Now trying a Trio of Cyricists headed by Cyricus the Cruel who clearly has divine blood in his veins. Because of this he has had no difficulty in gaining other Cyricist followers.
{My cleric/thief is based on Tiax, a character that I have always wanted to take through the series. This is the nearest that I can get. Cyrax is a barbarian who I want to dual to a mage. However, I'm not sure if it is possible to dual barbarians]
Barbarians are not allowed to dual-class in the unmodded game. Sorry, then - looks like your party won't have any arcane magic unless you recruit some extra help.
Barbarians are not allowed to dual-class in the unmodded game. Sorry, then - looks like your party won't have any arcane magic unless you recruit some extra help.
I'll choose a different party then. Thanks for telling me before I got started. I have chosen a fighter instead of a barbarian. She may look frail, but looks can be very deceptive.
I've had a few more attempts at this since I last recorded a full run. Unlike most characters, where I know how to succeed and just need to implement that, there has been a need to learn a bit more to find a decent path through the games (particularly SoD). I think I've just about done that now though and the last attempt got to the Throne, before failing. Progress in the end game in that run was made a lot harder because I forgot to take the pantaloons out of my bag of holding at the end of SoD and missed out on the Big Metal Unit and Rod. With those I think I would have had a good chance of succeeding against Mel.
However, I still think there's a bit more room for improvement. As one aspect of that, I've thought for a while about changing from the starting scimitar and short bow proficiencies - those are good for BGEE, SoD and SoA, but sub-optimal in ToB. I spent well over an hour last night to roll up a replacement character (without access to the strength tome, there's much more reason than usual to hold out for 18(00) strength). This time I've gone for long sword and daggers as starting proficiencies, with daggers being the first to be built up.
The only real threat in BGEE should be at the Palace, unless I take risks or make mistakes. I managed to avoid those though while skipping through the game this morning:
- shooting Shoal to get to level 3 (+24 HPs).
- a few tasks around Beregost culminated in pulling some spiders out of their hideout to get to level 4 (+11 HPs).
- learnt CLW in Nashkel before listening from afar as a gnoll savagely beat Drizzt unconscious (I just left it to chance whether it would break a weapon). A mercy killing of the drow got me to level 5 (+9 HPs).
- Korax dealt with a bunch of basilisks to get me to level 6 (+15 HPs).
Mutamin was no problem, but Korax died against Kirian's mob. I was though able to pick them off singly after that.
- after daggers cleared a path through the Nashkel Mine, Mulahey was run round his pond while being shot.
Rested to get LMD.
- after separating the amazons for disposal I returned to Nashkel where I traded in Joseph's ring for level 7 (+6 HPs).
- I picked up the pantaloons on the way to the Bandit Camp (must remember not to leave those in my bag in SoD this time).
- at the Bandit Camp, Taurgosz was shot down and I inherited his armor and shield. Bouncing in and out of Tazok's tent, dragged Raemon out to his doom. The second time I entered I successfully shut down Venkt and was able to finish him and the others off easily.
Resting then provided a first Bhaal horror.
- in the Cloakwood I carefully negotiated some web traps before dragging spiders out of Centeol's lair to get Spider's Bane. Before moving on to the mine, I invested in the Dagger of Venom and Buckley's Buckler - though it hurt a bit to pay so much extra for those with reputation only at 9, I'll have more money than I need anyway .
- at the mine Drasus was pulled away first and lost out to the fast weapon speed of daggers.
The mages were then panicked by horror and shot before they recovered. At the bottom of the mine, battle horrors' weapon speed and reach is good enough to give them a chance of retaliating, but I still got a decent number of unopposed attacks in and was able to finish them off without resting.
I did then rest before confronting Davaeorn. Hakt's bow was sufficient to shut down his casting, even used non-proficiently, before I closed in with the Dagger of Venom.
I rested to get a second horror before flooding the mine.
- a quick whiz round doing reputation quests followed and I got my 8th and final BGEE level while doing that.
The 10 HPs gained gives a somewhat disappointing total of 90 - but it should be enough to do the job. I picked up the charisma tome during those rounds, but didn't bother with the wisdom tome and left the constitution tome for a bit.
- with reputation at 20 I moved on to Baldur's Gate. The 3 tomes there were soon mine and I bought some green scrolls and ammunition. Balduran's Helm provided a significant boost to fighting skills, while the Shield of the Falling Stars offered a more marginal improvement in defenses.
- armed with exploding arrows, I returned to the Lighthouse. At 2.5 APR (rather than the 3 APR I've been used to with bow skill) the sirines have a small chance of successfully casting dire charm - but none managed that this time before being shut down.
The golems were shot to get at the constitution tome.
- the final bit of work in the City for now was the Iron Throne. The party there was split up using the stairs and dealt with comfortably - Zhalimar being left to the last to feel the bite of a poisoned dagger.
- back in Candlekeep I looted the one tomb DUHM would allow me to break open, before dodging round various dopplegangers and Prat's party. As I had to use a green scroll anyway for the basilisks, I did kill them though.
- after resting to get another DUHM to complete my Bhaal powers' selection, I talked to Tamoko to ensure she would appear in the Undercity then went to find Slythe. He was shot with a dispelling arrow before he could talk and then sliced and diced.
- at the Palace I cast DUHM before showing myself. Originally I'd planned on then shooting dispelling arrows, to take away haste, and using horror to try and break up the attackers. However, no less than 5 of the dopplegangers attacked me - I don't remember so many ever trying that before. That meant using missile weapons while in melee would have been too dangerous and I didn't use horror as that would be likely to cause some of the enemies attacking me to refocus on the dukes. Liia, who normally dies very quickly, took the opportunity for once to make use of several helpings of magic missiles as the dopplegangers melted away.
Belt was then lured into the back room, although with both dukes at nearly full health I don't think Sarevok would have had time to kill them both anyway.
- there were no problems in the maze and I bypassed Rahvin's party on the way to find Tamoko. She almost always duplicates if I dodge into the temple, so I tanked a couple of flame strikes before sending her running with horror and finishing her off to get her +1 full plate.
- to avoid having to use a PfM scroll (to ensure the web trap posed no danger), I just used the repeating lightning trap to kill Sarevok and his companions.
Here's my inventory and record on transfer to SoD.
SoD is significantly trickier than BGEE and there's very little room for error there. I made one of those and it proved costly ...
- in the dungeon Porios surrendered before PfU gave easy passage through a couple of groups of undead. Exploding arrows cleared the mercenaries to get to Korlasz. Despite 2 critical misses, acid arrows forced her surrender. Fanegonorom handed over a shield upgrade before I left the dungeon.
- in the City I killed a few NPCs for their equipment, but the only quest done was to get the Battle Tankard.
- killed Isabella and Ikros at the Coast Way Forest to get the regeneration ioun stone. Despite having grand mastery in daggers and no proficiency in long bow, my THAC0 was 2 better with arrows of piercing. However, I still initially tried to use daggers to shut down Ikros' casting due to the better APR. Two critical misses in a row rather spoiled that plan, but a dispelling arrow opened him up for the kill. Isabella's shield defenses activated several times to significantly damage me, but not enough to save her.
- I didn't bother dealing with some orcs and trolls in an ambush area on the return journey to the Coast Way Crossing. I returned Takos' treasures there, but demanded the shield back as an additional reward. At the bridge I nipped behind the tent to hide and wait for Caelar to come.
- there was nothing of interest to me at Troll Claw Woods and I just ran through there, ignoring the enemies on the road.
- before tackling the Forest of Wyrms, I did some more area transitions until a big hole in the ground showed up. The goblin witch doctor was shot down immediately and the rest of them were no real threat - particularly after a shield sunfire. Some myconids inside were able to confuse me, but didn't have the firepower to hurt me much and I duly recovered the Spellbreaker sword, which offers wizard slayers a +4 benefit to spell saves.
- after fighting through wyverns spiders and bugbears to get into a cave, I was greeted by more bugbears led by a shaman. He ran in horror as soon as he showed himself, however, and was killed before he could cast anything. Wearing the ioun stone for a while counteracted a bit of damage from the other bugbears and rather more from a trap in the corridor. There was another shaman with Snorgash, but he also fell to fear and the other bugbears were drawn away one or two at a time for easy disposal.
- in the temple proper, Ziatar's guards were killed group by group before going to find the half-dragon. I buffed with PfM and PfP before showing myself. As I thought might happen, he was stunned anyway by the first dart I threw, but those buffs would be wanted anyway for the Neothelid & Akanna. I ran past the latter with Spellbreaker equipped (as at least some of its abilities are psionic, not magical). I fired a single exploding arrow at Akanna before running back the other way and waiting for the Neothelid to dimension walk to me by the cells. Then it was back to find Akanna again and get a couple more attacks in - switching Spellbreaker for a shield there to try and protect against the invisible aerial servants. Both of those hit me anyway, which meant I couldn't really afford more damage, but at least with both of them visible there wasn't the same danger of invisible door blockers. Regrettably though, as the Neothelid once more arrived I forgot to re-equip Spellbreaker - and that was the end of another run ...
I am not very familiar with BG1, so please bear with my questions. Hopefully it is not treated as completely off the topic.
You lowered your reputation from the initial value to 9 by scoring a kill on Drizzt, is that correct?
Also - how do you deal with attacks happening in transition from location to location? I distinctly remember some of them were really nasty.
Your general strategy against mages is to shoot them from afar to lower their casting chances?
What are the crucial items to get during BG1 solo fighter run? How is that selection different for a Wizard Slayer?
The use of poison greatly lowers casting chance. This can be using poison arrows, backstabbing with a poison dagger, or using an assassin's/blackguard's ability to poison. magic missile also has a good chance of interrupting casting as there are a number of missiles.
No items are essential, [Some players avoid powerful ones to make the game more challenging] but magical weapons don't break so make the game easier [Some enemies use protecction from ordinary weapons spells, others protection from magical weapons spells].
Greywolf's sword is very good being slightly better than +2, but there are plenty of +1 swords around too. In the area where Bassilus is, he has a +2 warhammer and another character has a +2 short sword.
There is a +3 quarterstaff for sale at Ulgoth's Beard.
