I'm nearing the end of a BGEE/ToSC run and made it to the bottom of Durlag's Tower -- it's been a long time. If memory serves, the next fight (Demon Knight) and the follow up (Aec Laetec) are nasty. Are there reliable advice to keep everyone alive consistently? (e.g. Neera has 26 HP -- which is chunky territory, I think, if hit full face.)
@Ygramul.... can you run away? That seems like the safest idea!
Actually, I've never been brave enough to go below the cellar in Durlag's tower... I'm looking forward to your report on what happens! Good luck!
*shuffles feet*
Errr.... is the common wisdom in a no-reload run to avoid the Demon Knight altogether?
(The point of this run is to start off on SoD. If I'm about to ruin 80 hours of prep, perhaps I should indeed just talk Islaenne for a rain check... "Err... good luck with your demon infestation then.")
I'll leave it to more veteran players than I to say what the common wisdom is... I just know that the entire concept of Durlag's tower is scary in a no-reload! I use item randomizer, and I'm always tempted to go look for the greenstone amulet in there on every run, but I usually chicken out when it comes time to actually go underground. I'm sure others are less timid...
If it is any help, this is the not-SCS-enhanced version of the Tower. (I have SCS enabled on other aspects, such as AI, but not the "Improved Durlag".)
Durlag's hasn't been as challenging as I thought. I thought the end of the first floor fight would end us, but only Coran perished, and he was quickly raised with one of the three raise dead scrolls we had nabbed from a temple.
Ouch. Also, Coran's 95 traps is working fine, but I rushed a bit and he nearly got toasted. The adventerous elf is clearly eager for more treasure.
On the second floor, Cedvar acheived Lv 10 by trap expierence. We've disabled the level cap for good reason (justifying the risk I' m taking by going into Durlags at all), but it was quite the achievement. Let's hope 95 pick pockets pays dividends if we get to Shadows of Amn.
Several close calls. The doom guards were easy with four fireballs and the monster scroll + wand.
The monks are still progressing pretty well. They've now been shopping at Ulgoth's Beard - the wand of the heavens from there allowing them to clear out the outside and upper stories of Durlag's Tower. I didn't bother killing Algernon this run, so Chimera only has a charisma of 19 - but they should still have enough funds for their ascetic needs.
They've cleared most wilderness areas currently available, including an impressive performance at the Lighthouse where no-one was injured or charmed by either of the two groups of sirines. That wasn't the case with the group of sirines to the north though, where Chimera was confused and 2 others charmed. That resulted in some nasty moments as the untouched monks tried to get in between potential enemies to absorb damage and I was glad to see the first charm expire here
(there was also a bit of drizzle in the air at that time, but no lightning struck anyone before they got to the Surgeon to be healed).
That was the only occasion so far where I was really worried about someone being killed. The only critical which might have been a problem was in the ankheg nest, but Spectre had used green scrolls to give acid immunity there so was not really in danger. Just looking at the screenshot now I see I've got the wrong text selection - showing an answering critical on the ankheg.
However, Spectre had 48 HPs at the time so the critical on her would have been at least as high as that. After being wounded Spectre made a first use of a regeneration potion to keep the green scrolls useful for more ankhegs. That allowed the rest of the nest and area to be cleared, but the last of the monks was not quite up to level 7 when that had been done, so I slightly cheesily retraced my steps to find a few more for the final boost - giving all the monks some healing ability with lay on hands.
Things left for now include Firewine Bridge (except Meilum) and Ruins, Ulcaster, Red Wizards of Thay area and Drizzt (I haven't killed him with this party before, but am tempted to have a go at that this time). I'll be heading for the Nashkel Mine next though.
I'll leave it to more veteran players than I to say what the common wisdom is... I just know that the entire concept of Durlag's tower is scary in a no-reload! I use item randomizer, and I'm always tempted to go look for the greenstone amulet in there on every run, but I usually chicken out when it comes time to actually go underground. I'm sure others are less timid...
I tend to do half of it, doing everything except giving love the wine. I don't try and kill everything usually. A thief who has the appropriate potions: oil of speed, potion of perception, potion of master thievery and strength (if required to carry the loot) can do most of it solo whilst other party members stay in safety near the merchant. To go to the area where the dwarven warders are, the other party members need to be made invisible (or sancuary) by some means to avoid battles.
The chess board didn't trigger for one, (common SCS bug) and when I consoled it to do so my game froze and I returned to find my side utterly decimated. Part of me wanted to end the run, but a bug is a bug. I went on, using the only method I knew could save me from that wicked chessboard.
