(((Yes, I'm supposed to be sleeping. But I went to bed very early after my son had a severe meltdown in the evening. And then a rainstorm woke me up at 4am and I can't sleep)))
@BelgarathMTH , thank you for spelling out the spells (no pun intended), I've always wondered what exactly they were saying. I thought it's just some Latin mixed with gibberish (another question: do gibberlings speak gibberish?), but now I see that most of it actually makes sense. Though it's still pig Latin ?.
Baeloth's alliteration is McGonagall's "babbling bumbling band of baboons" version 2.0 ?.
But I survived the mage quartet! Okay, but next time it won't depend on luck any more.
I've successfully finished that map without having to reload again, and there were really two webs that Imoen didn't find. She disarmed only one. So I guess I'll have to get some Potions of Freedom before I go to the Cloakwood. I also kind of hoped that the undead hunter's immunity to Hold might include webs, but it doesn't. But at least a paladin's saving throws make it easier to escape.
By the way, I so loathe the creepy sounds the attacking spiders make, and the squishy sound of their web. I really think I'll have to do the Cloakwood without headphones.
Thank you for the support and encouragement, but you know very well that I'd have tons of reloads without your help. And one reload less if I'd have listened to you about ogres in the first place ?
Oh no. I don't have a Potion of Clarity, it's a Potion of Insight. I think I'll have to try another strategy against the sirens, like the silence spells. I see absolutely no reason to travel to Ulgoth's Beard now, a place I'm not even supposed to know about right now, to buy that amulet.
4th reload coming, possibly. But I'll do my best.
Edit: I'm also bending my usual practice of resting only when fatigued, at least a bit. I'm heading into unknown territory and sometimes have the wrong spells memorized, and lack the experience to always know which spells are a must.
I hope that's okay for a beginner like me.
What is cowardice? - What is courage? "Be without fear", like Branwen? Or "Face your fears"?
The Red Wizards of Thay had seemed to be the least of their problems in the forest. Being caught in sticky webs and attacked by all sorts of spiders (("wraith spider"? seriously? aren't the usual spiders dangerous enough? Does Faerun have a Stargate to the Pegasus Galaxy?)) had almost cost them their lives, so Arvia wanted them to head back to Beregost and think carefully about their next steps.
They would certainly need more antidotes and healing potions before traveling to the Cloakwood. The forests of the Sword Coast seemed to be populated by dangerous creatures and they didn't know how far the Cloakwood was or if there'd be any chance to find supplies.
They had also promised to make sure the caravan routes were safe, and they had always kept to the east, so there was no way of knowing the situation along the coast. Arvia discussed her thoughts with the others, and they agreed to take the long road to the Cloakwood, along the Sword Coast, because they hadn't secured that part of the road yet, and it was quite possible that they'd never come back.
They had been hiking for a long time, ambushed by undead along the way, and Branwen and Minsc were already getting tired when they finally heard the crashing of waves in the distance. Imoen had been scouting, as usual, and came back to tell Arvia about a beautiful women with blue skin, alone in the forest. She had checked the area thoroughly and not seen a trace of anybody else.
Arvia had never met people with blue skin before and didn't know what kind of creature that could be, but how much danger could they expect from one lone woman? ((and Marion resisted the temptation to google "Shoal the Nereid"))
They decided to take a closer look. Arvia, always ready to trust people, but still careful to keep her companions from being harmed, asked them to keep their distance and went to greet the woman.
Shoal was her name, and she was asking for their help. They were always ready to assist people in need, but things got out of hand quickly when Arvia refused to accept a suddenly offered kiss.
*Why* did they always get punished for trying to help people? Unconscious, and left with one lousy HP, after refusing a kiss?
Attack, everyone! Dynaheir, Chromatic Orb! Branwen, Hold Person! Ajantis, Lay on Hands, before that creature kills your girl!
Yes! Well done, Dynaheir. Chromatic Orb is such a useful spell. And so much faster to cast than Hold Person. (see, Branwen? Will you leave her alone now?)
Arvia didn't want to show it, but she was frightened. Weapons, monsters, lightning, fire and poison were all very dangerous, and they had fought against all of them. But to lose control over her body and mind at a simple touch? They'd have to be much more careful around strangers.
Okay, not all of them. This one way obviously mad, the poor soul. They got a ring from the pirate ship for him, but it didn't seem to make him feel much better.
Dispel Magic didn't help, either, but they felt they had to try. Maybe Shoal had kissed him, too.
A little further down the coast, Imoen spotted a tall man clad in black and ran back to Arvia. "This one looks dangerous!" she gasped. "Like a mage or something!" A mage? All mages had cast Horror on them until now, and both Branwen and Dynaheir had already used up their Remove/Resist Fear. They looked for a hidden place to rest and studied their spellbooks.
Awakened by *three* ogre berserkers?
Torm, are you judging me for running away from a fight? I was only trying to protect my people!
Arvia managed to draw their attention, so that the others could fan out and shoot missiles at them.
The "evil mage" in black turned out to be a healer offering his help. They didn't need him and he left them wondering if they'd ever learn to judge people properly.
After some minor interceptions
they finally discovered the *real* danger along this coast.
With the shocking experience of Shoal the Nereid fresh in their minds, they panicked and fled south, only to be reminded that you can't run away from your responsibility.
Arvia was ashamed. This was not the behavior of a leader, least of all a paladin. She should be an example of courage and honor, and obviously there was something much more dangerous at work here than mere bandits. They would have to look into it, frightened or not.
She asked Imoen to scout again, very, very carefully, and to come back immediately if she spotted anything unusual.
At first, they only had to fight some hobgoblins and wolves, until they came closer to the seashore, where Imoen saw three blue women who looked exactly like the ones they had fled from. She tiptoed back to the others and told them about her discovery. Branwen wanted a direct attack, but they had all seen where that could lead. Arvia preferred the open, honest approach, too, but it wouldn't be very wise against three unpredictable enemies with unknown powers. The others didn't want to stay behind, but Arvia and Dynaheir decided to go alone and try to stun or silence them and fight them without endangering the whole party.
They remembered that Dynaheir didn't know the Silence spell, and they hadn't found it in High Hedge, either, so they would have to improvise. ((we had Aid and Chant cast on us, and I had Arvia drink a potion of insight, because I thought I had heard somewhere that wisdom affects saving throws, but that seems to be wrong))
They both got Dire Charmed on sight before Dynaheir could even lift her hand. Fortunately, the others were out of reach, and the sirens seemed to be undecided what to do with them, so they could escape when the effect of the spell wore off. This was even more dangerous than they had thought. Shoal had needed to touch her to take control, but those creatures were invisible and could reach her mind over a distance.
Arvia consulted with Dynaheir about the level of spells the sirens had used and decided to sacrifice one of their precious few Potions of Magic Blocking to fight them.
This time, she went alone. They didn't seem to be very physically strong and there were only three of them.
The effect of the potion didn't last very long, but it was long enough. When Imoen scouted ahead again on a small track and spotted *more* sirens next to the cliffs, Arvia felt that burning in her heart again. She had last felt it when those ogres berserkers and hobgoblin elites had threatened her friend Imoen on that bridge, a long time ago. She didn't care anymore how dangerous those creatures were, and she couldn't waste any more of their valuable resources, just because she was afraid of losing control. Influencing another mind, taking away free will, was an abomination she couldn't tolerate. She would have to bring justice, because there was nobody else to do it. "Face your fears" she whispered to herself. "You're the one who protects, not the one in need of protection."
She ordered the others to stay out of sight no matter what they heard. That included Ajantis and Imoen. "If this is the right thing to do, Torm will protect me. But if I don't come back in one hour, don't search for me. Go to the Friendly Arm Inn and ask Jaheira and Khalid to go to the Cloakwood with you. Someone must stop those bandits and find the one behind the attack on Gorion." Before they could even try to argue, she walked away quickly without looking back. She took a deep breath, said a quiet prayer to Torm and stepped around the corner where Imoen had seen the other sirens.
Torm had approved of her courage and given her strength. She only remembered bits and pieces of the fight, drifting in and out of control several times, but the moments of clarity between their attacks on her mind had been enough.
They went further south to clear the coast, but there were no more sirens to be seen, only an abandoned lighthouse. When they decided to take a closer look, they were approached by a woman in need of help. Her son had climbed into the lighthouse and couldn't come down because of a pack of worg, and she was afraid to get closer. Arvia agreed, of course, and was completely shocked by Branwen's reaction.
How could the woman be so heartless? Obviously, she had been wrong about their mutual respect and common goals. Branwen couldn't understand her problem at all, said she was keeping company with weaklings who had to rely on magic to survive, saving boys who wouldn't survive anyway in this world without learning how to defend themselves.
