Just wondering if the hordes of Xzvart that used to appear near and in the cave in the gnoll stronghold were also a bug that has been corrected. They were quite a challenge largely because of the shamans, but I don't seem to get them now.
I don't think they relate to EE, so were probably the result of one of your mods.
Just wondering if the hordes of Xzvart that used to appear near and in the cave in the gnoll stronghold were also a bug that has been corrected. They were quite a challenge largely because of the shamans, but I don't seem to get them now.
I don't think they relate to EE, so were probably the result of one of your mods.
Probably SCS which wasn't compatible with Dragonsphere though it was with EE. I haven't checked whether or not that is still the case.
I ran a barbarian for the first time (twice) and each time was killed by my improved Mendas. Then used the rage ability whereupon Mendas was killed by one blow. Using rage she was also able to break into ALL chests.
Even with rage she lost all but one HP in one blow when fighting the ogre to the north of Beregost.
However I then accidentally discovered the way to use rage for I fled the area and lo and behold, she was completely healed on the way to the next area. If I had just run away in the same area she would have died when the rage wore off!
The extra speed of the barbarian clearly makes ranged weapons even more powerful and rage or going berserk have become more important when fighting sirene enemies due to their feeblemind abilities in EE.
That depends on what you mean by compatible. SCS installs just fine on BG/SoD, and all the item and spell tweaks and such will still be in place. The main thing that SCS won't do is change the AI scripts on the characters and creatures added for SoD, but they're using an improved AI anyway, so it's not that much of a difference.
After entering Imnesvale, Goibniu completed the various minor quests around the area before travelling to the temple ruins.
Donar, using stealth if neccessary, lured some shadows to their death, and the party entered the old temple. Fighting shadows, shadow fiends and skeleton warriors wasn't too difficult thanks to some summons and Anapas incredible damage against undead. The bone golem was lured back to the party and distracted by skeletons:
The party avoided the shadow dragon, buffed and attacked the Shade Lord. A quick Sunray by Anapa, and the battle was over:
Some easy experience and good equipment for the party.
Goibniu travelled to Trademeet and the druid grove next. After killing some trolls and spiders, some buffs were used to defeat various shadow druids. No screenshots here, nothing interesting happened anyway. Ihtafeer was killed quickly, and Cernd fought Faldorn:
Back in Trademeet, the party also killed Rejiek and gave the Mantle of Waukeen to the mayor.
Back to the Saablic Tan fight to finish off the remaining enemies. We still don't pre-buff for the fight, but we choose a different setup: this time, Asriel summons werewolf and buffs the party with Remove Fear instead of using Stoneskin, since we still have that Greater Feyr on the map. Asriel disables the enemy with Holy Word, Chara marches in to combat, and Asriel bails them out once more when they get hurt.
But we neglect to tackle the remaining mage, and Frisk gets petrified.
As a sorcerer, Frisk's Fortitude save isn't very strong, and a low roll doesn't help. Each class gets different saving throw growth:
Mages: high Will save, low Fortitude save, low Reflex save Thieves: low Will, low Fortitude, high Reflex Fighters: low Will, high Fortitude, low Reflex Priests: high Will, high Fortitude, low Reflex Monks: high Will, high Fortitude, high Reflex
Fortitude saves aren't very important in the early and midgame, at least in Tactics, when Chromatic Orbs, Hold Person, and Dispel Magic make Reflex and Will saves more important. But later on, when instant death effects start popping up, you need a good Fortitude save to survive enemy mages.
Asriel punishes the mage with Holy Word and Chara hacks them apart.
The rest of the fight is uneventful. Without mages, the enemy can't stand up to Chara.
Asriel takes out a Stone to Flesh scroll to bring back Frisk. Somehow, it fails.
Asriel tries Raise Dead and Resurrection instead, while Chara dances with a half-dragon who wandered off earlier.
We use another Stone to Flesh scroll, but it fails. We don't know why--that's not how it worked when Chara got petrified back in Dragons' Eye.
Out of curiosity, I trek back to Kuldahar to see if Nathaniel can bring Frisk back. No such luck.
Maybe a Resurrection scroll will work. Asriel tries to click Frisk's portrait but the cursor is greyed-out (I'd show a screenshot but my cursor doesn't show up on them). And when Asriel targets their body instead, it still doesn't work.
I don't know what's going on, but Frisk is unreachable. I have to import them back into the party. It costs us some XP, but whatever.
This fight yields some impressive loot, including one of the deadliest bastard swords in the game, and my mods only make it stronger.
Funny thing is, the Golden Heart of Frisk is still Asriel's best option. It might not hit quite as hard, but the defenses Asriel gains from undispellable Haste, Freedom of Movement, and an extra 25 HP are more important than increasing our damage output.
The final chapter has begun. We march to the Severed Hand, the Legion of the Chimera's headquarters. By now the game has given up all pretense of a diplomatic solution, and there is no dialog option to bluff our way in.
That second option doesn't even make sense. We're the ones who would utter the name, not her.
Loudly announcing our motives right in front of our enemies fills us with determination.
Fans of the original Icewind Dale remember the Severed Hand for its cool backstory, spooky atmosphere, and many repetitive fights.
In IWD2, a lot has changed. Slaves are hard at work all around the first level, a four-armed lobster demon guards the front door, and weird purplish goo is plastered across the walls. Isair and Madae have been screwing around with the mythal that covers the place--a foolish decision, considering the mythal was already a failed project that killed every single creature inside when it was first created.
We fill out some paperwork for Xavier Torsend for a delegate pass so we don't get mobbed later on. We also inform him that his employers use slave labor, which he had no idea was going on.
We head upstairs to begin the various interesting quests of the Severed Hand, a handful of which are mandatory for reaching the final battle. On the way, I stop by a half-dragon lady's room to steal Chimandrae's Slippers, which grant +5 to Dexterity.
Unfortunately, it seems Sanctuary won't let us escape her notice, and both Dracein and her pet Chimera Precious turn hostile. Turns out Dracein's AC is sky-high, and the fight draws the attention of one of the local mages.
Dracein hits very hard. Asriel once again needs to rescue Chara from their destruction.
Vese Nejj summons more and more critters to hassle us, but Chara closes in on him and wipes out his Mirror Images in short order.
We get a cool prize! There are a lot of incredible items in this place.
This staff in particular has always interested me. It's effectively a two-handed ranged weapon, like Big Death, but deals less damage on critical hits and counts as a melee weapon, meaning it will bypass Divine Shell (which blocks Big Death and all missile weapons) but will trigger Fire Shield backlashes. It would be very interesting in the hands of a backstabbing thief.
Further up the tower, we run into a Gelugon named Yxbudur'zmutkindu (pronounced "Big Mr. Taffy"). He's busy lording his status over his subordinates.
Sounds like the devils have a curious S&M thing going on. But before Frisk can ask any questions, Yxbudur'zmutkindu notices Asriel and compliments his Level of Violence. Unfortunately, Asriel doesn't have the class or Intelligence to get any special dialog options, which otherwise could have let us avoid a fight.
I only have one screenshot of the battle, which quickly sums up our strategy for minor skirmishes like this.
Only the really tough fights require more than Chara's brute strength--such as the fight in the barracks, which features a whole bunch of well-trained goons, including spellcasters. The enemy throws out a Symbol of Hopelessness spell, which could have easily been fatal were Chara not immune.
Symbol of Hopelessness benefits from no Spell Focus feat, but it does have a high level and therefore a high DC, and if it connects, the target either gets panicked or stunned for 10 rounds. Only Exaltation can cure and block the effect, so it's entirely possible to take down an entire party with just this one spell.
Worse, the enemy mage can cast Flesh to Stone, and although Frisk learned Protection from Petrification after the scare at Dragon's Eye, we don't have it active--at Frisk's level, it only lasts 33 rounds, and it wore off before this fight.
Luckily, we make our save in the end. While Chara hacks the enemies apart, Frisk re-buffs everyone with Protection from Petrification, just in case another Flesh to Stone spell pops up.
We weather the storm and the enemies fall apart quite literally.
To free the slaves, we need to destroy the demon guarding the entrance, and to do that, we need to destroy a cool orb thingy--which takes more than a few cracks with a hammer. A little research at the library and some incisive questioning lets us win the trust of one of the humongous clerics of Xvim, who points us in the right direction.
More detective work brings us to Cedrin Zil, who gladly admits to a murder and mocks us for not having the connections to prosecute him.
Law enforcement in IWD2 in general is pretty lax, so we just kill him instead.
On to Orrick's Tower! Because I don't remember where exactly I'm supposed to go next. We fail the puzzle required to enter the tower the first time around and get bombarded with Ice Lances, then create a pretty green star to progress.
Orrick knows Isair and Madae's meddling with the mythal is a bad idea, but is working with them nonetheless. Still, he has no qualms about helping us kill his employers.
I think it's possible to skip this part of the questline and still complete the game, but I'm sure it would make the final battle far more difficult than I'd like.
We also need to save Ormis Dohor, who has been transformed into a pink blob of flesh. He was the head of the Black Raven Monastery and will help you fight Isair and Madae if you give him the antidote to cure his condition--another important asset in the single most difficult fight in the game. We butcher his captors...
...but the guy with the antidote is Tyrannar Brutai Mar, a very tough enemy cleric. We need to collect some holy symbols of Iyachtu Xvim to reach him; there are many such items scattered around the Severed Hand that we need for several quests.
While we're hunting for quest items, Asriel finds yet another dead kitten.
We already have several dead cats stored in the Bag of Holding for reasons I don't fully understand. Collecting morbid souvenirs from our travels fills us with determination.
We already have several dead cats stored in the Bag of Holding for reasons I don't fully understand. Collecting morbid souvenirs from our travels fills us with determination.
I believe the purpose of this thread has now been achieved. Well done, everybody.
More questy stuff! We chat with Bobby McBlobby, who tells us that the Legion of the Chimera was actually trying to make an alliance with the Black Raven Monastery. Turns out the Legion really sucks at diplomacy.
They thought he'd sympathize with their murderous rampages because he was half-drow. So racist!
To be fair to the Legion, we're not very good at diplomacy either. When the Severed Hand torturer says hello, Asriel can't think of anything to say besides a death threat.
And to be fair to Asriel, IWD2 has been actively encouraging a combative mindset, with so many dialogs automatically starting combat after a single line.
One of the enemies here has a major skin condition. Chara decides to help by slashing off his face.
We search the room for valuables and find ANOTHER FREAKING CAT
Why are these here? Why?
We keep on moving upstairs. One more fight before we tackle Tyrannar Brutai Mar. If you walk across the big face thing on the floor without a symbol of Xvim, you'll get zapped.
Notice that they left "the glowing eyes of Iyachtu Xvim" without full capitalization. Normally a critter's name would be all capitalized, but they wrote it this way so it looks right in the dialogue box. It's an interesting detail--a smart decision in a small place.
The fight itself isn't too interesting; just another skirmish best solved using brute force. We search the room for goodies and COME ON SERIOUSLY WHY
We have enough symbols of Xvim to use the teleporter in the center of the room. It's a very cool transition.
Finally, we confront Tyrannar Brutai Mar. As his name might suggest, he's not very nice.
He summons shadowy versions of Guthma Sherincal, and right off the bat we get surrounded by enemies. Knowing that Tyrannar has various immunities, I try trapping him in a Resilient Sphere, but he turns out to have a shockingly high Reflex save for a cleric.
Notice that Sherinval, a blue half-dragon, is actually taking damage from an electrical attack. That must be awfully embarrassing; blue dragons are supposed to be immune to electricity.
I go for a Holy Word, just in case. As I suspected, Tyrannar is immune.
Either he's immune to stun, or he's secretly good-aligned and is just pretending to be evil to fit in.
Anyway, we have a problem. The clerics here apparently use Brilliant Flails of Wounding, which dealing 2 damage per round for 10 rounds, without a save.
There's not really anywhere to run, but at least IWD2 offers concentration checks, so the bleeding effect has virtually zero chance of disrupting Frisk's spellcasting.
Tyrannar is very dangerous, but I'm sure attacking directly wouldn't bring him down fast--as a cleric, he's bound to have multiple Heal spells. I decide to tackle Sherry first.
Guthma doesn't seem to be doing anything, so we ignore him in favor of attacking Tyrannar.
Guthma finally tries to smash Frisk. When they fail to disable him, they turn invisible before they reach critical condition.
Tyrannar tries to heal himself, but he can't keep it up forever. Chara overpowers him.
Tooltips don't show up in my screenshots, but we've got some vivid names for these three NPCs--the blue-haired fat woman and the two folks to her left.
From left to right, they are Skinny Rottentooth, Jezabel Quice, and Grossey Foulair. They run away when the fight starts. This isn't a required battle, but I really want to make sure we enter the final battle at full strength.
We take the antidote from Tyrannar to Ormis Dohor, who returns to his normal form.
Next is the War Tower, or whatever it's called, which has three big fights on each level. All are trivial with Chara. All of them are also optional, though all of them seem okay for a fight.
All the monks here have Stunning Attack and will use it repeatedly. The save DC is half the monk level plus their Wisdom bonus, so it scales very well as the game goes by. Asriel, though, has stellar saves.
And Morvyn doesn't get many chances to stun Asriel.
We need to purify the tower of Xvim's influence, which means performing a special ritual... and fighting the avatar of the god Iyachtu Xvim himself. We finally gather the last ingredient for the ritual.
For the first time in ages, we're solving a problem by collecting items instead of killing people. Enjoying a brief lull of peace fills us with determination.
We begin the ritual. Iyachtu Xvim interrupts us... with an offer.
If you side with him, the whole party turns evil. It also saves you from having to tangle with the avatar of a god. But we say no--even if we wanted to, it's important to keep in mind the lessons we teach our impressionable half-dragon Chara.
Xvim's avatar, a discolored half-ogre, is very, very tough, and he summons a bunch of demons to aid him. We brought out our own summoned critters, but it seems that even a Frost Giant has difficulty getting past Xvim's damage reduction.
Chara is a lot stronger, but Xvim still takes less than half damage.
Sure enough, Xvim is immune to stun. And sure enough, he uses Improved Invisibility.
Xvim calls down a Flame Strike, but Asriel has 50 spell resistance thanks to Holy Aura and the Spell Resistance spell.
Some of our summons keep the demons behind us occupied so Asriel and Chara can concentrate on Xvim himself. We trade blows for several rounds. Asriel heals Chara when they get in trouble, and Frisk uses illusion magic to hold off the Cornugons when our summons begin to crumble.
Xvim casts an inferno over the battlefield, but even when it gets past Asriel's spell resistance, it still has to overcome Asriel's strong saves and 15- fire resistance from the Sunfire Talisman... and Chara has 100- resistance to all elements in Elemental Half-Dragon form.
Xvim casts more and more fire spells, but his magic falls flat. We keep chipping away.
When he gets low on health, he grows desperate, and summons a new kind of enemy to his side: a pair of Slayers.
Xvim lurches over to Frisk, who has 1 Strength for unknown reasons and cannot move. Improved Invisibility and Mirror Image cannot stop him. He slays Frisk in moments.
Finally, we crush Iyachtu Xvim's avatar. But the fight is not over. The twin Slayers remain.
And just as Asriel's Remove Fear buff runs out, he rolls a 1. Asriel is disabled, and Chara cannot fix him without losing her best shapeshift and dispelling all of Asriel's buffs at once.
Chara fights on without Asriel until Goat Bro recovers. Finally, we bring the battle to a close.
We purified the chamber! I forget exactly why this was necessary, but I think it's required to destroy the orb that keeps the demon guard alive--otherwise you can't free the slaves. We also get a humongous scimitar for our trouble.
The scimitar is actually little better than a normal Scimitar +5. The Fortitude save for the energy drain is a pitiful 14; the Will save for the dispel effect is 10. It might have some use for a prolonged battle in Heart of Fury mode, since there's always a 5% chance of a critical failure on a save, but it's not what you'd expect given you had to defeat the avatar of a god in order to get it.
We attack the orb that keeps the demon guard alive. I don't have any screenshots for that fight; it was too easy.
We finally head down to the ground floor to free the slaves. The demon guard summons three slaves of its own, who persist after its death. The slaves both have green circles, indicating they're friendly... but unfortunately, they decide to attack the human slaves around us. We rush to their defense, but we don't act fast enough to save one person.
A merchant appears upstairs, allowing us to recharge our Sanctuary Wand. At the end of the game with nearly 3 million gold, we need to buy every spare resource we can possibly find.
We need a key from Captain Pudu, who nails Asriel with the deadliest halberd in the game.
My mods upgrade some normal mode items to their Heart of Fury versions, which means its stun effect is a lot harder to resist. It only has a 25% chance of activating and lasts 3 seconds, but its DC is 49. For comparison, the highest spell DC you can ever, ever achieve is 38. Nobody makes that saving throw.
But Chara is immune to stun in half-dragon form. Pudu is helpless against them.
Asriel has taken 5 levels as a bard just for a little extra power. I was a little conflicted about this, since it's only possible because my mods remove class alignment restrictions, but I felt Asriel fit well with all three classes: cleric, paladin, and bard.
Unfortunately, Lingering Song doesn't seem to be working. I check Asriel's feats and discover the reason.
I accidentally clicked Lightning Reflexes instead of Lingering Song. I wasted 5 levels and gave Asriel a 20% experience penalty for nothing but a stronger Reflex save.
Before we can meet with Isair and Madae, we first have to interrupt an important meeting at the top of one of the towers--another brutal fight. We try to bluff our way past the guards, but our smell gives us away. We really should have taken a bath.
This fight has two Demon Knights with lots of immunities... but even they can't stand up to Chara's full power. The way forward is clear.
