I decided to try Yi Grovana's run one more time. I've had to restart early on several times because I wasn't sure how to handle Chateau Irenicus with the character I had.
Introducing Yi Grovana once more. This time, she's a Conjurer who will dual-class to a Fighter, of all things. The idea is that we're using a fighter who can resort to scrolls for problem encounters. Through great luck, when I was re-rolling for another version of her after dying to hobgoblins, I ended up with one of the two highest stat rolls I've ever gotten.
And after the circus? Dual-classed and with a 108 stat total.
I had great difficulty handling Chateau Irenicus. I tried multiple strategies, but always seemed to come short. Finally I decided to just stock up on invisibility spells, and sneak past anything and everything. A Minor Globe of Invulnerability kept Color Spray off of me in the Mephit Portal room, and as usual, I used an Oil of Speed to lure the Mephits through the door so I could shut it behind them and destroy the Mephit Portals undisturbed. I mostly just avoided everything else in the dungeon.
Right before leaving the dungeon, Yi dual-classed at level 9, so the extra XP boost after the next cutscene would apply to her new fighter levels, launching her to fighter level 6 right off the bat. She specializes in two-handed swords and short bows. As usual, our first target is Lilarcor.
Since a Potion of Freedom proved insufficient to stop Hold Person last time, I bought a Ring of Air Control, bankrupting Yi in the process. This prevents enemies from targeting you with single-target spells, so Hold Person won't even be cast for 10 rounds. That's not all it's good for, either: it lets us charm one of the hobgoblins, too.
I read somewhere recently that the rings of elemental control's charm abilities apply to all critters, and not just elementals. Unfortunately, it seems that the Ring of Air Control's charm ability does not recharge on resting. We'd have to recharge it at a store in order to use it again. After killing the hobgoblins, and taking the Kobold Shaman by surprise, Yi Grovana kites Quallo's Carrion Crawler buddy with a shortbow. We now have Lilarcor, and therefore immunity to charm and confusion. I overestimate the power of Lilarcor, however, and try to fight the two Myconids and the Myconid king right after getting Lily. Yi Grovana drinks all of her potions to stay alive during that fight--apparently -2 AC isn't enough to keep you safe from a Myconid King, at least not when you've got mage HP.
The Ring of Air Control also keeps us safe against the spellcasting Fanatic trying to burn Viconia. We end up chasing one of the Fanatics all the way to the authorities.
We visit the Umar Hills, but can't fight the Killer Mimic yet. Not without Arbane's Sword for the immunity to Mimic Glue. Instead, we just clear out most of the Temple Ruins. Yi Grovana can't take on Skeleton Warriors, since she's still too weak, so she has to sneak past them while invisible.
After fetching a scroll of Protection from Undead from Ribald (previous we didn't have enough money, thanks to buying the RoAC), we take on the Shade Lord. I'm starting to get tired of using that scroll to deal with the Shade Lord, but a Conjurer/Fighter like Yi isn't really equipped to handle that, even after recovering her mage spells.
We head to the Docks to seek out Mae'Var. Yi Grovana nearly dies. It happened so fast, I couldn't react.
We finally triggered the Suna Seni ambush, for which Yi had pre-buffed with the RoAC. Grovana drank an Oil of Speed, cast DUHM, and pummeled Suna Seni into oblivion.
Since she couldn't be targeted by spells, and had a spare Potion of Invisibility in case things went bad, Grovana decided to finish up the other enemies. With 3 APR and Lilarcor, she was able to wear down the cleric, the fighters, and the thief. Eldarin came last, having run out of arrows, draining the few potions we had gathered since the disaster with the Myconid King. The enemy mage, meanwhile, had been hiding out to the southwest. With the mage Mirror Image expired, it only took a few plucks from Yi Grovana's bow to bring her down.
While fetching the necklace from the Talos temple for Mae'Var, I made sure that Yi Grovana was invisible before she emerged from the sewers, at nightfall. This meant she could avoid the bandits who spawn right in front of the Temple of Talos at night (a feature of the Tactics mod, I believe). After nicking the necklace, she found a safe place to rest, where the bandits would not disturb her.
Soon, Yi Grovana recovered her mage levels, and ditched her plate mail in favor of a Shield spell.
Then, finally, the Renfeld quest arrived. Yi Grovana had again pre-buffed with Improved Invisibility before entering the next area, which allowed her to set up an impressive number of buffs before taking on the low-level enemies guarding poor Renfeld.
MGOI, MSD, Stoneskin, Blur, and Shield. Lots more defense than she needed, when the only enemy mage died in two hits (!) from Minute Meteors.
Another early end for poor Yi Grovana. It started out well, with MGOI protecting us from both Rayic Gethras' Mephits and the Slow spells of his Stone Golems.
For Ray-Ray himself, Grovana pre-buffed with MSD, MGOI, Blur, and Stoneskin, and brought out Kitty on the first round. We hit Ray-Ray with a double Acid Arrow Minor Sequencer and a Web Tangle right afterward. Ray-Ray made his save against Web Tangle, and began casting an Abjuration spell. I assumed it to be Remove Magic, so I had Kitty run away while Grovana prepared to finish off Ray-Ray with a Cone of Cold.
Turns out that Abjuration spell was Symbol: Fear.
I had neglected to pre-buff with Resist Fear on the grounds that I would cast it after Ray-Ray used his Remove Magic spell on me, which I normally remembered as SCS2 mages' standard initial spell. Now both Kitty and Yi are panicking.
But Ray-Ray is still suffering damage from Acid Arrow. After Ruby Ray of Reversal takes down Yi's Minor Spell Deflection, and Sunfire kills Kitty but leaves Grovana intact, Ray-Ray drops down to Near Death. Grovana is disabled, but Ray-Ray is almost dead.
Then I realize it's the fourth round. Acid Arrow has run out, and Ray-Ray is clinging to life. I hope he wastes a round drinking a potion, but he's too smart for that.
He finishes the job with a Finger of Death. Yi Grovana dies once again.
It probably could have been avoided had I pre-buffed with Remove Fear, and kept a Potion of Clarity on hand to replace it after Remove Magic. That way, Yi Grovana's Minor Spell Deflection spells could help her tank Ray-Ray's remaining single-target spells. Still, after failing on two separate occasions to survive in an insane solo poverty with a Conjurer/Fighter dual-class, and several more failed solo no-reload SCS2 runs with mages dualed to fighters, I'm starting to think that future Mage->Fighter runs are not going to succeed.
@semiticgod I let you read the comments in the tp2 file and add the resources files under their directories (read the tp2 file - hopefully self-explanatory) I just kept the druid clab 2da file in the tree under PhaseSpiderKit/druid. From there I think you can easily add other kits for other classes.
File edited to go back to a CRLF line end in the tp2. Sorry !
@Musigny: Stuff in spoilers to avoid cluttering the thread.
I based my recent work on the first .zip file you attached today, with the TP2 file without line breaks. I just saw your updated .zip file, with line breaks in the TP2 file, but the TP2 file I've got working now has line breaks and still has all your comments in it, since I wasn't sure what I could delete of your comments without causing problems. I'll take my current file, without line breaks, and use it to update the TP2 file with line breaks so I'll have a clean copy with the right information.
Attached is the full package I've got working now, but the TP2 file is limited to granting the fighter and druid kits. The folder is organized different from yours, because there are some new things we may need to add. The TP2 file has been updated to reflect the new folders; there's only one folder for all the spell, item, and creature files, and one folder for the CLAB files.
I've fixed some of the problems you pointed out in the TP2 file:
1: You pointed out my files would overwrite Infravision and Detect Evil. That's intentional. I made duplicate copies of Infravision and the cleric version of Detect Evil so that players could cast the Phase Spider's Dimension Door ability via a hotkey. I've moved them to separate folders so we can make a separate component in the TP2 file asking if they want to replace those two spells with a level 1 Dimension Door spell--they won't get automatically copied along with everything else. If the player doesn't want to replace those things, he or she can just use the innate ability Dimension Door, but that's a little less convenient. All versions of Dimension Door restore themselves, so the player can cast them indefinitely.
I also moved all the CLAB files into their own folder, and the "resfiles" folder outside of the "common" folder. I find it easier that way. Currently, the "druid," "fighter," and "common" folder are unused. I'll probably delete them later.
2: You pointed out the naming, the recurring PHASE name in the override files. Those files reference each other, as do the CLAB files, and it would take a fair amount of time to fix it up. I'll do that part later, before release.
3: I didn't add any race restrictions because the spiders are already supposed to comprise their own race, of sorts. Restricting it to humans would also prevent people from getting, say, a gnome's save bonuses, if they wanted them. So, a half-human spider or a half-gnome spider would both be acceptable. I considered trying to set the player's race to spider, but I was worried that would cause unintended problems later on. Hence the lack of race restrictions.
4: You suggested using the name PSKfight instead of Phase Spider Fighter, but I'm not sure why. I thought the latter would be fine.
5: You pointed out the kit had no ability requirements. I added them in. I also adjusted them to account for the spiders' ability score penalties. Spiders now receive -3 to CHA instead of half CHA, so the minimum CHA for spider druids is now 12 instead of 15.
6: You also noted that the kit was using the Avenger kit's item restrictions. At the time, I just did that to make sure the spider druid kit could use armor (unlike the Shapeshifter). I've decided to give all the spider kits the Archer kit's item usability flag instead. Now, they are all restricted from wearing heavier than leather armor, as I had intended earlier on.
I also found a way to implement the other item restrictions, by adding a non-removable item to the boots item slot, and adding opcode 180 to prevent the spiders from wearing helmets, gloves, or gauntlets (but this only applies to vanilla items). They can still use ioun stones and bracers, as intended.
Now there are only a few things left to do.
First, I still don't actually know how to create new class sections. I tried adding a new one based on your extra section for the druid kit, but failed. I created a BARDBEGIN @3 section for the bard spider kit; updated the CLABPHDR to CLABPHBA; updated all the relevant stats so it has the right usability flags and everything; and I updated the setup TRA file (the English one, anyway) to include a line saying "@3 = ~Phase Spider Bard Kit~". I don't know what I'm missing. What else is needed to add a new class section besides BARDBEGIN @X and an update to the TRA file with @X?
Second, I think we have a problem with the Monk kit. I don't think you can choose a separate kit for a monk--there's only one Monk kit, with the CLABMO01.2da. I could replace the monk kit, but that would turn Balthazar and all the ToB monks into spiders. I put the monk's fist item files and its CLAB.2da into a separate folder so they wouldn't be copied with the other files.
Third, the mage kits. I don't see a CLAB file for any of the mages, so I'm not sure if it would be possible to get a single-classed Phase Spider mage, unless the player used Shadowkeeper. It's also my understanding that the mage kits are already filled to the maximum, and replacing any of them would grant both the extra mage spells, as well as the spell restrictions, to any spider mage kit.
I really appreciate all the work you've done, particularly considering I never even asked. I have no idea how long it would have taken me to figure all this out on my own, even with the tutorials.
You're welcome. I think that the project is fun. Quickly:
-You can delete the comments, they have no influence on the code. -kit name : internally you named them clabsomething, as you know clab stands for class ability in the game and (by essence) every kit has a clab****.2da file associated to it but the internal name of the kit as seen in the kitlist or kit.ids for instance is rather different. My point is that reading "clab" as a kit name prefix will not directly refer to semiticgod's work or phase spider etc... (you do need a class ability file for a kit and you can name it clab**** if you want to - that's a different matter. And it is also different from the name of your kit as seen by the player defined by one of the SAY line at the end of the ADD_KIT block). -Yes you can more or less copy/paste a BEGIN section (not BARDBEGIN) for a new kit. If the next one is BEGIN @3 etc... you have to add a @3 = "string" in one of the loaded tra files and in that case the setup.tra. The french section is there just for the example, you can remove it (See LANGUAGE). Once all your text is ready, people will just have to translate the tra file line by line. Get someone knowledgeable about the FR lore to help you translate your strings (I am not really that guy). - end of line, that's a matter of ms to change it with a good text editor, just let me know if you have a problem. - item restriction - you can also do the opposite - you can make sure this can be used by a particular kit and prohibited for all other class/kit, just for your info. -I think it is wise to not change the "general", race and class of charname even though you change the animation and heavily kit the protagonist. - Not sure I understand your point about monks and mages class abilities. I will see your point next week when I am back.
@Musigny thanks for your wishes, and kudos in general for your good work for the community! @semiticgod, best of luck with Yi Grovana.
Unfortunately my run with Dapper had to end after I re-installed Rogue Rebalancing because Skald song wasn't working. This involved an automoatic re-install of Item Randomisation, which meant that certain items would be gone from the game and others would be duplicated. (Note that even after re-installing, Skald song wasn't working as it was supposed to.) Dapper and friends shall get a second chance, but I did a new, much simpler install of the game that lends itself better to solo play. It consists of mostly tactical enhancements and cosmetic changes, a number of tweaks, but almost no items, kits or quests. I've attached my weidu log. I tested it with:
Terra, LN Gnome Cleric/Thief, 1st and final BG1 report
It was not the first time I get an extraordinary roll on a Gnome; still I was amazed Starting proficiencies were Staves and Slings, later complemented by Two Handed Weapon Style. Roleplaying is limited in this playthrough as I wanted to take a character into BG2 again, and was willing to compromise on the RPing for that purpose. Although I use metagame knowledge I try to play her in accordance with her LN alignment (she venerates Gaerdal Ironhand, the only non-goofy, stern Gnomish God, a bit like Helm or Torm in the human pantheon I think).
