for the time being.
Instead we headed for the mine. Progress through there was pretty untroubled, though Hubris did use potions to recover HPs after ploughing through the traps on the path. In the cave, Mulahey was kept quiet by 3 webs while he was shot down.
Outside the mine the amazons were also webbed, with follow-up blindness ensuring they caused no trouble.
Back in Nashkel, Ill was a bit lazy against Nimbul and only used a single web on him. A minimum damage magic missile allowed him to survive and he broke free from the web and ran in panic.
That could potentially have allowed Rasaad to get the kill, but we managed to circle round the inn and finish him off with another magic missile.
Hubris showed great faith in his companion in Beregost when allowing himself to be surrounded by spiders to provide a nice target for Ill's sleep.
After killing Tranzig, we stopped off at the FAI to grab the pantaloons before heading on to the Bandit Camp. Sleep and blindness proved pretty effective disablers on the way to find Taurgosz and we were able to clear the remaining path to the tent without requiring a rest.
Inside the tent, Hubris again set himself up as a target. He was humming quietly to himself while running round - the song providing effective protection against Venkt's horror spell. That allowed Ill the opportunity to try and blind Venkt - and he was eventually successful with that at the third attempt. The delay meant Hubris was hit by an acid arrow, but he had in the meantime managed to kill Raemon. Britik was then also blinded, leaving Hakt as the only active fighter. He managed to poison Hubris, but with only a weak solution and Hubris was able to ignore that while finishing the fight.
Heading south again, we stopped off to find the Doomsayer. He got accidentally activated when Ill tried to blind his worshipper. The intention had been to rest before attacking him and we had very little in the way of damaging spells available. However, Ill managed to blind him and Hubris used spin to good effect to get a fatal blow in.
After clearing the Cloudpeaks and getting to 20 reputation as a result, we did a bit of shopping - including greatly expanding our spell selections.
The final target for the session was a bunch of basilisks. Hubris provided protection against the gazes and we killed the southern group and started on the northern ones. With time running out on PfP though, we tried to rest before completing the job. One lot of intruding gnolls were run around and killed before some flinds interrupted our rest. In running those round, Ill strayed too far and activated one of the basilisks just to the north of the statue. PfP was still shown as active, but there was now a clear and present danger that would run out, so Ill moved behind Hubris in case of any little accidents. His single remaining blind failed to take, but the basilisk was taken down by direct damage. However, a post-mortem inquest revealed that Hubris had actually had to save against its gaze just before the end - coming out on top of a 50:50 chance there .
After killing one more lot of gnolls and eventually getting some beauty sleep, we webbed Mutamin and finished him off the instant he was shown as held.
Finally, we went to find Kirian's party. Her companions were all blinded before webs descended on her from both directions. She would have had to be very lucky to break free in time to survive that - and another blind eliminated even that sliver of hope.
I have discovered that it IS killable. I put Nigel in the middle of Cloudkill and then used a lot of wand of the Heavens spells and other spells and EVENTUALLY he panicked and later on died. It is far, far harder than pre-EE.
So it wasn't a bug, so game over. I don't think that future Charnames will be visiting the island though. It is way too dangerous for a no-reload game.
It is ridiculously hard but I make myself go there. Once through there I am usually pretty sure of success. I usually don't even start posting my PC runs until AFTER The Isle of Balduran for the very reason you state. I use the notes I make to go back and do the write-ups.
If I go back there, I will do it with a full party. Whilst it IS possible with four, it is not the sort of task to try with that number no-reload IMO.
Kalah guest at this point was super easy, got 20 reputation and we now again had 40k gold. Dalok's party was as easy with 3 Skelis, Clone and Deva doing the work from Farsight. Cernd vs Faldorn fight was pretty funny, neither could do pretty much nothing to the other. Greater Werewolf form provides high regeneration and we were ready with RoR's. But Cernd's Thac0 was so bad that he only hit with 20's. Cernd was charmed, then had a morale failure. But they continued after while, and after a long time, 20 Stoneskins and a Heal, Faldorn finally died. It took about 5 in-game hours. Then I did the rest of the easy guests at Trademeet.
In Amphitheater I silenced Quickblade and casually hacked him without retaliation. Got Oil of Speed and couple Invisibility potions. Same tactic against the Guard. With Summons we easily wasted Hammerfell's gang and got the map update. Dalton too was silenced out of sight and casually killed. Summoned help and wasted rest of the party. Only interesting thing in the loot was 3x Mirror Image ring. We advanced to Heretic Temple. Did the easy trials before leaving. Next WoW-loop pushed us to 20th level, and Lord got last 4th level spell slot. With 20/20 economy Garlena charges 4900 gold, and we spent couple wands before I got bored. Got 12 loops, and we got to level 21, with 0 Base Thac0 and Smite.
Back at De'Arsine, Tor'gal was lured away and ganged on. The fight with rest of his gang was much tougher, and we spent 7 RoR's. Also the Fallen Paladin's guest was incredibly easy at this point. Got nice set of potions, 6 Invisibilities, 4 Invulnerabilities, Oil of Speed and 2 Magic Shieldings. That also pushed Lord to level 22. We did the rest of the Paladin guest lines and we had money for two more WoW recharge's. And after using those, we got to level 23. This meant Lord could summons the best Skeleton Warriors.
Time to really test our mettle, against the Eight Statues at Watcher's Keep. Our summons ganged on the Cleric statue, where as Lord went hiding. Cleric got quickly killed, but Mages started rolling Time Stops, so it was time for also Lady to pull out. Our summons were quickly killed by Dark Planetar and host of spells. We waited the Planetar out, then baited the mages with couple Fire Elementals, and then we managed to separate them to across the rooms. One mage was alone, so we quickly ganged on him with GWW's and Critical Strikes. Without the other Mage in sight, we killed three Statues in a row, then the thief, then the Golem. The last Mage statue was still lurking somewhere. Deva soon found it, but the Mage still had nasty things and Imprisoned the Deva. My last Deva casting funnily failed because there can't be two Celestial's at the same time, even if Imprisoned. Started streaming Fire Elemental's, and they got repelled, Skull Traps, Wiltings etc. finally the Mage found us, and we started smacking it, and it was done. Went better than expected, usually needs some rests outside.
Second level of Watchers Keep was straightforward smacking with summons. With WoW Lord stoned the Chromatic Demon. We aren't going to tackle the 3rd level before ToB, because somebody needs to get evil to beat that place. We also now had 30k gold again, 11k after buying Defender of Easthaven. We used rest of the WoW, and got to level 25, and recharged RoR and WoW again. But we were again penniless.
Some small things, easily killed the Raksasha in the sewers, DigDag gang and Ruhk in the Firkraag dungeon. Samia was Silenced out of sight and casually hacked as she couldn't agro. And her gang was easily overrun, after the Mage was double GWW'd. And just like that we had 18k again. More diversion, as we went to government district, where Lord summoned the Cowled Wizards by casting Improved Invisibility from the Ring of Air Control on himself. The neutral guards casually killed them all if they didn't escape. Zallanora appeared and died soon after. This didn't net any xp, but we did get 10k gold. After using three more WoW's on Firkraag we almost got level 28, and finally it was time to say goodbuy. This left us 4M xp from top level, which we should get before the end of SoA.
Now for the second Planar commitment, the Planar Prison, which I'm always wary of. Took one Invulnerability and Speed for the landing, and after using couple GWW's and True Sight for the mages, rest were casually hacked, didn't need any RoR's. Apparently I could now rest in Planar Prison, which made rest of the place pretty casual summon spawning. We baited Warden's spells and contingencies including Dark Planetar. After this my 3x Skeli, Clone and Deva death squad supported by Lady attacked, and Warder was quickly killed. I was still wary of sending Lord ahead because I didn't see a Time Stop. We both made to level 28 and now had 27k gold.
Time to level Bodhi's Lair. Lady stayed back as Lord pushed onwards with PfU and MoD +2. After clearing the top level, we pushed downstairs, which was easily cleared. And back at the top again to kill Lassal. Bodhi was waited out, out of sight. After buying 80 Dispel Arrows, and picking our stuff, we were ready to go.