"PREPARE FOR THE NUCLEAR OPTION!!!!" - everyone except Cedvar, who drank a potion of invisibility the second he realized he was king. There were many awkward glares later on.
Imoen fell (Khalid had earlier too, so that's all our Raise Dead scrolls gone), and we stepped downstairs without healing. -surely- there wouldn't happen to be 3 teleporting scs astral spiders with 5 hitpoint poison damage waiting to ruin our day.
... We survived. That was enough for one day. After a brief chat with another Durlag ghost, the party fell asleep for a day or two, identifying, healing, and inventory sorting as we did. Next up, level 4. (Worth noting I've actually never fully completed Durlags, this is as far as I ever wanted to go. I have a vague remembrance as to whats ahead from an old LP series, but nothing solid. Fun.)
Psc- 3 Equipment makes the man, Hear text as mp3, Still taking my time, I grabbed some loot that was not guarded well then watched a drow get eviscerated by peons... We had to collect the items so that they didn't fall into the wrong hands and this proved to be enough to tank the basilisk | Ankheg for experience and fireball wands.
Returning to the southern mines gave the pleasure of trapping a cleric with our wand of paralyse... Sarah didn't really expect it to work but we'll take the victory just the same.
I tend to do half of it, doing everything except giving love the wine. .
This. Give wine unprepared, even prepared,and you'll likely die. I don't know about "Non-Improved Durlag's Tower" but with SCS Pride/Love battle is arguably harder than Sarevok finale.
I tend to do half of it, doing everything except giving love the wine. .
This. Give wine unprepared, even prepared,and you'll likely die. I don't know about "Non-Improved Durlag's Tower" but with SCS Pride/Love battle is arguably harder than Sarevok finale.
The non-improved battle with Love was a cake walk. (I remember years ago saying "never again" to Improved Durlag" in SCS -- it seems I was not the only frustrated.)
... I am still waiting on the nail-biting decision to Demon Knight or not to Demon Knight.
--
Meanwhile, I read the wiki entry for his spell list --- and wow!
Does the Ring of Free Action defend from Power Word: Stun? (I think in EE it defends from ordinary Stun.)
Also, most party is vulnerable to Power Word: Kill (though not charname -- unless receives damage first).
That seems one though opponent at that point. Like having Lavok in Chateau Irenicus...
Yes, RoFA should stop all stuns afaik. As for DK, watch out for his dispel/Fireball combo. That can bring your HP very low. Alternative is to use the mirror and make him fight his own reflection.
@Ygramul: here is an example of my approach to SCS Improved Durlag. The main theme is - spread out your forces, use some summons and ranged attacks. Not a full-proof but it works for me.
@Ygramul: here is an example of my approach to SCS Improved Durlag. The main theme is - spread out your forces, use some summons and ranged attacks. Not a full-proof but it works for me.
And no, I never used a Mirror.
Ouch. Those are though battles.
.... I decided to chicken out for the moment:
I took Islanne's offer and returned to surface. I may or may not do the Werewolves. Then it's facing Sarevok -- and I hope Dragonspear, finally.
I assembled my party - Minsc, Jaheira, Aerie, Jan. I'll collect Nalia later when I'm cofident enough about Torgal. Did circus, Umar Hills (not temple yet), Lirarcor, Shadow Thieves, payed 15k to Gaelan, Fallen Paladins, 1st and 2nd Aran's quest, killed Dorn, did Slavers, did skinner, Harpers, and we're about to leave town and explore more. Unfortunately, WK had Vampiric Wraiths spawn so I can't explore further yet. I had a nasty bug with Dispelling Screen not doing what it should be doing; which made the battle vs Mae'var a bit nastier than it should be
All was fine - bug is fixed now (iirc, it worked fine on non-ee installs...bleh.)
Minsc is proving to be a powerhouse now with Lirarcor for some much needed immunites and large damage output. here he smashed three orcs with his Cleave feat - screenshot can't show it, but this all happens in two seconds:)
So far, so good - no near-death experinces for Gares, I hope it stays that way.
I tend to do half of it, doing everything except giving love the wine. .
This. Give wine unprepared, even prepared,and you'll likely die. I don't know about "Non-Improved Durlag's Tower" but with SCS Pride/Love battle is arguably harder than Sarevok finale.
You can do the warders easily with a single character protected against magic (or just fire and lightning) - simply run them a few times through the passage with the repeating traps and watch the invisible attackers turn into crisped bodies on the floor ...
Phantasmic 6 {59} - monks party (3rd and final update)
The kobold hordes in the Nashkel Mine didn't last long and Mulahey forgot to ask where his guards were.