There was no place in their group for a person so incapable of compassion or mercy, and Branwen saw their attitude as a sign of weakness. Arvia tried to be civilized and wished her a safe journey, but they would have to go separate ways *now*, even if that meant heading into the Cloakwood without a healer.
The others regretted losing another companion, but they agreed with her decision.
After splitting up with Branwen, they met a woman called Safana, who wanted to join them and told them that the sirens were guarding a treasure, but they didn't feel like taking another stranger into their group right now. Imoen reminded Arvia to think about supplies, potions, now that Branwen with her healing spells was gone, so maybe a little detour to find some treasure wouldn't be such a bad idea?
Arvia agreed reluctantly, but they still didn't join with Safana. They hadn't seen anything suspicious in the places where they had defeated the sirens close to the lighthouse. Maybe the treasure was somewhere close to that pirate ship in the north, where they had spotted the other sirens and fled.
They traveled back and Arvia used the same strategy that had worked before, with the same success. These sirens were a bit more dangerous than the others, because they shot her with poison arrows between the attacks on her mind, but she managed to drink an antidote quickly before they could Charm her again ((that was *really* close!))
There was no trace of the cave that Safana had mentioned. Had they overlooked something?
They hiked back, all the way to the area of the lighthouse, and finally found a hidden cave entrance where Arvia had fought the second group of sirens.
The cave was heavily trapped and guarded by flesh golems, but Imoen disarmed the traps and lured the golems back to the fighters.
Still, they would have to remember that Flesh Golems were strong and dangerous enemies, and they already noticed the difference without a healer among them.
They would have to go back to Nashkel and Beregost and buy all the healing potions they could get, and also identify the treasure they had found, before finally taking the road to the Cloakwood.
Back in Nashkel, they rested, identified their loot and sold everything they didn't need. They kept a Wand that looked useful and seemed to be able to stun enemies, and a magical tome that could permanently increase somebody's physical constitution. Arvia kept it in her bag to decide later what to do about it and they went to the temple.
There were no temples of Torm, but Ajantis was a follower of Helm, after all. Arvia was still immensely grateful for the success against the sirens and gave 20% of their income this time. The rest, some 3000 gp, were all spent on Antidotes, Elixier of Health and Potions of Healing.
They stayed in the temple for a while, and Arvia decided to give the tome to Minsc. He was always the first one in need of rest, and a team was only as strong as their weakest link. She was already very resistant, and it would be useless to improve her constitution further if they always had to rest because of Minsc. He was a strong fighter already, and they would all benefit from his better constitution. And Minsc was happy, because it had always embarrassed him to get tired before Imoen and Dynaheir.
Tomorrow, they would take the road to the Cloakwood. Tonight, they would clean their weapons, leave everything that wasn't needed, mend and check everything that was important, and probably spend their last night in proper beds for a very long time.
Level: 6 (Arvia, Minsc and Imoen), 5 (Ajantis, Dynaheir)
Reloads: 3 (the ogre with the belt south of the FIA, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Red Wizards of Thay)
Wow, well, first, Brava! Brava! *claps excitedly in rapt applause*
Your roleplaying and storytelling are wonderful! More, please!
Okay, some things. You were apparently saved a reload from Shoal the Nereid by the NPC Project. In the unmodded game, that kiss causes instant death and an instant reload if it gets inflicted on the main character. It still caused instant death in the unmodded game to whatever character you sacrificed to her. She will cast a Raise Dead on the killed character if you defeat the ogre mage who is dominating her, but that's often far too little, far too late. Solo no-reloaders, and even no-reloaders in general, often use their metaknowledge of these facts to kite her and kill her from range, not allowing her to ever initiate her dialogue. And, I've noticed that solo no-reloaders often go almost straight to her and do that, because she gives quite a lot of xp upon her death, often granting at least one level to the meta-gaming solo no-reloader.
I am very impressed by your handling of the rest of the map. I am especially impressed by your reluctant RP decision that you and Branwen had to part ways, because of more NPC Project content that gives life to the BG1 characters.
I'm glad and impressed that you got through all the rest of the content on this map, and got the Tome of Constitution, without any reloads.
You go! I am super impressed by your roleplaying, your story writing, and your gameplay. I hope you will continue on to the end. Your story and reports are giving me great pleasure and distraction from my troubles of real life.
(Edited to remove an insulting statement about some other runs I've read elsewhere. I really need to stop sticking my foot in my mouth here. )
I didn't meet any ogre mage. It was a completely unknown map for me, but I think I cleared every black pixel.
She was being dominated? Great, now I feel bad about killing her. How was I supposed to find that out? By sacrificing somebody else to her? Not going to happen.
Were the sirens changed by NPC Project, too? In the end, when I was really beginning to feel frustrated and kind of desperate because I couldn't find a solution, I thought: To the Nine Hells with you all, I'm going to attack them alone and without wasting more spells or potions now, I don't care if it's a reload or not.
And what happened? They didn't do anything once I was Charmed. When I had a red circle, they just stood there and ignored me. When I turned green, I attacked, landed a hit or two and got Charmed again. When they were out of Charm spells, they were easily killed. The ones in the lighthouse map didn't even shoot arrows at me. That happened only with the three sirens in the map where I met Shoal.
Poisoned and then Charmed would have been deadly, of course. Yay for spending all my money on little blue, green and purple bottles. I was glad that I had left the others out of sight and tried to be heroic, but now I wonder if it was a bug that they didn't harm me when I was Charmed.
On the other hand, my party members don't attack Charmed persons or animals, either. (I sometimes use Minsc's ability to Charm a bear and send it away instead of killing it), and a Charm spell is mostly dangerous because I'd have chunked Imoen and Dynaheir before it wore off.
Edited after consulting Baldur's Gate Wiki on the subject:
The change to Shoal the Nereid's deadly kiss only causing loss of consciousness and being reduced to 1 HP was the EE version 2.5 and not NPC Project.
The ogre mage only appears when Shoal surrenders after knocking you out and you accept to help her. Unfortunately, I never found out that she'd have surrendered, because I thought she'd attack the others, too, and had her stunned and killed before she even had the chance to start a dialogue.
@Arvia , Thank you for the information. I didn't know that it was the EE that had changed the "deadly kiss" to make it a little more fair of an encounter.
I don't know if NPC Project or EE has changed the behavior of the sirens since the last time I fought them. I'm glad you found a strategy that worked out. One time, I tried that and died, because I had been poisoned, and I couldn't drink an antidote while charmed, and I wound up dying from the poison.
I've played a version of them where they used Feeblemind. I'm not sure what that was - I think I might have been using the basic AI improvement component of SCS. (Sword Coast Strategems - a popular difficulty increasing mod that a lot of people use.)
The ogre mage you didn't get to spawn because Shoal got killed too fast had a magic helmet that a lot of people plan their runs around. I've very often wound up killing Shoal when I didn't want to, because she won't turn blue and talk until she's down to almost one hit point, and the killing arrow is often already in the air or the sword already swung. So, don't feel bad about that.
I always killed her, too, and didn't know she had more to say and that there was more of the encounter that could spawn, the first few times I played.
I don't think I'll ever get so bored that I'll install a mod to make it harder, improved AI or not.
@BelgarathMTH , I had the same problem with Mulahey (not during this run. during the one that I stopped after the Cloakwood mine to start this minimal reload attempt) He surrendered, I accepted, but the arrow was already in the air. I reloaded (way back, some 134 years ago, when I still used to reload for different outcomes ?) and noticed that I'd have to kill him anyway.
I don't think I even want to know what kind of helmet I missed by not meeting the ogre mage. ?
Sirines impose feeblemind with their melee attacks on a failed save vs. death for 50 rounds (300 seconds, or 1 in-game hour). It's a level 4 effect that won't bypass magic resistance and can be dispelled. It's game over for a solo character (barring really weird luck), but a party can handle it.
The helmet from the ogre mage Droth is the Helmet of Defense: +1 to all saving throws and +20% resistance to fire, cold, and electricity. It's worth nabbing in a party run, but I've never bothered to get it, since Droth is pretty wicked in SCS, what with his pre-buffs and everything. The helmet isn't really a game-changer, so it's generally not worth the risk in a no-reload or minimal reload context.
Okay, @semiticgod , that helmet doesn't sound too tempting. A Helmet of Charm Protection would have been better.
Thank you for the explanation about the sirens. With AC -6 and a paladin's saving throws I doubt they would have hit me with it before I hit them.
But is it normal that they stop attacking once you're Dire Charmed?
