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"Maybe this time" [NO-RELOAD THREAD]: "The Tale of TEN THOUSAND Trials"

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  • EnuhalEnuhal Member Posts: 920
    Another impressive achievement @semiticgod - it seems like you can pull off solo SCS/Ascension runs almost at will by now, while I struggle doing the same thing with a full party at my disposal. Any chance you might up the challenge by trying your hand at a single-class divine spellcaster soon?

    Also, while I'm flattered about being mentioned as a contributor of insights for this run, I am a bit surprised, as I can't remember contributing any potentially new insight since the Belhifet research I did for my LoB run 1,5 years ago :smile:
  • EnuhalEnuhal Member Posts: 920
    edited March 2019
    Dragon Age: Origins no-reload run: Valeria, elven mage, update 3

    Unto the Circle Tower. I generally like this area quite a bit, even the much-maligned fade sequence. First, we pick up Wynne - now, our team is complete. She will try to get forcefield as soon as possible and some aggressive spells later on. The early parts of the tower are relatively easy, though summoning sciences can take a bit of time (especially if you like going for the hidden Lord Foreshadow cameo, as my completionist self is want to do). The first truly dangerous battle is against the desire demon protected by charmed templars, as these guys have access to holy smite, which is super-dangerous to both Wynne and Valeria. In fact, Valeria gets hit by holy smite right away, getting knocked down and hit a couple of times in the process. She falls unconscious, but Wynne picks her back up with her spirit healer revive spell. Alistair, meanwhile, gets everyones attention and is protected by a forcefield:
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    A quick lyrium potion and some cone of cold spells later, and the battle is won. Now, we venture into the fade. We start by getting access to the burning man form, following up with the arcane spirit and the golem before venturing into "Mage Asunder", the area full of hostile mages where my last run failed. My approach: Valeria stays in her original form, not using any fade transformations, in order to protect herself with spell shield. Spell shield offers 70% spell resistance, which stacks with items - and we already have the Spellward, which has 30% - so we get full immunity as long as we have any mana left. This is a very secure approach, and we can also include anti-magic ward for a 10 second immunity without having to check our mana levels if needed. In fact, thanks to these precautions, nothing notable happens - we do absorb a few fireballs that could've been lethal, but Valeria is able to always keep up the spell shield.
    In the end, we take down the four fade demons - spell shield is also very helpful against the desire demon. Her dangerous cone of cold spell does nothing, other cc such as horror gets blocked as well:
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    Now, we can gather our party and take down the sloth demon, which isn't much of a problem with our anti-magic abilities and healing spells:
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    If I'd train Wynne to get the same spells, we could grant our entire party magic immunity for 10 seconds, but I feel that this isn't really neccessary - as long as Valeria can stay protected, we should usually be fine against mages. Having escaped from the fade, we take down another group of templars (this time without anyone getting knocked out) and challenge Uldred - which turns out to be not all that difficult:
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    That animation you're seeing here is a paralyze effect. How did I manage to paralyze a boss-rank enemy? Well, it seems like runes of paralyzation don't allow for a resistance check, and Leliana is using one in one of her daggers. Of course, they have only a very low chance to trigger, but I find them to be very helpful.

    Having saved the circle, we make our way to Redcliffe. Sidequests are completed and the town is protected against the undead attack (super easy at this point, our healing abilities allow us to keep every NPC alive). We invade the castle and save Connor by calling on the mages for help. Valeria defeats another desire demon in a fade duel thanks to spell shield. All of that went fairly well, nothing too interesting going on. By now, we're starting to put points towards Mana Clash, the ultimate mage-killer. Basically, it destroys any normal and elite mages instantly and does huge damage to bosses (though it often gets resisted against those). The downside: The first three spells in that tree are pretty much useless (only spell might is decent for pre-buffing), so we won't be expanding our toolset for a while. With Alistair getting more and more strength, it's time to sell and rebuy the King Cailan armor set to get it to rank 7 - not for Alistair, but for Valeria, improving her armor even further. Instead, Alistair now gets to use the blood dragon armor.