In the early game Sonner [North of the Friendly Arms has a +1 flail] It is easily available.
In Cloakwood a +2 two handed sword that gives freedom of action is very useful.
In Ulgoth's Beard there is a ring of freedom of action that can be pickpocketted.
In the south are +1 and +2 halberds.
However, no one item is essential, you use the weapon that is best for your character. If you read people's write-ups you will find that notable items will be mentioned.
Wands are of course important for mages, but people play without having a mage in the party.
Items of importance if fighting basilisks are potions/scrolls/spells that protect from petrification. Fight basilisks with one character who is protected and keep the other party members out of harm's way.
You lowered your reputation from the initial value to 9 by scoring a kill on Drizzt, is that correct?
That's right. The amount reputation falls depends on the value its at at the time (so reputation of 20 will reduce to 10 if you kill an innocent for example). You can fine tune things further by getting caught stealing (penalty of 1). The loss from Drizzt took me to below 9, but 9 is the highest it can go and still give you the evil powers - hence I avoided raising it beyond that until I'd got 2 Bhaal horrors. Particularly for the solo wizard slayer, that gives you a significantly better chance of success at the Palace.
Also - how do you deal with attacks happening in transition from location to location? I distinctly remember some of them were really nasty.
A full bandit ambush can be nasty for some characters - particularly low level ones. Those only occur on the road though and only at night, so can easily be avoided by taking different routes or just travelling by day. For a wizard slayer the most dangerous ambush is the chance of a basilisk if travelling in the eastern areas. The chance of an ambush is quite low and, in most cases, you can run south out of its sight before it attacks so it would be very rare for me to die to that - but it has occasionally happened. I don't use autopause, but one reason for using that would be to ensure you get a chance to react to ambushes as soon as they occur (so that you don't wait around for a ghast to attack you for instance).
Your general strategy against mages is to shoot them from afar to lower their casting chances?
I think my general strategy would be summed up as always having a line of retreat, i.e. being able to run off the map or into a building before a spell arrives. That's generally easier to do from range when you can see the projectile coming, but in some cases melee is preferable. You don't necessarily need to run away completely - if you get out of sight of a caster before they complete a spell and their script does not make them wander (and no other enemies are active), you can just accept spells like rigid thinking and hold person (mods can change this behavior though).
What are the crucial items to get during BG1 solo fighter run? How is that selection different for a Wizard Slayer?
There's not much that's really crucial, but there are lots of items that can make things easier. Invisibility allows you to bypass encounters, so potions and the ring at Ulgoth's Beard are helpful. Potions like strength, mind focusing, speed, magic shielding and regeneration allow you to take on harder fights earlier (firebreath potions are also extremely effective at killing enemies). There are plenty of +2 weapons to choose from, but if you want a +3 weapon they are rather scarcer (the staff at Ulgoth's Beard is an easy one to get though). Full plate mail is great stuff and you can either buy that in Beregost or wait to inherit Taurgosz's suit at the Bandit Camp. Necklaces of missiles allows you to win many combats from out of sight (or protect yourself from fire and watch opponents burn up around you). Darts of stunning are plentiful and extremely effective in BG1 (even without proficiency fighters can make good use of those). Boots of speed are handy to allow you to choose where and when you fight.
A wizard slayer can't use most potions, but can use healing and antidote ones (I don't do so, but that's just a personal restriction for all my characters). With miscellaneous magic (like necklaces) unavailable, the WS has to rely on his own fighting abilities. That makes use of magical ammunition much more important. For instance exploding arrows can be used to get past the sirines to get the constitution tome from the pirate cave, dispelling arrows can be helpful at the palace, for Slythe and for Sarevok, darts of stunning are great against fighter types, arrows of piercing allow you to significantly increase your chance to hit etc. Also don't forget green scrolls. They can offer you protection from magic, petrification, poison and elemental damage - covering a lot of the more dangerous encounters, though you need to be careful not to waste the PfM ones when not needed. You may have noticed from my write-up that I got the +1 full plate from Tamoko. Normally that armor is useless for a solo character in the unmodded game because it means you can't wear rings of protection - thus you end up with both worse AC and saving throws. However, as the wizard slayer can't wear those anyway, the armor is an improvement on standard full plate (it comes too late to be of much use though, unless you're continuing on to SoD).
We buffed up for Illasera, presummoned some help, and activated the battle. But we forgot that Illasera Dispels every hit, and thus he Dispelled Lady's Invisibility, and some of her help followed us south. Our summons were overrun, before we had Illasera alone. Lord could repel her missiles with Reflection Shield, but Lady got killed. And I needed her for True Sight and Dispel. So Lord resurrected her, and we continued GWW and Critical Strike Illasera. The fight went much worse than I thought, and we barely saved both RoR's with two charges each. Are we getting careless?
Started the first Pocket Plane challenge by casting summons at the door, which stops the barrier from working. Fire Elemental's killed the commoners and one Knight of the Order. After that the enemy found Lord, but were pretty easily repelled with summons. Named ones appeared. We killed Eltan and Linvail without using any RoR charges. Then Deva attacked Ellesime triggering her defenses and Fallen Deva. Then my Clone absolutely stomped her with 9 apr Critical Strikes.
Saradush landing was cleared, and we had 1 charge left in both RoR's, but we finally could recharge them. We did the easy guests, Kiser was Silenced out of sight and casually killed. Undead wiped with MoD +2. Thieves at Gromnir's basement netted 5 Invisibility potions each and we now had 73, which will become handy later. At Gromnir's Palace, we Charmed Elkan with SoC, and together killed Eler Had. Elkan then wasted the single Soldier, and then lured Gromnir to us. We easily killed both Ramazith and Gromnir. After escaping Saradush it was time to visit Watchers Keep again.
We went Invisible and drank Oil of Speed, and quickly ran past Balor room to Tahazzar. And because Lord was now Lawful Evil, we got an audience from him, and made a deal. Which we then betrayed immediately by Charming Yochol with SoC, summoning everybody, and ganging on him. He was pretty quickly killed with double 9 apr Critical Strikes. As we were trying to escape, Lady got stunned, but Deva then Dispelled her, and we ran again past the Balor room to the start level. Ka'rashur was trickier because we needed fight them head on. We ran past Quasit and Succubus rooms and quickly attacked Ka'rashur with Smites and GWW's. Lord tanked most as Lady protected with RoR's, and after 6 rounds or so Ka'rashur fell. We quickly escaped again to the start level.
Next path was through Quasit, Tiefling, Demon Knights and Demon Wraith rooms and we found Aesgareth. We tried twice to gamble Spectral Blade with experience, but Aesgareth won both. Also killing the assassins, we got another 30 Invisibility potions. Then it was time to dust off the trusty Wand of Wonder. And with exactly 49 hits we stoned everybody except Aesgareth. We summoned everybody. Triple Smites and Aesgareth didn't recover, got the Deck of Many things and advanced to the fourth level. Although fighters can stop all the game ending effects from the deck, EURYALE or permanent +1 penalty to saves cannot be stopped without Spell Immunity. So I'm not going to gamble in this run.
Main floor from fourth level was cleared easily. Kithyanki area passed with Sanctuary, Saladrex stoned. For the Mind Flayer dungeon we buffed INT to 60 and AC vs Crushing to -25 or so. Lord also used Roranach's helm to get -100 Crushing resistance. The first two big parties were killed during a Improved Haste. For the last party we only killed the Ulitharid with part of the Rod, and quickly escaped the place. Few of them followed to the main level, but were quickly killed. Rock and Garock were nothing special.
From the Machine Lord got one DEX, INT, WIS and CHA points and 5 MR, and Lady got one STR and CON point. This was now the Paladin couple's final form.
Final Seal level. We casually waited the Test of Stamina out invisible and the Green Dragon got stoned. Spirit Warrior test, North, East, Search, North, East, North, Scroll, West, Archway. This has never failed me in nR, even with LoB. We now had both Spirit and Heart keys. Lord put on PfU and used Spirit Key. Azamantes appeared and put up nice display of protections and summoned couple Cornugons which I waited out. Then I waited the Dark Planetar, and after it left Lord attacked. And I was bit lucky as the Lich still Dispelled me, but at the same time my MoD +2 got him. For the trouble Lady got the best sling in the game, Erinne's Sling and Lord got half of the Ravager +6, the bane of Solars. The next part was tougher, we buffed up and summoned everything. Lord, Lady and Clone Smited Ytossi away, where as Deva and Skelis kept company to the rest. Y'tossi still got PfMW on which I wasn't ready to wait up. As we didn't see anyone else close, we took calculated risk and Lady Dispelled us all. We Smite GWW'd Y'tossi around the room like rubber ball, and he was dead soon after. Lord picked up the loot and quickly escaped leaving rest of them to rot in there. That does it for the Watchers Keep, and Lord now achieved 10 apr Critical Strikes.
For Master Wraith Lord used PfU, and leveled all with 10 apr MoD +2 Critical Strikes. To pass the Burning Men in Marching Mountains Lord used Remove Fear on Lady. First level of the Dungeon Lord casually looted with Sanctuary and GWW speed. Brimstone was lured to the door which he couldn't fit through, and Lord made him true to his name with WoW. Before killing the beast, Lord used Staff of Command to Charm Fire Giants, who got killed one by one. Then we Charmed the last three Fire Giants who killed Berenn for us. Imix was charmed with the Control Circlet and killed by a Fire Giant. Lord got the other part of the Ravager +6. Nyalee was then Smited with combined 25 apr's, and died in few seconds.
Time to face the toughest battle to this point. Lord tried to beat the bridge script to avoid Yaga-Shura's army, but alas couldn't, and we were in for the long haul. No worries, with superior Intellect, 20 and 18 respectively we formed a quick plan. Lord went Invisible and attracted everybody with their homing beacon. Non of the army sees through Invisibility, so Lady could pepper them with SoC Charms and they started killing themselves. Lady always concentrated first on mage and cleric soldiers, and then Fire-Giants took a lot of their own army to death. As they've homing beacon on Lord, Lady was safe just out of sight. After SoC 25 charges was empty, she summoned five Fire Elemental's, who attacked the rest. And interestingly non of the soldier weapons did anything to them. So they started removing them one by one. And after the holy massacre, the stream of soldiers stopped. We had beaten Yaga-Shura's army! In the pile of bodies was no less than 83 Superior Healing potions.
