I was running my favourite character type, an Inquisitor. Mellicamp had been saved and things looked to be going well in the battle against Silke as per below:
Half a second later, the bolt returned and game over.
@Wise_Grimwald - Silke is surprisingly deadly. I have had a few runs end relatively recently to her. It seems no matter where my PC stands, he always gets hit multiple times with that bolt. If you can't blind her, then electricity resistance of some kind certainly seems to be in order if you fight her.
Here's my first no-reload run attempt after previous attempts with a similar party died to the SCS chessboard and a FMT solo attempt died to three crits in a row from an Ankheg (Guess 53 hp isn't enough).
Weidu.log
// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2041 // XP for Traps, Spells and Lockpicking -> BG2 values: 1.12
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4050 // Books/Scrolls categorization: 1.12
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4060 // Wand Case: 1.12
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4070 // Key Ring: 1.12
~WSR/WSR.TP2~ #0 #100 // Wizard Slayer kit revision: v1.14
~WSR/WSR.TP2~ #0 #200 // Wizard Slayer High Level Ability revision: v1.14
~WSR/WSR.TP2~ #0 #302 // Revised Wizard Slayer item restrictions -> Moderate changes: v1.14
~WSR/WSR.TP2~ #0 #999 // BG2-style icons for WSR content: v1.14
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #40 // Change Viconia's Skin Color to Dark Blue: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #50 // Avatar Morphing Script: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #60 // Weapon Animation Tweaks: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #70 // Icewind Dale Casting Graphics (Andyr): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #110 // Icon Improvements: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #130 // Force All Dialogue to Pause Game: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #140 // Fix Boo's Squeak: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #160 // Make Magic Shields Glow (plainab/grogerson): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #182 // Unique Containers -> Unique icons and names: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #191 // Use Character Colors Instead of Item Colors -> For non-magical shields and helmets: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1010 // More Interjections: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1036 // Make Cloakwood Areas Available Before Completing the Bandit Camp -> All of Cloakwood Except the Mines: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1070 // Improved Multi-Player Kick-out Dialogues: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1080 // Add Bags of Holding: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1090 // Exotic Item Pack: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1100 // Reveal City Maps When Entering Area: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1120 // Stores Sell Higher Stacks of Items: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1150 // Shapeshifter Rebalancing: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1250 // Move NPCs from Baldur's Gate: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1270 // Change Cloakwood Mine Chapter End Change Trigger to Non-TotSC Behavior (plainab) (BETA): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Two-Handed Bastard Swords: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Two-Handed Katanas: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2035 // Two-Handed Axes: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2040 // Universal Clubs: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2060 // Weapon Styles for All: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // Change Experience Point Cap -> Remove Experience Cap: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Expanded Dual-Class Options: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2151 // Wear Multiple Protection Items -> No Restrictions: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2160 // Alter Weapon Proficiency System -> Rebalanced Weapon Proficiencies: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2170 // Cast Spells from Scrolls (and Other Items) at Character Level: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2200 // Multi-Class Grandmastery (Weimer): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2210 // Change Grandmastery Bonuses -> True Grandmastery (Baldurdash): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2220 // Change Magically Created Weapons to Zero Weight: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2240 // Un-Nerfed THAC0 Table: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2250 // Un-Nerfed Sorcerer Spell Progression Table: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2260 // Alter Mage Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2270 // Alter Bard Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2280 // Alter Cleric Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2290 // Alter Druid Spell and Level Progression Tables -> No Level Progression Changes, Un-Nerfed Druid Spell Table Only (Blucher): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2320 // Trap Cap Removal (Ardanis/GeN1e): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2339 // Remove Summoning Cap for Regular Summons: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2352 // Alter Multiclass Restrictions -> Install both of the above options: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2360 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Single Classes: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2371 // Alter Dual-class Restrictions -> Allow non-humans to dual-class: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2380 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Kits: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2390 // Paladins Use Icewind Dale-Heart of Winter Spell Tables (grogerson): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2400 // Rangers Use Icewind Dale-Heart of Winter Spell Tables (grogerson): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2410 // Druids Use 3E Alignment Restrictions: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2420 // Loosen Equipment Restrictions for Cleric Multi-Classes: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2430 // Loosen Equipment Restrictions for Druid Multi-Classes: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2440 // Everyone Gets Bonus APR from Specialization: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2999 // Max HP at Level One: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Higher HP on Level Up -> Maximum: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3012 // Maximum HP for NPCs (the bigg) -> For Party-Joinable NPCs Only: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3030 // Easy Spell Learning -> 100% Learn Spells: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Make Bags of Holding Bottomless: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3050 // Remove fatigue from restoration spells: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3060 // Remove "You Must Gather Your Party..." Sound (Weimer): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3070 // Change Effect of Reputation on Store Prices -> Low Reputation Store Discount (Sabre): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3080 // Increase Ammo Stack Size -> Unlimited Ammo Stacking: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3090 // Increase Gem and Jewelry Stacking -> Unlimited Gem and Jewelry Stacking: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3100 // Increase Potion Stacking -> Unlimited Potion Stacking: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Increase Scroll Stacking -> Unlimited Scroll Stacking: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3121 // Happy Patch (Party NPCs do not complain about reputation) -> NPCs Can Be Angry About Reputation but Never Leave (Salk): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3123 // NPCs Don't Fight: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3125 // Neutral Characters Make Happy Comments at Mid-Range Reputation: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3200 // Sellable Items (Icelus): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3205 // Stores Purchase All Item Types: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3230 // Taerom Makes Additional Ankheg Armor (Icendoan/grogerson): Beta 4
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1500 // Include arcane spells from Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1510 // Include divine spells from Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3505 // Wider selection of random scrolls: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3551 // Increase the power of Cure Wounds and Cause Wounds spells to the level found in 3rd Edition D&D -> Spells heal or inflict the maximum amount of damage in this range: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3580 // Restoration and Lesser Restoration spells heal ability-score damage: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Faster Bears: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // More realistic wolves and wild dogs: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5000 // Ease-of-use party AI: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5080 // Improved textscreens in Tales of the Sword Coast: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6300 // Smarter sirines and dryads: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6310 // Slightly smarter carrion crawlers: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6320 // Smarter basilisks: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7000 // Improved doppelgangers: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7020 // Improved deployment for parties of assassins: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Improved kobolds: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7040 // Relocated bounty hunters: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7060 // Improved Balduran's Isle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7070 // Improved Durlag's Tower: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7080 // Improved Demon Cultists: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7090 // Improved Cloakwood Druids: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7110 // Improved Drasus party: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7130 // Improved Red Wizards: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7140 // Improved Undercity assassins: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7200 // Tougher chapter-two end battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7210 // Tougher chapter-three end battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7220 // Tougher chapter-four end battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7230 // Tougher chapter-five end battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7250 // Improved final battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7900 // Improved minor encounters: v33.2
~PPE/SETUP-PPE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Portraits Portraits Everywhere (PPE) - core component: 1.01
~PPE/SETUP-PPE.TP2~ #0 #150 // Category Portraits (Recommended) -> Random: 1.01
~PPE/SETUP-PPE.TP2~ #0 #10 // Isandir's CHARNAME Portraits: 1.01
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #1 // Vampyre Kit for Thieves: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #2 // Better Stat Drain (recommended for Cross Class Kits and Vampyre Kit for Thieves): v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #3 // Sword Dancer Kit for Fighters, Paladins, and Monks: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #4 // Seducer Kit for Thieves: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #5 // Alchemist Kit for Mages: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #6 // Plasma Wizard Kit: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #7 // Shapechanger Kit Beta: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #8 // Simplified Psionicist Kit for Fighters: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #9 // Simplified Psionicist Kit for Monks: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #13 // War Hulk Kit for Fighters: v1.0
~FREEACT/SETUP-FREEACT.TP2~ #0 #10 // PnP Free Action: v2
~FREEACT/SETUP-FREEACT.TP2~ #0 #50 // Update spell and item descriptions: v2
I went with a sort-of Arthurian legends naming scheme for my first few characters, but then realized that there isn't really any orc analogue or dwarf analogue in the legends.
Protagonist: Nimue - Rebalanced Shapeshifter, grew up in Candlekeep but after she met a druid and was voluntarily infected with Lycanthropy she went on a sort of odyssey during which she met Morgana.
Morgana - Elven Mage/Thief (She met Nimue after hearing rumors of arcane magic and valuable tomes within Candlekeep, she was outside the gates when Nimue left and tagged along in the hopes that she could re-enter the keep at Nimue's side)
Knell - Half-Orc Rebalanced Wizard Slayer (Planning on dual classing to thief because I've removed the dual class restrictions on WSR) (Psychopathic in the extreme when it comes to mages and is willing to kill them without much reason but tolerates Morgana because she used Sleep to neutralize a mob that would have hanged him for killing their village witch)
Armok - Dwarven War Hulk (Modded Kit) (Like all dwarves from DF he is eager to defend his party but incredibly impersonal and liable to fly into a berserker rage that may result in the party dying)
Caelynn - Elven Cleric of Lathander (trying to redeem Armok and Knell, really hates zombies but tolerates skeletons because skeletons are cleaner).
The party has killed Tarnesh and Karlat via Command from Caelynn and Knell killed Xzar and then Montaron. Morgana has robbed most of Beregost, and the belt ogre was slain via Command. After gaining a level for everyone the party took on Silke, and she fell after forgetting to prebuff with shield (Magic missiles really help with the mirror images). Morgana also looted the inn after Nimue innocently suggested that perhaps the monks were taken aback at the nobles' finery.
Sidenote: I'm not playing with the "fine weapons replace magical ones" tweak from SCS because it actually makes the game easier for a shapeshifter because very few creatures have magical weapons with that mod.
No deaths so far, but one scary moment when Armok went berserk and started chasing Caelynn around as she went in to heal him after he got poisoned by one of the spiders in Landrin's quest (Lingering damage is REALLY hard for the War Hulk to deal with).
To be honest, this run will probably end with me giving a magical weapon to Armok and Armok eventually going berserk and killing Nimue-his damage values scare me.
Here's my first no-reload run attempt after previous attempts with a similar party died to the SCS chessboard and a FMT solo attempt died to three crits in a row from an Ankheg (Guess 53 hp isn't enough).
If you are solo, consider using the protection from acid scroll from Thalantyr. @Alesia_BH used that all the time - it makes soloing ankhegs considerably safer. There's nothing else to do with the scroll anyways.
Update 2 of the Arthurian Medley
After hearing about some evil necromancer named Bassilus west of the city of Beregost, Armok made a valiant attempt at mapreading but unfortunately "failed a spot check" and decided that the party should head east instead as he saw something that looked a lot like Bassilus (Basilisks) (some of the issue may have been that he was holding the map upside down). As they headed east, Morgana checked the map once again and facepalmed at Armok's mistake. Immediately, she ordered the party to turn around and head towards the castle that they'd seen east of Beregost to buy a spell that would protect them. After buying and scribing this spell, the party headed back to the Basilisk area even though they now knew Bassilus wasn't there because Knell had heard about an evil mage allied with the Basilisks and was on the warpath. Upon arriving, it was decided that Caelynn would stay behind because even with the powerful ring found under a tree Morgana could only protect four of the party members at a time. This turned out to be a stroke of luck, because the very first creature they met in this area was a friendly ghoul named Korax and if Caelynn had been with the Party she would have likely tried to kill the ghoul on principle. As the party moved through the area under Morgana's protections, they finally met the evil mage that was killed without much trouble (after Korax paralyzed him). After clearing out most of the basilisks, they met a party of adventurers that Knell antagonized after he saw there was a mage in their company. The fight was glorius and Armok came close to death, but emerged victorious after dealing a truly deadly crit of 53 Slashing damage to their cleric. Korax sadly bit the dust in this encounter, but the party gave him a nice burial and erected a tombstone reading "Korax - An equal of any wizard slayer and a valiant ally"
Kirian turned out to be the most dangerous opponent in this fight after getting off a sleep spell that knocked Knell completely out of the fight and then going after Morgana, who at one point was at 2 HP and then bombarding her with magic missiles that required her to use 3 healing potions to live through.
Sidenote: I just learned that there's a cool mace called the Stupefier in the Inn of Zhurlong! That's a neat detail that I hadn't known about because I (until this run) don't compulsively loot everything.
Update 3: Arthurian Medley
After giving the map to Morgana instead of Armok, the party headed east and then south to investigate Bassilus and hopefully end his necromantic escapades. Nimue scouted ahead with Sanctuary, and then after exhorting Footy to run away and never come back called a dread bolt of lightning onto Bassilus's head, badly injuring him and allowing Nimue to maul him with a devastating crit.
Killing Bassilus allowed Caelynn to level up to level 5 and gain 3rd level priest spells, and the party then headed to Keldath to claim the reward for their deed. Armok restrained Knell and prevented him from entering the temple because Morgana spotted a few sirines in the temple and worried that Knell would try to exact bloody vengeance on these magical creatures. After killing Bassilus, the party headed west from Beregost to try to figure out what the heck was up with the chicken that Nimue saved from a wolf.
Five minutes later, after killing some skeletons with Sunscorch, Melicamp was returned to his human form.
The party returned Purdue's sword and started heading south to see if they could do something about the horrible quality weapons-Armok hits things so hard that he's broken 5 two handed swords so far.
In Nashkel, the party killed Neira the assassin with Command followed by melee and gave the Ankheg plate to Armok - my biggest fear is still him going berserk, and that'll be harder if he has a lower AC. Edwin also met his end after Knell recognized him as a Red Wizard and went to work.
Here's my first no-reload run attempt after previous attempts with a similar party died to the SCS chessboard and a FMT solo attempt died to three crits in a row from an Ankheg (Guess 53 hp isn't enough).
If you are solo, consider using the protection from acid scroll from Thalantyr. @Alesia_BH used that all the time - it makes soloing ankhegs considerably safer. There's nothing else to do with the scroll anyways.
Thanks for the advice on the Ankhegs, definitely a good thing to consider in the future. I probably also should have killed Caldo/Krumm for the belt of crushing so that I wouldn't get hit by non-critical hits.
Another interesting occurrence; Dorn actually died in the Senjak/dorotea ambush, that's the first time I've seen that in non-LOB runs.
Also, oh no, I just gave Armok Rancor, he can now kill Nimue if enraged.
Our last session started with looking at the map and seeing we'd already visited nearly all of the wilderness areas we normally go to - but Durlag's Tower was still virgin territory. The battle horrors there were blinded easily enough before Ill tried his luck at hitting them from 2-handed range with his staff, while Hubris used the far more effective tactic of spinning and nipping in and out to strike with his scimitar.
On the roof, a single PfP spell was plenty to see off the basilisks - the final one of those quickly tried its hand at melee, but was significantly handicapped after the shutters came down over its eyes.
Inside the tower, Riggilo was the only victim on our way to grab a tome.
Next, we moved on to the Nashkel Mine. It didn't take long for feelings of deja vu to bubble up there and a quick check confirmed we'd already cleared that. Looking more closely at the map we found we'd also visited the Bandit Camp (and a scan of inventory showed we'd picked up a pair of bracers there), so the question arose as to why we couldn't see the first Cloakwood area. The most likely answer seemed to be we'd left the letters undisturbed in Tazok's tent - and in this case the likely answer was also the correct one .
Invisibility allowed us to pass through the web traps in the Cloakwood. Rather than press on immediately though, we took a few moments to sort out a group of ettercaps. Ill had no area damage spells available, but a malison and emotion took out 3 ettercaps, while a skull trap from Hubris damaged the others before closing for the kill.