    The Dalish camp is our next stop, and we have some fun exploring the forest. Revenants are easy to deal with thanks to the very reliable damage done by Final Reason and the healing power of Wynne and Valeria. Spellshield and a well-placed fireball allows for a quick group of a potentially dangerous battle against the cabal of maleficarum:
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    Making our way down into the ruins (after helping the poet-tree), we face our first dragon (not a high dragon, so not especially challenging):
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    We use mind blast on our mages and Valeria's high armor stat to avoid problems against the shadow werewolves downstairs and decide to battle against Zathrian, who uses a bunch of dangerous AoE spells such as blizzard, chain lightning and the like. Wynne gets knocked out, but Valeria uses her spellshield to remain in combat, allowing her to heal up Alistair and Leliana, who are able to dish out enough damage to take down the keeper:
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    Finishing this quest finally provides us with enough experience to get access to Mana Clash. Mages, beware!

    Next time, we're going to take on not one, but TWO high dragons (though not at the same time).
    histamiinijessejmcCorey_Russell
  • EnuhalEnuhal Member Posts: 920
    edited March 2019
    Dragon Age: Origins no-reload run: Valeria, elven mage, update 4

    Before we face our next big challenge, Valeria hits level 14, allowing her to pick a second specialization. Spirit healer is my choice. Blood mage would be powerful, but having two spirit healers with not only group heal, but, more importantly, revive, provides us with much-needed safety for no-reload play. Of course, everyone else gets to the same level as well, so Leliana gets her assassin specialization, Alistair gets champion and Wynne, for some reason, arcane warrior - which turned out to be a mistake. My secondary mage doesn't need to be extra-tanky, in fact, the additional CC of a blood mage would've been much more welcome. Sadly, there's no way to respecc until Awakening. Shouldn't matter too much, though.

    In any case, the first high dragon we challenge is Flemeth (in her dragon form). We have group heal in case the initial fire breath hits the entire party. After that, Alistair is going to turn Flemeth around, so only he should get hit. To protect him, we have heal, regeneration, and, if he gets grabbed, forcefield (high dragon grabs are basically 100% death without massive, almost impossible amounts of healing or forcefield). Watch as Alistair gets suspended in mid-air thanks to a well-timed defensive forcefield:
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    We're using Leliana as an archer for this one, as it is very easy to keep her from doing anything too stupid during a static encounter such as this, and getting close to Flemeth would cause her to get pushed back, take damage or even take a breath weapon hit - and I don't have a lot of greater warmth balms yet (I'm saving these for the second high dragon battle). In any case, nothing goes wrong, Alistair does the tanking, our physical damage staff hits do their thing and Flemeth is defeated:
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    Now, we make our way to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Haven has been cleared out earlier on, and the cultists don't stand much of a chance, as all of their mages instantly die to our mana clash, and they're not exactly the most dangerous physical combatants. We make sure to kill some drakes in order to get armor crafting options:
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    Kolgrim loses his mage to mana clash, his two friends get shattered and he doesn't stand a chance by himself:
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    Now, on to face the high dragon. For this one, we have four greater warmth balms at the ready and use them right away. Indeed, the party gets hit by one fire spit attack, which is countered by group heal. After that, we once again have to keep Alistair alive with force field and healing - the fight is very similiar to Flemeth:
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    After that, we make our way to the urn. No trouble here, although the annoying puzzle takes some time to solve. Now that Valeria has revive, we can take the time to level up some passives - the arcane bolt line, for example. Wand specialization will be super useful considering how much auto-attacking Wynne and Valeria do. Our next stop is Orzammar, where we start by joining Harrowmont, but we're going to betray him. We do a bunch of sidequests and proving battles, which are super easy thanks to our AoE-opener options:
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    Leliana gets knocked out for a second during the Jarvia battle due to running into a trap, but we have two spirit healers, so she's soon up and fighting again. After all the sidequests are done and before venturing too far ino the Deep Roads, we make a move towards Denerim to finish the Gaxkang-sidequest (yes, this is indeed a reference to Kangaxx). An initial mana clash doesn't get resisted and takes about half of Gaxkang's hp away:
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    Now, we just have to make sure Valeria keeps her spell shield active, allowing her to heal up the party in case anything goes wrong - no problem:
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    Next time, we will explore the Deep Roads - propably the most annoying part of the game for me, just because of how long and bland they are until you get to the whole broodmother thing.
    Post edited by Enuhal on
    StummvonBordwehrjessejmchistamiiniBlind_Visionary
  • YgramulYgramul Member Posts: 1,059
    edited March 2019
    semiticgod wrote: »
    Shall I go ahead and add another Hall for non-BG runs to @Ygramul's starting posts?