We took a little break, recharged the Staff of Command and came back and hit Critically Yaga who buggered off immediately. Once he became back with his Lieutenants, Lord charmed the mage with SoC who immediately then summoned Planetar. Then Lord charmed the fighter, and two of them killed the cleric and thief before turning on Yaga. In the mean time Lord Cloned and buffed up and attacked with 20 apr Critical Strikes. And Yaga was dead before the Planetar was unsummoned. Without any help in the end, Yaga wasn't that tough.
One item I find extremely useful in my solo runs is the greenstone amulet. This allows taking on mages/clerics fairly safely as you can't be disabled with that active. The sleep wand, us-able by any class (well okay not Wizard Slayers) (assuming you got an INT of 9) can be pretty useful in surviving ambushes. A potion of magic blocking is very useful in many encounters - even if you don't kill the mage/bard/cleric in 5 rounds (even though many times you can), by the time the potion wears off, the enemy has used up their most dangerous spells, so dramatically increases your chance of victory vs that caster.
Journal of Cyricus the Cruel and his cohorts
After picking up Gorion's belongings we headed souith and were able to help Mellicamp.
After heading north and picking up some useful rings, we were attacked by Tarnesh who did not survive.
We cleared the area of hobgoblins before heading further north. Sonner offered us a magical weapon for fighting a cleric for him. We thought that killing him would be an easier way of getting it.
We took on an ankheg which saved against a command spell. As a result Cyricca got killed. So did the ankheg and the gold that we gained from selling the shell more than covered the cost of raising Cyricca.
We made our way south killing hobgoblins and picking up the Colquetle Amulet on the way. In Nashkel we picked up some decent armour and went on to kill Greywolf.
Killing worgs caused Cyricco to level up.
We then killed Vax and Zal.
Caldo and Krumm died next.
Ingot was next
We killed Gnarl and hairtooth before carrying on to a cave that we raided. After that we headed north and killed a polar bear. We were rewarded with a pair of boots for doing that.
By killing Neville, I equipped myself with another magical long sword. We then headed north again, helping an archaeologist before taking Brage to the temple of Helm. Cyricca dualled to a mage after helping the archaeologist.
We reunited Rufie with Albert and took Samuel to the Friendly Arms Inn.
We killed a lot of ankheg and had bought the pfp scroll and the necklace of missiles. We should have gone to Mutamin's garden next, but we didn't. We went to see Bassilus whereupon the following happened;
From one extreme to the other - two paladins. The Cavalier I have just rolled, the Inquisitor was rolled about a month ago and has had many incarnations prior to this one but with other names.
They have currently returned to the site of the ambush and are trying to decide what to do next. No mods other than adding a bag of holding to Gorion which we have just recovered.
The first job is no get better armour as chain mail is not adequate.
EDIT
I changed my mind which bwas a bad idea. One-shotted by an ankheg. Tarnesh had already been killed.
Starting afresh with the same duo, but it is now time for bed.
It's over 3 years since I documented a bard run, so thought I would have another go at that. That previous attempt fell victim to experimentation in SoD, but I tend to stick to a safe path there now, so shouldn't fall into the same trap this time. I'll be limiting play to 1 hour a day in a (probably) vain attempt to maintain concentration.
From Candlekeep I took the well-worn trail to Shoal to pick up 3 quick levels there. Then it was off south to find Drizzt and get some quality bardic armor. I activated all the gnolls there to save time, rather than trying to get him knocked unconscious to get some easy XP.
After learning CLW in Nashkel, I went to find Meilum and shot him down to get his bracers.
Greywolf offered up his sword, though I did stoop to speeding up that contest by using the frost wand found in the north of the area. His death also got me to level 5.
Korax led the way in the basilisk area and a few of those monsters got me to level 6. With them all dead, Mutamin was the next victim before Korax headed for Kirian's gang. The only spell I knew at that time was the LMD picked off Xzar's body, but I had a cunning plan to help Korax out there ...
Fight of the Day
Korax is deadly, one-on-one, but less so in a crowd
He still can have the edge though in a stinking cloud
With 3 foes down he set to work and Kirian's coughing ceased
The odds looked good at that point as the ghoul began to feast
Peter though was still alert and had a trick or two
"I know that you are unaware, but I can still see you"
A spell appeared from the blue that could change the game
Not a killer in itself, but deadly all the same
I saw it come and hopped on my bike to get quickly out of sight
If I could wait around a while the future could be bright
With no-one left to guide his claws, Korax lost his way
A spear drilled through his open back to mark his final day
When sense returned I dug around to find something to throw
A fiery blast dimmed the sun and was Peter's woe
Inching forward, I saw an archer and retreated once again
Baerin followed, on his own, to find a world of pain
Lindin next spied my advance and tried to run me down
If he'd done that it would have brought a measure of renown
But without a bow or similar means he was on a foolish quest
And arrow after arrow hit to send him to his rest
Once more I crept on and on until, yes, it's Kirian's toe
She still had spells and could prove to be a fatal foe
But I was first on the draw with my minor drains
Her spells thus failed, as did she, to leave me to my gains
There was a bit of time left in the session, so I used the +1 arrows taken from Baerin to go and shoot the High Hedge golems.
Then I travelled up to the FAI, picking up a couple of belts on the way. Rather than dodge Tarnesh's horror, or try and kill him before that, I used my song to protect me from fear (and taunt him) before shooting him down.
@Grond0 Like the rhyming write-up but "Hopping on a bike" doesn't sound quite right considering the location/time-frame he is in.
A party of Lawful Evil Helmites next. I am presuming that Helm is OK with giving his divine powers to a Blackguard since he is OK with giving them to a lawful evil priest.
The party are pretty law-abiding. It's their motivation that makes them evil. For instance if Helmstaff is caught thieving, he will pay the fine without demur.
@Grond0 Like the rhyming write-up but "Hopping on a bike" doesn't sound quite right considering the location/time-frame he is in.
It doesn't seem like a major problem to me . The world of Toril encompasses a huge range of cultures (deliberately so to provide scope for gaming). While the Sword Coast may be the closest analogue to medieval Europe, it's certainly not intended to be restricted to what was found there. Elsewhere on Toril there are advances far beyond bicycles (like non-magical flying machines for instance) and the Hall of Wonders in Baldur's Gate is evidence that knowledge of technology has spread there.
@Grond0 Like the rhyming write-up but "Hopping on a bike" doesn't sound quite right considering the location/time-frame he is in.
It doesn't seem like a major problem to me . The world of Toril encompasses a huge range of cultures (deliberately so to provide scope for gaming). While the Sword Coast may be the closest analogue to medieval Europe, it's certainly not intended to be restricted to what was found there. Elsewhere on Toril there are advances far beyond bicycles (like non-magical flying machines for instance) and the Hall of Wonders in Baldur's Gate is evidence that knowledge of technology has spread there.
I suppose that my problem is that I think that the Hall of Wonders doesn't belong either.
The session started with killing some fishermen and returning Tenya's bowl. After dodging an ankheg to open up Ulgoth's Beard I went back south to find Bassilus.
Fight of the day
Rigid thinking is liked by priests around the Coast
And even though I was out of sight I might still leave my post
If a skeleton wandered it might come into view
And danger would threaten whether I run or pursue
Thankfully though, my saving throw held
And a follow-up hold was also repelled
Another attempt to freeze me in place
Failed to cast and set up a chase
Bassilus cried havoc and his dogs of war came
They're good at the chase and not easy game
Nevertheless, with a quick-firing bow
They were both shot, to leave just the main foe
On his own now and not used to the run
Bassilus knew the sport was no longer fun
He kept going on and sure tried his best
But arrows bit deep as with all of the rest
Melicamp was successfully restored and only caused me a minor delay waiting until he'd counted all his fingers and toes.
I ratcheted up reputation further courtesy of Brage and Oublek. While in Nashkel, a first use of horror made Neira an easy target for my spells.
As usual, I had dragged Brage away from Laryssa before talking to him - meaning she and her magic shield were still available for collection.
The main reason for returning though was to help out Charleston Nib and take on the Doomsayer. Three magic missiles hurt it before I got on my bikehorse to get out of its sight and rest. Resting in the same area prevents enemies recovering HPs and I thought another 3 MMs would finish it off - but they didn't score well and the Doomsayer just survived. Rather than rest again I just used a charge of the MM wand to finish it off.
A visit to the Lighthouse area to put Ardrouine's mind at rest pushed my reputation to 20.
I'd already picked up a friends' scroll from a combat somewhere, so was ready to do some shopping. That was mainly for spells, though I added the Claw, cloak of displacement and greenstone amulet for good measure.
Now with my favorite skull trap available (and invisibility to easily recover spells), the battle horrors at Durlag's Tower could quickly be dealt with, to get me to level 8.
Inside the Tower Kirinhale seemed happy with the use to which her hair was put, but Riggilo was not.
Incidentally, @Corey_Russell I noticed the conversation with Riggilo included a reference that the hair looked like nymph's hair (though also said that I was no expert ), so that's probably where you got that idea from. Greenstone protection allowed me to grab the tome, while on the roof PfP was available to protect against basilisk gaze. All 3 greater basilisks there attempted to attack in melee, but nipping back down the stairs for a few seconds reset them to gaze attacks and made them vulnerable to strength-enhanced, dual-wielded scimitars and the rush of XP there was just enough for level 9.
Protection from fire then ensured no harm came from the trapped container on the roof.
I was stunned coming back in from the roof and waiting that out meant there was only a few seconds left in the session to make my way down to Nashkel.
I came across some images on the web and after making portraits I decided on a new run. Very similar idea to the one that I just started, but slightly less powerful. However, I like the concept. The blackguard has specialised in two handed swords because the portrait has a two handeed sword. The cleric specialises in war hammers because the portrait carries a war hammer and I have altered his shield to have the symbol of Helm on it.