Terra quested to level 5/5, and 20 rep, without any incident except for the first area transition (to High Hedge area), which saw a concentration lapse on my part nearly end her run.
High return quests that helped Terra reach said levels included: Tenya, Farmer Brun, Charleston Nib, Captain Brage, Greywolf, Droth and Shoal, Meilum, and Bassilus, besides the usual FAI-Beregost-Nashkel quests. Silence and Hold Person, were Terra's favorite spells at those early stages of her adventure.
Easter eggs like the Ring of Wizardry, the Ankheg Armor, and the Ring of Protection +1 south of FAI were all shamelessly collected and used to purchase several valuable items once Terra enjoyed 20 CHA (Foreshadow's ring + Algernon's cloak) and 20 rep. Amongst these items were the Shadow Armor, Wand of the Heavens, Aule's Staff, Sandthief's Ring, Claw of Kazgaroth and scrolls and potions.
Level 6/6 was (barely) reached after a visit to Mutamin's garden where she would execute her most damaging backstab:
Mutamin didn't fall to Terra's first backstab, so she drank a potion of invisibility and finished him off with a second stab.
She then traveled to the Nashkel Mines to pursue the plot of her life story. Overwhelming numbers of Kobolds made her a bit nervous,
but she kept on moving and she never got stuck anywhere. Mulahey was Silenced, Flamestruck with her wand, and Smitten.
Nimbul, was left to the Amnish soldiers, so that he wouldn't use his potions of invisibility. Terra traveled around quite a bit, even all the way to the Gnoll fortress for the Tome of Leadership and Influence, and to Durlag's Tower to pick up a Tome of Understanding, but neither Molkar's nor Lamalha's gang waylaid her. Btw at Durlag's Battle Horrors were dealt with using the Wand of the Heavens, with Terra's backstabs being too unreliable or my patience with them too limited. She decided to recharge the wand after that, and was quite surprised that she had to pay 9,000 GP and would get no less than 100 charges. (It also left her penniless at that point.) Skeletons finished off the Tower's Basilisks.
Terra rushed through the Wood of Sharp Teeth, and infiltrated the Bandit Camp via Raiken. She was well prepared for a missile onslaught with the Cloak of Deflection, Boots of Avoidance, Claw of Kazgaroth, Girdle of Piercing, and natural 18 Dex, but she nevertheless buffed with a potion of defense, and she also applied an oil of speed and cast DUHM before enterering Tazok's tent. Venkt required two backstabs.
She cleared the tent with a combination of melee attacks on ranged opponents, Flamestrikes and, when most enemies had fallen, backstabs.
Outside, she even managed to finish off Taugosz, for his Full Plate, which she would never don, but sold for a few thousand gold. (Even playing without Hard Times, gold was almost never abundant.)
In Cloakwood, the Cloak of Non-Detection was picked up and Spiders were slain to see Terra's final level-up as a Cleric (lvl 7). Other denizens of the forest never knew of her presence (except for waylaying Giant Spiders that she survived with freedom potions), until the Mines loomed before her. Before battle had stared Kysus was taken out of the equation with a convenient critical:
The others fell to backstabs as well. Rezdan had Terra two potions of magic protection. Inside the mines Terra's stealth and extreme speed (boots + oil) allowed her to reach Davaeorn with her magic protection still intact. The wizard failed to remove her buffs, and thus didn't really form a threat. While his short-duration buffs were still active, Terra focused on his Battle Horrors, taking them down with backstabs and earning her a last BG1 level-up as a Thief (lvl 8).
Skeletons were then used to make Davaeorn waste most of his damage spells and to eat through some of his Stoneskins, before he too fell to a sneak attack.
(As you can deduce from the portrait icon, Terra had swigged a potion of clarity at one point, this because of a Horror Davaeorn cast at her.)
In Baldur's Gate Terra's pace slackened a little as she did some sidequests, such as: - the thieving quests (guild and Brevlik - with Thief Charnames, which is more often than not, I almost always do those quests, the guild feels like a BG1 class stronghold and I like Narlen Darkwalk), - Varci, - Ragefast/Ramazith. Marek and Lothander were avoided; Chanthalas Ulbright's Wisdom tome pickpocketed (as was the Cloak of Balduran). The Necklace of Missiles was used against the Ogre Mage and its Carrion pets in the sewers.
Anti-magic potions, backstabs and Wand of Heavens Flamestrikes were too much to handle for the Iron Throne acolytes,
except Mr Cloudwulfe, who mysteriously disappeared. Terra lowered her reputation to 9 with the help of BG1 NPC Pack's Bards. This would allow her to get two Divine Wrath Bhaalpowers instead of DUHMs.
In and below Candlekeep Terra avoided any battles she could, fighting only a number of Phase Spiders and two Basilisks. The treasure chests were duly looted.
Interestingly, Terra, a loner up till then, left Candlekeep with her old friend Imoen (lvl 9 Thief -> Mage), whose help I thought might be handy against the Greater Doppelgangers at the Ducal Palace. The two bought and collected some equipment for Imoen: Returning Frost Dart +1, Robe of the Good Archmagi, Quarterstaff +1, Deep Red Ioun Stone, Golden Girdle, and Ring of Wizardry (from Sunin), and Gauntlets of Weapon Skill from Larze.
They also restored their reputation with donations and a few small quests (Brielbara, Nadine/Euric, Noralee), but that proved all in vain when Imoen got her first kill: a little girl that, like other commoners, had gone hostile when the duo took their fight with Sunin outside.
Even without his girl Krystin, who didn't follow Terra back to the entrance of the Undercellars, Slythe was tricky thanks to his many invisibility potions. Terra made him waste those on her summons (Animals, Skeletons), and was reasonably successful with backstabs and her Detect Illusions ability. A Magic Missile by Imoen felled the assassin.
The duo took Slythe's invitation and his letter from Sarevok, and left Krystin to mourn the loss of her lover.
They rested and then went to the Ducal Palace. Terra had already started preparations, with the summoning of a first Skeleton, when Imoen discovered she hadn't memorized Haste (an important reason for taking her along in the first place) nor did she possess a Haste scroll. The two quickly left to buy one such scroll at the Sorcerous Sundries and returned. Three more Skeletons followed and, acouple of buffs later because of shorter spell duration, a Giant Spider as per Spider Spawn. Terra quaffed the violet potion, restored CON with a fortitude potion and buffed DEX with agility and mind focusing potions. Imoen took two of the latter as well. Other buffs included potions of power and magic shielding, PfE 10' Radius and DUHM. Terra managed to set only one of her two snares (at 95 Set Traps), Imoen Hasted the summons. My strategy usually involves arrows of dispelling but that was not an option for the Cleric/Thief and Mage duo (Imoen hadn't regained her Thief levels yet), so I had Imoen cast Remove Magic, and later Slow, while the hasted summons and Terra, who hit like a truck with her 25 STR and who had poisoned her staff with a vial of Rogue Rebalancing poison, did the dirty work. This strategy worked quite well.
Both Belt and Liia Janneth survived.
The two girls went straight after Sarevok, using stealh/invisibility to ignore monsters, Iron Throne mercenaries, and Tamoko. I chose not to engage Sarevok right away due to Terra and Imoen's inability to dispel his Haste (meaning that the ladies would have to run around too much for my liking while dealing with Sarevok's subordinates). Angelo was the first of Sarevok's minions to show himself, but he vanished when Flamestruck a few times. Not much later, Semaj removed all of Terra's buffs and protections and Tazok exectuted a successful sneak attack. He too disappeared when Terra quaffed an invisibility potion to rebuff and to give Tazok a dose of his own medicine.
Angelo targeted invisible Terra with a Chaos. This shouldn't be possible, and caused some stress, but thankfully Terra saved, as did Imoen.
Lots of Flamestrikes, Necklace of Missiles Fireballs and Stoneskin-eating sneak attacks later, Angelo fell.
Terra and Diarmid locked themselves in a ranged duel until Diarmid ran out of arrows, at which point he hesitated between staying by Sarevok's side and attacking her in melee. Terra did not relent and finished the archer with her sling.
Semaj was the next one to attack. Two potions of magic protections kept Terra safe from his mind affecting spells; she only suffered some elemental (fire) damage before she worked her way through his Stoneskins and slew her foe.
Tazok and Sarevok were then a mere matter of repeated backstabs:
As the ladies lft the premises, they found Tamoko still outside. I had wanted Terra to sneak past her, but the Kara-Turan priestess had already spotted her. Terra's reputation was still bad thanks to Imoen's infanticide, which caused Tamoko to be implacable. Terra ended up slaying the woman and several Skeletons (including Warriors) that fought alongside her.
Terra and Imoen sold the equipment of the enemies they had just dispatched, and with the proceeds salvaged their reputation (which carries over to SoA in BG Trilogy). They then returned to Belt and Liia Janneth to inform them of their success. The girls accepted an entreaty by Belt to travel to Athkatla to negotiate a peace agreement with Amn.
All in all not the most impressive run perhaps, what with the wand recharge, attacking the likes of Mutamin and Kysus while they were still blue-circled, recruitment of Imoen for the Ducal Palace fight, and engaging Sarevok's men one after the other. But at least Terra made it, which was something I wanted after a series of premature endings. There were no narrow escapes except for the Wild Dogs mentioned in the 2nd paragraph and Terra took very little damage in the entire run. Hope she survives Irenicus' hellish dungeon, so that finally some fun could be had in Amn
Terra survived Irenicus' Dungeon, avoiding Ilych and his fellows in the library and the next room on the first level, and using buffs and Skeletons to deal with the Mephits on the second level.
Ulvaryl was done in with a backstab,
as was Frennedan.
The Circus was successfully restored, and Hendak installed as the new Copper Coronet manager.
Terra then traveled tothe Bridge District to clear up the skinner murder mystery. To my complete surprise, Aegisfield was battling four bandits. This might be a Tactics thing, I had never seen this before. The bandits were more interested in Terra than in Aegisfield. Terra had no invisibility potions yet and was soon Slowed by a bandit mage.
She: - quaffed an oil of speed to cancel out that effect, - failed to hide in shadows in the Balthis Estate, - made it back to the area border at very low health, due to the bandits' ranged hits, Flame Arrows, Flamestrikes and backstabs,
-got Horrored for one second but somehow overcame her panic, and saved vs a Mental Domination,
- managed to flee the area toward Waukeen's Promenade, but got waylaid on her way there.
With a muddy aura, she couldn't quaff any extra healing potions to survive the slavers' first ranged hits.
What brutal game this is. If only I'd known about those bandits...
To my complete surprise, Aegisfield was battling four bandits. This might be a Tactics thing, I had never seen this before. The bandits were more interested in Terra than in Aegisfield.
If this comes from Tactics that's very likely "Bodhi trap" in Gebhard Blucher's Random City Encounters. Most outdoor city maps, the graveyard and the temple district being two exceptions for sure, have a few "traps" already set in the vanilla game. For instance the reputation trap (bad rep guys are chased by paladins and cowled enforcers) and the vampire trap (all the vampires vs shadow thieves mini sequences), Gith spawn etc. One particular trap is the bodhi trap sequence left empty in the vanilla game. I think Unfiinished Business properly uses this script to add a couple of encounters (Bodhi and Arkanis IIRC, really not sure). G.Blucher/W.Weimer use this script slot to add three types of enemies depending on your XP. Below 1M XP you are going to fight 5 bandits. There is a double timer to control the bandit presence/respawn but these are short timers. The fact that Aegisfield attacks them is a vanilla behaviour, he is supposed to attack every enemy (of you) if he is not himself your enemy. I am not a big fan of this bodhitrp modification. The groups: level 7-9 : 5 "bandits" (2 fighters, thief, cleric, mage) if protagonist <= 1M XP level 7-8 : 2 fighters + 1 fighter/mage + 1 cleric + 1 assassin + 1 necromancer if protagonist between 1 and 2m XP level 14-18 : fighter, berserker, wizard slayer, shadow druid(!), bounty hunter, conjurer if protagonist >= 2M XP
The same creatures are used as encounters on the intermediate city maps when you travel between the athkatlan worldmap locations. The conditions are basically the same with a big difference, you may still randomly face the weakest opponents, not necessarily the toughest foes. However you will meet the vanilla encounters first (Suna Seni, Renfeld etc...)
Not sure they use SCS as an AI because all of them (1 exception for the whole component IIRC) come with (edit #2) custom combat scripts. I may change it as an option in the BG2EE version if there is a request.
@Musigny, thanks for the info. This clears things up. I thought it was somehow related to the Skinner Quest (perhaps a UB update, I've only recently started using the lastest version of UB). Btw I think SCS scripts applied in my case, as I installed SCS after the Tactics components.
What I explained is not 100% sure. With a so long mod/component list there may be other explanations! I can just tell you what pertains to the Tactics part.