Brynnlaw's landing was cleared with three MoD +2 in about 10 seconds. For the next part I was really surprised to find a welcoming pirate party. And with no buffs, we needed 5 RoR's to stay alive. Another SCS update, and this was interesting change of pace. Perth was easily killed after True Sight and level skipping his PfMW and Absolute Immunity, we got Spell Turning from the book. In the dream Lord gave up some of his Wisdom he possessed. Got level 29 arriving at Irenicus dungeon, and it was basic smacking with summons. Lady also got the Boots of Speed. We were at level 30 facing Irenicus.
Irenicus was attacked from Farsight, but he had PfMW and Efreeti contingency when injured. He added Time Stop, but after that my summons killed his Efreeti's. He still had another PfMW, then Planetar and incredible amount of summons. We waited some of them out. Then we sent 4x Fire Elemental plus Deva party, and still Irenicus was summoning help. Finally the Deva was attacking Irenicus after everyone else was killed. But again Irenicus summoned more help and killed the Deva. We waited them summons out, again. Another 4x Fire Elemental Deva party in, and after they were all ganging on Irenicus, I used another Farsight to reveal him. And still, Irenicus was summoning help, ridiculous. Nevertheless they got him to near death and we ran to the next level. We bought Lonk the Sane off with 2k and released prisoners, and Irenicus surrendered as soon as we saw him. Escaped the place.
Selling finally my jewels and loot to the Shaguain merchant netted cool 130k gold. We cleared the place, and killed both the King and the Prince with no problems. In Underdark Deva got killing strike on the Lich. Balor was a lot tougher than anything else, and required couple RoR's. From Ust Natha Lady got her other weapon of choice, the Firetooth +3, allowing her to match Lord's 4,5 apr. First fight with Mindies, Invulnerability to -4 saves to avoid Psionic Maze. Triple GWW's and the fight was over in 4 rounds. Deirex was quickly killed with one PfU.
Mind Flayer dungeon was done without buffs to point of killing the Jailor. Then Lord drank one Invulnerability and we lured the single Mindie to open the door above. Woke the slaves and picked up the four Control Circlets. Time to buff out. Both drank 5x Mind Focusing and 3x Intelligence potions to about 40 INT and both put Girdle of Bluntness on and drank Potion of Absorption to -24/-25 AC vs Crushing. Invulnerabilities, Storm, Hardiness, Recitation and we pushed onwards. For the first party we wasted couple GWW's and Critical Strikes and 2 RoR's. No time to rest our laurels, and we pushed on. Next party was weak two Mindies. We summoned the death squad and lured the Mindies out from the Master Brain room, they were easily killed. Three triple GWW's and Master Brain was no more. At this point Lord and Lady both got to level 32. Lady still ran and quickly grabbed the Staff of Command, and we then escaped the place.
Sanctuary allowed us to exchange the eggs, and we betrayed the Drow, and escaped the place for good. Lord looted the Beholder dungeon with Sanctuary, without fighting anybody. Next was the dreaded 5 Demon Knights, which I'm always scared off. We buffed up and summoned death squad, and where as others kept company to the rest, Lady, Lord and Clone concentrated on the top right Demon Knight. As soon as they appeared we got dispelled. But no worries the Demon Knight was killed with triple GWW's in about round and half. We quickly picked up the loot and escaped without trying to fight the rest. The top right Demon Knight holds one of the best loots in the game, means to complete Crom Fayer and Soul Reaver +4, the best anti boss weapon. Then Adalon pawned the exit as we hid, and we escaped to the surface without fighting anyone, also picking up the Archers Eyes for the Lady.
Kruin was charmed with Staff of Command, and triple GWW'd in a round. His party didn't survive much longer. We had 170k gold so we went to Cromwell and built Shadow and Red Dragon Scales, Crom Fayer +5, Wave +4, Silver Sword +3 and Shortbow of Gesen. Lady now wielded her weapons of choice, Firetooth +3 on hand and Crom Fayer +5 off hand for 4,5 apr. We also bought Kachiko's Wachisaki +3 and Sling of Everard +5, Fortress Shield and bunch of potions, and still had 80k left. Time for Bodhi, and I think we've only skipped the Twisted Rune and Guarded Compound from SoA.
We asked all the help against Bodhi, and easily cleared upstairs with PfU and MoD +2. The fight against Bodhi though was bit of a mess. We started by casting PfU on Bodhi, but she still summoned a lot of help. Lady died, so I had to keep Drizz't alive with RoR. In the end two of us managed to kill Bodhi, had to spend three PfU's on the whole dungeon. Suldanesselar was passed invisible fighting nobody. Nizi was stoned second hit, and Rillifane cleansed the place. We also both ascended to final level 34.
Lord
** Flails
** Halberds (Solar)
** Long Swords (Ogremoch)
** Maces (Undead)
** Scimitars
** Two Handed Swords
*** Two Weapon Style
* Power Attack
******** Critical Strike
* Smite
* Whirdwind
*** Greater Whirlwind
** Hardiness
* Deva
Lady
** Daggers
** Longbows
** Shortbows
** Slings
** Two Handed Swords
** Warhammers
*** Two Weapon Style
* Power Attack
** Critical Strike
* Smite
* Whirdwind
********* Greater Whirlwind
** Hardiness
* Deva
At Tree of Life, we escaped Irenicus with Invisibility, and watched him summon help, which we just waited out. Then Lord baited True Sight, Time Stop, Balor and Djinni. Then stream of Fire Elementals depleted even further his spells and summons. After sending 5 Elementals, I summoned death squad and attacked full force, Jon was dead after round and half.
The first trial. Used Farsight, Oil of Speed and charmed Sarevok with the Control Circlet through his 100MR. He attack/followed us to the main area, where Lord took the evil route, and we killed him. Back in and out, pausing the game before both transitions. This way we got the Evil Tear, but Lord didn't get fallen, because the fall script didn't have time to execute. Lord put Carsomyr on, and activated the door three times with the STR tear. Result was 25 STR and evil alignment, which also meant we could wield both Carsomyr +5 and Soul Reaver +4, the good and evil. And who says Evil Cavalier isn't cannon? As somebody said previously, "We are the law!"
Second trial. Lord first Silenced the Genie from out of sight, the Charmed him with Staff of Command. We summoned everybody. But we couldn't talk to him, as I should've first waited his Silence out. Anyway we still had three Skelis as back up. Lord talked to the Genie and gave the Blackrazor +3 back, but we prevented the Genie casting the teleport spell by moving him. Then we ganged on him with GWW's. Lady Dispelled his PfMW and he was done a round after. We got the good tear, and more importantly Blackrazor +3, which is good kit against Ogremoch for fighter classes. We took the good path in Pride, Fear and Selfishness, Lord losing a DEX point and 2 hp in the process. In the end Lord decided to use the -2 Save tear twice to activate the end battle.
Time to face Irenicus one last time. We buffed up and summoned 5 minions, who kept enough company with the Slayer, so we could go hiding down below. Then we lured the first Balor on us, which already was tougher than most fights to this point, and who immediately Dispelled us. Lord spent all GWW's against it, where as Lady summoned some help and kept Lord alive with the RoR five times before it was down. With -8 vs Death Lord was safe from the Vorpal hits. Second Balor went somewhat smoother, Lady Dispelling its Stoneskins. Still we had already spent 11 RoR's and had only 7 hits left without destroying them. The two Glabrezus were easy with Lady's True Sight and we required no additional healing. Before confronting the Slayer we used Ring of Gaxx to restore our Health.
We then baited the Slayer with Fire Elemental, and it pulled contingency, Improved Alacrity and Dark Planetar first go. We continued sending Fire Elementals, and Slayer kept wasting spells PfMW's, Sequencers etc. But then he Horrored two Fire Elementals, which was inconvenient as they kept wandering around. But we avoided detection. Once the Slayer wasn't casting any spells, we made our move. Clone, Deva, Armor of Faith, Hardiness and we ganged on him. Apparently he was saving Time Stop for us, but it was quickly canceled. And the Slayer was pulverized after two rounds of GWW's and Critical Strikes.