I prefer it when the portraits determine the character. I would prefer long swords for Grimla, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
My thief/illusionist specialises in daggers. I just feel that they suit the character.
Grimla, like evreyone else is aware of having some divine blood in her veins due to her flashing green eyes, but is unaware of which deity this derives. However it has had the impact of making joining her a popular option with those seeking a powerful leader.
Stealthblade didn't realise at first that his illusionist powers were magical. He thought that they were part of his thieving ability, but then other abilities caused him to realise his other gifts and is now developing those too.
He was delighted when the +1 dagger which Grimla was given was passed on to him. You may wonder how a thief ended up being a Helmite. This is because of what happened to him in his youth when he wasn't very adept and got caught. The stripes that he recieved taught him to avoid getting on the wrong side of the law. That doesn't mean that he stopped breaking the law, just that he found ways of avoiding getting caught.
Teaming up with Helmic helped. He would unlock chests and then leave the room whilst Helmic cast sanctuary and emptied the chests. They did this before leaving Candlekeep and were several gold pieces the richer before leaving as a result.
Grimla was slightly annoyed that he had spent good gold on supplying Stealthblade with a small bow only to find one lying on the ground at the site where Gorion was killed. "Typical!" she said rather grumpily. Her grumpiness was eased somewhat when they found a diamond nestled in a knot half-way up a tree. "I wonder how that got there," she said.
Stealthblade was particularly pleased upon finding a luck scroll at the site of the ambush. "That will help with my thieving," he thought.
We followed Gorion's suggest ion of going to the Friendly Arms Inn.
On the way Grimla found a ring of protection +1 which she promtly put on. This could explain why she wasn't wounded when a wolf attacked scant minutes later. Stealthblade cast shield and reflected image before helping and it was his +1 dagger that made the killing blow.
At the Friendly Arms another ring was found which doubles the number of spells that Stealthblade can cast. This turned out to be highly beneficial when Tarnesh, a mage, attacked us. Helmic cast "True Sight" and Grimla "Poison Blade." That was sufficient to deal with the problem,
On Tarnesh's body were some scrolls which enabled Stealthblade to memorise "Magic Missile" and "Burning hands." As a result he is quite happy as he now has several more spells than before. However, he was disappointed to discover that though he has memorised "Luck," he cannot yet cast it.
A wander through the Cloud Peaks cleared the main encounters on the way to find the charisma tome, while invisibility ensured I didn't have to bother with the small fry there.
The Red Wizards of Thay had failed to prepare minor globes and died in a couple of skull traps from out of range, before I headed for the Nashkel Mine. After sneaking through there a first skull trap from out of sight of Mulahey badly wounded him. As is typical with potential enemies though he's quite credulous. As long he doesn't actually see anyone attacking him, he'll write off a single lot of damage as just an accident - so he didn't call for help. He saved against a second skull trap and hence survived, but his morale had gone and he was shot down before he recovered.
Outside the mine the amazons are another example of a group that allows you a free shot at them - though in their case I now also knew web and they were all stuck anyway.
I'd dumped my short bow to carry loot from the amazons and not yet bought another before tackling Nimbul - but a single lot of magic missiles hammered through him while he was webbed.
Tranzig was another to fall for the old one-two skull trap routine. He also survived, but also tried to run - and also failed to get far.
Fight of the Day
Arriving at the Bandit Camp one fine sunny morning
Some archers started shooting, without a single warning
While they all needed criticals to score a hit on me
The reverse was seldom true and they began to flee
Their leader ran up shouting, as their morale slipped away
But as he stared round blindly, the others desired no play
That was not an option though and they mostly fell asleep
And shortly after that the widows began to weep
Inside the tent, three blindness spells achieved a sole success
But that was on the only one to threaten real stress
The others found that sticky webs were not the main mishaps
Those were though to soon arrive in the deadly form of traps
Hakt survived the rain of skulls and started to attack
But found that arrow after arrow provided too much flak
Ender Sai survived the fight, but then he got a shock
As the chest near where he stood had a trap though not a lock
In the Cloakwood I tend not to bother going to get Spider's Bane, but this time did sneak into Centeol's nest and picked that up while invisible.
Then it was on to find another mine. A greeting party there got the usual treatment, with a pair of skull traps dispatching the mages. Genthore managed to break free from the web, but was shot down as he did so, while Drasus failed to do even that much.
I sneaked through the mine, but time ran out before I could confront Davaeorn.
I won't be running this game just yet as I'm in the middle of a run, but I created a blackguard to go with a portrait I have just made and had a 97 roll with a strength of 18/00.
I'll have to look after her! here are the roll and the portrait.
As you can tell, she is the half-sister of Grimla Greeneyes.
The only differences are her stats [three extra points plus better strength], the fact that she is right-handed instead of left-handed, the colour of her eyes is different, and the location of her home is different.
The portraits are based on artwork by sang heun Lee put on a background of photos taken by me, and is to be found everywhere on the web.
We'd started clearing the Bandit Camp last time, so it wasn't long before Taurgosz charged out to meet us -only to lose sight of where he was going.
Then, while Siri and Kencore stood outside Tazok's tent discussing how best to deal with Venkt they heard a thump - and realized that discussion was now moot.
Britik chased outside and was robust enough to survive Thwaka's backstab, only to find that a critical axe from Kencore can be nearly as bad.
In the second Cloakwood area Thwaka stared for a while at a slight irregularity in the ground, that looked as though it might be suitable for traps, before shrugging his shoulders and ploughing on invisibly to trigger various traps.
The ettercaps there suffered from skull traps, but clearing Centeol's nest proved a bit harder. His use of shield didn't prevent Kencore getting poisoned there and he had to hastily gulp an antidote and run out of the nest to survive.
The remaining enemies were finished off though and Siri got a 7th level (and the ability to cast 4th level spells) as a result.
As his companions expressed a total lack of desire to see wyverns in their natural surroundings, Siri pressed straight on to the mine. His use of invisibility allowed him to blind all 3 of Drasus' companions before Thwaka opened up on the main man with a backstab. Seeing the odds stacked against him, Drasus was overcome by a sudden feeling of hopelessness and lay down to die.
Inside the mine, Siri was soon standing at the top of the staircase to the 3rd level having a little debate with himself. He knew an ambush was likely there and that his sleep spell could potentially turn the tables on the attackers. In order to be able to use that he could have made himself invisible, or changed the party order so that someone else would be attacked first. However, he chose to do neither, so it was no great surprise when he was poisoned by a hobgoblin arrow. With only 21 HPs to play with, even a pretty weak poison was no joke for someone so reluctant to use healing potions or antidotes and Siri had to work hard to keep ahead of some chasing hobgoblins, while getting enough room to stop briefly and fit a Bhaal CLW in between poison ticks. He did manage to survive long enough though for the others to come to his rescue and the poison ebbed away while he still had a comfortable 4 HPs left.
At the bottom of the mine a couple of battle horrors were drawn away from traps and blinded to render them pretty helpless against backstabs.
Kencore then glugged a potion of magic blocking and chased after Davaeorn. Siri scurried into the top room to give himself the best chance of avoiding a bouncing lightning bolt, but Thwaka was bolder and followed Kencore hoping to get a backstab in - only to see his hopes sizzle before Kencore finished off the mage.
Siri couldn't help a slight chuckle at Thwaka's misfortune, but was almost laughing on the other side of his face when he discovered that both of the others had somehow failed to trip one of the glyph traps - it was no surprise that Kencore had left one, as he was wearing boots of speed, but it would be unusual for Thwaka to have skated over a trap (probably the position he was shown as dying at on my screen did not represent where the game actually counted him as dying in MP). Fortunately the glyph did less than its average damage and Siri survived easily enough.
Kencore also dealt with the mustard jelly and we crammed all the expensive gear into our 2 remaining backpacks. A temple visit was made before coming back to flood the mine (allowing Thwaka to share in the XP for that).
In the City the first bit of action was to seek revenge on an ogre mage that ended one recent run. Kencore and Siri went down invisibly, but Thwaka was content to rely on his stealth abilities. In fact those only just lasted long enough - he snapped into visibility in time for the ogre mage to react, but got out of sight before he could be targeted. One carrion crawler did follow, but was easily handled before Siri threw in a couple of skull traps at the ogre mage.
A body found down there led to Arkion and Nemphre each feeling a glow of satisfaction moments before a blow of backstab.
The poison quest saw Jalantha relieved of her temple duties.
In other circumstances the acolytes there might have had their own fatal accidents, but they stayed neutral and we just left the temple to mutterings behind us of "good riddance" and "she won't be ordering me to mop any more floors". Lothander was then doubly trapped, by summons and grease, to provide Siri with some speedy boots.
Marek fared no better against some summons of his own.
Thwaka had been generally pretty efficient with backstabs, but a critical miss on Ramazith gave Kencore an opportunity to unlimber his axes.
After clearing and looting the tower, Thwaka sought out another nearby mage. He expressed doubts about his chances of finishing Drelik off with one blow, but Siri and Kencore urged him on - and this time the critical went in favor of the attacker.
Jardak though proved a more resilient foe and Kencore had to do a quick flit up and down the stairs to protect his last few HPs. A couple of potions later though he was ready to re-engage and got the final hit in.
After picking up the Helm of Balduran (which none of us can even wear), Siri suggested tackling the Mountain Maulers. That might have been dangerous - but not so much after the collection of sighs as all the enemies in the room slumped to the floor.
That just left Nader active, who'd chased Thwaka outside the inn. Hmm, I wonder how running after an assassin into the twilight was going to end for him ...
Nearby, Degrodel's guards were pulled outside in dribs and drabs. The early drabs were all blinded for easy backstab disposal.
Later ones could have been more difficult, but, with time on the session running short, Siri got a selection of wands out and used the odd scorcher or frosty blast. He was being pretty careful not to catch bystanders in scorchers, but couldn't do much about it when Kencore threw himself into one of those.
Degrodel's horror has proved a problem before, but Siri expressed confidence that was no more likely to happen than a lightning bolt striking twice. Thwaka looked up sharply at that, but then concentrated on the business at hand and this time Degrodel did indeed go down before he had a chance to do anything nasty.