I believe that installing SCS after this type of mod is necessary but not always sufficient to get the SCS general AI. For instance the gbene02*.cre files have two scripts: override gbgo1.bcs (self-destruction after a certain timer expiration) and gbene02*.bcs as a class script AI, nothing more. SCS has to overwrite at least one of the two to take precedence (or destroy this class script) if * = a,b,c,d,e the script starts with the following (decompiled) lines
IF Global("GB_DoOnce","LOCALS",0) !GlobalTimerNotExpired("GB_SpellPrep","LOCALS") THEN RESPONSE #100 SetGlobalTimer("GB_SpellPrep","LOCALS",2880) SetGlobal("GB_DoOnce","LOCALS",1) END
IF Global("GB_DoOnce","LOCALS",1) !GlobalTimerNotExpired("GB_SpellPrep","LOCALS") THEN RESPONSE #100 SetGlobalTimer("GB_SpellPrep","LOCALS",2880) Rest() END
IF False() HPPercentLT(Myself,50) TookDamage() !See([PC]) OR(2) HPPercentLT(Myself,25) !StateCheck(Myself,STATE_BLIND) THEN RESPONSE #100 DisplayStringHead(Myself,22589) // Bah! This is what I get for dealing with rabble! AddexperienceParty(500) ApplySpell(Myself,SWOOSH_GONE) // SPIN671.SPL (Teleport) EscapeArea() END
IF HPPercentLT(Myself,75) HasItem("POTN55",Myself) // Potion of Superior Healing !Detect([PC]) THEN RESPONSE #100 ActionOverride(Myself,UseItem("POTN55",Myself)) // Potion of Superior Healing DisplayStringHead(Myself,46150) // *quaffs a potion* SetGlobalTimer("GB_CastNAttack","LOCALS",6) END
or, as a sample, you can paste/send me gbene02e.cre (and optionally gbgo1.bcs + gbene02e.bcs) and I may have a look at it.
Okay... no need for the files. I deployed the component then SCS on top of it and as expected SCS does not modify those scripts which have custom names. Incidentally I found a bug (missing script) in my own package.
More annoying: the mod adds a block to provide an equivalent to the bad reputation trap, this time to hunt you if your rep is at least 18. In the little group there is a priest and he's the only mod creature using a vanilla script (in W.Weimer's package). SCS detects this script presence and replaces it with its own much more developed flavour. Unfortunately it also swaps the last two script positions. This is probably justified by the fact that nothing can be executed after the SCS script (it always has a triggering block). However in that case this little modification is counter-productive as the mod script which takes a higher precedence is also built with an always matching block. As a result I think the SCS combat script is never executed and I bet this case is not unique. A mod user's life is a hard life
Great job @Musigny! I was hesitant re: sending you the file when I got home, because I didn't want to give you more work than you'd alreasy been doing (in particular the Tactics - EE conversion). Nevertheless, very interesting to know, thank you.
Thanks. Looking at this kind of things also helps to check my own modifications so that's not really an additional job. A good integration with Stratagems (or at least a well documented co-existence) is one of my objective.
Dagny, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist (1st & final BG1 update)
I keep on alternating between Gnome Cleric/Thieves and Cleric/Illusionists. After Terra's misadventure with the Tactics bandits in the Athkatla Bridge District, it was time for Dagny.
This post is on my second run though BG1 with her. The first time she got petrified in the Basilisk area when her green PfPetrification scroll expired after six hours (rather than the twelve hours mentioned in the scroll description). I don't normally recycle characters, but I felt Dagny deserved better than an early demise due to an item not functioning the way it should. My first attempt saw Dagny travel with Imoen, and contemplate recruiting more companions. The current one on the other hand is a strict solo run (of BG1 at least).
Preparation
Dagny traveled via High Hedge to Beregost to slay four Huge Spiders, appease Marl, receive a Ring of Protection +1 from Mirianne, and give Firebead Elvenhair a book. She then traveled north to the FAI, killing a Rogue Ogre on her way, and returned Joia's flamedance ring to its owner, brought Landrin her belongings from Beregost, and slew Tarnesh after Silencing him. In Ankheg-ridden lands Further north, she stripped almost naked near the monsters' lair so that a DUHM would allow her to haul back Brun's son and some treasure. In the vicinity, she retrieved a bowl from three murderous fishermen for a girl named Tenya.
The Gnome then headed south again, to help Thalantyr restore Melicamp, but the wizard failed. Charleston Nib and Captain Brage were grateful sources of XP, as were Greywolf and Prism. It was a good thing though that Blindness lasts 10 turns, because Dagny took ages in felling the aforementioned bounty hunter. Neira was next, slain after a successful Hold Person. Dagny found Bassilus in the Red Canyons. She successfully Silenced and Held him, but as with Greywolf, took a very long in finishing the priest. She had to rely on Blindness again when the Hold effect wore off and a second Hold Person was saved against.
Bjornin's Half-Ogres were put to Sleep and easily finished off for the Medium Shield +1, and Meilum was Blinded and slain for the Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise. Again, this took Dagny quite a long time. She was relieved that the swordsman never wandered off toward the dozens of Kobolds that weren't far away.
The Wand of Fire was used against Durlag's Tower's Battle Horrors.
In the Cloudpeaks Rufie was found, Sendai was Held and killed (Delgod and and Alexander ignored), Krumm and Caldo were also Held and slain, Drienne's dead cat returned to the girl, and a duel with a Gnoll won. Skeletons that had recently become available, helped Dagny overcome Gnarl and Hairtooth, and pave the way toward the CHA tome.
Friends (the spell) and a stellar reputation enabled Dagny to purchase the Robe of the Neutral Archmagi, a number of scrolls she would scribe using some of Gellana's potions to concentrate, a Cloak of Deflection, and a Helmet of Charm Protection. A rabbit familiar named Murphy, disarmed a number of traps in Black Alaric's treasure cave, allowing Dagny to loot the place and invest the proceeds in a Wands of Heavens and Fire (i.e. a second one) and a Greenstone Amulet. (I reduced Dagny's HP increase to 6 in Shadowkeeper after Murphy had been summoned). Ardouine and the Worgs, Mutamin and his Basilisks, and (some) Ankhegs allowed to reach lvl 6/6. Korax and Skeletons did all the work in Mutamin's garden,
while Sleep and Skellies were instrumental in dealing with the Ankhegs.
Nashkel Mines; Bounty hunters
The Find Traps priest spell, Murphy's disarm traps skill, and Wand of Fire blasts, helped Dagny reach Mulahey's lair.
Mulahey fell after he was Silenced and Held;
his minions roasted.
The Undead tombs were raided under Sanctuary. My usual Nimbul strategy (leaving him to the guards so he won't quaff his invisibility potions) failed when he panicked and entered the Nashkel Inn. Dagny barely escaped a surprise Stinking Cloud and had to rely on a Minor Spell Deflection to safeguard her from a Horror before she could finish the assassin.
A potion bag was found in Jenkal's hobbit home. Molkar & Co tracked Dagny down at the FAI where the guards could attack Drakar and Halacan withotut them fighting back, while Dagny took care of Molkar and Morvin using her Wand of Fire.
Durlag's WIS tome was secured. Arghain and Ioin Gallchobhair were slain (Dagny was low on gold and wanted to buy some potions before continuing her quest; I really notice the difference between playing with and without a Bag of Holding). Lamalha & Co. ambushe Dagny in Beregost after she had restedat Feldepost's. She separated the bounty hunters after she suffered a painful backstab from Maneira.
Flame Arrows were used, the Wand of Fire's Aganazzar Scorcher's function, Blindness, and MSD to prevail over the four amazons.
Bandit Camp
Dagny infiltrated via Raiken, befriended Tazok, took some loot, and entered Tazok's tent Sanctuaried. There she buffed with potion of defense + oil of speed (and according to a portrait icon, also something that protects against fear, don't remember this though). She paralyzed Venkt with a Wand of Paralyzation she had found in Black Alaric's cave, and fried most of the others with her Wand of Fire. A few surviving bandits, including Venkt, were taken out in melee combat or with sling bullets.
Taugosz and the other bandits outside were left in peace.
Cloakwood
After some shopping for potions, Dagny traveled to Cloakwood. Other then looting Centeol's den under Sanctuary the Gnome didn't do anything to make her presence noted, which was easy with three Invisibilities memorized. At the mine entrance, Drasus and Co. gave Dagny a nasty surprise when they came to the aid of two guards she was scorching with her wand.
Hasted Dagny retreated and buffed with MSD and Shield. Both Rezdan and Kysus had Remove Magics for her, and they rapidly depleted her MSD protection with their spells,
so she ended up consuming potions of magic protection and an oil of speed to stay in control. Fortunately for her, Drasus's Boots of Speed made him the only one to keep up with her when she retreated again to cast Invisibility and maybe summon some Skeletons somewhere. The Gnome paralyzed her foe with her wand,
and finished him. She then went Invisible and snuck past the others.
Dagny didn't rest because she didnt have many anti-magic potions at her disposal. She decided to rush through the mines invisibly (stopping only to arrange the miners' escape), straight to Davaeorn. The Battle Horrors were pretty much unkillable, immune to the Wand of Fire's fire damage, and requiring criticals to be hurt.
Davaeorn and his Battle Horrors made short work of Dagny's Skeletons, but at least the wizard wasted some of his spells on them. He also removed Dagny's buffs, but she solved that problem with her last potions of magic protecyion. Instead of patiently eating up Davaeorn's Stoneskins, Dagny availed herself once more of one of her Wands of Fire to scorch the wizard to death.
Baldur's Gate
Dagny reached the city in good order. She helped Varci Roaringhorn for the Shield of the Falling Stars, secured the Helm of Balduran and the Stat increasing tomes. Ramazith, Jalantha and Marek were all paralyzed. Resar was slain for his scroll of Fireshield Blue. He kept using a Wand of Paralyzation, even though Dagny had swigged a potion of freedom. Dagny took quite some damage due to magic damage.
Dagny's closest encounter with death was in her fight with Larze. She was Stoneskinned. She had also quaffed a potion of absorbtion for very good AC against crushing attacks. But it didn't keep the Ogre from landing hit after hit. I got very briefly distracted, only to see Dagny escape with 6 HPs.
I'm ashamed to write this down and post the screenshot, but it's the truth...
The Wand of Fire was used against the Ogre Mage and his Carrion Crawlers in the sewers, and the Silvershield Estate was looted with Knocks, all for the higher good of buying scrolls and potions and managing reputation for the Divine Wrath Bhaalpower.
In the Iron Throne building Dagny was only interested in Alai, as he carried a coveted Minor Sequencer scroll. Thankfully, after two Fireballs thrown at the acolytes, Alai followed the Gnome downstairs together with Aasim and Gardush. The others remained upstairs. She paralyzed and slew Aasim, scorched Genthore to death, and protected against Alai's spells with a potion, battled the latter in melee.
Candlekeep
No battles were done here, but Dagny stole all the scrolls she could find in the library, and buffed against the damage the traps in the catacombs would do and looted the chests with Knock spells.
After some deliberation Dagny returned to the Cloakwood, where she protected herself against magic using a green scroll, and used her wands (Fire, Paralyzation) to kill Genthore, Rezdan, and - her true target - Kysus. The reason: I was beginning to feel enthusiastic about making Dagny form an arcane-heavy crew in BG2, and Kysus had a scroll of Fireshield Red. The scroll was secured,
and would be scribed in Baldur's Gate along with Minor Sequencer, Fireshield Blue, and Vocalize.
Endgame
In the Undercellars Krystin removed some of Dagny's buffs, but previously cast Skeletons soon distracted the mage, allowing Dagny to spirit Slythe away. Dagny was PfEvil, Blurred, Mirror Imaged, Stoneskinned, and buffed with Holy Power and DUHM she stood her ground in melee combat. With the help of a few Wand of Fire scorchers, she felled the rogue.
Prior to enaging the Greater Doppelgangers at the Ducal Palace, Dagny buffed in accordance with what has become a standard procedure to me: violet potion; fortitude and agility and mind focusing to restore and buff CON and DEX; defense, power, magic protection. Four Skeletons and a Wand of Monster Summoning Dire Wolf were summoned, Protected from Evil, and Hasted. Most of the Doppelgangers were Slowed, after which Belt, the Flaming Fist and Dagny and her entourage were too much for the Doppelgangers to handle.
Both Belt and Liia Janneth survived.
As usual I had my character head straight after Sarevok (even though that means several spell slots without memorized spells). Inside Sarevok's sanctum, the Wand of Monster Summoning was depleted to keep Angelo busy while his buffs had to expire, and to make him waste his most dangerous spells. A combination of melee attacks and scorchers did him in eventually.
Diarmid's arrows didn't measure up to Dagny's sling bullets.
His skeletal version was harder to deal with, when Dagny's Stoneskins had run out.
Both Semaj and Tazok fell to Fireballs,
while Sarevok succumbed to a combination of Scorchers, sling bullets, and melee attacks. The killing blow came from her trusty warhammer, the Ashideena.
Here are Dagny's character record and inventory screen, shortly before she traveled to Amn on a commision for Duke Belt.