Jeanluc and his band of fallen paladins and Imoen Update
Jeanluc, Heather, Forrest - fallen paladins
Keldorn - inquisitor
Mazzy - "fighter" (she's really a gnomish paladin)
Imoen - thief/mage
So the party defeats Bodhi once and for all rather easily. Next step was to make their way through Suldenesslar. The fallen paldins were able to defeat Nizi.
I usually deal with the Rakshashkas by the Temple of Rillifane with summons, but as paladins we have very few, and the few we did have were pretty weak as well. So we had to engage straight up - well, let's just say I see why I usually use summons here - April gets CHUNKED!
Tree of Life fight with Irenicus was a tough fight - but we do prevail!
We do the good routes in Hell, buff and have a fairly straightforward battle with Irenicus and defeat him once and for all - on to ToB!
Illsaera died quick - Gromnir didn't do much better. The undead guarding Nylee were difficult as we didn't have any Sunrays, not even via items (we couldn't get the helm of brilliance because people were hostile near the Adventure's Mart thanks to the disaster with the Silver Sword Githyanki). Making our way through Yaga's temple was very resource intensive, we rested quite a bit. But did make it through. Yaga himself died pretty quickly. 1st and 2nd pocket place challenges went pretty smooth.
The party did very well in Sendai's Lair. And even though Forrest got hit with a Harm, somehow no one got chunked, which is pretty common when battling Sendai for me.
Now for the key battle - Draconis. I have NEVER defeated Draconis in EE before now. I did a number of things differently this time around. For one, I fully charged all 3 RoR wands that we have. I also had my main character wear the shadow dragon armor (I often forget to do this), and also protected the rest of the party from acid via arcane spells. During the battle, I carefully watched the battle spam to see if we were damaging Draconis - once we were, then turned on the burst damage (GWW) - success!
Seems so strange that the one party I have that makes is past Draconis would be a party of fallen paladins!!
Seems so strange that the one party I have that makes is past Draconis would be a party of fallen paladins!!
Indeed, however you changed your approach with a few buffs and more importantly observing when he is vulnerable to then use GWW. I'd say he's more vulnerable to that than brute force (perhaps with a bit of roleplayed redemption).
I have discovered that it IS killable. I put Nigel in the middle of Cloudkill and then used a lot of wand of the Heavens spells and other spells and EVENTUALLY he panicked and later on died. It is far, far harder than pre-EE.
So it wasn't a bug, so game over. I don't think that future Charnames will be visiting the island though. It is way too dangerous for a no-reload game.
It is ridiculously hard but I make myself go there. Once through there I am usually pretty sure of success. I usually don't even start posting my PC runs until AFTER The Isle of Balduran for the very reason you state. I use the notes I make to go back and do the write-ups.
If I go back there, I will do it with a full party. Whilst it IS possible with four, it is not the sort of task to try with that number no-reload IMO.
Were you injuring it and it was healing (quite likely as Karoug has immense regeneration), or were you missing. Either way, from memory there is a cloud giant strength potion in one of the lower levels and if you use that plus an oil of speed with maybe a potion of heroism or similar the combat should be a lot easier. I have also found that sword + board pays in this combat (get AC to -8 or lower and he struggles to hit) while a two handed weapon or dual wielding is more likely to lead to a retreat.
(I usually have a low AC character draw their attention, and clear out his pack before having everybody focus on him as the remaining enemy)
Jeanluc and his band of fallen paladins - micro- update.
Well, we have defeated Abizigal. And it literally took all our resources, but we defeated Balthsazar as well. Ravager was extremely difficult (3 deaths) but we managed it. Only Melissan left! This is my first time encountering Melissan in EE in single player.
Thoughts about this run:
This is my very first no-reload with EE. While being fallen was a definite drawback, we didn't become fallen until we had almost finished SoA, so wasn't as bad as it could have been. We couldn't have done it without Keldorn and Imoen, however, both of them were a huge help this run. Mazzy's resist fear was cast all the time, and that was also helpful.
Run stats:
BG 1, BG2, ToB - unmodded, EE
No SoD
Core rules at all times
Jeanluc the Human Inquisitor (fallen)
What's Next:
Now that I got a party success, thinking about doing a solo. At the moment, inclined to do a solo fighter/thief. Will post once he's made good progress (assuming he does).
Comments
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1140948/#Comment_1140948
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1140962/#Comment_1140962
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1141031/#Comment_1141031
With no worries about taking damage, I whipped through the SoD dungeon using PfU. A couple of dispelling arrows ripped through Korlasz's defenses and she attempted to surrender, but was shot down before she could escape.
Baldur's Gate was just a brief stop to acquire more equipment before heading out in search of the Crusade. I hid behind the tent to avoid combat at the bridge before sneaking through the Troll Claw Woods on the way to the Forest of Wyrms. In the temple, rather than use fireballs from out of sight, Ziatar was webbed and stunned.
At Boareskyr Bridge Vichand was killed for his scroll before I surrendered the fort. The ring of energy disrupted the first attempted spell from the mage on the bridge and he was dispelled and shot down before he could try any more.
After checking in at the Coalition Camp I sneaked through Dead Man's Pass to rescue Skie at the Castle. Then it was on to the Underground River to place some Bwoosh and poison the Crusaders' supplies before running away invisibly.
Back at the Camp, 4 APR of exploding arrows saw all the invading waves go down in seconds.
Moving on to the siege, I went straight to find Ashatiel and a couple of darts spelled his doom.
Thrix's summons fared no better and I moved on to the Hellevator. After resting and buffing up, the ride to the top was only briefly interrupted by enemy appearances.
A few more minutes spent running through the epilogue took me to just under 2 hours to complete SoD, without trying to be quick. Apart from the shorter nature of the game, that reflects I spent very little time on side quests there - unlike in BGEE.
F8 / M9 / T0, 89 HPs, 503 kills
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1140948/#Comment_1140948
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1140962/#Comment_1140962
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1141031/#Comment_1141031
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1141035/#Comment_1141035
When starting in BG2EE I forgot I was supposed to be posting on the run - hence I took no screenshots while going through the dungeon, doing the circus, killing all the Cowled Wizards so they wouldn't object to my using magic and clearing the first floor of Watcher's Keep. That was all easy enough, despite the presence of vampiric wraiths at the Keep - my skeleton warriors did a good job in blocking up the entrance long enough to kill those.
The Copper Coronet provided me with a shortbow upgrade. With the ability to disarm traps the sewers didn't take long. I was also being a bit more free with use of items than usual and a charge of a cloudkill wand meant no need to think about resting prior to doing the Slaver Wizards.
Another quick and easy area was the Graveyard, using PfU and Azuredge - even the Crypt King's immunity to missile damage didn't help him against the insta-kill effect there. Downstairs, more undead were killed before the scroll ran out, while Pai'Na and lots of her spider friends got their comeuppance.
Invisibility made a couple of ambushes simple and I took Renfeld back to the Docks. Pai'Na and Sanasha have no way of dealing with improved invisibility so quickly became further victims. Summons then killed the local pirates before I looted the harpers.
I went to get the silver pantaloons, but then decided I should give some thought to improving indifferent saving throws after having to use an invisibility potion when Tanova and her vampire appeared to ambush Sansuki. However, when I went to pay Gaelan Bayle he said I had already paid and should use the key. I didn't have the key and initially wondered if I had in fact forgotten I'd paid and lost the key. Checking the quest record though that did not say the fee had been paid, but was still asking for 20k gold. I was able to confirm this was a bug as the journal showed I was in chapter 3 and there was an automatic save made at the start of that chapter - but there was still no key in my inventory then. Even for clear bugs though I don't like reloading or altering parameters and I decided to end the run there.
At the carnival we watched "The Great Gazib's" show a number of times.
However, his exploding ogre got riled and we were forced to kill him.
We tried to enlist the Great Gazib's help by charming him, but he saved against our spell.
The Nashkel Mines proved to be easy, even Mulahey not causing any problems.
We used web/fireball to kill Lamalha and her cohorts, killed some ankheg and then a Revenant.
Ghasts and Narcillicus were the next to fall.