The end of the game is approaching. There is one optional battle we could do before Isair and Madae--that would be the Cera Sumat battle outside Kuldahar. But even though the reward is one of the best swords in the game, rivaled only by the Golden Heart of Frisk, it is not worth the risk. We focus on our true goal: the twin cambions leading the Legion of the Chimera.
Before Isair and Madae, there is only one fight left, and it's just up the stairs. Once we enter, there is no turning back. We have gathered all the XP we could find, and purchased and hoarded all the items we might possibly need. We cast every buff we have and ascend the stairs.
Every step crackles with power. We are filled with determination.
The group didn't have problems neither with Hamadryad (Woden tanked her magic, the rest of the party waited till she was out of her spells)...
... nor with cave wyverns (Woden and two spirit animals tanked them, the rest of the party attacked from range)
Now, the Drasus party. After Amarande the archdruid this battle is usually a watershed moment for me: if everyone can survive this battle, they have good chances of completing BG1.
First, spirit animals lured Drasus and Genthore farther from enemy mages.
Knowing that Drasus has very good saves, I chose Genthore to be paralysed by Xan's wand. Success!
After that Genthore was poisoned and dispatched. Woden, with all AC buffs, restrained Drasus from reaching someone else.
For some reason, enemy mages entered the fight not from its start. One of them (Kysus) casted Chaos - the whole group (except for Woden with his dwarven saves further improved in the Defensive stance) retreated, so only Nymph became confused.
Kysus came closer, so Mortuus immediately casted Detect Invisibility. Spirit animals attacked the mage in melee, in order to break through his protections faster.
Woden smashed Drasus with his hammer (thanks to 21 STR granted by a potion), and the spirit snake poisoned Kysus. Afterwards the snake flee in horror (thanks to the second mage, Rezdan), but poison already was in effect.
An ogre summoned by Xan and the spirit lion reached Rezdan, while our assassin poisoned the mage.
It didn't take long to kill the last mercenary.
Again, even with the latest nerf, the assassin's poison helped to win the fight. It also helped against another mage, Hareishan, after Xan had fried all other bandits with his Wand of Fire.
Overall, I can conclude that while Poison Weapon indeed has become less powerful on lower levels of BG1 with the 2.X patch, it continues to be one of the most effective options against enemy spellcasters. Sooner or later a thief hits an enemy mage, sooner or later the mage fails his saving throw, and then basically the battle is won, as wizards in BG1 don't have too many HPs no matter how buffed they are with the SCS. I think this ability is balanced now, after all the tweaks during the beta.
The party travelled to De'Arnise keep. Fightnig trolls is easy at this point, with Owain tanking and Helios using elemental arrows. Despite me not having prepared any spells, Glaicus was charmed (thanks to the Ring of Human Influence):
Luna summoned skeletons to help with the golems. I had also prepared magical blunt weapons for everyone, so clay golems shouldn't be too much of a problem. After killing all of the smaller golems, the iron golem was lured to the door and killed with MMM's and Tansheron's Bow.
Additional summons were used downstairs to defeat Tor'Gal.
The party travelled back to the city and started the Mae'Var questline. After stealing the necklace, Rayic's mephits were killed and Owain, protected with stoneskin and MI, lured the golems downstairs.
Rayic himself was killed by dodging some of his spells and using true sight and breach:
Two quests later, and it was time to kill Mae'Var. I delayed this quests because I was scared of backstabs, but didn't encounter any issues with them while fighting the various thieves. Mae'Var himself was quickly defeated:
The party also headed to Watcher's Keep, buying a new sword for Donar amongst other things. Goibniu decided to clear level 1 - some easy groups of monsters were defeated, and Helios disarmed all of the traps. For the statues, invisible stalkers and aerial servants were summoned, the party was buffed (the buffs I use haven't changed a lot since BG1, though cc and/or death ward on Goibniu are sometimes included for safety), and the first battle was started:
Aerial servants deal huge amounts of damage. The party mostly assisted with ranged weapons against the second group of statues:
Level 2 is way too hard for now, so the party once again travelled back to Athkatla. Time for the tougher stronghold quests.
One more fight before Isair and Madae. We have to deal with multiple half-dragons, plus a priest and a mage. On top of that, we start the battle already flanked.
I planned on using Tremor to knock out some folks early on, but it has a casting time of 9 and I'm not sure I trust Chara's defenses to hold for the first round. Instead I switch to a weaker half-dragon form, saving the elemental form for later. Frisk, our weakest party member, flees to the northeast. Mercifully, the enemies ignore them.
Clerics in IWD2 are really tough thanks to IWD2's Heal spells, which have a casting time of 1. But the priest is still the easiest enemy to tackle, so Chara rushes him.
Chara does acid damage because this is the black half-dragon form, the strongest before the elemental version.
By targeting the priest, we leave the enemy mage free to act. They get ready to thrash us.
Frisk prepares to cast Haste on Chara, who fails to disrupt the priest's Heal spell.
T'rsosl Malign, an enemy fighter, has a +5 sword that cuts right through Asriel's Stoneskin--in IWD2, +5 weapons ignore Stoneskin entirely. I have Asriel heal early, reducing the amount of HP that Asriel gets from the spell (it's often better to wait until your character is seriously hurt) but ensuring that the mage can't destroy him with Power Word: Stun.
If Asriel dies here, we won't be able to bring him back--no one else in our party can cast Raise Dead or Resurrection. His safety is more important than anyone else's.
Chara finally cuts down the priest and turns to T'rsosl Malign, who is proving far too dangerous to be left alone.
Nalakora, one of the enemy half-dragons, is also a big problem for us. She has 5 attacks per round, and judging by her fifth attack roll...
...she has a base attack bonus of 44. Asriel's AC is high, but not enough to compete with a half-dragon's attack bonus.
Frisk is keeping one of the other half-dragons occupied. The half-dragon hits every time, but Frisk knows how to stay safe.
Chara is losing HP but making strong progress. The enemy fighters are beginning to collapse.
I'm still concerned about that wizard--I don't know what they're really capable of. Frisk, who has been waiting for something to do, tries to pin them down, but the mage is immune.
Nalakora remains a higher priority, and Asriel and Chara strike in tandem. Nalakora is tough, but we hit harder.
The enemy mage tries to damage Chara, but even Mordenkainen's Sword's massive 3d6+4 base damage can't get past Chara's resistances. Static Charge terminates the half-dragon who was pestering Frisk.
Frisk, still trying to neutralize the enemy mage with the little power they possess, tries using the Wand of the Spider's Web, which we recharged earlier on. The mage fails its save, but appears immune regardless. Nalakora deploys Mirror Image to save herself.
Chara hits hard, Nalakora strikes back, Static Charge fails against the mage's Mirror Image, and then another Static Charge electrocutes the half-orc who was cowering in the corner.
To take advantage of their high damage resistance and poor AC, Chara has four backlash effects active: blindness from an amulet, Call Lightning and Bane from Nature's Fury, and poison from the Spiny Black Urchin. They don't trigger all the time, but since Mordenkainen's Sword strikes as a melee weapon and backlash effects in IWD2 don't have a range limit, the enemy mage has to deal with all of them.
The enemy deals some damage, but it's not enough. We tear them down one by one.
The next fight is going to be tough. Since we have a nearly endless supply of potions, I empty a few to get our HP back in good condition.
Then I realize we might be able to rest instead. Much better idea.
Notice my quick save. Saving the game before big fights makes me feel safer.
The final battle is next. We've been saving up a lot of resources for this fight. It's time to deploy them. I use everything, from Potions of Heroism to scrolls of Protection from Poison. I don't know if the next fight even has poison in it, but I want to be ready for anything.
No matter how much we buff the party, Dispel Magic always has a 5% chance of dispelling everything we have. But there's nothing we can do--we don't have Spell Immunity to block Dispel Magic; the SI effect doesn't even exist in IWD2's engine.
There are no more diversions. No more distractions. Only Isair and Madae, and the last battle of Icewind Dale 2.
Both Asriel and the cambion twins, Isair and Madae were attacked by a group of villagers who thought Asriel and the cambions had murdered a human. Asriel was strong enough to destroy them all, but he did not do so--he left them in peace, and staggered home with Chara's body in his hands. Because Asriel did not defend himself, both he and Chara lost their lives, and failed in their mission to free their people.
Isair and Madae also had the power to kill the humans who attacked them. But where Asriel stayed his hand, the cambion twins fought back and slaughtered their attackers. And where Asriel died, the cambion twins--so far--have lived and succeeded.
A long time ago, Frisk showed Chara that Asriel did not make the wrong choice. That you didn't have to fight people, that you could make peace with them... and that it was better that way.
But Icewind Dale is a cold and unforgiving place. Sometimes--sometimes--we managed to spare lives and find diplomatic solutions. But over, and over, and over, we found that violence was the only solution--that the enemy could not be won over, and would not stop until we were dead. Often, we could not even try to spare our opponents. The option simply did not exist.
Here, in this new world, we have seen the old mantra proven true: it is "kill or be killed."
What kind of lesson are we supposed to draw from this? Before, Frisk helped so many people without hurting anybody. But now, the only reason we've gotten this far is because Chara was so incredibly good at hurting people. The enemy was merciless, and therefore could be shown no mercy. We defeated the enemy and became strong.
Asriel and Frisk felt the best way to live was to make friends. But Isair and Madae believe that there is only one way the half-breeds and outcastes of the world can ever be okay. They must kill their opponents. The enemy hates us, and therefore must be destroyed.
So who was right?
Chara knows that the perfect world does not exist. All we really have is this one. And in their mind, the only truth--the only reality--is not the way things should be, but the way things are.
We have not been pure. Not like we used to be. We have killed even when the game did not force us, because we wanted to gather enough strength to win this battle. We only spared a precious few people.
Isair and Madae have no such pretensions. They showed no mercy and have no regrets. They only sought one thing. Power.
It is time to test the strength of our convictions, in the only way that Icewind Dale 2 allows. It is time for Chara to see the truth.
Asriel has grown into a Paladin/Cleric/Bard, a level 24 tank with fast and powerful healing spells who has become nearly impervious to magic, and extremely difficult to harm.
Notable items include the Golden Heart of Frisk, the Rabbit's Foot (+1 luck), the Horrific Black Hands of Shelgoth (undispellable Death Ward), Chain of Drakkas' Fury (+3 to hit, +1 to APR), and the Indomitable Bands (+5 AC and 10/+2 damage reduction).
Chara is now a Druid/Monk/Fighter, with devastating spells, monstrous summoning powers, and the ability to turn into the most powerful creatures in Icewind Dale.
Notable items include the Darkstone Amulet (30% chance of blinding attackers), Dwarven Ogre (+6 Strength, Blur), Nature's Fury (20% chance casting Bane on attackers, 10% chance Call Lightning), Diamond Cutter (+2 Constitution and 5/- resistance to physical damage), and Bands of the Master (15/+3 damage reduction).
Frisk is a sorcerer, with modest support spells to help out the much higher-level Asriel and Chara.
Notable items include the High Master's Robe (+3 to Charisma), the Amulet of Natural Armor +4 (+4 to generic AC), the Cloak of Protection +2 (+2 to saves), the Black Goat Girdle (+2 to saves), and Bloody Wroth (double the benefits of Animal Rage: +8 to Strength and Constitution, +40% movement rate, +4 to saves). This does a lot to improved Frisk's poor saves, as an underleveled sorcerer otherwise is very vulnerable at this stage of the game.
Our party of three has 60 levels total (20 on average). A normal party of six would have 100 levels total (16-18 on average). Our small party size and Frisk's chunking weakened us badly. Chara's shapeshifting is our only true source of power.
We go down the stairs and a mage teleports us to Isair and Madae. The twins and their allies have come prepared. They are shrouded in magical protections.
Isair plays it coy...
...but Madae is quite direct about their goals.
We try to speak to them, but the cambions are not listening. There is no way to resolve this conflict peacefully. Isair and Madae made their decision long ago.
They were the ones who pushed this world to its limit.
Chara has many powerful spells, but they are slow to cast and our primary targets are virtually immune to magic. Chara can only use their most powerful half-dragon form once per day, but we cannot save it--we have to use it now. Because if we stumble in these first few rounds, we may never get back up.
This fight is brutal enough even in vanilla, to the point of being rather unfair. Tactics makes it far worse. Aside from the twins and all of their powers and all of their allies, we also have to fight two liches at the same time.
What is our plan? It's in that very same screenshot. See that orange glow over Madae, on the right?
Asriel has just hit Madae with a Protection from Magic scroll, dispelling all of her defenses and blocking all of her spells. Isair is also an extremely important target with his own deadly arsenal, but Madae chain-casts Blasphemy spells that could destroy Asriel and Frisk, if Madae has the Spell Penetration feat. We don't need to fight both; we just need to injure one of them.
We get to work on Madae, who still has impressive defenses even without her spells. This area is crawling with high-level spellcasters, shielded by veritable fortresses of magic.
We have a small library's worth of scrolls stored away. Frisk casts Executioner's Eyes, which grants a +4 bonus to hit rolls and critical hit rolls. In a game like IWD2, where no one is immune to critical hits, Executioner's Eyes grants a +20% flat increase in physical damage output for Asriel and Chara (or a +40% increase for any character using triple critical multiplier weapons like bows, axes, hammers, spears, or halberds).
We keep up the pace, ignoring the enemies around us...
...but then I panic when I see a lich casting a potentially game-ending spell.
I double-check our buffs. Among many, many other defenses, everyone in the party is immune to death magic. We're okay.
Notice that I even went to the trouble of casting Mind Blank via a scroll. I spared no expenses here; this battle is too high-pressure for Asriel to spend a round casting Dispel Magic or Exaltation.
Madae can't even heal herself when we attack. Only her resistances slow us down, and they aren't enough. Isair sees what's happening and interrupts.
The first phase of battle is over!
But we can't move on yet.
We're locked in. We can't proceed without killing all of Isair and Madae's allies still in the room. And that's a much taller order--we only have one scroll of Protection from Magic left, and it's too valuable to use it on these guys. We have to fight them normally.
We do see an encouraging sign. Holy Aura is keeping Frisk and Asriel's spell resistance at a comfortable 50. Disintegrate can't touch us.
But Holy Aura doesn't last long, and it may run out in less than 10 rounds. Chara rushes the nearest lich, using their elemental damage to erase its Mirror Images and their Blind-Fight feat to overcome its Improved Invisibility. The lich turns out to be quite resilient even without illusion magic.
But Chara is the deadliest critter in this room, and it takes a lot more than some light resistances to survive their attacks.
Ormir Dohor, the half-drow monk whom we cured of his blobbiness earlier on, has joined the fight and is making his presence felt. He chunks an invisible Demon Knight with his bare hands.
The next lich hurls spells at us, but with high spell resistance and nearly comprehensive immunities (Asriel is only vulnerable to stun and hopelessness), the lich does little to us before Chara hacks it apart.
Frisk takes a break from using Mordenkainen's Sword to summon a Boneguard. It's one of those times when you don't have a specific purpose for something, but have a spare round and want to make sure you have something before you need it.
We continue the march. The enemies only scratch us before Chara destroys them.
But as strong as Chara is, Frisk is underleveled and vulnerable, and not even Mind Blank can protect them from a critical failure on a save against a Xvimian monk's Stunning Blow.
Frisk loses all of their Mirror Image, but Asriel manages to cast Sanctuary on them... a half-second after the stun effect expires anyway. But we have bigger problems; an enemy mage, Buvai de'Naly (what is it with these apostrophes in IWD2 names?) is casting a level 9 summoning spell.
If we're lucky, it'll just be a Greater Feyr, whose spells will fail against our defenses. A Frost Giant could be dangerous, though, as it has the attack power to get past Asriel and Chara's defenses if we don't kill it fast.
Frisk restores their Mirror Images, and Buvai de'Naly finishes casting the spell. It's a Frost Giant... but it turns out that Frost Giants have rather pathetic Reflex saves.
Asriel and Chara focus on the cleric Zilvar T'orgh, because I forgot that I was more concerned about the mage Buvai de'Naly. Those apostrophes actually make the names easy to confuse.
See that lime green blob next to the Frost Giant's right hand, the blob with the little purplish lightning bolts coming out of it? That appears every time Chara hits somebody; the acid and electricity damage visuals blot out the fire and cold damage visuals.
Zilvar T'orgh retaliates, casting the nightmare spell Symbol of Hopelessness.
Chara is immune, but Asriel is not. I don't know if I remembered to have Asriel equip the Tome of Glorious Exaltation to block the hopelessness effect, but he escapes the effect either way (a 5% chance of a 10-round disabling effect could have proven fatal if Frisk couldn't protect him with invisibility).
Tilzen Ghaun, an enemy thief I didn't even know existed, appears as from nowhere to backstab Chara. Enemy backstabbers can use sneak attacks from any direction even when fully visible, and this one apparently is using both Crippling Strike and Arterial Strike.
There are so many enemies here that hide behind summons and have weird but non-vivid names, making it difficult to keep track of the situation. The fact that some are invisible does not help.
Frisk uses Mordenkainen's Force Missiles against the Cyclops, but even on a failed Reflex save, the damage is disappointing.
Asriel rolls a critical failure on an unimportant save, and Buvai de'Naly continues summoning monsters.
Notice that those two Cyclopses' circles overlap the Frost Giants, and that the "Casts Summon Monster VII" message is floating in the middle. It seems that they're all stuck in place due to a collision error, though I could not see that at the time.
Zilvar the cleric finally goes down.
I finally notice that Phaen Xyltin (maybe Phaen of the Rags' reincarnation; I don't know), who I've been seeing pop up in the dialog box, is an invisible mage up to the north. We run out and cut him down while Ormir Dohor and his fellow monks tackle Buvai de'Naly the mage's summons.