At the mine web, skull trap, malison and emotion were on show again and Drasus & co had no answer to that combination.
Moving into the mine, Ill was wary of the ambush on the 3rd level and went down there invisibly with the intention of using sleep against the ambushers. However, one of those was slow to latch on to Hubris and attacked Ill instead when he started casting - interrupting the spell and forcing him to do a quick run round before trying again and helping Hubris clean up.
Downstairs, both battle horrors were caught in webs and our spell damage was sufficient to finish them off.
Without much of that left though, Hubris used a potion of magic blocking to chase after Davaeorn. Despite the loss of XP, that resulted in a bit of a giggle at the way the mage's boast that "Your feeble skills are no match for my magic" was fulfilled - a bouncing bolt meaning Davaeorn killed himself.
Ill successfully learnt knock there and we outlasted 5 ambushes before managing to rest and open the locked chest in Davaeorn's treasure room.
In the City the ogre mage immediately slumped down from an excess of emotion, while its crawler friends felt a strong desire to sleep.
A second pair of speedy boots was an obvious target and we started the poison quest to get those. While running round doing that, we passed Ramazith's Tower and were sort of invited inside .
Typically we would fight our way up there, but decided we couldn't be bothered with the ghasts this time and Ill bypassed them invisibly and went to knock open the container at the top. On the quest itself, Jalantha was blinded and, despite getting support from her acolytes this time, she then stood no chance.
We had no summoning capability, but decided to tackle Lothander anyway - and his slow progress towards the door, while slipping and sliding, proved fatal for him. Maple Willow Aspen has a bit of a penchant for fire, but fortunately chose not to immolate herself in a scorcher.
Marek will have to wait for next time though.
Update 4: Arthurian Medley
After going to the Nashkel Mines, the party slew Greywolf via command.
They didn't enter the minds after Armok got incredibly drunk (I legitimately bought like 50 gp worth of 1 gp beer) and heard about the kobolds being very organized and dangerous in the mines.
Instead, they first headed to the Gnoll Stronghold and after killing Ingot and obtaining The Chesley Crusher (one of the best weapons in the game for a War Hulk) the party slew Caldo and Krumm as well as Larissa and the Doomsayer. They did save Brage though, reasoning that his berserk rage was the result of evil sorcery rather than malicious intent after meeting him. The Book of Charisma went to Nimue at the Gnoll fortress, but the party didn't find Dynaheir there at all, and also witnessed some poor Gnoll pathfinding as the Gnolls went down into the holes and then back out, allowing Knell and Armok to slay them one at a time. After clearing out the fortress, the party headed to the coast, killing Sirines and running from Armok after he repeatedly got charmed. Arrows of Biting + Rage Spiraling leads to dangerous outcomes because each poison tick from AoB lowers his Save vs. spell by one, and he either goes berserk or gets charmed. Now, why was I scared about Armok going berserk? Partially, it was due to this scary crit on a ghoul.
The flesh golem cave was cleared without casualties but Knell was reduced to 10 hp after foolishly deciding he could tank flesh golems, and the Tome of Constitution went to Armok to enable natural regeneration.
The party saved a cow via use of Sleep
[img][/img]
They also killed the best swordsman in the sword coast via Command and cleared out Ulcaster School as well as the Firewine Ruins. At this point, I installed Thalantyr item upgrade after seeing that the dialogue bug had been fixed, and Thalantyr crafted the Dagger of Venom +3 for Morgana and Armok swore to create the uncursed berserking sword.
Next Destination: Nashkel Mines
Current Party Levels/Equipment
Nimue: Level 8 Shapeshifter dual wielding Shapeshifter Paws and wearing a normal helmet as well as the Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise and the Golden Girdle.
Armok: Level 6 War Hulk, wielding Rancor (due to his *** in Two Handed Swords) and wearing the Gift of Peace (won in a battle with Drosh after Shoal smooched and nearly killed him) as well as Full Plate Armor and The Brawling Hands, a Ring of Protection +1, the Frost's Embrace, and the Girdle of Piercing.
Knell: Level 6 Wizard Slayer, wielding Varscona and a Long Sword +1, wearing Ankheg plate mail and a normal helmet.
Caelynn: Level 7 Priestess of Lathander, wielding the Stupefier and a Sling +1, wearing Ankheg plate mail, Kagain's helmet (taken from him after the party helped him out) a Small Shield +1, a Ring of Protection +1, the Girdle of Bluntness, and using the nonmagical bullet Bag of Plenty.
Morgana: Level 5/6 Mage/Thief, wielding the Dagger of Venom +3 and a Shortbow +1, wearing the Robes of the Neutral Archmagi, Bracers of Archery, Ring of Wizardry, Cloak of the Wolf, and Boots of Stealth.
Sidenote: The diggers in the Doomsayer's area as well as the Kobold Commandos are very effective at targeting and trying to turn Morgana into a pincushion, well done @DavidW on the work you've done re: targeting. Even though it sometimes annoys me to no end it makes perfect logical sense.
His strategy in BG 1 was either use heavy armor (full plate, most encounters), backstab, or in case of fighting dangerous enemy parties, using fireballs from the shadows (necklace of missiles).
EDIT:
Duchal Palace in EE can be quite hard for a solo character that doesn't dual wield, since the dopplegangers are too high level for sleep, which is effective in vanilla. So in order, Corethief XXVIII recruited Imoen (level 2 character - she stayed in the party so we can use her CHA to recruit the rest of the characters), Imoen, Kivan, Coran, Minsc and Branwen. Other than making sure everyone had a missile weapon and some good ammonition, didn't bother with equipment.
We then took out Slythe. Then a Duchal Palace, a few buffs, mostly haste potions, and engaged success! The issue is, though, we didn't do the quests, and Minsc and Kivan in particular will get hostile if you eject them before completing them. So I had Kivan, Minsc and Coran charge Sarevok - and Sarevok managed to slay all of them before he ran! This made removing all the excess party members easy - I was solo after the fight once more. I then went invisible through the Maze and Undercity - then prepared for the final show down.
Update 5: Arthurian Medley
The party cleared the Nashkel mines without any major issues, though Mulahey's minions significantly injured Morgana after I forgot to prebuff her. Morgana also had an extremely disappointing backstab on Mulahey for a pitiful 15 damage. Heading back to Nashkel, the party slew Nimbul and rebuffed Rasaad before heading to Beregost to deal with Tranzig. Tranzig gave me a minor heart attack when he cast skull trap and hit both Caelynn and Morgana for half their health, but he fell to Knell's deadly longswords.
Molkar's party fell without issue, though Morvin managed to seriously wound Morgana and Caelynn before being put down.
On the way back to Beregost, Nimue headed to the Temple to purchase their potions of Extra Healing as well as their Elixirs of Health. Unfortunately, Armok got drunk again and was too busy sleeping off the hangover to stop Knell from entering, and carnage soon ensued.
Keldath actually managed to dominate Knell through his MR and saves, so Armok and Nimue spent half the fight running from Knell until he woke up from the charm.
Lamalha's party was significantly better prepared than Molkar's, and two triple backstabs on Caelynn nearly spelled her doom. Fortunately, the party was able to pull through with no deaths (but this was REALLY close)
In Peldvale Morgana went invisible and scouted out the area before fireballing Raiken and his goons via a wand. As the party traveled to Larswood, they met Osmadi, who attacked them even due to their protests that as far as they knew they had not killed his brothers. Armok then deduced that Corsone had poisoned Osmadi and when his Ironskins were down struck a decisive blow, ending the Shadow Druid menace.
The party then cajoled Teven into joining the bandits (this is sometimes necessary in a no-reload run to avoid dying at the Bandit Camp to the mob of bandits) and Nimue bluffed Tazok successfully into letting them into the camp proper. The party then prebuffed and walked straight into Tazok's tent, where they slaughtered the leaders with minimal damage thanks to effective use of both Holy Smite and Fireball.
The party then killed the rest of the camp with further fireballs (depleting their wand to 4 charges of fireball left) Morgana nearly died after her Mirror Images were shredded by Blacktalon Elites' ice arrows, and Armok got a truly impressive crit on a minor hobgoblin.
Cloakwood was fairly easy and Centeol fell to fireballs (previously I've lost multiple party members to the webs because the spiders' webs target Save vs. Breath rather than Spell)
Drasus's party was slain using a combination of Web and Spiders' Bane wielded by Armok, though Genthore slugged a potion of freedom and was a nuisance and Drasus ran out of the webs. The mages died satisfactorily though. The Cloakwood mines were easy except for Hareishan, who landed multiple Chaos spells on my party which thankfully Nimue was able to dispel. At Daveorn's level, I used my strategy of sending my thief ahead invisible first to disarm the traps and then backstab Daveorn repeatedly while the rest of the party dealt with the Battle Horrors and guards. Two backstabs fueled by a red strength potion (STR 18) later, Daveorn was in chunks on the ground and the fight was won.
Daveorn REALLY needs Stoneskin in his prebuffs to avoid his crippling vulnerability to a thief with the Cloak of Non-Detection. The party then headed to Baldur's Gate and ran through the Arkion and Nemphre quests as well as the Merchant's League Estate questline and the Flaming Fist quests. The party slew both Marek and Lothander (Lothander after he gave us the antidote) for our second pair of the Boots of Speed. As we prepared for the top of the Iron Throne building, I knew that I needed Morgana to hit the Acolytes with fireballs so that my party would have a chance. Unfortunately, this resulted in her death to a quadruple backstab from the dude whose name starts with a K, but the party was victorious and soon raised her at the Temple of the Lady (Where they previously obtained a book of Wisdom before backstabbing Jalantha Mistmyr).
Having finished all of the major quests in Baldur's Gate (Morgana stole the telescope and did the thieve's guild questline too, Ramazith and Ragefast were slain, Armok got the Book of Dexterity and Morgana got the Tome of Intelligence, the trappings of Balduran were obtained too) the party headed to Thalantyr and created several powerful magic items including
Two rings of Protection +2
One Ring of Freedom +2
Sword of Rage (Uncursed Berserking Sword)
Girdle of Bravery (+3 AC, +1 STR, Regen 1 Hp/round)
Improved Cloak of Non-Detection (Previous effects+Invisibility 2x/day and +1 AC/Saves)
They then headed to candlekeep, where I forgot about the Ogre Mage Ambush and nearly lost Morgana to Melf Acid Arrows. Instead of heading into Candlekeep, the party headed to Durlag's Tower instead after burgling Dushai and Shandalar thanks to Potions of Master Thievery and buying several items from the Barkeep. Durlag's Upper Levels were cleared with no issues, though Kirinhale did Dire Charm Knell for a while. As I'm approaching the spot where I died last run, I would like to ask for everyone's advice on how to handle the chessboard fight because I don't know what to do differently.
Party Character Sheets
Nimue (Elf Shapeshifter 11)
Armok (Dwarf War Hulk 9)
Knell (Half Orc Wizard Slayer 9)
Caelynn (Elf Priestess of Lathander 9)
Morgana (Elf Mage 8/Thief 9)
Party Inventories
Nimue
Armok
Knell
Caelynn
Morgana
Update 6: Arthurian Medley
The Chessboard was vanquished through liberal application of Oils of Fiery Burning, Potions of Explosions, and the Wand of Fire. No casualties surprisingly, but Morgana was significantly harmed after Nimue (the king) went forward to slay the enemy king. Durlag's 5th level was easy, and the Demon Knight himself was killed by Armok after prebuffing with PFE 10' radius, haste, resist fire/cold, and protection from fire as well as death wards for everyone.
The demon cult was significantly harder, and Morgana and Caelynn nearly died twice and Nimue nearly died after the Cult Wizard cast Otiluke's Freezing Sphere onto her.
Aec was slain after prebuffing with PFE 10', Haste, Mirror Images, Blur, and Potions of Mirrored Eyes for everyone but Knell (Who can't use them). Armok landed the killing blow - perhaps his title should be Uthgúr tharnas - Demon Slayer
Ice Island is next.
Update 7: Final BG1 Update
Ice Island, Werewolf Island, and Sarevok have all fallen to the Arthurian Alliance
We claimed we were groundhogs and slew Ankhegs once more and then killed Dezkiel through his PfMW by having Knell dispel it with a normal sword and Shatter Magic.
Armok got an epic 99 damage crit on a wolfwere and Karoug fell to Flame Strikes, Magic Missiles, and the Sword of Balduran.
Kaishas wasn't noteworthy, and Selaad and his associate fell as well.
The party headed through Candlekeep and slew Prat's party before returning to Baldur's Gate and slaying Cythandria on Tamoko's request.
Slythe and Kristin kept backstabbing Nimue and Caelynn, but eventually they died.
Tamoko was slain en route to the Bhaal temple
Sarevok fell to Nimue's claws after my strategy of waiting 2 hours to dispel Diarmid's PFM scroll and then only prebuffing with scrolls/minor spells in preparation for the remove magic followed by having the party turn invisible, run away, and re-buff. Caelynn nearly died to Sarevok, but we were victorious and moved on to SoD.
Levels:
Nimue: Shapeshifter 12; 626 kills, Greater Basilisk
Armok: War Hulk 9; 285 kills, Demon Knight
Knell: Wizard Slayer 9; 553 kills, Argh the Stone Golem
Caelynn: Priestess of Lathander 9; 142 kills, Seniyad
Morgana: Mage 9/Thief 10; 161 kills, Daveorn
Shar-Teel considered leaving Angmar’s service more than once but she could not disagree with his results. He was ruthless - almost inhuman in his cruel hate. They just finished destroying a bandit network and reaping the rewards, which to Shar-Teel is the exhilarating act of shedding the blood of others. She could not care less about what the Bandits were doing, to her they were a source of continual skirmishing. She sensed that Angmar had a bloody destiny and she knew she was at her best when she was knee-deep in bodies. By now, the thought of leaving him had passed. She figured out that Angmar venerated the deity Talos when they raided an ancient temple of Kozah, another name for The Storm Lord. They discovered an idol there that he refused to part with. That explained why Angmar always preferred to use a spear. The spear is Talos’ favored weapon. Shar-Teel is not interested in any faith, but it is widely known that Talos revels in destruction – something Angmar constantly pursues.
The retinue he had around him now was effective in combat as had just been demonstrated in the quick destruction of the Bandit Camp. She had admired the Half-Orc, Dorn, but he was fragile in battle and his overtures about challenging for leadership finally got him booted when Angmar hired a warrior Cleric. She admired Branwen’s battle skills and ferocity as a Battlegard of Tempus, but her constant whining about honor in combat irritated Shar-Teel to no end. The Dragon Disciple was gone too. She thought Flara was pretty cool – even if a little touched in the head. That Dragon breath was a heck of a combat multiplier too. Angmar appeared to be comfortable with Drow around him – he had Vynd, the Assassin, and Baeloth, the Sorcerer. Both held their own during skirmishes. She had been sure a third would join after Angmar killed a Flaming Fist Mercenary to prevent her capture but that did not pan out. Finally, there was the Mage-Thief, Vienxay, an Elf – Shar-Teel liked her best of all of them because she was thoroughly wicked (although she had a habit of throwing her Fireball without regard to who it affected). Angmar dismissed the Rakshasa, VerrSza to recruit her. VerrSza, Like Dorn, kept falling in battle. Angmar is willing to pay gold to raise party members he feels are useful to him – but enough is enough.