No storytelling tonight, I'm a bit tired and I used up a lot of my daily budget of words in another thread already
After buying all the potions we could get, we traveled to the first Cloakwood map, stepping very carefully. We met some hunters, who seemed to consider themselves something better than others, and they told us that they had a right to stay and hunt here, but were being threatened by druids. We didn't really like them, but if they had the right to be here, they'd have to be protected, whether we liked them or not.
I felt tricked.
There were absolutely no reasonable options to get out of this. The druids didn't even try to explain and the hunters left us no choice. At least we have learned to fight groups of spellcasters.
Still, I don't think I ever want to meet those merchants again.
We met a man called Coran on a bridge to the north, who told us about a dragon and wyverns and wanted to join us. We were thankful for the warning, but he openly admitted that he was a thief, so we didn't accept him. We've had our share of trouble with companions already, and keeping an eye on Imoen's fingers is difficult enough.
Then we fought some of those tasloi and found a cloak, I think it was the one that the dwarf Gurke (fun fact: that means "cucumber" in German) had lost. Being responsible people, not knowing if we'd ever return to Beregost, we went back immediately to give him the cloak.
What?! We just walked a whole day to give it back! Another punishment for helping people, but we'll still keep doing what we consider right.
Back to the Cloakwood, into the next map. We met Tiber and promised to find his brother, though my companions all seemed to agree that he was most likely dead.
Imoen is the best! She found and successfully disarmed *every - single - trap* in this map. We didn't walk into a single spider web, and we killed all the spiders and ettercaps quickly enough. We didn't need even one bottle of antidote.
Not even here.
Okay, I knew what expected me here (got as far as Davaeron, or whatever his name was, before this run).
So, when the gazillions of spiders spawned, I had Dyanheir cast "Horror", use the Wand of Sleep, and cast "Glitterdust". The last one is a spell that I had totally underestimated in BG2. It detects Invisibility (though I didn't need that here), and the penalty to AC and attack rolls when Blinded is immensely useful.
Arvia and Ajantis went into melee, the others shot missiles. Nobody got poisoned. The fat lady didn't attack us, but after telling her story, she begged us to kill her, and it seemed too cruel to let her live.
We found the body of that poor young man, and the sword. We disarmed some more webs on the way back and killed some more spiders (gods, I hate the sounds they make), and gave the bad news and the body to Tiber.
He told us to keep the sword. I don't know if we'll use it. We're still in the lower levels of the game and I don't feel comfortable with two-handed weapons. The only one with two pips in it is Ajantis, anyway, and I prefer his AC with a shield.
That's it for today. 24h work tomorrow again, time to get some sleep.
We're all level 6, Imoen is level 7.
Reloads: 3 (the ogre with the belt south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Thay Wizards)
@Arvia , tired or not, that was a very interesting and fun-to-read run report. I hope you get through your long work shift tomorrow without too much suffering, stress or fatigue. I'll be thinking of you.
Congratulations for making it through the very difficult spider map with no reloads. There are some very hard fights coming up with a lot of spellcasters, so don't feel bad if you need some more reloads soon.
The best use of Spider's Bane is that Dynaheir can cast the Web spell on tough enemies and spellcasters, and Minsc can run right into the Web with Spider's Bane with no worries, and destroy all the "tough" and totally helpless enemies.
After leaving Tiber and the spiders behind, we continued our search for the Iron Throne.
We seem to be on the right path.
We seem to have reached the base camp of those druids. I hope they don't know that we were tricked into killing some of their group.
"Shadow druids" doesn't sound too trustworthy, and we met another one who called Seniyad, the one we were forced to kill, a weakling pacifist. I think we have met a group of dangerous fanatics, and to "share a common goal" hasn't been a good choice for companions in the past. Although we're still traveling without a healer, we will not join with Faldorn, but at least they have told us where to find the Iron Throne's secret mine.
We also seem to be in the area that Coran had told us about. We'll have to step carefully. Wyverns seem to be dangerous.
Another madman. We had to kill him, and the baby wyverns, too, because Minsc didn't manage to charm them.
If those were the babies, we'll have to watch out for the big ones.
One Antidote. Not so bad.
We found the remains of a much bigger wyvern, and a warrior's corpse. He must have been either very brave or very foolish to come here alone and fight those huge creatures. We took a wand that he had been carrying, assuming that a fighter would want others to continue his cause. We also took his gold and the jewels he was carrying, making a note to give all of it to the temple for his soul. We left him in his armor, covered him with some rocks, and took a moment to honor his memory.
My companions were fatigued and the area was not safe, but the smell of decay in the cave was overwhelming, so we had to take the risk of resting in the forest before heading east, where the druids had told us to go.
We found the mine. It's heavily guarded.
We were either very lucky, or we're learning. Still, we decided to hide in the forest after that fight, identify the items (Boots of Speed!) and prepare Dynaheir, because we expect more mages if the entrance is already guarded by two of them.
We're going in. Torm, give us strength!
Party level: 6 (Imoen 7)
Number of reloads: 3 (the ogre south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Thay Wizards)
@Arvia , congratulations on getting through the Drasus and Co. fight outside the Cloakwood Mines without a reload. That is a reload-causing fight, and I always get nervous when I'm about to face it. It looks like you landed a Horror spell. I don't think I've ever tried that in this fight before.
@BelgarathMTH , I was very nervous, too, and I knew what was waiting there, so I had "Resist Fear" cast on us before crossing the bridge (no bad conscience for that little piece of metaknowledge).
Then I was surprised how easy the fight was. You know I'm not a mage spell expert, so I came to a simple conclusion:
Use against them what's most annoying when used against me.(though the spell only affected one person, I think)
And: Ignore the dangerous strong guys until all spellcasters are dead (at least now that we've got the necessary HP and AC)
I'm glad that it worked. I just hope that I'm not getting overconfident.
@Arvia , who in your party can cast Resist Fear? Did you have Dynaheir learn it as a mage spell? Or did you maybe mod Ajantis to be a cavalier? (Or does one of the newer versions of NPC Project have an option to make Ajantis a cavalier anyway?) I'm just asking out of idle curiosity.
@BelgarathMTH , I had made that stupid mistake of entering the main tent in the bandit camp without casting Remove Fear. Branwen was affected and couldn't cast it anymore, and I narrowly escaped a reload because Arvia landed a saving throw and Minsc and Dynaheir were out of reach.
That's when I realized that it's too risky to rely on a single party member to counteract a spell as crippling as Horror, and I went to High Hedge to buy it for Dynaheir (edit: at least I think I bought it there, I don't remember exactly)
Obviously that was a good decision, now that Branwen is gone.
I never knew about Garrick. I had to refuse his quest for roleplaying reasons. The only dialogue option to accept his quest was something along the lines of "oh yes, we're always interested in making more money!"
Maybe that wasn't all bad, because I've heard that Silke is a tough enemy at low levels.
@BelgarathMTH ,by the way, I have just watched the YouTube videos about roleplaying a paladin that you mentioned above.
I don't know much about "real" D&D rules, but it looks like my instinct of how to do it properly wasn't so far from the general idea.
I don't agree with the idea of letting Imoen steal in secret, though, as I have mentioned in another thread. I don't think there's any justification for that.
The subject of taking loot or opening chests in enemy territory is more complicated. I usually make that decision along the way. For example, in the building right in front of the Cloakwood mine, I had Imoen open the chest in the room downstairs where I had to kill a guard, and I took the Potion of Magic Shielding and the gold. Upstairs, where the guard begged for mercy and left after telling us the way to the mine, we didn't touch the chests, because it looked like their sleeping quarters and their personal belongings and we had no business to poke around in their things and no reason to expect important information.
When we find corpses, like the fighter in the wyvern cave, or the raided caravans, we take the valuable things so that bandits won't take them, but we don't sell it for profit, we take it to the temple. (on top of the 10%). But I considered it acceptable to keep the wand that the fighter had with him. I know that I'm making choices that seem inconsistent sometimes, but I always think about it before I decide.
If you think that I'm making bad choices, feel free to point it out.
And I think that I'll have to make up a background story about how Arvia became a paladin in the first place.
This happened 24 hours ago, but my head felt like the Misty Mountains yesterday, so here's what happened in the Cloakwood Mine:
Entering the mine, the didn't know what to expect, so Arvia didn't dare to let Imoen scout ahead. She couldn't stay hidden and detect traps at the same time, and what if she ran into another mage alone? They decided to proceed together, slowly and carefully. But the first level of the mine seemed to be quite safe. They were confronted by a few guards, who were easily defeated, and talked to all the miners. Frightened slaves without a spark of hope, all of them.