Notice the Greater Mummy joining the fight. Summon Monster VII is actually especially strong specifically because it can conjure Greater Mummies, who can cast Symbol of Hopelessness.
I notice Chara's haste has run out, so Frisk casts Improved Haste on the whole group using a spare scroll.
We target Tilzen Ghaun the thief first; I don't really know who is who or what they're capable of. I'm just trying to get through this without losing any important resources we may need for the next fight. As a thief, Tilzen Ghaun has no special defenses.
Buvai de'Naly is next. With everyone in the party and the Black Raven Monks attacking at the same time, Buvai's defenses cannot hold.
With Isair and Madae's allies dead, the door unlocks. We can now proceed to the final phase. Thanks to some questing earlier on, the cambions cannot draw strength from the pool.
Isair and Madae no longer have their defenses up, but Madae seems to be free of the effects of the scroll of Protection from Magic, which means she can cast spells once again. And they have new allies in the form of a pair of Slayers.
Frisk summons an Umber Hulk shadow because they have nothing else to do. A Slayer Knight of Xvim attacks Chara, whose damage resistances aren't enough to hold off a Greatsword of the Soulless +5.
The damage builds up. Asriel only has so many healing spells, but each one is incredible.
Chara ignores all the distractions. Their only target is Madae. Nothing else matters.
Finally, the battle ends.
The cambions are both in pain, but Chara is not the reason.
Isair and Madae went too far.
The mythal is finally breaking under the strain, and the Severed Hand begins to collapse. We rush to the exit as the tower crumbles. When the dust clears, all that remains is Orrick's tower, shielded from Isair and Madae's influence, floating quietly in the sky.
What does all of this show us? The war is over, but we did not win it like we did in the Underground, with love. Isair and Madae only fell when we defeated them through force of violence. So what's the answer? Does this world just belong to the strong? Is force the only solution, when the semblance of peace is stripped away?
We look back on our adventure, and out of the chaos, we see only one pattern.
The innocent are not always safe. Sometimes good people do get hurt when stronger people want to hurt them. A lot of it is, well, luck.
But there is one constant. There is one rule that doesn't seem to have any exceptions.
When the goblins attacked Targos, the goblins ended up dead. When the Aurilites conducted human sacrifices, the Aurilites ended up dead. When Limha turned the Wandering Villagers' children into minks to watch the villagers hunt them, Limha ended up dead. When the Yuan-ti invaded Kuldahar, the Yuan-ti ended up dead. When Cedra led a second invasion against Kuldahar, they too ended up dead. When one person after another, from Aurilite Druid to Yuan-ti Sorceress, tried to kill our party, each and every one ended up dead. Every person, every monster, every opponent--all of them fell.
When those villagers tried to kill Isair and Madae so many years ago, they ended up dead. And when Isair and Madae waged war against everyone who opposed them, they ended up dead. Just like all the others.
All of us died, too, at least once, after all the fights we've been in. Isair and Madae, and Asriel, Frisk, and Chara--we were the most powerful critters around, but it still wasn't enough to keep us truly safe. Whether it was self-defense, like with Saablic Tan, or whether we started the fight ourselves, like with Imphraili, people on all sides got killed. That's the only rule we've found.
People like Frisk don't always win. But they've got the right idea overall.
Those who choose peace do not always receive it. But those who choose war never find peace.
Retrospective on Underdale: Frisk, Chara, and Asriel in IWD2
The Party: I may as well just get it out of the way. Chara was the backbone of the party ever since we got Verbeeg form on the way to Shaengarne Bridge. Their resistances and damage output made them our best tank for the rest of the game. IWD2 is very much a game of maximizing numbers, and Chara's shapeshifting gave us very big numbers with little maintenance.
Asriel was a vital support character, as Chara otherwise would not have been able to heal themselves when stronger enemies started landing critical hits. Asriel's buffs also shielded us from some nasty disablers. Soloing the game with Chara alone would have been possible, but Asriel made it much safer.
Frisk contributed very little overall. Their crowd control spells made little difference, as Chara and Asriel only needed to worry about the biggest foes, and Frisk was never truly decisive in the most dangerous fights.
Chara so dominated gameplay that it makes it difficult to gauge just how much Asriel and Frisk really did, or could have done.
Mods: The druid buffs in the IWD2 Ease of Use mod make druids by far the strongest class in the game, at least in normal mode. Those shapeshifts make them almost as sturdy as monks, and give them much higher damage output than clerics or fighters. It's a good thing I re-read that post on Chara mentioning their love of gardening--otherwise, I would have made Chara a wizard. The shapeshifting did, however, prevent Chara from using a lot of good spells, and the main reason Chara was so important late in the game was because we had a small party and could reach druid level 21 before the final battle (a normal party of six would be level 18 at most by the end).
My other mods had more mixed effects. Overall, the introduction of Heart of Fury mode items made us stronger. But Asriel was the one who most benefited from them, as shapeshifting rendered armor and shield bonuses irrelevant and most weapons useless, and Frisk, as a sorcerer, had little use for weapons or armor. Also, the enemy often got to use those same weapons against us, notably resulting in multiple one-hit kills in Targos from Phaen and Caballus.
Tactics was just crushing. Enemies chose targets intelligently, flanked us left and right, and used the best spells in the game to brutal effect.
Critical Details by Area
Targos Palisade: Caballus in Tactics uses Fireball and Chromatic Orb, which together can easily trash a normal party. Having many Mirror Images and damage reduction against missile attacks, plus a staff that could kill anyone in a single shot, only made the situation worse. We only survived by draining Caballus' spells using summons from Asriel and Chara, and the wolf charm from Guthewulfe.
Shaengarne Ford: Vghotan's Band, with its Freedom of Movement effect, kept us safe from the Orc Shamans' Hold Person spells, which could have broken the party had we lost Asriel, the only one who could cast Remove Paralysis.
Shaengarne Bridge: By level-squatting, Chara could reach Will o' Wisp form and take a level as a monk in time for the fight with Xuki. With high AC and 100 spell and elemental resistances, Chara's Will o' Wisp form single-handedly blocked all the western foes until we had dealt with Xuki and the ogres. Caballus' Whispering Staff allowed us to sneak past the enemies and set up Chara as our buffer; otherwise the enemy could have mobbed Frisk and Asriel.
The Horde Fortress: Chara's shapeshifting was again instrumental. Aside from simplifying the first battles with Trugnuk and the half-goblins, it also allowed Chara to survive the area after Kruntur's place but before Guthma's. Multiple orc spellcasters hurled Ice Lances at our party, but Chara's spell resistance and immunities allowed them to survive where Asriel perished. Casting Fireball and using Oil of Fiery Burning potions helped hasten the fight before Chara grew too weak.
The Ice Temple: Chara's Remorhaz form crushed everything, at least until the fight with the Talisman mercenaries. A bad Fortitude save against a Bolt of Stunning killed both Frisk and Chara, forcing Asriel to regroup, resurrect our sorcerer and druid, and return with summons to try again.
Cedra's Attack on Kuldahar: We arrived with failing buffs and few spells, and had to dip into expendable items to survive the multiple waves of enemies. We relied heavily on our potion supply so we could use our stronger healing spells on Iselore, whose death (Tactics removes his invincibility) would mean the end of the game.
Zil-t'yor the Beholder: With a Dispel Magic trap to remove our buffs and disrupt our spells, we had no guarantee of surviving the Beholder's instant death spells. Instead, we held back from the anti-magic zone, summoned monsters to distract him, and then layered damage-over-time spells over Zilly Billy, knowing that he would not try to leave the area of effect.
M'Darfein the Lich: Marfy is normally a nightmare to deal with, but Chara's Elemental Half-Dragon form protected them from the lich's worst spells, and the multiple damage types cut through Marfy's Mirror Images much quicker than Asriel could have done alone.
Saablic Tan: Arriving unbuffed was a big mistake. Chara died to Disintegrate early on, forcing Asriel to cast Sanctuary and recover their gear. When Frisk died to a Blasphemy spell and the enemy proved able to chase Asriel even while he was invisible, Asriel was forced to defeat Saablic Tan on his own, as resurrection was impossible. Asriel took down Saablic Tan's defenses by using one of our rare Protection from Magic scrolls on Saablic Tan, and killed the mage using Bolts +2 and Dragu's Hell Bolter, with a Sanctuary Wand to ward off the many remaining enemies who could easily have crushed Asriel and ended the run.
The Final Battle: A second Protection from Magic scroll removed Madae's defenses and kept us safe from her Blasphemy spells. Chara's Elemental Half-Dragon form was more than enough to cut down Madae, who could no longer heal herself due to the spell failure effect of the Protection from Magic scroll.
Chunking: Frisk's chunking by Imphraili was a huge setback. The drop in the party's average level helped Chara reach Elemental Half-Dragon form earlier, but I'm not actually sure if it was worth the trade. Getting chunked meant that Frisk would never have reached level 18, which would have gotten us Mass Dominate and/or Wail of the Banshee. Those two spells could have been extremely valuable in the late game.
In retrospect, we probably did not need to import Chara after they got chunked by Disintegrate in the fight with Saablic Tan. We ended the final battle with many strong resources still intact, including a spare Protection from Magic scroll (I think there are three in the game), various high-level scrolls, a nearly limitless supply of potions, and with most of Asriel's Heal spells still intact. Asriel could have invested his levels as a sorcerer and gained access to Mirror Image, greatly improving his durability for the final battle and allowing him to bring down Madae despite his weaker damage output.
But like many of these predictions that I make, they're only clear in hindsight. At the time, I couldn't imagine the party surviving if our strongest party member lost 2.3 million XP and over 20 levels, right before the endgame.
The Verdict This was fun. I think I'm going to bring Frisk, Asriel, and Chara into future runs. And I don't think I'm done with IWD2 quite yet.
But by relying on Chara's shapeshifting so heavily--which I already knew was terribly powerful--I only learned a handful of new things about IWD2, considering how little I've played the game:
1. Petrification can only be reversed by targeting the character's body; not their portrait. 2. Finger of Death and Disintegrate both cause automatic chunking if they succeed. 3. Neither petrification nor disintegration can destroy a character's items. 4. Disintegrate bypasses Death Ward; the only defense against it is Antimagic Field or a Protection from Magic scroll (or a mod option that grants Heart of Fury Parties immunity at level 21 or so). 5. Pure damage alone never causes chunking in IWD2. 6. Aside from half-dragon form, there is no way for the player to gain immunity to stun. Stun bypasses everything. This means the Ice Lance spells at the Horde Fortress are potentially game-enders for any party. 7. Elemental damage strikes separately from physical damage, and can remove additional Mirror Images. 8. In Tactics, the Kegsplitter of Shaengarne Ford and the Goblinsbane dagger no longer cause automatic kills on constructs and goblinoids; they just deal extra damage. 9. Ashra can dual-wield a bow and a dagger with only one hand. 10. Dead cats are everywhere.
By the way, we went back and tried out the Cera Sumat quest. It wasn't very interesting. Frisk encased both Kaervas Death's-Head and Inhein-Who-Was-Taken (awesome, awesome name) in a Resilient Sphere to decrease enemy pressure, but basically all we did is whomp the enemy with the Golden Heart of Frisk and Chara's elemental sword, and cast Heal and Mass Heal a few times.
We could have nabbed it before Isair and Madae, but it didn't matter: my mods make Cera Sumat a two-handed sword, and Asriel really needs a shield AC bonus to stay safe.
A new game with two Selunites, Seluna and Starlight. Seluna is an elven barbarian, Starlight a human Silverstar of Selune. 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] ~DRIZZTSAGA/DRIZZTSAGA.TP2~ #0 #0 // The Drizzt Saga for BGEE/Tutu/BGT -> Default version: areas connected by travel triggers: v3.00 ~DRIZZTSAGA/DRIZZTSAGA.TP2~ #0 #2 // Raise the XP cap: v3.00 ~DRIZZTSAGA/DRIZZTSAGA.TP2~ #0 #3 // Delayed start: Drizzt joins after Durlag's Tower: v3.00 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Slime Quest: v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #1 // Beregost Family Quest: v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #2 // Installing the Babysitting Quest, including the Carnival Encounter...: v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #3 // Nashkel Monster Quest: v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #4 // Fallen Paladin Quest: v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #5 // Undying Love Quest: v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #6 // Orcish Lover Encounter: v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #7 // Unexpected Help Quest: v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #8 // "Many Little Paws": v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #9 // Drunk near Beregost Temple: v12 ~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #10 // A Warm Place for Noober: v12 ~SETUP-BGEEAR.TP2~ #0 #0 // TeamBG's Armors for BG:EE, BGT and TuTu Version 1.05 ~SETUP-BGEEW.TP2~ #0 #0 // TeamBG's Weapons Pack for BG:EE, BGT and TuTu Version 1.04 ~SIRINESCALL/SETUP-SIRINESCALL.TP2~ #0 #0 // The Lure of the Sirine's Call: v13 ~SETUP-DARKHORIZONSBGEE.TP2~ #0 #0 // "Dark Horizons" Mod for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition: BG:EE v213 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Amount of -ahem- details and BG-style vs. description text!: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #1 // Bardolan's Briefing, by berelinde: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #2 // Scar's Spare Time, by jastey: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #3 // Kim's Preoccupation, by jastey (WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #4 // Extension of Bjornin Encounter (Personal Wound Treatment), by jastey: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #5 // No Starch in the Maypole: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #6 // Duke Eltan's Spare Minute, by jastey: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #7 // Husam's Personal Preparation, by jastey: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #8 // Laurel's Post-Hunting, by jastey: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #9 // Bartus' Seduction, by jastey: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #10 // Lina's Massage, by jastey: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #11 // First Night with Quentin, by Kulyok: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #12 // Chatting Niklos Up, by Kulyok (mature content. WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #13 // Slythe and Krystin, by Kulyok (mature content. WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #14 // No Regrets: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #15 // Purchased Love, by Thimblerig: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #16 // Hull: Heavy Duty, by Lava: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #17 // Late Night with Jaheira, by Kulyok: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #18 // Sil's Blessing, by Lava: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #19 // Melicamp: The Poultry Boy, by Lava: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #20 // Reading with Rinnie, by Western Paladin: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #21 // Molly the Husband-Grabber, by Kulyok: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #22 // The Mourning of Centeol, the Spider Lady, by Lava: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #23 // The Essential End, by Lava: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #24 // The Harvestmen Lair, by Lava (mature content): v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #25 // The Great Zudini, by Kulyok (mature content): v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #26 // The Messenger, by Thimblerig: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #27 // Ender Sai, the Hero's Reward, by Thimblerig (WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #28 // The Novelists, by Thimblerig: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #29 // The Honest Lies of Two Riversides, By Lava: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #30 // Necromancer's Trouble, by jastey (WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #31 // Dinner with Thalantyr, by jastey: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #32 // Girdle of Gender Reactions, by Thimblerig, Kulyok, Domi, Lava, Lastknightleft, Twani, Jastey, Daisy Ninja Girl: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #33 // The Surgeon's Dream, by Kulyok: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #34 // All That Left Was, by Lava and Thimblerig: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #35 // A Childhood Friend, by Kulyok: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #36 // Arlene the Working Girl, by Kulyok: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #37 // Della May from Thay, by Kulyok: v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #38 // A Dirty Guard in Candlekeep, by Kulyok (mature content. WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #39 // Phoenix Flame, by Kulyok (mature content): v1.3 ~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #40 // Mikala the Monk, by Twani: v1.3 ~FINCHNPC/FINCHNPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // Finch NPC: v4.0 BETA 7 ~INDINPC/SETUP-INDINPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // Indira NPC: v12.0 BETA 3 ~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #0 // Gavin NPC for Tutu, BGT, and BG:EE: v9 ~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #1 // Gavin: Romance (mature content): v9 ~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #2 // Gavin: Flirts (adult content): v9 ~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #12 // Gavin: Alternate Portraits -> Dragon Age style portrait by berelinde: v9 ~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #13 // Gavin: Player Initiated Dialogue: v9 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project: Required Modifications: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #1 // The BG1 NPC Project: Banters, Quests, and Interjections: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #9 // The BG1 NPC Project: Ajantis Romance Core (teen content): v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #10 // The BG1 NPC Project: Branwen's Romance Core (teen content): v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #11 // The BG1 NPC Project: Coran's Romance Core (adult content): v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #12 // The BG1 NPC Project: Dynaheir's Romance Core (teen content): v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #13 // The BG1 NPC Project: Shar-Teel Relationship Core (adult content): v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #14 // The BG1 NPC Project: Xan's Romance Core (teen content): v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #15 // The BG1 NPC Project: Female Romance Challenges, Ajantis vs Xan vs Coran: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #16 // The BG1 NPC Project: NPCs can be sent to wait in an inn: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #18 // The BG1 NPC Project: Alora's Starting Location -> Alora Starts in Gullykin: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #20 // The BG1 NPC Project: Eldoth's Starting Location -> Eldoth Starts on the Coast Way: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #22 // The BG1 NPC Project: Quayle's Starting Location -> Quayle Starts at the Nashkel Carnival: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #24 // The BG1 NPC Project: Tiax's Starting Location -> Tiax Starts in Beregost: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #26 // BGEE Banter Timing Tweak: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #30 // The BG1 NPC Project: Cloakwood areas availability in Chapter One -> Open four Cloakwood areas (everything but the Mines): v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #32 // The BG1 NPC Project: Sarevok's Diary Adjustments -> Sarevok's Diary Date Changes only: v22_20150614 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #200 // The BG1 NPC Project: Player-Initiated Dialogues: v22_20150614 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #0 // Ice Island Level Two Restoration: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #1 // The Mysterious Vial: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #10 // Place Entar Silvershield in His Home: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #11 // Scar and the Sashenstar's Daughter: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #12 // Quoningar, the Cleric: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #13 // Shilo Chen and the Ogre-Magi: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #14 // Edie, the Merchant League Applicant: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #16 // Creature Corrections: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #17 // Creature Restorations: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #18 // Creature Name Restorations: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #19 // Minor Dialogue Restorations: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #21 // Store, Tavern and Inn Fixes and