In the last six months or so, Angmar pushed them hard. They traveled south to north: Archaeological Site, Fisherman’s Lake, North Nashkel Road, Lonely Peaks, Firewine Bridge/ruins, Ulcaster ruins/dungeon, South Beregost Road, Lighthouse/Black Alaric’s Cave, High Hedge, Temple, Gullykin, Mutamin’s Garden, Coast Way, Lion’s Way, Larswood, Spider Wood, Peldvale, Fishing Village, and Bandit Camp. Now they were pushing west into the Cloakwood. Most of the journey had been a breeze, but they struggled to drive through the dungeons under Firewine Bridge, and again at Spider Wood. They were nearly overwhelmed with upwards of 200 Kobold Commandos under Firewine Bridge and the party took casualties. The spider traps at Spider Wood also made the going tough, resulting in still more casualties.
WRAPPING UP A TOUGH DUNGEON
Yes, Shar-Teel was happy here serving Angmar. Besides he gave her first dibs (after him) on armor, weapons, and other magic items.
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE (ordered alphabetically by value of > 50gp or > +1 ): (~ Gold collected = ~8034 - Current purse = 28162)
Armor & Weapons: Black Swan Armor +2, Long Bow of Marksmanship +2 (Dead Shot), Staff/Spear +2, Warhammer +2 (Ashideena +2), Cursed Berserking Sword +2, Mail of the Dead +2, Chain Mail +1 (2), Dagger +1, Deceiver’s Blade/Long Sword +1, Flail +1, Long Swords +1 (3), Medium Shields +1 (3), Morning Stars +1 (2), Quarterstaff +1, Short Sword +1, Small Shield +1, Spear +1, Warhammers +1 (2), Bracers of Defense AC7, Crystal Helm, Elves Bane (Girdle of Piercing +3), Full Plate Armor, Gauntlets of Weapons Expertise, Golden Girdle (Girdle of Slashing +3), Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity, Plate Mail
Gems/Jewelry: Traveler’s Ring, Ring of Energy, Star Sapphire, Ruby Ring, Pearl Necklaces (4), Emerald, Mithral Rings (2), Fire Opal Rings (3), Black Opal, Bloodstone Necklace, Water Opal, Bloodstone Amulet, Sphene Gem, Pearls (11), Garnet Gems (3), Flamedance Rings (4), Horn Coral Gems (4), Angel Skin Rings (2), Aquamarine Gem, Studded Necklace with Zios Gems (3), Ring of Folly
Potions: Cloud Giant Strength, Stone Giant Strength, Magic Blocking, Greater Potions of Healing (3), Explosions, Extra Healing, Oil of Fiery Burning, Healing (10), Fire Breath
Misc & Artifacts[/i]: Manual of Bodily Health, Tome of Leadership and Influence, Adventurers Robe, Cloak of the Wolf, Morridin’s Cloak, Knave’s Robe, Mage Robe of Electrical Resistance, Mage Robes of Fire Resistance (2), Sorcerer’s Robes (2)
BEST KILL:
1) Vynd, Denak (Mage-Conjuror/12 – 7500 exp)
2) Shar-Teel, Greater Basilisk (7000 exp)
3) Baeloth, Teddy the Doomsayer (2500 exp)
4) Branwen, and Vienxay Sirine (2000 exp ea)
CURRENT DISPOSITION: FAI
NEXT STEPS: Cloakwoods
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 4 – Despised – released Dorn, recruited Branwen +2, dismissed VerrSza +2, recruited Baeloth -2)
Angmar: CE Anti-Paladin (Black Guard of Talos)/6 (HP 60); Armor: Black Swan Armor +2, Crystal Helm, Gauntlet of Dexterity, Amulet of Spell Warding, Boots of Avoidance (Senses of the Cat), Golden Girdle (Girdle of Slashing +3); Weapons: Spear +1**, Flail** (Two-Handed Weapon Style*); Items: Ring of Human Influence; Special Abilities: Absorb Health, Aura of Despair, Cause Affliction, Drain Life (2), Poison Weapon, Shocking Grasp; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Shar-teel: CE Fighter (Berserker)/6 (HP 50); Armor: Crystal Plate Mail +2, Boots of Grounding (Tolos’s Gift), Elves Bane (Girdle of Piercing +3); Weapons: Long Sword +1***, Long Sword +1**, Gauntlets of Weapons Expertise (Long Sword***, Dagger*, Two-Weapon Style**); Items[\b]: None; Special Abilities: Berserkers Rage; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Branwen: CN Cleric (Battleguard of Tempus)/7 (HP 64); Armor: Full Plate Armor, Ring of Protection +1, Gauntlet of Dexterity; Weapons: Warhammer +2 (Ashideena +2)*, Warhammer +1*, Gauntlets of Weapons Expertise (Axe*, Warhammer*, Two-Weapon Style*); Items: None; Special Abilities: Enrage, Prayer; Spells: Animate Dead, Invisibility Purge, Cause Moderate Wounds, Chant, Draw Upon Holy Might, Hold Person, Spiritual Hammer, Armor Melt, Armor of Faith, Bless, Blight, Cause Light Wounds; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Vynd: NE Thief (Drow Assassin)/7 (HP 43 ); Armor: Shadow Armor +3; Weapons: Long Sword +1*, Short Sword +1, (2), Darts of Acid +1* w/ Bracers of Archery (Dart*, Long Sword*, Short Sword*); Items: Boots of Stealth, Master Belt, Ring of Energy; Special Abilities: Poison Weapon (2), Set Snare (2); Spells: None; Skills; OL 35, FT 25 PP 35, MS 90, HS 100, DI 10, ST 60, BS x 4; High-Level Abilities: None
Vienxay: NE Mage/Thief (Shadowmage)//5/6 (HP 20); Armor: Sorcerers Robe, Vienxay’s Silk Gloves; Weapons: Dagger +2* (Heart of the Golem +2), Dart +1*; Items: Courier’s Boots; Special Abilities: Shadowjump, Set Snare (2); Spells: Lightning Bolt, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Blindness, Charm Person, Magic Missile, Armor; Skills; OL 60, FT 55, PP 40, MS 75, HS 75, DI 15, ST --, BS x 2; High-Level Abilities: None
Baeloth: CE Sorcerer/6 (HP 32); Armor: Robe of the Evil Arch Magi, Gauntlet of Dexterity; Weapons: Staff of the Ancients +2*, Dart of Fire +1*; Items: Ring (Barrityl’s Burden); Special Abilities: None; Spells: Icelance (3), Globe of Darkness (5), Horror (5), Blindness (6), Expeditious Retreat (6), Magic Missile (6), Spook (6); Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
MOD USED: Convenient Enhanced Edition NPCs v4.0, Ajantis BG1 v15, NPC Aura BG1, BG1 NPC Project v24-8, BG1 Romantic Encounters V4, BGEE NPC Tweaks, BG Quests and Encounters v22, Brage’s Redemption v4, Tweaks Anthology Beta 4, Deities of Faerun v1.9.7.6.1, Distinguishable Clubs, Divine Remix v8 Beta, NPC Drake, Dark Side of the Sword Coast v102, NPC Emily BG1, NPC Finch v4.0 Beta 7, NPC Gavin V14, NPC Glam Pack v3, I Hate Undead Kitpack v3.8
Fight of the day
A corridor stretched ahead empty as could be
But danger comes in many forms and not just what you see
Sneaking forward step by step I heard a tiny snap
That proved to be a clue, that I'd stumbled through a trap
A pair of battle horrors sprang into my sight
Though they're pretty fearsome they didn't cause me fright
Stepping quickly backwards, just a pace or two
I launched skull traps at them, coming from the blue
A first exploding salvo hurt but didn't kill
But a second brace of skulls would mean a butcher's bill
A few attempts at resting were successful at long last
And spells sent in this time caused a lethal blast
Checking through the rooms, looking for some loot
I found a mustard jelly that initially seemed cute
It's touch was pretty sickening, but Bhaal took care of that
Until it touched once more and I knew I had to scat
Hopping up the back stairs, I tried to have a rest
But guards were on the prowl and I couldn't get undressed
My movements all seemed sluggish, but that was really great
As it slowed the poison down, so death would have to wait
Guards followed me outside into the open air
But as I gulped a potion they could only stand and stare
I moved off a few paces and lay down for a doze
And let some natural healing work while in repose
More days of resting followed, to ensure I was at my best
Before diving back down the mine to once more take the test
The jelly got a critical, but its poison failed to stick
And a bit of slice & dice, this time did the trick
In the City the ogre mage was bombarded from out of sight. The potion quest saw grease used to get another pair of boots from Lothander, while Larze and Marek were stunned by darts.
To raise a bit more money I went to loot the ankheg nest. I could have done that purely invisibly, but thought it wouldn't be a problem to kill a few ankhegs on the way. However, 4 of them got no less than 5 critical hits on me - forcing me to retreat to rest twice - before taking their treasure.
I did some more shopping, mainly to top up my collection of spells, though that proved an expensive business after I dropped 4 or 5 items on the floor in order to make more space to buy scrolls, but forgot to pick those up again. I can't remember exactly what I lost there, but it included Spider's Bane and 80 darts of stunning I'd just bought seconds earlier .
A few more chores in the City were aimed at improving equipment. I bypassed Degrodel's guards on the way to getting the Cloak of Balduran. Similarly, while Ramazith was killed I just went invisibly up his tower to grab the loot there.
Everything seemed to take rather longer than planned in that session, which I was originally thinking would include the Iron Throne. As time ran out I traveled to the Lighthouse area to remind myself next time to pick up the final tome available before the return to Candlekeep.
@Wise_Grimwald - Silke is surprisingly deadly. I have had a few runs end relatively recently to her. It seems no matter where my PC stands, he always gets hit multiple times with that bolt. If you can't blind her, then electricity resistance of some kind certainly seems to be in order if you fight her.
I have found that if I have true sight that I USUALLY beat her. Not on that occasion for sure, but certainly on THIS occasion. [ I don't mind having an early death, better then than when time and effort have been put in.} Before EE I found that by careful positioning, I could not only survive, but she killed herself and some of her potential victims as well.
Next run and Inquisitor called Constant. Let's hope that she "Constant will remain." She is certainly doing OK so far.
Journal of Constant
After the ambush I headed southwards away from the noise of battle. After killing a skeleton and some gnolls I was able to help Mellicamp.
After resting I followed Gorion's advice and headed for the Friendly Arms Inn. That advice proved to be not as wise as usual as there was a mage assassin awaiting me. Fortunately, being an Inquisitor, I prevailed.
However, I didn't hang around in case he had back-up and after killing some hobgoblins proceeded North where Sonner asked for my help. This I was about to do, but fortunately had the wit to check whether it was they or their enemy who was evil.
Upon discovering the truth, I turned on them and slew all of them.
I told the priestess and returned her bowl after which I levelled up.
It was well that I had their magical weapon for it was in that battle that my two-handed sword broke and I had no replacement [Though I had picked up other weapons].
I therefore proceeded to Beregost where I bought a new sword and where I incidently gained experience by calming Marl and taking a tome to Firebead.
I headed south once more killing ogrillon, hobgoblins and kobolds as I went. I also picked up the Colquetle Amulet.
In Nashkel I found some decent armour, chatted to Noober and turned down an undeserved reward from Oublek. I carried on to the Carnival where I killed another mage intent on murder.
Upon heading north I was fortuitously set upon by Arghain who I killed. I say fortuitously because he was carrying a +1 two handed sword. Now I need no longer fear my sword breaking in the midst of combat.
Upon heading west, I reunited Albert and Rufie before putting an end to Vax and zal.
Further west still Caldo and Krumm attacked and perished. By helping the dryad I officially became a hero.
I killed some wolves and raided a cave before helping 'Drienne.
Nearby I killed Ingot before heading further west before killing Gnarl and Hairtooth.
After clearing another cave I headed north where I killed a polar bear. I was rewarded with a pair of boots for doing this.
I killed Neville on the way northward where I helped Charleston Nib.
Upon helping the nearby Brage I reached level 5 and in the pprocess gained a reputation of 20.
In the inn I was set upon by neira who died as a result.
I then decided to earn some gold by killing some ankheg. This was dangerous work and I soon discovered the reason for it being lucrative. It is hard-earned.
I sold the shells at the smithy and nearby was offered employment by Silke.
However she turned on me and as a result perished.
The same happened to Karlat and afterwards I was enabled to return Perdue's sword.
I was asked to deal with the problem of Bassilus, which I did, permanently before returning to the temple for my reward at which point I levelled up.
I returned to the same area where Zargal, Geltik and Malkax met their doom.
The basilisk area was cleared next and whilst doing that I was also attacked by Peter et al.
It transit Gorion's Belt proved to be useful when I was attacked by a winter wolf.
Killing an ogre afterwards gained me two more belts.
I then headed for the sirine area where at first I was extremely successful an was able to level up once more.
However, the last sirine disabled me and did me some serious harm before the disablement wore off. It was a pity that I wasn't wearing my belt that protects against crushing at that time.
I was able to loot the cave, but foolishly took on the last golem who would have killed me if I had not fled.
They tell me that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I put that theory to the test by going to Durlag's Tower.
I killed a battle horror but then had to go to Gullykin to recuperate.
Upon killing another I was able to make my way to the tower.
Looting the upper tower proved to be no problem and upon reaching the tp floor I reached an agreement with Kirinhale.
Afterwards I deemed that the kindest thing to do was to slay Riggilo.
It took two potions to kill the basilisks.
Going below I soon discovered that it was far moree dangerous.
The first doppelganger fell easily. Not so the others.
Traps and enemies caused me to have to spend a lot of time sleeping. However I eventually reached level eight.
Howver, when I reached the level Cap I decided not to go further.
Can anybody inform me what the problem was that disabled me against the last sirine. I looked at her "Information," and there was nothing there. No loss of intelligence as I have had in the modded game. She was apparently affected by two spells and one of them was perhaps stun, but the information page didn't say so. Rigid thinking or confusion perhaps?
The battle was like watching paint dry!! Just as well that she had plenty of health points before it started.
It does show how much more powerful a party is than a solo character.
If you survived that encounter after being disabled you were lucky! I think the sirines apply both a feeblemind and confusion effect - though the latter is pretty irrelevant as there's almost no chance that someone will be immune to feeblemind, but not confusion. To survive long enough for the effect to wear off, you need good AC (to cut down on the number of times you're hit), decent HPs (to survive the hits you do take) and good saves (to avoid being affected again by something that had previously affected you).
Wow! My install this time has quite a few differences and I am not sure where they come from. Mostly just new monsters that I haven't seen in BG before,e.g., Goblins and Goblin Shaman's instead of Xvarts in the caves beneath the Gnoll Stronghold; Orcs on the Coast Way Road; Brigands and Bugbears at the Bandit Camp. I know all these monsters from my D&D days and I like them, just don't know what I did to get them in there unless they're part of my latest basic EE install, or maybe DSotSC.
Also, some battles are a lot more challenging. I use SCS but I don't ever the tactical challenges, just smarter mages, priests, basilisks, better calls for help, etc. I killed 175 Kobold Commando's which can be a pain for even a 3rd-4th level party usually it's more like 40-50). Same with the Hobgoblins near the lighthouse - there were bunches of them. Also, the spiders at Spider Wood and the traps - much more challenging. Almost lost Angmar there.
Any one have any idea after looking through my mods installs?
Wow! My install this time has quite a few differences and I am not sure where they come from. Mostly just new monsters that I haven't seen in BG before,e.g., Goblins and Goblin Shaman's instead of Xvarts in the caves beneath the Gnoll Stronghold; Orcs on the Coast Way Road; Brigands and Bugbears at the Bandit Camp. I know all these monsters from my D&D days and I like them, just don't know what I did to get them in there unless they're part of my latest basic EE install, or maybe DSotSC.
