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Will I live long enough for this challenge?

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  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited November 2020
    The latest fresh character to be generated was a druid dualled to fighter. Progress was straightforward in BGEE and SoD and things continued well after dualling early in BG2EE. At druid 12 / fighter 26 I was close to finishing all the Chaper 2 and 3 content when I got carried away after successfully Harming Firkraag and didn't retreat when follow-up attacks bounced off his stoneskin. That resulted in being affected by dragon fear and ending up as another morsel between his teeth. The run was documented on the no-reload thread.

    Five months later I started this again, but only lasted 5 minutes - a ambush by skeletons on the first area transition proving fatal when they got exceedingly lucky rolls.

    Another month later and I'm currently in the middle of a shaman run. However, I'm limiting that to an hour a day and rolled a random choice for another run to use up additional oddments of time. Progress was smooth to Baldur's Gate, but I once again got into trouble there when saving the game having just talked to Degrodel and talking to him again on the restart. I managed to stun him with a dart and successfully killed him to get Balduran's Helm back, but was trapped in a corner by a couple of doom guards and a helmed horror. I hadn't bought any potions, so had no regeneration available and used a potion of invisibility to take advantage of my constitution regeneration before breaking out. I'd forgotten though that potions last 12 hours rather than the 24 hours of the spell - and left the game running long enough to reappear and allow the enemies to finish their job while I was away from the computer.
    Post edited by Grond0 on
    StummvonBordwehrJuliusBorisovmonicoXDarkStrikerX
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited May 2021
    Totemic druid
    Thinking I would have a go at a sole class druid, I rolled up a totemic version. That made pretty easy progress through BGEE and most of SoD, before getting held by Thrix's summoned army when his cutscene appeared to last long enough to erase my buffs. That was another run summarized on the no-reload thread.

    Another attempt that failed at Sendai's Enclave is summarized here. I didn't expect to beat Mel, but should really have got to her. However, I underestimated the drow that appear between Sendai's statues ...

    A year later I've started a third attempt. That's now in v2.6, which made it a bit more difficult than previously to get hold of Drizzt's equipment. However, he proved pretty vulnerable after having magic resistance cast on him.
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    I managed to complete the rest of BGEE despite taking a few risks.
    It was a similar story in SoD - the sort of slightly risky play (like not buffing for the Crusader invasions of the camp) which can so easily be costly. However, my luck held this time and Belhifet was eventually chopped up with the help of Caelar.
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    My luck ran out relatively early in SoA. When looting the thief guild I couldn't remember the order of the traps, but proceeded anyway. I had Shield of the Archons available, but didn't use it and got petrified as a result ...
    Post edited by Grond0 on
    StummvonBordwehrJuliusBorisovmonicoXDarkStrikerX
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    Good luck with your druid runs !
    I'm looking forward to see what strategies will allow you to advance in late game (summons, especially the fire elemental ones, can take care of most of SoD & BG2).

    What were your preparations for the fight against Belhifet ? What weapons did you use ?
    Grond0JuliusBorisov
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    @monico preparations included green scrolls against elemental damage and poison and potions for speed, power, defense, dexterity and magic shielding. Additional power and regeneration potions were used to keep HPs up and DUHM to raise strength. In this run I only had a single scimitar from Drizzt - that did most of the damage until my use of Champion's Strength scrolls at the top of the lift ran out. I then finished Belhifet off with Bullets of Darkness after using a few more of those scrolls.

    When there not that long ago with a totemic druid I used the Root of the Problem Club in my off-hand, which allowed Belhifet to be killed somewhat quicker. I partly didn't do that this time to reduce damage taken - but that would be less of an issue for most people who aren't allergic to healing items :p.
    monicoJuliusBorisovStummvonBordwehr
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited July 2020
    Grond0 wrote: »
    but that would be less of an issue for most people who aren't allergic to healing items :p.

    I was wondering about that, btw, what is the reason behind this ?