Restorations: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #22 // Item Corrections and Restorations: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #28 // Prism and the Emeralds Tweak: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #29 // Duke Eltan in the Harbor Master's Building: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #30 // Nim Furlwing Encounter: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #32 // Svlast, the Fallen Paladin Encounter: v14.0 ~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #33 // Mal-Kalen, the Ulcaster Ghost: v14.0 ~SOA/SETUP-SOA.TP2~ #0 #0 // The Stone of Askavar for TotSC/Tutu/BGT/BGEE -> Default version: areas connected by travel triggers: 1.9 ~KARATUR/SETUP-KARATUR.TP2~ #0 #0 // T'Was a Slow Boat from Kara-Tur ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #1 // Thief kit revisions: v4.80 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #3 // Proper racial adjustments for thieving skills: v4.80 ~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #7 // Additional equipment for Thieves and Bards: v4.80 ~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #102 // Choose a class for Imoen -> Make Imoen a multiclass mage/thief: v2.5 ~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #141 // Choose a class for Khalid -> Make Khalid a ranger/cleric: v2.5 ~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #161 // Choose a class for Minsc -> Make Minsc a fighter: v2.5 ~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #242 // Choose a class for Branwen -> Make Branwen a multiclass fighter/cleric: v2.5 ~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #321 // Choose a class for Montaron -> Make Montaron a thief: v2.5 ~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #483 // Choose a class for Xan -> Make Xan a fighter/mage: v2.5 ~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #583 // Choose a class for Viconia -> Make Viconia a cleric/thief: v2.5 ~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #2000 // NPC kit choices: v2.5 ~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #3000 // multiclass kit choice: v2.5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1080 // Add Bags of Holding: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1090 // Exotic Item Pack: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1100 // Reveal City Maps When Entering Area: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1120 // Stores Sell Higher Stacks of Items: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2060 // Weapon Styles for All: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // Change Experience Point Cap -> Remove Experience Cap: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2151 // Wear Multiple Protection Items -> No Restrictions: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2200 // Multi-Class Grandmastery (Weimer): Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2210 // Change Grandmastery Bonuses -> True Grandmastery (Baldurdash): Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2350 // Alter Multiclass Restrictions -> Allow humans to multiclass: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2360 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Single Classes: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2372 // Alter Dual-class Restrictions -> Install both of the above options: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2380 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Kits: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2999 // Max HP at Level One: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Higher HP on Level Up -> Maximum: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Maximum HP for NPCs (the bigg) -> For All Creatures in Game: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3031 // Easy Spell Learning -> 100% Learn Spells and No Maximum Cap: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Make Bags of Holding Bottomless: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3080 // Increase Ammo Stack Size -> Unlimited Ammo Stacking: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3090 // Increase Gem and Jewelry Stacking -> Unlimited Gem and Jewelry Stacking: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3100 // Increase Potion Stacking -> Unlimited Potion Stacking: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Increase Scroll Stacking -> Unlimited Scroll Stacking: Beta 5 ~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 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3190 // Rest Anywhere (Japheth): Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3205 // Stores Purchase All Item Types: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3230 // Taerom Makes Additional Ankheg Armor (Icendoan/grogerson): Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4031 // Consistent Stats: Edwin -> Use BG2 Values: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4041 // Consistent Stats: Jaheira -> Use BG2 Values: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4061 // Consistent Stats: Minsc -> Use BG2 Values: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4071 // Consistent Stats: Viconia -> Use BG2 Values: Beta 5 ~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4090 // Make Montaron an Assassin (Andyr): Beta 5 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #10 // Install new spells -> Overwrite spells from other mods: v8 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #100 // Cleric Remix: v8 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #103 // Install Silverstar of Selune Cleric Kit: v8 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #109 // Install Battleguard of Tempus Cleric Kit: v8 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #121 // Install Lorekeeper of Oghma Cleric Kit: v8 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #124 // Install Heartwarder of Sune Cleric Kit: v8 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #127 // Install Feywarden of Corellon Cleric Kit: v8 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #130 // Install Strifeleader of Cyric Cleric Kit: v8 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #600 // Install Battleguard of Tempus Kit for Branwen: v8 // Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #1000 // Implement sphere system: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #50 // Remove Cleric Kits -> Remove Only Mod Kits: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #52 // Remove Druid Kits -> Remove Only Mod Kits: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #56 // Remove Ranger Kits -> Remove Only Mod Kits: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #100 // Cleric Remix: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #103 // Install Silverstar of Selune Cleric Kit: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #109 // Install Battleguard of Tempus Cleric Kit: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #121 // Install Lorekeeper of Oghma Cleric Kit: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #124 // Install Heartwarder of Sune Cleric Kit: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #127 // Install Feywarden of Corellon Cleric Kit: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #130 // Install Strifeleader of Cyric Cleric Kit: v8 ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #600 // Install Battleguard of Tempus Kit for Branwen: v8
In addition the assassins in Candlekeep were equipped with better weapons and Imoen has been made into a thief/conjurer half-elf. My characters are both Chaotic Neutral, the only stable thing in their lives being their friendship due to them both being followers of Selune. I could hardly have had a better throw for Seluna, though more Charisma would have been useful, but Starlight would have had much better stats if I had moved some of them around. As a cleric those in intelligence would have been more useful in wisdom for instance.
Diary of Seluna Three times we were attacked by assassins in Candlekeep, the third time by Mendas, a very well equipped assassin who wounded me badly before Starlight's command disabled him.
However, his equipment was unusable by us being designed specifically for thieves. We did however recover my Moonblade which he must have filched from my quarters. My rage ability enabled me to acquire a valuable gem which we later sold for 1000 gold pieces. It also enabled me to open another chest, but we were caught and I had to pay 1 gold piece in reparation. A third chest had a useful potion plus some gold and the fourth a pearl and a cheapish necklace. I was again caught, but the guard decided to use his position to slake his unusual proclivities. I quite liked it myself, but someone else in the same position might not be so lucky! After the horific death of my mentor Gorion, we arranged for his burial and returned to the scene where their were a few items of modest value. We then headed southwards killing gnolls and eventually a wolf that was trying to catch a chicken called Mellicamp. The wolf hurt Starlight so as soon as we could we rested. We have been asked to find a skull to help Mellicamp but couldn't find one. We tried further west whereupon we stumbled across Shoal. We ended killing both her and Droth. Starlight was badly injured and took a healing potion. Afterwards I went up to level 2 and Starlight to level 3.
A short distance to the south we were attacked by three sirene. I used my rage ability which meant that they couldn't charm stun or confuse me. However they could and did use feeblemind. Starlight had immediately cast command with the result that one of the sirene was killed before I was disabled. She then slowly but surely wounded them until eventually they died.
Silverstar thus reached level 4 and used a spell to restore my lost health.
We then headed south clearing the road to Nashkel. In Nashkel I eased Bardolan's tension. To the south of Nashkel a dwarven assassin was killed and then a wand of frost and a ring of fire protection were found. We then headed north where ankhegs were killed, a priestess was helped and Joia's ring was found and returned. Some items that were found in a spiders' nest were returned to their owner in the Friendly Arms Inn. We then returned to the High Hedge and were at last able to help Mellicamp. I went ALONE with Melicamp for a "picnic" where we kissed "etcetera" It was MOST pleasant.
We them jpoined up with Xzar and montaron, Khaled and Jahiera and went with them to Nashkel. If they want to fight with demons, that's up to them, but we are not powerful enough yet. We went "shopping" with Montaron. he "acquired" Algernon's cloak, several scrolls, a decent hammer, a ring of freedom of action and several potions.
WE then dropped him off before he tried pickpocketting someone with a bit more awareness of what was going on.
We picked up Imoen and she is now quite a powerful mage, but she will need a lot more experience before she regains her thieving abilities.
The party came across the party of Peter, Linden et al and prevailed. They also came across a bug. They had a ring that protects against all poison and it doesn't.
Clearly there has been a change made to the medusae that hasn't been picked up by a mod.
I tried 17 times to finish BG1 in Legacy of Bhaal mode with a solo sorcerer a few months ago, but never made satisfactory progress - though I did enough to be confident that the challenge is not too difficult in principle.
An 18th attempt didn't last long when Freya tried resting before travelling to Shoal's area and I failed to react fast enough when a skeleton appeared and threw a dagger. A 19th did even worse when Freya ran into a skeleton archer ambush on her first area transition. A 20th did rather better, before ending in the basilisk area. I was aware there that the 6 hour duration for the green scroll would be ending soon, but tried to get a final bit of use out of it by blinding another basilisk for disposal - unfortunately the scroll ran out just as Freya was launching her spell (and the basilisk was gazing).
Reaching my majority with a 21st attempt I'm looking forward to a good run. So far: - the Candlekeep quests were done (except the rats). - Imoen, Xzar and Montaron were blinded and killed (I'm not allowing recruiting NPCs). That didn't take long as NPCs don't get the huge HP boosts given in LoB. - Freya survived the area transition to get to Shoal's area and blind did its normal work there to get her to level 3.
- to minimise the amount of area transitions required until she's got invisibility, Freya looked for further experience in the same area. She successfully drew away and blinded an ogrillon and an ogre before having to run away from an ambushing dire wolf when trying to rest. - at High Hedge she killed a couple of gnolls and purchased the potion case before trying to rest and having to run from an ambushing skeleton. - in Beregost, Marl and Firebead provided some easy XP before Freya nipped into Landrin's house - and nipped out again smartish before the spiders could block her in.
Blindness and zero time area transitions to the temple area allowed the group of spiders to be broken up for disposal. Silke doesn't go hostile from failed blindness attempts, so she was another easy victim. Another couple of hundred darts saw the back of the blinded Karlat getting Freya into touching range of level 4. The latest patch introduces a travel time to the area to the south (and I wasn't sure if the possibility of ambushes had also been introduced), so she went back to the temple area to kill a few hobgoblins.
Now at level 4 and with access to invisibility she's past the stage where bad luck can kill her, though bad judgement will be a danger for a long time to come
With invisible travel Freya helped out Mirianne and Zhurlong before continuing south to Nashkel. Selling the ankheg plate allowed her to buy the necklace of missiles before she picked up the wand of frost from the mine area as another possible alternative source of damage. Her major equipment upgrade though was Meilum's bracers - more than doubling the damage of her darts. Meilum saved 9 times against blindness (with an invisible rest in the middle), but eventually succumbed to the inevitable.
Heading north she sorted out the belt ogre on the way to the FAI, where the ring of wizardry there provided a very nice spell boost. Joia got her ring back before she was, surprisingly, successful with her first attempt to blind Tarnesh - the downside to that being that a guard got the XP for him.
Landrin was also glad to get his possessions back.
A bit further north and Freya used invisibility to loot the ankheg nest - picking up a wand of fire in the process.
Still in a gathering mood some more travelling netted her a ring of fire resistance before the big prize at the Valley of the Tombs. Potion of invisibility and freedom there were a nice to have (using invisibility and right-clicking to avoid having to even dodge the Revenant),
but the main objective was the wand of monster summoning that the ghasts failed to guard well enough.
Now with a good range of equipment Freya went to the basilisk area. Having (re)confirmed in a previous run the green scroll wouldn't last long enough to kill all the basilisks (at least without heavy use of items), this time Freya used her own PfP spells as an initial defense before blinding each basilisk prior to darting it. The large number of spell casts required there meant there was plenty of opportunity to make mistakes, but this time everything went smoothly. The frequency of gaze attacks by greater basilisks makes it almost impossible to cast blindness between them, so after Freya had got a level from a few lesser basilisks
she used her new web spell to blind the greater one.
After restocking with darts (most shops have limited supplies of those, but the carnival does not) Freya returned to kill the last of the basilisks - taking her up to level 6.
Mutamin's save vs spell was too good to be affected by web (or blind), but his save against death was not so good!
Next, Freya used web to blind Baerin
before invisibility allowed her to place herself precisely to shoot at him without the others interfering.
After resting she tried the same with the others. That disclosed that their AI has changed in the last update - such that once they had seen her they would chase her even if she was out of sight range when they escaped from the web. However, she managed to use invisibility to dodge several spells,
without having to resort to summoned monsters, and eventually the job was done.
Sorcerer L6, 34 HPs, 47 kills L1 - blindness, protection from petrification, identify, friends L2 - invisibility, web L3 - minor spell deflection
Looking good Grond0. I found the bug in my ring and rectified it. I was intending to leave Mutamin until I had Gavin in my party, (The temple gives 6 potions for fighting basilisks which I use at Durlag's Tower and against the medusae at Candlekeep)
However I misjudged things and was forced to kill him then.
On the plus side Imoen has her thief skills back so it was time for the mines.
The first set of Dark Horizons assassins were dealt with usin fireballs and necklace of missiles. To save charges we fought melee once they had panicked.
This took some time as they fled in opposite directions and by doing so we encountered several more kobold. However it means that we still have a number of charges for lower down. Sadly Silverstar couldn't use the Duragon's Plate Armour. I have no idea why not. I couldn't use it either, but being a barbarian, that was to be expected.
Descending to the depths, Mulahey was webbed which made him easy to deal with. Afterwards another moonblade bearer, the fighter/enchanter Xan joined the party.
While stocking up on darts again Freya decided to tackle Zordral at the Carnival. She nipped in and out of his tent to dodge all his spells - although the only important one to avoid was horror as she had minor spell deflection active. Zordral couldn't be blinded and I didn't fancy a long stint of running around, so 5 blasts from the wand of frost softened him up a bit before finishing with darts.
Looking to improve her reputation Freya took on some quests in the Cloud Peaks and picked up the charisma tome using invisibility. Further reputation upgrades included successfully saving Arabelle - a bit to my surprise blind prevented the xvarts from continuing to attack her.
Web and blindness continued to allow her to work through most enemies easily
as she pushed reputation up - with that nearing maximum she got to level 7 while helping out Ardrouine.
I decided to take on the sirines, on the assumption that I would have the chance to blind them while they dealt with a first use of the wand of monster summoning. Unfortunately, their improved invisibility somehow managed to outlast the 2 turn duration of the monsters - and I was too slow to react and avoid an arrow when the summons expired. I don't allow the use of antidotes and had not yet got around to buying a green protection from poison scroll, so death from the poison would come within seconds of being hit.
I decided the only chance was to use an invisibility potion and managed to get out of sight of the sirines just in time
- and luckily there was no ambush (though not that luckily as ambushes during rests on that map are pretty rare).
After resting to heal up, another lot of monsters left only one sirine from that group to be finished off by Freya.
For Sil's group another lot of monsters were summoned, but this time they were hasted as well and quickly beat down the opposition.
I decided to leave the golems alone though - just using minor spell deflection to defeat the traps while looting the pirate cave.
Despite mis-clicking on the conversation about Melicamp it wasn't long before reputation was up to 20 and Freya bought a couple of friends scrolls to allow some cheap purchases at Ulgoth's Beard and High Hedge.
Looking for some more quick XP she went to Durlag's Tower and used mainly magic missiles, with some top up wand of frost blasts, to kill a pair of battle horrors (using haste to make a mistake less likely when running them round - a single hit from a battle horror could easily be fatal).
Minor spell deflection then allowed her safe access past the trap to the roof where more basilisks were available - soon pushing her up to level 8.
The use of greater malison will now allow her disabling spells more chance of success.
Freya has just arrived at the Nashkel Mine ready to push on with the main quest next time.
Trio no reload (Gate70, Grond0, Corey_Russell attempt 3, session 9)
As usual, the session started with the amnesiac's trying to remember what they had planned.
Coretank was starting to find the smell of his backpack unbearable so the Planar Sphere was opened up with a liberal coating of Valygar. Coretank then suggested Trademeet was next, but the dissolving door gave everyone time to remember their plans in dribs and drabs. The ring of Gaxx! Requiring scrolls to protect against undead. Coretank used an Oil of Speed as Pins used Offensive Spin to move quickly between areas but Unyo was plodding along so no advantage was made...
Eventually Kangaxx the Demilich made an appearance before trying to chicken out of the eventual conclusion in panic. Pins was having none of it and managed to block the escape so Coretank could finish the job.
Trademeet sounded good to Unyo, right up until Coretank met Taquee who transformed him into Corestone before turning on Unyo. With no Ironskins active, the hasted djinn briefly looked like turning the tables but Pins was once more having none of it. By the time Unyo had cured some wounds, Pins was heading to the temple in search of a scroll to get Coretank back into action.
The trolls at the Druid Grove were encountered without any resting between combats, and provided little danger.
Kyland Lind and his druids benefited from the lack of sleep though. Pins was poisoned and running from insects when she became dominated by a nymph. On the positive side, the insects then ignored her.
Unyo had picked up a second lot of insects while Coretank went to investigate Pins' poison and realised he should leave her along for a while.
Unyo had a leisurely combat with Faldorn, casually summoning a pair of nymphs before using a variety of insects and finally switching to his greater lycanthrope form. Too late for tea though as a nymph killed Faldorn just as his form changed.
On to Windspear Hills, where much was done. Unyo was happily playing Darts with an Adamantite golem before suggesting Corerat should make an appearance. This allowed Pins to do some melee too. Bonus points if you can spot Corerat
As the two hour timer clanged, Pins was shown to have had a blinder of a session. She almost kept up with the previously dominant Coretank on the killboard. Unyo thought he'd done better than he originally feared too.