Nimbul and Tranzig failed to spot stealth attacks coming as the monks opened up the Bandit Camp. Deke and Raiken were struck down, but Teven was allowed to offer a lift there in order to allow the monks to englobe and kill Tazok - getting a nice bonus with a second bracers of weapon expertise.
After resting and exploring the area the monks all used the shield amulet for the first time before attacking some of the Black Talons. Soon switching to a running battle they waited for Venkt to arrive before trying to kill him, but failed to do so before Wraith was charmed.
They soon got revenge,
but that complicated the battle and there was a lot of micro-management required before Wraith came back to her senses with only a couple of immediate opponents left and they were soon dealt with
. After resting up the monks finished off the few remaining enemies around the tents and used up a giant strength potion to loot the place.
There was a bit of inventory sorting and some final purchases at this stage before the monks went to Firewine to kill Bentan and Poe - getting a bit of useful equipment, but mainly to reduce reputation in order to get horror as Chimera's next Bhaal ability. There was a basilisk ambush on the way there, which was a bit worrying - particularly as I'm not using autopause (enemy in sight) in this run - as that's been rather nerfed in BGEE I've stopped using it there and decided it would be less confusing to me to be consistent in BGT. However, the basilisk didn't attempt a gaze attack (I should have had time to use a potion to protect against that anyway).
In the Cloakwood the monks had their first encounter with druids. Monks don't like druids, particularly outdoors given the amount of damage call lightning can do, but that spell takes a long time to cast.
They then went to clear the second area - using the ring of invisibility for the first time to trigger all the web traps before using stealth to split up the groups of spiders into manageable chunks and while clearing Centeol's lair.
In the third area Takiyah and Izefia were both stunned before they could finish any spells. There was more use of stealth while popping in and out of Amarande's house. There is a danger that will cause him to duplicate, but on this occasion everything worked properly until the monks tried to leave the house as the druid was casting chaos. He both followed them and completed casting the spell in process - confusing everyone except Spirit and Chimera.
That looked pretty dangerous, so Chimera used a PfM scroll to cure Spectre (who was being attacked).
After successfully interrupting another chaos Amarande was still too close to Phantom to be pulled away - so he got a PfM scroll as well. At that stage, with the druid at near death, things looked promising. Unfortunately, with his next spell Amarande ignored 4 different lots of damage while casting and completed a call lightning - and that was too much for Spirit
(it was cold comfort that Amarande also died a second later).
Best of luck. You'll obviously make it easier for yourself if you use an oil of speed, though that's not really necessary. It's also helpful to use a character with decent HPs and push fire and lightning resistance up to 127 - that way the traps will heal the odd backstab if you misjudge where opponents are (as well as a bit of physical trap damage).
Sorry about your monks. I'm curious; why did you anger the druids? Is there anything of value there or are you just being completionist? I simply walk away from that area, ever since (I think this was stratagemsv25) I had that archdruid shapechange into a greater basilisk (I'm serious here).
Sorry about your monks. I'm curious; why did you anger the druids? Is there anything of value there or are you just being completionist?
Just completionist - there's nothing of value at all. I don't normally bother with the druids in my runs, although with 6 in the party there is more of a point to it with the monks. Essentially though it's just that my rules for that particular challenge are they have to explore all maps and complete every possible encounter. I have sometimes in the past avoided that Archdruid on the way out and then only come back to him after visiting Baldur's Gate (when all the monks can buy Wands of the Heavens). That makes the encounter far less risky, but I suppose I was in the mood for a bit of risk this time after spending a lot of time recently playing low-risk strategies with a wild monk .
You should be advised @sluckers that divine casters in BG 1 (such as clerics/druids) ALWAYS have a chance to get their spells off, regardless of how many times they have been hit. Your best way to deal with them is always defense (protection from magic scroll, etc.). You can never count on interrupting them (though of course you might).
You should be advised @sluckers that divine casters in BG 1 (such as clerics/druids) ALWAYS have a chance to get their spells off, regardless of how many times they have been hit. Your best way to deal with them is always defense (protection from magic scroll, etc.). You can never count on interrupting them (though of course you might).
Never heard this before. Is this a new thing? Or SCS?
Comments
I'm setting up my own install now and am curious what options folks run with. It's been a long time since I've modded up anything but BG1. Thanks!
I'm nearing the end of a BGEE/ToSC run and made it to the bottom of Durlag's Tower -- it's been a long time. If memory serves, the next fight (Demon Knight) and the follow up (Aec Laetec) are nasty. Are there reliable advice to keep everyone alive consistently? (e.g. Neera has 26 HP -- which is chunky territory, I think, if hit full face.)