I prepared for a SoA run with Imoen by recruiting her, dualing her as an Adventurer 7 -> Mage, and having her learn all the spells Dagny had or could buy in Baldur's Gate and Ulgoth's Beard. On the downside, I forgot to pick up both the Claw of Kazgaroth and the Golden Pantaloons.
I am glad to see another attempt with a Cleric / Illusionist. If you run out of C/I builds, you can borrow Blue for free . She has very high stats similar to yours (95 and admittedly more min-max stats).
Thank you @Musigny; Gnome C/I = lots of fun, with so many options... You know there was some min-maxing involved in Dagny's character creation: 13 CHA + 1 from BG1 tome + 1 from Machine of Lum the Mad + 1 from Hell Trials would give Dagny 16 CHA (unbuffed). This is the minimum for Ascension Balthazar to be amenable to join Dagny against Mel in the final fight. Of course this all extremely speculative at this stage, but I reckon it's good to keep one's options open
@Blackraven I cannot investigate the full set of ascension scripts but if Balthazar's action or decision is solely based on his dialog then having charname charisma stat greater than 16 (or 17 depending on the test) is not an absolute requirement to convince Balthazar to join you IIRC. Alignment, Reputation, Dialog choices have a bigger influence, Wisdom too. This being said this is perhaps required for evil aligned characters (don't have time to verify). Anyway when the stat is checked, the effective value is used. Therefore, unless the same trigger/command acts differently in a dlg file (as opposed to a bcs file), equipping the ring of human influence will effectively help you.
@Musigny, I can't check this myself because I have no ToB savegame, but I remember @Alesia_BH mentioning that Charisma had to be unmodified 16+, apart from the other criteria you mentioned.
@Blackraven Perhaps in a script during the final sequence. However in Balthazar's dialog file as provided by W.Weimer's ascension-weidu, I don't see such a requirement (well it's late for me, maybe one of my mistakes). You need to meet two requirements, one being a score based on your answers/reputation/alignment/wisdom/charisma - not necessarily all of them depending on your dialog branch selection. I will look at the original (Gaider's) version this weekend. I think that this dialog was bugged, it may be related.
I'd be interested in seeing your findings, Musigny. I'd be particularly interested in seeing in game test results.
My understanding of the rule is based on a) the Read Me and b) tests conducted by participants in the old Ascension solo challenge years ago.
The read me states: "Be of Good or Neutral alignment. Have a reputation greater than 18. Have a Wisdom greater than 15 (drink a potion for 18, having 19 is even better). Have a Charisma greater than 15. Pick the right dialogue options."
My experience and the experience of others has been consistent with the Read Me's rule, although it does have the air of a natural language oversimplification of an underlying formula.
The assertion that the check is on unmodified charisma came to me second hand at first. I confirmed it once in a casual test, although I have lingering doubts. Since I'm not a min-maxer, I've never felt the need to investigate thoroughly.
Let us know what you find. And again, tests to confirm your interpretation of the script would be appreciated.
Ok. I looked at the script and did some testing. I did find a path that let me recruit Balthazar with unremarkable base charisma and wisdom stats.
The character, Alisa, a jester, was neutral good. She had a reputation of 20. Her wisdom was 11. Her charisma was set to 10 with Near Infinity. She did not modify either stat with potions, spells or items.
You need 4 Convince Balthazar points to recruit him. Alisa collected 2 points from:
IF ~Alignment(Player1,MASK_GOOD)^M ReputationGT(Player1,18)~ THEN REPLY ~But I am not evil! I am a force of good and justice!~ // Convince +2,
She collected a third from:
SAY ~You mistake the path for the journey, my friend. Whatever paths you have taken since leaving Candlekeep, the journey has ended here as it was always meant to. Destiny masters us...we do not master it.~ // if you are not evil, Convince goes up 1
And a fourth from:
REPLY ~Yet another death added to your tally? And what then, once you kill her? Once you have all that power and it's yours alone...you think you're going to resist that?~ // // if you are GOOD and your reputation is 18 or above, Convince goes up 1
She choose the crucial line:
REPLY ~Join me, Balthazar. Let us fight Melissan together, instead of doing what she wants us to.~
And Balthazar agreed, promising to meet Alisa at the Throne.
So, yes: for good characters with lofty reputations, at least, remarkable charisma, unmodified or otherwise, is not necessary, it seems.
Whilst I fully agree on the necessity to confirm the script interpretations with real tests, what a script does not implement has no chance to occur during the play test
Let's shed some light on this script. I will be happy to confirm it with a game test but I no longer play/work with the non EE version of BG2. And I estimate I have already spent too much time on this topic. If people want to trust the aforementionned guide, be it right or wrong, so be it. All of the following is based on the balthazar's dialog script as found in W.Weimer's package.
In order to convince Balthazar to join you, you need to reach a certain score established during the dialog. strictly greater than 3 -> 4+. Basically there are two phases in the script (scorewise). Phase 1. you can score between -6 and +4 depending on you alignment, reputation and, obviously response selection. No charisma check involved.
Phase 2. In addition to an exit option (due to a response selection or a score already too low) you are offered 3 choices, repeated a second time. First round with three choices and second round with the remaining two. Each choice offers a set of responses and they allow to obtain a score modification from -2 to +2. EDIT: 0 (neutral) is excluded here, this is important.
Let's focus on the highest score (+2). In choice 3, this results from a dialog option with no extra checks. In choices 1 and 2, an extra condition is to have wisdom 19+ ! Again no charisma check involved.
Where does charisma come into play ? There are three occurences. One under choice #1, two under choice #2, none under choice #3. It grants you -1 or +1 depending on your charisma or charisma combined with either reputation or alignment.
The first conclusion is that the options involving charisma are not on the best path. However, even if you pick the right answer in choice 3, you still need to select something in either #1 or #2. Moreover, let's assume you get +2 from choice #3, obtaining at least +2 during phase 1 is not systematically granted and, in many cases it is still important to select a response allowing to gain +1 in one of the first two "choices". So let's look at the related requirements. Gain +1 in choice #1, one of those: - not evil and charisma 16+ - wisdom 16+ (you can gain +2 if wisdom 19+) - good or reputation 18+ Gain +1 in choice #2, one of those: - not evil and reputation 10+ and charisma 16+ - wisdom 15+ (you can gain +2 if wisdom 19+) - not evil and charisma 17+
Well, I hope there is no transcription errors. A high charisma is not mandatory, not even the best "option" and there are several paths not involving charisma checks but it is easy to understand why people saw it as statistically important during their tests. EDIT: noticeably if they cannot get a better selection, a charisma below 16 will make them lose a point, there is no neutral answer in "phase 2".
As regards the base versus effective stat checks, such commands in EE check the effective value (tested with both bcs and dlg files). I am confident this is the same behaviour in vanilla BG2-ToB but I haven't tested it at his point in time. It is also possible that a previous script negates the item effects.
I hope this helps. It looks like a Cleric/Illusionist gnome should invest on wisdom
EDIT (half a dozen !) - The set of dialog branches in what I call phase 1 and phase 2:
You still need to select the right answer and I don't quote them here.
PHASE1 I) Init - good and reputation 19+ (score +2) - not good and reputation 19+ (score +1) - good and reputation 18- (score 0) - not good and reputation 18- (score -1) - no condition (score -1) - no condition (score -2) - no condition (score -2) - evil and reputation 6- (score -3)
II) Transition - no condition (score 0) - no condition (score 0) - no condition (score +1) - no condition (score -1) - no condition (score -2)
PHASE 2 I) Variable/Choice WhatBecomesMelissan - evil or charisma 15- (score -1) / not evil and charisma 16+ (score +1) - precondition wisdom 9+: wisdom 15- (score -1) / wisdom 16-18 (score +1) / wisdom 19+ (score +2) - good or reputation 18+ (score +1) / not good and reputation 17- (score -1) - no condition (score -2) - no condition (score -1) - no condition -> fight
II) Variable/Choice DontHaveToDoThis - evil or reputation 9- or charisma 15- (score -1) / not evil and reputation 10+ and charisma 16+ (score +1) - precondition wisdom 10+: wisdom 14- (score -1) / wisdom 15-18 (score +1) / wisdom 19+ (score +2) - not evil and charisma 17+ (score +1) / evil or charisma 16- (score -1) - no condition (score -2) - no condition (score -1) - no condition -> fight
III) Variable/Choice Righteousness - no condition (score +2) - reputation 11+ (score +1) / reputation 10- (score -1) - no condition (score -2) - good or reputation 18+ (score +1) / not good and reputation 17- (score -1) - no condition -> fight
After half a dozen EDITS, I think I get it right : If you are good there are many paths. If you are neutral - mod or character created at ToB start - your requirements are high wisdom or high charisma or high reputation. if you are evil, unless you can use a device changing your alignment, you need to have a very high reputation. Having a high wisdom offers more opportunities but is not strictly required. From a roleplaying perspective you probably don't want Balthazar to fight for you anyway.
@Musigny, interesting, so you min-maxed your Blue much better than I did with my Dagny... Not that I mind. I usually avoid lowering any of the mental stats below 10, except if there's a good RP reason to do so. (Therefore I often roll for 92+ scores.) Thank you for looking into this.
Dagny, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist (1st SoA update)
Dagny has had very rough start in SoA, not at all promising. The good thing is that no permanent harm was done.
As I mentioned in my BG1 post, during Dagny's BG1 run I got more and more inclined to have her travel with a (probably caster-heavy) party in BG2. So in Irenicus' dungeon she teamed up with Imoen, Minsc and Jaheira, ignoring the fact that she hardly knew the latter two. This is her character record at the beginning of the game:
The sequencer was still memorized from BG1. I changed two things in Shadowkeeper: - I lowered her XP with 100k (which still didn't keep her from immediately gaining one level in each of her classes), and - I added 6 HPs when she found Murphy, her rabbit familiar, behind the painting that also contains the dagger +1 (and the golden pantaloons for those Charnames that unlike Dagny remember to bring them). In BG1 her familiar gave Dagny only 6 HPs, so I gave her the 6 extra HPs that a SoA familiar accounts for.
Dagny refused to answer the Golem's riddle. She had no siblings (except if there were more Bhaalspawn than she and Sarevok), and she had no idea what she would do. With great difficulty Minsc and Jaheira bested the Flesh Golems that they would have to face sooner or later.
We had only one opportunity to rest in the dungeon, so didn't do that yet, choosing instead to (partly) heal with potions. A combination of Invisibility and Sanctuary allowed Dagny to loot the library and the adjacent room, picking up a suit of Fallorain's plate mail +1, Semaj's blurring Cloak, some scrolls and healing potions, among other things. (I didn't allow the use of BGT Tweaks-imported BG1 items except for Semaj's Cloak and Koveras' upgraded Ring of Protection +2.)
The armor and the cloak made Jaheira noticeably more resilient, and the Otyugh and Duergar more manageable. Imoen disarmed most of the snares in the rooms north and southwest of the garden. Stoneskinned Dagny set off one trap that Imoen failed to disarm, without suffering any damage because I knew it was a physical damage trap.
We proceeded to the next level. With Yoshimo in their midst and accompanied by five summoned Skeletons, the companions, Hasted and PfE by Dagny, had no problems with the Mephit portals even though a Color Spray briefly confused Yoshi.
Aided by Dagny's Skeletons, the companions dealt with the Escaped Clone, Frennedan, and the Duergar in the smithy. Strangely we failed to pick up the Girdle of Bluntness. I discovered this when it was already too late. (I suspect that the character that had to grab it, had a full inventory without me registering it.) The companions wanted to kill Ulvaryl as well, but waited too long for the Shadow Thief wizard to badly injure the vampire: Ulvaryl prevailed and disappeared.
Rested and better equipped, the companions returned to the first level before they left the dungeon. They cleared the library and the next room, where Dagny blinded the Duergar mage before he went hostile, and where Ilych was slain.
Thus the way was paved to the Pocketplane of Air. There were some inconveniences, such as Dagny getting Stunned and others getting Blinded, but the collective firepower of the party was too much for the Mephits. Helping Malaaq made Jaheira and Dagny level up.
In the Circus, Kalah's hideout was difficult to reach due to hard-hitting Werewolves barring the stairs. Dagny cast Chaos on them, which caused them to head downstairs. An Insect Plague by Jaheira neutralized Kalah before Minsc slew him.
When the circus was restored to its old form, Aerie joined the party at Quayle's behest. She's a Chorister Bard:
The companions rested at the Den of the Seven Vales and did some shopping at Waukeen's Promenade, with Dagny buying the Reflection Shield for herself. She made the mistake of casting Friends in front of Galoomp, earning herself a first warning from the Cowled Wizards.
Our next stop was Gaelan Bayle's home. The rogue told the companions he could help them find Imoen for no less than 40k GP. Allies are expensive indeed in the city of coin. Brus showed us the Copper Coronet where new, cheaper alliances were made: Nalia (Swasbuckler 10 -> Mage 7) and Anomen (Fighter 7 -> Priest of Helm) joined the party; Minsc was thanked for his help in Irenicus' dungeon and left the party.