At Nashkel Oublek's help was enlisted against Nimbul. He died a hero's death which is perhaps more than he deserved.
After visiting the camp and pretending to be bandits we killed Deke and friends on the way to Beregost where we killed Tranzig.
We were attacked by larze who hurt me badly before he fell.
Jeanluc, Heather, April, Forrest - human fallen paladins
Keldorn - human inquisitor
Imoen - human thief/mage
The party did very well in the Underdark. However, we came unstuck when encountering the Githyanki in Waukeen's Promenade. They confused a party member and it looks like before the confusion could be dispelled they must have attacked a commoner - in the ensuing commotion our reputation became 3 and the MP paladins all became FALLEN! Just as bad, bounty hunters came after us and killed two of us! Despite being fallen, we were able to fight them off. We immediately donated to the temple to raise our rep to 9 - no more bounty hunters.
Unfortunately, we have already done Windspear Hills and the Paladin Stronghold so cannot remove the fallen status. Still, we press on. We engaged Thaxxy and despite being fallen, we were able to defeat the dragon.
Bodhi is next...in case some of you not aware, basically a fallen paladin is an inferior fighter. No spells, no special abilities, etc. Weapons, armor and potions is about all we got. We do have excellent weapons and armor, we'll have to see if that will be enough...
Dorn loathed Angmar with a searing passion. He hated him because he spoke down to him or ignored him altogether - except when the fighting started. But he respected Angmar also . . . and was jealous of him. Best he could figure, Talos the Storm Lord granted some of his abilities to his clerics and warriors. Angmar had a Shocking Grasp and recently Called Lightning down on a Bounty Hunter in Nashkel. They were both Black Guards so Dorn knew those abilities well and they did not include electricity, so what was it if not Talos? The Eye of Gruumsh did not even seem to notice Dorn or hear his prayers, much less grant him divine abilities. Another reason to hate Angmar.
Angmar was a coward too. Dorn took note when Angmar avoided the Nashkel Mines after reconnoitering the area around the caves. In battle, he never put himself up front. Sure, he would cast spells from a distance, but he only entered the melee when the outcome was already decided. Dorn begrudgingly respected that in Angmar. He wished he possessed an aura that would get his retainers to do his fighting for him. But, then again, it made him envious – he did not like being second to anyone.
Angmar never tired either, always driving on hours after the entire group had reached exhaustion. Their requests to set up camp or find an inn fell on deaf ears. Angmar seemed to get fiendish pleasure from hearing their groans. Dorn tried to play it off, trying to get his leader to halt because he was exhausted - it never worked. Despite it all, Dorn felt at home in this group. They were thoroughly evil: a heartless Berserker, a Drow Assassin, a Rakshasa Ranger, a Dragon Disciple with Red Dragon’s breath weapon, a Tiefling Black Guard of Talos and a Half-Orc Black Guard of Gruumsh. They were truly despicable and Dorn liked that.
WATCH OUT FOR FRIENDLY FIRE WHEN YOU HAVE A RED DRAGON DISCIPLE IN YOUR PARTY
In the past 223 days, they force marched to the Nashkel Mines and Gibberling Mountains, through the Fire Leaf Forest and Dryad Falls, assaulted the Gnoll Stronghold, traveled to Bear River, visited the Nashkel Carnival and then pushed east to the Valley of the Tombs, before finally returning and descending into the Nashkel Mines. At some point, they earned the ire of all Nashkel and could not return without being attacked on sight by Amnian Soldiers, so they had to use Beregost to resupply and obtain temple services. Once, Angmar tried slipping into the Temple of Helm in Nashkel – Healing Potions were in great demand. The foray was not successful and they were attacked not only by soldiers but by a Bounty Hunter who they took down in the street. Dorm looked with particular disdain on Kelddath Ormlyr who he knew to be an avaricious, hypocrite – as long as you have gold he is more than willing to serve you no matter who you are, even if you are as despised as Angmar seems to be. Although tiresome, his time with Angmar was delightfully fulfilling at times. Dorn took malevolent pleasure in slaughtering a Paladin and a sculptor near the Nashkel Mines - the two emeralds were a bonus. He was with Angmar when Angmar executed a couple of Bards in Beregost and he relished the experience of cutting down a lone Flaming Fist in the Gibberling Mountains. The list of corpses was long, including a Half-Orc Cleric of Cyric at the bottom of the Nashkel Mines. Dorn had no reservations about killing another Half-Orc, none whatsoever.
PARTY INFORMATION
ORDER OF MARCH: Shar-teel (point), Dorn, Verr’Sza, Angmar (leader), Vynd (stealth, traps, assassins), Flara (arcane support)
MONSTERS DEFEATED (ordered alphabetically by value): Great Red Bear (4000 @ GS); Shantia (Cleric/5 @ 2500 @ NC); Mustard Jellies (2 @ 2000 @ VT); Narcillicus (Mage-Necromancer/7 @ 1400 @ VT); Lamahla (Cleric/5 @ 1200 @ VT); Kryll (Mage-Necromancer/5 @ 1000 @ GM); Dryad of the Cloudpeaks (Fairy @ 975 @ DF); Tranzig (Mage-Enchanter/6 @ 975 @ Bg); Borda (Mage/Thief//6/7 @ 900 @ XV); Polar Bear (1/1 900 @ BR/RE); Silke (Bard/5 @ 900 @ Bg); Zeela (Cleric/6 @ 900 @ VT); Zordral (Mage-Conjuror/6 @ 900 @ NC); Mulahey (Cleric/5 @ 750 @ NM); Cave Bear (2/1 @ 650 @ RE/XV); Ghasts (2/3 @ 650 @ RE/VT); Marl (Fighter/4 @ 650); Ogre Berserkers (2 @ 650 @ BR); Ursa the Cave Bear (650 @ XV), Zargal (Hobgoblin/3 @ 650 @ LH); Maneira (Fighter/Thief//4/4 @ 600 @ VT); Sendai, (Fighter/6 @ 600 @ FLF); Telka (Fighter/Thief//4/4 @ 600 @ VT; Zal (Fighter/6 @ 600 @ FLF); Pasha Kohvu (Mage/Thief//7/7 @ 550 @ LW); (Senjak (Thief-Swashbuckler/4 @ 500 @ RE); Carrion Crawler (420 @ GS); Vaz (Fighter/6 @ 400 @ FLF); Cronius (Mage-Necromancer/5 @ 320 @ FAI); Alexander (Fighter/6 @ 300 @ FLF); Delgod (Fighter/6 @ 300 @ FLF); Grey Ooze (2 @ 275 @ NM); Huge Spiders (2/2 @ 270 @ HH/NM); Ogres (2/2 @ 270 @ RE/BR); Dorotea (Cleric of Talos/4 @ 200 @ RE); Black Bear (175 @ BR); Ghouls (1/4/2 @ 175 @ NM/RE/HH); Gnarl (Ogrillon @ 175 @ GS); Hairtooth (Ogrillon @ 175 @ GS); Ogrillons (2 @ RE); Dire Wolves (1/2 @ 125 @ GM/DF); Goblins (Shamans @ 125 @ GS); Gallor ((Fighter/3 @ 120 @ AS); Gnoll Chieftain (120 @ GS); Kobold Shamans (2 @ 120 @ NM); Tarnesh (120 @ FAI); Worgs (2 @ 120 @ RE); Kobold Chieftain (75 @ NM); Kobold Commandos (3 @ 55 @ NM); Bandits (9 @ 65 @ RE); Gnoll Elites (6 @ 65 @ GS); Gnoll Slashers (7 @ 65 @ GS); Gnoll Veterans (7 @ 65 @ GS); Skeletons (4/12/4 @ 65 @ FLF/HH/NM); War Dog (1/4 @ 65 @ NM/VT); Wolf (1/1/1 @ 65 @ NM/DF/RE); Gibberlings (10/6/19/4 @ 35 @ GM/RE/BR/VT); Gnolls (8/10/27 – incl Ludrug - @ 35 @ DF/RE/GS); Goblins (3 @ 35 @ GS); Goblin Chief (35 @ GS); Goblin Elites (6 @ 35 @ GS); Goblin Lieutenant (2 @ 35 @ GS); Hobgoblins (3/11/5 @ 35 @ LH/BR/RE); Merchant (35 @ NC); Prism (35 @ NM); Tasloi (6 @ 35 @ AS); Wild Dog (1/2/2 @ 35 @ GM/HH/RE); Flaming Fist (Mercenary/1 @ 15 @ GM); Xvarts (16/42/6/36/56/9 @ 15 @ FLF/RE/DF/GS/XV/DS); Charleston Nib (7 @ AS); Diggers (7 @ AS); Kobolds (50/1/11/32 @ 7 @ NM/FLF/NC/VT); Lena (7 @ GM); Samuel (7 @ GM), Isra (Paladin-Cavalier/1 @ 0 @ NM);