    By all means, the regulars of this thread should feel free to edit those posts on page 1, that is why I vacated them. I am certain that this will be done intelligently and considerately.

    I suggest not too much segregation between BG vs IWD/NWN runs, but some sorting is, of course, sensible.

    Thanks all.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    If you guys want me to add anything to those starting posts, just let me know; I can do it. Any moderator can edit them.
  • Mantis37Mantis37 Member Posts: 1,169
    If we're listing IWD runs my sight unseen no-reload of IWD with a R/C & Kulyok's npcs ended here:

    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/864922/#Comment_864922

    After a torrid install on android (think multiple dialog.tlks & bugs that meant kit choices varied by gender) when I could get access to a computer I have finally started rolling with a nature oriented party based on the submitted characters. In the absence of the avenger my bhaalspawn is Cu'ran, a Druid/ Mage, a class I've always wanted to try, Enuhal's Stalker comes in for Cuewart, and since priests can't dual to ranger I'm using a Zealot kit from F&P that is effectively a Ranger with some Boons of Lathander. As such it's not quite a simultaneous run, but hopefully it will be a fun group - the first time I'll be playing without ingame npcs. They seem like a rather lightly armoured bunch who'll need to use plenty of summons and special abilities to make progress in their quests to cleanse Toril of impious litterers.

    After heading to Beregost early on the group have so far gained a few thousand XP each with the aid of Korax & some luck with minor quests. Still getting used to the non-SR spell system and SCS v32's quirks. Currently they're rueing my decision to install Improved Bassilus and grimly watching him summon up Aerial Servants to talk to...
    StummvonBordwehr
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    While Yin and Yang could easily defeat Irenicus and steamroll ToB individually, the Tale of Two Sorcerers is over due to my own lack of interest in continuing the run.

    I've been thinking about doing a Rogue Rebalanced Bounty Hunter with Trap Overhaul and argent77's Trials of the Luremaster installed, or perhaps a no-reload run of Neverwinter Nights' OC. I know NWN like the back of my hand and a no-reload run of it would be far easier and far faster than BG.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Flashburn: Why not do NWN? We don't have a completed NWN no-reload just yet.
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    @semiticgod
    I'll start now while I'm in the mood. This shouldn't take but a few hours.
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    Gus Slamrock's Radical Neverwinter Adventure
    Part 1: Prelude

    Neverwinter Nights. A game that I adore for its ahead-of-its-time multiplayer. The single player experience is underwhelming and enemy AI in this game is not particularly smart, preferring to "attack nearest" or "cast spells in most-to-least powerful order." As far as I know, there is no equivalent to SCS for NWN, although I'm sure there are custom modules out there that have good AI scripting.

    Since I've played this game for so long that I don't need to use pausing anymore (since you're just controlling one character after all), I'll use some additional rules:
    -No pausing (except for taking screenshots or for breaktime)
    -No dying
    -D&D Hardcore Rules difficulty

    Here he is, Gus Slamrock: Dwarven Monk and future Fighter. Max HP rolls are on and his first feat is Blind Fight to effectively halve enemy concealment.
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    You'll notice that, instead of meat-bricks for hands, Gus has actual hands with fingers. This is thanks to Community Patch 1.71. And the environment is all prettied up by NWNCQ, which improves lighting and textures, though I still prefer to crop screenshots to save space. So let's get on with this.