    Is it just for the duration of the fights, like resting/saving is impossible and so you don't use healing items too ? Do you allow healing items outside of battle ?
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited July 2020
    @monico there's no particular reason - and I don't use healing outside battle either (which means the ability to rest safely becomes more important, as I think it should). At one stage, quite a few years ago now, I was experimenting with making the game more challenging using a range of different restrictions and this just seemed to suit me. I always had a bit of a tendency to try and manage damage rather than just bludgeon on through and the restrictions just exaggerated that. I died quite a bit to poison to start with, but that made sense to me. I think poison should be dangerous, not something you can just swig antidotes to cure at a moment's notice.

    I'm so used to not using healing now that in most cases I don't notice the lack - it's probably only the fight with Melissan that it regularly becomes a major issue. She's immune to so many things that strategies for many characters are fairly limited and with lots of summons, area damage spells, missiles flying around and regular dispels, it's hard for non-arcane characters to avoid damage - and the sheer length of the various battles without the ability to rest means that abilities like hardiness and GWW are in short supply.
    monicoAerakarStummvonBordwehr
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
    edited July 2020
    Dang. I didn't spot this thread until now. A very impressive showing. I read through about 3 of your solos so far.

    The Wizard Slayer solo seemed extremely difficult, which isn't surprising. I still enjoy the class for what it is, limited as it may be.
    monicoGrond0
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited July 2020
    The Wizard Slayer solo seemed extremely difficult, which isn't surprising. I still enjoy the class for what it is, limited as it may be.

    @WarChiefZeke it's certainly not easy ;), but I have a soft spot for it too and have no desire to try and mod away the disadvantages. You need a bit of luck in BG1 at the palace and in several encounters in SoD. BG2 though should be easier I think due to the amount of items giving immunities in the early game. I soloed one years ago (before SoD) and I think the 100% MR you can get in ToB actually makes the game somewhat easier for them there than a standard fighter - so I'm reasonably confident I'll get the class through eventually. In fact I've been thinking it was about time for another attempt at it, so I'll probably do that after finishing the current druid run ...
    Post edited by Grond0 on
    WarChiefZekeAerakar
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    monico wrote: »
    Grond0 wrote: »
    but that would be less of an issue for most people who aren't allergic to healing items :p.

    I was wondering about that, btw, what is the reason behind this ?

    Is it just for the duration of the fights, like resting/saving is impossible and so you don't use healing items too ? Do you allow healing items outside of battle ?

    @Grond0 I think I found the reason why you don't use healing potions ?

    Grond0Aerakar
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited February 2023
    I've probably been playing too much BG recently and didn't fancy any of the existing characters. I decided to create a dark moon monk, which is a class I've got limited experience of, to freshen things up a bit.
    41vzsigi349t.jpg
    However, I still soon found myself drifting back into bad habits by pushing boundaries and that proved costly on my return to Candlekeep when a near-dead greater doppleganger turned at bay, despite its morale failure, and slashed away my remaining life with a critical.

    Bad habit were still a problem 18 months later when I tried this class again. I was following Korax round killing basilisks without paying full attention. The result when one of those retreated a bit was that I followed more quickly than Korax and the basilisk switched its gaze to me ...

    A bit over a year later I tried this again. Progress was generally good, but with the odd major mistake. One of those caught up with me against Thaxy when I was slow to remember one big drawback with monks is their difficulty in dealing with level-draining attacks. The run was fully reported on the no-reload thread.
    Post edited by Grond0 on
    StummvonBordwehrAerakarmonicoJuliusBorisov
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited April 2021
    Fighter/mage/thief
    I created a fighter/mage/thief with the intention of trying to avoid taking any damage during the run. A mistake saw me injured during the return to Candlekeep, but I continued with the run through SoD and into BG2EE. I was no longer trying to avoid damage there and progress seemed very easy, but I hit a bug when Gaelan Bayle incorrectly said he'd given me the key to a secret door in the thieves guild - rather than fiddle around with the save I ended the run there. The run was recorded on the no-reload thread.

