Skull trap seems to trigger much more reliably in IWD2, no more failing to expload and just floating there harmlessly whilst enemies run past! But it also has a much reduced area of effect, still its good to be able to finally lay down some pain, this has been a long grind so far.
21 Mirtul 1312 The goblins were prepared for my return, quickly setting upon me as I stepped from the tunnel and back into the cave, and I found myself swarmed with in moments.
I focused on the immediate threat, and sent my close ranged attackers scuttling away with a horror spell. As the sea of green parted ways before me, I was struck in the gut by a goblin arrow. A small contingent of archers had assembled further down the tunnel, and were trying to take me down under a hail of arrows.
Without thinking about it, I instinctively retaliated by conjuring up a magical skull that buzzed and crackled with pure energy, I was surprised how quickly the action had come to me, as if I'd never been parted from the spell at all. The skull shattered upon impact as I threw it down the tunnel towards the greenskins, blowing the vermin to pieces.
The remaining goblins lost their nerve at the sight of their dismembered comrades, and turned to flee. I took aim with my crossbow, enjoying a little leisurely target practice. By the time the goblins had finally composed them selves, their ranks had been decimated. A second skulltrap took out the remaining goblins, and then the room fell silent.
Among the tents I discovered a small ammuntion crate, packed to the brim with a variety of crossbow bolts, including several score of masterwork bolts, and a full quiver of sparking bolts!
21 Mirtul 1312 I've come across a locked door with no visible keyhole, a squeeky voice called out from otherside as I tried to push it open. It seems that I will need to discover the password if I am to advance further down this pathway, maybe I could 'convince' one of the nearby goblins to relinquish the word, I do so enjoy engaging in a little torture!
22 Mirtul 1312 I found a lone goblin cowering in one of the small caves, he begged me not to kill him promising to help me if I helped him. Pondmuk claims to know the password that will get me deeper into the goblin warrens, however he is starving, the other goblins had banished him from their tribe and he is now struggling scavenge food, Pondmuk has offered to trade me the password in exchange for a meal, specifically a giant spider from a nearby cave.
I located the nest, which was crawling with wooley spiders a little way to the north. The creatures were easily defeated and I returned one of the corpses to the goblin. And as promised, the goblin revealed the password 'Chimera'.
22 Mirtul 1312 Pondmuk had proven true to his word, and the bolted gate creaked open as I gave the correct password. Blocking the doorway stood a very confused looking hobgoblin, and behind him towered a large firetroll guardian. The puzzled hobgoblin looked me up and down, as if trying to figure out who I was.
"Y-y-you not Chimera Legion? Who are yo...... Oh! OooOOoooH!. Grubtuk make a boo boo!..."
The Hobgoblin whirled around suddenly, and dashed away shouting to the troll as he passed.
"K-k-kill the spy! Grubtuk raise da alarm!"
That I just couldn't allow! Grubtuk was suddenly thrown several meters through the air, as my skulltrap hit him squarely in the back, the hobgoblin hit the stonewall hard and collapsed into a bloody mess on the floor. The fire troll quickly closed in, and fortunately for me, this variety do not require fire to kill. Another skull trap crippled this second guardian, making it a simple task to finish off with my crossbow.
Just around the corner, I encounter another of the goblins enchanted war drums, probabally the very drum that Grubtuk planned to raise the alarm with. I carefully sliced through the drumskin with my dagger, taking it out of action and ensuring it could no longer be used against me.
22 Mirtul 1312 Just who were this Legion of the Chimera to have united such a wide variety of races under their banner? This section of the warren was crawling with all manner different creatures, trolls, orogs ...demons.
As I stumbled into one cave I came face to face with Yquog, a creature known as a Bhargest Whelp. I have read of these creatures before, a very rare breed of demon from the plane of Gehenna. The Bhargest Whelps do not mature with age like most creatures, but by feeding on other lifeforms, the more powerful their prey, then the bigger and stronger they eventually become. Juvenile whelps are often sent to other planes of existence, like this one, to feed and mature before eventually returning home.