    With initial training out of the way, I kill all the weak goblins that have invaded the Neverwinter Academy for 20 XP a pop. There is no danger from them as they can only do 1 damage if they ever hit. I use the door-hop glitch to get behind the plot-locked gates that house magical creatures, hoping to kill them for serious XP gains, but they have plot-armor as well. Darn.
    The door-hop glitch involves clicking behind a door so that your character attempts to move to the selected destination, and then using the WASD keys to "force" them through. The engine will stop the character's movement once they are about halfway through the door when a movement command that leads beyond the door is issued using the mouse. If you fail to do this correctly the first time, it gets harder to move through that door using this method until you back off a fair distance and try again. The faster the character is, the easier it is to perform this glitch, which allows Monks to do this the easiest, though that's not why I chose a Monk/Fighter for this run.
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    Moving on, I rest and then join up with Pavel. A tough goblin drops a mildly useful cloak.
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    I use the door-hop glitch again and dump Pavel to kill some more goblins, hoping to level up from them and then redeem the level from Geldar, though I rethink this and return, since I think Geldar will only give you your 2nd level. Gus gains his first Fighter level and Weapon Focus: Unarmed Strike.
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    More gobbos and skellies are beaten when we finally encounter the mage who got away near the beginning of the invasion. I let Pavel go in first to absorb the mage's first spell, which is Magic Missile. It kills Pavel.
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    With his best spell expended, I try Stunning Fist on the mage. It crits but the mage makes a lucky save. A nearby skelly stumbles into an Attack of Opportunity and eats a monk fist, allowing Gus to kill the mage with a Cleave.
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    The rest of the goblins inside the Academy stables are killed and the 4 Macguffins Waterdhavian Creatures escape. Fenthick gives Gus his 3rd level.
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    Onto Chapter 1. I can barely contain my excitement at killing a hundred prisoners who want to carve me up and slit my throat.
    Mantis37StummvonBordwehrAerakarhistamiini
  • Mantis37Mantis37 Member Posts: 1,169
    Good luck with it. I tried NWN but it hasn't held my attention so far. As you say, hopefully some of its mods have interesting challenges.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    I've added some IWD entries to the "Hall of Heroes of Icewind Dale" on the third post (I'm leaving the second one open for expansions to the BG Hall of Heroes). @Mantis37, do you have any information about your party makeup, mods, difficulty, or anything else I could add to the entry? The only link I've got is this one.

    Are there any IWD entries I've missed? Let me know and I'll add them on. I'll add a separate hall for NWN and PST once we get an entry for either game.

    I have potential entries for DWM, Morrowind, Skyrim, and Oblivion. Shall I create a hall (maybe call it the "Hall of Weirdos") for non-IE, non-D&D runs? If so, is DWM too unrelated to D&D to qualify? The TES games are at least RPGs; DWM is a Pokemon-style game.
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    Gus Slamrock's Tubular Neverwinter Adventure
    Part 2: Chapter 1, first half.
    Previous updates: 1