The new party of six was eager to set things straight in the Copper Coronet, but they had an unexpectedly hard time doing so. Normally, i.e. in the setups I'm used to, entering the area with the cells wil cause a guard to call a number of helpers: two or three archers and two mages. (With my rogues I like to insta-gib the guard so that no backup arrives, but I didn't try that with Yoshimo.) Initially these were indeed the foes the party had to deal with, and we had our hands full with that job. Anomen, Yoshi and Jaheira were all Held. Aerie countered with a Dispel Magic though.
Jaheira got Charmed shortly after, but Anomen then dispelled that condition with a Dispel Magic of his own and soon the party had the upper hand. At that point it seemed all was going swell, but then a first sign that we were mistaken presented itself, an archer attacking Dagny and Aerie from behind. He was Held by Dagny and dispatched by the duo.
Turned out there were somehow three groups of backup guards instead of one, each containing I think three archers and two mages. There was the group that we had been fighting in the hallway, a second group in front of the prison cells, and a third group back in the public area of the inn.
With the first group down, we were completely unsuspecting of any danger when we entered the area with the prison cells to heal and recover. Before they knew it Yoshimo and Jaheira were Held again, and this time we had no Dispel Magics available to release them. Dagny Slowed the enemy and cast Invisibility on her Held comrades to keep them out of harm's way. Anomen dealt some friendly-fireless AoE damage with a Holy Smite (also in hopes of blinding his foes).
Yoshi and Nalia, who was lacking memorized spells, retreated after they got injured. Anomen got Charmed. So Dagny was on her own. She went Invisible and waited for the Holds and the Charm to wear off.
When this happened, Jaheira retalliated with an Insect Plague that she had already started casting when she got Held, and Anomen summoned two Mountain Bears. These spells decided the battle in the party's favor. Most of the companions were injured though, and out of spells, which was why we decided to go back to Bernard to rest, again without expecting any hostile guards. This was when we ran into the third and final group. (Interestingly, the bouncers remained neutral.) Various problems presented themselves. Nalia and Yoshimo were in no condition to fight, so they tried to go upstairs to the room where previously a pair of Gloves of Pickpocketing had been secured. Aerie got Held, and being a low HP character required the party's help. Jaheira and Anomen engaged and killed the archers that were a threat to her. All this action distracted me a bit from Dagny - my usual fault when I play with parties - and I was kind of lucky to timely discover that her Stoneskins had been stripped and that she was suffering repeated blows from a hasted mage. The following image shows her status after she had quaffed an extra healing potion.
While running from the wizard she had to save vs a Charm, which she did. (The mages did not to attack Charmed Anomen, so I think a failed save wouldn't have been fatal necessarily). Eventually Anomen, Jaheira, Dagny and the Mountain Bears dispatched the enemy in physical combat.
Normally I don't describe this quest in much detail, but boy, six hasted Hold and Charm casting battle mages was almost more than the party could handle.
The Beastmaster was a piece of cake after that and after a rest. A Chaos from Dagny and a couple of Spooks made him and his pets very manageable.
Bernard sold Dagny a scroll of Invisibility 10' Radius that she wanted to copy into her spellbook to ensure safe area transitioning, but the Gnome had already learnt more than the maximum number of level 3 spells allowed by her intelligence, and wasn't willing to erase any spells without even knowing whether she'd successfully scribe Invisibility 10' Radius. Instead Dagny and Aerie, who both knew the lvl 2 spell Invisibility, cast that spell on their companions and themselves after another rest.
The six then traveled to the Bridge District where Stoneskin was expected to guarantee the party some easy XP in the Skinner quest. Still invisible, Dagny cast that spell at the area border, right in front of Lt Aegisfield. As she had already cast Friends out in the open, this triggered the arrival of three Cowled Enforcers with spells like ADHW, PW: Stun, Sphere of Chaos, the works...
This was not intended, and it was fortunate that this slip-up happened by the area border. The party left before even having been spoken to. I googled a bit to find out whether the Cowlies go away after a certain time, but found no answers. I could have asked here on the forums, but decided to investigate by myself. We made it back to the Copper Coronet, sold most of our possessions to Bernard, and then traveled to the Gov District to acquire a spell casting license. I hoped this would assuage the Cowled Enforcers. Dagny Hasted the party and turned Invisible like her companions. The party then returned to the Bridge District. In case the Cowled ones were still there, Haste and Invisibility would (hopefully) allow the party to rush past the hostile wizards before their invisibility was to be dispelled. Ideally Lt Aegisfield would then take on the wizards without them fighting back. However, we weren't fast enough to elude the wizards' detection magic. Yoshimo was then sacrificed so brave to engage the enemy so that the others could escape. He fell soon after.
The wizards removed his Haste, cast Time Stop and Chaos, and summoned a Mordy's Sword and an Efreeti. They also gated in a Bone Fiend that teleported without error toward the surviving party members, prompting them to leave the area on the southern end. A few rests later we returned to see if the Enforcers were still there. They were, and with them was a group of bandits (probably the Tactics ones that surprised Terra, my last Charname).
Leaving the area triggered the Eldarin ambush.
While at a safe distance from the ambushers, we read some interesting messages in the combat log: Lt Aegisfield was fighting the bandits.
I'd always been fond of the man, but knowing that he actually fought crime himself, rather than merely talking about it or hiring adventurers to do the dirty work, improved his rapport with me even further. A Cloudkill and an Insect Plague did much for the companions to overcome Eldarin and co.
Anomen with a Chaotic Commands cast on himself, slew the Slaver Wizard.
We waited for a while after Lt Aegisfield finished his last bandit, to see if he would direct his efforts toward the Cowled Enforcers, but the combat log showed no more action from him. This could mean two things: either he didn't fancy his chances against the Cowled Enforcers, or the Enforcers were gone. We went to see for ourselves and were most pleased that the latter was true.
Anomen reconnoitered the area to see if they had moved somewhere, but no. Lesson learned: after inadvertently antagonizing the Cowled ones, wait for a couple of days, and they should be gone
Not all was well btw. A band of initially invisible Muggers felled Nalia with backstabs.
Both Yoshimo and Nalia were raised at the Temple of Helm. The companions will get some rest now at the Five Flagons Inn. Yoshimo is going to leave the party so that Jan can join, but he will probably help with the Skinner Murder quest first. A thieving spree is high on the to-do list because we need better equipment if we want to survive much longer.
what a script does not implement has no chance to occur during the play test
That's true, of course.
(And I don't fault you for using a truism to evade the labor of testing. )
A high charisma is not mandatory...but it is easy to understand why people saw it as statistically important during their tests.
I suspect that the tests weren't systematic. My guess is that those involved had a sense of what they were going to find, based on the Read Me, and found exactly that. Empiricism, like script reading, can go awry. Never underestimate the power of pre-conceptions and laziness.
I hope this helps.
It will and does. It's good to have clarification on Balthazar's decision making process. It won't have much affect on my builds, since I'm not a min-maxer, but it's helpful to know nonetheless. Thanks!
@Alesia_BH I would like to play (and test) more but I am currently focussing on a mod upgrade and there is still a lot of work to do. I re-edited the post above: about 1) "low" Charisma 2) each choice in phase 2 leads to a score modification (cannot be 0). @Blackraven Blue is not representative of my characters. Moreover my characters do not benefit from the same refinements and attention given to yours. Btw I remember a dwarf of yours with very low charisma too. Back to Blue, knowing two types of spells makes her good for testing and I must admit I really enjoyed a playthrough started this winter in which I used her and the team to disable or soften the opponents and managed to have the familiar deal many of the killing blows.
Comments
Introducing Yi Grovana once more. This time, she's a Conjurer who will dual-class to a Fighter, of all things. The idea is that we're using a fighter who can resort to scrolls for problem encounters. Through great luck, when I was re-rolling for another version of her after dying to hobgoblins, I ended up with one of the two highest stat rolls I've ever gotten.
And after the circus? Dual-classed and with a 108 stat total.
I had great difficulty handling Chateau Irenicus. I tried multiple strategies, but always seemed to come short. Finally I decided to just stock up on invisibility spells, and sneak past anything and everything. A Minor Globe of Invulnerability kept Color Spray off of me in the Mephit Portal room, and as usual, I used an Oil of Speed to lure the Mephits through the door so I could shut it behind them and destroy the Mephit Portals undisturbed. I mostly just avoided everything else in the dungeon.
Right before leaving the dungeon, Yi dual-classed at level 9, so the extra XP boost after the next cutscene would apply to her new fighter levels, launching her to fighter level 6 right off the bat. She specializes in two-handed swords and short bows. As usual, our first target is Lilarcor.
Since a Potion of Freedom proved insufficient to stop Hold Person last time, I bought a Ring of Air Control, bankrupting Yi in the process. This prevents enemies from targeting you with single-target spells, so Hold Person won't even be cast for 10 rounds. That's not all it's good for, either: it lets us charm one of the hobgoblins, too.
I read somewhere recently that the rings of elemental control's charm abilities apply to all critters, and not just elementals. Unfortunately, it seems that the Ring of Air Control's charm ability does not recharge on resting. We'd have to recharge it at a store in order to use it again. After killing the hobgoblins, and taking the Kobold Shaman by surprise, Yi Grovana kites Quallo's Carrion Crawler buddy with a shortbow. We now have Lilarcor, and therefore immunity to charm and confusion. I overestimate the power of Lilarcor, however, and try to fight the two Myconids and the Myconid king right after getting Lily. Yi Grovana drinks all of her potions to stay alive during that fight--apparently -2 AC isn't enough to keep you safe from a Myconid King, at least not when you've got mage HP.
The Ring of Air Control also keeps us safe against the spellcasting Fanatic trying to burn Viconia. We end up chasing one of the Fanatics all the way to the authorities.
We visit the Umar Hills, but can't fight the Killer Mimic yet. Not without Arbane's Sword for the immunity to Mimic Glue. Instead, we just clear out most of the Temple Ruins. Yi Grovana can't take on Skeleton Warriors, since she's still too weak, so she has to sneak past them while invisible.
After fetching a scroll of Protection from Undead from Ribald (previous we didn't have enough money, thanks to buying the RoAC), we take on the Shade Lord. I'm starting to get tired of using that scroll to deal with the Shade Lord, but a Conjurer/Fighter like Yi isn't really equipped to handle that, even after recovering her mage spells.
We head to the Docks to seek out Mae'Var. Yi Grovana nearly dies. It happened so fast, I couldn't react.
We finally triggered the Suna Seni ambush, for which Yi had pre-buffed with the RoAC. Grovana drank an Oil of Speed, cast DUHM, and pummeled Suna Seni into oblivion.
Since she couldn't be targeted by spells, and had a spare Potion of Invisibility in case things went bad, Grovana decided to finish up the other enemies. With 3 APR and Lilarcor, she was able to wear down the cleric, the fighters, and the thief. Eldarin came last, having run out of arrows, draining the few potions we had gathered since the disaster with the Myconid King. The enemy mage, meanwhile, had been hiding out to the southwest. With the mage Mirror Image expired, it only took a few plucks from Yi Grovana's bow to bring her down.
While fetching the necklace from the Talos temple for Mae'Var, I made sure that Yi Grovana was invisible before she emerged from the sewers, at nightfall. This meant she could avoid the bandits who spawn right in front of the Temple of Talos at night (a feature of the Tactics mod, I believe). After nicking the necklace, she found a safe place to rest, where the bandits would not disturb her.
Soon, Yi Grovana recovered her mage levels, and ditched her plate mail in favor of a Shield spell.
Then, finally, the Renfeld quest arrived. Yi Grovana had again pre-buffed with Improved Invisibility before entering the next area, which allowed her to set up an impressive number of buffs before taking on the low-level enemies guarding poor Renfeld.
MGOI, MSD, Stoneskin, Blur, and Shield. Lots more defense than she needed, when the only enemy mage died in two hits (!) from Minute Meteors.
I will have a look at your package tomorrow.
Btw you don't have to publish one package per kit...
For Ray-Ray himself, Grovana pre-buffed with MSD, MGOI, Blur, and Stoneskin, and brought out Kitty on the first round. We hit Ray-Ray with a double Acid Arrow Minor Sequencer and a Web Tangle right afterward. Ray-Ray made his save against Web Tangle, and began casting an Abjuration spell. I assumed it to be Remove Magic, so I had Kitty run away while Grovana prepared to finish off Ray-Ray with a Cone of Cold.
Turns out that Abjuration spell was Symbol: Fear.
I had neglected to pre-buff with Resist Fear on the grounds that I would cast it after Ray-Ray used his Remove Magic spell on me, which I normally remembered as SCS2 mages' standard initial spell. Now both Kitty and Yi are panicking.
But Ray-Ray is still suffering damage from Acid Arrow. After Ruby Ray of Reversal takes down Yi's Minor Spell Deflection, and Sunfire kills Kitty but leaves Grovana intact, Ray-Ray drops down to Near Death. Grovana is disabled, but Ray-Ray is almost dead.
Then I realize it's the fourth round. Acid Arrow has run out, and Ray-Ray is clinging to life. I hope he wastes a round drinking a potion, but he's too smart for that.
He finishes the job with a Finger of Death. Yi Grovana dies once again.
