Gorion Diamond, Ring of Protection +1, Ring of Wizardy Killed Algernon for charm cloak Ankheg Plate, Oublek rep +1 Drizzt Scimitars, Chain Mail +4 Tenya Bowl lv2 Charmed (8) and killed Dushai for Ring of Freeaction Rep to 11 at temple Firebead rep +1 lv3, Scroll Case Smacked the Hobgoblins for Joias ring rep +1 Brage rep +1 Ring of Fire Protection, Star Sapphire Samuel rep +1 PfM from Hafiz Melicamp rep +1 lv4, Potion Case, 17k gold Scroll of Cloudkill Driennes cat rep +1, PfU Smacked Ingot, Halberd +2
I now had 18 rep and charm, and 19k gold so it was time to buy Sandthief ring, except it still cost 20k, so I only bought the Greenstone Amulet.
Ranged Vitiare for 3 invisibility potions Hentold's dagger for another invisibility potion Smacked the two Ogrillons for the note Note for Mirianne for another Ring of Protection +1 Smacked the Girdle Ogre for Piercing Girdle Smacked the Bjornins Half-Ogres rep +1 Smacked the Wargs for Ardrouine rep +1
Reached 20 rep and 19k again, which meant I could purchase the Sandthief Ring for 17k. Still some money collecting to do before commencing the xp loop.
I registered on the site solely for this thread, I love the challenge and plan on doing it. Few questions though:
1) If we do the challenge we have to post screenshots as we go yes?
2) Is the hall of fame on the original post up to date? I'm looking for potential character builds/ideas that haven't been done and want to try something nobody else has done yet.
A more or less detailed description of your tactics would be okay but if you want to add screenshots you are welcome!
Yes, the Hall of Fame is up to date so you can easily pick a class combo that has not been played extensivly.
But at the end its up to you - have fun!
Hall of fame is missing a Totemic, F/M/C, F/M/T, SD/M and maybe one or two chars I forgot who made it thru BG1. :P Not that it matters they all got stuck at the start of SOD even tho they weren't no reload butt heir creator is lazy. :P
Ok great I want to do a class/combo that hasn't been done yet which is why I was asking. Pictures and text are no problem, my concern was if we were expected to post videos because I tend to play with my kids screaming in the background which would mess up the audio
I was originally thinking a Thief/Mage but I see Thief/Illusionist has already been done for BG1 at least. But it looks like it hasn't been done for the rest of the challenge.
I'm also thinking I might actually try it with a Wild Mage for the extra insanity when a wild surge hits But I'm not sure if it's doable.
I'm also thinking I might actually try it with a Wild Mage for the extra insanity when a wild surge hits But I'm not sure if it's doable.
Welcome @canadianchris - nice to see another enthusiastic participant . If you're not playing no-reload then Wild Mage would actually be easier than an alternative mage due to its ability to cast lots of high level spells. Even no-reload it's doable, though in BG1 you would probably need to avoid most spell-casting to have a realistic chance. It's easy enough to do that as familiars in LoB can be really helpful early on, while the wand of monster summoning and Algernon's cloak are all you need for nearly all later encounters.
@canadianchris: Screenshots aren't typical for this thread, which so far has been focused more on analysis than on narration. It's the other way around in the "Maybe this time" thread, where the focus is on the narrative and it's standard form to post screenshots as you go along.
I wouldn't recommend trying out a no-reload run, though, unless you're going with a non-LoB run. I've been trying to beat this challenge no-reload and it has been immensely trying--to the extent that it ruins much of the fun. I've just been doing no-reload runs for so long that it doesn't feel right to reload anymore.
Charmed (3) Bentan and fed him to Kobolds, PfM Charmed (3) Meilum and fed him to Kobolds, Legacy of Masters Charmed (2) Bassilus and fed him to Hobgoblins, 7k gold Smacked Hairtooth and Gnarl for Dex bracers Cha Tome, loot Con Tome, loot, used one Potion of Invisibility and reached 14k gold Neera was killed, Gem Bag Bought 17 Stone to Flesh scrolls, 7 Mirrored Eyes potions, Red/Violet potions, Protection from Petrification scroll, Necklace of Missiles and Shield Amulet Invisibility, charmed (2) Lesser Basilisk, Protection from Petrification and made him petrificate the 3 Basilisk group killing the lesser ones. Looped the Greater Basilisk 15 times to reach the level cap. Then it Petrified Mutamin and his Basilisks, I used Necklace of Missiles to agro Kirians mob, and my pet then petrified them for the Slashing Belt and nice loot. Wasted one invisibility potion, but gained another. Smacked Galdo and Krumm for the Blunt Belt and reached 15k gold. Bought the Claw of Kazgaroth for 7,5k.