Arvia talked to them and promised to find a way to rescue them all. One of them showed her a device on the wall, meant to flood the whole mine. The man named Davaeorn, who had been mentioned in the letters, seemed to stay at the lowest level of the mine and had the key on his person, so their task was clear.
That miner also asked them to find Rill, another slave at the lower levels, who knew a way to get all the slaves out.
They proceeded very carefully to the second level. This one didn't look like a mine any more. Narrow, dark hallways, no sound, no smell. Imoen wanted to scout again, but Arvia stopped her. "Too dangerous" she whispered. "Something is wrong here, I feel it. Let me go first."
Imoen kicked her shin. "Arvia, stop being so stubborn! We're a team and I'm not a child! You can't protect us all the time, we have to work together! That's why we're all here!"
See?
Uh-oh... "Back to the others, quickly!"
Imoen ran while Arvia covered her back, trying to fight the guards and draw them back to the others, hoping to get rid of them before they had to face the mage.
Ajantis joined her at the entrance to the narrow hallway, while the others with their ranged weapons kept to the corners of the room and fired.
The mage had come directly after the guards. Before they could react, they heard the dreaded words "Incertus..." and there was no time to escape. But after their last experience with mages in dungeons, Arvia had kept a Potion of Insulation in her belt and drank it quickly before the mage finished her incantation. She was standing right in front of Ajantis, so hopefully that would protect him, too.
((Thank you, Hareishan, for making our work easier. That's the second time we're losing XP to a suicidal mage, but it's still worth it if we don't have to Raise anyone after the fight))
This level contained a prison. They found Rill, who told them of his plan to get the slaves out. It involved bribing a guard, but even Ajantis agreed that it was justified if it saved so many lives, so they gave him 100gp and asked him to go ahead with his plan.
The other prisoner was the last remaining dwarf of the tribe that had opened the mine in the first place. He wanted justice for his kin, and they gladly accepted him into their group. After their latest experiences, at last they seemed to have found a trustworthy companion. As a fighter and cleric, he would fit in very well, and he seemed to follow the righteous path.
The had to equip him and take care of their wounds before they could proceed. Yeslick told them that sometimes two days passed without anyone coming to feed the prisoners, so they took the risk to rest in his cell, because Davaeorn was supposed to be on the fourth level, and they had no idea what kind of evil they might encounter along the way.
The stairs to the third level led them directly into an ambush.
((I had forgotten to deactivate the spell functions in the AI when Yeslick joined us, because I don't want them to waste their spells on every stupid hobgoblin, but I love how the casting of "Ghost Armor" looks, so I just had to take a screenshot))
After that, Arvia decided that this was another time where she would scout, not Imoen, and asked the others to guard her back in this maze.
But going alone didn't seem to be the wisest choice after all. She had forgotten how much faster than the others she ran with those new boots.
Horrified at such evil, Arvia just couldn't run away, and the others were still too far to reach her in time.
She would have to be faster than that invisible ogre mage. Fortunately she could see him once he started casting.
That had been sheer dumb luck, nothing else. "Fools rush in..."
Imoen was furious, and so was Ajantis. They agreed to stick closer together from now on.
A very good decision, because the next mage (how many mages lived here?!) was protected by hobgoblin elites with their nasty poisoned arrows.
Their next discovery hurt Yeslick deeply and filled him with a furious thirst for vengeance.
Their former Temple of Clangeddin had been desecrated by worshippers of Cyric.
It was time to end this madness and kill Davaeorn or die trying.
His only protector wasn't too strong, and Arvia wanted to rush in again, but Imoen stopped her just in time to discover and disarm several deadly traps in the hallway. They must be getting closer.
The others had kept their distance and jumped behind a corner when the mage started casting, and Arvia was close enough to another room to escape the dreaded lightning bolt, because the potion case was out of reach.
But the mage had teleported directly after casting his deadly spell (obviously smarter than Hareishan). Where was he?
Still too close, evidently. The others came to join the fight.
Dire Charmed! Didn't expect that... but after their experience with the sirens, Ajantis pulled the others out of sight and kept an eye on Arvia from a distance, hoping that the spell would wear off as quickly as the last time, or else... he didn't even want to think about it.
But the effect didn't last long, and Davaeorn seemed to have run out of spells. It was time for the final attack.
On their way out, they took the key back and flooded the mine, making sure that every last slave had escaped.
Then they stayed in silence for a moment, out of respect for Yeslick's kin.
Their next destination was the city of Baldur' Gate, but first they had to go back to Beregost to tie up some loose ends, and to unburden themselves of all the unnecessary items they had collected.
Their first stop after selling everything, and after letting Dynaheir scribe the scrolls they had found (we have Haste! The only failed scroll was Protection from Evil) was the Song of the Morning Temple.
They informed them about the situation with the wyverns and gave the skull as proof. There was no way to refuse the reward, but 2000 gp just didn't seem right. They were well equipped and shouldn't accumulate wealth, so they returned it directly to the temple as a donation, together with the about 500 gp from the valuables in that cave, to honor the death of the fighter who had fallen there.
Ajantis and Arvia agreed to pay their regular tithes to the Temple of Helm rather than Lathander, so they traveled back to Nashkel. They were hoarding too much gold, and Arvia still felt that she had to atone for some of the decisions she had made in the past, so it seemed appropriate to give 20% again.
The remaining gold was just enough to get a better mage robe for Dynaheir.
It was time to go to Baldur's Gate.
On the road, Yeslick walked next to her and asked her a few questions about her recent past. Then he grumbled something into his beard and said: "You're a brave girl with a good heart, but you still lack experience. What you need is a mentor. I'm 100 years older than you, so I think you can learn a thing or two from me, if you accept it. And tonight, when we camp, I want you to tell me how you became a paladin in the first place, growing up in that dusty old library!"
((That's as far as I've come in the game before restarting as a minimal reload. I hadn't known all the maps until now because I had gone to the Cloakwood before doing all the side quests last time, but from now on, I'll be playing completely blind.))
Party level 6 (Imoen 7, Yeslick 5)
Number of reloads: 3 (the ogre with the belt south of the FIA, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Thay Wizards)
Great update, @Arvia ! I cheered when you struck down Davaeorn! It looks like you had some close calls, but you definitely seem to be learning from past mistakes, and you pulled through this very dangerous dungeon with no reloads. That's a major accomplishment. Congratulations!
@BelgarathMTH ,not that close, really. But it's not a good story if I say "Walked in. Killed everybody. The end" ?
Hareishan was close. The other fights were okay.
Edit: and this is the overconfidence that's going to cause the next reload.
I know you won't do that, but - don't underestimate enemies if you had success in the Mines. A few battles in the BG city are much more difficult than everything you have faced before.
I'm digging this playthrough. I really don't like Paladins or good aligned pcs but the way you play @Arvia I might try a paladin again. Keep up the good work.
I broke the rules. I reloaded without dying. I got cheated by the AI and I'm still a bit angry about it. But let me start from the beginning. As a reminder, I'm playing completely blind from now on.
On our way to Baldur's Gate, we went to the area north of the Friendly Arm Inn, where we had picked up Ajantis in the beginning.
I'm really learning to appreciate Boo...
Imoen scouted ahead, as usual, while the others waited, but some Ankhegs had different plans. They seem to have the nasty habit of spitting their acid on the weakest party members, so we had to go back to the temple at the FAI to Raise Dynaheir. 800 GP. We won't be able to pay for a second time.
We met some fishermen who said that a priestess of Umberlee was killing their people and that we should help them. We agreed, but Ajantis warned me to talk to her if we found her, because he thought she must have had a very good reason.
We met a farmer and promised to search for his son Nathan. Found a huge hole in the ground with creepy sounds coming out of it, decided to go in and search for Nathan there.
Unfortunately our instinct had been right.
We returned Nathan's body to his father, who didn't want to talk to us at all. Seriously? Return the dead son and just leave like that?
Thank you, Ajantis. I couldn't agree more.
Still doesn't feel like a good solution, but better than nothing.
North we went, killing more Ankhegs on the way. Then we met somebody who told us about an Ankheg culling and no more than 4 per party. We had already killed more than that in defense. We took 4 of the shells to the smith in Beregost for 500 GP each, so that we wouldn't be completely out of money in case we needed to Raise anybody again, and then we went to the map with the bridge to Baldur's Gate.
The priestess of Umberlee was supposed to live there. We found her house. And went to talk to her. I had a very bad feeling about this, and I was right.
Maybe I should have learned from my experience with Shoal and attacked her with less force, but how was I supposed to know that she would surrender? I hit "pause" immediately after that dialogue, switched off the AI lantern and moved the party away. Except for Arvia of course, who was unconscious on the ground. When she woke up, although the priestess was blue and the AI turned off, Arvia executed the last command before she was knocked out, of course, and attacked. And of course, before I could even hit "pause" and give another command, she struck with force, the priestess turned red and it was over in less than half a second.