    The first half of Chapter 1 always bores me to tears, at least when playing alone. In the Hall of Justice and the sanatorium, there are 4 nurses that have a Challenge Rating equal to yourself when first entering Chapter 1, which makes killing them highly profitable XP-wise. The only consequence is a 5 point evil alignment shift each time you kill them - which means nothing to a monk. They're worth 960 easy XP total.
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    The Peninsula District is up first. Really boring; just killing prisoners. I fall back to the guards when I get too injured or if a half-orc prisoner approaches. Can't risk eating a x3 handaxe critical just yet. The area surrounding the Helmite shopkeeper is cleared, so I take on the Gang Leader alone, buffing with a Potion of Barkskin. I have to drink a couple of healing potions to stay afloat, but the XP reward is huge.
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    The Gang Leader down in the nearby sewers is also taken care of for an equally large XP profit. Another normal prisoner provides the last XP push to level 4.
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    I take the long way around into the prison via the Tanglebrook Estate, which lets me kill a pair of Stink Beetles and some Fire Beetles. Inside the prison, I become very aware that my AC is rather poor at only 17. I don't have enough money to buy better equipment and the drops from chests and enemies are lousy. I have to make due with the Potions of Cure Light Wounds the game keeps throwing my way.
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    The gang leader on the first level of the prison is dealt with by removing his goons first. The escaped sorcerer on the next level also has his help removed before being taken on. In an unusual display of intelligence the sorcerer buffs with Endure Elements after going invisible, then shoots a fireball at point blank range. Evasion takes care of it, though a Ray of Enfeeblement temporarily hinders Gus's fighting ability. The sorcerer tries another fireball but is killed just afterward.
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    The level is looted and I trade the spoils for Gloves of the Yellow Rose +2. Down into the Pits, it's more prisoner mooks. Another Gang Leader killed. A guard dog gives a nice XP boost to level 5.
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    Another nearby sorcerer is disabled with Stunning Fist and killed easily.
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    The leader of all the gang leaders in the prison is Kurdan Fenkt, a half-orc wielding a double-axe with 3 attacks per round. I keep my health above a pretty high threshold in case of a crit, but I take a very stupid risk and let my health fall as Kurdan is nearly dead. If that nat20 he rolled while using Power Attack was confirmed, I would be very dead thanks to the double-axe's x3 critical multiplier.
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    I decide to leave the Intellect Devourer alone until I can afford several Potions of Clarity. The Beggar's Nest is next. Zombies everywhere; point, click, kill. Mind numbing grinding. I eventually kill all the zombies in the district, not counting those inside houses, and kill the Sword Coast Boy guarding Drawl. Neither were much of a fight.
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    A pair of traps on Drawl's side of the crypt nearly kill me after I had defeated a group of Fire Beetles and Shadows. I can never seem to remember the placement of the holy trap and cold trap.
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    The bloated Dire Spider guarding the entrance to the Warrens of the Damned gives me trouble. It has a strength poison on hit with a high DC of 26. I use an antidote to cure it and hit it a few more times, but it poisons me again, lowering my strength further than the last poison. I have to use a scroll of Lesser Restoration to fix the STR drain and then flee to Drawl's room. The spider follows me up there, but loses sight of me, so I rest and then kill it afterward, which gets me level 6.
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    The chest that the spider was guarding contains a welcome sight: a Robe of the Shining Hand +2.
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    Into the Warrens of the Damned, it's more mook-killing. By now, I have enough money to buy a Lesser Belt of Guiding Light which provides the precious immunity to Fear. With it, I kill the Armor of Comfort's infinitely-respawning mummy a couple of times for about 120 XP a pop. At Gulnan's sanctum, there are only weak zombies and normal zombies, plus a Curst Warrior. The Curst goes down easily and so do the zombies, then I destroy the altar that was animating the undead for 200 XP.

    The fight with Gulnan herself is... odd. While fighting her, I see that she buffs with Divine Power so I back off because I don't want to fight a Cleric-turned-Fighter who is about 5 levels higher than me. I flee and close the door on her, but she opens it back up and... stands in a ready stance but never attacks or casts any further spells. I can attack her freely like this for some reason. I'll take the victory.
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    The XP from killing Gulnan, taking her heart, and delivering it to Aribeth is enough to gain level 7.
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    StummvonBordwehrAerakarhistamiini
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    Gus Slamrock's Gnarly Neverwinter Adventure
    Part 3: Chapter 1, second half.
    Previous updates: 1, 2