Seven, Dwarven Defender lv8 128 hp (136 without the Claw) Scimitar ** Longbow * Two-Weapon Style *** 3x Defensive Stance Save vs. spell 4 (2 with Defensive Stance)
I think Seven is ready to get the main guest rolling.
I forgot to mention: I found two new things in my SoD run.
1. The Bow of the Banshee's Cloak of Fear effect has a small chance of sending enemies running, which can be fatal during the Coalition Camp invasion. Don't use it for that fight. 2. Pre-set Skull Traps (14 in total) did not kill all of the Crusader paladins and clerics, as some of them spawned after the others triggered the Skull Traps, leaving 4 of them alive. But 6 pre-cast Web spells kept them pinned down long enough for the whole fight to be a cakewalk.
OK I'm going to try and do the challenge with a Wild Mage. I'm going to go with an elf simply to get the 90% resistance to certain spells which will help in some situations. I'd like to do it with no reloads but I'm pretty sure that won't be possible for me.
Looks like my last save is in the elevator, so buffing with Potions of Power would have to be done during the fight, not before.
I've done the math once more and once again, the numbers look fine. But I've been fooled by numbers before; they don't take into account the sheer chaos of the fight.
It looks like I will have to go blitzkrieg from round 1. I can't reliably clear the field with Arrows of Detonation, which means I'm just going to have to start firing them right off the bat and hope they keep the enemy horde thin, instead of letting the enemy build up over time so I can wipe them all out at once. If I spend 27 rounds firing 3 Arrows of Detonation per round, I should be able to keep the number of enemies roughly at 5, assuming Belhifet always gets two summons instead of the average of 1.5 summons. If I micromanage the crap out of the game and re-quip Cloverleaf every single time I fire an arrow, I should be able to kill Belhifet with 80 Arrows of Detonation (just under 1200 damage) while keeping the enemy horde manageable.
After that, I have about 36 rounds before the number of enemies renders kiting impossible, assuming Belhifet gets 1.5 summons per 3 rounds. If I can fire 3 arrows per round for 26 rounds, I can deal 600 damage with Void-tipped Arrows. Sometime during this period, my Potions of Heroism will run out.
That amounts to 1800 damage total on Belhifet, and 60 Potions of Invisibility at the very end could neutralize the effect of his regeneration (120 damage for 120 HP regenerated). But with all the lost time from kiting and drinking potions, it's entirely possible I'll deal less than 60% of that and just barely lose the chance to kill Belhifet.
Under realistic conditions, Hold Monster is probably not cost-effective. We'd need 8 uses of aura in 10 rounds, sacrificing about 260 damage for a 65% chance of disabling him, earning us 250 free damage and halting his summoning for 10 rounds, which earns us 260 damage by delaying the point at which kiting becomes impossible. Factoring in the chance of failure, we'd be sacrificing 260 damage on average to deal 260 damage on average, at the cost of losing 8 rounds of aura.
However, Ray of Enfeeblement might have a chance of instantly killing Behlifet when combined with Called Shot and Void-tipped Arrows. The arrows' STR drain can't kill anyone, since they don't work if the target's STR is at 1, but based on my understanding of stat drain, a kill should be possible if we get him to fail 5 saving throws against the STR drain and then get him to fail his save against Ray of Enfeeblement, setting his base STR to 5 and making his -5 STR drain bring that down to zero. But the odds of Ray of Enfeeblement working is about 50% (75% under optimal conditions), and the odds of getting those 5 failed saves from the Void-tipped Arrows is even smaller.
OK I'm going to try and do the challenge with a Wild Mage. I'm going to go with an elf simply to get the 90% resistance to certain spells which will help in some situations. I'd like to do it with no reloads but I'm pretty sure that won't be possible for me.
I don't think the elf resistances made it into the game. (except for the description)
Elves have 90% resistance to charm effects and sleep effects; half-elves get 30%. But there are types of charm effects, like Domination, and types of sleep effects, like Emotion: Hopelessness, that bypass elf resistances.
OK I'm going to try and do the challenge with a Wild Mage. I'm going to go with an elf simply to get the 90% resistance to certain spells which will help in some situations. I'd like to do it with no reloads but I'm pretty sure that won't be possible for me.