Also, some battles are a lot more challenging. I use SCS but I don't ever the tactical challenges, just smarter mages, priests, basilisks, better calls for help, etc. I killed 175 Kobold Commando's which can be a pain for even a 3rd-4th level party usually it's more like 40-50). Same with the Hobgoblins near the lighthouse - there were bunches of them.
Any one have any idea after looking through my mods installs?
Pretty sure that it's DSoSC. I used to have them in my install. I'm trying unmodded currently, but that will be one of my mods when I revert back.
If you survived that encounter after being disabled you were lucky! I think the sirines apply both a feeblemind and confusion effect - though the latter is pretty irrelevant as there's almost no chance that someone will be immune to feeblemind, but not confusion. To survive long enough for the effect to wear off, you need good AC (to cut down on the number of times you're hit), decent HPs (to survive the hits you do take) and good saves (to avoid being affected again by something that had previously affected you).
I agree. I was lucky! The battle went on for ages, with the sirine once in a while delivering two hp strikes. I did have a particularly strong character but if I'd been wearing the belt that protects from crushing then I think that I would have recovered much quicker. I think that the hits caused the stun to start again. I'm NOT going to investigate that. The battle wasn't enjoyable, but at least I survived and have now reached the level cap!
I am just playing core so that could be one reason for my survival, plus the fact that all but one of the sirine were dead. I had taken Corey's advice from a previous run to protect myself from poison. I was wondering if other buffs have helped.
I suppose that any buff to make me stronger might have shortened the battle enough to prevent me getting hit in the first place: potions of heroism, immunity, strength and the like.
I always have a difficulty at this stage. Part of me wants to carry on solo, and part of me wants to pick up a party.
Can anybody inform me what the problem was that disabled me against the last sirine.
Sirine melee attack: 1d2 crushing damage, save vs death or feeblemind and confusion for 25 rounds. Note that these states don't remove AC protection, so you can survive quite a lot of attacks with good armor.
In my current run, I had my protagonist (melee fighter/thief) charmed and Kagain feebleminded in a sirine fight; Kagain survived, outlasting the charm with his full plate and shield.
Hello there. I once had been posting some solo no reload runs on the previous forum, so ages ago, before I got sucked into life and other activities, but recently I decided to give BG no reload another shot. Wizard Slayer was always a tempting class for me and I decided to spin up a WS/Thief dual class. I am a little intimidated by a single-class WS and thought that BG2 will be easier with a dual, so here it goes.
My style will be very bried and sort of bullet point, but I enjoy doing it this way and hopefully some of you will get something out of it and it will not be annoyance only.
So here come Slayer:
Skipped quests in Candlekeep
Killed an ogre in the wilderness for two belts
Grabbed diamond, ring of protection + 1 and ring of wizardry
Killed hobgoblins around friendly arms inn - ventured north
Killed Sonner and returned the bowl to the cleric - level 2 - 11 hps (25 total)
Was waylaid by bandits, but managed to escape with 8 health!
Returned the ring to Jola - 1 rep, unwanted
Killed Tarnesh - one guard died, saved against horror - lucky because my saves are terrible (15% of that happening)
Identified loot and sold - money!
Grabbed the History of the fateful coin for firebead.
Headed to Beregost
Killed Marl - level 3 - 12hps (37 total)
Returned the book to Firebead - wrong choice again - got rep+
Killed Kagain
Bought quarterstaff + 1 and shortbow + 1
Defended Neera and then robbed her of her gem bag.
Killed Silke - she managed to cast invisibility, but failed to cast further spells (hehe). I danced with her a little bit using doors to Red Sheaf Inn. Apparently she has a +1 staff, which I could use instead of the bought one.
Killed Karlat in Red Sheaf Inn
Headed south to kill flaming fist members and got a plate armor, grabbed potions from a cave
Headed west to Red Canyons - kill Bassilus (he actually managed to rigid thinking Slayer outside of his vision though, so it was a safe mishap)
, Zargal's Gang - during fight with zargal - level 4 - 12hps (49 total), grabbed Melicamp
Headed to High Hedge: brought back Melicamp to Thalanthyr - apprentice lived apparently, killed Kivan; killed Gnolls for the sword
Travelled to Shipwreck's Coast - killed Shoal - level 5 - 13hps (62 total) - escaped from Ogre Berserker, Ogre and wolf
Back to the temple for some gold and potions of healing and antidotes
Went to Fisherman's Lake: half-ogres easy, Teyngan party - mage cast Horror, but luckily saved; Drizzt died by Gnolls hands, stole the loot
Back to Beregost and finished quests: Zhurlong boots (killed him afterwards), letter for Mirianne, Half-Ogres slaughter, killed spiders in Landrin's House
This fight prematurely ended my previous, unpublished run.
Gear: bought dagger of venom + 2 from the Thunderhammer Smithy and sold loot from Drizzt. I saved Icingdeath, because it has +50% fire resistance on it
Went to High Hedge to stock up on scrolls - Protections from: Magic, Poison, Undead
continued adventure in Lonely Peaks: for some more experience
Went to Nashkel: ankheg plate, killed Neira - something weird happened - she tried casting and I was sure I stacked enough hits on her (4 are enough to guarantee casting failure), but she managed to sneak a Hold Person - luckily Slayer saved. Visited temple of helm to stock up on potions.
Nashkel Carnival: killed Zordral, but I failed to choose the correct dialogue options to save the girl
Quick stop to Gibberling mountains and back to FAI: returned Sams body, spider's carcass, a belt, and set of items for Landrin
Xvart Village: bear, xvarts and merchant
Archeological Site: defended Charleston - level 6 - 11 hps (73 total) - pip went to Quarterstaffs (3 total). Fight with the Doomsayer brought Slayer down to 13 HPs at which point I bailed to the Temple near Beregost to replenish my healing potions supplies and rest in an Inn to regenerate lost hps. Also got my first Bhaal power (CLW).
Back to the Site: Laryssa managed to cast Hold on Slayer, but I moved him out of her sight in time, so she didn't follow (she actually had 75% casting failure at the point of casting). While kiting Brage, I stumbled upon the Doomsayer and had another go at him, but I felt cursed during this fight. Got pretty unlucky (doomsayer had 15% to land a hit on me and he did every round of the fight for 4 rounds) and had to once again regroup. I gave up on it for now, because there is nothing but a paultry amount of experience to get from this fight for me. And healing potions are more valuable for me. Doomsayer is annoying because he is immune to ranged and poisions, so my usual tactics of hit and run were ineffective against him and dagger of poison was a subpar choice of a weapon, but using staff Slayer's AC was too high.
I travelled to Bear River and let Slayer clear the area.
Popped into Gnoll Stronghold to get the gauntlets, but I was diaspointed upon seeing that they cannot be used by neither Wizard Slayer nor Kensai. I guess WS will not be able to read any tomes as well, which is truly a shame, but I grabbed the tome of charisma anyway.
Dryad Falls: Ingot fell down under mighty quarterstaff and Slayer defended a dryad near a waterfall.
I led Slayer towards High Hedge, since his backpack was full and sold loots. I was happy to learn I could use tomes! Immediately I started plotting how to get to the tome of constitution in the lighthouse cave. I took a glance at a scroll of protection from magic in my scroll stash and trotted towards lighthouse with a plan.
I read the scroll of protection from magic and got to work on sirines. Midfight with the second group he got feebleminded by a lonely siren, but sirens hits were puny and did not dent his large hp pool. Also HUD showed Slayer was under protection from the scroll , so I wasn't worried
. Fortunately he was lucid enough to keep hitting the siren and she eventually fell under the trusty staff. Way into the cave was open! In the cave I killed the first flash golem
, sprung traps, still under protection from magic and began working on the second golem, but I was too confident in Slayer's ability. He was fighting the golem, while I finished my note about the fight with sirens and he got hit twice and died . Well, it was a fun ride. Certainly some derusting needs to be done on my part, was also not convinced about the choice of my weapons - rocking that +1 staff is fun and all, but something more convincing would also be nice.
My usual tactics while fighting were hit and run with a shortbow + 1, but I consider swapping this to axes or throwing daggers. It would be perfect if I could find a retrning throwing axe or a throwing dagger + 1 (also returning) somewhere in the beggining. In melee I used medium shield + 1 with a venom dagger + 2 or quarterstaff + 1. I am hitting up wikis and guide, so I can beeline some weapons of choice next playthrough.
Back to the Site: Laryssa managed to cast Hold on Slayer, but I moved him out of her sight in time, so she didn't follow (she actually had 75% casting failure at the point of casting).
@Joniren unfortunately the spell failure effect only applies to arcane casters - divine ones like Laryssa just shrug it off.
Doomsayer is annoying because he is immune to ranged and poisions, so my usual tactics of hit and run were ineffective against him and dagger of poison was a subpar choice of a weapon, but using staff Slayer's AC was too high.
If you nip in and out with a fast melee weapon you can often get an attack in before an enemy can retaliate. A staff is good for that as it has a reach of 2 (dagger is bad as it has a reach of 0 and the opponent therefore has a much better chance of attacking you as you withdraw). The +3 staff from Ulgoth's Beard is particularly good at this tactic with its weapon speed of 0.
I read the scroll of protection from magic and got to work on sirines. Midfight with the second group he got feebleminded by a lonely siren, but sirens hits were puny and did not dent his large hp pool. Also HUD showed Slayer was under protection from the scroll , so I wasn't worried. Fortunately he was lucid enough to keep hitting the siren and she eventually fell under the trusty staff.
I think this is one of the rare instances I posted about earlier where you were protected against the feeble-mind effect (by the PfM scroll), but affected by the confusion (that's coded as a non-magical attack and therefore ignores the scroll). You need to watch out for enemies that have non-magical special attacks (like basilisk gaze or demon / dragon fear and use some other form of protection than a PfM scroll against those.
My usual tactics while fighting were hit and run with a shortbow + 1, but I consider swapping this to axes or throwing daggers. It would be perfect if I could find a retrning throwing axe or a throwing dagger + 1 (also returning) somewhere in the beggining.
There are no magical throwing daggers whatsoever in (unmodded) BGEE. There's a returning +1 in SoD, but that's it.
With throwing axes, your magical choices are the non-returning ones Taerom sells or the +2 returning axe you find in chapter 6.
Throwing daggers are fine for the vast majority of enemies which don't require magical weapons to hit - they're weightless, they're cheap, they get strength bonus damage, and you can harvest lots of them from the respawning skeletons at High Hedge. You just need that alternative on occasion.
Update 8 First and Final SOD Update of the Arthurian Medley
The party has slain Belhifet as well as both the Coldhearth Lich and the other lich in Kanaglym.
Morenthene fell to sustained melee attack coupled with Flame Strikes from Nimue and Caelynn. Nimue tried to use Harm to fell her immediately, but her magic resistence blocked it. Her sister, Ziatar, fell soon after.
The Neolithid fell after that.
The party slew the Shadow Aspect with little difficulty, then continued through the rest of SOD, which on the whole was a lot easier than BG1 with SCS. Ashatiel died in a 1 on 1 duel after breaking her own rules of engagement by casting Sanctuary, and the party obtained the Tongue of Acid from Thrix for Knell to use. In the Nine Hells, Nimue obtained her greater werewolf form, and victory was assured on Belhifet after prebuffing and after Armok got a truly impressive crit with the World's Edge +3. Belhifet fell to Caelar, in a fitting turn of events.
After the final fight, the party paid a shifty looking mage 50,000 gold (obtained by selling gems + magic items) to send a few (2 per character) of their items with them wherever they go next because after losing their gold to Ophyllis they didn't want to risk getting robbed again.
Explanation for this: I have inserted the items from the Thalantyr Item Upgrade mod into BG2 as well as a few of the SOD items through the SOD to BG2EE item upgrade mod modified to remove the upgrades, so this explains how the items got to Athkatla (They certainly won't be in Irenicus's dungeon though, mostly)
BG2 is next
Final Character Levels:
Nimue: Level 13 Shapeshifter
Armok: Level 11 War Hulk
Knell: Level 11 Wizard Slayer
Caelynn: Level 11 Priestess of Lathander
Morgana: Level 11/11 Mage/Thief
Sidenote: the only major complaint that I have with SOD is that other than the two lich duels (which are fantastic if you don't cheese the first one with the gem and the second one with traps), a mage will be most effective just using Fireball/wands of Fireball and haste. This is unfortunate because part of what I love about SCS is the mage chess aspect and SOD gives the party high enough levels to start developing this part of the game but provides little incentive to do so.
Just stopped by to check in on the community's progress! I just added @Corey_Russell's Jeanluc the paladin, @Mantis37's Adorar the druid, and @Flashburn's Blaggard and the Blackguard to the Hall of Heroes. Congratulations, and well done!
Corey_Russell and Mantis37, I'm missing a starting post for your two runs, so if you give me a link, I'll add it to the entries.
Personally, I've been doing various unsuccessful no-reload runs in the beta for IWD2:EE. There's actually a lot of cool stuff I've learned about no-reload runs, more than I can post this close to bedtime.
I've thought about doing an "Infinity run," a saga run of all the Infinity Engine games (except for PST) in chronological order, both vanilla and EE:
The deal would be that I'd have to beat all of the games with the same party: same race, class, and stats for each character; nothing else transfers unless it normally does (like BG2:EE going right into ToB). Thus, no kits and no sorcerers or monks due to BG1 not having them.
The main sticking point is IWD2. Non-caster classes are generally garbage pre-EE, but a single-classed druid and cleric don't add very much to a BG saga run, mages are weak in the IWD games, sorcerers aren't allowed, and small parties suffer terribly in vanilla IWD2 due to the level problem. Plus, immunities are hard to come by in vanilla IWD2, and IWD2 has critical failures for saving throw rolls (there's always a 5% chance of failure). BG1 stat rolls would be great in IWD2, though, which otherwise basically just has a 76 point buy system for character creation.
Comments
Half a second later, the bolt returned and game over.