    Meldanen's mansion in Blacklake is up next. Normally I only do about half of the first floor, starting with the locked door to the left of the entrance of the mansion, but this time I do the whole first floor. Mel's apprentice is slapped with a Stunning Fist. No casting Ice Storm for you, mister.
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    The lower floor of Mel's sanctum is cleared but I hold off on fighting the wizard himself. I freed a prisoner named Samuel in the mansion and Captain Thurin gives me a reward for it at the Board Laid Bare, which grants me level 8.
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    I sell more loot from Mel's mansion and I have enough money to be comfortable buying a few Potions of Clarity and Speed. With them in hand, I return to the bottom of the Peninsula's prison and take on the Intellect Devourer. I buff with Potions of Bless, Aid, and Bull's Strength. When the devourer is out of bodies to use, I quaff the Potion of Clarity just in time to block a Stun Bolt from it.
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    On the next round, I quaff the Potion of Speed and start attacking. The round after that, I attempt Stunning Fist at my highest Attack Bonus. It hits and the Devourer fails its save. The Devourer crumples against the art of Slamrock Style.
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    Not satisfied with taking out just 1 boss, I rush back over to Mel's mansion and re-apply Potions of Bless, Aid, Bull's Strength, and Speed. The first Stunning Fist incapacitates Meldanen for the whole fight, bypassing his usual casting of Improved Invisibility and Stoneskin.
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    After rescuing the dryad, the Docks district is the last place to go. This place has a serious thief infestation. I'd wager there are more muggers on the street than citizens. It's enough to get another level from them.
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    The Bloodsailors parked at the dock are killed for their uniform which lets me inside the Seedy Tavern. Going down one floor, a Bloodsailor lieutenant guards the entrance to the second floor down but he is easily dispatched. An acid and spike trap do lethal damage to Gus, but it was worth it for a Thayvian Circlet (+2 INT, +1 all saves).
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    I rest off the damage and continue on. A chest guarded by another lieutenant holds Gloves of the Yellow Rose +5! Wow! Damage Reduction is a thing of the past now!
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    Yet another lieutenant wielding a two-bladed sword has a Golden Circlet on his corpse, which is even better than the Thayvian Circlet because of its coveted immunity to all mind-affecting effects, which includes Fear! Thank you RNGesus!
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    Daranei is killed for her locket which opens up the locked door in the Silver Sails Trading Company. Back topside, I light a corpse pyre with a torch and throw about 30 total throwing axes and shurikens at it that do fire damage. Hitting corpse pyres with fire damage gives 25 XP every time you do it.
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    The good haul from the Docks district lets me save up a bunch of money to buy a Cloak of Movement, which grants the wearer Free Action while equipped. Now Gus has protection against the two most deadly types of disablers: mind-affecting and paralysis.
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    The leader of the rebel Bloodsailors, Callik, is unceremoniously killed and the Masterson amulet on his body is returned. The cockatrice feather held by Vengaul is also returned to Aribeth, which means all the McGuffins have been returned. Time for Chapter 1E.
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    Gus Slamrock - Monk 5/Fighter 4
    StummvonBordwehrAerakarhistamiini
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    edited March 2019
    @Flashburn I like to pass in stealth through all the enemies, get the second level and just them backtrack to kill them. I think that it is the approach that handles more XP, but is useless nonetheless because Fentick will always let you at the edge of level 3's XP (IIRC).

    Long story short: none of the XP from the Academy is useful unless you can somehow achieve more than enough XP for level 3.
    FlashburnStummvonBordwehr
  • Mantis37Mantis37 Member Posts: 1,169
    @semiticgod I'm sorry but I don't remember all the details for that run. There were no significant mods for difficulty though I think. The PC was Karn, a R/C, and the party were all from Kulyok's npcs mod- so not optimised! The run was on core difficulty, though it was my first ever playthrough.
  • jessejmcjessejmc Member Posts: 141
    @semiticgod: Thanks for posting those videos. Unfortunate getting boxed in after retrieving the charisma manual.

    Using algernon's cloak to charm one of the bandits to kite Drizzt was enlightening. I realized that I'm not using charm nearly enough. I've been wanting to see someone do the basilisk loop too, so thanks for that. It's reassuring that even you have issues with it.