    Eight months later and this came up again as a random choice. I had one close shave in BGEE when I wasn't paying close attention during an area transition, which allowed an ambushing basilisk the time to gaze at me. I had no useful potions, but saved anyway. I used the lightning trap to kill Sarevok's companions, in order to get Angelo's exploding arrows. I then missed an attempted backstab on Sarevok and had no buffs or summons to allow me to fight toe to toe - so resorted to shooting to finish him off.
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    SoD was mainly straightforward. The main exception to that was when I didn't bother setting up a proper attack on Vichand and failed to kill him before the whole camp was hostile - requiring me to kill them all rather than just surrender the fort. Against Belhifet I used stoneskins to manage damage and blue fireshield to add some extra damage.
    pk27ca4n8otn.jpg
    Once more I came unstuck through a lack of patience. A big problem with multi-class characters is the time it takes them to improve saving throws and my saving throw vs spell was still only at 0 even after getting half a dozed HLAs. Encountering the beholders on the way to Amaunator's temple I just attacked rather than use area damage or summons and duly died. The cause wasn't obvious on my portrait, but I presume it was a result of being charmed.
    Post edited by Grond0 on
    StummvonBordwehrJuliusBorisovAdam_en_tiumXDarkStrikerX
  • CloutierCloutier Member Posts: 228
    Great playthroughs, I'm thoroughly enjoying them.

    Question. You mention "guaranteed" saving throws. My understanding is that no matter how good your saving throws, there's always a 5% chance of critical failure. Is that correct?
    Grond0CrevsDaak
  • kansasbarbariankansasbarbarian Member Posts: 206
    Great reads as always. The dwarven berserker inspired me to try a solo run with one.
    Grond0
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    A third run in a row had an unsatisfactory finish after I generated another new class in a cleric/thief multi. That's a pretty easy class to make progress with thanks to the powerful cleric spells available in BGEE and thief traps and stealth in BG2EE supported by good all-round saving throws. However, no class can survive without being careful and a moment's inattention resulted in me leaving the Temple of Rillifane while the Avatar was in the process of being summoned - breaking the script and leaving no way to continue the game (without reloading, which I don't generally allow even for bugs). The run was reported on the no-reload thread.
    AerakarStummvonBordwehrXDarkStrikerX
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited October 2023
    Wizard slayer (post continued from here)
    {54th attempt continued}I carried on straight away to BG2, but quickly failed there after going in search of the Shield of Harmony. After disposing of the first genie I went in the tent and scared both the others. Unfortunately that broke their AI and both of them spammed infinite stoneskin spells several times a second. That gave them the edge when the battle proper started and, after a second attempted horror was interrupted, I tried to run. However, their haste allowed them a chance to attack while I was running and I didn't quite manage to get to the map edge ...

    A couple of weeks later and I tried once more. This time though my luck failed to hold out in BG1. Just for the hell of it I attacked the Red Wizards when already at the XP cap and got sent running in horror. I could probably have survived all their spells, but unfortunately ran all the way across the map where a group of spiders waited. I saved against their web trap - but not against a phase spider sting. I did recover from the horror soon after, still with 42 HPs left, but hadn't got around to buying a protection from poison scroll yet and there's no exit from the right side of that map ...

    I've only played the wizard slayer class in this challenge for a while now and thought it was about time to try something else, so generated a random choice - which turned out to be a wizard slayer :o. Deciding to take that as a cosmic hint I accepted the choice. I even took marginally fewer risks this time, though I still had to rely on innate magic resistance to save against an attempted charm from Drizzt. Sarevok had no chance to react in the final fight as he was gradually worn down by his own trap.
    zal2evi8z8zt.jpg
    There was an annoying end to the run in SoD. I'd just gone through the Underground River and poisoned the food and water and was on my way out. Normally there's enough time to run out before the alarm spreads, but this time that happened a fraction early and the route was blocked. One attempted Bhaal horror was interrupted and I was unlucky with the other that the enemies affected still didn't provide a route out and I was gradually cut down.

    Eight months later I tried a 57th attempt. That went reasonably well for most of BGEE, but hit the buffers at the palace when all 6 dopplegangers attacked the dukes - something which was always likely to be a problem.