Weidu.log
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2041 // XP for Traps, Spells and Lockpicking -> BG2 values: 1.12
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4050 // Books/Scrolls categorization: 1.12
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4060 // Wand Case: 1.12
~EET_TWEAKS/EET_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4070 // Key Ring: 1.12
~WSR/WSR.TP2~ #0 #100 // Wizard Slayer kit revision: v1.14
~WSR/WSR.TP2~ #0 #200 // Wizard Slayer High Level Ability revision: v1.14
~WSR/WSR.TP2~ #0 #302 // Revised Wizard Slayer item restrictions -> Moderate changes: v1.14
~WSR/WSR.TP2~ #0 #999 // BG2-style icons for WSR content: v1.14
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #40 // Change Viconia's Skin Color to Dark Blue: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #50 // Avatar Morphing Script: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #60 // Weapon Animation Tweaks: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #70 // Icewind Dale Casting Graphics (Andyr): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #110 // Icon Improvements: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #130 // Force All Dialogue to Pause Game: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #140 // Fix Boo's Squeak: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #160 // Make Magic Shields Glow (plainab/grogerson): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #182 // Unique Containers -> Unique icons and names: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #191 // Use Character Colors Instead of Item Colors -> For non-magical shields and helmets: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1010 // More Interjections: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1036 // Make Cloakwood Areas Available Before Completing the Bandit Camp -> All of Cloakwood Except the Mines: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1070 // Improved Multi-Player Kick-out Dialogues: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1080 // Add Bags of Holding: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1090 // Exotic Item Pack: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1100 // Reveal City Maps When Entering Area: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1120 // Stores Sell Higher Stacks of Items: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1150 // Shapeshifter Rebalancing: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1250 // Move NPCs from Baldur's Gate: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1270 // Change Cloakwood Mine Chapter End Change Trigger to Non-TotSC Behavior (plainab) (BETA): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Two-Handed Bastard Swords: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Two-Handed Katanas: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2035 // Two-Handed Axes: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2040 // Universal Clubs: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2060 // Weapon Styles for All: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // Change Experience Point Cap -> Remove Experience Cap: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Expanded Dual-Class Options: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2151 // Wear Multiple Protection Items -> No Restrictions: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2160 // Alter Weapon Proficiency System -> Rebalanced Weapon Proficiencies: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2170 // Cast Spells from Scrolls (and Other Items) at Character Level: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2200 // Multi-Class Grandmastery (Weimer): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2210 // Change Grandmastery Bonuses -> True Grandmastery (Baldurdash): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2220 // Change Magically Created Weapons to Zero Weight: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2240 // Un-Nerfed THAC0 Table: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2250 // Un-Nerfed Sorcerer Spell Progression Table: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2260 // Alter Mage Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2270 // Alter Bard Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2280 // Alter Cleric Spell Progression Table -> Un-Nerfed Table (Blucher): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2290 // Alter Druid Spell and Level Progression Tables -> No Level Progression Changes, Un-Nerfed Druid Spell Table Only (Blucher): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2320 // Trap Cap Removal (Ardanis/GeN1e): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2339 // Remove Summoning Cap for Regular Summons: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2352 // Alter Multiclass Restrictions -> Install both of the above options: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2360 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Single Classes: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2371 // Alter Dual-class Restrictions -> Allow non-humans to dual-class: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2380 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Kits: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2390 // Paladins Use Icewind Dale-Heart of Winter Spell Tables (grogerson): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2400 // Rangers Use Icewind Dale-Heart of Winter Spell Tables (grogerson): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2410 // Druids Use 3E Alignment Restrictions: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2420 // Loosen Equipment Restrictions for Cleric Multi-Classes: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2430 // Loosen Equipment Restrictions for Druid Multi-Classes: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2440 // Everyone Gets Bonus APR from Specialization: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2999 // Max HP at Level One: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Higher HP on Level Up -> Maximum: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3012 // Maximum HP for NPCs (the bigg) -> For Party-Joinable NPCs Only: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3030 // Easy Spell Learning -> 100% Learn Spells: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Make Bags of Holding Bottomless: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3050 // Remove fatigue from restoration spells: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3060 // Remove "You Must Gather Your Party..." Sound (Weimer): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3070 // Change Effect of Reputation on Store Prices -> Low Reputation Store Discount (Sabre): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3080 // Increase Ammo Stack Size -> Unlimited Ammo Stacking: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3090 // Increase Gem and Jewelry Stacking -> Unlimited Gem and Jewelry Stacking: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3100 // Increase Potion Stacking -> Unlimited Potion Stacking: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Increase Scroll Stacking -> Unlimited Scroll Stacking: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3121 // Happy Patch (Party NPCs do not complain about reputation) -> NPCs Can Be Angry About Reputation but Never Leave (Salk): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3123 // NPCs Don't Fight: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3125 // Neutral Characters Make Happy Comments at Mid-Range Reputation: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3200 // Sellable Items (Icelus): Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3205 // Stores Purchase All Item Types: Beta 4
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3230 // Taerom Makes Additional Ankheg Armor (Icendoan/grogerson): Beta 4
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1500 // Include arcane spells from Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1510 // Include divine spells from Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3505 // Wider selection of random scrolls: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3551 // Increase the power of Cure Wounds and Cause Wounds spells to the level found in 3rd Edition D&D -> Spells heal or inflict the maximum amount of damage in this range: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3580 // Restoration and Lesser Restoration spells heal ability-score damage: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Faster Bears: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // More realistic wolves and wild dogs: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5000 // Ease-of-use party AI: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5080 // Improved textscreens in Tales of the Sword Coast: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6300 // Smarter sirines and dryads: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6310 // Slightly smarter carrion crawlers: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6320 // Smarter basilisks: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7000 // Improved doppelgangers: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7020 // Improved deployment for parties of assassins: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Improved kobolds: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7040 // Relocated bounty hunters: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7060 // Improved Balduran's Isle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7070 // Improved Durlag's Tower: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7080 // Improved Demon Cultists: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7090 // Improved Cloakwood Druids: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7110 // Improved Drasus party: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7130 // Improved Red Wizards: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7140 // Improved Undercity assassins: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7200 // Tougher chapter-two end battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7210 // Tougher chapter-three end battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7220 // Tougher chapter-four end battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7230 // Tougher chapter-five end battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7250 // Improved final battle: v33.2
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7900 // Improved minor encounters: v33.2
~PPE/SETUP-PPE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Portraits Portraits Everywhere (PPE) - core component: 1.01
~PPE/SETUP-PPE.TP2~ #0 #150 // Category Portraits (Recommended) -> Random: 1.01
~PPE/SETUP-PPE.TP2~ #0 #10 // Isandir's CHARNAME Portraits: 1.01
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #1 // Vampyre Kit for Thieves: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #2 // Better Stat Drain (recommended for Cross Class Kits and Vampyre Kit for Thieves): v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #3 // Sword Dancer Kit for Fighters, Paladins, and Monks: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #4 // Seducer Kit for Thieves: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #5 // Alchemist Kit for Mages: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #6 // Plasma Wizard Kit: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #7 // Shapechanger Kit Beta: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #8 // Simplified Psionicist Kit for Fighters: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #9 // Simplified Psionicist Kit for Monks: v1.0
~EXPANDEDCLASSES/EXPANDEDCLASSES.TP2~ #0 #13 // War Hulk Kit for Fighters: v1.0
~FREEACT/SETUP-FREEACT.TP2~ #0 #10 // PnP Free Action: v2
~FREEACT/SETUP-FREEACT.TP2~ #0 #50 // Update spell and item descriptions: v2
Protagonist: Nimue - Rebalanced Shapeshifter, grew up in Candlekeep but after she met a druid and was voluntarily infected with Lycanthropy she went on a sort of odyssey during which she met Morgana. Morgana - Elven Mage/Thief (She met Nimue after hearing rumors of arcane magic and valuable tomes within Candlekeep, she was outside the gates when Nimue left and tagged along in the hopes that she could re-enter the keep at Nimue's side) Knell - Half-Orc Rebalanced Wizard Slayer (Planning on dual classing to thief because I've removed the dual class restrictions on WSR) (Psychopathic in the extreme when it comes to mages and is willing to kill them without much reason but tolerates Morgana because she used Sleep to neutralize a mob that would have hanged him for killing their village witch) Armok - Dwarven War Hulk (Modded Kit) (Like all dwarves from DF he is eager to defend his party but incredibly impersonal and liable to fly into a berserker rage that may result in the party dying) Caelynn - Elven Cleric of Lathander (trying to redeem Armok and Knell, really hates zombies but tolerates skeletons because skeletons are cleaner). The party has killed Tarnesh and Karlat via Command from Caelynn and Knell killed Xzar and then Montaron. Morgana has robbed most of Beregost, and the belt ogre was slain via Command. After gaining a level for everyone the party took on Silke, and she fell after forgetting to prebuff with shield (Magic missiles really help with the mirror images). Morgana also looted the inn after Nimue innocently suggested that perhaps the monks were taken aback at the nobles' finery.
Sidenote: I'm not playing with the "fine weapons replace magical ones" tweak from SCS because it actually makes the game easier for a shapeshifter because very few creatures have magical weapons with that mod.
No deaths so far, but one scary moment when Armok went berserk and started chasing Caelynn around as she went in to heal him after he got poisoned by one of the spiders in Landrin's quest (Lingering damage is REALLY hard for the War Hulk to deal with).
To be honest, this run will probably end with me giving a magical weapon to Armok and Armok eventually going berserk and killing Nimue-his damage values scare me.
If you are solo, consider using the protection from acid scroll from Thalantyr. @Alesia_BH used that all the time - it makes soloing ankhegs considerably safer. There's nothing else to do with the scroll anyways.
After hearing about some evil necromancer named Bassilus west of the city of Beregost, Armok made a valiant attempt at mapreading but unfortunately "failed a spot check" and decided that the party should head east instead as he saw something that looked a lot like Bassilus (Basilisks) (some of the issue may have been that he was holding the map upside down). As they headed east, Morgana checked the map once again and facepalmed at Armok's mistake. Immediately, she ordered the party to turn around and head towards the castle that they'd seen east of Beregost to buy a spell that would protect them. After buying and scribing this spell, the party headed back to the Basilisk area even though they now knew Bassilus wasn't there because Knell had heard about an evil mage allied with the Basilisks and was on the warpath. Upon arriving, it was decided that Caelynn would stay behind because even with the powerful ring found under a tree Morgana could only protect four of the party members at a time. This turned out to be a stroke of luck, because the very first creature they met in this area was a friendly ghoul named Korax and if Caelynn had been with the Party she would have likely tried to kill the ghoul on principle. As the party moved through the area under Morgana's protections, they finally met the evil mage that was killed without much trouble (after Korax paralyzed him). After clearing out most of the basilisks, they met a party of adventurers that Knell antagonized after he saw there was a mage in their company. The fight was glorius and Armok came close to death, but emerged victorious after dealing a truly deadly crit of 53 Slashing damage to their cleric. Korax sadly bit the dust in this encounter, but the party gave him a nice burial and erected a tombstone reading "Korax - An equal of any wizard slayer and a valiant ally"
Kirian turned out to be the most dangerous opponent in this fight after getting off a sleep spell that knocked Knell completely out of the fight and then going after Morgana, who at one point was at 2 HP and then bombarding her with magic missiles that required her to use 3 healing potions to live through. Sidenote: I just learned that there's a cool mace called the Stupefier in the Inn of Zhurlong! That's a neat detail that I hadn't known about because I (until this run) don't compulsively loot everything.
After giving the map to Morgana instead of Armok, the party headed east and then south to investigate Bassilus and hopefully end his necromantic escapades. Nimue scouted ahead with Sanctuary, and then after exhorting Footy to run away and never come back called a dread bolt of lightning onto Bassilus's head, badly injuring him and allowing Nimue to maul him with a devastating crit. Killing Bassilus allowed Caelynn to level up to level 5 and gain 3rd level priest spells, and the party then headed to Keldath to claim the reward for their deed. Armok restrained Knell and prevented him from entering the temple because Morgana spotted a few sirines in the temple and worried that Knell would try to exact bloody vengeance on these magical creatures. After killing Bassilus, the party headed west from Beregost to try to figure out what the heck was up with the chicken that Nimue saved from a wolf.
Five minutes later, after killing some skeletons with Sunscorch, Melicamp was returned to his human form.
The party returned Purdue's sword and started heading south to see if they could do something about the horrible quality weapons-Armok hits things so hard that he's broken 5 two handed swords so far.
In Nashkel, the party killed Neira the assassin with Command followed by melee and gave the Ankheg plate to Armok - my biggest fear is still him going berserk, and that'll be harder if he has a lower AC. Edwin also met his end after Knell recognized him as a Red Wizard and went to work.
Thanks for the advice on the Ankhegs, definitely a good thing to consider in the future. I probably also should have killed Caldo/Krumm for the belt of crushing so that I wouldn't get hit by non-critical hits.
Another interesting occurrence; Dorn actually died in the Senjak/dorotea ambush, that's the first time I've seen that in non-LOB runs. Also, oh no, I just gave Armok Rancor, he can now kill Nimue if enraged.
Ill (male gnome illusionist, Grond0); Hubris (male half-elf blade, Gate70)
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1141774/#Comment_1141774
Our last session started with looking at the map and seeing we'd already visited nearly all of the wilderness areas we normally go to - but Durlag's Tower was still virgin territory. The battle horrors there were blinded easily enough before Ill tried his luck at hitting them from 2-handed range with his staff, while Hubris used the far more effective tactic of spinning and nipping in and out to strike with his scimitar. On the roof, a single PfP spell was plenty to see off the basilisks - the final one of those quickly tried its hand at melee, but was significantly handicapped after the shutters came down over its eyes. Inside the tower, Riggilo was the only victim on our way to grab a tome.
Next, we moved on to the Nashkel Mine. It didn't take long for feelings of deja vu to bubble up there and a quick check confirmed we'd already cleared that. Looking more closely at the map we found we'd also visited the Bandit Camp (and a scan of inventory showed we'd picked up a pair of bracers there), so the question arose as to why we couldn't see the first Cloakwood area. The most likely answer seemed to be we'd left the letters undisturbed in Tazok's tent - and in this case the likely answer was also the correct one .
Invisibility allowed us to pass through the web traps in the Cloakwood. Rather than press on immediately though, we took a few moments to sort out a group of ettercaps. Ill had no area damage spells available, but a malison and emotion took out 3 ettercaps, while a skull trap from Hubris damaged the others before closing for the kill. At the mine web, skull trap, malison and emotion were on show again and Drasus & co had no answer to that combination.
Moving into the mine, Ill was wary of the ambush on the 3rd level and went down there invisibly with the intention of using sleep against the ambushers. However, one of those was slow to latch on to Hubris and attacked Ill instead when he started casting - interrupting the spell and forcing him to do a quick run round before trying again and helping Hubris clean up. Downstairs, both battle horrors were caught in webs and our spell damage was sufficient to finish them off. Without much of that left though, Hubris used a potion of magic blocking to chase after Davaeorn. Despite the loss of XP, that resulted in a bit of a giggle at the way the mage's boast that "Your feeble skills are no match for my magic" was fulfilled - a bouncing bolt meaning Davaeorn killed himself. Ill successfully learnt knock there and we outlasted 5 ambushes before managing to rest and open the locked chest in Davaeorn's treasure room.
In the City the ogre mage immediately slumped down from an excess of emotion, while its crawler friends felt a strong desire to sleep. A second pair of speedy boots was an obvious target and we started the poison quest to get those. While running round doing that, we passed Ramazith's Tower and were sort of invited inside . Typically we would fight our way up there, but decided we couldn't be bothered with the ghasts this time and Ill bypassed them invisibly and went to knock open the container at the top. On the quest itself, Jalantha was blinded and, despite getting support from her acolytes this time, she then stood no chance. We had no summoning capability, but decided to tackle Lothander anyway - and his slow progress towards the door, while slipping and sliding, proved fatal for him. Maple Willow Aspen has a bit of a penchant for fire, but fortunately chose not to immolate herself in a scorcher. Marek will have to wait for next time though.
Illusionist 8, 50 HPs (incl. 6 from familiar), 138 kills
Blade 78, 53HPs, 191 kills, 0 deaths
After going to the Nashkel Mines, the party slew Greywolf via command.
They didn't enter the minds after Armok got incredibly drunk (I legitimately bought like 50 gp worth of 1 gp beer) and heard about the kobolds being very organized and dangerous in the mines.