Ulraunt paced in his chambers, wearing a grim expression.
"Your arrival is a surprise, Perorate," he said. "I figured you'd be rotting in a dungeon by now, or dead."
Winski grinned. "I'm more resourceful than you might think."
"Indeed." Ulraunt looked thoughtful. "And you bring an interesting proposal. I've chafed for years at the thought that Candlekeep serves as a sanctuary for spawn of a dead god -- and a terrible god at that. Aglaia in particular is a horrid creature. Gorion should have thrown her to the wolves long ago."
"So let's let the wolves in to take care of your problem," Winski slurred.
"Very well," Ulraunt said. "I'll instruct the guards to allow your associates entry. May their daggers strike swift and deep."
Comments
Even with rage she lost all but one HP in one blow when fighting the ogre to the north of Beregost.
However I then accidentally discovered the way to use rage for I fled the area and lo and behold, she was completely healed on the way to the next area. If I had just run away in the same area she would have died when the rage wore off!
The extra speed of the barbarian clearly makes ranged weapons even more powerful and rage or going berserk have become more important when fighting sirene enemies due to their feeblemind abilities in EE.
After entering Imnesvale, Goibniu completed the various minor quests around the area before travelling to the temple ruins.
Donar, using stealth if neccessary, lured some shadows to their death, and the party entered the old temple. Fighting shadows, shadow fiends and skeleton warriors wasn't too difficult thanks to some summons and Anapas incredible damage against undead. The bone golem was lured back to the party and distracted by skeletons:
The party avoided the shadow dragon, buffed and attacked the Shade Lord. A quick Sunray by Anapa, and the battle was over:
Some easy experience and good equipment for the party.
Goibniu travelled to Trademeet and the druid grove next. After killing some trolls and spiders, some buffs were used to defeat various shadow druids. No screenshots here, nothing interesting happened anyway. Ihtafeer was killed quickly, and Cernd fought Faldorn:
Back in Trademeet, the party also killed Rejiek and gave the Mantle of Waukeen to the mayor.
Enuhal
Back to the Saablic Tan fight to finish off the remaining enemies. We still don't pre-buff for the fight, but we choose a different setup: this time, Asriel summons werewolf and buffs the party with Remove Fear instead of using Stoneskin, since we still have that Greater Feyr on the map. Asriel disables the enemy with Holy Word, Chara marches in to combat, and Asriel bails them out once more when they get hurt.
But we neglect to tackle the remaining mage, and Frisk gets petrified.
As a sorcerer, Frisk's Fortitude save isn't very strong, and a low roll doesn't help. Each class gets different saving throw growth:
Mages: high Will save, low Fortitude save, low Reflex save
Thieves: low Will, low Fortitude, high Reflex
Fighters: low Will, high Fortitude, low Reflex
Priests: high Will, high Fortitude, low Reflex
Monks: high Will, high Fortitude, high Reflex
Fortitude saves aren't very important in the early and midgame, at least in Tactics, when Chromatic Orbs, Hold Person, and Dispel Magic make Reflex and Will saves more important. But later on, when instant death effects start popping up, you need a good Fortitude save to survive enemy mages.
Asriel punishes the mage with Holy Word and Chara hacks them apart.
The rest of the fight is uneventful. Without mages, the enemy can't stand up to Chara.
Asriel takes out a Stone to Flesh scroll to bring back Frisk. Somehow, it fails.
Asriel tries Raise Dead and Resurrection instead, while Chara dances with a half-dragon who wandered off earlier.
We use another Stone to Flesh scroll, but it fails. We don't know why--that's not how it worked when Chara got petrified back in Dragons' Eye.
Out of curiosity, I trek back to Kuldahar to see if Nathaniel can bring Frisk back. No such luck.
Maybe a Resurrection scroll will work. Asriel tries to click Frisk's portrait but the cursor is greyed-out (I'd show a screenshot but my cursor doesn't show up on them). And when Asriel targets their body instead, it still doesn't work.
I don't know what's going on, but Frisk is unreachable. I have to import them back into the party. It costs us some XP, but whatever.
This fight yields some impressive loot, including one of the deadliest bastard swords in the game, and my mods only make it stronger.
Funny thing is, the Golden Heart of Frisk is still Asriel's best option. It might not hit quite as hard, but the defenses Asriel gains from undispellable Haste, Freedom of Movement, and an extra 25 HP are more important than increasing our damage output.
The final chapter has begun. We march to the Severed Hand, the Legion of the Chimera's headquarters. By now the game has given up all pretense of a diplomatic solution, and there is no dialog option to bluff our way in.
That second option doesn't even make sense. We're the ones who would utter the name, not her.
Loudly announcing our motives right in front of our enemies fills us with determination.
Fans of the original Icewind Dale remember the Severed Hand for its cool backstory, spooky atmosphere, and many repetitive fights.
In IWD2, a lot has changed. Slaves are hard at work all around the first level, a four-armed lobster demon guards the front door, and weird purplish goo is plastered across the walls. Isair and Madae have been screwing around with the mythal that covers the place--a foolish decision, considering the mythal was already a failed project that killed every single creature inside when it was first created.
We fill out some paperwork for Xavier Torsend for a delegate pass so we don't get mobbed later on. We also inform him that his employers use slave labor, which he had no idea was going on.
We head upstairs to begin the various interesting quests of the Severed Hand, a handful of which are mandatory for reaching the final battle. On the way, I stop by a half-dragon lady's room to steal Chimandrae's Slippers, which grant +5 to Dexterity.
Unfortunately, it seems Sanctuary won't let us escape her notice, and both Dracein and her pet Chimera Precious turn hostile. Turns out Dracein's AC is sky-high, and the fight draws the attention of one of the local mages.
Dracein hits very hard. Asriel once again needs to rescue Chara from their destruction.
Vese Nejj summons more and more critters to hassle us, but Chara closes in on him and wipes out his Mirror Images in short order.
We get a cool prize! There are a lot of incredible items in this place.
This staff in particular has always interested me. It's effectively a two-handed ranged weapon, like Big Death, but deals less damage on critical hits and counts as a melee weapon, meaning it will bypass Divine Shell (which blocks Big Death and all missile weapons) but will trigger Fire Shield backlashes. It would be very interesting in the hands of a backstabbing thief.
Further up the tower, we run into a Gelugon named Yxbudur'zmutkindu (pronounced "Big Mr. Taffy"). He's busy lording his status over his subordinates.
Sounds like the devils have a curious S&M thing going on. But before Frisk can ask any questions, Yxbudur'zmutkindu notices Asriel and compliments his Level of Violence. Unfortunately, Asriel doesn't have the class or Intelligence to get any special dialog options, which otherwise could have let us avoid a fight.
I only have one screenshot of the battle, which quickly sums up our strategy for minor skirmishes like this.
Only the really tough fights require more than Chara's brute strength--such as the fight in the barracks, which features a whole bunch of well-trained goons, including spellcasters. The enemy throws out a Symbol of Hopelessness spell, which could have easily been fatal were Chara not immune.
Symbol of Hopelessness benefits from no Spell Focus feat, but it does have a high level and therefore a high DC, and if it connects, the target either gets panicked or stunned for 10 rounds. Only Exaltation can cure and block the effect, so it's entirely possible to take down an entire party with just this one spell.
Worse, the enemy mage can cast Flesh to Stone, and although Frisk learned Protection from Petrification after the scare at Dragon's Eye, we don't have it active--at Frisk's level, it only lasts 33 rounds, and it wore off before this fight.
Luckily, we make our save in the end. While Chara hacks the enemies apart, Frisk re-buffs everyone with Protection from Petrification, just in case another Flesh to Stone spell pops up.
We weather the storm and the enemies fall apart quite literally.
To free the slaves, we need to destroy the demon guarding the entrance, and to do that, we need to destroy a cool orb thingy--which takes more than a few cracks with a hammer. A little research at the library and some incisive questioning lets us win the trust of one of the humongous clerics of Xvim, who points us in the right direction.
More detective work brings us to Cedrin Zil, who gladly admits to a murder and mocks us for not having the connections to prosecute him.
Law enforcement in IWD2 in general is pretty lax, so we just kill him instead.
On to Orrick's Tower! Because I don't remember where exactly I'm supposed to go next. We fail the puzzle required to enter the tower the first time around and get bombarded with Ice Lances, then create a pretty green star to progress.
Orrick knows Isair and Madae's meddling with the mythal is a bad idea, but is working with them nonetheless. Still, he has no qualms about helping us kill his employers.
I think it's possible to skip this part of the questline and still complete the game, but I'm sure it would make the final battle far more difficult than I'd like.
We also need to save Ormis Dohor, who has been transformed into a pink blob of flesh. He was the head of the Black Raven Monastery and will help you fight Isair and Madae if you give him the antidote to cure his condition--another important asset in the single most difficult fight in the game. We butcher his captors...
...but the guy with the antidote is Tyrannar Brutai Mar, a very tough enemy cleric. We need to collect some holy symbols of Iyachtu Xvim to reach him; there are many such items scattered around the Severed Hand that we need for several quests.
While we're hunting for quest items, Asriel finds yet another dead kitten.
We already have several dead cats stored in the Bag of Holding for reasons I don't fully understand. Collecting morbid souvenirs from our travels fills us with determination.
Well done, everybody.
More questy stuff! We chat with Bobby McBlobby, who tells us that the Legion of the Chimera was actually trying to make an alliance with the Black Raven Monastery. Turns out the Legion really sucks at diplomacy.
They thought he'd sympathize with their murderous rampages because he was half-drow. So racist!
To be fair to the Legion, we're not very good at diplomacy either. When the Severed Hand torturer says hello, Asriel can't think of anything to say besides a death threat.
And to be fair to Asriel, IWD2 has been actively encouraging a combative mindset, with so many dialogs automatically starting combat after a single line.
One of the enemies here has a major skin condition. Chara decides to help by slashing off his face.
We search the room for valuables and find ANOTHER FREAKING CAT
Why are these here? Why?
We keep on moving upstairs. One more fight before we tackle Tyrannar Brutai Mar. If you walk across the big face thing on the floor without a symbol of Xvim, you'll get zapped.
Notice that they left "the glowing eyes of Iyachtu Xvim" without full capitalization. Normally a critter's name would be all capitalized, but they wrote it this way so it looks right in the dialogue box. It's an interesting detail--a smart decision in a small place.
The fight itself isn't too interesting; just another skirmish best solved using brute force. We search the room for goodies and COME ON SERIOUSLY WHY
We have enough symbols of Xvim to use the teleporter in the center of the room. It's a very cool transition.
Finally, we confront Tyrannar Brutai Mar. As his name might suggest, he's not very nice.
He summons shadowy versions of Guthma Sherincal, and right off the bat we get surrounded by enemies. Knowing that Tyrannar has various immunities, I try trapping him in a Resilient Sphere, but he turns out to have a shockingly high Reflex save for a cleric.
Notice that Sherinval, a blue half-dragon, is actually taking damage from an electrical attack. That must be awfully embarrassing; blue dragons are supposed to be immune to electricity.
I go for a Holy Word, just in case. As I suspected, Tyrannar is immune.
Either he's immune to stun, or he's secretly good-aligned and is just pretending to be evil to fit in.
Anyway, we have a problem. The clerics here apparently use Brilliant Flails of Wounding, which dealing 2 damage per round for 10 rounds, without a save.
There's not really anywhere to run, but at least IWD2 offers concentration checks, so the bleeding effect has virtually zero chance of disrupting Frisk's spellcasting.
Tyrannar is very dangerous, but I'm sure attacking directly wouldn't bring him down fast--as a cleric, he's bound to have multiple Heal spells. I decide to tackle Sherry first.
Guthma doesn't seem to be doing anything, so we ignore him in favor of attacking Tyrannar.
Guthma finally tries to smash Frisk. When they fail to disable him, they turn invisible before they reach critical condition.
Tyrannar tries to heal himself, but he can't keep it up forever. Chara overpowers him.
Tooltips don't show up in my screenshots, but we've got some vivid names for these three NPCs--the blue-haired fat woman and the two folks to her left.
From left to right, they are Skinny Rottentooth, Jezabel Quice, and Grossey Foulair. They run away when the fight starts. This isn't a required battle, but I really want to make sure we enter the final battle at full strength.
We take the antidote from Tyrannar to Ormis Dohor, who returns to his normal form.
Next is the War Tower, or whatever it's called, which has three big fights on each level. All are trivial with Chara. All of them are also optional, though all of them seem okay for a fight.
All the monks here have Stunning Attack and will use it repeatedly. The save DC is half the monk level plus their Wisdom bonus, so it scales very well as the game goes by. Asriel, though, has stellar saves.
And Morvyn doesn't get many chances to stun Asriel.
We need to purify the tower of Xvim's influence, which means performing a special ritual... and fighting the avatar of the god Iyachtu Xvim himself. We finally gather the last ingredient for the ritual.
For the first time in ages, we're solving a problem by collecting items instead of killing people. Enjoying a brief lull of peace fills us with determination.
We begin the ritual. Iyachtu Xvim interrupts us... with an offer.
If you side with him, the whole party turns evil. It also saves you from having to tangle with the avatar of a god. But we say no--even if we wanted to, it's important to keep in mind the lessons we teach our impressionable half-dragon Chara.
Xvim's avatar, a discolored half-ogre, is very, very tough, and he summons a bunch of demons to aid him. We brought out our own summoned critters, but it seems that even a Frost Giant has difficulty getting past Xvim's damage reduction.
Chara is a lot stronger, but Xvim still takes less than half damage.
Sure enough, Xvim is immune to stun. And sure enough, he uses Improved Invisibility.
Xvim calls down a Flame Strike, but Asriel has 50 spell resistance thanks to Holy Aura and the Spell Resistance spell.
Some of our summons keep the demons behind us occupied so Asriel and Chara can concentrate on Xvim himself. We trade blows for several rounds. Asriel heals Chara when they get in trouble, and Frisk uses illusion magic to hold off the Cornugons when our summons begin to crumble.
Xvim casts an inferno over the battlefield, but even when it gets past Asriel's spell resistance, it still has to overcome Asriel's strong saves and 15- fire resistance from the Sunfire Talisman... and Chara has 100- resistance to all elements in Elemental Half-Dragon form.
Xvim casts more and more fire spells, but his magic falls flat. We keep chipping away.
When he gets low on health, he grows desperate, and summons a new kind of enemy to his side: a pair of Slayers.
Xvim lurches over to Frisk, who has 1 Strength for unknown reasons and cannot move. Improved Invisibility and Mirror Image cannot stop him. He slays Frisk in moments.
Finally, we crush Iyachtu Xvim's avatar. But the fight is not over. The twin Slayers remain.
And just as Asriel's Remove Fear buff runs out, he rolls a 1. Asriel is disabled, and Chara cannot fix him without losing her best shapeshift and dispelling all of Asriel's buffs at once.
Chara fights on without Asriel until Goat Bro recovers. Finally, we bring the battle to a close.
We purified the chamber! I forget exactly why this was necessary, but I think it's required to destroy the orb that keeps the demon guard alive--otherwise you can't free the slaves. We also get a humongous scimitar for our trouble.
The scimitar is actually little better than a normal Scimitar +5. The Fortitude save for the energy drain is a pitiful 14; the Will save for the dispel effect is 10. It might have some use for a prolonged battle in Heart of Fury mode, since there's always a 5% chance of a critical failure on a save, but it's not what you'd expect given you had to defeat the avatar of a god in order to get it.
We attack the orb that keeps the demon guard alive. I don't have any screenshots for that fight; it was too easy.
We finally head down to the ground floor to free the slaves. The demon guard summons three slaves of its own, who persist after its death. The slaves both have green circles, indicating they're friendly... but unfortunately, they decide to attack the human slaves around us. We rush to their defense, but we don't act fast enough to save one person.
A merchant appears upstairs, allowing us to recharge our Sanctuary Wand. At the end of the game with nearly 3 million gold, we need to buy every spare resource we can possibly find.
We need a key from Captain Pudu, who nails Asriel with the deadliest halberd in the game.
My mods upgrade some normal mode items to their Heart of Fury versions, which means its stun effect is a lot harder to resist. It only has a 25% chance of activating and lasts 3 seconds, but its DC is 49. For comparison, the highest spell DC you can ever, ever achieve is 38. Nobody makes that saving throw.
But Chara is immune to stun in half-dragon form. Pudu is helpless against them.
Asriel has taken 5 levels as a bard just for a little extra power. I was a little conflicted about this, since it's only possible because my mods remove class alignment restrictions, but I felt Asriel fit well with all three classes: cleric, paladin, and bard.
Unfortunately, Lingering Song doesn't seem to be working. I check Asriel's feats and discover the reason.
I accidentally clicked Lightning Reflexes instead of Lingering Song. I wasted 5 levels and gave Asriel a 20% experience penalty for nothing but a stronger Reflex save.
Before we can meet with Isair and Madae, we first have to interrupt an important meeting at the top of one of the towers--another brutal fight. We try to bluff our way past the guards, but our smell gives us away. We really should have taken a bath.
This fight has two Demon Knights with lots of immunities... but even they can't stand up to Chara's full power. The way forward is clear.
The end of the game is approaching. There is one optional battle we could do before Isair and Madae--that would be the Cera Sumat battle outside Kuldahar. But even though the reward is one of the best swords in the game, rivaled only by the Golden Heart of Frisk, it is not worth the risk. We focus on our true goal: the twin cambions leading the Legion of the Chimera.