    Three months later a 58th attempt was even more short-lived. At the basilisk area Korax was in front of me when I clicked to group attack a basilisk. I didn't perceive a problem, but with using darts I must have moved forward and edged fractionally in front of Korax as the basilisk clearly decided to target me ...

    A few weeks later and I decided to use a new approach to this challenge by randomly selecting a group of 7 characters and then taking it in turn to do sessions with each - the hope there that the variety will make it easier to maintain concentration. The WS was one of those selected, but also the first to fall - when commanded by a hobgoblin shaman while surrounded by other hobgoblins at the entrance to the old temple in the Forest of Wyrms. The overall run for the 7 characters is summarised here.

    Four months later I had a go at number 60. Things went well in BGEE up to the final battle with Sarevok. With just Angelo and Sarevok left I got a bit careless. I'd taken quite a bit of damage from Angelo's exploding arrows and sought to finish him off quickly. However, a slight movement error meant Sarevok got an unexpected attack in which was just too much for me.
    Post edited by Grond0 on
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited February 2023
    Thief dualling to cleric
    For the first time in 8 months I generated a new class for this challenge. The random selection was for a thief due to dual to cleric and I decided to set that up by starting with a shadowdancer and not dual until well into BG2EE. Progress in BGEE was generally fairly serene, but I got caught out at the palace when the dopplegangers clawed their way through the dukes dismayingly quickly. That run was recorded on the no-reload thread.

    Another 8 months later this class came up again as a random selection. Once again though I didn't do it justice. In Baldur's Gate, I unnecessarily attacked Degrodel and was surprised when stealth broke while I was lining up a backstab. I didn't react quickly enough to use any protection before the mage cast horror and the enclosed quarters meant I was an easy victim for the mage and his guards.
    Post edited by Grond0 on
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    Necromancer
    A couple of days later I generated another new class, but didn't perform well with that. At the Cloakwood Mine I tried resting in a potentially dangerous situation and was duly cut down by large numbers of guards that appeared.
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
    Grond0 wrote: »
    Wizard slayer (post continued from here)
    {54th attempt continued}I carried on straight away to BG2, but quickly failed there after going in search of the Shield of Harmony. After disposing of the first genie I went in the tent and scared both the others. Unfortunately that broke their AI and both of them spammed infinite stoneskin spells several times a second. That gave them the edge when the battle proper started and, after a second attempted horror was interrupted, I tried to run. However, their haste allowed them a chance to attack while I was running and I didn't quite manage to get to the map edge ...

    A couple of weeks later and I tried once more. This time though my luck failed to hold out in BG1. Just for the hell of it I attacked the Red Wizards when already at the XP cap and got sent running in horror. I could probably have survived all their spells, but unfortunately ran all the way across the map where a group of spiders waited. I saved against their web trap - but not against a phase spider sting. I did recover from the horror soon after, still with 42 HPs left, but hadn't got around to buying a protection from poison scroll yet and there's no exit from the right side of that map ...

    I've only played the wizard slayer class in this challenge for a while now and thought it was about time to try something else, so generated a random choice - which turned out to be a wizard slayer :o. Deciding to take that as a cosmic hint I accepted the choice. I even took marginally fewer risks this time, though I still had to rely on innate magic resistance to save against an attempted charm from Drizzt. Sarevok had no chance to react in the final fight as he was gradually worn down by his own trap.
    zal2evi8z8zt.jpg
    There was an annoying end to the run in SoD. I'd just gone through the Underground River and poisoned the food and water and was on my way out. Normally there's enough time to run out before the alarm spreads, but this time that happened a fraction early and the route was blocked. One attempted Bhaal horror was interrupted and I was unlucky with the other that the enemies affected still didn't provide a route out and I was gradually cut down.