Siri ended the session by learning even more spells at Sorcerous Sundries. He'd failed to learn the Find Familiar scroll from Nimbul, but got it this time. Just possibly he'll remember to use that next time to reinforce his HPs a bit more ...
Enchanter - L8, 25 HPs, 81 kills
Assassin - L8, 52 HPs, 159 kills, 1 death
Kensai - L7, 80 HPs, 152 kills, 0 deaths
Thwaka again won the kills in that session to take the lead, though he might have to suffer a handicap penalty for dying ...
Trio 28, Core rules, unmodded (update 3) Enchanter - L8, 25 HPs, 81 kills
Kensai - L8, 52 HPs, 159 kills, 1 death
Assassin - L7, 80 HPs, 152 kills, 0 deaths
Thwaka again won the kills in that session to take the lead, though he might have to suffer a handicap penalty for dying ...
Trio 28, Core rules, unmodded (update 3) Enchanter - L8, 25 HPs, 81 kills
Kensai - L8, 52 HPs, 159 kills, 1 death
Assassin - L7, 80 HPs, 152 kills, 0 deaths
Thwaka again won the kills in that session to take the lead, though he might have to suffer a handicap penalty for dying ...
Should you update the death counts as well, then?
Ah, I see the problem - I had the stats for kensai and assassin the wrong way round - now corrected .
Then, while Siri and Thwaka stood outside Tazok's tent discussing how best to deal with Venkt they heard a thump - and realized that discussion was now moot.
Actually it was Kencore and Siri who were outside, as it was Thwaka who did the "thump".
Then, while Siri and Thwaka stood outside Tazok's tent discussing how best to deal with Venkt they heard a thump - and realized that discussion was now moot.
Actually it was Kencore and Siri who were outside, as it was Thwaka who did the "thump".
The problem is that all these half-orcs look alike .
Then, while Siri and Thwaka stood outside Tazok's tent discussing how best to deal with Venkt they heard a thump - and realized that discussion was now moot.
Actually it was Kencore and Siri who were outside, as it was Thwaka who did the "thump".
The problem is that all these half-orcs look alike .
Then, while Siri and Thwaka stood outside Tazok's tent discussing how best to deal with Venkt they heard a thump - and realized that discussion was now moot.
Actually it was Kencore and Siri who were outside, as it was Thwaka who did the "thump".
The problem is that all these half-orcs look alike .
Except they are different genders.
?
Journal of Grimla
After being ambushed at the Friendly Arms Inn which should be perhaps called the Unfriendly Arms, we left in search of safety, killing some hobgoblins on the way.
Sonner and his friends offered us a magical weapon in return for killing a Cleric of Umberlee. We decided that killing them for the weapon would be the easier option. Sadly we discovered that the weapon wasn't one that any of us was adept in using.
When we met up with the Cleric she was friendly enough but said that our payment would have to wait.
Nearby Helmic was very badly injured by an ankheg that saved against his command spell. However, we all survived and rested until fully recovered.
Our plans were to seek refuge in Baldur's Gate but we were denied entrance.
In transit to Beregost, we were attacked by wolves. This was sufficient for Stealthblade to level up.
Upon arrival at High Hedge Helmic was once more badly hurt, this time by gnolls.
Nearby Bassilus attacked us. That was a tough battle due to his spells of disablement. Only I survived the conflict.
We returned to the Friendly Arms to raise my companions.
As we were running out of it gold we decided to go to the ankheg area to regain some by selling their shells. Unfortunately some of it had to be spent in reviving Stealthblade once more.
At least we get more gold for a shell than it costs to raise him.
We at last actually reached Beregost and from there headed towards Nashkel.
Once more we were accosted, this time by ogrillon, but they proved to be no match for our skill with ranged weapons.
We returned to Beregost to deliver the letter, but after accepting a commission from Silke she attacked us when we refused to murder at her behest. Her magical skills did not match ours.
We also killed Karlat before giving Perdue his sword.
The journey to Nashkel then proved uneventful and at the carnival we killed Zordral.
Heading westward we killed Vax and Zal and reunited Albert and Rufie.
We headed westward and in transit were attacked by gnolls. Upon resting we were ttacked by more gnolls and upon resting again, by wolves!
Eventually we were able to regain our health.
We then killed Krumm and Caldo using command to disable them and afterwards we helped 'Drienne's cat before killing Ingot.
Heading west, we killed Hairtooth and Gnarl before raiding a cave.
We proceeded north where killing a polar bear earned us a pair of boots.
Continuing northward we gained a +1 sword by killing Neville prior to going on to help an archaeologist.
We then helped Brage by taking him to the temple of Helm.
EDIT
Run came to an end by being simultaneously charmed and poisoned by sirines. Shouldn't have gone there without the greenstone amulet.
I changed my mind about running another blackguard. I thought that instead of having a character who does all the right things for the wrong motives, I would play a character who is normally all sweetness and light, but who has an uncontrollable rage when you need to stay well clear of him. In other words - a berserker. At Candlekeep upon being given 300 gold pieces, he immediately gave it away again at the temple. This was not for any ulterior motive. it's the way he is.
I actually prefer this sort of character to the lawful evil ones. He has his flaws and he knows that he has, but he doesn't pretend to be somebody that he's not.
Here he is Brynjar the Berserk:
Upon leaving Candlekeep reputation is 11 and he is fairly well equipped with 3 axes, but he forgot to buy some throwing axes for ranged combat. He'll have to stop off somewhere for some shopping. ** in axes and ** in dual wielding.
Run came to an end by being simultaneously charmed and poisoned by sirines. Shouldn't have gone there without the greenstone amulet.
@Wise_Grimwald - just thought I'd let you know - a lot of players use the clarity potion you get in Candlekeep for the Sirines near the pirate cave. As for the poison, if your saves vs. death aren't very good, protection from poision from Thalantyr is always an option. One last thing - if you stand in the middle of the sirines as much as possible, you'll be close enough they will use melee which makes it considerably safer as well.
Brynjar was doing pretty well and decided to raid Durlag's Tower where he reached level 7.
Sadly that was not enough to defeat the doppelgangers downstairs.
Another party member with true sight would have made all the difference.
Perhaps it should just have been left until later, perhaps till after the bandit camp. The upper reaches of the tower were fine, not so the lower ones.
I've thought of a number of tactics that might have worked. Using the necklace of missiles would have hurt them more than it hurt me for instance. Using a potion of heroism and a potion of invulnerability might have worked too, or perhaps running over traps so that they got hurt more than me [In the past I have defeated the warders by repeatedly running over a fire trap whilst protected from fire - that tactic could have worked here if i'd used a speed potion]. Or simply waiting until their protections wore off. That would almost certainly have worked.
EDIT
It did work.
I'll know for the future. However, I think that playing it safer is a better option.
Comments
{My cleric/thief is based on Tiax, a character that I have always wanted to take through the series. This is the nearest that I can get. Cyrax is a barbarian who I want to dual to a mage. However, I'm not sure if it is possible to dual barbarians]
I'll choose a different party then. Thanks for telling me before I got started. I have chosen a fighter instead of a barbarian. She may look frail, but looks can be very deceptive.
I've had a few more attempts at this since I last recorded a full run. Unlike most characters, where I know how to succeed and just need to implement that, there has been a need to learn a bit more to find a decent path through the games (particularly SoD). I think I've just about done that now though and the last attempt got to the Throne, before failing. Progress in the end game in that run was made a lot harder because I forgot to take the pantaloons out of my bag of holding at the end of SoD and missed out on the Big Metal Unit and Rod. With those I think I would have had a good chance of succeeding against Mel.
However, I still think there's a bit more room for improvement. As one aspect of that, I've thought for a while about changing from the starting scimitar and short bow proficiencies - those are good for BGEE, SoD and SoA, but sub-optimal in ToB. I spent well over an hour last night to roll up a replacement character (without access to the strength tome, there's much more reason than usual to hold out for 18(00) strength). This time I've gone for long sword and daggers as starting proficiencies, with daggers being the first to be built up.
The only real threat in BGEE should be at the Palace, unless I take risks or make mistakes. I managed to avoid those though while skipping through the game this morning:
- shooting Shoal to get to level 3 (+24 HPs).
- after separating the amazons for disposal I returned to Nashkel where I traded in Joseph's ring for level 7 (+6 HPs).
- at the Bandit Camp, Taurgosz was shot down and I inherited his armor and shield. Bouncing in and out of Tazok's tent, dragged Raemon out to his doom. The second time I entered I successfully shut down Venkt and was able to finish him and the others off easily.
- in the Cloakwood I carefully negotiated some web traps before dragging spiders out of Centeol's lair to get Spider's Bane. Before moving on to the mine, I invested in the Dagger of Venom and Buckley's Buckler - though it hurt a bit to pay so much extra for those with reputation only at 9, I'll have more money than I need anyway
- at the mine Drasus was pulled away first and lost out to the fast weapon speed of daggers.
- a quick whiz round doing reputation quests followed and I got my 8th and final BGEE level while doing that.
- with reputation at 20 I moved on to Baldur's Gate. The 3 tomes there were soon mine and I bought some green scrolls and ammunition. Balduran's Helm provided a significant boost to fighting skills, while the Shield of the Falling Stars offered a more marginal improvement in defenses.
- armed with exploding arrows, I returned to the Lighthouse. At 2.5 APR (rather than the 3 APR I've been used to with bow skill) the sirines have a small chance of successfully casting dire charm - but none managed that this time before being shut down.
- the final bit of work in the City for now was the Iron Throne. The party there was split up using the stairs and dealt with comfortably - Zhalimar being left to the last to feel the bite of a poisoned dagger.
- after resting to get another DUHM to complete my Bhaal powers' selection, I talked to Tamoko to ensure she would appear in the Undercity then went to find Slythe. He was shot with a dispelling arrow before he could talk and then sliced and diced.
- there were no problems in the maze and I bypassed Rahvin's party on the way to find Tamoko. She almost always duplicates if I dodge into the temple, so I tanked a couple of flame strikes before sending her running with horror and finishing her off to get her +1 full plate.