Yquog towered above me, easily eight feet tall, and almost the same wide! And from my understanding this enormous creature was still but a pup by Bhargast standards, and had plenty of growing left to do. Still such creatures are notoriously powerful, and at my current level of power I would be a fool to tangle with such a foe.
I thought it would be wiser to see what the creature had to say. The beast wishes me to perform a service for him, and has promised not just a reward, but his word of honor, that he will not eat me afterwards. I'm seriously beginning to rethink my earlier decision not to tangle with the creature, I'd take great pleasure shoving a skulltrap down it's oversized mouth.
Yquog recently ate one of the local goblins, and unfortunately that goblin happened to be the brother of Kruntur, one of the goblin commanders here at the fort. Out of spite, Kruntur is now withholding a letter of correspondence from Yquog's superiors, the letter contains Yquog's orders and if he doesn't carry them out soon, then he will invoke the wrath of his masters, something even the great demon is terrified of!
The demon wishes for me to recover the letter, but without harming Kruntur in the process, as much as he despises the goblin, acting out against him would also anger his superiors. I've agreed to aid the demon for now, however diplomacy is not my strong point and there is no guarantee I will be able to recover the letter peacefully....
With my meeting with the demon concluded, I finished off scouting the rest of the level, clearing out pockets of goblins whereever I found them. I made my way back to where I had battled the Orogs earlier, and to the long dark tunnel leading to the second level. The fortress couldn't be much further.
I've decided to dual class, in an attempt to boost some of my weaker skills to more reliable levels, though I'll still keep the emphasis on my Necromancer.
24 Mirtul 1312 The lower level proved very much the same as the upper level, lots of large enemy infested caves and caverns interconnected by a network of winding tunnels. As I battled my way through several such caves I came into a large storage area, where the goblins seemed to have been hoarding the loot from their recent raids. With all this lock picking I was certainly becoming more proficient in the ways of the rogue!
[Spoiler] Level 11 - Skill distribution
Class +1 level in rogue = 10Necromancer/1Rogue
Skills +4 Open Locks = 10 +7 Intimidate = 13
Note: I decided to put a level into rogue this time around for a few reasons.
1) Because I am leveling up quicker than I can obtain up to date spell scrolls, my potential is being severely capped (Another level in Necromancer would have unlocked level 6 spell slots, and I've only just found my first level 3 spells!).
2) Thieves gain more skill points per level than any other class, and with my high intelligence I get a ton of them! Very useful for a solo player who doesn't have the luxury of distributing important skills among multiple characters.
3)Taking a level in rogue means I can level my necromancers cross class skills (Any skill thats none mage specific) beyond the 50% cap (And for half the points cost!), this will be useful as having a high dialogue skill such as diplomacy, intimidate or bluff, becomes very important in a lot of quest dialogues (Especially for me with my super low Charisma!)
Another perk is that Rogue is a Tiefings favoured class, meaning I wont suffer an experience penalty for having a big level gap between my Necromancer and Rogue [/spoiler]
The chests contained mainly household objects, ornaments, pottery and other worthless items. I did managed to find several potions of healing, a vial of burning oil and several cases of enchanted crossbow bolts. On one of the Orog guardians I had slain, I discovered a curious black wardstone. It was made from polished obsidian and was etched with a single rune on each side, I didn't have the faintest idea what the stone could be used for, but it seemed important so I stashed it away in my pack.
24 Mirtul 1312
It was in the deepest reaches of the caves where I finally found the goblin chieftain Kruntur. The creature didn't immediately attack, curious how I had gotten past Yquog and his minions in the caves above.
I managed to convince the goblin that I had come to bargain for the Bhargest Whelps letter. Apparently Kruntur held no love for his brother, and was happy to see the goblin eaten by Yquog, what had so angered Kruntur and resulted in him withholding Yquogs letter was the fact that the Bhargest had claimed a pair of enchanted bracers from his *meal*, bracers that Kruntur feels he should have inherited.