* Legend: AS = Archaeological Site, Bg = Beregost, BR = Bear River, DS = Disturb Sleep, DF = Dryad Falls, FAI = Friendly Arms Inn); FLF = Fire Leaf Forest, GM = Gibberling Mountains, GS = Gnoll Stronghold, LW = Lion’s Way, HH = High Hedge, NC = Nashkel Carnival, NM – Nashkel Mines, RE = Random Encounter, VT = Valley of the Tombs, XV = Xvart Village
LEVEL UP: Safana, Thief (Swashbuckler)/2, Angmar; Paladin (Black Guard of Talos)/2-4; Dave, Cleric (Priest of Talos)/2; Vynd, Thief (Drow Assassin)/2-4; Dorn, Paladin (Black Guard of Gruumsh)/2-4; Flara, Dragon Disciple/3; Shar-Teel, Fighter (Berserker)/3-4, Verr’Sza, Nazlharune Ranger/4
CASUALTIESb/b]: Dorn (Bandit, Delgood, Flara Breath Weapon), Safana (Skeleton), Dave (Xvart, Great Red Bear - chunked), Vynd (Gnoll Veteran, Cave Bear, Kobold/Skeleton), Shar-Teel (Flara Breath Weapon, Hobgoblin, Ogre Berserker), Flara (Digger, Kobold/Skeleton), Verr’Sza (Ankheg, Kobold)
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE (ordered alphabetically by value): (Gold earned = ~8045 - Current purse = 13466)
Armor & Weapons: Blessed Mail +2, Minotaur Axe +2, Studded Leather +2 (Telbar’s Studded Leather +2), Short Sword +2, Leather +2, Full Plate +1 (Fallorain’s Plate +1), Brage’s Sword +1, Chain Mail +1, Flail +1 (3), Halberd +1, Large Shield +1, Long Swords +1 (2), Mace +1, Medium Shield +1, Studded Leather +1 (2), Quarter Staff +1, Scimitar +1, Short Sword +1 (2), Small Shield +1, Wakizashi +1, Amulet of Spell Warding, Gauntlet of Dexterity, Bracers of Archery, Ankheg Shell, Knaves Robe, Mage Robe of Electrical Resistance, Short Bow of Streaming Energy, Travelers Robe, Plate Mail (3), Splint Mail (3), Composite Long Bows (6), Two-Handed Swords (5), Long Bows (2), Bandit Scalps (3), Bastard Swords (17), Wakizashi, Studded Leather (10), Nome Stikkah (6), Short Bows (50), Light Crossbows (4), Long Swords (7), Halberds (50), Short Swords (253), Medium Shields (10), Battle Axes (9), Dagger, Flaming Fist Helmet, Helmets (11), Leather (20), Mace, Morning Stars (4), Skulls (12), Small Shields (2), Spear, Warhammer,
Gems/Jewelry: Ring of Sune, Ring of the Halberd Chanter, Emeralds (2), Pearl Necklace, Mithral Rings (2), Ring of Infravision, Sphene Gems (2), Flamedance Ring, Angel Skin Rings (2), Jade Rings (6), Bloodstone Ring, Onyx Ring, Tiger Cowrie Necklace, Moonstone Gems (2), Zircon Gems (2), Agni Mani Necklaces (6), Lol Gem, Jasper Gems (8), Andar Gems (14), Bluestone Necklaces (12), Sunstone Gems (18), Lynx Eye Gems (11), Greenstone Rings (6), Silver Necklaces (2), Silver Rings (2),
Potions: Greater Healing, Fire Giant Strength, Frost Giant Strength, Hill Giant Strength, Invulnerability, Power, Oil of Fiery Burning, Heroism (2), Healing, Heroism, Antidote, Invisibility, Stone Form, Insulation, Cold Resistance, Fire Resistance, Violet Potion, Red Potion
Scrolls: Flame Strike, Lightning Bolt, Web, Magic Missile (2), Stinking Cloud, Detect Invisibility, Chromatic Orb, Protection from Petrification (2), Identify (2), Stone to Flesh, Burning Hands (2), Chill Touch, Shield, Sleep, Color Spray (5), Larloch’s Minor Drain, Armor (4), Protection from Cold, Find Familiar, Infravision
Wands: Magic Missiles, Monster Summoning, Sleep
Misc & Artifacts: Amulet of Spell Warding, Gauntlet of Dexterity, Tome of Leadership and Influence, Kozah statue, Book of Living Tales, Mulahey’s Cyric Holy Symbol
BEST KILL:
1) Dorn, Great Red Bear (4000 exp)
2) Flara, Revenant – 3000 exp)
3) Shar-Teel, Mustard Jelly (2000 exp)
4) Vynd, Kryll (Mage-Necromancer/5 – 1000 exp)
5) Verr’Sza (Ghast - 650 exp)
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Beregost, High Hedge, Temple resting, recuperating, resupplying
NEXT STEPS: Archaeological Site, Fisherman’s Lake, North Nashkel Road, Lonely Peaks
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 4 – Dispised: -2 enlisted Dorn, +2 Temple of the Morning, -2 enlisted Verr’Sza)
Angmar: CE Anti-Paladin (Black Guard of Talos)/4 (HP 33 ); Armor: Full Plate +1 (Fallorain’s Plate +1), Gauntlets of Dexterity, Amulet of Spell Warding, Boots of Avoidance (Senses of the Cat); Weapons: Spear**, Flail** (Two-Handed Weapon Style*); Items: Ring of Human Influence; Special Abilities: Absorb Health, Aura of Despair, Drain Life, Poison Weapon, Shocking Grasp; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Dorn: NE Paladin (Black Guard of Grumsh)/4 (HP 30); Armor: Blessed Mail +2, Ring of Protection +1, Boots of Grounding (Tolos’s Gift); Weapons: Two-Handed Sword +1 (Rancor)**, Mace +1* (Two-Handed Weapon Style**, Mace/Morning Star*); Items: None; Special Abilities: Absord Health, Aura of Despair, Poison Weapon; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Shar-teel: CE Fighter (Berserker)/4 (HP 30 ); Armor: Blessed Mail +2, Courier’s Boots; Weapons: Long Sword +1**, Long Sword +1**, (Dagger*, Two-Weapon Style**); Items: None; Special Abilities: Berserkers Rage; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Verr’Sza: CE Nazlharune Ranger/4 (HP 32 ); Armor: Chain Mail of Transgression; Weapons: Ninjato**, Short Sword +1**, Dagger** (Two-Weapon Style**, Katana/Wakizashi*); Items: None; Special Abilities: Claws, Shapeshift Human Form, Set Snare;
Spells: Blindness, Larloch’s Minor Drain, Reflected Image; Skills; MS53, HS58, ST60; High-Level Abilities: None
Vynd: NE Thief (Drow Assassin)/4 (HP 24 ); Armor: Studded Leather +2 (Telbar’s Studded Leather +2); Weapons: Short Sword +1*, Darts of Acid +1* w/ Bracers of Archery (Long Sword*); Items: None; Special Abilities: Poison Weapon (2), Set Snare (2); Spells: None; Skills; OL25, FT15, PP35, MS55, HS55, DI10, ST35, BSx3; High-Level Abilities: None
Flara: CN Dragon Disciple/3 (HP 20); Armor: Bracers of Defence AC8, Traveler’s Robe; Weapons: Dagger +2* (Heart of the Golem +2), Throwing Daggers*; Items: Wands of Magic Missile, Monster Summoning, Sleep; Special Abilities: Breath Weapon; High-Level Abilities: None; Skills; None; Spells: Burning Hands (4), Magic Missile (4), Shield (4)
MOD USED: Convenient Enhanced Edition NPCs v4.0, Ajantis BG1 v15, NPC Aura BG1, BG1 NPC Project v24-8, BG1 Romantic Encounters V4, BGEE NPC Tweaks, BG Quests and Encounters v22, Brage’s Redemption v4, Tweaks Anthology Beta 4, Deities of Faerun v1.9.7.6.1, Distinguishable Clubs, Divine Remix v8 Beta, NPC Drake, Dark Side of the Sword Coast v102, NPC Emily BG1, NPC Finch v4.0 Beta 7, NPC Gavin V14, NPC Glam Pack v3, I Hate Undead Kitpack v3.8
I think it is the one included in the latest version of the game if I am not mistaken. I don't have any portrait packs installed, so that is my assumption - although almost all of my NPCs have a different portrait than the usual, so I assume that's it.