I don't think the elf resistances made it into the game. (except for the description)
Elves have 90% resistance to charm effects and sleep effects; half-elves get 30%. But there are types of charm effects, like Domination, and types of sleep effects, like Emotion: Hopelessness, that bypass elf resistances.
Bugger I thought it applied to everything. Ok gonna rethink this a little
Greenstone Amulet + Shield Amulet + Defensive Stance and smacked Tarnesh Charmed (3) Mulahey and fed him to the Kobbos, 3500 g GsA+SA+DS, tried to charm Nimbul but it didn't work, but I just smacked him and his two Mirror Images down, 2k gold GsA+SA+DS, smacked Neira, 500 g Charmed (1) Silke and fed her to the Thayan's, 600 g and Potion of Invulnerability Dwarf vs. dwarf with Karlat, he had no chance GsA+SA+DS, smacked Tranzig, 1800 g Molkar waylay, bye Charmed (1) Taurgoz, and walked him to the woods, emptying the tent and letting him to die. Full Plate meaning I could sell my Ankheg Plate, 5700 g Tent 7000 g + nice loot Charmed (2) Hakt for his Dead Shot +2 bow Smacked the 9 Taslois for Cloak of Non-Detection Two Phase Spiders surprised me in the second Cloakwood area, but I smacked them with one antidote, Scimitar +2 600g Third Cloakwood area, Potion of Invulnerability and met Faldorn, didn't I just kill you?
Mines, charmed (1) the first guard, and lured the second on to me, where we smacked him down The guard then lured Genthore onto us, smacked down, 2500 g The guard then lured Drasus onto us, smacked down with 3 health potions, Boots of Speed + 800 g Didn't bother with Kysus or Rezdan Charmed (2) the guard in Davaeorn room, who lured both Battle Horrors one by one onto me, where we smacked them down The guard then smacked Davaeorn, breaking his weapon, so he only got him unconsious and I got the killing blow The guard then smacked Stephan down, lmao at his screams The guard then helped to smack the Mustard Jelly, after which I thanked him for his perfect service and smacked him down with one blow Drank Potion of Frost Giant Strenght and looted the chests I could The whole place netted 18000 g + PfU Lamalha waylay, bye Sold my stuff and I've now 50k gold and got into the Baldur's Gate
One thing is bothering me though, is the Claw of Kazgaroth's blur effect which prevents seeing if I'm invisible or not.
Okay, I've done some test runs with Belhifet and it looks like the best way to handle things is to spam the Wand of Monster Summoning for the early rounds and hit Belhifet with Void-tipped Arrows. When he gets below 600 HP, there will be enough demons to make kiting very difficult, which is when we start tanking. I have Frisk drink a new Potion of Invulnerability and a new Oil of Speed (and a Potion of Clarity if I don't rely on myself to equip Kiel's Helmet every time I use Durlag's Goblet), cast a new Enchanted Weapon and Blur spell, drink 10 Potions of Power, and finally cast Improved Invisibility before taking refuge in a corner and blasting away at the enemy with Arrows of Detonation. Frisk takes lots of damage, but as long as Belhifet is boxed out, most of that damage comes from our own Arrows of Detonation, not the enemy's attacks, which means we can toggle it. I use auto-pause to time each use of Durlag's Goblet.
This does a lot to thin the enemy herd, and I was just about to take down a couple of Cornugons at Near Death, at which point I could have broken out of the corner and resumed kiting Belhifet when he had only 5 allies. He had less than 500 HP if my memory is correct, which meant that we definitely could have brought him down.
Then the Potion of Power bug struck, and Frisk's HP went from 720/720 to 140/700. A few attacks and a Cornugon's Absorb Health spell killed them. There's no way of knowing exactly when that first Potion of Power wears off, which means it's not really possible, or at least extremely unrealistic, to use Dimension Door or a Potion of Invisibility to escape at the right time.
I'm not sure taking down Belhifet with an Archer/Mage is realistic with that bug in place. I could avoid using Potions of Power and try relying on the ~400 HP I get from Potions of Heroism, but it would cut our damage per round in half due to the need to stop and use Durlag's Goblet more often.
I'll do another test to see if Potions of Heroism alone are sufficient, but if they aren't, I might have to find a workaround for the Potion of Power bug just to win this fight.