Here's my inventory and record on transfer to SoD.
Wizard Slayer L8, 95 HPs (incl. 5 from Helm), 339 kills
You lowered your reputation from the initial value to 9 by scoring a kill on Drizzt, is that correct?
Also - how do you deal with attacks happening in transition from location to location? I distinctly remember some of them were really nasty.
Your general strategy against mages is to shoot them from afar to lower their casting chances?
What are the crucial items to get during BG1 solo fighter run? How is that selection different for a Wizard Slayer?
Previous updates:
SoD is significantly trickier than BGEE and there's very little room for error there. I made one of those and it proved costly ...
- in the dungeon Porios surrendered before PfU gave easy passage through a couple of groups of undead. Exploding arrows cleared the mercenaries to get to Korlasz. Despite 2 critical misses, acid arrows forced her surrender. Fanegonorom handed over a shield upgrade before I left the dungeon.
- in the City I killed a few NPCs for their equipment, but the only quest done was to get the Battle Tankard.
- killed Isabella and Ikros at the Coast Way Forest to get the regeneration ioun stone. Despite having grand mastery in daggers and no proficiency in long bow, my THAC0 was 2 better with arrows of piercing. However, I still initially tried to use daggers to shut down Ikros' casting due to the better APR. Two critical misses in a row rather spoiled that plan, but a dispelling arrow opened him up for the kill. Isabella's shield defenses activated several times to significantly damage me, but not enough to save her.
- I didn't bother dealing with some orcs and trolls in an ambush area on the return journey to the Coast Way Crossing. I returned Takos' treasures there, but demanded the shield back as an additional reward. At the bridge I nipped behind the tent to hide and wait for Caelar to come.
- there was nothing of interest to me at Troll Claw Woods and I just ran through there, ignoring the enemies on the road.
- before tackling the Forest of Wyrms, I did some more area transitions until a big hole in the ground showed up. The goblin witch doctor was shot down immediately and the rest of them were no real threat - particularly after a shield sunfire. Some myconids inside were able to confuse me, but didn't have the firepower to hurt me much and I duly recovered the Spellbreaker sword, which offers wizard slayers a +4 benefit to spell saves.
- after fighting through wyverns spiders and bugbears to get into a cave, I was greeted by more bugbears led by a shaman. He ran in horror as soon as he showed himself, however, and was killed before he could cast anything. Wearing the ioun stone for a while counteracted a bit of damage from the other bugbears and rather more from a trap in the corridor. There was another shaman with Snorgash, but he also fell to fear and the other bugbears were drawn away one or two at a time for easy disposal.
- in the temple proper, Ziatar's guards were killed group by group before going to find the half-dragon. I buffed with PfM and PfP before showing myself. As I thought might happen, he was stunned anyway by the first dart I threw, but those buffs would be wanted anyway for the Neothelid & Akanna. I ran past the latter with Spellbreaker equipped (as at least some of its abilities are psionic, not magical). I fired a single exploding arrow at Akanna before running back the other way and waiting for the Neothelid to dimension walk to me by the cells. Then it was back to find Akanna again and get a couple more attacks in - switching Spellbreaker for a shield there to try and protect against the invisible aerial servants. Both of those hit me anyway, which meant I couldn't really afford more damage, but at least with both of them visible there wasn't the same danger of invisible door blockers. Regrettably though, as the Neothelid once more arrived I forgot to re-equip Spellbreaker - and that was the end of another run ...
The use of poison greatly lowers casting chance. This can be using poison arrows, backstabbing with a poison dagger, or using an assassin's/blackguard's ability to poison. magic missile also has a good chance of interrupting casting as there are a number of missiles.
No items are essential, [Some players avoid powerful ones to make the game more challenging] but magical weapons don't break so make the game easier [Some enemies use protecction from ordinary weapons spells, others protection from magical weapons spells].
Greywolf's sword is very good being slightly better than +2, but there are plenty of +1 swords around too. In the area where Bassilus is, he has a +2 warhammer and another character has a +2 short sword.
There is a +3 quarterstaff for sale at Ulgoth's Beard.
In the early game Sonner [North of the Friendly Arms has a +1 flail] It is easily available.
In Cloakwood a +2 two handed sword that gives freedom of action is very useful.
In Ulgoth's Beard there is a ring of freedom of action that can be pickpocketted.
In the south are +1 and +2 halberds.
However, no one item is essential, you use the weapon that is best for your character. If you read people's write-ups you will find that notable items will be mentioned.
Wands are of course important for mages, but people play without having a mage in the party.
Items of importance if fighting basilisks are potions/scrolls/spells that protect from petrification. Fight basilisks with one character who is protected and keep the other party members out of harm's way.
That's right. The amount reputation falls depends on the value its at at the time (so reputation of 20 will reduce to 10 if you kill an innocent for example). You can fine tune things further by getting caught stealing (penalty of 1). The loss from Drizzt took me to below 9, but 9 is the highest it can go and still give you the evil powers - hence I avoided raising it beyond that until I'd got 2 Bhaal horrors. Particularly for the solo wizard slayer, that gives you a significantly better chance of success at the Palace.
A full bandit ambush can be nasty for some characters - particularly low level ones. Those only occur on the road though and only at night, so can easily be avoided by taking different routes or just travelling by day. For a wizard slayer the most dangerous ambush is the chance of a basilisk if travelling in the eastern areas. The chance of an ambush is quite low and, in most cases, you can run south out of its sight before it attacks so it would be very rare for me to die to that - but it has occasionally happened. I don't use autopause, but one reason for using that would be to ensure you get a chance to react to ambushes as soon as they occur (so that you don't wait around for a ghast to attack you for instance).
I think my general strategy would be summed up as always having a line of retreat, i.e. being able to run off the map or into a building before a spell arrives. That's generally easier to do from range when you can see the projectile coming, but in some cases melee is preferable. You don't necessarily need to run away completely - if you get out of sight of a caster before they complete a spell and their script does not make them wander (and no other enemies are active), you can just accept spells like rigid thinking and hold person (mods can change this behavior though).
There's not much that's really crucial, but there are lots of items that can make things easier. Invisibility allows you to bypass encounters, so potions and the ring at Ulgoth's Beard are helpful. Potions like strength, mind focusing, speed, magic shielding and regeneration allow you to take on harder fights earlier (firebreath potions are also extremely effective at killing enemies). There are plenty of +2 weapons to choose from, but if you want a +3 weapon they are rather scarcer (the staff at Ulgoth's Beard is an easy one to get though). Full plate mail is great stuff and you can either buy that in Beregost or wait to inherit Taurgosz's suit at the Bandit Camp. Necklaces of missiles allows you to win many combats from out of sight (or protect yourself from fire and watch opponents burn up around you). Darts of stunning are plentiful and extremely effective in BG1 (even without proficiency fighters can make good use of those). Boots of speed are handy to allow you to choose where and when you fight.
A wizard slayer can't use most potions, but can use healing and antidote ones (I don't do so, but that's just a personal restriction for all my characters). With miscellaneous magic (like necklaces) unavailable, the WS has to rely on his own fighting abilities. That makes use of magical ammunition much more important. For instance exploding arrows can be used to get past the sirines to get the constitution tome from the pirate cave, dispelling arrows can be helpful at the palace, for Slythe and for Sarevok, darts of stunning are great against fighter types, arrows of piercing allow you to significantly increase your chance to hit etc. Also don't forget green scrolls. They can offer you protection from magic, petrification, poison and elemental damage - covering a lot of the more dangerous encounters, though you need to be careful not to waste the PfM ones when not needed. You may have noticed from my write-up that I got the +1 full plate from Tamoko. Normally that armor is useless for a solo character in the unmodded game because it means you can't wear rings of protection - thus you end up with both worse AC and saving throws. However, as the wizard slayer can't wear those anyway, the armor is an improvement on standard full plate (it comes too late to be of much use though, unless you're continuing on to SoD).
We buffed up for Illasera, presummoned some help, and activated the battle. But we forgot that Illasera Dispels every hit, and thus he Dispelled Lady's Invisibility, and some of her help followed us south. Our summons were overrun, before we had Illasera alone. Lord could repel her missiles with Reflection Shield, but Lady got killed. And I needed her for True Sight and Dispel. So Lord resurrected her, and we continued GWW and Critical Strike Illasera. The fight went much worse than I thought, and we barely saved both RoR's with two charges each. Are we getting careless?
Started the first Pocket Plane challenge by casting summons at the door, which stops the barrier from working. Fire Elemental's killed the commoners and one Knight of the Order. After that the enemy found Lord, but were pretty easily repelled with summons. Named ones appeared. We killed Eltan and Linvail without using any RoR charges. Then Deva attacked Ellesime triggering her defenses and Fallen Deva. Then my Clone absolutely stomped her with 9 apr Critical Strikes.
Saradush landing was cleared, and we had 1 charge left in both RoR's, but we finally could recharge them. We did the easy guests, Kiser was Silenced out of sight and casually killed. Undead wiped with MoD +2. Thieves at Gromnir's basement netted 5 Invisibility potions each and we now had 73, which will become handy later. At Gromnir's Palace, we Charmed Elkan with SoC, and together killed Eler Had. Elkan then wasted the single Soldier, and then lured Gromnir to us. We easily killed both Ramazith and Gromnir. After escaping Saradush it was time to visit Watchers Keep again.
We went Invisible and drank Oil of Speed, and quickly ran past Balor room to Tahazzar. And because Lord was now Lawful Evil, we got an audience from him, and made a deal. Which we then betrayed immediately by Charming Yochol with SoC, summoning everybody, and ganging on him. He was pretty quickly killed with double 9 apr Critical Strikes. As we were trying to escape, Lady got stunned, but Deva then Dispelled her, and we ran again past the Balor room to the start level. Ka'rashur was trickier because we needed fight them head on. We ran past Quasit and Succubus rooms and quickly attacked Ka'rashur with Smites and GWW's. Lord tanked most as Lady protected with RoR's, and after 6 rounds or so Ka'rashur fell. We quickly escaped again to the start level.