Siri - male, elf enchanter (Grond0)
Kencore - male, half-orc kensai (Corey_Russell)
Thwaka - female, half-orc assassin (Gate70)
Previous updates
Starting the session at the FAI, we elected to go north. As usual we briefly discussed taking on the ankhegs, but once more decided that way led madness and Kencore quickly activated his shield amulet and rushed to the attack before Siri's plaintive whining "what about a few sleep spells" could register. As long as the ankhegs stuck to missile attacks and Kencore could get close to them before they attacked, they needed a critical to hit - and they had a pretty limited chance to get those with Thwaka waiting in stealth to deliver devastating backstabs, while Siri watched for a chance to nip in with wand scorchers when a backstab was not fatal. Those tactics worked well and it didn't take long to clear the nest.
Having had one taste of how useful shield can be for a kensai, Kencore selected the next target as the sirines at the Lighthouse. The potion of clarity allowed him to get up close and personal while Thwaka nipped in and out with his backstabs.
Back in Beregost a few items sitting in inventories were used to complete various quests. Karlat was standing in the way of going to find Perdue, so Thwaka lined him up for a backstab - but missed. Siri didn't fancy using a fire wand in the crowded inn, but after a moment's thought he remembered that he's learnt dire charm from the ankheg horde. Successfully charming Karlat he shifted his weapon of choice to fists and bent him over to expose his neck to a deadly Thwak
A couple more reputation tasks maximised that and Siri spent a bit of time depleting Thalantyr's stock. Then it was on to Durlag's Tower, where more quick XP was on offer. Siri did now know skull trap, but chose to blind the battle horrors on the path - as everyone had 2-handed weapons that allowed us to attack the battle horrors from outside their sight range.
Kencore was keen to find some more sirines to play with. There were no more potions of clarity for the moment, but Siri had bought a potion of magic blocking at High Hedge and that allowed Kencore a few rounds to mix it up with the sirines - and ignore the skull traps being lobbed in from a distance.
With levels coming along nicely, we decided it was time to hit the Nashkel Mine. After a quick trip through there a brief consultation about how to deal with Mulahey confirmed that none of us could cast silence. However, Thwaka thought his backstab might offer an alternative route to silence the cleric. That wasn't entirely successful, but the damage was sufficient to throw Mulahey into a short-lived panic before he could summon any assistance.
Outside the mine, we owed the amazons a death or two for ending a recent run. A couple of skull traps killed the 2 ranged characters there, but the clerics saw a potential opportunity to strike back as Thwaka's stealth failed - but couldn't complete their spells before a 3rd skull landed.
Nimbul was backstabbed on the way to Beregost to find Tranzig. Kencore sloped off to the shop first, meaning he had to rely on the others to be patient until he arrived - fat chance of that
The session ended with us starting to work through the hordes at the Bandit Camp, so we shouldn't find it difficult next time to remember what we were doing ...
Enchanter - L6, 17 HPs, 51 kills
Kensai - L7, 45 HPs, 97 kills, 0 deaths
Assassin - L6, 66 HPs, 98 kills, 0 deaths
The trophy for most kills is being keenly contested this time. Thwaka won that session, but Kencore is grimly hanging on to the overall lead ...
Nigel died on Werewolf Island.
All the werewolves were killed except the one carrying tha baby that kept regenerating every time it was badly hurt.
I used the Sword of Balduran, Werebane and my mage used magical damage: Lightning Bolts, Magic Missiles, Otilukes Minute Missiles and the like and still he wouldn't fall.
Is there a bug in EE?
I don't think that I could have played it any better. None of my characters could be any more powerful as they were virtually at the level cap.
I even tried running and going to the south side of the island to recover but it followed me there and then back so never got a chance to rest!
I never had such a problem before EE.
Afterwards I realised that I could have used invisibility potions in order to rest, but that wouldn't have solved the problem that it wouldn't die.
Unless there is a bug and a bug fix is available it looks as if I'll have to avoid the island in future.
I reloaded and Ctrl Y does work but that seems to be the only way to kill it.
EDIT
I have discovered that it IS killable. I put Nigel in the middle of Cloudkill and then used a lot of wand of the Heavens spells and other spells and EVENTUALLY he panicked and later on died. It is far, far harder than pre-EE.
So it wasn't a bug, so game over. I don't think that future Charnames will be visiting the island though. It is way too dangerous for a no-reload game.
It is ridiculously hard but I make myself go there. Once through there I am usually pretty sure of success. I usually don't even start posting my PC runs until AFTER The Isle of Balduran for the very reason you state. I use the notes I make to go back and do the write-ups.
A succubus demon is nearly as comely as a nymph and has hair. The thing that gives the player a lock of her hair in Durlag's Tower to trick Riggilo is a succubus, if I am not mistaken.
I can't remember back to vanilla, but this may well be something that the EE has corrected.
Ill (male gnome illusionist, Grond0); Hubris (male half-elf blade, Gate70)
Previous updates:
So, after killing some sirines last session, we found ourselves in front of the golem cave asking "what could possibly go wrong?". With only Hubris having anything that could hurt them and Ill being very vulnerable to both traps and combat damage, the answer to that should have been fairly obvious. The position was quickly clarified when Hubris was clipped by a golem he was trying to shoot and hobbled away bleeding - and we gave up on that area for the time being.
Instead we headed for the mine. Progress through there was pretty untroubled, though Hubris did use potions to recover HPs after ploughing through the traps on the path. In the cave, Mulahey was kept quiet by 3 webs while he was shot down.
Back in Nashkel, Ill was a bit lazy against Nimbul and only used a single web on him. A minimum damage magic missile allowed him to survive and he broke free from the web and ran in panic.
Hubris showed great faith in his companion in Beregost when allowing himself to be surrounded by spiders to provide a nice target for Ill's sleep.
After killing Tranzig, we stopped off at the FAI to grab the pantaloons before heading on to the Bandit Camp. Sleep and blindness proved pretty effective disablers on the way to find Taurgosz and we were able to clear the remaining path to the tent without requiring a rest.
Heading south again, we stopped off to find the Doomsayer. He got accidentally activated when Ill tried to blind his worshipper. The intention had been to rest before attacking him and we had very little in the way of damaging spells available. However, Ill managed to blind him and Hubris used spin to good effect to get a fatal blow in.
After clearing the Cloudpeaks and getting to 20 reputation as a result, we did a bit of shopping - including greatly expanding our spell selections.
The final target for the session was a bunch of basilisks. Hubris provided protection against the gazes and we killed the southern group and started on the northern ones. With time running out on PfP though, we tried to rest before completing the job. One lot of intruding gnolls were run around and killed before some flinds interrupted our rest. In running those round, Ill strayed too far and activated one of the basilisks just to the north of the statue. PfP was still shown as active, but there was now a clear and present danger that would run out, so Ill moved behind Hubris in case of any little accidents. His single remaining blind failed to take, but the basilisk was taken down by direct damage. However, a post-mortem inquest revealed that Hubris had actually had to save against its gaze just before the end - coming out on top of a 50:50 chance there
Illusionist 6, 40 HPs (incl. 6 from familiar), 104 kills
Blade 7, 49HPs, 129 kills, 0 deaths
If I go back there, I will do it with a full party. Whilst it IS possible with four, it is not the sort of task to try with that number no-reload IMO.