Imoen's arrow must have been in the air before the surrender, because she couldn't have attacked now.
I thought about accepting this outcome. But she seemed to have been a child of 12 years, we had accepted her surrender, I had taken every precaution to stop the attack after that, and she still got killed. It was just unfair.
I don't know anything about coding except for the simplest stuff. Wouldn't it be possible to connect this kind of dialogue choice with a command to stop current attacks? This is not the first time that a dialogue accepts surrender, the person turns blue, but you have no chance to stop the attack in time.
I reloaded and this time I didn't hit her with everything we had right after her turning hostile, and it worked. I'm still not too happy about this, to put it mildly.
We went back to the fishermen to get the bowl that they had taken from the child's mother.
Great. Now the Storm God is angry with us. As if we needed more powerful enemies. This seemed like a good time to finally get rid of the Boots of Grounding: Talos' Gift. I had found a roleplaying excuse to let Dynaheir keep them, but now I really don't think we should be using them anymore. We went to the Temple of Wisdom at the FAI and dropped them on the floor.
Then we went back to the priestess to return the bowl.
I wonder if that's a good thing. I'm not too happy about the whole story, but I still think it was necessary.
Crossing the bridge, we were approached by a Flaming Fist officer and told him the truth, of course.
We dutifully spent 5 minutes of real time waiting for his superior, because I wondered what the game would throw at us if we continued, after him telling us to wait here. Then I thought that "here" probably meant where he had been standing in the first place, not where he had met us.
I don't feel very comfortable to agree with this, using stealth to infiltrate the Seven Suns, but the Flaming Fist is kind of the police here, as far as I know.
We entered the city and met Elminster again. He seemed to know how I felt, because he addressed my doubts directly.
Before he could leave, Minsc addressed him, and we picked up a *very* insightful piece of information.
Hah! I knew it! And I didn't know this dialogue when I participated in the poll about Boo.
Party level: 6 (Imoen 7)
Number of reloads: 4 (the ogre with the belt south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Thay Wizards, Tenya Who Made Me Break My Rules)
I rolled up a Cavalier. I got a 94 with 96% on strength. Saved it and decided to roll 10 more times and got an astounding 96 with 100 % on strength. Named him Syral and started the game but had to reload after breaking the chest open in the inn. Old habits are hard to break.
@kansasbarbarian , keep trying!
It's very healthy to break old habits. It also took me a couple of runs in BG2:EE until I was sure what's acceptable for me and what isn't. I must admit that, shamefully, my first paladin looted the whole De'Arnise Keep out of habit, until I realized that's completely out of character.
@BelgarathMTH , please read my last report when you find the time, and tell me if I can keep posting here in your thread as minimal reload after that decision with Tenya, or if I should move this somewhere else. I'm still uncomfortable with my decision, but I still feel that there was nothing else I could have done.
Comments
@BelgarathMTH , thank you for spelling out the spells (no pun intended), I've always wondered what exactly they were saying. I thought it's just some Latin mixed with gibberish (another question: do gibberlings speak gibberish?), but now I see that most of it actually makes sense. Though it's still pig Latin ?.
Baeloth's alliteration is McGonagall's "babbling bumbling band of baboons" version 2.0 ?.
But I survived the mage quartet! Okay, but next time it won't depend on luck any more.
I've successfully finished that map without having to reload again, and there were really two webs that Imoen didn't find. She disarmed only one. So I guess I'll have to get some Potions of Freedom before I go to the Cloakwood. I also kind of hoped that the undead hunter's immunity to Hold might include webs, but it doesn't. But at least a paladin's saving throws make it easier to escape.
By the way, I so loathe the creepy sounds the attacking spiders make, and the squishy sound of their web. I really think I'll have to do the Cloakwood without headphones.
Thank you for the support and encouragement, but you know very well that I'd have tons of reloads without your help. And one reload less if I'd have listened to you about ogres in the first place ?
4th reload coming, possibly. But I'll do my best.
Edit: I'm also bending my usual practice of resting only when fatigued, at least a bit. I'm heading into unknown territory and sometimes have the wrong spells memorized, and lack the experience to always know which spells are a must.
I hope that's okay for a beginner like me.
The Red Wizards of Thay had seemed to be the least of their problems in the forest. Being caught in sticky webs and attacked by all sorts of spiders (("wraith spider"? seriously? aren't the usual spiders dangerous enough? Does Faerun have a Stargate to the Pegasus Galaxy?)) had almost cost them their lives, so Arvia wanted them to head back to Beregost and think carefully about their next steps.
They would certainly need more antidotes and healing potions before traveling to the Cloakwood. The forests of the Sword Coast seemed to be populated by dangerous creatures and they didn't know how far the Cloakwood was or if there'd be any chance to find supplies.
They had also promised to make sure the caravan routes were safe, and they had always kept to the east, so there was no way of knowing the situation along the coast. Arvia discussed her thoughts with the others, and they agreed to take the long road to the Cloakwood, along the Sword Coast, because they hadn't secured that part of the road yet, and it was quite possible that they'd never come back.
They had been hiking for a long time, ambushed by undead along the way, and Branwen and Minsc were already getting tired when they finally heard the crashing of waves in the distance. Imoen had been scouting, as usual, and came back to tell Arvia about a beautiful women with blue skin, alone in the forest. She had checked the area thoroughly and not seen a trace of anybody else.
Arvia had never met people with blue skin before and didn't know what kind of creature that could be, but how much danger could they expect from one lone woman? ((and Marion resisted the temptation to google "Shoal the Nereid"))
They decided to take a closer look. Arvia, always ready to trust people, but still careful to keep her companions from being harmed, asked them to keep their distance and went to greet the woman.
Shoal was her name, and she was asking for their help. They were always ready to assist people in need, but things got out of hand quickly when Arvia refused to accept a suddenly offered kiss.
Attack, everyone! Dynaheir, Chromatic Orb! Branwen, Hold Person! Ajantis, Lay on Hands, before that creature kills your girl!
Arvia didn't want to show it, but she was frightened. Weapons, monsters, lightning, fire and poison were all very dangerous, and they had fought against all of them. But to lose control over her body and mind at a simple touch? They'd have to be much more careful around strangers.
Okay, not all of them. This one way obviously mad, the poor soul. They got a ring from the pirate ship for him, but it didn't seem to make him feel much better.
A little further down the coast, Imoen spotted a tall man clad in black and ran back to Arvia. "This one looks dangerous!" she gasped. "Like a mage or something!" A mage? All mages had cast Horror on them until now, and both Branwen and Dynaheir had already used up their Remove/Resist Fear. They looked for a hidden place to rest and studied their spellbooks.
Torm, are you judging me for running away from a fight? I was only trying to protect my people!
Arvia managed to draw their attention, so that the others could fan out and shoot missiles at them.
The "evil mage" in black turned out to be a healer offering his help. They didn't need him and he left them wondering if they'd ever learn to judge people properly.
After some minor interceptions
With the shocking experience of Shoal the Nereid fresh in their minds, they panicked and fled south, only to be reminded that you can't run away from your responsibility.
She asked Imoen to scout again, very, very carefully, and to come back immediately if she spotted anything unusual.
At first, they only had to fight some hobgoblins and wolves, until they came closer to the seashore, where Imoen saw three blue women who looked exactly like the ones they had fled from. She tiptoed back to the others and told them about her discovery. Branwen wanted a direct attack, but they had all seen where that could lead. Arvia preferred the open, honest approach, too, but it wouldn't be very wise against three unpredictable enemies with unknown powers. The others didn't want to stay behind, but Arvia and Dynaheir decided to go alone and try to stun or silence them and fight them without endangering the whole party.
They remembered that Dynaheir didn't know the Silence spell, and they hadn't found it in High Hedge, either, so they would have to improvise. ((we had Aid and Chant cast on us, and I had Arvia drink a potion of insight, because I thought I had heard somewhere that wisdom affects saving throws, but that seems to be wrong))
They both got Dire Charmed on sight before Dynaheir could even lift her hand. Fortunately, the others were out of reach, and the sirens seemed to be undecided what to do with them, so they could escape when the effect of the spell wore off. This was even more dangerous than they had thought. Shoal had needed to touch her to take control, but those creatures were invisible and could reach her mind over a distance.
Arvia consulted with Dynaheir about the level of spells the sirens had used and decided to sacrifice one of their precious few Potions of Magic Blocking to fight them.
This time, she went alone. They didn't seem to be very physically strong and there were only three of them.