The goblin will trade me the letter for the gauntlets. I grow tired of playing message boy, to these stinking primates, when slaughtering them would be so much more fun! Still I didn't want to get on the Bhargest's bad side, at least not yet. Instead I demanded tribute from the goblins for my services, they were not happy about it, but I managed to successfully intimidate them into compliance, and they have offered to 'dig me out' an enchanted trinket whilst I recover the bracers, this had better be worth my time...
24 Mirtul 1312 Yquog was furious with Kruntur's demands for the bracers, but I quickly pointed out that unless he wanted me to kill the goblin, then this was the way it had to be. Yquog shuddered as I mentioned killing the chieftain, just who were these masters that could terrify such an imposing creature so? The Bhargest Whelp reluctantly handed over the bracers, and I set off back once more to the goblin camp on the lower level. Its times like this when I miss my old boots of speed...
True to his word, the goblin handed over Yquogs letter as I traded him the bracers, in addition to the tribute I had demanded, a finely crafted suit of leather armour.
24 Mirtul 1312 Yquog seemed *somewhat* pleased with my work, but still refused to give any insight into who his mysterious masters were. He gave me my reward as promised and then demanded that I leave, before he changed his mind about eating me.
I chuckled under my breath as I left, examining the weapon that Yquog had just handed over to me. The Bhargest was either much happier with my services than he had let on, or he didn't quite realise the value of the weapon he had casually handed over to me, though I suspect the latter.
The wooded club seemed unremarkable to the untrained eye, but to one of my 'talents' I could feel the powerful enchantments reverberating through the weapon. This was a truestrike weapon! Able to bypass the physical resistances of all but the most powerful of adversaries! Not only that, but the club also possessed a second potent gift, it was enchanted with the power of a thunderstorm and would electrocute anyone unfortunate enough to be stuck with the weapon.
25 Mirtul 1312 For once I was able to get the drop on my opponents, a moderately sized force of orcs were working on a large subterranean farm as I stepped out from one tunnel.
Totally oblivious to my presence, I blew several of the unsuspecting creatures away with a single skulltrap. The orcs responded quickly, rushing me all at once like a pack of rabid dogs. That strategy only played out in my favour, as it made them highly susceptible to my second skulltrap!
Once the dust settled I started picking through the corpses, on one body I found another of the strange rune inscribed wardstones, only this one was made out of iron, most curious...
26 Mirtul 1312 For the first time in days, I can see sunlight! I have finally found the exit, but would it lead me into the goblins fortress like Ennelia seems to suspect? And if so, would I be walking right into a live hornets nest?
I followed the sunlight as the tunnel grew brighter and brighter, until I eventually stood before a long wooden staircase. Just as I was about to ascend the stairs, two very large runes on either side of the staircase caught my attention.
Cackling with magical energy they were obviously enchanted, and most likely some kind of trap meant to stop intruders like me from advancing. I quickly realised that the two runes matched the runes that were etched into the runestones I had discovered on the various goblin leaders I had defeated.
Suspecting, but by no means certain that the wardstones would protect me from the trap, I took a deep breath, and then a large step forwards ...nothing happened!
With the trap rendered inert, I cautiously climbed the stairway, unsure what kind of foes I would face in the heart of the enemy encampment.
No update today, after typing up today's run for the last hour plus, I accidentally closed my window and lost it all... I'll retype it all in the morning now, I can't be bothered doing all that again just now.
On another note, the game is beginning to get a little hard in places, like previous games, your level can affect the strength, type and number of enemies you encounter in certain areas. Only in IWD2 this seems much, much more pronounced, I guestimate I'm facing around 4-5 times the number of enemies I typically would. I'm currently playing through two games simultaneously, my solo game and a traditional party, so here is an example of what I'm talking about.
The goblin fort with my level 6 party:
Pretty standard stuff right?
The goblin fort with level 11 Zuzhul:
Thats only about 2/3rds of the number of enemies currently attacking me at that point, a large number had gotten trapped at the bottom of the stairs due to dodgy path finding, and some had run off as I hit with a horror spell (This is actually a very small map too, only several times bigger than the current screen size)
I wouldn't mind too much, but a lot of those enemies are no longer giving me experience points and I'm relying more on quest XP. The game is becoming so grindy! Hopefully I'll pick up some more potent spells before long (Animate dead is especially awesome in IWD2), because I'm not sure I'll be able to finish the run at this rate...