Every other tactic I've tried is not workable. Potions of Invisibility aren't good enough; 60 Potions of Invisibility only buy me about 250 damage, and if I run out before Belhifet dies, I'm screwed--I'd be surrounded by demons and each one would get +4 to hit and damage on me when I become visible again. Potions of Power aren't good enough; our maximum APR of 2 is absolutely crippling. Kiting only works for so long before the enemy multiplies, and eventually, even a fraction of a second of visibility is enough to get myself boxed in by demons using Teleport Without Error.
A single-classed Archer could do this easily thanks to the +4 to hit and damage from its racial enemy. Any other fighter could tackle Belhifet in melee combat before the Potion of Power bug kicked in. But an Archer/Mage is really suboptimal for this one bottleneck.
Does anyone have any idea how the Potion of Power bug might be fixed?
Elves have 90% resistance to charm effects and sleep effects; half-elves get 30%. But there are types of charm effects, like Domination, and types of sleep effects, like Emotion: Hopelessness, that bypass elf resistances.
I'm 99% sure the sleep resistance doesn't work against any type of sleep. Tried this so often and it never worked.
Okay, the Potion of Power bug also applies to the Potion of Heroism. Eventually, it knocks down your current HP to its normal maximum, so instead of going from 420/420 to 400/400, we go from 420/420 to 140/400.
Testing found that 420 HP from Potions of Heroism is in fact sufficient to tank the enemy while firing Arrows of Detonation. But you need to have auto-pause set to "hit"; setting it to "injured" is not enough. Otherwise you run the risk of getting hit down below 88 HP, at which point a Cornugon's Absorb Health can kill you in one shot (Potions of Magic Shielding could block half the damage per potion drunk, but the duration is 30 rounds and can wear off without you noticing). Also, you cannot let Belhifet get in melee range; you need the other demons to box him out. This means that this tactic is only effective when a certain minimum number of demons is on the map.
You can ensure that they box Belhifet out with a 3-step process:
1. Go invisible (Improved Invisibility is better for the tanking process). 2. Run around the edges of the screen until Belhifet teleports after you when you're away from a corner. 3. Hurry to a corner and break invisibility by attacking.
Belhifet will not teleport after you because he already did so that round; his aura isn't clear for him to do it. The other demons will immediately teleport over to you and surround you. If there are enough, they'll form a wall that Belhifet cannot get past. You can then target Belhifet with Arrows of Detonation.
This requires the following buffs:
Potion of Invulnerability Oil of Speed Enchanted Weapon Potions of Heroism (20)
Optional but useful buffs include:
Blur Improved Invisibility Potion of Magic Shielding Potion of Clarity (to avoid accidentally drinking Durlag's Goblet without equipping Kiel's Helmet)
I was able to win the fight by kiting Belhifet with the Wand of Monster Summoning and Void-tipped Arrows until he was below 500 HP, at which point I switched to tanking. When there were only five demons left, I escaped the corner and resumed kiting him. I got him down to 4 HP, but avoided killing him so I could figure out how much time was left in my Potions of Heroism.
There were only three rounds left, not counting some slight stalling during the final rounds of kiting. This means that I'm cutting it very close. In fact, if it weren't for some instant-casting buffs I used at the start of the fight to speed things up, I might have gotten low on HP before Belhifet got to 4 HP.
If those potions run out before Belhifet dies, I need to make sure it happens when there are few enemies on the map. Otherwise a bad move could get me surrounded and I'd have no HP barrier to stay alive. To make sure this doesn't happen, I'll need to delay the tanking process until Belhifet is further below 500 HP--maybe when he's at 450 or even 400. But if I delay it too much, I might find myself running low on HP while still boxed in.
Dice rolls could dramatically influence how long each phase takes, so it's possible that even if I knew the optimal time to begin tanking, bad luck could kill me. And if I avoid delaying it and simply wait until the Potions of Heroism wear off so I could switch to tanking with Potions of Power, I might not be able to break out of the corner within the 20-30 round duration of the Potions of Power.
The one remaining problem is timing. In the chaos, I simply don't have a means of gauging when Belhifet is going to cast Gate, when my summons are going to die, or when my potions wear off. The first two are critical for the kiting process, and the last one is critical for the tanking process.
I might try one more test run just to practice, but after that, I'll do the real run, and the result of that fight will determine whether Frisk moves on to Shadows of Amn or not.
@histamiini: No racial enemy for the Archer/Mage. Due to engine limitations, only fighters, thieves, and clerics can dual-class to mage; not rangers. Theoretically I could add a workaround for the missing racial enemy, but I'm not sure I want to. I only created the kit so I could dual-class to a mage or thief; I never intended to make the fighter Archer kit a true replica of the ranger kit.