Before Isair and Madae, there is only one fight left, and it's just up the stairs. Once we enter, there is no turning back. We have gathered all the XP we could find, and purchased and hoarded all the items we might possibly need. We cast every buff we have and ascend the stairs.
Every step crackles with power. We are filled with determination.
The group didn't have problems neither with Hamadryad (Woden tanked her magic, the rest of the party waited till she was out of her spells)...
... nor with cave wyverns (Woden and two spirit animals tanked them, the rest of the party attacked from range)
Now, the Drasus party. After Amarande the archdruid this battle is usually a watershed moment for me: if everyone can survive this battle, they have good chances of completing BG1.
First, spirit animals lured Drasus and Genthore farther from enemy mages.
Knowing that Drasus has very good saves, I chose Genthore to be paralysed by Xan's wand. Success!
After that Genthore was poisoned and dispatched. Woden, with all AC buffs, restrained Drasus from reaching someone else.
For some reason, enemy mages entered the fight not from its start. One of them (Kysus) casted Chaos - the whole group (except for Woden with his dwarven saves further improved in the Defensive stance) retreated, so only Nymph became confused.
Kysus came closer, so Mortuus immediately casted Detect Invisibility. Spirit animals attacked the mage in melee, in order to break through his protections faster.
Woden smashed Drasus with his hammer (thanks to 21 STR granted by a potion), and the spirit snake poisoned Kysus. Afterwards the snake flee in horror (thanks to the second mage, Rezdan), but poison already was in effect.
An ogre summoned by Xan and the spirit lion reached Rezdan, while our assassin poisoned the mage.
It didn't take long to kill the last mercenary.
Again, even with the latest nerf, the assassin's poison helped to win the fight. It also helped against another mage, Hareishan, after Xan had fried all other bandits with his Wand of Fire.
Overall, I can conclude that while Poison Weapon indeed has become less powerful on lower levels of BG1 with the 2.X patch, it continues to be one of the most effective options against enemy spellcasters. Sooner or later a thief hits an enemy mage, sooner or later the mage fails his saving throw, and then basically the battle is won, as wizards in BG1 don't have too many HPs no matter how buffed they are with the SCS. I think this ability is balanced now, after all the tweaks during the beta.
The party travelled to De'Arnise keep. Fightnig trolls is easy at this point, with Owain tanking and Helios using elemental arrows. Despite me not having prepared any spells, Glaicus was charmed (thanks to the Ring of Human Influence):
Luna summoned skeletons to help with the golems. I had also prepared magical blunt weapons for everyone, so clay golems shouldn't be too much of a problem. After killing all of the smaller golems, the iron golem was lured to the door and killed with MMM's and Tansheron's Bow.
Additional summons were used downstairs to defeat Tor'Gal.
The party travelled back to the city and started the Mae'Var questline. After stealing the necklace, Rayic's mephits were killed and Owain, protected with stoneskin and MI, lured the golems downstairs.
Rayic himself was killed by dodging some of his spells and using true sight and breach:
Two quests later, and it was time to kill Mae'Var. I delayed this quests because I was scared of backstabs, but didn't encounter any issues with them while fighting the various thieves. Mae'Var himself was quickly defeated:
The party also headed to Watcher's Keep, buying a new sword for Donar amongst other things. Goibniu decided to clear level 1 - some easy groups of monsters were defeated, and Helios disarmed all of the traps. For the statues, invisible stalkers and aerial servants were summoned, the party was buffed (the buffs I use haven't changed a lot since BG1, though cc and/or death ward on Goibniu are sometimes included for safety), and the first battle was started:
Aerial servants deal huge amounts of damage. The party mostly assisted with ranged weapons against the second group of statues:
Level 2 is way too hard for now, so the party once again travelled back to Athkatla. Time for the tougher stronghold quests.
Enuhal
One more fight before Isair and Madae. We have to deal with multiple half-dragons, plus a priest and a mage. On top of that, we start the battle already flanked.
I planned on using Tremor to knock out some folks early on, but it has a casting time of 9 and I'm not sure I trust Chara's defenses to hold for the first round. Instead I switch to a weaker half-dragon form, saving the elemental form for later. Frisk, our weakest party member, flees to the northeast. Mercifully, the enemies ignore them.
Clerics in IWD2 are really tough thanks to IWD2's Heal spells, which have a casting time of 1. But the priest is still the easiest enemy to tackle, so Chara rushes him.
Chara does acid damage because this is the black half-dragon form, the strongest before the elemental version.
By targeting the priest, we leave the enemy mage free to act. They get ready to thrash us.
Frisk prepares to cast Haste on Chara, who fails to disrupt the priest's Heal spell.
T'rsosl Malign, an enemy fighter, has a +5 sword that cuts right through Asriel's Stoneskin--in IWD2, +5 weapons ignore Stoneskin entirely. I have Asriel heal early, reducing the amount of HP that Asriel gets from the spell (it's often better to wait until your character is seriously hurt) but ensuring that the mage can't destroy him with Power Word: Stun.
If Asriel dies here, we won't be able to bring him back--no one else in our party can cast Raise Dead or Resurrection. His safety is more important than anyone else's.
Chara finally cuts down the priest and turns to T'rsosl Malign, who is proving far too dangerous to be left alone.
Nalakora, one of the enemy half-dragons, is also a big problem for us. She has 5 attacks per round, and judging by her fifth attack roll...
...she has a base attack bonus of 44. Asriel's AC is high, but not enough to compete with a half-dragon's attack bonus.
Frisk is keeping one of the other half-dragons occupied. The half-dragon hits every time, but Frisk knows how to stay safe.
Chara is losing HP but making strong progress. The enemy fighters are beginning to collapse.
I'm still concerned about that wizard--I don't know what they're really capable of. Frisk, who has been waiting for something to do, tries to pin them down, but the mage is immune.
Nalakora remains a higher priority, and Asriel and Chara strike in tandem. Nalakora is tough, but we hit harder.
The enemy mage tries to damage Chara, but even Mordenkainen's Sword's massive 3d6+4 base damage can't get past Chara's resistances. Static Charge terminates the half-dragon who was pestering Frisk.
Frisk, still trying to neutralize the enemy mage with the little power they possess, tries using the Wand of the Spider's Web, which we recharged earlier on. The mage fails its save, but appears immune regardless. Nalakora deploys Mirror Image to save herself.
Chara hits hard, Nalakora strikes back, Static Charge fails against the mage's Mirror Image, and then another Static Charge electrocutes the half-orc who was cowering in the corner.
To take advantage of their high damage resistance and poor AC, Chara has four backlash effects active: blindness from an amulet, Call Lightning and Bane from Nature's Fury, and poison from the Spiny Black Urchin. They don't trigger all the time, but since Mordenkainen's Sword strikes as a melee weapon and backlash effects in IWD2 don't have a range limit, the enemy mage has to deal with all of them.
The enemy deals some damage, but it's not enough. We tear them down one by one.
The next fight is going to be tough. Since we have a nearly endless supply of potions, I empty a few to get our HP back in good condition.
Then I realize we might be able to rest instead. Much better idea.
Notice my quick save. Saving the game before big fights makes me feel safer.
The final battle is next. We've been saving up a lot of resources for this fight. It's time to deploy them. I use everything, from Potions of Heroism to scrolls of Protection from Poison. I don't know if the next fight even has poison in it, but I want to be ready for anything.
No matter how much we buff the party, Dispel Magic always has a 5% chance of dispelling everything we have. But there's nothing we can do--we don't have Spell Immunity to block Dispel Magic; the SI effect doesn't even exist in IWD2's engine.
There are no more diversions. No more distractions. Only Isair and Madae, and the last battle of Icewind Dale 2.
It's the end. We are filled with determination.
The next fight has a very special meaning for us.
Both Asriel and the cambion twins, Isair and Madae were attacked by a group of villagers who thought Asriel and the cambions had murdered a human. Asriel was strong enough to destroy them all, but he did not do so--he left them in peace, and staggered home with Chara's body in his hands. Because Asriel did not defend himself, both he and Chara lost their lives, and failed in their mission to free their people.
Isair and Madae also had the power to kill the humans who attacked them. But where Asriel stayed his hand, the cambion twins fought back and slaughtered their attackers. And where Asriel died, the cambion twins--so far--have lived and succeeded.
A long time ago, Frisk showed Chara that Asriel did not make the wrong choice. That you didn't have to fight people, that you could make peace with them... and that it was better that way.
But Icewind Dale is a cold and unforgiving place. Sometimes--sometimes--we managed to spare lives and find diplomatic solutions. But over, and over, and over, we found that violence was the only solution--that the enemy could not be won over, and would not stop until we were dead. Often, we could not even try to spare our opponents. The option simply did not exist.
Here, in this new world, we have seen the old mantra proven true: it is "kill or be killed."
What kind of lesson are we supposed to draw from this? Before, Frisk helped so many people without hurting anybody. But now, the only reason we've gotten this far is because Chara was so incredibly good at hurting people. The enemy was merciless, and therefore could be shown no mercy. We defeated the enemy and became strong.
Asriel and Frisk felt the best way to live was to make friends. But Isair and Madae believe that there is only one way the half-breeds and outcastes of the world can ever be okay. They must kill their opponents. The enemy hates us, and therefore must be destroyed.
So who was right?
Chara knows that the perfect world does not exist. All we really have is this one. And in their mind, the only truth--the only reality--is not the way things should be, but the way things are.
We have not been pure. Not like we used to be. We have killed even when the game did not force us, because we wanted to gather enough strength to win this battle. We only spared a precious few people.
Isair and Madae have no such pretensions. They showed no mercy and have no regrets. They only sought one thing. Power.
It is time to test the strength of our convictions, in the only way that Icewind Dale 2 allows. It is time for Chara to see the truth.
We are filled with DETERMINATION.
We have come a long way.
Asriel has grown into a Paladin/Cleric/Bard, a level 24 tank with fast and powerful healing spells who has become nearly impervious to magic, and extremely difficult to harm.
Notable items include the Golden Heart of Frisk, the Rabbit's Foot (+1 luck), the Horrific Black Hands of Shelgoth (undispellable Death Ward), Chain of Drakkas' Fury (+3 to hit, +1 to APR), and the Indomitable Bands (+5 AC and 10/+2 damage reduction).
Chara is now a Druid/Monk/Fighter, with devastating spells, monstrous summoning powers, and the ability to turn into the most powerful creatures in Icewind Dale.
Notable items include the Darkstone Amulet (30% chance of blinding attackers), Dwarven Ogre (+6 Strength, Blur), Nature's Fury (20% chance casting Bane on attackers, 10% chance Call Lightning), Diamond Cutter (+2 Constitution and 5/- resistance to physical damage), and Bands of the Master (15/+3 damage reduction).
Frisk is a sorcerer, with modest support spells to help out the much higher-level Asriel and Chara.
Notable items include the High Master's Robe (+3 to Charisma), the Amulet of Natural Armor +4 (+4 to generic AC), the Cloak of Protection +2 (+2 to saves), the Black Goat Girdle (+2 to saves), and Bloody Wroth (double the benefits of Animal Rage: +8 to Strength and Constitution, +40% movement rate, +4 to saves). This does a lot to improved Frisk's poor saves, as an underleveled sorcerer otherwise is very vulnerable at this stage of the game.
Our party of three has 60 levels total (20 on average). A normal party of six would have 100 levels total (16-18 on average). Our small party size and Frisk's chunking weakened us badly. Chara's shapeshifting is our only true source of power.
We go down the stairs and a mage teleports us to Isair and Madae. The twins and their allies have come prepared. They are shrouded in magical protections.
Isair plays it coy...
...but Madae is quite direct about their goals.
We try to speak to them, but the cambions are not listening. There is no way to resolve this conflict peacefully. Isair and Madae made their decision long ago.
They were the ones who pushed this world to its limit.
Chara has many powerful spells, but they are slow to cast and our primary targets are virtually immune to magic. Chara can only use their most powerful half-dragon form once per day, but we cannot save it--we have to use it now. Because if we stumble in these first few rounds, we may never get back up.
This fight is brutal enough even in vanilla, to the point of being rather unfair. Tactics makes it far worse. Aside from the twins and all of their powers and all of their allies, we also have to fight two liches at the same time.
What is our plan? It's in that very same screenshot. See that orange glow over Madae, on the right?
Asriel has just hit Madae with a Protection from Magic scroll, dispelling all of her defenses and blocking all of her spells. Isair is also an extremely important target with his own deadly arsenal, but Madae chain-casts Blasphemy spells that could destroy Asriel and Frisk, if Madae has the Spell Penetration feat. We don't need to fight both; we just need to injure one of them.
We get to work on Madae, who still has impressive defenses even without her spells. This area is crawling with high-level spellcasters, shielded by veritable fortresses of magic.
We have a small library's worth of scrolls stored away. Frisk casts Executioner's Eyes, which grants a +4 bonus to hit rolls and critical hit rolls. In a game like IWD2, where no one is immune to critical hits, Executioner's Eyes grants a +20% flat increase in physical damage output for Asriel and Chara (or a +40% increase for any character using triple critical multiplier weapons like bows, axes, hammers, spears, or halberds).
We keep up the pace, ignoring the enemies around us...
...but then I panic when I see a lich casting a potentially game-ending spell.
I double-check our buffs. Among many, many other defenses, everyone in the party is immune to death magic. We're okay.
Notice that I even went to the trouble of casting Mind Blank via a scroll. I spared no expenses here; this battle is too high-pressure for Asriel to spend a round casting Dispel Magic or Exaltation.
Madae can't even heal herself when we attack. Only her resistances slow us down, and they aren't enough. Isair sees what's happening and interrupts.
The first phase of battle is over!
But we can't move on yet.
We're locked in. We can't proceed without killing all of Isair and Madae's allies still in the room. And that's a much taller order--we only have one scroll of Protection from Magic left, and it's too valuable to use it on these guys. We have to fight them normally.
We do see an encouraging sign. Holy Aura is keeping Frisk and Asriel's spell resistance at a comfortable 50. Disintegrate can't touch us.
But Holy Aura doesn't last long, and it may run out in less than 10 rounds. Chara rushes the nearest lich, using their elemental damage to erase its Mirror Images and their Blind-Fight feat to overcome its Improved Invisibility. The lich turns out to be quite resilient even without illusion magic.
But Chara is the deadliest critter in this room, and it takes a lot more than some light resistances to survive their attacks.
Ormir Dohor, the half-drow monk whom we cured of his blobbiness earlier on, has joined the fight and is making his presence felt. He chunks an invisible Demon Knight with his bare hands.
The next lich hurls spells at us, but with high spell resistance and nearly comprehensive immunities (Asriel is only vulnerable to stun and hopelessness), the lich does little to us before Chara hacks it apart.
Frisk takes a break from using Mordenkainen's Sword to summon a Boneguard. It's one of those times when you don't have a specific purpose for something, but have a spare round and want to make sure you have something before you need it.
We continue the march. The enemies only scratch us before Chara destroys them.
But as strong as Chara is, Frisk is underleveled and vulnerable, and not even Mind Blank can protect them from a critical failure on a save against a Xvimian monk's Stunning Blow.
Frisk loses all of their Mirror Image, but Asriel manages to cast Sanctuary on them... a half-second after the stun effect expires anyway. But we have bigger problems; an enemy mage, Buvai de'Naly (what is it with these apostrophes in IWD2 names?) is casting a level 9 summoning spell.
If we're lucky, it'll just be a Greater Feyr, whose spells will fail against our defenses. A Frost Giant could be dangerous, though, as it has the attack power to get past Asriel and Chara's defenses if we don't kill it fast.
Frisk restores their Mirror Images, and Buvai de'Naly finishes casting the spell. It's a Frost Giant... but it turns out that Frost Giants have rather pathetic Reflex saves.
Asriel and Chara focus on the cleric Zilvar T'orgh, because I forgot that I was more concerned about the mage Buvai de'Naly. Those apostrophes actually make the names easy to confuse.
See that lime green blob next to the Frost Giant's right hand, the blob with the little purplish lightning bolts coming out of it? That appears every time Chara hits somebody; the acid and electricity damage visuals blot out the fire and cold damage visuals.
Zilvar T'orgh retaliates, casting the nightmare spell Symbol of Hopelessness.
Chara is immune, but Asriel is not. I don't know if I remembered to have Asriel equip the Tome of Glorious Exaltation to block the hopelessness effect, but he escapes the effect either way (a 5% chance of a 10-round disabling effect could have proven fatal if Frisk couldn't protect him with invisibility).
Tilzen Ghaun, an enemy thief I didn't even know existed, appears as from nowhere to backstab Chara. Enemy backstabbers can use sneak attacks from any direction even when fully visible, and this one apparently is using both Crippling Strike and Arterial Strike.
There are so many enemies here that hide behind summons and have weird but non-vivid names, making it difficult to keep track of the situation. The fact that some are invisible does not help.
Frisk uses Mordenkainen's Force Missiles against the Cyclops, but even on a failed Reflex save, the damage is disappointing.
Asriel rolls a critical failure on an unimportant save, and Buvai de'Naly continues summoning monsters.
Notice that those two Cyclopses' circles overlap the Frost Giants, and that the "Casts Summon Monster VII" message is floating in the middle. It seems that they're all stuck in place due to a collision error, though I could not see that at the time.
Zilvar the cleric finally goes down.
I finally notice that Phaen Xyltin (maybe Phaen of the Rags' reincarnation; I don't know), who I've been seeing pop up in the dialog box, is an invisible mage up to the north. We run out and cut him down while Ormir Dohor and his fellow monks tackle Buvai de'Naly the mage's summons.
Notice the Greater Mummy joining the fight. Summon Monster VII is actually especially strong specifically because it can conjure Greater Mummies, who can cast Symbol of Hopelessness.