The effect of the potion didn't last very long, but it was long enough. When Imoen scouted ahead again on a small track and spotted *more* sirens next to the cliffs, Arvia felt that burning in her heart again. She had last felt it when those ogres berserkers and hobgoblin elites had threatened her friend Imoen on that bridge, a long time ago. She didn't care anymore how dangerous those creatures were, and she couldn't waste any more of their valuable resources, just because she was afraid of losing control. Influencing another mind, taking away free will, was an abomination she couldn't tolerate. She would have to bring justice, because there was nobody else to do it. "Face your fears" she whispered to herself. "You're the one who protects, not the one in need of protection."
She ordered the others to stay out of sight no matter what they heard. That included Ajantis and Imoen. "If this is the right thing to do, Torm will protect me. But if I don't come back in one hour, don't search for me. Go to the Friendly Arm Inn and ask Jaheira and Khalid to go to the Cloakwood with you. Someone must stop those bandits and find the one behind the attack on Gorion." Before they could even try to argue, she walked away quickly without looking back. She took a deep breath, said a quiet prayer to Torm and stepped around the corner where Imoen had seen the other sirens.
Torm had approved of her courage and given her strength. She only remembered bits and pieces of the fight, drifting in and out of control several times, but the moments of clarity between their attacks on her mind had been enough.
They went further south to clear the coast, but there were no more sirens to be seen, only an abandoned lighthouse. When they decided to take a closer look, they were approached by a woman in need of help. Her son had climbed into the lighthouse and couldn't come down because of a pack of worg, and she was afraid to get closer. Arvia agreed, of course, and was completely shocked by Branwen's reaction.
How could the woman be so heartless? Obviously, she had been wrong about their mutual respect and common goals. Branwen couldn't understand her problem at all, said she was keeping company with weaklings who had to rely on magic to survive, saving boys who wouldn't survive anyway in this world without learning how to defend themselves.
There was no place in their group for a person so incapable of compassion or mercy, and Branwen saw their attitude as a sign of weakness. Arvia tried to be civilized and wished her a safe journey, but they would have to go separate ways *now*, even if that meant heading into the Cloakwood without a healer.
The others regretted losing another companion, but they agreed with her decision.
After splitting up with Branwen, they met a woman called Safana, who wanted to join them and told them that the sirens were guarding a treasure, but they didn't feel like taking another stranger into their group right now. Imoen reminded Arvia to think about supplies, potions, now that Branwen with her healing spells was gone, so maybe a little detour to find some treasure wouldn't be such a bad idea?
Arvia agreed reluctantly, but they still didn't join with Safana. They hadn't seen anything suspicious in the places where they had defeated the sirens close to the lighthouse. Maybe the treasure was somewhere close to that pirate ship in the north, where they had spotted the other sirens and fled.
They traveled back and Arvia used the same strategy that had worked before, with the same success. These sirens were a bit more dangerous than the others, because they shot her with poison arrows between the attacks on her mind, but she managed to drink an antidote quickly before they could Charm her again ((that was *really* close!))
There was no trace of the cave that Safana had mentioned. Had they overlooked something?
They hiked back, all the way to the area of the lighthouse, and finally found a hidden cave entrance where Arvia had fought the second group of sirens.
The cave was heavily trapped and guarded by flesh golems, but Imoen disarmed the traps and lured the golems back to the fighters.
Still, they would have to remember that Flesh Golems were strong and dangerous enemies, and they already noticed the difference without a healer among them.
They would have to go back to Nashkel and Beregost and buy all the healing potions they could get, and also identify the treasure they had found, before finally taking the road to the Cloakwood.
Back in Nashkel, they rested, identified their loot and sold everything they didn't need. They kept a Wand that looked useful and seemed to be able to stun enemies, and a magical tome that could permanently increase somebody's physical constitution. Arvia kept it in her bag to decide later what to do about it and they went to the temple.
There were no temples of Torm, but Ajantis was a follower of Helm, after all. Arvia was still immensely grateful for the success against the sirens and gave 20% of their income this time. The rest, some 3000 gp, were all spent on Antidotes, Elixier of Health and Potions of Healing.
They stayed in the temple for a while, and Arvia decided to give the tome to Minsc. He was always the first one in need of rest, and a team was only as strong as their weakest link. She was already very resistant, and it would be useless to improve her constitution further if they always had to rest because of Minsc. He was a strong fighter already, and they would all benefit from his better constitution. And Minsc was happy, because it had always embarrassed him to get tired before Imoen and Dynaheir.
Tomorrow, they would take the road to the Cloakwood. Tonight, they would clean their weapons, leave everything that wasn't needed, mend and check everything that was important, and probably spend their last night in proper beds for a very long time.
Level: 6 (Arvia, Minsc and Imoen), 5 (Ajantis, Dynaheir)
Reloads: 3 (the ogre with the belt south of the FIA, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Red Wizards of Thay)
Your roleplaying and storytelling are wonderful! More, please!
Okay, some things. You were apparently saved a reload from Shoal the Nereid by the NPC Project. In the unmodded game, that kiss causes instant death and an instant reload if it gets inflicted on the main character. It still caused instant death in the unmodded game to whatever character you sacrificed to her. She will cast a Raise Dead on the killed character if you defeat the ogre mage who is dominating her, but that's often far too little, far too late. Solo no-reloaders, and even no-reloaders in general, often use their metaknowledge of these facts to kite her and kill her from range, not allowing her to ever initiate her dialogue. And, I've noticed that solo no-reloaders often go almost straight to her and do that, because she gives quite a lot of xp upon her death, often granting at least one level to the meta-gaming solo no-reloader.
I am very impressed by your handling of the rest of the map. I am especially impressed by your reluctant RP decision that you and Branwen had to part ways, because of more NPC Project content that gives life to the BG1 characters.
I'm glad and impressed that you got through all the rest of the content on this map, and got the Tome of Constitution, without any reloads.
You go! I am super impressed by your roleplaying, your story writing, and your gameplay. I hope you will continue on to the end. Your story and reports are giving me great pleasure and distraction from my troubles of real life.
(Edited to remove an insulting statement about some other runs I've read elsewhere. I really need to stop sticking my foot in my mouth here.
She was being dominated? Great, now I feel bad about killing her. How was I supposed to find that out? By sacrificing somebody else to her? Not going to happen.
Were the sirens changed by NPC Project, too? In the end, when I was really beginning to feel frustrated and kind of desperate because I couldn't find a solution, I thought: To the Nine Hells with you all, I'm going to attack them alone and without wasting more spells or potions now, I don't care if it's a reload or not.
And what happened? They didn't do anything once I was Charmed. When I had a red circle, they just stood there and ignored me. When I turned green, I attacked, landed a hit or two and got Charmed again. When they were out of Charm spells, they were easily killed. The ones in the lighthouse map didn't even shoot arrows at me. That happened only with the three sirens in the map where I met Shoal.
Poisoned and then Charmed would have been deadly, of course. Yay for spending all my money on little blue, green and purple bottles. I was glad that I had left the others out of sight and tried to be heroic, but now I wonder if it was a bug that they didn't harm me when I was Charmed.
On the other hand, my party members don't attack Charmed persons or animals, either. (I sometimes use Minsc's ability to Charm a bear and send it away instead of killing it), and a Charm spell is mostly dangerous because I'd have chunked Imoen and Dynaheir before it wore off.
Edited after consulting Baldur's Gate Wiki on the subject:
The change to Shoal the Nereid's deadly kiss only causing loss of consciousness and being reduced to 1 HP was the EE version 2.5 and not NPC Project.
The ogre mage only appears when Shoal surrenders after knocking you out and you accept to help her. Unfortunately, I never found out that she'd have surrendered, because I thought she'd attack the others, too, and had her stunned and killed before she even had the chance to start a dialogue.
I don't know if NPC Project or EE has changed the behavior of the sirens since the last time I fought them. I'm glad you found a strategy that worked out. One time, I tried that and died, because I had been poisoned, and I couldn't drink an antidote while charmed, and I wound up dying from the poison.
I've played a version of them where they used Feeblemind. I'm not sure what that was - I think I might have been using the basic AI improvement component of SCS. (Sword Coast Strategems - a popular difficulty increasing mod that a lot of people use.)
The ogre mage you didn't get to spawn because Shoal got killed too fast had a magic helmet that a lot of people plan their runs around. I've very often wound up killing Shoal when I didn't want to, because she won't turn blue and talk until she's down to almost one hit point, and the killing arrow is often already in the air or the sword already swung. So, don't feel bad about that.
I always killed her, too, and didn't know she had more to say and that there was more of the encounter that could spawn, the first few times I played.