Instead, they first headed to the Gnoll Stronghold and after killing Ingot and obtaining The Chesley Crusher (one of the best weapons in the game for a War Hulk) the party slew Caldo and Krumm as well as Larissa and the Doomsayer. They did save Brage though, reasoning that his berserk rage was the result of evil sorcery rather than malicious intent after meeting him. The Book of Charisma went to Nimue at the Gnoll fortress, but the party didn't find Dynaheir there at all, and also witnessed some poor Gnoll pathfinding as the Gnolls went down into the holes and then back out, allowing Knell and Armok to slay them one at a time. After clearing out the fortress, the party headed to the coast, killing Sirines and running from Armok after he repeatedly got charmed. Arrows of Biting + Rage Spiraling leads to dangerous outcomes because each poison tick from AoB lowers his Save vs. spell by one, and he either goes berserk or gets charmed. Now, why was I scared about Armok going berserk? Partially, it was due to this scary crit on a ghoul. The flesh golem cave was cleared without casualties but Knell was reduced to 10 hp after foolishly deciding he could tank flesh golems, and the Tome of Constitution went to Armok to enable natural regeneration. The party saved a cow via use of Sleep
Next Destination: Nashkel Mines
Current Party Levels/Equipment
Nimue: Level 8 Shapeshifter dual wielding Shapeshifter Paws and wearing a normal helmet as well as the Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise and the Golden Girdle.
Armok: Level 6 War Hulk, wielding Rancor (due to his *** in Two Handed Swords) and wearing the Gift of Peace (won in a battle with Drosh after Shoal smooched and nearly killed him) as well as Full Plate Armor and The Brawling Hands, a Ring of Protection +1, the Frost's Embrace, and the Girdle of Piercing.
Knell: Level 6 Wizard Slayer, wielding Varscona and a Long Sword +1, wearing Ankheg plate mail and a normal helmet.
Caelynn: Level 7 Priestess of Lathander, wielding the Stupefier and a Sling +1, wearing Ankheg plate mail, Kagain's helmet (taken from him after the party helped him out) a Small Shield +1, a Ring of Protection +1, the Girdle of Bluntness, and using the nonmagical bullet Bag of Plenty.
Morgana: Level 5/6 Mage/Thief, wielding the Dagger of Venom +3 and a Shortbow +1, wearing the Robes of the Neutral Archmagi, Bracers of Archery, Ring of Wizardry, Cloak of the Wolf, and Boots of Stealth.
Sidenote: The diggers in the Doomsayer's area as well as the Kobold Commandos are very effective at targeting and trying to turn Morgana into a pincushion, well done @DavidW on the work you've done re: targeting. Even though it sometimes annoys me to no end it makes perfect logical sense.
STR 19 DEX 18 CON 19 INT 11 WIS 3 CHA 9
Corethief XXVIII has made it past Sarevok - moving onto Amn. Here is is fight vs. Sarevok. He had to fight off Sarevok, Tazok and Semaj.
Corethief XXVIII's fight with Sarevok (video)
His strategy in BG 1 was either use heavy armor (full plate, most encounters), backstab, or in case of fighting dangerous enemy parties, using fireballs from the shadows (necklace of missiles).
EDIT:
Duchal Palace in EE can be quite hard for a solo character that doesn't dual wield, since the dopplegangers are too high level for sleep, which is effective in vanilla. So in order, Corethief XXVIII recruited Imoen (level 2 character - she stayed in the party so we can use her CHA to recruit the rest of the characters), Imoen, Kivan, Coran, Minsc and Branwen. Other than making sure everyone had a missile weapon and some good ammonition, didn't bother with equipment.
We then took out Slythe. Then a Duchal Palace, a few buffs, mostly haste potions, and engaged success! The issue is, though, we didn't do the quests, and Minsc and Kivan in particular will get hostile if you eject them before completing them. So I had Kivan, Minsc and Coran charge Sarevok - and Sarevok managed to slay all of them before he ran! This made removing all the excess party members easy - I was solo after the fight once more. I then went invisible through the Maze and Undercity - then prepared for the final show down.
The party cleared the Nashkel mines without any major issues, though Mulahey's minions significantly injured Morgana after I forgot to prebuff her. Morgana also had an extremely disappointing backstab on Mulahey for a pitiful 15 damage. Heading back to Nashkel, the party slew Nimbul and rebuffed Rasaad before heading to Beregost to deal with Tranzig. Tranzig gave me a minor heart attack when he cast skull trap and hit both Caelynn and Morgana for half their health, but he fell to Knell's deadly longswords. Molkar's party fell without issue, though Morvin managed to seriously wound Morgana and Caelynn before being put down. On the way back to Beregost, Nimue headed to the Temple to purchase their potions of Extra Healing as well as their Elixirs of Health. Unfortunately, Armok got drunk again and was too busy sleeping off the hangover to stop Knell from entering, and carnage soon ensued. Keldath actually managed to dominate Knell through his MR and saves, so Armok and Nimue spent half the fight running from Knell until he woke up from the charm.
Lamalha's party was significantly better prepared than Molkar's, and two triple backstabs on Caelynn nearly spelled her doom. Fortunately, the party was able to pull through with no deaths (but this was REALLY close) In Peldvale Morgana went invisible and scouted out the area before fireballing Raiken and his goons via a wand. As the party traveled to Larswood, they met Osmadi, who attacked them even due to their protests that as far as they knew they had not killed his brothers. Armok then deduced that Corsone had poisoned Osmadi and when his Ironskins were down struck a decisive blow, ending the Shadow Druid menace. The party then cajoled Teven into joining the bandits (this is sometimes necessary in a no-reload run to avoid dying at the Bandit Camp to the mob of bandits) and Nimue bluffed Tazok successfully into letting them into the camp proper. The party then prebuffed and walked straight into Tazok's tent, where they slaughtered the leaders with minimal damage thanks to effective use of both Holy Smite and Fireball. The party then killed the rest of the camp with further fireballs (depleting their wand to 4 charges of fireball left) Morgana nearly died after her Mirror Images were shredded by Blacktalon Elites' ice arrows, and Armok got a truly impressive crit on a minor hobgoblin. Cloakwood was fairly easy and Centeol fell to fireballs (previously I've lost multiple party members to the webs because the spiders' webs target Save vs. Breath rather than Spell)
Drasus's party was slain using a combination of Web and Spiders' Bane wielded by Armok, though Genthore slugged a potion of freedom and was a nuisance and Drasus ran out of the webs. The mages died satisfactorily though. The Cloakwood mines were easy except for Hareishan, who landed multiple Chaos spells on my party which thankfully Nimue was able to dispel. At Daveorn's level, I used my strategy of sending my thief ahead invisible first to disarm the traps and then backstab Daveorn repeatedly while the rest of the party dealt with the Battle Horrors and guards. Two backstabs fueled by a red strength potion (STR 18) later, Daveorn was in chunks on the ground and the fight was won. Daveorn REALLY needs Stoneskin in his prebuffs to avoid his crippling vulnerability to a thief with the Cloak of Non-Detection. The party then headed to Baldur's Gate and ran through the Arkion and Nemphre quests as well as the Merchant's League Estate questline and the Flaming Fist quests. The party slew both Marek and Lothander (Lothander after he gave us the antidote) for our second pair of the Boots of Speed. As we prepared for the top of the Iron Throne building, I knew that I needed Morgana to hit the Acolytes with fireballs so that my party would have a chance. Unfortunately, this resulted in her death to a quadruple backstab from the dude whose name starts with a K, but the party was victorious and soon raised her at the Temple of the Lady (Where they previously obtained a book of Wisdom before backstabbing Jalantha Mistmyr). Having finished all of the major quests in Baldur's Gate (Morgana stole the telescope and did the thieve's guild questline too, Ramazith and Ragefast were slain, Armok got the Book of Dexterity and Morgana got the Tome of Intelligence, the trappings of Balduran were obtained too) the party headed to Thalantyr and created several powerful magic items including
Two rings of Protection +2
One Ring of Freedom +2
Sword of Rage (Uncursed Berserking Sword)
Girdle of Bravery (+3 AC, +1 STR, Regen 1 Hp/round)
Improved Cloak of Non-Detection (Previous effects+Invisibility 2x/day and +1 AC/Saves)
They then headed to candlekeep, where I forgot about the Ogre Mage Ambush and nearly lost Morgana to Melf Acid Arrows. Instead of heading into Candlekeep, the party headed to Durlag's Tower instead after burgling Dushai and Shandalar thanks to Potions of Master Thievery and buying several items from the Barkeep. Durlag's Upper Levels were cleared with no issues, though Kirinhale did Dire Charm Knell for a while. As I'm approaching the spot where I died last run, I would like to ask for everyone's advice on how to handle the chessboard fight because I don't know what to do differently.
Party Character Sheets
Nimue (Elf Shapeshifter 11) Armok (Dwarf War Hulk 9) Knell (Half Orc Wizard Slayer 9) Caelynn (Elf Priestess of Lathander 9) Morgana (Elf Mage 8/Thief 9) Party Inventories
Nimue Armok Knell Caelynn Morgana
The Chessboard was vanquished through liberal application of Oils of Fiery Burning, Potions of Explosions, and the Wand of Fire. No casualties surprisingly, but Morgana was significantly harmed after Nimue (the king) went forward to slay the enemy king. Durlag's 5th level was easy, and the Demon Knight himself was killed by Armok after prebuffing with PFE 10' radius, haste, resist fire/cold, and protection from fire as well as death wards for everyone. The demon cult was significantly harder, and Morgana and Caelynn nearly died twice and Nimue nearly died after the Cult Wizard cast Otiluke's Freezing Sphere onto her. Aec was slain after prebuffing with PFE 10', Haste, Mirror Images, Blur, and Potions of Mirrored Eyes for everyone but Knell (Who can't use them). Armok landed the killing blow - perhaps his title should be Uthgúr tharnas - Demon Slayer Ice Island is next.
Ice Island, Werewolf Island, and Sarevok have all fallen to the Arthurian Alliance
We claimed we were groundhogs and slew Ankhegs once more and then killed Dezkiel through his PfMW by having Knell dispel it with a normal sword and Shatter Magic. Armok got an epic 99 damage crit on a wolfwere and Karoug fell to Flame Strikes, Magic Missiles, and the Sword of Balduran.
Levels:
Nimue: Shapeshifter 12; 626 kills, Greater Basilisk
Armok: War Hulk 9; 285 kills, Demon Knight
Knell: Wizard Slayer 9; 553 kills, Argh the Stone Golem
Caelynn: Priestess of Lathander 9; 142 kills, Seniyad
Morgana: Mage 9/Thief 10; 161 kills, Daveorn
Shar-Teel considered leaving Angmar’s service more than once but she could not disagree with his results. He was ruthless - almost inhuman in his cruel hate. They just finished destroying a bandit network and reaping the rewards, which to Shar-Teel is the exhilarating act of shedding the blood of others. She could not care less about what the Bandits were doing, to her they were a source of continual skirmishing. She sensed that Angmar had a bloody destiny and she knew she was at her best when she was knee-deep in bodies. By now, the thought of leaving him had passed. She figured out that Angmar venerated the deity Talos when they raided an ancient temple of Kozah, another name for The Storm Lord. They discovered an idol there that he refused to part with. That explained why Angmar always preferred to use a spear. The spear is Talos’ favored weapon. Shar-Teel is not interested in any faith, but it is widely known that Talos revels in destruction – something Angmar constantly pursues.
The retinue he had around him now was effective in combat as had just been demonstrated in the quick destruction of the Bandit Camp. She had admired the Half-Orc, Dorn, but he was fragile in battle and his overtures about challenging for leadership finally got him booted when Angmar hired a warrior Cleric. She admired Branwen’s battle skills and ferocity as a Battlegard of Tempus, but her constant whining about honor in combat irritated Shar-Teel to no end. The Dragon Disciple was gone too. She thought Flara was pretty cool – even if a little touched in the head. That Dragon breath was a heck of a combat multiplier too. Angmar appeared to be comfortable with Drow around him – he had Vynd, the Assassin, and Baeloth, the Sorcerer. Both held their own during skirmishes. She had been sure a third would join after Angmar killed a Flaming Fist Mercenary to prevent her capture but that did not pan out. Finally, there was the Mage-Thief, Vienxay, an Elf – Shar-Teel liked her best of all of them because she was thoroughly wicked (although she had a habit of throwing her Fireball without regard to who it affected). Angmar dismissed the Rakshasa, VerrSza to recruit her. VerrSza, Like Dorn, kept falling in battle. Angmar is willing to pay gold to raise party members he feels are useful to him – but enough is enough.
In the last six months or so, Angmar pushed them hard. They traveled south to north: Archaeological Site, Fisherman’s Lake, North Nashkel Road, Lonely Peaks, Firewine Bridge/ruins, Ulcaster ruins/dungeon, South Beregost Road, Lighthouse/Black Alaric’s Cave, High Hedge, Temple, Gullykin, Mutamin’s Garden, Coast Way, Lion’s Way, Larswood, Spider Wood, Peldvale, Fishing Village, and Bandit Camp. Now they were pushing west into the Cloakwood. Most of the journey had been a breeze, but they struggled to drive through the dungeons under Firewine Bridge, and again at Spider Wood. They were nearly overwhelmed with upwards of 200 Kobold Commandos under Firewine Bridge and the party took casualties. The spider traps at Spider Wood also made the going tough, resulting in still more casualties.
WRAPPING UP A TOUGH DUNGEON
Yes, Shar-Teel was happy here serving Angmar. Besides he gave her first dibs (after him) on armor, weapons, and other magic items.