Next path was through Quasit, Tiefling, Demon Knights and Demon Wraith rooms and we found Aesgareth. We tried twice to gamble Spectral Blade with experience, but Aesgareth won both. Also killing the assassins, we got another 30 Invisibility potions. Then it was time to dust off the trusty Wand of Wonder. And with exactly 49 hits we stoned everybody except Aesgareth. We summoned everybody. Triple Smites and Aesgareth didn't recover, got the Deck of Many things and advanced to the fourth level. Although fighters can stop all the game ending effects from the deck, EURYALE or permanent +1 penalty to saves cannot be stopped without Spell Immunity. So I'm not going to gamble in this run.
Main floor from fourth level was cleared easily. Kithyanki area passed with Sanctuary, Saladrex stoned. For the Mind Flayer dungeon we buffed INT to 60 and AC vs Crushing to -25 or so. Lord also used Roranach's helm to get -100 Crushing resistance. The first two big parties were killed during a Improved Haste. For the last party we only killed the Ulitharid with part of the Rod, and quickly escaped the place. Few of them followed to the main level, but were quickly killed. Rock and Garock were nothing special.
From the Machine Lord got one DEX, INT, WIS and CHA points and 5 MR, and Lady got one STR and CON point. This was now the Paladin couple's final form.
Final Seal level. We casually waited the Test of Stamina out invisible and the Green Dragon got stoned. Spirit Warrior test, North, East, Search, North, East, North, Scroll, West, Archway. This has never failed me in nR, even with LoB. We now had both Spirit and Heart keys. Lord put on PfU and used Spirit Key. Azamantes appeared and put up nice display of protections and summoned couple Cornugons which I waited out. Then I waited the Dark Planetar, and after it left Lord attacked. And I was bit lucky as the Lich still Dispelled me, but at the same time my MoD +2 got him. For the trouble Lady got the best sling in the game, Erinne's Sling and Lord got half of the Ravager +6, the bane of Solars. The next part was tougher, we buffed up and summoned everything. Lord, Lady and Clone Smited Ytossi away, where as Deva and Skelis kept company to the rest. Y'tossi still got PfMW on which I wasn't ready to wait up. As we didn't see anyone else close, we took calculated risk and Lady Dispelled us all. We Smite GWW'd Y'tossi around the room like rubber ball, and he was dead soon after. Lord picked up the loot and quickly escaped leaving rest of them to rot in there. That does it for the Watchers Keep, and Lord now achieved 10 apr Critical Strikes.
For Master Wraith Lord used PfU, and leveled all with 10 apr MoD +2 Critical Strikes. To pass the Burning Men in Marching Mountains Lord used Remove Fear on Lady. First level of the Dungeon Lord casually looted with Sanctuary and GWW speed. Brimstone was lured to the door which he couldn't fit through, and Lord made him true to his name with WoW. Before killing the beast, Lord used Staff of Command to Charm Fire Giants, who got killed one by one. Then we Charmed the last three Fire Giants who killed Berenn for us. Imix was charmed with the Control Circlet and killed by a Fire Giant. Lord got the other part of the Ravager +6. Nyalee was then Smited with combined 25 apr's, and died in few seconds.
Time to face the toughest battle to this point. Lord tried to beat the bridge script to avoid Yaga-Shura's army, but alas couldn't, and we were in for the long haul. No worries, with superior Intellect, 20 and 18 respectively we formed a quick plan. Lord went Invisible and attracted everybody with their homing beacon. Non of the army sees through Invisibility, so Lady could pepper them with SoC Charms and they started killing themselves. Lady always concentrated first on mage and cleric soldiers, and then Fire-Giants took a lot of their own army to death. As they've homing beacon on Lord, Lady was safe just out of sight. After SoC 25 charges was empty, she summoned five Fire Elemental's, who attacked the rest. And interestingly non of the soldier weapons did anything to them. So they started removing them one by one. And after the holy massacre, the stream of soldiers stopped. We had beaten Yaga-Shura's army! In the pile of bodies was no less than 83 Superior Healing potions.
We took a little break, recharged the Staff of Command and came back and hit Critically Yaga who buggered off immediately. Once he became back with his Lieutenants, Lord charmed the mage with SoC who immediately then summoned Planetar. Then Lord charmed the fighter, and two of them killed the cleric and thief before turning on Yaga. In the mean time Lord Cloned and buffed up and attacked with 20 apr Critical Strikes. And Yaga was dead before the Planetar was unsummoned. Without any help in the end, Yaga wasn't that tough.
Half of the Big Six removed, another half to go.
After picking up Gorion's belongings we headed souith and were able to help Mellicamp.
We took on an ankheg which saved against a command spell. As a result Cyricca got killed. So did the ankheg and the gold that we gained from selling the shell more than covered the cost of raising Cyricca.
We then killed Vax and Zal.
We killed a lot of ankheg and had bought the pfp scroll and the necklace of missiles. We should have gone to Mutamin's garden next, but we didn't. We went to see Bassilus whereupon the following happened;
At least we died as heroes. Rep 18
The End
They have currently returned to the site of the ambush and are trying to decide what to do next. No mods other than adding a bag of holding to Gorion which we have just recovered.
The first job is no get better armour as chain mail is not adequate.
EDIT
I changed my mind which bwas a bad idea. One-shotted by an ankheg. Tarnesh had already been killed.
Starting afresh with the same duo, but it is now time for bed.
It's over 3 years since I documented a bard run, so thought I would have another go at that. That previous attempt fell victim to experimentation in SoD, but I tend to stick to a safe path there now, so shouldn't fall into the same trap this time. I'll be limiting play to 1 hour a day in a (probably) vain attempt to maintain concentration.
From Candlekeep I took the well-worn trail to Shoal to pick up 3 quick levels there. Then it was off south to find Drizzt and get some quality bardic armor. I activated all the gnolls there to save time, rather than trying to get him knocked unconscious to get some easy XP.
After learning CLW in Nashkel, I went to find Meilum and shot him down to get his bracers.
Korax led the way in the basilisk area and a few of those monsters got me to level 6. With them all dead, Mutamin was the next victim before Korax headed for Kirian's gang. The only spell I knew at that time was the LMD picked off Xzar's body, but I had a cunning plan to help Korax out there ...
Fight of the Day
Korax is deadly, one-on-one, but less so in a crowd
He still can have the edge though in a stinking cloud
With 3 foes down he set to work and Kirian's coughing ceased
The odds looked good at that point as the ghoul began to feast
Peter though was still alert and had a trick or two
"I know that you are unaware, but I can still see you"
A spell appeared from the blue that could change the game
Not a killer in itself, but deadly all the same
I saw it come and hopped on my bike to get quickly out of sight
If I could wait around a while the future could be bright
With no-one left to guide his claws, Korax lost his way
A spear drilled through his open back to mark his final day
When sense returned I dug around to find something to throw
A fiery blast dimmed the sun and was Peter's woe
Inching forward, I saw an archer and retreated once again
Baerin followed, on his own, to find a world of pain
Lindin next spied my advance and tried to run me down
If he'd done that it would have brought a measure of renown
But without a bow or similar means he was on a foolish quest
And arrow after arrow hit to send him to his rest
Once more I crept on and on until, yes, it's Kirian's toe
She still had spells and could prove to be a fatal foe
But I was first on the draw with my minor drains
Her spells thus failed, as did she, to leave me to my gains
There was a bit of time left in the session, so I used the +1 arrows taken from Baerin to go and shoot the High Hedge golems.
Bard L7, 50 HPs, 44 kills
A party of Lawful Evil Helmites next. I am presuming that Helm is OK with giving his divine powers to a Blackguard since he is OK with giving them to a lawful evil priest.
The party are pretty law-abiding. It's their motivation that makes them evil. For instance if Helmstaff is caught thieving, he will pay the fine without demur.
It doesn't seem like a major problem to me
I suppose that my problem is that I think that the Hall of Wonders doesn't belong either.
Previous updates:
The session started with killing some fishermen and returning Tenya's bowl. After dodging an ankheg to open up Ulgoth's Beard I went back south to find Bassilus.
Fight of the day
Rigid thinking is liked by priests around the Coast
And even though I was out of sight I might still leave my post
If a skeleton wandered it might come into view
And danger would threaten whether I run or pursue
Thankfully though, my saving throw held
And a follow-up hold was also repelled
Another attempt to freeze me in place
Failed to cast and set up a chase
Bassilus cried havoc and his dogs of war came
They're good at the chase and not easy game
Nevertheless, with a quick-firing bow
They were both shot, to leave just the main foe
On his own now and not used to the run
Bassilus knew the sport was no longer fun
He kept going on and sure tried his best
But arrows bit deep as with all of the rest
Melicamp was successfully restored and only caused me a minor delay waiting until he'd counted all his fingers and toes.
As usual, I had dragged Brage away from Laryssa before talking to him - meaning she and her magic shield were still available for collection.
A visit to the Lighthouse area to put Ardrouine's mind at rest pushed my reputation to 20.
Now with my favorite skull trap available (and invisibility to easily recover spells), the battle horrors at Durlag's Tower could quickly be dealt with, to get me to level 8.
I was stunned coming back in from the roof and waiting that out meant there was only a few seconds left in the session to make my way down to Nashkel.
Bard L9, 62 HPs, 108 kills
I prefer it when the portraits determine the character.
My thief/illusionist specialises in daggers. I just feel that they suit the character.
Grimla, like evreyone else is aware of having some divine blood in her veins due to her flashing green eyes, but is unaware of which deity this derives. However it has had the impact of making joining her a popular option with those seeking a powerful leader.
Stealthblade didn't realise at first that his illusionist powers were magical. He thought that they were part of his thieving ability, but then other abilities caused him to realise his other gifts and is now developing those too.
He was delighted when the +1 dagger which Grimla was given was passed on to him. You may wonder how a thief ended up being a Helmite. This is because of what happened to him in his youth when he wasn't very adept and got caught. The stripes that he recieved taught him to avoid getting on the wrong side of the law. That doesn't mean that he stopped breaking the law, just that he found ways of avoiding getting caught.
Teaming up with Helmic helped. He would unlock chests and then leave the room whilst Helmic cast sanctuary and emptied the chests. They did this before leaving Candlekeep and were several gold pieces the richer before leaving as a result.