@BelgarathMTH , I had the same problem with Mulahey (not during this run. during the one that I stopped after the Cloakwood mine to start this minimal reload attempt) He surrendered, I accepted, but the arrow was already in the air. I reloaded (way back, some 134 years ago, when I still used to reload for different outcomes ?) and noticed that I'd have to kill him anyway.
I don't think I even want to know what kind of helmet I missed by not meeting the ogre mage. ?
The helmet from the ogre mage Droth is the Helmet of Defense: +1 to all saving throws and +20% resistance to fire, cold, and electricity. It's worth nabbing in a party run, but I've never bothered to get it, since Droth is pretty wicked in SCS, what with his pre-buffs and everything. The helmet isn't really a game-changer, so it's generally not worth the risk in a no-reload or minimal reload context.
Thank you for the explanation about the sirens. With AC -6 and a paladin's saving throws I doubt they would have hit me with it before I hit them.
But is it normal that they stop attacking once you're Dire Charmed?
After buying all the potions we could get, we traveled to the first Cloakwood map, stepping very carefully. We met some hunters, who seemed to consider themselves something better than others, and they told us that they had a right to stay and hunt here, but were being threatened by druids. We didn't really like them, but if they had the right to be here, they'd have to be protected, whether we liked them or not.
I felt tricked.
We met a man called Coran on a bridge to the north, who told us about a dragon and wyverns and wanted to join us. We were thankful for the warning, but he openly admitted that he was a thief, so we didn't accept him. We've had our share of trouble with companions already, and keeping an eye on Imoen's fingers is difficult enough.
Then we fought some of those tasloi and found a cloak, I think it was the one that the dwarf Gurke (fun fact: that means "cucumber" in German) had lost. Being responsible people, not knowing if we'd ever return to Beregost, we went back immediately to give him the cloak.
Back to the Cloakwood, into the next map. We met Tiber and promised to find his brother, though my companions all seemed to agree that he was most likely dead.
Imoen is the best! She found and successfully disarmed *every - single - trap* in this map. We didn't walk into a single spider web, and we killed all the spiders and ettercaps quickly enough. We didn't need even one bottle of antidote.
Not even here.
So, when the gazillions of spiders spawned, I had Dyanheir cast "Horror", use the Wand of Sleep, and cast "Glitterdust". The last one is a spell that I had totally underestimated in BG2. It detects Invisibility (though I didn't need that here), and the penalty to AC and attack rolls when Blinded is immensely useful.
Arvia and Ajantis went into melee, the others shot missiles. Nobody got poisoned. The fat lady didn't attack us, but after telling her story, she begged us to kill her, and it seemed too cruel to let her live.
We found the body of that poor young man, and the sword. We disarmed some more webs on the way back and killed some more spiders (gods, I hate the sounds they make), and gave the bad news and the body to Tiber.
He told us to keep the sword. I don't know if we'll use it. We're still in the lower levels of the game and I don't feel comfortable with two-handed weapons. The only one with two pips in it is Ajantis, anyway, and I prefer his AC with a shield.
That's it for today. 24h work tomorrow again, time to get some sleep.
We're all level 6, Imoen is level 7.
Reloads: 3 (the ogre with the belt south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Thay Wizards)
Congratulations for making it through the very difficult spider map with no reloads. There are some very hard fights coming up with a lot of spellcasters, so don't feel bad if you need some more reloads soon.
The best use of Spider's Bane is that Dynaheir can cast the Web spell on tough enemies and spellcasters, and Minsc can run right into the Web with Spider's Bane with no worries, and destroy all the "tough" and totally helpless enemies.
We seem to be on the right path.
We also seem to be in the area that Coran had told us about. We'll have to step carefully. Wyverns seem to be dangerous.
If those were the babies, we'll have to watch out for the big ones.
One Antidote. Not so bad.
We found the remains of a much bigger wyvern, and a warrior's corpse. He must have been either very brave or very foolish to come here alone and fight those huge creatures. We took a wand that he had been carrying, assuming that a fighter would want others to continue his cause. We also took his gold and the jewels he was carrying, making a note to give all of it to the temple for his soul. We left him in his armor, covered him with some rocks, and took a moment to honor his memory.
My companions were fatigued and the area was not safe, but the smell of decay in the cave was overwhelming, so we had to take the risk of resting in the forest before heading east, where the druids had told us to go.
We found the mine. It's heavily guarded.
We were either very lucky, or we're learning. Still, we decided to hide in the forest after that fight, identify the items (Boots of Speed!) and prepare Dynaheir, because we expect more mages if the entrance is already guarded by two of them.
We're going in. Torm, give us strength!
Party level: 6 (Imoen 7)
Number of reloads: 3 (the ogre south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Thay Wizards)
Then I was surprised how easy the fight was. You know I'm not a mage spell expert, so I came to a simple conclusion:
Use against them what's most annoying when used against me.(though the spell only affected one person, I think)
And: Ignore the dangerous strong guys until all spellcasters are dead (at least now that we've got the necessary HP and AC)
I'm glad that it worked. I just hope that I'm not getting overconfident.
That's when I realized that it's too risky to rely on a single party member to counteract a spell as crippling as Horror, and I went to High Hedge to buy it for Dynaheir (edit: at least I think I bought it there, I don't remember exactly)
Obviously that was a good decision, now that Branwen is gone.
I never knew about Garrick. I had to refuse his quest for roleplaying reasons. The only dialogue option to accept his quest was something along the lines of "oh yes, we're always interested in making more money!"
Maybe that wasn't all bad, because I've heard that Silke is a tough enemy at low levels.
I don't know much about "real" D&D rules, but it looks like my instinct of how to do it properly wasn't so far from the general idea.
I don't agree with the idea of letting Imoen steal in secret, though, as I have mentioned in another thread. I don't think there's any justification for that.
The subject of taking loot or opening chests in enemy territory is more complicated. I usually make that decision along the way. For example, in the building right in front of the Cloakwood mine, I had Imoen open the chest in the room downstairs where I had to kill a guard, and I took the Potion of Magic Shielding and the gold. Upstairs, where the guard begged for mercy and left after telling us the way to the mine, we didn't touch the chests, because it looked like their sleeping quarters and their personal belongings and we had no business to poke around in their things and no reason to expect important information.
When we find corpses, like the fighter in the wyvern cave, or the raided caravans, we take the valuable things so that bandits won't take them, but we don't sell it for profit, we take it to the temple. (on top of the 10%). But I considered it acceptable to keep the wand that the fighter had with him. I know that I'm making choices that seem inconsistent sometimes, but I always think about it before I decide.
If you think that I'm making bad choices, feel free to point it out.
And I think that I'll have to make up a background story about how Arvia became a paladin in the first place.
Entering the mine, the didn't know what to expect, so Arvia didn't dare to let Imoen scout ahead. She couldn't stay hidden and detect traps at the same time, and what if she ran into another mage alone? They decided to proceed together, slowly and carefully. But the first level of the mine seemed to be quite safe. They were confronted by a few guards, who were easily defeated, and talked to all the miners. Frightened slaves without a spark of hope, all of them.
Arvia talked to them and promised to find a way to rescue them all. One of them showed her a device on the wall, meant to flood the whole mine. The man named Davaeorn, who had been mentioned in the letters, seemed to stay at the lowest level of the mine and had the key on his person, so their task was clear.
That miner also asked them to find Rill, another slave at the lower levels, who knew a way to get all the slaves out.
They proceeded very carefully to the second level. This one didn't look like a mine any more. Narrow, dark hallways, no sound, no smell. Imoen wanted to scout again, but Arvia stopped her. "Too dangerous" she whispered. "Something is wrong here, I feel it. Let me go first."
Imoen kicked her shin. "Arvia, stop being so stubborn! We're a team and I'm not a child! You can't protect us all the time, we have to work together! That's why we're all here!"
Imoen ran while Arvia covered her back, trying to fight the guards and draw them back to the others, hoping to get rid of them before they had to face the mage.
Ajantis joined her at the entrance to the narrow hallway, while the others with their ranged weapons kept to the corners of the room and fired.
The mage had come directly after the guards. Before they could react, they heard the dreaded words "Incertus..." and there was no time to escape. But after their last experience with mages in dungeons, Arvia had kept a Potion of Insulation in her belt and drank it quickly before the mage finished her incantation. She was standing right in front of Ajantis, so hopefully that would protect him, too.
This level contained a prison. They found Rill, who told them of his plan to get the slaves out. It involved bribing a guard, but even Ajantis agreed that it was justified if it saved so many lives, so they gave him 100gp and asked him to go ahead with his plan.