Kalah guest at this point was super easy, got 20 reputation and we now again had 40k gold. Dalok's party was as easy with 3 Skelis, Clone and Deva doing the work from Farsight. Cernd vs Faldorn fight was pretty funny, neither could do pretty much nothing to the other. Greater Werewolf form provides high regeneration and we were ready with RoR's. But Cernd's Thac0 was so bad that he only hit with 20's. Cernd was charmed, then had a morale failure. But they continued after while, and after a long time, 20 Stoneskins and a Heal, Faldorn finally died. It took about 5 in-game hours. Then I did the rest of the easy guests at Trademeet.
In Amphitheater I silenced Quickblade and casually hacked him without retaliation. Got Oil of Speed and couple Invisibility potions. Same tactic against the Guard. With Summons we easily wasted Hammerfell's gang and got the map update. Dalton too was silenced out of sight and casually killed. Summoned help and wasted rest of the party. Only interesting thing in the loot was 3x Mirror Image ring. We advanced to Heretic Temple. Did the easy trials before leaving. Next WoW-loop pushed us to 20th level, and Lord got last 4th level spell slot. With 20/20 economy Garlena charges 4900 gold, and we spent couple wands before I got bored. Got 12 loops, and we got to level 21, with 0 Base Thac0 and Smite.
Back at De'Arsine, Tor'gal was lured away and ganged on. The fight with rest of his gang was much tougher, and we spent 7 RoR's. Also the Fallen Paladin's guest was incredibly easy at this point. Got nice set of potions, 6 Invisibilities, 4 Invulnerabilities, Oil of Speed and 2 Magic Shieldings. That also pushed Lord to level 22. We did the rest of the Paladin guest lines and we had money for two more WoW recharge's. And after using those, we got to level 23. This meant Lord could summons the best Skeleton Warriors.
Time to really test our mettle, against the Eight Statues at Watcher's Keep. Our summons ganged on the Cleric statue, where as Lord went hiding. Cleric got quickly killed, but Mages started rolling Time Stops, so it was time for also Lady to pull out. Our summons were quickly killed by Dark Planetar and host of spells. We waited the Planetar out, then baited the mages with couple Fire Elementals, and then we managed to separate them to across the rooms. One mage was alone, so we quickly ganged on him with GWW's and Critical Strikes. Without the other Mage in sight, we killed three Statues in a row, then the thief, then the Golem. The last Mage statue was still lurking somewhere. Deva soon found it, but the Mage still had nasty things and Imprisoned the Deva. My last Deva casting funnily failed because there can't be two Celestial's at the same time, even if Imprisoned. Started streaming Fire Elemental's, and they got repelled, Skull Traps, Wiltings etc. finally the Mage found us, and we started smacking it, and it was done. Went better than expected, usually needs some rests outside.
Second level of Watchers Keep was straightforward smacking with summons. With WoW Lord stoned the Chromatic Demon. We aren't going to tackle the 3rd level before ToB, because somebody needs to get evil to beat that place. We also now had 30k gold again, 11k after buying Defender of Easthaven. We used rest of the WoW, and got to level 25, and recharged RoR and WoW again. But we were again penniless.
Some small things, easily killed the Raksasha in the sewers, DigDag gang and Ruhk in the Firkraag dungeon. Samia was Silenced out of sight and casually hacked as she couldn't agro. And her gang was easily overrun, after the Mage was double GWW'd. And just like that we had 18k again. More diversion, as we went to government district, where Lord summoned the Cowled Wizards by casting Improved Invisibility from the Ring of Air Control on himself. The neutral guards casually killed them all if they didn't escape. Zallanora appeared and died soon after. This didn't net any xp, but we did get 10k gold. After using three more WoW's on Firkraag we almost got level 28, and finally it was time to say goodbuy. This left us 4M xp from top level, which we should get before the end of SoA.
Now for the second Planar commitment, the Planar Prison, which I'm always wary of. Took one Invulnerability and Speed for the landing, and after using couple GWW's and True Sight for the mages, rest were casually hacked, didn't need any RoR's. Apparently I could now rest in Planar Prison, which made rest of the place pretty casual summon spawning. We baited Warden's spells and contingencies including Dark Planetar. After this my 3x Skeli, Clone and Deva death squad supported by Lady attacked, and Warder was quickly killed. I was still wary of sending Lord ahead because I didn't see a Time Stop. We both made to level 28 and now had 27k gold.
Time to level Bodhi's Lair. Lady stayed back as Lord pushed onwards with PfU and MoD +2. After clearing the top level, we pushed downstairs, which was easily cleared. And back at the top again to kill Lassal. Bodhi was waited out, out of sight. After buying 80 Dispel Arrows, and picking our stuff, we were ready to go.
Brynnlaw's landing was cleared with three MoD +2 in about 10 seconds. For the next part I was really surprised to find a welcoming pirate party. And with no buffs, we needed 5 RoR's to stay alive. Another SCS update, and this was interesting change of pace. Perth was easily killed after True Sight and level skipping his PfMW and Absolute Immunity, we got Spell Turning from the book. In the dream Lord gave up some of his Wisdom he possessed. Got level 29 arriving at Irenicus dungeon, and it was basic smacking with summons. Lady also got the Boots of Speed. We were at level 30 facing Irenicus.
Irenicus was attacked from Farsight, but he had PfMW and Efreeti contingency when injured. He added Time Stop, but after that my summons killed his Efreeti's. He still had another PfMW, then Planetar and incredible amount of summons. We waited some of them out. Then we sent 4x Fire Elemental plus Deva party, and still Irenicus was summoning help. Finally the Deva was attacking Irenicus after everyone else was killed. But again Irenicus summoned more help and killed the Deva. We waited them summons out, again. Another 4x Fire Elemental Deva party in, and after they were all ganging on Irenicus, I used another Farsight to reveal him. And still, Irenicus was summoning help, ridiculous. Nevertheless they got him to near death and we ran to the next level. We bought Lonk the Sane off with 2k and released prisoners, and Irenicus surrendered as soon as we saw him. Escaped the place.
Selling finally my jewels and loot to the Shaguain merchant netted cool 130k gold. We cleared the place, and killed both the King and the Prince with no problems. In Underdark Deva got killing strike on the Lich. Balor was a lot tougher than anything else, and required couple RoR's. From Ust Natha Lady got her other weapon of choice, the Firetooth +3, allowing her to match Lord's 4,5 apr. First fight with Mindies, Invulnerability to -4 saves to avoid Psionic Maze. Triple GWW's and the fight was over in 4 rounds. Deirex was quickly killed with one PfU.
Mind Flayer dungeon was done without buffs to point of killing the Jailor. Then Lord drank one Invulnerability and we lured the single Mindie to open the door above. Woke the slaves and picked up the four Control Circlets. Time to buff out. Both drank 5x Mind Focusing and 3x Intelligence potions to about 40 INT and both put Girdle of Bluntness on and drank Potion of Absorption to -24/-25 AC vs Crushing. Invulnerabilities, Storm, Hardiness, Recitation and we pushed onwards. For the first party we wasted couple GWW's and Critical Strikes and 2 RoR's. No time to rest our laurels, and we pushed on. Next party was weak two Mindies. We summoned the death squad and lured the Mindies out from the Master Brain room, they were easily killed. Three triple GWW's and Master Brain was no more. At this point Lord and Lady both got to level 32. Lady still ran and quickly grabbed the Staff of Command, and we then escaped the place.