Party: F/M charname, Imoen (T/M), Neera, Minsc, Jaheira, Viconia
I can buff F/M and Minsc and have at it, but a single Remove Magic may undo the plans.
Similarly, Aec Laetec can be countered by Gaze Reflection IIRC (does Prot f Petrification work?) -- but what if she uses a Remove Magic?
So, basically, for these nastiest fights of BGEE, what is recommended as a foolproof plan?
(I intend to bring this party to SoD, so I wanna avoid loosing anyone permanently.)
Actually, I've never been brave enough to go below the cellar in Durlag's tower... I'm looking forward to your report on what happens! Good luck!
Errr.... is the common wisdom in a no-reload run to avoid the Demon Knight altogether?
(The point of this run is to start off on SoD. If I'm about to ruin 80 hours of prep, perhaps I should indeed just talk Islaenne for a rain check... "Err... good luck with your demon infestation then.")
If it is any help, this is the not-SCS-enhanced version of the Tower. (I have SCS enabled on other aspects, such as AI, but not the "Improved Durlag".)
Durlag's hasn't been as challenging as I thought. I thought the end of the first floor fight would end us, but only Coran perished, and he was quickly raised with one of the three raise dead scrolls we had nabbed from a temple.
Ouch. Also, Coran's 95 traps is working fine, but I rushed a bit and he nearly got toasted. The adventerous elf is clearly eager for more treasure.
On the second floor, Cedvar acheived Lv 10 by trap expierence. We've disabled the level cap for good reason (justifying the risk I' m taking by going into Durlags at all), but it was quite the achievement. Let's hope 95 pick pockets pays dividends if we get to Shadows of Amn.
Several close calls. The doom guards were easy with four fireballs and the monster scroll + wand.
The third floor awaits.
Cedvar: Level 10 Thief
Imoen: Level 7 Thief/ Level 8 Mage
Khalid: Level 8 Fighter
Jahiera: Level 7 Fighter/Level 8 Druid
Coran: Level 7 Fighter/ Level 8 Thief
Kivan: Lever 7 Ranger
The monks are still progressing pretty well. They've now been shopping at Ulgoth's Beard - the wand of the heavens from there allowing them to clear out the outside and upper stories of Durlag's Tower. I didn't bother killing Algernon this run, so Chimera only has a charisma of 19 - but they should still have enough funds for their ascetic needs.
They've cleared most wilderness areas currently available, including an impressive performance at the Lighthouse where no-one was injured or charmed by either of the two groups of sirines. That wasn't the case with the group of sirines to the north though, where Chimera was confused and 2 others charmed. That resulted in some nasty moments as the untouched monks tried to get in between potential enemies to absorb damage and I was glad to see the first charm expire here
That was the only occasion so far where I was really worried about someone being killed. The only critical which might have been a problem was in the ankheg nest, but Spectre had used green scrolls to give acid immunity there so was not really in danger. Just looking at the screenshot now I see I've got the wrong text selection - showing an answering critical on the ankheg.
Things left for now include Firewine Bridge (except Meilum) and Ruins, Ulcaster, Red Wizards of Thay area and Drizzt (I haven't killed him with this party before, but am tempted to have a go at that this time). I'll be heading for the Nashkel Mine next though.
Chimera - L7, 39 HPs, 196 kills
Spectre - L7, 54 HPs, 321 kills, 0 deaths
Phantom - L7, 44 HPs, 155 kills, 0 deaths
Wraith - L7, 41 HPs, 188 kills, 0 deaths
Spook - L7, 54 HPs, 170 kills, 0 deaths
Spirit - L7, 54 HPs, 135 kills, 0 deaths
Well that was close.
The chess board didn't trigger for one, (common SCS bug) and when I consoled it to do so my game froze and I returned to find my side utterly decimated. Part of me wanted to end the run, but a bug is a bug. I went on, using the only method I knew could save me from that wicked chessboard.
"PREPARE FOR THE NUCLEAR OPTION!!!!" - everyone except Cedvar, who drank a potion of invisibility the second he realized he was king. There were many awkward glares later on.
Imoen fell (Khalid had earlier too, so that's all our Raise Dead scrolls gone), and we stepped downstairs without healing. -surely- there wouldn't happen to be 3 teleporting scs astral spiders with 5 hitpoint poison damage waiting to ruin our day.