I notice Chara's haste has run out, so Frisk casts Improved Haste on the whole group using a spare scroll.
We target Tilzen Ghaun the thief first; I don't really know who is who or what they're capable of. I'm just trying to get through this without losing any important resources we may need for the next fight. As a thief, Tilzen Ghaun has no special defenses.
Buvai de'Naly is next. With everyone in the party and the Black Raven Monks attacking at the same time, Buvai's defenses cannot hold.
With Isair and Madae's allies dead, the door unlocks. We can now proceed to the final phase. Thanks to some questing earlier on, the cambions cannot draw strength from the pool.
Isair and Madae no longer have their defenses up, but Madae seems to be free of the effects of the scroll of Protection from Magic, which means she can cast spells once again. And they have new allies in the form of a pair of Slayers.
Frisk summons an Umber Hulk shadow because they have nothing else to do. A Slayer Knight of Xvim attacks Chara, whose damage resistances aren't enough to hold off a Greatsword of the Soulless +5.
The damage builds up. Asriel only has so many healing spells, but each one is incredible.
Chara ignores all the distractions. Their only target is Madae. Nothing else matters.
Finally, the battle ends.
The cambions are both in pain, but Chara is not the reason.
Isair and Madae went too far.
The mythal is finally breaking under the strain, and the Severed Hand begins to collapse. We rush to the exit as the tower crumbles. When the dust clears, all that remains is Orrick's tower, shielded from Isair and Madae's influence, floating quietly in the sky.
The war is finally over.
What does all of this show us? The war is over, but we did not win it like we did in the Underground, with love. Isair and Madae only fell when we defeated them through force of violence. So what's the answer? Does this world just belong to the strong? Is force the only solution, when the semblance of peace is stripped away?
We look back on our adventure, and out of the chaos, we see only one pattern.
The innocent are not always safe. Sometimes good people do get hurt when stronger people want to hurt them. A lot of it is, well, luck.
But there is one constant. There is one rule that doesn't seem to have any exceptions.
When the goblins attacked Targos, the goblins ended up dead.
When the Aurilites conducted human sacrifices, the Aurilites ended up dead.
When Limha turned the Wandering Villagers' children into minks to watch the villagers hunt them, Limha ended up dead.
When the Yuan-ti invaded Kuldahar, the Yuan-ti ended up dead.
When Cedra led a second invasion against Kuldahar, they too ended up dead.
When one person after another, from Aurilite Druid to Yuan-ti Sorceress, tried to kill our party, each and every one ended up dead. Every person, every monster, every opponent--all of them fell.
When those villagers tried to kill Isair and Madae so many years ago, they ended up dead.
And when Isair and Madae waged war against everyone who opposed them, they ended up dead. Just like all the others.
All of us died, too, at least once, after all the fights we've been in. Isair and Madae, and Asriel, Frisk, and Chara--we were the most powerful critters around, but it still wasn't enough to keep us truly safe. Whether it was self-defense, like with Saablic Tan, or whether we started the fight ourselves, like with Imphraili, people on all sides got killed. That's the only rule we've found.
People like Frisk don't always win. But they've got the right idea overall.
Those who choose peace do not always receive it.
But those who choose war never find peace.
The Party:
I may as well just get it out of the way. Chara was the backbone of the party ever since we got Verbeeg form on the way to Shaengarne Bridge. Their resistances and damage output made them our best tank for the rest of the game. IWD2 is very much a game of maximizing numbers, and Chara's shapeshifting gave us very big numbers with little maintenance.
Asriel was a vital support character, as Chara otherwise would not have been able to heal themselves when stronger enemies started landing critical hits. Asriel's buffs also shielded us from some nasty disablers. Soloing the game with Chara alone would have been possible, but Asriel made it much safer.
Frisk contributed very little overall. Their crowd control spells made little difference, as Chara and Asriel only needed to worry about the biggest foes, and Frisk was never truly decisive in the most dangerous fights.
Chara so dominated gameplay that it makes it difficult to gauge just how much Asriel and Frisk really did, or could have done.
Mods:
The druid buffs in the IWD2 Ease of Use mod make druids by far the strongest class in the game, at least in normal mode. Those shapeshifts make them almost as sturdy as monks, and give them much higher damage output than clerics or fighters. It's a good thing I re-read that post on Chara mentioning their love of gardening--otherwise, I would have made Chara a wizard. The shapeshifting did, however, prevent Chara from using a lot of good spells, and the main reason Chara was so important late in the game was because we had a small party and could reach druid level 21 before the final battle (a normal party of six would be level 18 at most by the end).
My other mods had more mixed effects. Overall, the introduction of Heart of Fury mode items made us stronger. But Asriel was the one who most benefited from them, as shapeshifting rendered armor and shield bonuses irrelevant and most weapons useless, and Frisk, as a sorcerer, had little use for weapons or armor. Also, the enemy often got to use those same weapons against us, notably resulting in multiple one-hit kills in Targos from Phaen and Caballus.
Tactics was just crushing. Enemies chose targets intelligently, flanked us left and right, and used the best spells in the game to brutal effect.
Critical Details by Area
Targos Palisade:
Caballus in Tactics uses Fireball and Chromatic Orb, which together can easily trash a normal party. Having many Mirror Images and damage reduction against missile attacks, plus a staff that could kill anyone in a single shot, only made the situation worse. We only survived by draining Caballus' spells using summons from Asriel and Chara, and the wolf charm from Guthewulfe.
Shaengarne Ford:
Vghotan's Band, with its Freedom of Movement effect, kept us safe from the Orc Shamans' Hold Person spells, which could have broken the party had we lost Asriel, the only one who could cast Remove Paralysis.
Shaengarne Bridge:
By level-squatting, Chara could reach Will o' Wisp form and take a level as a monk in time for the fight with Xuki. With high AC and 100 spell and elemental resistances, Chara's Will o' Wisp form single-handedly blocked all the western foes until we had dealt with Xuki and the ogres. Caballus' Whispering Staff allowed us to sneak past the enemies and set up Chara as our buffer; otherwise the enemy could have mobbed Frisk and Asriel.
The Horde Fortress:
Chara's shapeshifting was again instrumental. Aside from simplifying the first battles with Trugnuk and the half-goblins, it also allowed Chara to survive the area after Kruntur's place but before Guthma's. Multiple orc spellcasters hurled Ice Lances at our party, but Chara's spell resistance and immunities allowed them to survive where Asriel perished. Casting Fireball and using Oil of Fiery Burning potions helped hasten the fight before Chara grew too weak.
The Ice Temple:
Chara's Remorhaz form crushed everything, at least until the fight with the Talisman mercenaries. A bad Fortitude save against a Bolt of Stunning killed both Frisk and Chara, forcing Asriel to regroup, resurrect our sorcerer and druid, and return with summons to try again.
Cedra's Attack on Kuldahar:
We arrived with failing buffs and few spells, and had to dip into expendable items to survive the multiple waves of enemies. We relied heavily on our potion supply so we could use our stronger healing spells on Iselore, whose death (Tactics removes his invincibility) would mean the end of the game.
Zil-t'yor the Beholder:
With a Dispel Magic trap to remove our buffs and disrupt our spells, we had no guarantee of surviving the Beholder's instant death spells. Instead, we held back from the anti-magic zone, summoned monsters to distract him, and then layered damage-over-time spells over Zilly Billy, knowing that he would not try to leave the area of effect.
M'Darfein the Lich:
Marfy is normally a nightmare to deal with, but Chara's Elemental Half-Dragon form protected them from the lich's worst spells, and the multiple damage types cut through Marfy's Mirror Images much quicker than Asriel could have done alone.
Saablic Tan:
Arriving unbuffed was a big mistake. Chara died to Disintegrate early on, forcing Asriel to cast Sanctuary and recover their gear. When Frisk died to a Blasphemy spell and the enemy proved able to chase Asriel even while he was invisible, Asriel was forced to defeat Saablic Tan on his own, as resurrection was impossible. Asriel took down Saablic Tan's defenses by using one of our rare Protection from Magic scrolls on Saablic Tan, and killed the mage using Bolts +2 and Dragu's Hell Bolter, with a Sanctuary Wand to ward off the many remaining enemies who could easily have crushed Asriel and ended the run.
The Final Battle:
A second Protection from Magic scroll removed Madae's defenses and kept us safe from her Blasphemy spells. Chara's Elemental Half-Dragon form was more than enough to cut down Madae, who could no longer heal herself due to the spell failure effect of the Protection from Magic scroll.
Chunking:
Frisk's chunking by Imphraili was a huge setback. The drop in the party's average level helped Chara reach Elemental Half-Dragon form earlier, but I'm not actually sure if it was worth the trade. Getting chunked meant that Frisk would never have reached level 18, which would have gotten us Mass Dominate and/or Wail of the Banshee. Those two spells could have been extremely valuable in the late game.
In retrospect, we probably did not need to import Chara after they got chunked by Disintegrate in the fight with Saablic Tan. We ended the final battle with many strong resources still intact, including a spare Protection from Magic scroll (I think there are three in the game), various high-level scrolls, a nearly limitless supply of potions, and with most of Asriel's Heal spells still intact. Asriel could have invested his levels as a sorcerer and gained access to Mirror Image, greatly improving his durability for the final battle and allowing him to bring down Madae despite his weaker damage output.
But like many of these predictions that I make, they're only clear in hindsight. At the time, I couldn't imagine the party surviving if our strongest party member lost 2.3 million XP and over 20 levels, right before the endgame.
The Verdict
This was fun. I think I'm going to bring Frisk, Asriel, and Chara into future runs. And I don't think I'm done with IWD2 quite yet.
But by relying on Chara's shapeshifting so heavily--which I already knew was terribly powerful--I only learned a handful of new things about IWD2, considering how little I've played the game:
1. Petrification can only be reversed by targeting the character's body; not their portrait.
2. Finger of Death and Disintegrate both cause automatic chunking if they succeed.
3. Neither petrification nor disintegration can destroy a character's items.
4. Disintegrate bypasses Death Ward; the only defense against it is Antimagic Field or a Protection from Magic scroll (or a mod option that grants Heart of Fury Parties immunity at level 21 or so).
5. Pure damage alone never causes chunking in IWD2.
6. Aside from half-dragon form, there is no way for the player to gain immunity to stun. Stun bypasses everything. This means the Ice Lance spells at the Horde Fortress are potentially game-enders for any party.
7. Elemental damage strikes separately from physical damage, and can remove additional Mirror Images.
8. In Tactics, the Kegsplitter of Shaengarne Ford and the Goblinsbane dagger no longer cause automatic kills on constructs and goblinoids; they just deal extra damage.
9. Ashra can dual-wield a bow and a dagger with only one hand.
10. Dead cats are everywhere.
We could have nabbed it before Isair and Madae, but it didn't matter: my mods make Cera Sumat a two-handed sword, and Asriel really needs a shield AC bonus to stay safe.
Weidu log:
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~DRIZZTSAGA/DRIZZTSAGA.TP2~ #0 #0 // The Drizzt Saga for BGEE/Tutu/BGT -> Default version: areas connected by travel triggers: v3.00
~DRIZZTSAGA/DRIZZTSAGA.TP2~ #0 #2 // Raise the XP cap: v3.00
~DRIZZTSAGA/DRIZZTSAGA.TP2~ #0 #3 // Delayed start: Drizzt joins after Durlag's Tower: v3.00
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Slime Quest: v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #1 // Beregost Family Quest: v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #2 // Installing the Babysitting Quest, including the Carnival Encounter...: v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #3 // Nashkel Monster Quest: v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #4 // Fallen Paladin Quest: v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #5 // Undying Love Quest: v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #6 // Orcish Lover Encounter: v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #7 // Unexpected Help Quest: v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #8 // "Many Little Paws": v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #9 // Drunk near Beregost Temple: v12
~BGQE/SETUP-BGQE.TP2~ #0 #10 // A Warm Place for Noober: v12
~SETUP-BGEEAR.TP2~ #0 #0 // TeamBG's Armors for BG:EE, BGT and TuTu Version 1.05
~SETUP-BGEEW.TP2~ #0 #0 // TeamBG's Weapons Pack for BG:EE, BGT and TuTu Version 1.04
~SIRINESCALL/SETUP-SIRINESCALL.TP2~ #0 #0 // The Lure of the Sirine's Call: v13
~SETUP-DARKHORIZONSBGEE.TP2~ #0 #0 // "Dark Horizons" Mod for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition: BG:EE v213
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Amount of -ahem- details and BG-style vs. description text!: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #1 // Bardolan's Briefing, by berelinde: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #2 // Scar's Spare Time, by jastey: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #3 // Kim's Preoccupation, by jastey (WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #4 // Extension of Bjornin Encounter (Personal Wound Treatment), by jastey: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #5 // No Starch in the Maypole: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #6 // Duke Eltan's Spare Minute, by jastey: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #7 // Husam's Personal Preparation, by jastey: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #8 // Laurel's Post-Hunting, by jastey: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #9 // Bartus' Seduction, by jastey: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #10 // Lina's Massage, by jastey: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #11 // First Night with Quentin, by Kulyok: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #12 // Chatting Niklos Up, by Kulyok (mature content. WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #13 // Slythe and Krystin, by Kulyok (mature content. WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #14 // No Regrets: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #15 // Purchased Love, by Thimblerig: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #16 // Hull: Heavy Duty, by Lava: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #17 // Late Night with Jaheira, by Kulyok: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #18 // Sil's Blessing, by Lava: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #19 // Melicamp: The Poultry Boy, by Lava: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #20 // Reading with Rinnie, by Western Paladin: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #21 // Molly the Husband-Grabber, by Kulyok: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #22 // The Mourning of Centeol, the Spider Lady, by Lava: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #23 // The Essential End, by Lava: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #24 // The Harvestmen Lair, by Lava (mature content): v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #25 // The Great Zudini, by Kulyok (mature content): v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #26 // The Messenger, by Thimblerig: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #27 // Ender Sai, the Hero's Reward, by Thimblerig (WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #28 // The Novelists, by Thimblerig: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #29 // The Honest Lies of Two Riversides, By Lava: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #30 // Necromancer's Trouble, by jastey (WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #31 // Dinner with Thalantyr, by jastey: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #32 // Girdle of Gender Reactions, by Thimblerig, Kulyok, Domi, Lava, Lastknightleft, Twani, Jastey, Daisy Ninja Girl: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #33 // The Surgeon's Dream, by Kulyok: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #34 // All That Left Was, by Lava and Thimblerig: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #35 // A Childhood Friend, by Kulyok: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #36 // Arlene the Working Girl, by Kulyok: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #37 // Della May from Thay, by Kulyok: v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #38 // A Dirty Guard in Candlekeep, by Kulyok (mature content. WARNING - refer to the readme!): v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #39 // Phoenix Flame, by Kulyok (mature content): v1.3
~BG1RE/SETUP-BG1RE.TP2~ #0 #40 // Mikala the Monk, by Twani: v1.3
~FINCHNPC/FINCHNPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // Finch NPC: v4.0 BETA 7
~INDINPC/SETUP-INDINPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // Indira NPC: v12.0 BETA 3
~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #0 // Gavin NPC for Tutu, BGT, and BG:EE: v9
~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #1 // Gavin: Romance (mature content): v9
~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #2 // Gavin: Flirts (adult content): v9
~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #12 // Gavin: Alternate Portraits -> Dragon Age style portrait by berelinde: v9
~GAVIN/GAVIN.TP2~ #0 #13 // Gavin: Player Initiated Dialogue: v9
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project: Required Modifications: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #1 // The BG1 NPC Project: Banters, Quests, and Interjections: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #9 // The BG1 NPC Project: Ajantis Romance Core (teen content): v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #10 // The BG1 NPC Project: Branwen's Romance Core (teen content): v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #11 // The BG1 NPC Project: Coran's Romance Core (adult content): v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #12 // The BG1 NPC Project: Dynaheir's Romance Core (teen content): v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #13 // The BG1 NPC Project: Shar-Teel Relationship Core (adult content): v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #14 // The BG1 NPC Project: Xan's Romance Core (teen content): v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #15 // The BG1 NPC Project: Female Romance Challenges, Ajantis vs Xan vs Coran: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #16 // The BG1 NPC Project: NPCs can be sent to wait in an inn: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #18 // The BG1 NPC Project: Alora's Starting Location -> Alora Starts in Gullykin: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #20 // The BG1 NPC Project: Eldoth's Starting Location -> Eldoth Starts on the Coast Way: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #22 // The BG1 NPC Project: Quayle's Starting Location -> Quayle Starts at the Nashkel Carnival: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #24 // The BG1 NPC Project: Tiax's Starting Location -> Tiax Starts in Beregost: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #26 // BGEE Banter Timing Tweak: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #30 // The BG1 NPC Project: Cloakwood areas availability in Chapter One -> Open four Cloakwood areas (everything but the Mines): v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #32 // The BG1 NPC Project: Sarevok's Diary Adjustments -> Sarevok's Diary Date Changes only: v22_20150614
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #200 // The BG1 NPC Project: Player-Initiated Dialogues: v22_20150614
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #0 // Ice Island Level Two Restoration: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #1 // The Mysterious Vial: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #10 // Place Entar Silvershield in His Home: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #11 // Scar and the Sashenstar's Daughter: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #12 // Quoningar, the Cleric: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #13 // Shilo Chen and the Ogre-Magi: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #14 // Edie, the Merchant League Applicant: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #16 // Creature Corrections: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #17 // Creature Restorations: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #18 // Creature Name Restorations: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #19 // Minor Dialogue Restorations: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #21 // Store, Tavern and Inn Fixes and Restorations: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #22 // Item Corrections and Restorations: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #28 // Prism and the Emeralds Tweak: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #29 // Duke Eltan in the Harbor Master's Building: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #30 // Nim Furlwing Encounter: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #32 // Svlast, the Fallen Paladin Encounter: v14.0
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #33 // Mal-Kalen, the Ulcaster Ghost: v14.0
~SOA/SETUP-SOA.TP2~ #0 #0 // The Stone of Askavar for TotSC/Tutu/BGT/BGEE -> Default version: areas connected by travel triggers: 1.9
~KARATUR/SETUP-KARATUR.TP2~ #0 #0 // T'Was a Slow Boat from Kara-Tur
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #1 // Thief kit revisions: v4.80
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #3 // Proper racial adjustments for thieving skills: v4.80
~RR/SETUP-RR.TP2~ #0 #7 // Additional equipment for Thieves and Bards: v4.80
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #102 // Choose a class for Imoen -> Make Imoen a multiclass mage/thief: v2.5
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #141 // Choose a class for Khalid -> Make Khalid a ranger/cleric: v2.5
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #161 // Choose a class for Minsc -> Make Minsc a fighter: v2.5
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #242 // Choose a class for Branwen -> Make Branwen a multiclass fighter/cleric: v2.5
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #321 // Choose a class for Montaron -> Make Montaron a thief: v2.5
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #483 // Choose a class for Xan -> Make Xan a fighter/mage: v2.5
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #583 // Choose a class for Viconia -> Make Viconia a cleric/thief: v2.5
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #2000 // NPC kit choices: v2.5
~NPC_EE/NPC_EE.TP2~ #0 #3000 // multiclass kit choice: v2.5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1080 // Add Bags of Holding: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1090 // Exotic Item Pack: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1100 // Reveal City Maps When Entering Area: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1120 // Stores Sell Higher Stacks of Items: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2060 // Weapon Styles for All: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // Change Experience Point Cap -> Remove Experience Cap: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2151 // Wear Multiple Protection Items -> No Restrictions: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2200 // Multi-Class Grandmastery (Weimer): Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2210 // Change Grandmastery Bonuses -> True Grandmastery (Baldurdash): Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2350 // Alter Multiclass Restrictions -> Allow humans to multiclass: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2360 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Single Classes: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2372 // Alter Dual-class Restrictions -> Install both of the above options: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2380 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Kits: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2999 // Max HP at Level One: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Higher HP on Level Up -> Maximum: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Maximum HP for NPCs (the bigg) -> For All Creatures in Game: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3031 // Easy Spell Learning -> 100% Learn Spells and No Maximum Cap: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Make Bags of Holding Bottomless: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3080 // Increase Ammo Stack Size -> Unlimited Ammo Stacking: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3090 // Increase Gem and Jewelry Stacking -> Unlimited Gem and Jewelry Stacking: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3100 // Increase Potion Stacking -> Unlimited Potion Stacking: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Increase Scroll Stacking -> Unlimited Scroll Stacking: Beta 5
~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 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3190 // Rest Anywhere (Japheth): Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3205 // Stores Purchase All Item Types: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3230 // Taerom Makes Additional Ankheg Armor (Icendoan/grogerson): Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4031 // Consistent Stats: Edwin -> Use BG2 Values: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4041 // Consistent Stats: Jaheira -> Use BG2 Values: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4061 // Consistent Stats: Minsc -> Use BG2 Values: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4071 // Consistent Stats: Viconia -> Use BG2 Values: Beta 5
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4090 // Make Montaron an Assassin (Andyr): Beta 5
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #10 // Install new spells -> Overwrite spells from other mods: v8
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #100 // Cleric Remix: v8
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #103 // Install Silverstar of Selune Cleric Kit: v8
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #109 // Install Battleguard of Tempus Cleric Kit: v8
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #121 // Install Lorekeeper of Oghma Cleric Kit: v8
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #124 // Install Heartwarder of Sune Cleric Kit: v8
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #127 // Install Feywarden of Corellon Cleric Kit: v8
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #130 // Install Strifeleader of Cyric Cleric Kit: v8
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #600 // Install Battleguard of Tempus Kit for Branwen: v8
// Recently Uninstalled: ~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #1000 // Implement sphere system: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #50 // Remove Cleric Kits -> Remove Only Mod Kits: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #52 // Remove Druid Kits -> Remove Only Mod Kits: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #56 // Remove Ranger Kits -> Remove Only Mod Kits: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #100 // Cleric Remix: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #103 // Install Silverstar of Selune Cleric Kit: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #109 // Install Battleguard of Tempus Cleric Kit: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #121 // Install Lorekeeper of Oghma Cleric Kit: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #124 // Install Heartwarder of Sune Cleric Kit: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #127 // Install Feywarden of Corellon Cleric Kit: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #130 // Install Strifeleader of Cyric Cleric Kit: v8
~DIVINE_REMIX/SETUP-DIVINE_REMIX.TP2~ #0 #600 // Install Battleguard of Tempus Kit for Branwen: v8
In addition the assassins in Candlekeep were equipped with better weapons and Imoen has been made into a thief/conjurer half-elf.