The other prisoner was the last remaining dwarf of the tribe that had opened the mine in the first place. He wanted justice for his kin, and they gladly accepted him into their group. After their latest experiences, at last they seemed to have found a trustworthy companion. As a fighter and cleric, he would fit in very well, and he seemed to follow the righteous path.
The had to equip him and take care of their wounds before they could proceed. Yeslick told them that sometimes two days passed without anyone coming to feed the prisoners, so they took the risk to rest in his cell, because Davaeorn was supposed to be on the fourth level, and they had no idea what kind of evil they might encounter along the way.
The stairs to the third level led them directly into an ambush.
((I had forgotten to deactivate the spell functions in the AI when Yeslick joined us, because I don't want them to waste their spells on every stupid hobgoblin, but I love how the casting of "Ghost Armor" looks, so I just had to take a screenshot))
After that, Arvia decided that this was another time where she would scout, not Imoen, and asked the others to guard her back in this maze.
But going alone didn't seem to be the wisest choice after all. She had forgotten how much faster than the others she ran with those new boots.
She would have to be faster than that invisible ogre mage. Fortunately she could see him once he started casting.
Imoen was furious, and so was Ajantis. They agreed to stick closer together from now on.
A very good decision, because the next mage (how many mages lived here?!) was protected by hobgoblin elites with their nasty poisoned arrows.
Their next discovery hurt Yeslick deeply and filled him with a furious thirst for vengeance.
Their former Temple of Clangeddin had been desecrated by worshippers of Cyric.
It was time to end this madness and kill Davaeorn or die trying.
His only protector wasn't too strong, and Arvia wanted to rush in again, but Imoen stopped her just in time to discover and disarm several deadly traps in the hallway. They must be getting closer.
The others had kept their distance and jumped behind a corner when the mage started casting, and Arvia was close enough to another room to escape the dreaded lightning bolt, because the potion case was out of reach.
But the mage had teleported directly after casting his deadly spell (obviously smarter than Hareishan). Where was he?
Still too close, evidently. The others came to join the fight.
Dire Charmed! Didn't expect that... but after their experience with the sirens, Ajantis pulled the others out of sight and kept an eye on Arvia from a distance, hoping that the spell would wear off as quickly as the last time, or else... he didn't even want to think about it.
But the effect didn't last long, and Davaeorn seemed to have run out of spells. It was time for the final attack.
On their way out, they took the key back and flooded the mine, making sure that every last slave had escaped.
Then they stayed in silence for a moment, out of respect for Yeslick's kin.
Their next destination was the city of Baldur' Gate, but first they had to go back to Beregost to tie up some loose ends, and to unburden themselves of all the unnecessary items they had collected.
Their first stop after selling everything, and after letting Dynaheir scribe the scrolls they had found (we have Haste! The only failed scroll was Protection from Evil) was the Song of the Morning Temple.
They informed them about the situation with the wyverns and gave the skull as proof. There was no way to refuse the reward, but 2000 gp just didn't seem right. They were well equipped and shouldn't accumulate wealth, so they returned it directly to the temple as a donation, together with the about 500 gp from the valuables in that cave, to honor the death of the fighter who had fallen there.
Ajantis and Arvia agreed to pay their regular tithes to the Temple of Helm rather than Lathander, so they traveled back to Nashkel. They were hoarding too much gold, and Arvia still felt that she had to atone for some of the decisions she had made in the past, so it seemed appropriate to give 20% again.
The remaining gold was just enough to get a better mage robe for Dynaheir.
It was time to go to Baldur's Gate.
On the road, Yeslick walked next to her and asked her a few questions about her recent past. Then he grumbled something into his beard and said: "You're a brave girl with a good heart, but you still lack experience. What you need is a mentor. I'm 100 years older than you, so I think you can learn a thing or two from me, if you accept it. And tonight, when we camp, I want you to tell me how you became a paladin in the first place, growing up in that dusty old library!"
((That's as far as I've come in the game before restarting as a minimal reload. I hadn't known all the maps until now because I had gone to the Cloakwood before doing all the side quests last time, but from now on, I'll be playing completely blind.))
Party level 6 (Imoen 7, Yeslick 5)
Number of reloads: 3 (the ogre with the belt south of the FIA, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Thay Wizards)
Edited: typos...
Hareishan was close. The other fights were okay.
Edit: and this is the overconfidence that's going to cause the next reload.
If my playthrough can make people think twice about paladins, I'm very happy!
On our way to Baldur's Gate, we went to the area north of the Friendly Arm Inn, where we had picked up Ajantis in the beginning.
Imoen scouted ahead, as usual, while the others waited, but some Ankhegs had different plans. They seem to have the nasty habit of spitting their acid on the weakest party members, so we had to go back to the temple at the FAI to Raise Dynaheir. 800 GP. We won't be able to pay for a second time.
We met some fishermen who said that a priestess of Umberlee was killing their people and that we should help them. We agreed, but Ajantis warned me to talk to her if we found her, because he thought she must have had a very good reason.
We met a farmer and promised to search for his son Nathan. Found a huge hole in the ground with creepy sounds coming out of it, decided to go in and search for Nathan there.
Unfortunately our instinct had been right.
We returned Nathan's body to his father, who didn't want to talk to us at all. Seriously? Return the dead son and just leave like that?
Thank you, Ajantis. I couldn't agree more.
North we went, killing more Ankhegs on the way. Then we met somebody who told us about an Ankheg culling and no more than 4 per party. We had already killed more than that in defense. We took 4 of the shells to the smith in Beregost for 500 GP each, so that we wouldn't be completely out of money in case we needed to Raise anybody again, and then we went to the map with the bridge to Baldur's Gate.
The priestess of Umberlee was supposed to live there. We found her house. And went to talk to her. I had a very bad feeling about this, and I was right.
Maybe I should have learned from my experience with Shoal and attacked her with less force, but how was I supposed to know that she would surrender? I hit "pause" immediately after that dialogue, switched off the AI lantern and moved the party away. Except for Arvia of course, who was unconscious on the ground. When she woke up, although the priestess was blue and the AI turned off, Arvia executed the last command before she was knocked out, of course, and attacked. And of course, before I could even hit "pause" and give another command, she struck with force, the priestess turned red and it was over in less than half a second.
I thought about accepting this outcome. But she seemed to have been a child of 12 years, we had accepted her surrender, I had taken every precaution to stop the attack after that, and she still got killed. It was just unfair.
I don't know anything about coding except for the simplest stuff. Wouldn't it be possible to connect this kind of dialogue choice with a command to stop current attacks? This is not the first time that a dialogue accepts surrender, the person turns blue, but you have no chance to stop the attack in time.
I reloaded and this time I didn't hit her with everything we had right after her turning hostile, and it worked. I'm still not too happy about this, to put it mildly.
We went back to the fishermen to get the bowl that they had taken from the child's mother.
Great. Now the Storm God is angry with us. As if we needed more powerful enemies. This seemed like a good time to finally get rid of the Boots of Grounding: Talos' Gift. I had found a roleplaying excuse to let Dynaheir keep them, but now I really don't think we should be using them anymore. We went to the Temple of Wisdom at the FAI and dropped them on the floor.
Then we went back to the priestess to return the bowl.
I wonder if that's a good thing. I'm not too happy about the whole story, but I still think it was necessary.
Crossing the bridge, we were approached by a Flaming Fist officer and told him the truth, of course.
We dutifully spent 5 minutes of real time waiting for his superior, because I wondered what the game would throw at us if we continued, after him telling us to wait here. Then I thought that "here" probably meant where he had been standing in the first place, not where he had met us.
I don't feel very comfortable to agree with this, using stealth to infiltrate the Seven Suns, but the Flaming Fist is kind of the police here, as far as I know.
We entered the city and met Elminster again. He seemed to know how I felt, because he addressed my doubts directly.
Before he could leave, Minsc addressed him, and we picked up a *very* insightful piece of information.
Hah! I knew it! And I didn't know this dialogue when I participated in the poll about Boo.
Party level: 6 (Imoen 7)
Number of reloads: 4 (the ogre with the belt south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh at the Nashkel graveyard, a spider web north of the Thay Wizards, Tenya Who Made Me Break My Rules)
It's very healthy to break old habits. It also took me a couple of runs in BG2:EE until I was sure what's acceptable for me and what isn't. I must admit that, shamefully, my first paladin looted the whole De'Arnise Keep out of habit, until I realized that's completely out of character.
@BelgarathMTH , please read my last report when you find the time, and tell me if I can keep posting here in your thread as minimal reload after that decision with Tenya, or if I should move this somewhere else. I'm still uncomfortable with my decision, but I still feel that there was nothing else I could have done.