It probably could have been avoided had I pre-buffed with Remove Fear, and kept a Potion of Clarity on hand to replace it after Remove Magic. That way, Yi Grovana's Minor Spell Deflection spells could help her tank Ray-Ray's remaining single-target spells. Still, after failing on two separate occasions to survive in an insane solo poverty with a Conjurer/Fighter dual-class, and several more failed solo no-reload SCS2 runs with mages dualed to fighters, I'm starting to think that future Mage->Fighter runs are not going to succeed.
I let you read the comments in the tp2 file
and add the resources files under their directories (read the tp2 file - hopefully self-explanatory)
I just kept the druid clab 2da file in the tree under PhaseSpiderKit/druid.
From there I think you can easily add other kits for other classes.
File edited to go back to a CRLF line end in the tp2. Sorry !
I forgot to reset the windows end of line style so here is the update:
I based my recent work on the first .zip file you attached today, with the TP2 file without line breaks. I just saw your updated .zip file, with line breaks in the TP2 file, but the TP2 file I've got working now has line breaks and still has all your comments in it, since I wasn't sure what I could delete of your comments without causing problems. I'll take my current file, without line breaks, and use it to update the TP2 file with line breaks so I'll have a clean copy with the right information.
Attached is the full package I've got working now, but the TP2 file is limited to granting the fighter and druid kits. The folder is organized different from yours, because there are some new things we may need to add. The TP2 file has been updated to reflect the new folders; there's only one folder for all the spell, item, and creature files, and one folder for the CLAB files.
I've fixed some of the problems you pointed out in the TP2 file:
1: You pointed out my files would overwrite Infravision and Detect Evil. That's intentional. I made duplicate copies of Infravision and the cleric version of Detect Evil so that players could cast the Phase Spider's Dimension Door ability via a hotkey. I've moved them to separate folders so we can make a separate component in the TP2 file asking if they want to replace those two spells with a level 1 Dimension Door spell--they won't get automatically copied along with everything else. If the player doesn't want to replace those things, he or she can just use the innate ability Dimension Door, but that's a little less convenient. All versions of Dimension Door restore themselves, so the player can cast them indefinitely.
I also moved all the CLAB files into their own folder, and the "resfiles" folder outside of the "common" folder. I find it easier that way. Currently, the "druid," "fighter," and "common" folder are unused. I'll probably delete them later.
2: You pointed out the naming, the recurring PHASE name in the override files. Those files reference each other, as do the CLAB files, and it would take a fair amount of time to fix it up. I'll do that part later, before release.
3: I didn't add any race restrictions because the spiders are already supposed to comprise their own race, of sorts. Restricting it to humans would also prevent people from getting, say, a gnome's save bonuses, if they wanted them. So, a half-human spider or a half-gnome spider would both be acceptable. I considered trying to set the player's race to spider, but I was worried that would cause unintended problems later on. Hence the lack of race restrictions.
4: You suggested using the name PSKfight instead of Phase Spider Fighter, but I'm not sure why. I thought the latter would be fine.
5: You pointed out the kit had no ability requirements. I added them in. I also adjusted them to account for the spiders' ability score penalties. Spiders now receive -3 to CHA instead of half CHA, so the minimum CHA for spider druids is now 12 instead of 15.
6: You also noted that the kit was using the Avenger kit's item restrictions. At the time, I just did that to make sure the spider druid kit could use armor (unlike the Shapeshifter). I've decided to give all the spider kits the Archer kit's item usability flag instead. Now, they are all restricted from wearing heavier than leather armor, as I had intended earlier on.
I also found a way to implement the other item restrictions, by adding a non-removable item to the boots item slot, and adding opcode 180 to prevent the spiders from wearing helmets, gloves, or gauntlets (but this only applies to vanilla items). They can still use ioun stones and bracers, as intended.
Now there are only a few things left to do.
First, I still don't actually know how to create new class sections. I tried adding a new one based on your extra section for the druid kit, but failed. I created a BARDBEGIN @3 section for the bard spider kit; updated the CLABPHDR to CLABPHBA; updated all the relevant stats so it has the right usability flags and everything; and I updated the setup TRA file (the English one, anyway) to include a line saying "@3 = ~Phase Spider Bard Kit~". I don't know what I'm missing. What else is needed to add a new class section besides BARDBEGIN @X and an update to the TRA file with @X?
Second, I think we have a problem with the Monk kit. I don't think you can choose a separate kit for a monk--there's only one Monk kit, with the CLABMO01.2da. I could replace the monk kit, but that would turn Balthazar and all the ToB monks into spiders. I put the monk's fist item files and its CLAB.2da into a separate folder so they wouldn't be copied with the other files.
Third, the mage kits. I don't see a CLAB file for any of the mages, so I'm not sure if it would be possible to get a single-classed Phase Spider mage, unless the player used Shadowkeeper. It's also my understanding that the mage kits are already filled to the maximum, and replacing any of them would grant both the extra mage spells, as well as the spell restrictions, to any spider mage kit.
I really appreciate all the work you've done, particularly considering I never even asked. I have no idea how long it would have taken me to figure all this out on my own, even with the tutorials.
The Phase Spider kits are almost out!
I think that the project is fun.
Quickly:
-You can delete the comments, they have no influence on the code.
-kit name : internally you named them clabsomething, as you know clab stands for class ability in the game and (by essence) every kit has a clab****.2da file associated to it but the internal name of the kit as seen in the kitlist or kit.ids for instance is rather different. My point is that reading "clab" as a kit name prefix will not directly refer to semiticgod's work or phase spider etc... (you do need a class ability file for a kit and you can name it clab**** if you want to - that's a different matter. And it is also different from the name of your kit as seen by the player defined by one of the SAY line at the end of the ADD_KIT block).
-Yes you can more or less copy/paste a BEGIN section (not BARDBEGIN) for a new kit. If the next one is BEGIN @3 etc... you have to add a @3 = "string" in one of the loaded tra files and in that case the setup.tra. The french section is there just for the example, you can remove it (See LANGUAGE). Once all your text is ready, people will just have to translate the tra file line by line. Get someone knowledgeable about the FR lore to help you translate your strings (I am not really that guy).
- end of line, that's a matter of ms to change it with a good text editor, just let me know if you have a problem.
- item restriction - you can also do the opposite - you can make sure this can be used by a particular kit and prohibited for all other class/kit, just for your info.
-I think it is wise to not change the "general", race and class of charname even though you change the animation and heavily kit the protagonist.
- Not sure I understand your point about monks and mages class abilities. I will see your point next week when I am back.
@semiticgod, best of luck with Yi Grovana.
Unfortunately my run with Dapper had to end after I re-installed Rogue Rebalancing because Skald song wasn't working. This involved an automoatic re-install of Item Randomisation, which meant that certain items would be gone from the game and others would be duplicated. (Note that even after re-installing, Skald song wasn't working as it was supposed to.) Dapper and friends shall get a second chance, but I did a new, much simpler install of the game that lends itself better to solo play. It consists of mostly tactical enhancements and cosmetic changes, a number of tweaks, but almost no items, kits or quests. I've attached my weidu log. I tested it with:
Terra, LN Gnome Cleric/Thief, 1st and final BG1 report
It was not the first time I get an extraordinary roll on a Gnome; still I was amazed
Terra quested to level 5/5, and 20 rep, without any incident except for the first area transition (to High Hedge area), which saw a concentration lapse on my part nearly end her run.
Easter eggs like the Ring of Wizardry, the Ankheg Armor, and the Ring of Protection +1 south of FAI were all shamelessly collected and used to purchase several valuable items once Terra enjoyed 20 CHA (Foreshadow's ring + Algernon's cloak) and 20 rep. Amongst these items were the Shadow Armor, Wand of the Heavens, Aule's Staff, Sandthief's Ring, Claw of Kazgaroth and scrolls and potions.
Level 6/6 was (barely) reached after a visit to Mutamin's garden where she would execute her most damaging backstab:
She then traveled to the Nashkel Mines to pursue the plot of her life story. Overwhelming numbers of Kobolds made her a bit nervous,
Btw at Durlag's Battle Horrors were dealt with using the Wand of the Heavens, with Terra's backstabs being too unreliable or my patience with them too limited. She decided to recharge the wand after that, and was quite surprised that she had to pay 9,000 GP and would get no less than 100 charges. (It also left her penniless at that point.) Skeletons finished off the Tower's Basilisks.
Terra rushed through the Wood of Sharp Teeth, and infiltrated the Bandit Camp via Raiken. She was well prepared for a missile onslaught with the Cloak of Deflection, Boots of Avoidance, Claw of Kazgaroth, Girdle of Piercing, and natural 18 Dex, but she nevertheless buffed with a potion of defense, and she also applied an oil of speed and cast DUHM before enterering Tazok's tent. Venkt required two backstabs.
In Cloakwood, the Cloak of Non-Detection was picked up and Spiders were slain to see Terra's final level-up as a Cleric (lvl 7). Other denizens of the forest never knew of her presence (except for waylaying Giant Spiders that she survived with freedom potions), until the Mines loomed before her.
Before battle had stared Kysus was taken out of the equation with a convenient critical:
Inside the mines Terra's stealth and extreme speed (boots + oil) allowed her to reach Davaeorn with her magic protection still intact. The wizard failed to remove her buffs, and thus didn't really form a threat. While his short-duration buffs were still active, Terra focused on his Battle Horrors, taking them down with backstabs and earning her a last BG1 level-up as a Thief (lvl 8).
In Baldur's Gate Terra's pace slackened a little as she did some sidequests, such as:
- the thieving quests (guild and Brevlik - with Thief Charnames, which is more often than not, I almost always do those quests, the guild feels like a BG1 class stronghold and I like Narlen Darkwalk),
- Varci,
- Ragefast/Ramazith.
Marek and Lothander were avoided; Chanthalas Ulbright's Wisdom tome pickpocketed (as was the Cloak of Balduran). The Necklace of Missiles was used against the Ogre Mage and its Carrion pets in the sewers.
In and below Candlekeep Terra avoided any battles she could, fighting only a number of Phase Spiders and two Basilisks. The treasure chests were duly looted.
Interestingly, Terra, a loner up till then, left Candlekeep with her old friend Imoen (lvl 9 Thief -> Mage), whose help I thought might be handy against the Greater Doppelgangers at the Ducal Palace. The two bought and collected some equipment for Imoen: Returning Frost Dart +1, Robe of the Good Archmagi, Quarterstaff +1, Deep Red Ioun Stone, Golden Girdle, and Ring of Wizardry (from Sunin), and Gauntlets of Weapon Skill from Larze.
Even without his girl Krystin, who didn't follow Terra back to the entrance of the Undercellars, Slythe was tricky thanks to his many invisibility potions. Terra made him waste those on her summons (Animals, Skeletons), and was reasonably successful with backstabs and her Detect Illusions ability. A Magic Missile by Imoen felled the assassin.
They rested and then went to the Ducal Palace. Terra had already started preparations, with the summoning of a first Skeleton, when Imoen discovered she hadn't memorized Haste (an important reason for taking her along in the first place) nor did she possess a Haste scroll. The two quickly left to buy one such scroll at the Sorcerous Sundries and returned. Three more Skeletons followed and, acouple of buffs later because of shorter spell duration, a Giant Spider as per Spider Spawn. Terra quaffed the violet potion, restored CON with a fortitude potion and buffed DEX with agility and mind focusing potions. Imoen took two of the latter as well. Other buffs included potions of power and magic shielding, PfE 10' Radius and DUHM. Terra managed to set only one of her two snares (at 95 Set Traps), Imoen Hasted the summons.
My strategy usually involves arrows of dispelling but that was not an option for the Cleric/Thief and Mage duo (Imoen hadn't regained her Thief levels yet), so I had Imoen cast Remove Magic, and later Slow, while the hasted summons and Terra, who hit like a truck with her 25 STR and who had poisoned her staff with a vial of Rogue Rebalancing poison, did the dirty work. This strategy worked quite well.
The two girls went straight after Sarevok, using stealh/invisibility to ignore monsters, Iron Throne mercenaries, and Tamoko. I chose not to engage Sarevok right away due to Terra and Imoen's inability to dispel his Haste (meaning that the ladies would have to run around too much for my liking while dealing with Sarevok's subordinates). Angelo was the first of Sarevok's minions to show himself, but he vanished when Flamestruck a few times. Not much later, Semaj removed all of Terra's buffs and protections and Tazok exectuted a successful sneak attack. He too disappeared when Terra quaffed an invisibility potion to rebuff and to give Tazok a dose of his own medicine.
All in all not the most impressive run perhaps, what with the wand recharge, attacking the likes of Mutamin and Kysus while they were still blue-circled, recruitment of Imoen for the Ducal Palace fight, and engaging Sarevok's men one after the other. But at least Terra made it, which was something I wanted after a series of premature endings. There were no narrow escapes except for the Wild Dogs mentioned in the 2nd paragraph and Terra took very little damage in the entire run. Hope she survives Irenicus' hellish dungeon, so that finally some fun could be had in Amn
Terra survived Irenicus' Dungeon, avoiding Ilych and his fellows in the library and the next room on the first level, and using buffs and Skeletons to deal with the Mephits on the second level.
The Circus was successfully restored, and Hendak installed as the new Copper Coronet manager.