Grimla was slightly annoyed that he had spent good gold on supplying Stealthblade with a small bow only to find one lying on the ground at the site where Gorion was killed. "Typical!" she said rather grumpily. Her grumpiness was eased somewhat when they found a diamond nestled in a knot half-way up a tree. "I wonder how that got there," she said.
Stealthblade was particularly pleased upon finding a luck scroll at the site of the ambush. "That will help with my thieving," he thought.
We followed Gorion's suggest ion of going to the Friendly Arms Inn.
On the way Grimla found a ring of protection +1 which she promtly put on. This could explain why she wasn't wounded when a wolf attacked scant minutes later. Stealthblade cast shield and reflected image before helping and it was his +1 dagger that made the killing blow.
At the Friendly Arms another ring was found which doubles the number of spells that Stealthblade can cast. This turned out to be highly beneficial when Tarnesh, a mage, attacked us. Helmic cast "True Sight" and Grimla "Poison Blade." That was sufficient to deal with the problem,
On Tarnesh's body were some scrolls which enabled Stealthblade to memorise "Magic Missile" and "Burning hands." As a result he is quite happy as he now has several more spells than before. However, he was disappointed to discover that though he has memorised "Luck," he cannot yet cast it.
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1142354/#Comment_1142354
A wander through the Cloud Peaks cleared the main encounters on the way to find the charisma tome, while invisibility ensured I didn't have to bother with the small fry there.
The Red Wizards of Thay had failed to prepare minor globes and died in a couple of skull traps from out of range, before I headed for the Nashkel Mine. After sneaking through there a first skull trap from out of sight of Mulahey badly wounded him. As is typical with potential enemies though he's quite credulous. As long he doesn't actually see anyone attacking him, he'll write off a single lot of damage as just an accident - so he didn't call for help. He saved against a second skull trap and hence survived, but his morale had gone and he was shot down before he recovered.
Outside the mine the amazons are another example of a group that allows you a free shot at them - though in their case I now also knew web and they were all stuck anyway.
I'd dumped my short bow to carry loot from the amazons and not yet bought another before tackling Nimbul - but a single lot of magic missiles hammered through him while he was webbed.
Fight of the Day
Arriving at the Bandit Camp one fine sunny morning
Some archers started shooting, without a single warning
While they all needed criticals to score a hit on me
The reverse was seldom true and they began to flee
Their leader ran up shouting, as their morale slipped away
But as he stared round blindly, the others desired no play
That was not an option though and they mostly fell asleep
And shortly after that the widows began to weep
Inside the tent, three blindness spells achieved a sole success
But that was on the only one to threaten real stress
The others found that sticky webs were not the main mishaps
Those were though to soon arrive in the deadly form of traps
Hakt survived the rain of skulls and started to attack
But found that arrow after arrow provided too much flak
Ender Sai survived the fight, but then he got a shock
As the chest near where he stood had a trap though not a lock
In the Cloakwood I tend not to bother going to get Spider's Bane, but this time did sneak into Centeol's nest and picked that up while invisible.
Bard L9, 62 HPs, 187 kills
I'll have to look after her! here are the roll and the portrait.
As you can tell, she is the half-sister of Grimla Greeneyes.
The only differences are her stats [three extra points plus better strength], the fact that she is right-handed instead of left-handed, the colour of her eyes is different, and the location of her home is different.
The portraits are based on artwork by sang heun Lee put on a background of photos taken by me, and is to be found everywhere on the web.
Siri - male, elf enchanter (Grond0)
Kencore - male, half-orc kensai (Corey_Russell)
Thwaka - female, half-orc assassin (Gate70)
Previous updates
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1141650/#Comment_1141650
We'd started clearing the Bandit Camp last time, so it wasn't long before Taurgosz charged out to meet us -only to lose sight of where he was going.
In the second Cloakwood area Thwaka stared for a while at a slight irregularity in the ground, that looked as though it might be suitable for traps, before shrugging his shoulders and ploughing on invisibly to trigger various traps.
As his companions expressed a total lack of desire to see wyverns in their natural surroundings, Siri pressed straight on to the mine. His use of invisibility allowed him to blind all 3 of Drasus' companions before Thwaka opened up on the main man with a backstab. Seeing the odds stacked against him, Drasus was overcome by a sudden feeling of hopelessness and lay down to die.
Inside the mine, Siri was soon standing at the top of the staircase to the 3rd level having a little debate with himself. He knew an ambush was likely there and that his sleep spell could potentially turn the tables on the attackers. In order to be able to use that he could have made himself invisible, or changed the party order so that someone else would be attacked first. However, he chose to do neither, so it was no great surprise when he was poisoned by a hobgoblin arrow. With only 21 HPs to play with, even a pretty weak poison was no joke for someone so reluctant to use healing potions or antidotes and Siri had to work hard to keep ahead of some chasing hobgoblins, while getting enough room to stop briefly and fit a Bhaal CLW in between poison ticks. He did manage to survive long enough though for the others to come to his rescue and the poison ebbed away while he still had a comfortable 4 HPs left.
At the bottom of the mine a couple of battle horrors were drawn away from traps and blinded to render them pretty helpless against backstabs.
In the City the first bit of action was to seek revenge on an ogre mage that ended one recent run. Kencore and Siri went down invisibly, but Thwaka was content to rely on his stealth abilities. In fact those only just lasted long enough - he snapped into visibility in time for the ogre mage to react, but got out of sight before he could be targeted. One carrion crawler did follow, but was easily handled before Siri threw in a couple of skull traps at the ogre mage.
The poison quest saw Jalantha relieved of her temple duties.
Thwaka had been generally pretty efficient with backstabs, but a critical miss on Ramazith gave Kencore an opportunity to unlimber his axes.
After picking up the Helm of Balduran (which none of us can even wear), Siri suggested tackling the Mountain Maulers. That might have been dangerous - but not so much after the collection of sighs as all the enemies in the room slumped to the floor.
Nearby, Degrodel's guards were pulled outside in dribs and drabs. The early drabs were all blinded for easy backstab disposal.
Siri ended the session by learning even more spells at Sorcerous Sundries. He'd failed to learn the Find Familiar scroll from Nimbul, but got it this time. Just possibly he'll remember to use that next time to reinforce his HPs a bit more ...
Enchanter - L8, 25 HPs, 81 kills
Assassin - L8, 52 HPs, 159 kills, 1 death
Kensai - L7, 80 HPs, 152 kills, 0 deaths
Thwaka again won the kills in that session to take the lead, though he might have to suffer a handicap penalty for dying ...
Should you update the death counts as well, then?
Ah, I see the problem - I had the stats for kensai and assassin the wrong way round - now corrected
Actually it was Kencore and Siri who were outside, as it was Thwaka who did the "thump".
The problem is that all these half-orcs look alike
Except they are different genders.
?
Journal of Grimla
After being ambushed at the Friendly Arms Inn which should be perhaps called the Unfriendly Arms, we left in search of safety, killing some hobgoblins on the way.
Sonner and his friends offered us a magical weapon in return for killing a Cleric of Umberlee. We decided that killing them for the weapon would be the easier option. Sadly we discovered that the weapon wasn't one that any of us was adept in using.
When we met up with the Cleric she was friendly enough but said that our payment would have to wait.
Nearby Helmic was very badly injured by an ankheg that saved against his command spell. However, we all survived and rested until fully recovered.
Our plans were to seek refuge in Baldur's Gate but we were denied entrance.
In transit to Beregost, we were attacked by wolves. This was sufficient for Stealthblade to level up.
Upon arrival at High Hedge Helmic was once more badly hurt, this time by gnolls.
Nearby Bassilus attacked us. That was a tough battle due to his spells of disablement. Only I survived the conflict.
We returned to the Friendly Arms to raise my companions.
As we were running out of it gold we decided to go to the ankheg area to regain some by selling their shells. Unfortunately some of it had to be spent in reviving Stealthblade once more.
We at last actually reached Beregost and from there headed towards Nashkel.
Once more we were accosted, this time by ogrillon, but they proved to be no match for our skill with ranged weapons.
The journey to Nashkel then proved uneventful and at the carnival we killed Zordral.
We headed westward and in transit were attacked by gnolls. Upon resting we were ttacked by more gnolls and upon resting again, by wolves!
We then killed Krumm and Caldo using command to disable them and afterwards we helped 'Drienne's cat before killing Ingot.
Heading west, we killed Hairtooth and Gnarl before raiding a cave.
We proceeded north where killing a polar bear earned us a pair of boots.
EDIT
Run came to an end by being simultaneously charmed and poisoned by sirines.
I actually prefer this sort of character to the lawful evil ones. He has his flaws and he knows that he has, but he doesn't pretend to be somebody that he's not.
Here he is Brynjar the Berserk:
Upon leaving Candlekeep reputation is 11 and he is fairly well equipped with 3 axes, but he forgot to buy some throwing axes for ranged combat. He'll have to stop off somewhere for some shopping. ** in axes and ** in dual wielding.
@Wise_Grimwald - just thought I'd let you know - a lot of players use the clarity potion you get in Candlekeep for the Sirines near the pirate cave. As for the poison, if your saves vs. death aren't very good, protection from poision from Thalantyr is always an option. One last thing - if you stand in the middle of the sirines as much as possible, you'll be close enough they will use melee which makes it considerably safer as well.
Sadly that was not enough to defeat the doppelgangers downstairs.
Another party member with true sight would have made all the difference.
Perhaps it should just have been left until later, perhaps till after the bandit camp. The upper reaches of the tower were fine, not so the lower ones.
I've thought of a number of tactics that might have worked. Using the necklace of missiles would have hurt them more than it hurt me for instance. Using a potion of heroism and a potion of invulnerability might have worked too, or perhaps running over traps so that they got hurt more than me [In the past I have defeated the warders by repeatedly running over a fire trap whilst protected from fire - that tactic could have worked here if i'd used a speed potion]. Or simply waiting until their protections wore off. That would almost certainly have worked.
EDIT
It did work.
I'll know for the future. However, I think that playing it safer is a better option.