No Zuzhul has not ascended to Lichdom just yet, he is still very much alive and kicking.
Sorry for my disappearance, after three and a half games worth of journaling I was beginning to get a little burned out and bored with the write ups, and so took a little break from playing. I'm currently getting ready to move house, but once I'm settled into the new place I will return to the playthrough and try and get things concluded once and for all.
Comments
21 Mirtul 1312
The goblins were prepared for my return, quickly setting upon me as I stepped from the tunnel and back into the cave, and I found myself swarmed with in moments.
I focused on the immediate threat, and sent my close ranged attackers scuttling away with a horror spell. As the sea of green parted ways before me, I was struck in the gut by a goblin arrow. A small contingent of archers had assembled further down the tunnel, and were trying to take me down under a hail of arrows.
Without thinking about it, I instinctively retaliated by conjuring up a magical skull that buzzed and crackled with pure energy, I was surprised how quickly the action had come to me, as if I'd never been parted from the spell at all. The skull shattered upon impact as I threw it down the tunnel towards the greenskins, blowing the vermin to pieces.
The remaining goblins lost their nerve at the sight of their dismembered comrades, and turned to flee. I took aim with my crossbow, enjoying a little leisurely target practice. By the time the goblins had finally composed them selves, their ranks had been decimated. A second skulltrap took out the remaining goblins, and then the room fell silent.
Among the tents I discovered a small ammuntion crate, packed to the brim with a variety of crossbow bolts, including several score of masterwork bolts, and a full quiver of sparking bolts!
21 Mirtul 1312
I've come across a locked door with no visible keyhole, a squeeky voice called out from otherside as I tried to push it open. It seems that I will need to discover the password if I am to advance further down this pathway, maybe I could 'convince' one of the nearby goblins to relinquish the word, I do so enjoy engaging in a little torture!
22 Mirtul 1312
I found a lone goblin cowering in one of the small caves, he begged me not to kill him promising to help me if I helped him. Pondmuk claims to know the password that will get me deeper into the goblin warrens, however he is starving, the other goblins had banished him from their tribe and he is now struggling scavenge food, Pondmuk has offered to trade me the password in exchange for a meal, specifically a giant spider from a nearby cave.
I located the nest, which was crawling with wooley spiders a little way to the north. The creatures were easily defeated and I returned one of the corpses to the goblin. And as promised, the goblin revealed the password 'Chimera'.
Pondmuk had proven true to his word, and the bolted gate creaked open as I gave the correct password. Blocking the doorway stood a very confused looking hobgoblin, and behind him towered a large firetroll guardian. The puzzled hobgoblin looked me up and down, as if trying to figure out who I was.
"Y-y-you not Chimera Legion? Who are yo...... Oh! OooOOoooH!. Grubtuk make a boo boo!..."
The Hobgoblin whirled around suddenly, and dashed away shouting to the troll as he passed.
"K-k-kill the spy! Grubtuk raise da alarm!"
That I just couldn't allow! Grubtuk was suddenly thrown several meters through the air, as my skulltrap hit him squarely in the back, the hobgoblin hit the stonewall hard and collapsed into a bloody mess on the floor. The fire troll quickly closed in, and fortunately for me, this variety do not require fire to kill. Another skull trap crippled this second guardian, making it a simple task to finish off with my crossbow.
Just around the corner, I encounter another of the goblins enchanted war drums, probabally the very drum that Grubtuk planned to raise the alarm with. I carefully sliced through the drumskin with my dagger, taking it out of action and ensuring it could no longer be used against me.
22 Mirtul 1312
Just who were this Legion of the Chimera to have united such a wide variety of races under their banner? This section of the warren was crawling with all manner different creatures, trolls, orogs ...demons.
As I stumbled into one cave I came face to face with Yquog, a creature known as a Bhargest Whelp. I have read of these creatures before, a very rare breed of demon from the plane of Gehenna. The Bhargest Whelps do not mature with age like most creatures, but by feeding on other lifeforms, the more powerful their prey, then the bigger and stronger they eventually become. Juvenile whelps are often sent to other planes of existence, like this one, to feed and mature before eventually returning home.