She:
- quaffed an oil of speed to cancel out that effect,
- failed to hide in shadows in the Balthis Estate,
- made it back to the area border at very low health, due to the bandits' ranged hits, Flame Arrows, Flamestrikes and backstabs,
-got Horrored for one second but somehow overcame her panic, and saved vs a Mental Domination,
- managed to flee the area toward Waukeen's Promenade, but got waylaid on her way there.
With a muddy aura, she couldn't quaff any extra healing potions to survive the slavers' first ranged hits.
What brutal game this is. If only I'd known about those bandits...
Most outdoor city maps, the graveyard and the temple district being two exceptions for sure, have a few "traps" already set in the vanilla game. For instance the reputation trap (bad rep guys are chased by paladins and cowled enforcers) and the vampire trap (all the vampires vs shadow thieves mini sequences), Gith spawn etc. One particular trap is the bodhi trap sequence left empty in the vanilla game.
I think Unfiinished Business properly uses this script to add a couple of encounters (Bodhi and Arkanis IIRC, really not sure). G.Blucher/W.Weimer use this script slot to add three types of enemies depending on your XP. Below 1M XP you are going to fight 5 bandits. There is a double timer to control the bandit presence/respawn but these are short timers. The fact that Aegisfield attacks them is a vanilla behaviour, he is supposed to attack every enemy (of you) if he is not himself your enemy.
I am not a big fan of this bodhitrp modification.
The groups:
level 7-9 : 5 "bandits" (2 fighters, thief, cleric, mage) if protagonist <= 1M XP
level 7-8 : 2 fighters + 1 fighter/mage + 1 cleric + 1 assassin + 1 necromancer if protagonist between 1 and 2m XP
level 14-18 : fighter, berserker, wizard slayer, shadow druid(!), bounty hunter, conjurer if protagonist >= 2M XP
The same creatures are used as encounters on the intermediate city maps when you travel between the athkatlan worldmap locations. The conditions are basically the same with a big difference, you may still randomly face the weakest opponents, not necessarily the toughest foes.
However you will meet the vanilla encounters first (Suna Seni, Renfeld etc...)
Not sure they use SCS as an AI because all of them (1 exception for the whole component IIRC) come with (edit #2) custom combat scripts. I may change it as an option in the BG2EE version if there is a request.
Btw I think SCS scripts applied in my case, as I installed SCS after the Tactics components.
I believe that installing SCS after this type of mod is necessary but not always sufficient to get the SCS general AI.
For instance the gbene02*.cre files have two scripts: override gbgo1.bcs (self-destruction after a certain timer expiration) and gbene02*.bcs as a class script AI, nothing more.
SCS has to overwrite at least one of the two to take precedence (or destroy this class script)
if * = a,b,c,d,e the script starts with the following (decompiled) lines
IF
Global("GB_DoOnce","LOCALS",0)
!GlobalTimerNotExpired("GB_SpellPrep","LOCALS")
THEN
RESPONSE #100
SetGlobalTimer("GB_SpellPrep","LOCALS",2880)
SetGlobal("GB_DoOnce","LOCALS",1)
END
IF
Global("GB_DoOnce","LOCALS",1)
!GlobalTimerNotExpired("GB_SpellPrep","LOCALS")
THEN
RESPONSE #100
SetGlobalTimer("GB_SpellPrep","LOCALS",2880)
Rest()
END
IF
False()
HPPercentLT(Myself,50)
TookDamage()
!See([PC])
OR(2)
HPPercentLT(Myself,25)
!StateCheck(Myself,STATE_BLIND)
THEN
RESPONSE #100
DisplayStringHead(Myself,22589) // Bah! This is what I get for dealing with rabble!
AddexperienceParty(500)
ApplySpell(Myself,SWOOSH_GONE) // SPIN671.SPL (Teleport)
EscapeArea()
END
IF
HPPercentLT(Myself,75)
HasItem("POTN55",Myself) // Potion of Superior Healing
!Detect([PC])
THEN
RESPONSE #100
ActionOverride(Myself,UseItem("POTN55",Myself)) // Potion of Superior Healing
DisplayStringHead(Myself,46150) // *quaffs a potion*
SetGlobalTimer("GB_CastNAttack","LOCALS",6)
END
or, as a sample, you can paste/send me gbene02e.cre (and optionally gbgo1.bcs + gbene02e.bcs) and I may have a look at it.
More annoying: the mod adds a block to provide an equivalent to the bad reputation trap, this time to hunt you if your rep is at least 18. In the little group there is a priest and he's the only mod creature using a vanilla script (in W.Weimer's package). SCS detects this script presence and replaces it with its own much more developed flavour. Unfortunately it also swaps the last two script positions. This is probably justified by the fact that nothing can be executed after the SCS script (it always has a triggering block). However in that case this little modification is counter-productive as the mod script which takes a higher precedence is also built with an always matching block. As a result I think the SCS combat script is never executed and I bet this case is not unique.
A mod user's life is a hard life
Looking at this kind of things also helps to check my own modifications so that's not really an additional job. A good integration with Stratagems (or at least a well documented co-existence) is one of my objective.
I keep on alternating between Gnome Cleric/Thieves and Cleric/Illusionists. After Terra's misadventure with the Tactics bandits in the Athkatla Bridge District, it was time for Dagny.
My first attempt saw Dagny travel with Imoen, and contemplate recruiting more companions. The current one on the other hand is a strict solo run (of BG1 at least).
Preparation
Dagny traveled via High Hedge to Beregost to slay four Huge Spiders, appease Marl, receive a Ring of Protection +1 from Mirianne, and give Firebead Elvenhair a book. She then traveled north to the FAI, killing a Rogue Ogre on her way, and returned Joia's flamedance ring to its owner, brought Landrin her belongings from Beregost, and slew Tarnesh after Silencing him. In Ankheg-ridden lands Further north, she stripped almost naked near the monsters' lair so that a DUHM would allow her to haul back Brun's son and some treasure. In the vicinity, she retrieved a bowl from three murderous fishermen for a girl named Tenya.
The Gnome then headed south again, to help Thalantyr restore Melicamp, but the wizard failed. Charleston Nib and Captain Brage were grateful sources of XP, as were Greywolf and Prism. It was a good thing though that Blindness lasts 10 turns, because Dagny took ages in felling the aforementioned bounty hunter. Neira was next, slain after a successful Hold Person.
Dagny found Bassilus in the Red Canyons. She successfully Silenced and Held him, but as with Greywolf, took a very long in finishing the priest. She had to rely on Blindness again when the Hold effect wore off and a second Hold Person was saved against.
Skeletons that had recently become available, helped Dagny overcome Gnarl and Hairtooth, and pave the way toward the CHA tome.
Friends (the spell) and a stellar reputation enabled Dagny to purchase the Robe of the Neutral Archmagi, a number of scrolls she would scribe using some of Gellana's potions to concentrate, a Cloak of Deflection, and a Helmet of Charm Protection. A rabbit familiar named Murphy, disarmed a number of traps in Black Alaric's treasure cave, allowing Dagny to loot the place and invest the proceeds in a Wands of Heavens and Fire (i.e. a second one) and a Greenstone Amulet. (I reduced Dagny's HP increase to 6 in Shadowkeeper after Murphy had been summoned). Ardouine and the Worgs, Mutamin and his Basilisks, and (some) Ankhegs allowed to reach lvl 6/6. Korax and Skeletons did all the work in Mutamin's garden,
Nashkel Mines; Bounty hunters
The Find Traps priest spell, Murphy's disarm traps skill, and Wand of Fire blasts, helped Dagny reach Mulahey's lair.
The Undead tombs were raided under Sanctuary. My usual Nimbul strategy (leaving him to the guards so he won't quaff his invisibility potions) failed when he panicked and entered the Nashkel Inn. Dagny barely escaped a surprise Stinking Cloud and had to rely on a Minor Spell Deflection to safeguard her from a Horror before she could finish the assassin.
Lamalha & Co. ambushe Dagny in Beregost after she had restedat Feldepost's. She separated the bounty hunters after she suffered a painful backstab from Maneira.
Bandit Camp
Dagny infiltrated via Raiken, befriended Tazok, took some loot, and entered Tazok's tent Sanctuaried. There she buffed with potion of defense + oil of speed (and according to a portrait icon, also something that protects against fear, don't remember this though). She paralyzed Venkt with a Wand of Paralyzation she had found in Black Alaric's cave, and fried most of the others with her Wand of Fire. A few surviving bandits, including Venkt, were taken out in melee combat or with sling bullets.
Cloakwood
After some shopping for potions, Dagny traveled to Cloakwood. Other then looting Centeol's den under Sanctuary the Gnome didn't do anything to make her presence noted, which was easy with three Invisibilities memorized.
At the mine entrance, Drasus and Co. gave Dagny a nasty surprise when they came to the aid of two guards she was scorching with her wand.
Dagny didn't rest because she didnt have many anti-magic potions at her disposal. She decided to rush through the mines invisibly (stopping only to arrange the miners' escape), straight to Davaeorn. The Battle Horrors were pretty much unkillable, immune to the Wand of Fire's fire damage, and requiring criticals to be hurt.
Baldur's Gate
Dagny reached the city in good order. She helped Varci Roaringhorn for the Shield of the Falling Stars, secured the Helm of Balduran and the Stat increasing tomes. Ramazith, Jalantha and Marek were all paralyzed. Resar was slain for his scroll of Fireshield Blue. He kept using a Wand of Paralyzation, even though Dagny had swigged a potion of freedom. Dagny took quite some damage due to magic damage.
The Wand of Fire was used against the Ogre Mage and his Carrion Crawlers in the sewers, and the Silvershield Estate was looted with Knocks, all for the higher good of buying scrolls and potions and managing reputation for the Divine Wrath Bhaalpower.
In the Iron Throne building Dagny was only interested in Alai, as he carried a coveted Minor Sequencer scroll. Thankfully, after two Fireballs thrown at the acolytes, Alai followed the Gnome downstairs together with Aasim and Gardush. The others remained upstairs. She paralyzed and slew Aasim, scorched Genthore to death, and protected against Alai's spells with a potion, battled the latter in melee.
Candlekeep
No battles were done here, but Dagny stole all the scrolls she could find in the library, and buffed against the damage the traps in the catacombs would do and looted the chests with Knock spells.
After some deliberation Dagny returned to the Cloakwood, where she protected herself against magic using a green scroll, and used her wands (Fire, Paralyzation) to kill Genthore, Rezdan, and - her true target - Kysus. The reason: I was beginning to feel enthusiastic about making Dagny form an arcane-heavy crew in BG2, and Kysus had a scroll of Fireshield Red. The scroll was secured,
Endgame
In the Undercellars Krystin removed some of Dagny's buffs, but previously cast Skeletons soon distracted the mage, allowing Dagny to spirit Slythe away. Dagny was PfEvil, Blurred, Mirror Imaged, Stoneskinned, and buffed with Holy Power and DUHM she stood her ground in melee combat. With the help of a few Wand of Fire scorchers, she felled the rogue.
Prior to enaging the Greater Doppelgangers at the Ducal Palace, Dagny buffed in accordance with what has become a standard procedure to me: violet potion; fortitude and agility and mind focusing to restore and buff CON and DEX; defense, power, magic protection. Four Skeletons and a Wand of Monster Summoning Dire Wolf were summoned, Protected from Evil, and Hasted. Most of the Doppelgangers were Slowed, after which Belt, the Flaming Fist and Dagny and her entourage were too much for the Doppelgangers to handle.
As usual I had my character head straight after Sarevok (even though that means several spell slots without memorized spells). Inside Sarevok's sanctum, the Wand of Monster Summoning was depleted to keep Angelo busy while his buffs had to expire, and to make him waste his most dangerous spells. A combination of melee attacks and scorchers did him in eventually.
Here are Dagny's character record and inventory screen, shortly before she traveled to Amn on a commision for Duke Belt.
I prepared for a SoA run with Imoen by recruiting her, dualing her as an Adventurer 7 -> Mage, and having her learn all the spells Dagny had or could buy in Baldur's Gate and Ulgoth's Beard. On the downside, I forgot to pick up both the Claw of Kazgaroth and the Golden Pantaloons.
You know there was some min-maxing involved in Dagny's character creation: 13 CHA + 1 from BG1 tome + 1 from Machine of Lum the Mad + 1 from Hell Trials would give Dagny 16 CHA (unbuffed). This is the minimum for Ascension Balthazar to be amenable to join Dagny against Mel in the final fight. Of course this all extremely speculative at this stage, but I reckon it's good to keep one's options open
I cannot investigate the full set of ascension scripts but if Balthazar's action or decision is solely based on his dialog then having charname charisma stat greater than 16 (or 17 depending on the test) is not an absolute requirement to convince Balthazar to join you IIRC. Alignment, Reputation, Dialog choices have a bigger influence, Wisdom too. This being said this is perhaps required for evil aligned characters (don't have time to verify).
Anyway when the stat is checked, the effective value is used. Therefore, unless the same trigger/command acts differently in a dlg file (as opposed to a bcs file), equipping the ring of human influence will effectively help you.
Perhaps in a script during the final sequence.