PARTY INFORMATION
ORDER OF MARCH:
Shar-teel (point)
Branwen (divine support, shock)
Vynd (stealth, recon, assassinations)
Vienxay (arcane support, rogue support)
Angmar (Leader)
Baeloth (arcane Support)
MONSTERS DEFEATED (ordered alphabetically by value): Brendan (Mage-Conjoror/12 @ 7500 @ SW); Greater Basilisk2 (2 @ 7000 @ MG); Shoal the Nereid (5000 @ SWC); Astral Phase Spider (4000 @ ToM); Doomsayer (4000 @ AS); Denak (Mage-Conjuror/11 @ 3750 @ SW); Diana (Mage-Conjuror/11 @ 2500 @ SW); Teddy the Doomsayer (2500 @ ToMD); Flesh Golems (3 @ 2000 @ BAC); Mal-Kalen (Ghost @ 2000 @ UR); Sil (Sirine @ 2000 @ LH); Sirine (2/3 @ 2000 @ LH/SWC); Sword Spiders (1/1 @ 2000 @ ToM/SW); Taurgosz Knosann (Fighter/8 @ 2000 @ BC); Vampiric Wolves (1/2/2 @ 2000 @ UR/ToM/ToMD); Bassilus (Cleric of Cyric/7 @ 1975 @ RC); Molkar (Fighter/9 @ 1900 @ Gk); Lendarn (Mage-Invoker/7 @ 1400 @ FR); Lesser Basilisk (1/8 @ 1400 @ RE/MG); Phase Spider (400 @ SW); Wraith Spider (1400 @ SW); Lasala (Mage-Conjuror @ 1350 @ SW); Morvin (Fighter/9 @ 1250 @ Gk); Drakar (Fighter/Cleric//5/5 @ 1200 @ Gk); Meilum (Fighter/6 @ 1200 @ FB); Peter (Fighter/Cleric//5/5 @ 1200 @ MG); Raemon (Fighter/5 @ 1200 @ BC); Mutamin (Mage-Invoker/6 @ 976 @ MG); Ankhegs (21/4 @ 975 @ FV/DS); Teven (Fighter/6 @ 975 @ La); Icharyd (Skeleton Warrior/15 @ 950 @ US); Ardenor Crush (900 @ BC); Britik (Gnoll/4 @ 900 @ BC); Kirian (Fighter/Mage//5/5 @ 900 @ MG); Venkt (Mage-Conjuror/6 @ 900 @ BC); Hakt (Hobgoblin/5 @ 750 @ BC); Cave Bears (1/2 @ 650 @ FL/La); Dread Wolves (2/2/9/3 @ 650 @ UR/LH/SWC/La); Ettercaps (1/1 650 @ LP/SW); Ghasts (1/1 @ 650 @ FL); Halacan (Fighter/Mage//4/4 @ 650 @ Gk); Ogre Berserkers (2/5 @ 650 @ LP/SWC); Ogre Mage (650 @ FR); Raiken (Fighter/5 @ 650 @ Pv); Della Mae (Mage-Conjuror/5 @ 600 @ @ SW); Laryssa (Cleric/5 @ 600 @ AS); Kindin (Fighter/6 @ 600 @ MG); Sylvast (Fighter/7 @ 600 @ FB); Tenygen (Fighter/6 @ 500 @ FL); Giant Spider (2 @ 450 @ SW); Brown Bear (2 @ 420 @ La); Carrion Crawler (3 @ 420 @ BAC); Gerde (420 @ FV); Chop the Lady Ogre (400 @ NNR); Cru the Lady Ogre @ 400 @ NNR); Jenby (Mage-Invoker/5 @ 350 @ FL); Baerin (Fighter/6 @ 300 @ MG); Billy (Fighter/6 @ 300 @ LP); Ioin Gollchophair (Fighter/6 @ 300 @ LP); Jenkal (Fighter/Thief//4/4 @ 290 @ Gk); Poe (Bard/5 @ 275 @ FB); Half-Ogres (4/4/3/1 @ 270 @ FL/LP/RE/SWC); Huge Spiders (4/13/5 @ 270 @ UR/SW/Pv); Ochre Jellies (2/1 @ 270 @ UR/RE); Ogres (2/2/1/1 @ 270 @ FL/LP/SBR/SWC); Flaming Fist Mercenary (Fighter/Cleric//4/3 @ 250 @ ToM); Black Talon Elites (3/12 @ 240 @ Pv); Black Bears (4/2/6 @ 175 @ RC/LW/Pv); Bugbear Elites (2 @ 175 @ BC); Ghouls (6/3/2/4/4 @ 175 @ AS/NNR/RE/SBR/SWC); Ogrillons (5/2 @ @ 175 @ LP/SWC); Ogrillons (5/4 @ 175 @ LP/FR); Ba’ruk (Hobgoblin/3 @ 165 @ AS); Dire Wolves (4/7/2 @ 125 @ UR/SWC/La); Cattack (Hobgoblin/6 @ 120 @ ToM); Flind (2/10/2 @ 120 @ AS/Pv/BC); Gnoll Chieftain (120 @ AS); Orc Elites (2 @ 120 @ NNR); Worgs (4/16/4 @ 120 @ RE/LH/Gk); Hobgoblin Elites (2/2/9/8/2 @ 95 @ NNR/LP/US/LH/RC); Endar Sai (Elf/4 @ 90 @ BC); Brigands (Fighter/1 @ 85 @ BC); Bandits (5/2/6/9/7/12/18/13 @ 65 @ RE/NNR/CW/La/SW/Pv/FV/BC); Cretus (Fighter/1 (Bandit) @ 65 @ BC); Gnoll Elites (2/1 @ 65 @ AS/BC); Gnoll Slasher (2/1/1/1 @ 65 @ AS/FL/HH/BC); Gnoll Veteran (2/1/2 @ 65 @ AS/HH/BC); Knott (Fighter/1 (Bandit) @ 65 @ BC); Skeletons (10/5/28/11/19/16/6 @ 65 @ FL/RE/DS/US/RC/HH/Gk); War Dogs (2/2 @ 65 @ AS/FL); Wolves (2/5/2 @ 65 @ LP/RC/SWC); Zekar (Hobgoblin/3 @ 65 @ FL); Zombies (13/7/2/4 @ 65 @ FB/US/RE/ToMD); Kobold Commando’s (5/4/6/199/8 @ 55 @ AS/LP/FB/FR/US); Chill Hobgoblins (8 @ 35 @ BC); Diseased Gibberlings (10/2 @ 35 @ CW/LW); Gibberlings (3/3/6/2/24/6 @ 35 @ NNR/SBR/RE/CW/La/Pv); Gnolls (1/17/1/3/12/1 @ 35 @ AS/FL/HH/RE/MG/BC); Goblin Elite (2 @ 35 @ LW); Hobgoblins (1/9/16/18/21/13/2/8 @ 35@ FL/RE/US/SBR/LH/ToM/LW/FAI); Tasloi (6/4/10/2 @ 35 @ AS/MG/SWC/SW); Tersus (Hobgoblin/1 @ 35 # BC); Wild Dogs (3/2/6 @ 35 @ RE/HH/La); Ashen (Human @ 15 @ ToM); Xvarts (12/11 @ 15 @ LP/CW); Goblins (3 @ 15 @ LW); Chelan (7 @ FL); Hulrik (7 @ LP); Kobolds (6/8/49/8/8/8 @ 7 @ NNR/LP/FB/FR/US/Gk); Torlo (7 @ FL); Cow (1 @ LP), Ajantis (Paladin @ FV)
* Legend: AS = Archaeological Site, BAC = Black Alaric’s Cave (Lighthouse), BC = Bandit Camp, Bg = Beregost, BR = Bear River, CW = Coast Way, DS = Disturb Sleep, FAI = Friendly Arms Inn, FB = Firewine Bridge; FL = Fisherman’s Lake, HH = High Hedge, FR = Firewine Ruins, FV = Fishing Village, Gk = Gullykin, La = Larswoood, LH = Lighthouse, LP = Lonely Peaks, LW = Lion’s Way, MG = Mutamins Garden, NC = Nashkel Carnival, NM – Nashkel Mines, NNR = North Nashkel Road, Pv = Peldlvale, RC = Red Canyons, RE = Random Encounter, SBR = South Beregost Road, SW = Spider Wood, SWC = Shipwreck’s Coast, ToM = Temple of the Morning, ToMD = Temple of the Morning Dungeon); UR = Ulcaster Ruins, US = Ulcaster School
LEVEL UP Flara, Dragon Disciple/4; Vynd, Drow Assassin/5-7; Angmar, Paladin (Black Guard of Talos)/5-6; Shar-Teel, Fighter (Berserker)/5-6; Branwen, Cleric (Battleguard of Tempus)/6-7; Baeloth, Sorcerer/6
CASUALTIES: Shar-Teel (Ghoul x2, Hobgoblin Elite, Kobold, Sirine); Vynd, (Cave Bear, Zekar, Ankheg); Branwen (Wolves (2), Skeleton, Meilum, Kobold Commando, Hobgoblin Elite, Sword Spider, Black Bear), Flara (Hobgoblin Elite); Verr’Sza (Skeleton x2, Kobold Commando), Vienxay (Fireball – friendly fire (2), Hobgoblin, Hobgoblin Elite, Kirian, Ankheg); Baeloth (Astral Phase Spider)
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE (ordered alphabetically by value of > 50gp or > +1 ): (~ Gold collected = ~8034 - Current purse = 28162)
Armor & Weapons: Black Swan Armor +2, Long Bow of Marksmanship +2 (Dead Shot), Staff/Spear +2, Warhammer +2 (Ashideena +2), Cursed Berserking Sword +2, Mail of the Dead +2, Chain Mail +1 (2), Dagger +1, Deceiver’s Blade/Long Sword +1, Flail +1, Long Swords +1 (3), Medium Shields +1 (3), Morning Stars +1 (2), Quarterstaff +1, Short Sword +1, Small Shield +1, Spear +1, Warhammers +1 (2), Bracers of Defense AC7, Crystal Helm, Elves Bane (Girdle of Piercing +3), Full Plate Armor, Gauntlets of Weapons Expertise, Golden Girdle (Girdle of Slashing +3), Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity, Plate Mail
Gems/Jewelry: Traveler’s Ring, Ring of Energy, Star Sapphire, Ruby Ring, Pearl Necklaces (4), Emerald, Mithral Rings (2), Fire Opal Rings (3), Black Opal, Bloodstone Necklace, Water Opal, Bloodstone Amulet, Sphene Gem, Pearls (11), Garnet Gems (3), Flamedance Rings (4), Horn Coral Gems (4), Angel Skin Rings (2), Aquamarine Gem, Studded Necklace with Zios Gems (3), Ring of Folly
Potions: Cloud Giant Strength, Stone Giant Strength, Magic Blocking, Greater Potions of Healing (3), Explosions, Extra Healing, Oil of Fiery Burning, Healing (10), Fire Breath
Scrolls: Cloudkill (2), Spell Thrust, Fireball (2), Lightning Bolt, Blur, Web, Magic Missile, Aganaazar’s Scorcher (3), Flame Arrow, Detect Invisibility (2), Ghoul Touch (2), Horror, Stinking Cloud (2), Blindness (3), Charm Person (2), Protection from Petrification
Wands: Ettin’s Wand, Fire, Paralyzation
Misc & Artifacts[/i]: Manual of Bodily Health, Tome of Leadership and Influence, Adventurers Robe, Cloak of the Wolf, Morridin’s Cloak, Knave’s Robe, Mage Robe of Electrical Resistance, Mage Robes of Fire Resistance (2), Sorcerer’s Robes (2)
BEST KILL:
1) Vynd, Denak (Mage-Conjuror/12 – 7500 exp)
2) Shar-Teel, Greater Basilisk (7000 exp)
3) Baeloth, Teddy the Doomsayer (2500 exp)
4) Branwen, and Vienxay Sirine (2000 exp ea)
CURRENT DISPOSITION: FAI
NEXT STEPS: Cloakwoods
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 4 – Despised – released Dorn, recruited Branwen +2, dismissed VerrSza +2, recruited Baeloth -2)
Angmar: CE Anti-Paladin (Black Guard of Talos)/6 (HP 60); Armor: Black Swan Armor +2, Crystal Helm, Gauntlet of Dexterity, Amulet of Spell Warding, Boots of Avoidance (Senses of the Cat), Golden Girdle (Girdle of Slashing +3); Weapons: Spear +1**, Flail** (Two-Handed Weapon Style*); Items: Ring of Human Influence; Special Abilities: Absorb Health, Aura of Despair, Cause Affliction, Drain Life (2), Poison Weapon, Shocking Grasp; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Shar-teel: CE Fighter (Berserker)/6 (HP 50); Armor: Crystal Plate Mail +2, Boots of Grounding (Tolos’s Gift), Elves Bane (Girdle of Piercing +3); Weapons: Long Sword +1***, Long Sword +1**, Gauntlets of Weapons Expertise (Long Sword***, Dagger*, Two-Weapon Style**); Items[\b]: None; Special Abilities: Berserkers Rage; Spells: None; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Branwen: CN Cleric (Battleguard of Tempus)/7 (HP 64); Armor: Full Plate Armor, Ring of Protection +1, Gauntlet of Dexterity; Weapons: Warhammer +2 (Ashideena +2)*, Warhammer +1*, Gauntlets of Weapons Expertise (Axe*, Warhammer*, Two-Weapon Style*); Items: None; Special Abilities: Enrage, Prayer; Spells: Animate Dead, Invisibility Purge, Cause Moderate Wounds, Chant, Draw Upon Holy Might, Hold Person, Spiritual Hammer, Armor Melt, Armor of Faith, Bless, Blight, Cause Light Wounds; Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
Vynd: NE Thief (Drow Assassin)/7 (HP 43 ); Armor: Shadow Armor +3; Weapons: Long Sword +1*, Short Sword +1, (2), Darts of Acid +1* w/ Bracers of Archery (Dart*, Long Sword*, Short Sword*); Items: Boots of Stealth, Master Belt, Ring of Energy; Special Abilities: Poison Weapon (2), Set Snare (2); Spells: None; Skills; OL 35, FT 25 PP 35, MS 90, HS 100, DI 10, ST 60, BS x 4; High-Level Abilities: None
Vienxay: NE Mage/Thief (Shadowmage)//5/6 (HP 20); Armor: Sorcerers Robe, Vienxay’s Silk Gloves; Weapons: Dagger +2* (Heart of the Golem +2), Dart +1*; Items: Courier’s Boots; Special Abilities: Shadowjump, Set Snare (2); Spells: Lightning Bolt, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Blindness, Charm Person, Magic Missile, Armor; Skills; OL 60, FT 55, PP 40, MS 75, HS 75, DI 15, ST --, BS x 2; High-Level Abilities: None
Baeloth: CE Sorcerer/6 (HP 32); Armor: Robe of the Evil Arch Magi, Gauntlet of Dexterity; Weapons: Staff of the Ancients +2*, Dart of Fire +1*; Items: Ring (Barrityl’s Burden); Special Abilities: None; Spells: Icelance (3), Globe of Darkness (5), Horror (5), Blindness (6), Expeditious Retreat (6), Magic Missile (6), Spook (6); Skills; None; High-Level Abilities: None
MOD USED: Convenient Enhanced Edition NPCs v4.0, Ajantis BG1 v15, NPC Aura BG1, BG1 NPC Project v24-8, BG1 Romantic Encounters V4, BGEE NPC Tweaks, BG Quests and Encounters v22, Brage’s Redemption v4, Tweaks Anthology Beta 4, Deities of Faerun v1.9.7.6.1, Distinguishable Clubs, Divine Remix v8 Beta, NPC Drake, Dark Side of the Sword Coast v102, NPC Emily BG1, NPC Finch v4.0 Beta 7, NPC Gavin V14, NPC Glam Pack v3, I Hate Undead Kitpack v3.8
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1142354/#Comment_1142354
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1142571/#Comment_1142571
Fight of the day
A corridor stretched ahead empty as could be
But danger comes in many forms and not just what you see
Sneaking forward step by step I heard a tiny snap
That proved to be a clue, that I'd stumbled through a trap
A pair of battle horrors sprang into my sight
Though they're pretty fearsome they didn't cause me fright
Stepping quickly backwards, just a pace or two
I launched skull traps at them, coming from the blue
A first exploding salvo hurt but didn't kill
But a second brace of skulls would mean a butcher's bill
A few attempts at resting were successful at long last
And spells sent in this time caused a lethal blast
Checking through the rooms, looking for some loot
I found a mustard jelly that initially seemed cute
It's touch was pretty sickening, but Bhaal took care of that
Until it touched once more and I knew I had to scat
Hopping up the back stairs, I tried to have a rest
But guards were on the prowl and I couldn't get undressed
My movements all seemed sluggish, but that was really great
As it slowed the poison down, so death would have to wait
Guards followed me outside into the open air
But as I gulped a potion they could only stand and stare
I moved off a few paces and lay down for a doze
And let some natural healing work while in repose
More days of resting followed, to ensure I was at my best
Before diving back down the mine to once more take the test
The jelly got a critical, but its poison failed to stick
And a bit of slice & dice, this time did the trick
In the City the ogre mage was bombarded from out of sight. The potion quest saw grease used to get another pair of boots from Lothander, while Larze and Marek were stunned by darts.
To raise a bit more money I went to loot the ankheg nest. I could have done that purely invisibly, but thought it wouldn't be a problem to kill a few ankhegs on the way. However, 4 of them got no less than 5 critical hits on me - forcing me to retreat to rest twice - before taking their treasure.
I did some more shopping, mainly to top up my collection of spells, though that proved an expensive business after I dropped 4 or 5 items on the floor in order to make more space to buy scrolls, but forgot to pick those up again. I can't remember exactly what I lost there, but it included Spider's Bane and 80 darts of stunning I'd just bought seconds earlier .