    If you're taking requests, I'd like to see how you approach a run without access to stealth.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @jessejmc: Without access to stealth, Sanctuary, or Invisibility, it's not safe to attempt to perform the basilisk XP loop unless you're willing to burn extra Potions of Mirrored Eyes to stay safe during the 1-2 seconds you'd need to attempt a charm on a given basilisk. Korax would only buy you a single charm attempt, since resting to recharge Algernon's Cloak would run out Korax's timer and cause him to go hostile if you enter his field of vision. If you found a way to prevent that from happening, you could use Korax to paralyze basilisks and make it temporarily safe to attempt a charm. By inching forward until you just barely see a basilisk (auto-pause on enemy sighted could help) and then immediately retreating after you order Korax to attack it directly, you could spot the basilisk but still have a chance to run away before the basilisk has a chance to petrify you. Once you hear the sound effect of the basilisk getting paralyzed, it would be safe for you to approach further.

    Otherwise it's a crapshoot, since the odds of charming a Lesser Basilisk on LoB mode are maybe 45%, and for a Greater Basilisk it's maybe 20%. Korax would only buy you a single shot at a safe charm, and after that you'd have to allow the basilisk to make a petrification attempt on you whenever you tried to charm them again.

    If nothing else, dying would be low-cost if you did it early on, and so you could attempt it multiple times until you got it. But I wouldn't have the patience for that, so any class that has no thief, ranger, mage, or cleric levels is probably better off just killing the basilisk normally without performing the XP loop.
    jessejmc
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    Gus Slamrock's Lame-o Neverwinter Adventure
    Part 4: Chapter 1E and Chapter 2
    Previous updates: 1, 2, 3

    After Desther betrays us, it's off to Helm's Hold to get him. Undead mobs outside the Hold give enough XP to gain another level from a zombie in its interior.
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    Chaohinon of the Void is banished and Helm's guardian spirit is returned, and I ask for the power of Helm to aid me. Upstairs in Desther's sanctum, Gus is high enough level for a Bodak to spawn. I predicted this might happen and opened the door after using an invisibility potion. A bodak's gaze is instant death if the saving throw is failed, and I have about a 15% chance of failing it, so I close the door and ignore it.
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    Fortunately, Desther's personal guard does not contain a Bodak, but rather a bunch of zombies. After dealing with them, Desther begins to cast spells as I destroy his ritual golems. Once all the golems are dead, I knock down Desther for a round and follow up with a successful Stunning Fist. The fight is over.
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    Chapter 2 begins. At the Temple of Tyr, I buy a Robe of the Dark Moon for permanent Haste. Gus has 5 attacks per round while using Flurry of Blows.
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    I start the werewolf quest and kill Urth.
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    At this time, I always start clearing out the North Road. The goblin chief, orc chief, bugbear chief, and Dergiab are all killed.
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    Up at the Green Griffon Inn, I clear out most of the Arcane Brother's Tomb. Brother Toras starts the fight with a Greater Stoneskin, which my Gloves of the Yellow Rose +5 will ignore. I start wailing on him but he casts Chain Lightning at me. I fail the save which causes me to take more than half of my health in damage. Improved Knockdown stalls him for a round, but I get too confident as his health depletes. He has another Chain Lightning up his sleeve and I fail the saving throw again which kills Gus.
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    That will teach me to underestimate Brother Toras again. This playthrough has been a soul-sucking endeavor anyway because "hit things for three rounds until they die" is only fun up to a certain point. I was hoping that a Monk/Fighter multiclass would expedite this problem with its high number of attacks, but they don't do much damage per hit.

    Gus Slamrock - Monk 7/Fighter 4 (RIP)
    Grond0RaduzielAerakarhistamiini
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,508
    @semiticgod check which audio channel you are using. I am guessing you switched it.

    Which mods are you using for the Archer game?
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    @Flashburn Too bad your run ended. Weapon Specialization is a good thing to have to offset a little the low damage of a Monk.

    I've beaten the game once with a HO Monk and basically all I did was spam IKD. I had Circle Kick, but I've used Leto to remove it as the mechanic is broken: it makes you change your target instead acting as a AoO - what is a bad thing when you're relying on IKD and Cleave to wipe the battlefield.
    StummvonBordwehrFlashburn
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