My characters are both Chaotic Neutral, the only stable thing in their lives being their friendship due to them both being followers of Selune.
I could hardly have had a better throw for Seluna, though more Charisma would have been useful, but Starlight would have had much better stats if I had moved some of them around. As a cleric those in intelligence would have been more useful in wisdom for instance.
Diary of Seluna
Three times we were attacked by assassins in Candlekeep, the third time by Mendas, a very well equipped assassin who wounded me badly before Starlight's command disabled him.
However, his equipment was unusable by us being designed specifically for thieves.
We did however recover my Moonblade which he must have filched from my quarters.
My rage ability enabled me to acquire a valuable gem which we later sold for 1000 gold pieces.
It also enabled me to open another chest, but we were caught and I had to pay 1 gold piece in reparation.
A third chest had a useful potion plus some gold and the fourth a pearl and a cheapish necklace. I was again caught, but the guard decided to use his position to slake his unusual proclivities. I quite liked it myself, but someone else in the same position might not be so lucky!
After the horific death of my mentor Gorion, we arranged for his burial and returned to the scene where their were a few items of modest value. We then headed southwards killing gnolls and eventually a wolf that was trying to catch a chicken called Mellicamp. The wolf hurt Starlight so as soon as we could we rested. We have been asked to find a skull to help Mellicamp but couldn't find one. We tried further west whereupon we stumbled across Shoal. We ended killing both her and Droth. Starlight was badly injured and took a healing potion. Afterwards I went up to level 2 and Starlight to level 3.
A short distance to the south we were attacked by three sirene. I used my rage ability which meant that they couldn't charm stun or confuse me. However they could and did use feeblemind.
Starlight had immediately cast command with the result that one of the sirene was killed before I was disabled.
She then slowly but surely wounded them until eventually they died.
Silverstar thus reached level 4 and used a spell to restore my lost health.
We then headed south clearing the road to Nashkel. In Nashkel I eased Bardolan's tension.
To the south of Nashkel a dwarven assassin was killed and then a wand of frost and a ring of fire protection were found.
We then headed north where ankhegs were killed, a priestess was helped and Joia's ring was found and returned.
Some items that were found in a spiders' nest were returned to their owner in the Friendly Arms Inn.
We then returned to the High Hedge and were at last able to help Mellicamp.
We them jpoined up with Xzar and montaron, Khaled and Jahiera and went with them to Nashkel. If they want to fight with demons, that's up to them, but we are not powerful enough yet. We went "shopping" with Montaron. he "acquired" Algernon's cloak, several scrolls, a decent hammer, a ring of freedom of action and several potions.
WE then dropped him off before he tried pickpocketting someone with a bit more awareness of what was going on.
We picked up Imoen and she is now quite a powerful mage, but she will need a lot more experience before she regains her thieving abilities.
The party came across the party of Peter, Linden et al and prevailed.
They also came across a bug. They had a ring that protects against all poison and it doesn't.
Clearly there has been a change made to the medusae that hasn't been picked up by a mod.
I tried 17 times to finish BG1 in Legacy of Bhaal mode with a solo sorcerer a few months ago, but never made satisfactory progress - though I did enough to be confident that the challenge is not too difficult in principle.
An 18th attempt didn't last long when Freya tried resting before travelling to Shoal's area and I failed to react fast enough when a skeleton appeared and threw a dagger. A 19th did even worse when Freya ran into a skeleton archer ambush on her first area transition. A 20th did rather better, before ending in the basilisk area. I was aware there that the 6 hour duration for the green scroll would be ending soon, but tried to get a final bit of use out of it by blinding another basilisk for disposal - unfortunately the scroll ran out just as Freya was launching her spell (and the basilisk was gazing).
Reaching my majority with a 21st attempt I'm looking forward to a good run. So far:
- the Candlekeep quests were done (except the rats).
- Imoen, Xzar and Montaron were blinded and killed (I'm not allowing recruiting NPCs). That didn't take long as NPCs don't get the huge HP boosts given in LoB.
- Freya survived the area transition to get to Shoal's area and blind did its normal work there to get her to level 3.
- to minimise the amount of area transitions required until she's got invisibility, Freya looked for further experience in the same area. She successfully drew away and blinded an ogrillon and an ogre before having to run away from an ambushing dire wolf when trying to rest.
- at High Hedge she killed a couple of gnolls and purchased the potion case before trying to rest and having to run from an ambushing skeleton.
- in Beregost, Marl and Firebead provided some easy XP before Freya nipped into Landrin's house - and nipped out again smartish before the spiders could block her in.
Blindness and zero time area transitions to the temple area allowed the group of spiders to be broken up for disposal. Silke doesn't go hostile from failed blindness attempts, so she was another easy victim. Another couple of hundred darts saw the back of the blinded Karlat getting Freya into touching range of level 4. The latest patch introduces a travel time to the area to the south (and I wasn't sure if the possibility of ambushes had also been introduced), so she went back to the temple area to kill a few hobgoblins.
Now at level 4 and with access to invisibility she's past the stage where bad luck can kill her, though bad judgement will be a danger for a long time to come
With invisible travel Freya helped out Mirianne and Zhurlong before continuing south to Nashkel. Selling the ankheg plate allowed her to buy the necklace of missiles before she picked up the wand of frost from the mine area as another possible alternative source of damage. Her major equipment upgrade though was Meilum's bracers - more than doubling the damage of her darts. Meilum saved 9 times against blindness (with an invisible rest in the middle), but eventually succumbed to the inevitable.
Heading north she sorted out the belt ogre on the way to the FAI, where the ring of wizardry there provided a very nice spell boost. Joia got her ring back before she was, surprisingly, successful with her first attempt to blind Tarnesh - the downside to that being that a guard got the XP for him.
Landrin was also glad to get his possessions back.
A bit further north and Freya used invisibility to loot the ankheg nest - picking up a wand of fire in the process.
Still in a gathering mood some more travelling netted her a ring of fire resistance before the big prize at the Valley of the Tombs. Potion of invisibility and freedom there were a nice to have (using invisibility and right-clicking to avoid having to even dodge the Revenant),
but the main objective was the wand of monster summoning that the ghasts failed to guard well enough.
Now with a good range of equipment Freya went to the basilisk area. Having (re)confirmed in a previous run the green scroll wouldn't last long enough to kill all the basilisks (at least without heavy use of items), this time Freya used her own PfP spells as an initial defense before blinding each basilisk prior to darting it. The large number of spell casts required there meant there was plenty of opportunity to make mistakes, but this time everything went smoothly. The frequency of gaze attacks by greater basilisks makes it almost impossible to cast blindness between them, so after Freya had got a level from a few lesser basilisks
she used her new web spell to blind the greater one.
After restocking with darts (most shops have limited supplies of those, but the carnival does not) Freya returned to kill the last of the basilisks - taking her up to level 6.
Mutamin's save vs spell was too good to be affected by web (or blind), but his save against death was not so good!
Next, Freya used web to blind Baerin
before invisibility allowed her to place herself precisely to shoot at him without the others interfering.
After resting she tried the same with the others. That disclosed that their AI has changed in the last update - such that once they had seen her they would chase her even if she was out of sight range when they escaped from the web. However, she managed to use invisibility to dodge several spells,
without having to resort to summoned monsters, and eventually the job was done.
Sorcerer L6, 34 HPs, 47 kills
L1 - blindness, protection from petrification, identify, friends
L2 - invisibility, web
L3 - minor spell deflection
I found the bug in my ring and rectified it.
I was intending to leave Mutamin until I had Gavin in my party, (The temple gives 6 potions for fighting basilisks which I use at Durlag's Tower and against the medusae at Candlekeep)
However I misjudged things and was forced to kill him then.
On the plus side Imoen has her thief skills back so it was time for the mines.
The first set of Dark Horizons assassins were dealt with usin fireballs and necklace of missiles. To save charges we fought melee once they had panicked.
This took some time as they fled in opposite directions and by doing so we encountered several more kobold. However it means that we still have a number of charges for lower down.
Sadly Silverstar couldn't use the Duragon's Plate Armour. I have no idea why not. I couldn't use it either, but being a barbarian, that was to be expected.
Descending to the depths, Mulahey was webbed which made him easy to deal with. Afterwards another moonblade bearer, the fighter/enchanter Xan joined the party.
While stocking up on darts again Freya decided to tackle Zordral at the Carnival. She nipped in and out of his tent to dodge all his spells - although the only important one to avoid was horror as she had minor spell deflection active. Zordral couldn't be blinded and I didn't fancy a long stint of running around, so 5 blasts from the wand of frost softened him up a bit before finishing with darts.
Looking to improve her reputation Freya took on some quests in the Cloud Peaks and picked up the charisma tome using invisibility. Further reputation upgrades included successfully saving Arabelle - a bit to my surprise blind prevented the xvarts from continuing to attack her.
Web and blindness continued to allow her to work through most enemies easily
as she pushed reputation up - with that nearing maximum she got to level 7 while helping out Ardrouine.
I decided to take on the sirines, on the assumption that I would have the chance to blind them while they dealt with a first use of the wand of monster summoning. Unfortunately, their improved invisibility somehow managed to outlast the 2 turn duration of the monsters - and I was too slow to react and avoid an arrow when the summons expired. I don't allow the use of antidotes and had not yet got around to buying a green protection from poison scroll, so death from the poison would come within seconds of being hit.
I decided the only chance was to use an invisibility potion and managed to get out of sight of the sirines just in time
- and luckily there was no ambush (though not that luckily as ambushes during rests on that map are pretty rare).
After resting to heal up, another lot of monsters left only one sirine from that group to be finished off by Freya.
For Sil's group another lot of monsters were summoned, but this time they were hasted as well and quickly beat down the opposition.
I decided to leave the golems alone though - just using minor spell deflection to defeat the traps while looting the pirate cave.
Despite mis-clicking on the conversation about Melicamp it wasn't long before reputation was up to 20 and Freya bought a couple of friends scrolls to allow some cheap purchases at Ulgoth's Beard and High Hedge.
Looking for some more quick XP she went to Durlag's Tower and used mainly magic missiles, with some top up wand of frost blasts, to kill a pair of battle horrors (using haste to make a mistake less likely when running them round - a single hit from a battle horror could easily be fatal).
Minor spell deflection then allowed her safe access past the trap to the roof where more basilisks were available - soon pushing her up to level 8.
The use of greater malison will now allow her disabling spells more chance of success.
Freya has just arrived at the Nashkel Mine ready to push on with the main quest next time.
Sorcerer L8, 41 HPs, 88 kills
L1 - blindness, protection from petrification, identify, friends, magic missile
L2 - invisibility, web, mirror image
L3 - minor spell deflection, haste
L4 - greater malison
Entering Aglaia
Female Half-orc neutral good cleric-thief (a randomly rolled configuration).
Core rules. SCS with all challenges. Full Item Randomizer. BG1 NPC. Some extra quests + ease of use tweaks.
As usual, the session started with the amnesiac's trying to remember what they had planned.
Coretank was starting to find the smell of his backpack unbearable so the Planar Sphere was opened up with a liberal coating of Valygar. Coretank then suggested Trademeet was next, but the dissolving door gave everyone time to remember their plans in dribs and drabs. The ring of Gaxx! Requiring scrolls to protect against undead. Coretank used an Oil of Speed as Pins used Offensive Spin to move quickly between areas but Unyo was plodding along so no advantage was made...
Eventually Kangaxx the Demilich made an appearance before trying to chicken out of the eventual conclusion in panic. Pins was having none of it and managed to block the escape so Coretank could finish the job.
Unyo had picked up a second lot of insects while Coretank went to investigate Pins' poison and realised he should leave her along for a while.
On to Windspear Hills, where much was done. Unyo was happily playing Darts with an Adamantite golem before suggesting Corerat should make an appearance. This allowed Pins to do some melee too. Bonus points if you can spot Corerat
Unyo (Gate70), protagonist. Shapeshifter. 247 kills (+35)
Pins (Grond0). Blade. 278 kills (+71)
Coretank (Corey_Russell). Undead Hunter. 536 kills (+75)
Ulraunt paced in his chambers, wearing a grim expression.
"Your arrival is a surprise, Perorate," he said. "I figured you'd be rotting in a dungeon by now, or dead."
Winski grinned. "I'm more resourceful than you might think."
"Indeed." Ulraunt looked thoughtful. "And you bring an interesting proposal. I've chafed for years at the thought that Candlekeep serves as a sanctuary for spawn of a dead god -- and a terrible god at that. Aglaia in particular is a horrid creature. Gorion should have thrown her to the wolves long ago."
"So let's let the wolves in to take care of your problem," Winski slurred.
"Very well," Ulraunt said. "I'll instruct the guards to allow your associates entry. May their daggers strike swift and deep."