Yquog towered above me, easily eight feet tall, and almost the same wide! And from my understanding this enormous creature was still but a pup by Bhargast standards, and had plenty of growing left to do. Still such creatures are notoriously powerful, and at my current level of power I would be a fool to tangle with such a foe.
I thought it would be wiser to see what the creature had to say. The beast wishes me to perform a service for him, and has promised not just a reward, but his word of honor, that he will not eat me afterwards. I'm seriously beginning to rethink my earlier decision not to tangle with the creature, I'd take great pleasure shoving a skulltrap down it's oversized mouth.
Yquog recently ate one of the local goblins, and unfortunately that goblin happened to be the brother of Kruntur, one of the goblin commanders here at the fort. Out of spite, Kruntur is now withholding a letter of correspondence from Yquog's superiors, the letter contains Yquog's orders and if he doesn't carry them out soon, then he will invoke the wrath of his masters, something even the great demon is terrified of!
The demon wishes for me to recover the letter, but without harming Kruntur in the process, as much as he despises the goblin, acting out against him would also anger his superiors. I've agreed to aid the demon for now, however diplomacy is not my strong point and there is no guarantee I will be able to recover the letter peacefully....
With my meeting with the demon concluded, I finished off scouting the rest of the level, clearing out pockets of goblins whereever I found them. I made my way back to where I had battled the Orogs earlier, and to the long dark tunnel leading to the second level. The fortress couldn't be much further.
24 Mirtul 1312
The lower level proved very much the same as the upper level, lots of large enemy infested caves and caverns interconnected by a network of winding tunnels. As I battled my way through several such caves I came into a large storage area, where the goblins seemed to have been hoarding the loot from their recent raids. With all this lock picking I was certainly becoming more proficient in the ways of the rogue!
[Spoiler] Level 11 - Skill distribution
Class
+1 level in rogue = 10Necromancer/1Rogue
Skills
+4 Open Locks = 10
+7 Intimidate = 13
Note: I decided to put a level into rogue this time around for a few reasons.
1) Because I am leveling up quicker than I can obtain up to date spell scrolls, my potential is being severely capped (Another level in Necromancer would have unlocked level 6 spell slots, and I've only just found my first level 3 spells!).
2) Thieves gain more skill points per level than any other class, and with my high intelligence I get a ton of them! Very useful for a solo player who doesn't have the luxury of distributing important skills among multiple characters.
3)Taking a level in rogue means I can level my necromancers cross class skills (Any skill thats none mage specific) beyond the 50% cap (And for half the points cost!), this will be useful as having a high dialogue skill such as diplomacy, intimidate or bluff, becomes very important in a lot of quest dialogues (Especially for me with my super low Charisma!)
Another perk is that Rogue is a Tiefings favoured class, meaning I wont suffer an experience penalty for having a big level gap between my Necromancer and Rogue [/spoiler]
The chests contained mainly household objects, ornaments, pottery and other worthless items. I did managed to find several potions of healing, a vial of burning oil and several cases of enchanted crossbow bolts. On one of the Orog guardians I had slain, I discovered a curious black wardstone. It was made from polished obsidian and was etched with a single rune on each side, I didn't have the faintest idea what the stone could be used for, but it seemed important so I stashed it away in my pack.
24 Mirtul 1312
It was in the deepest reaches of the caves where I finally found the goblin chieftain Kruntur. The creature didn't immediately attack, curious how I had gotten past Yquog and his minions in the caves above.
I managed to convince the goblin that I had come to bargain for the Bhargest Whelps letter. Apparently Kruntur held no love for his brother, and was happy to see the goblin eaten by Yquog, what had so angered Kruntur and resulted in him withholding Yquogs letter was the fact that the Bhargest had claimed a pair of enchanted bracers from his *meal*, bracers that Kruntur feels he should have inherited.