    You're a champ for cataloging all these runs, let alone doing them.
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited December 2022
    Cleric dualling to fighter
    I haven't played single player for 6 weeks or so, but decided to have another go yesterday. A random choice produced another new class with a cleric dualling to fighter. As fighters don't get much stronger with later levels and clerics are best in the early and middle game, I was already thinking of using a late dual. That intention was reinforced when I failed to pick up the violet potion from the carnival (a rather too regular occurrence :s). Missing out on the strength tome is more of a pain as I don't have exceptional strength to start with, while the loss of a wisdom tome means I don't get a bonus 5th level spell and hence have an incentive to continue for further levels to make up for that. After Semaj was killed by skeletons, Sarevok chased me round for a while. I mixed wand magic missiles in with my slingshots and it was one of the former that eventually got the kill.
    soabjmqvkrqo.jpg
    It's over 3 months since I last played single player BG, but I did eventually get around to continuing this run in SoD this morning. There were no particular problems on the way to helping Caelar deal with Belhifet, but I noticed after that I hadn't got the pantaloons in my backpack - so it looks like I was even more forgetful in BGEE than I realized previously :/. That will make success in ToB even more unlikely, but there will be plenty of work to do before then anyway ...
    mubp7ortgjvi.jpg
    In the event I didn't have to worry about ToB. I dualled at level 11 and did plenty of hard work in getting up nearly to level 16 as a fighter before coming a cropper on the way in to the Unseeing Eye quest. After summoning the bridge, I produced a bunch of skeleton warriors to kill the group of beholders there and then used sanctuary and scouted ahead in order to sight the beholders to get the best targeting by the skeletons. Unfortunately, while beholders are unable to see through invisibility, it appears they can ignore sanctuary - and the attacks by the whole group of them killed me before I could retreat ...
    Post edited by Grond0 on
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,011
    Well done @Grond0
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited August 2023
    Priest of Tyr
    After a few months of not playing, I'm on my third run of the last few days. Mistakes saw the first of those ended when I failed to appreciate that beholders would ignore sanctuary, while in the second I fell for the classical mistake of trying to protect against a dart of stunning using free action. This time round the random choice was another new character - a priest of Tyr. It's major special ability only works on other members of the party, so as a solo character it plays pretty much the same as a standard cleric. BGEE is easy for clerics though and I had a fairly routine ride through to Sarevok. He was kited around for a while before I closed in on him for the kill.
    2zl93bz5gj8o.jpg
    A real piece of carelessness saw me fail at Boareskyr Bridge. I interrupted the mage's initial couple of spells with the Ring of Energy, but with the mage at near death and being attacked by 4 skeletons as well as me, I assumed he would quickly fall. Somehow though he managed to complete not one, but 2 lightning bolts - the second of which exploded the barrels on the bridge ...

    Eight months later I tried again. Progress with a cleric is easy in BGEE, but you still need to take a bit of care and I didn't do so at the palace. I had 5 skeletons, which I expected to be enough and didn't bother with buffing. All but one of the dopplegangers then attacked the dukes and killed them just before I could finish off the dopplegangers ...
    Post edited by Grond0 on
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited April 2023
    Thief dualling to fighter
    Deciding that I wanted to have another go at completing the game at the first attempt with at least one class, I generated a new character - a shadowdancer that would have dualled to fighter in BG2EE.

    I was aiming to complete BGEE without taking any damage and was successful in doing that as far as the coronation at the palace. Partly to defend that record, I decided to charm a couple of the nobles in order to reduce the initial pressure on the dukes. It's a long time since I used that tactic, but in the past the nobles would only change form to dopplegangers once the charm had worn off and I don't remember any problems with that. This time though only one of the nobles changed form and it appeared the other one had been killed by a guard while still a noble - his death didn't count towards Belt's headcount target, so the game couldn't progress after that. The run was detailed on the no-reload thread.

    A couple of months later I tried this again, but with disappointing results. In the Cloakwood, I was killing ettercaps prior to going through their web traps. However, on the 3rd of those I forgot to switch back from my staff to sling and moved towards the ettercap. An attempted click to move away again failed to register and I triggered the trap before I could try again or pause - and though the text message said I'd saved I was stuck and the ettercaps quickly took advantage ...
    Post edited by Grond0 on
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