Sanctuary allowed us to exchange the eggs, and we betrayed the Drow, and escaped the place for good. Lord looted the Beholder dungeon with Sanctuary, without fighting anybody. Next was the dreaded 5 Demon Knights, which I'm always scared off. We buffed up and summoned death squad, and where as others kept company to the rest, Lady, Lord and Clone concentrated on the top right Demon Knight. As soon as they appeared we got dispelled. But no worries the Demon Knight was killed with triple GWW's in about round and half. We quickly picked up the loot and escaped without trying to fight the rest. The top right Demon Knight holds one of the best loots in the game, means to complete Crom Fayer and Soul Reaver +4, the best anti boss weapon. Then Adalon pawned the exit as we hid, and we escaped to the surface without fighting anyone, also picking up the Archers Eyes for the Lady.
Kruin was charmed with Staff of Command, and triple GWW'd in a round. His party didn't survive much longer. We had 170k gold so we went to Cromwell and built Shadow and Red Dragon Scales, Crom Fayer +5, Wave +4, Silver Sword +3 and Shortbow of Gesen. Lady now wielded her weapons of choice, Firetooth +3 on hand and Crom Fayer +5 off hand for 4,5 apr. We also bought Kachiko's Wachisaki +3 and Sling of Everard +5, Fortress Shield and bunch of potions, and still had 80k left. Time for Bodhi, and I think we've only skipped the Twisted Rune and Guarded Compound from SoA.
We asked all the help against Bodhi, and easily cleared upstairs with PfU and MoD +2. The fight against Bodhi though was bit of a mess. We started by casting PfU on Bodhi, but she still summoned a lot of help. Lady died, so I had to keep Drizz't alive with RoR. In the end two of us managed to kill Bodhi, had to spend three PfU's on the whole dungeon. Suldanesselar was passed invisible fighting nobody. Nizi was stoned second hit, and Rillifane cleansed the place. We also both ascended to final level 34.
Lord
** Flails
** Halberds (Solar)
** Long Swords (Ogremoch)
** Maces (Undead)
** Scimitars
** Two Handed Swords
*** Two Weapon Style
* Power Attack
******** Critical Strike
* Smite
* Whirdwind
*** Greater Whirlwind
** Hardiness
* Deva
Lady
** Daggers
** Longbows
** Shortbows
** Slings
** Two Handed Swords
** Warhammers
*** Two Weapon Style
* Power Attack
** Critical Strike
* Smite
* Whirdwind
********* Greater Whirlwind
** Hardiness
* Deva
At Tree of Life, we escaped Irenicus with Invisibility, and watched him summon help, which we just waited out. Then Lord baited True Sight, Time Stop, Balor and Djinni. Then stream of Fire Elementals depleted even further his spells and summons. After sending 5 Elementals, I summoned death squad and attacked full force, Jon was dead after round and half.
The first trial. Used Farsight, Oil of Speed and charmed Sarevok with the Control Circlet through his 100MR. He attack/followed us to the main area, where Lord took the evil route, and we killed him. Back in and out, pausing the game before both transitions. This way we got the Evil Tear, but Lord didn't get fallen, because the fall script didn't have time to execute. Lord put Carsomyr on, and activated the door three times with the STR tear. Result was 25 STR and evil alignment, which also meant we could wield both Carsomyr +5 and Soul Reaver +4, the good and evil. And who says Evil Cavalier isn't cannon? As somebody said previously, "We are the law!"
Second trial. Lord first Silenced the Genie from out of sight, the Charmed him with Staff of Command. We summoned everybody. But we couldn't talk to him, as I should've first waited his Silence out. Anyway we still had three Skelis as back up. Lord talked to the Genie and gave the Blackrazor +3 back, but we prevented the Genie casting the teleport spell by moving him. Then we ganged on him with GWW's. Lady Dispelled his PfMW and he was done a round after. We got the good tear, and more importantly Blackrazor +3, which is good kit against Ogremoch for fighter classes. We took the good path in Pride, Fear and Selfishness, Lord losing a DEX point and 2 hp in the process. In the end Lord decided to use the -2 Save tear twice to activate the end battle.
Time to face Irenicus one last time. We buffed up and summoned 5 minions, who kept enough company with the Slayer, so we could go hiding down below. Then we lured the first Balor on us, which already was tougher than most fights to this point, and who immediately Dispelled us. Lord spent all GWW's against it, where as Lady summoned some help and kept Lord alive with the RoR five times before it was down. With -8 vs Death Lord was safe from the Vorpal hits. Second Balor went somewhat smoother, Lady Dispelling its Stoneskins. Still we had already spent 11 RoR's and had only 7 hits left without destroying them. The two Glabrezus were easy with Lady's True Sight and we required no additional healing. Before confronting the Slayer we used Ring of Gaxx to restore our Health.
We then baited the Slayer with Fire Elemental, and it pulled contingency, Improved Alacrity and Dark Planetar first go. We continued sending Fire Elementals, and Slayer kept wasting spells PfMW's, Sequencers etc. But then he Horrored two Fire Elementals, which was inconvenient as they kept wandering around. But we avoided detection. Once the Slayer wasn't casting any spells, we made our move. Clone, Deva, Armor of Faith, Hardiness and we ganged on him. Apparently he was saving Time Stop for us, but it was quickly canceled. And the Slayer was pulverized after two rounds of GWW's and Critical Strikes.
Onto ToB we advance.
Jeanluc, Heather, Forrest - fallen paladins
Keldorn - inquisitor
Mazzy - "fighter" (she's really a gnomish paladin)
Imoen - thief/mage
So the party defeats Bodhi once and for all rather easily. Next step was to make their way through Suldenesslar. The fallen paldins were able to defeat Nizi.
I usually deal with the Rakshashkas by the Temple of Rillifane with summons, but as paladins we have very few, and the few we did have were pretty weak as well. So we had to engage straight up - well, let's just say I see why I usually use summons here - April gets CHUNKED!
Tree of Life fight with Irenicus was a tough fight - but we do prevail!
We do the good routes in Hell, buff and have a fairly straightforward battle with Irenicus and defeat him once and for all - on to ToB!
Illsaera died quick - Gromnir didn't do much better. The undead guarding Nylee were difficult as we didn't have any Sunrays, not even via items (we couldn't get the helm of brilliance because people were hostile near the Adventure's Mart thanks to the disaster with the Silver Sword Githyanki). Making our way through Yaga's temple was very resource intensive, we rested quite a bit. But did make it through. Yaga himself died pretty quickly. 1st and 2nd pocket place challenges went pretty smooth.
The party did very well in Sendai's Lair. And even though Forrest got hit with a Harm, somehow no one got chunked, which is pretty common when battling Sendai for me.
Now for the key battle - Draconis. I have NEVER defeated Draconis in EE before now. I did a number of things differently this time around. For one, I fully charged all 3 RoR wands that we have. I also had my main character wear the shadow dragon armor (I often forget to do this), and also protected the rest of the party from acid via arcane spells. During the battle, I carefully watched the battle spam to see if we were damaging Draconis - once we were, then turned on the burst damage (GWW) - success!
Seems so strange that the one party I have that makes is past Draconis would be a party of fallen paladins!!
This is what I see in my original unmodded GOG install.
(I usually have a low AC character draw their attention, and clear out his pack before having everybody focus on him as the remaining enemy)
Well, we have defeated Abizigal. And it literally took all our resources, but we defeated Balthsazar as well. Ravager was extremely difficult (3 deaths) but we managed it. Only Melissan left! This is my first time encountering Melissan in EE in single player.
Forrest, Heather - Fallen Paladins
Keldorn - Inquisitor
Mazzy - "fighter" (really gnomish paladin)
Imoen - thief/mage
Final battle with Melissan - winner becomes a god!
Jeanluc's final battle with Melissan (video)
Thoughts about this run:
This is my very first no-reload with EE. While being fallen was a definite drawback, we didn't become fallen until we had almost finished SoA, so wasn't as bad as it could have been. We couldn't have done it without Keldorn and Imoen, however, both of them were a huge help this run. Mazzy's resist fear was cast all the time, and that was also helpful.
Run stats:
BG 1, BG2, ToB - unmodded, EE
No SoD
Core rules at all times
Jeanluc the Human Inquisitor (fallen)
What's Next:
Now that I got a party success, thinking about doing a solo. At the moment, inclined to do a solo fighter/thief. Will post once he's made good progress (assuming he does).