However in Balthazar's dialog file as provided by W.Weimer's ascension-weidu, I don't see such a requirement (well it's late for me, maybe one of my mistakes).
You need to meet two requirements, one being a score based on your answers/reputation/alignment/wisdom/charisma - not necessarily all of them depending on your dialog branch selection.
I will look at the original (Gaider's) version this weekend. I think that this dialog was bugged, it may be related.
My understanding of the rule is based on a) the Read Me and b) tests conducted by participants in the old Ascension solo challenge years ago.
The read me states: "Be of Good or Neutral alignment. Have a reputation greater than 18. Have a Wisdom greater than 15 (drink a potion for 18, having 19 is even better). Have a Charisma greater than 15. Pick the right dialogue options."
My experience and the experience of others has been consistent with the Read Me's rule, although it does have the air of a natural language oversimplification of an underlying formula.
The assertion that the check is on unmodified charisma came to me second hand at first. I confirmed it once in a casual test, although I have lingering doubts. Since I'm not a min-maxer, I've never felt the need to investigate thoroughly.
Let us know what you find. And again, tests to confirm your interpretation of the script would be appreciated.
Best,
A.
The character, Alisa, a jester, was neutral good. She had a reputation of 20. Her wisdom was 11. Her charisma was set to 10 with Near Infinity. She did not modify either stat with potions, spells or items.
You need 4 Convince Balthazar points to recruit him. Alisa collected 2 points from:
IF ~Alignment(Player1,MASK_GOOD)^M
ReputationGT(Player1,18)~ THEN REPLY ~But I am not evil! I am a force of
good and justice!~ // Convince +2,
She collected a third from:
SAY ~You mistake the path for the journey, my friend. Whatever paths you have taken since leaving Candlekeep, the journey has ended here as it was always meant to. Destiny masters us...we do not master it.~
// if you are not evil, Convince goes up 1
And a fourth from:
REPLY ~Yet another death added to your tally? And what then, once you kill her? Once you have all that power and it's yours alone...you think you're going to resist that?~ //
// if you are GOOD and your reputation is 18 or above, Convince goes up 1
She choose the crucial line:
REPLY ~Join me, Balthazar. Let us fight Melissan together, instead of doing what she wants us to.~
And Balthazar agreed, promising to meet Alisa at the Throne.
So, yes: for good characters with lofty reputations, at least, remarkable charisma, unmodified or otherwise, is not necessary, it seems.
Best,
A.
Let's shed some light on this script. I will be happy to confirm it with a game test but I no longer play/work with the non EE version of BG2. And I estimate I have already spent too much time on this topic. If people want to trust the aforementionned guide, be it right or wrong, so be it.
All of the following is based on the balthazar's dialog script as found in W.Weimer's package.
In order to convince Balthazar to join you, you need to reach a certain score established during the dialog.
strictly greater than 3 -> 4+. Basically there are two phases in the script (scorewise).
Phase 1.
you can score between -6 and +4 depending on you alignment, reputation and, obviously response selection.
No charisma check involved.
Phase 2.
In addition to an exit option (due to a response selection or a score already too low) you are offered 3 choices, repeated a second time. First round with three choices and second round with the remaining two.
Each choice offers a set of responses and they allow to obtain a score modification from -2 to +2.
EDIT: 0 (neutral) is excluded here, this is important.
Let's focus on the highest score (+2).
In choice 3, this results from a dialog option with no extra checks.
In choices 1 and 2, an extra condition is to have wisdom 19+ !
Again no charisma check involved.
Where does charisma come into play ?
There are three occurences.
One under choice #1, two under choice #2, none under choice #3.
It grants you -1 or +1 depending on your charisma or charisma combined with either reputation or alignment.
The first conclusion is that the options involving charisma are not on the best path.
However, even if you pick the right answer in choice 3, you still need to select something in either #1 or #2.
Moreover, let's assume you get +2 from choice #3, obtaining at least +2 during phase 1 is not systematically granted and, in many cases it is still important to select a response allowing to gain +1 in one of the first two "choices". So let's look at the related requirements.
Gain +1 in choice #1, one of those:
- not evil and charisma 16+
- wisdom 16+ (you can gain +2 if wisdom 19+)
- good or reputation 18+
Gain +1 in choice #2, one of those:
- not evil and reputation 10+ and charisma 16+
- wisdom 15+ (you can gain +2 if wisdom 19+)
- not evil and charisma 17+
Well, I hope there is no transcription errors. A high charisma is not mandatory, not even the best "option" and there are several paths not involving charisma checks but it is easy to understand why people saw it as statistically important during their tests.
EDIT: noticeably if they cannot get a better selection, a charisma below 16 will make them lose a point, there is no neutral answer in "phase 2".
As regards the base versus effective stat checks, such commands in EE check the effective value (tested with both bcs and dlg files). I am confident this is the same behaviour in vanilla BG2-ToB but I haven't tested it at his point in time. It is also possible that a previous script negates the item effects.
I hope this helps.
It looks like a Cleric/Illusionist gnome should invest on wisdom
EDIT (half a dozen !) - The set of dialog branches in what I call phase 1 and phase 2:
You still need to select the right answer and I don't quote them here.
PHASE1
I) Init
- good and reputation 19+ (score +2)
- not good and reputation 19+ (score +1)
- good and reputation 18- (score 0)
- not good and reputation 18- (score -1)
- no condition (score -1)
- no condition (score -2)
- no condition (score -2)
- evil and reputation 6- (score -3)
II) Transition
- no condition (score 0)
- no condition (score 0)
- no condition (score +1)
- no condition (score -1)
- no condition (score -2)
III) Systematic
- not evil (score +1) / evil (score -1)
PHASE 2
I) Variable/Choice WhatBecomesMelissan
- evil or charisma 15- (score -1) / not evil and charisma 16+ (score +1)
- precondition wisdom 9+: wisdom 15- (score -1) / wisdom 16-18 (score +1) / wisdom 19+ (score +2)
- good or reputation 18+ (score +1) / not good and reputation 17- (score -1)
- no condition (score -2)
- no condition (score -1)
- no condition -> fight
II) Variable/Choice DontHaveToDoThis
- evil or reputation 9- or charisma 15- (score -1) / not evil and reputation 10+ and charisma 16+ (score +1)
- precondition wisdom 10+: wisdom 14- (score -1) / wisdom 15-18 (score +1) / wisdom 19+ (score +2)
- not evil and charisma 17+ (score +1) / evil or charisma 16- (score -1)
- no condition (score -2)
- no condition (score -1)
- no condition -> fight
III) Variable/Choice Righteousness
- no condition (score +2)
- reputation 11+ (score +1) / reputation 10- (score -1)
- no condition (score -2)
- good or reputation 18+ (score +1) / not good and reputation 17- (score -1)
- no condition -> fight
After half a dozen EDITS, I think I get it right :
If you are good there are many paths.
If you are neutral - mod or character created at ToB start - your requirements are high wisdom or high charisma or high reputation.
if you are evil, unless you can use a device changing your alignment, you need to have a very high reputation. Having a high wisdom offers more opportunities but is not strictly required. From a roleplaying perspective you probably don't want Balthazar to fight for you anyway.
Dagny, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist (1st SoA update)
Dagny has had very rough start in SoA, not at all promising. The good thing is that no permanent harm was done.
As I mentioned in my BG1 post, during Dagny's BG1 run I got more and more inclined to have her travel with a (probably caster-heavy) party in BG2. So in Irenicus' dungeon she teamed up with Imoen, Minsc and Jaheira, ignoring the fact that she hardly knew the latter two. This is her character record at the beginning of the game:
- I lowered her XP with 100k (which still didn't keep her from immediately gaining one level in each of her classes), and
- I added 6 HPs when she found Murphy, her rabbit familiar, behind the painting that also contains the dagger +1 (and the golden pantaloons for those Charnames that unlike Dagny remember to bring them). In BG1 her familiar gave Dagny only 6 HPs, so I gave her the 6 extra HPs that a SoA familiar accounts for.
Dagny refused to answer the Golem's riddle. She had no siblings (except if there were more Bhaalspawn than she and Sarevok), and she had no idea what she would do. With great difficulty Minsc and Jaheira bested the Flesh Golems that they would have to face sooner or later.
The armor and the cloak made Jaheira noticeably more resilient, and the Otyugh and Duergar more manageable. Imoen disarmed most of the snares in the rooms north and southwest of the garden. Stoneskinned Dagny set off one trap that Imoen failed to disarm, without suffering any damage because I knew it was a physical damage trap.
Rested and better equipped, the companions returned to the first level before they left the dungeon. They cleared the library and the next room, where Dagny blinded the Duergar mage before he went hostile, and where Ilych was slain.
In the Circus, Kalah's hideout was difficult to reach due to hard-hitting Werewolves barring the stairs. Dagny cast Chaos on them, which caused them to head downstairs. An Insect Plague by Jaheira neutralized Kalah before Minsc slew him.
The companions rested at the Den of the Seven Vales and did some shopping at Waukeen's Promenade, with Dagny buying the Reflection Shield for herself. She made the mistake of casting Friends in front of Galoomp, earning herself a first warning from the Cowled Wizards.
Our next stop was Gaelan Bayle's home. The rogue told the companions he could help them find Imoen for no less than 40k GP. Allies are expensive indeed in the city of coin.
Brus showed us the Copper Coronet where new, cheaper alliances were made: Nalia (Swasbuckler 10 -> Mage 7) and Anomen (Fighter 7 -> Priest of Helm) joined the party; Minsc was thanked for his help in Irenicus' dungeon and left the party.
The new party of six was eager to set things straight in the Copper Coronet, but they had an unexpectedly hard time doing so. Normally, i.e. in the setups I'm used to, entering the area with the cells wil cause a guard to call a number of helpers: two or three archers and two mages. (With my rogues I like to insta-gib the guard so that no backup arrives, but I didn't try that with Yoshimo.)
Initially these were indeed the foes the party had to deal with, and we had our hands full with that job. Anomen, Yoshi and Jaheira were all Held. Aerie countered with a Dispel Magic though.
With the first group down, we were completely unsuspecting of any danger when we entered the area with the prison cells to heal and recover. Before they knew it Yoshimo and Jaheira were Held again, and this time we had no Dispel Magics available to release them. Dagny Slowed the enemy and cast Invisibility on her Held comrades to keep them out of harm's way. Anomen dealt some friendly-fireless AoE damage with a Holy Smite (also in hopes of blinding his foes).
Most of the companions were injured though, and out of spells, which was why we decided to go back to Bernard to rest, again without expecting any hostile guards. This was when we ran into the third and final group. (Interestingly, the bouncers remained neutral.) Various problems presented themselves. Nalia and Yoshimo were in no condition to fight, so they tried to go upstairs to the room where previously a pair of Gloves of Pickpocketing had been secured. Aerie got Held, and being a low HP character required the party's help. Jaheira and Anomen engaged and killed the archers that were a threat to her. All this action distracted me a bit from Dagny - my usual fault when I play with parties - and I was kind of lucky to timely discover that her Stoneskins had been stripped and that she was suffering repeated blows from a hasted mage. The following image shows her status after she had quaffed an extra healing potion.
Normally I don't describe this quest in much detail, but boy, six hasted Hold and Charm casting battle mages was almost more than the party could handle.
The Beastmaster was a piece of cake after that and after a rest. A Chaos from Dagny and a couple of Spooks made him and his pets very manageable.
The six then traveled to the Bridge District where Stoneskin was expected to guarantee the party some easy XP in the Skinner quest. Still invisible, Dagny cast that spell at the area border, right in front of Lt Aegisfield. As she had already cast Friends out in the open, this triggered the arrival of three Cowled Enforcers with spells like ADHW, PW: Stun, Sphere of Chaos, the works...
We made it back to the Copper Coronet, sold most of our possessions to Bernard, and then traveled to the Gov District to acquire a spell casting license. I hoped this would assuage the Cowled Enforcers.
Dagny Hasted the party and turned Invisible like her companions. The party then returned to the Bridge District. In case the Cowled ones were still there, Haste and Invisibility would (hopefully) allow the party to rush past the hostile wizards before their invisibility was to be dispelled. Ideally Lt Aegisfield would then take on the wizards without them fighting back. However, we weren't fast enough to elude the wizards' detection magic. Yoshimo was then sacrificed so brave to engage the enemy so that the others could escape. He fell soon after.
A few rests later we returned to see if the Enforcers were still there. They were, and with them was a group of bandits (probably the Tactics ones that surprised Terra, my last Charname).
While at a safe distance from the ambushers, we read some interesting messages in the combat log: Lt Aegisfield was fighting the bandits.
Lesson learned: after inadvertently antagonizing the Cowled ones, wait for a couple of days, and they should be gone
Not all was well btw. A band of initially invisible Muggers felled Nalia with backstabs.
(And I don't fault you for using a truism to evade the labor of testing.
Best,
A.
@Blackraven Blue is not representative of my characters. Moreover my characters do not benefit from the same refinements and attention given to yours. Btw I remember a dwarf of yours with very low charisma too.
Back to Blue, knowing two types of spells makes her good for testing and I must admit I really enjoyed a playthrough started this winter in which I used her and the team to disable or soften the opponents and managed to have the familiar deal many of the killing blows.