... We survived. That was enough for one day. After a brief chat with another Durlag ghost, the party fell asleep for a day or two, identifying, healing, and inventory sorting as we did. Next up, level 4. (Worth noting I've actually never fully completed Durlags, this is as far as I ever wanted to go. I have a vague remembrance as to whats ahead from an old LP series, but nothing solid. Fun.)
Cedvar: Level 10 Thief
Imoen: Level 7 Thief/ Level 8 Mage
Khalid: Level 8 Fighter
Jahiera: Level 7 Fighter/Level 8 Druid
Coran: Level 7 Fighter/ Level 8 Thief
Kivan: Lever 8 Ranger
Equipment makes the man,
Hear text as mp3,
Still taking my time, I grabbed some loot that was not guarded well then watched a drow get eviscerated by peons... We had to collect the items so that they didn't fall into the wrong hands and this proved to be enough to tank the basilisk | Ankheg for experience and fireball wands.
Returning to the southern mines gave the pleasure of trapping a cleric with our wand of paralyse... Sarah didn't really expect it to work but we'll take the victory just the same.
Tower" but with SCS Pride/Love battle is arguably harder than Sarevok finale.
@Blind_Visionary
My Weidu is in this post.
... I am still waiting on the nail-biting decision to Demon Knight or not to Demon Knight.
--
Meanwhile, I read the wiki entry for his spell list --- and wow!
Does the Ring of Free Action defend from Power Word: Stun? (I think in EE it defends from ordinary Stun.)
Also, most party is vulnerable to Power Word: Kill (though not charname -- unless receives damage first).
That seems one though opponent at that point. Like having Lavok in Chateau Irenicus...
And no, I never used a Mirror.
.... I decided to chicken out for the moment:
I took Islanne's offer and returned to surface. I may or may not do the Werewolves. Then it's facing Sarevok -- and I hope Dragonspear, finally.
I assembled my party - Minsc, Jaheira, Aerie, Jan. I'll collect Nalia later when I'm cofident enough about Torgal. Did circus, Umar Hills (not temple yet), Lirarcor, Shadow Thieves, payed 15k to Gaelan, Fallen Paladins, 1st and 2nd Aran's quest, killed Dorn, did Slavers, did skinner, Harpers, and we're about to leave town and explore more.
Unfortunately, WK had Vampiric Wraiths spawn so I can't explore further yet.
I had a nasty bug with Dispelling Screen not doing what it should be doing; which made the battle vs Mae'var a bit nastier than it should be
All was fine - bug is fixed now (iirc, it worked fine on non-ee installs...bleh.)
Minsc is proving to be a powerhouse now with Lirarcor for some much needed immunites and large damage output. here he smashed three orcs with his Cleave feat - screenshot can't show it, but this all happens in two seconds:)
So far, so good - no near-death experinces for Gares, I hope it stays that way.
The kobold hordes in the Nashkel Mine didn't last long and Mulahey forgot to ask where his guards were.
Nimbul and Tranzig failed to spot stealth attacks coming as the monks opened up the Bandit Camp. Deke and Raiken were struck down, but Teven was allowed to offer a lift there in order to allow the monks to englobe and kill Tazok - getting a nice bonus with a second bracers of weapon expertise.
There was a bit of inventory sorting and some final purchases at this stage before the monks went to Firewine to kill Bentan and Poe - getting a bit of useful equipment, but mainly to reduce reputation in order to get horror as Chimera's next Bhaal ability. There was a basilisk ambush on the way there, which was a bit worrying - particularly as I'm not using autopause (enemy in sight) in this run - as that's been rather nerfed in BGEE I've stopped using it there and decided it would be less confusing to me to be consistent in BGT. However, the basilisk didn't attempt a gaze attack (I should have had time to use a potion to protect against that anyway).
In the Cloakwood the monks had their first encounter with druids. Monks don't like druids, particularly outdoors given the amount of damage call lightning can do, but that spell takes a long time to cast.
In the third area Takiyah and Izefia were both stunned before they could finish any spells. There was more use of stealth while popping in and out of Amarande's house. There is a danger that will cause him to duplicate, but on this occasion everything worked properly until the monks tried to leave the house as the druid was casting chaos. He both followed them and completed casting the spell in process - confusing everyone except Spirit and Chimera.
Sorry about your monks. I'm curious; why did you anger the druids? Is there anything of value there or are you just being completionist? I simply walk away from that area, ever since (I think this was stratagemsv25) I had that archdruid shapechange into a greater basilisk (I'm serious here).
Punched in the face, burned, frozen, zapped, magic missiled... that #%&$er still casts.
Always with Chaos. Always with chaos. He has ended 3 of my last 5 runs.
What is the chance of this sure-casting?