A few more chores in the City were aimed at improving equipment. I bypassed Degrodel's guards on the way to getting the Cloak of Balduran. Similarly, while Ramazith was killed I just went invisibly up his tower to grab the loot there.
Everything seemed to take rather longer than planned in that session, which I was originally thinking would include the Iron Throne. As time ran out I traveled to the Lighthouse area to remind myself next time to pick up the final tome available before the return to Candlekeep.
Bard L10, 70 HPs, 225 kills
I have found that if I have true sight that I USUALLY beat her. Not on that occasion for sure, but certainly on THIS occasion. [ I don't mind having an early death, better then than when time and effort have been put in.} Before EE I found that by careful positioning, I could not only survive, but she killed herself and some of her potential victims as well.
Next run and Inquisitor called Constant. Let's hope that she "Constant will remain." She is certainly doing OK so far.
Journal of Constant
After the ambush I headed southwards away from the noise of battle. After killing a skeleton and some gnolls I was able to help Mellicamp. After resting I followed Gorion's advice and headed for the Friendly Arms Inn. That advice proved to be not as wise as usual as there was a mage assassin awaiting me. Fortunately, being an Inquisitor, I prevailed. However, I didn't hang around in case he had back-up and after killing some hobgoblins proceeded North where Sonner asked for my help. This I was about to do, but fortunately had the wit to check whether it was they or their enemy who was evil. Upon discovering the truth, I turned on them and slew all of them.
I told the priestess and returned her bowl after which I levelled up. It was well that I had their magical weapon for it was in that battle that my two-handed sword broke and I had no replacement [Though I had picked up other weapons].
I therefore proceeded to Beregost where I bought a new sword and where I incidently gained experience by calming Marl and taking a tome to Firebead.
I headed south once more killing ogrillon, hobgoblins and kobolds as I went. I also picked up the Colquetle Amulet.
In Nashkel I found some decent armour, chatted to Noober and turned down an undeserved reward from Oublek. I carried on to the Carnival where I killed another mage intent on murder. Upon heading north I was fortuitously set upon by Arghain who I killed. I say fortuitously because he was carrying a +1 two handed sword. Now I need no longer fear my sword breaking in the midst of combat. Upon heading west, I reunited Albert and Rufie before putting an end to Vax and zal.
In the inn I was set upon by neira who died as a result. I then decided to earn some gold by killing some ankheg. This was dangerous work and I soon discovered the reason for it being lucrative. It is hard-earned.
However she turned on me and as a result perished.
The same happened to Karlat and afterwards I was enabled to return Perdue's sword. I was asked to deal with the problem of Bassilus, which I did, permanently before returning to the temple for my reward at which point I levelled up. I returned to the same area where Zargal, Geltik and Malkax met their doom.
I killed a battle horror but then had to go to Gullykin to recuperate. Upon killing another I was able to make my way to the tower. Looting the upper tower proved to be no problem and upon reaching the tp floor I reached an agreement with Kirinhale. Afterwards I deemed that the kindest thing to do was to slay Riggilo. It took two potions to kill the basilisks.
The first doppelganger fell easily. Not so the others.
The battle was like watching paint dry!! Just as well that she had plenty of health points before it started.
It does show how much more powerful a party is than a solo character.
Also, some battles are a lot more challenging. I use SCS but I don't ever the tactical challenges, just smarter mages, priests, basilisks, better calls for help, etc. I killed 175 Kobold Commando's which can be a pain for even a 3rd-4th level party usually it's more like 40-50). Same with the Hobgoblins near the lighthouse - there were bunches of them. Also, the spiders at Spider Wood and the traps - much more challenging. Almost lost Angmar there.
Any one have any idea after looking through my mods installs?
I like the addition of the Bard song/tale. Very nice brother.
Pretty sure that it's DSoSC. I used to have them in my install. I'm trying unmodded currently, but that will be one of my mods when I revert back.
I agree. I was lucky! The battle went on for ages, with the sirine once in a while delivering two hp strikes. I did have a particularly strong character but if I'd been wearing the belt that protects from crushing then I think that I would have recovered much quicker. I think that the hits caused the stun to start again. I'm NOT going to investigate that. The battle wasn't enjoyable, but at least I survived and have now reached the level cap!
I am just playing core so that could be one reason for my survival, plus the fact that all but one of the sirine were dead. I had taken Corey's advice from a previous run to protect myself from poison. I was wondering if other buffs have helped.
I suppose that any buff to make me stronger might have shortened the battle enough to prevent me getting hit in the first place: potions of heroism, immunity, strength and the like.
I always have a difficulty at this stage. Part of me wants to carry on solo, and part of me wants to pick up a party.
Sirine melee attack: 1d2 crushing damage, save vs death or feeblemind and confusion for 25 rounds. Note that these states don't remove AC protection, so you can survive quite a lot of attacks with good armor.
In my current run, I had my protagonist (melee fighter/thief) charmed and Kagain feebleminded in a sirine fight; Kagain survived, outlasting the charm with his full plate and shield.
Hello there. I once had been posting some solo no reload runs on the previous forum, so ages ago, before I got sucked into life and other activities, but recently I decided to give BG no reload another shot. Wizard Slayer was always a tempting class for me and I decided to spin up a WS/Thief dual class. I am a little intimidated by a single-class WS and thought that BG2 will be easier with a dual, so here it goes.
My style will be very bried and sort of bullet point, but I enjoy doing it this way and hopefully some of you will get something out of it and it will not be annoyance only.
So here come Slayer:
Skipped quests in Candlekeep
Killed an ogre in the wilderness for two belts
Grabbed diamond, ring of protection + 1 and ring of wizardry
Killed hobgoblins around friendly arms inn - ventured north
Killed Sonner and returned the bowl to the cleric - level 2 - 11 hps (25 total)
Was waylaid by bandits, but managed to escape with 8 health!
Returned the ring to Jola - 1 rep, unwanted
Killed Tarnesh - one guard died, saved against horror - lucky because my saves are terrible (15% of that happening) Identified loot and sold - money!
Grabbed the History of the fateful coin for firebead.
Headed to Beregost
Killed Marl - level 3 - 12hps (37 total) Returned the book to Firebead - wrong choice again - got rep+
Killed Kagain
Bought quarterstaff + 1 and shortbow + 1
Defended Neera and then robbed her of her gem bag. Killed Silke - she managed to cast invisibility, but failed to cast further spells (hehe). I danced with her a little bit using doors to Red Sheaf Inn. Apparently she has a +1 staff, which I could use instead of the bought one.
Killed Karlat in Red Sheaf Inn Headed south to kill flaming fist members and got a plate armor, grabbed potions from a cave
Headed west to Red Canyons - kill Bassilus (he actually managed to rigid thinking Slayer outside of his vision though, so it was a safe mishap) , Zargal's Gang - during fight with zargal - level 4 - 12hps (49 total), grabbed Melicamp
Headed to High Hedge: brought back Melicamp to Thalanthyr - apprentice lived apparently, killed Kivan; killed Gnolls for the sword
Travelled to Shipwreck's Coast - killed Shoal - level 5 - 13hps (62 total) - escaped from Ogre Berserker, Ogre and wolf
Back to the temple for some gold and potions of healing and antidotes
Went to Fisherman's Lake: half-ogres easy, Teyngan party - mage cast Horror, but luckily saved; Drizzt died by Gnolls hands, stole the loot
Back to Beregost and finished quests: Zhurlong boots (killed him afterwards), letter for Mirianne, Half-Ogres slaughter, killed spiders in Landrin's House This fight prematurely ended my previous, unpublished run.
Gear: bought dagger of venom + 2 from the Thunderhammer Smithy and sold loot from Drizzt. I saved Icingdeath, because it has +50% fire resistance on it
Went to High Hedge to stock up on scrolls - Protections from: Magic, Poison, Undead
continued adventure in Lonely Peaks: for some more experience
Went to Nashkel: ankheg plate, killed Neira - something weird happened - she tried casting and I was sure I stacked enough hits on her (4 are enough to guarantee casting failure), but she managed to sneak a Hold Person - luckily Slayer saved. Visited temple of helm to stock up on potions.
Nashkel Carnival: killed Zordral, but I failed to choose the correct dialogue options to save the girl
Quick stop to Gibberling mountains and back to FAI: returned Sams body, spider's carcass, a belt, and set of items for Landrin
Xvart Village: bear, xvarts and merchant
Archeological Site: defended Charleston - level 6 - 11 hps (73 total) - pip went to Quarterstaffs (3 total). Fight with the Doomsayer brought Slayer down to 13 HPs at which point I bailed to the Temple near Beregost to replenish my healing potions supplies and rest in an Inn to regenerate lost hps. Also got my first Bhaal power (CLW).
Back to the Site: Laryssa managed to cast Hold on Slayer, but I moved him out of her sight in time, so she didn't follow (she actually had 75% casting failure at the point of casting). While kiting Brage, I stumbled upon the Doomsayer and had another go at him, but I felt cursed during this fight. Got pretty unlucky (doomsayer had 15% to land a hit on me and he did every round of the fight for 4 rounds) and had to once again regroup. I gave up on it for now, because there is nothing but a paultry amount of experience to get from this fight for me. And healing potions are more valuable for me. Doomsayer is annoying because he is immune to ranged and poisions, so my usual tactics of hit and run were ineffective against him and dagger of poison was a subpar choice of a weapon, but using staff Slayer's AC was too high.
I travelled to Bear River and let Slayer clear the area.
Popped into Gnoll Stronghold to get the gauntlets, but I was diaspointed upon seeing that they cannot be used by neither Wizard Slayer nor Kensai. I guess WS will not be able to read any tomes as well, which is truly a shame, but I grabbed the tome of charisma anyway.
Dryad Falls: Ingot fell down under mighty quarterstaff and Slayer defended a dryad near a waterfall.
I led Slayer towards High Hedge, since his backpack was full and sold loots. I was happy to learn I could use tomes! Immediately I started plotting how to get to the tome of constitution in the lighthouse cave. I took a glance at a scroll of protection from magic in my scroll stash and trotted towards lighthouse with a plan.
I read the scroll of protection from magic and got to work on sirines. Midfight with the second group he got feebleminded by a lonely siren, but sirens hits were puny and did not dent his large hp pool. Also HUD showed Slayer was under protection from the scroll , so I wasn't worried . Fortunately he was lucid enough to keep hitting the siren and she eventually fell under the trusty staff. Way into the cave was open! In the cave I killed the first flash golem , sprung traps, still under protection from magic and began working on the second golem, but I was too confident in Slayer's ability. He was fighting the golem, while I finished my note about the fight with sirens and he got hit twice and died . Well, it was a fun ride. Certainly some derusting needs to be done on my part, was also not convinced about the choice of my weapons - rocking that +1 staff is fun and all, but something more convincing would also be nice.
My usual tactics while fighting were hit and run with a shortbow + 1, but I consider swapping this to axes or throwing daggers. It would be perfect if I could find a retrning throwing axe or a throwing dagger + 1 (also returning) somewhere in the beggining. In melee I used medium shield + 1 with a venom dagger + 2 or quarterstaff + 1. I am hitting up wikis and guide, so I can beeline some weapons of choice next playthrough.
That concludes the tale of Slayer The First.
If you nip in and out with a fast melee weapon you can often get an attack in before an enemy can retaliate. A staff is good for that as it has a reach of 2 (dagger is bad as it has a reach of 0 and the opponent therefore has a much better chance of attacking you as you withdraw). The +3 staff from Ulgoth's Beard is particularly good at this tactic with its weapon speed of 0.
I think this is one of the rare instances I posted about earlier where you were protected against the feeble-mind effect (by the PfM scroll), but affected by the confusion (that's coded as a non-magical attack and therefore ignores the scroll). You need to watch out for enemies that have non-magical special attacks (like basilisk gaze or demon / dragon fear and use some other form of protection than a PfM scroll against those.
There are no magical throwing daggers whatsoever in (unmodded) BGEE. There's a returning +1 in SoD, but that's it.
With throwing axes, your magical choices are the non-returning ones Taerom sells or the +2 returning axe you find in chapter 6.
Throwing daggers are fine for the vast majority of enemies which don't require magical weapons to hit - they're weightless, they're cheap, they get strength bonus damage, and you can harvest lots of them from the respawning skeletons at High Hedge. You just need that alternative on occasion.
The party has slain Belhifet as well as both the Coldhearth Lich and the other lich in Kanaglym.
Morenthene fell to sustained melee attack coupled with Flame Strikes from Nimue and Caelynn. Nimue tried to use Harm to fell her immediately, but her magic resistence blocked it. Her sister, Ziatar, fell soon after. The Neolithid fell after that. The party slew the Shadow Aspect with little difficulty, then continued through the rest of SOD, which on the whole was a lot easier than BG1 with SCS. Ashatiel died in a 1 on 1 duel after breaking her own rules of engagement by casting Sanctuary, and the party obtained the Tongue of Acid from Thrix for Knell to use. In the Nine Hells, Nimue obtained her greater werewolf form, and victory was assured on Belhifet after prebuffing and after Armok got a truly impressive crit with the World's Edge +3. Belhifet fell to Caelar, in a fitting turn of events. After the final fight, the party paid a shifty looking mage 50,000 gold (obtained by selling gems + magic items) to send a few (2 per character) of their items with them wherever they go next because after losing their gold to Ophyllis they didn't want to risk getting robbed again.
Explanation for this: I have inserted the items from the Thalantyr Item Upgrade mod into BG2 as well as a few of the SOD items through the SOD to BG2EE item upgrade mod modified to remove the upgrades, so this explains how the items got to Athkatla (They certainly won't be in Irenicus's dungeon though, mostly)
BG2 is next
Final Character Levels:
Nimue: Level 13 Shapeshifter
Armok: Level 11 War Hulk
Knell: Level 11 Wizard Slayer
Caelynn: Level 11 Priestess of Lathander
Morgana: Level 11/11 Mage/Thief
Sidenote: the only major complaint that I have with SOD is that other than the two lich duels (which are fantastic if you don't cheese the first one with the gem and the second one with traps), a mage will be most effective just using Fireball/wands of Fireball and haste. This is unfortunate because part of what I love about SCS is the mage chess aspect and SOD gives the party high enough levels to start developing this part of the game but provides little incentive to do so.
Corey_Russell and Mantis37, I'm missing a starting post for your two runs, so if you give me a link, I'll add it to the entries.
I've thought about doing an "Infinity run," a saga run of all the Infinity Engine games (except for PST) in chronological order, both vanilla and EE:
BG1
TotSC
IWD1
BG2
HoW
TotLM
ToB
IWD2
BGEE
BG2EE
IWDEE
SoD
IWD2EE
The deal would be that I'd have to beat all of the games with the same party: same race, class, and stats for each character; nothing else transfers unless it normally does (like BG2:EE going right into ToB). Thus, no kits and no sorcerers or monks due to BG1 not having them.
The main sticking point is IWD2. Non-caster classes are generally garbage pre-EE, but a single-classed druid and cleric don't add very much to a BG saga run, mages are weak in the IWD games, sorcerers aren't allowed, and small parties suffer terribly in vanilla IWD2 due to the level problem. Plus, immunities are hard to come by in vanilla IWD2, and IWD2 has critical failures for saving throw rolls (there's always a 5% chance of failure). BG1 stat rolls would be great in IWD2, though, which otherwise basically just has a 76 point buy system for character creation.