The goblin will trade me the letter for the gauntlets. I grow tired of playing message boy, to these stinking primates, when slaughtering them would be so much more fun! Still I didn't want to get on the Bhargest's bad side, at least not yet. Instead I demanded tribute from the goblins for my services, they were not happy about it, but I managed to successfully intimidate them into compliance, and they have offered to 'dig me out' an enchanted trinket whilst I recover the bracers, this had better be worth my time...
24 Mirtul 1312
Yquog was furious with Kruntur's demands for the bracers, but I quickly pointed out that unless he wanted me to kill the goblin, then this was the way it had to be. Yquog shuddered as I mentioned killing the chieftain, just who were these masters that could terrify such an imposing creature so? The Bhargest Whelp reluctantly handed over the bracers, and I set off back once more to the goblin camp on the lower level. Its times like this when I miss my old boots of speed...
True to his word, the goblin handed over Yquogs letter as I traded him the bracers, in addition to the tribute I had demanded, a finely crafted suit of leather armour.
24 Mirtul 1312
Yquog seemed *somewhat* pleased with my work, but still refused to give any insight into who his mysterious masters were. He gave me my reward as promised and then demanded that I leave, before he changed his mind about eating me.
I chuckled under my breath as I left, examining the weapon that Yquog had just handed over to me. The Bhargest was either much happier with my services than he had let on, or he didn't quite realise the value of the weapon he had casually handed over to me, though I suspect the latter.
The wooded club seemed unremarkable to the untrained eye, but to one of my 'talents' I could feel the powerful enchantments reverberating through the weapon. This was a truestrike weapon! Able to bypass the physical resistances of all but the most powerful of adversaries! Not only that, but the club also possessed a second potent gift, it was enchanted with the power of a thunderstorm and would electrocute anyone unfortunate enough to be stuck with the weapon.
For once I was able to get the drop on my opponents, a moderately sized force of orcs were working on a large subterranean farm as I stepped out from one tunnel.
Totally oblivious to my presence, I blew several of the unsuspecting creatures away with a single skulltrap. The orcs responded quickly, rushing me all at once like a pack of rabid dogs. That strategy only played out in my favour, as it made them highly susceptible to my second skulltrap!
Once the dust settled I started picking through the corpses, on one body I found another of the strange rune inscribed wardstones, only this one was made out of iron, most curious...
26 Mirtul 1312
For the first time in days, I can see sunlight! I have finally found the exit, but would it lead me into the goblins fortress like Ennelia seems to suspect? And if so, would I be walking right into a live hornets nest?
I followed the sunlight as the tunnel grew brighter and brighter, until I eventually stood before a long wooden staircase. Just as I was about to ascend the stairs, two very large runes on either side of the staircase caught my attention.
Cackling with magical energy they were obviously enchanted, and most likely some kind of trap meant to stop intruders like me from advancing. I quickly realised that the two runes matched the runes that were etched into the runestones I had discovered on the various goblin leaders I had defeated.
Suspecting, but by no means certain that the wardstones would protect me from the trap, I took a deep breath, and then a large step forwards ...nothing happened!
With the trap rendered inert, I cautiously climbed the stairway, unsure what kind of foes I would face in the heart of the enemy encampment.
On another note, the game is beginning to get a little hard in places, like previous games, your level can affect the strength, type and number of enemies you encounter in certain areas. Only in IWD2 this seems much, much more pronounced, I guestimate I'm facing around 4-5 times the number of enemies I typically would. I'm currently playing through two games simultaneously, my solo game and a traditional party, so here is an example of what I'm talking about.
The goblin fort with my level 6 party:
The goblin fort with level 11 Zuzhul:
I wouldn't mind too much, but a lot of those enemies are no longer giving me experience points and I'm relying more on quest XP. The game is becoming so grindy! Hopefully I'll pick up some more potent spells before long (Animate dead is especially awesome in IWD2), because I'm not sure I'll be able to finish the run at this rate...
Sorry for my disappearance, after three and a half games worth of journaling I was beginning to get a little burned out and bored with the write ups, and so took a little break from playing. I'm currently getting ready to move house, but once I'm settled into the new place I will return to the playthrough and try and get things concluded once and for all.