@Victor_Creed_SFV: To my knowledge, elves only get resistance to the unconsciousness effects of Command and Sleep.
@histamiini: No racial enemy for the Archer/Mage. Due to engine limitations, only fighters, thieves, and clerics can dual-class to mage; not rangers. Theoretically I could add a workaround for the missing racial enemy, but I'm not sure I want to. I only created the kit so I could dual-class to a mage or thief; I never intended to make the fighter Archer kit a true replica of the ranger kit.
@Victor_Creed_SFV: To my knowledge, elves only get resistance to the unconsciousness effects of Command and Sleep.
If that's the case I've been very unlucky with the 10% miss chance, I've never gotten a sucessful resistance ever since I play BG.
Baldur's Gate Dex tome Gauntlets of Weaponskill 2000 g Helm of Balduran, got save vs. spell already to 1 GsA+SA+DS and smacked Drelik down, then Jardak with 7 health potions, got the Helm of the Noble Cha +1 which made me 20/20 for the best discounts Helped Nadine for second Necklace of Missiles Went to Oberan Estate, and charmed (3) Delorna, who summoned a spider and five others, which killed first Helshara, then Ithmeera, and lastly Delorna herself and I got the third Necklace of Missiles. I wonder if I'll get magically blamed for that...
Shopping Spree 60 Arrows of Detonation 50 Arrows of Dispelling 26 Speed Potions 3 Invisibility Potions 3 Storm Giant Strength Potions 1 Power Potion 2 Heroism Potions 2 Protection from Magic 2 Protection from Undead 4th Necklace of Missiles Recharged Greenstone Amulet (50) and one of the four Necklace of Missiles (25) 50k buff
After some thought I think my first attempt at this challenge will be a Cleric/Mage. I see a Cleric/Illusionist was already done for BG1 but that's it. Will get this ball rolling soon
GsA+SA and smacked Ragefast, Nymph Cloak, 2000 g GsA+SA+Invis and smacked Ramazith, PfM, Potion Invulnerability, Ring of Protection +2, Int tome, 4000 g Seven Suns, 9400 g, PfU Bought Arrow of Slaying 1600 g Slayed Ogre Mage with the arrow and smacked the Carrion Crawlers with Ring of Free Action, 6500 g Smacked Vay-aa, Desreta and Yago with GsA+SA+DS, Potion of Invulnerability, 3500 g Smacked Larze with Blunt belt + Potion of Absorbtion + Defensive Stance, 2000 g Charmed Quenash (1) and made her attack one of the guards. Cloak of Balduran, so Seven has reached his max item based save vs spell of impressive -1, in BG1! Iron Throne, in and out using one invisibility potion, 3000 g, Potion of Storm Giant Strength Climbed again back to 29k gold Wasted one invisibility potion to escape the Ogre Mage waylay, which still leaves me with three
I've worked so hard to figure out how to deal with Belhifet with the Archer/Mage. That fight is an absolute nightmare. If I don't make it, it's going to be crushing, just like the last time. It hurt when I died against Belhifet the first time around--and even in the test runs, my heart flutters and I actually feel physically weak when I see things going badly.
The worst part is that after all of the optimizations I've done, all the number crunching and all the data and all the different methods of handling all the multi-directional threats of this fight, I'm still not sure if the plan I have is reliable enough to count on:
1. Buff with 20 Potions of Heroism and 1 Potion of Invulnerability, Clarity, Storm Giant Strength, and Oil of Speed, plus 2 Potions of Mind Focusing 2. Take down the critters in the elevator using the Wand of Monster Summoning and Acid Arrows 3. Kite Belhifet and company with the Wand of Monster Summoning and Void-tipped Arrows until Belhifet is at 450-500 HP 4. Go invisible, drink new Potions of Clarity and Invulnerability, a new Oil of Speed, re-cast Enchanted Weapon, cast Blur and Improved Invisibility, all while running away from Belhifet and avoiding getting boxed in by all the demons 5. Bait Belhifet's Teleport Without Error, run to a corner and fire a single Arrow of Detonation so all the lesser demons crowd around and box out Belhifet 6. Set auto-pause to "hit" and begin firing Arrows of Detonation at Belhifet 7. Whenever HP approaches 100, equip Kiel's Helmet, switch to Twinkle and the Sunfire shield instead of the bow, drink Durlag's Goblet, and make one or two attack rolls with the scimitar to make sure Frisk's aura is clear 8. As soon as there is a gap in the wall of enemies, break out and resume kiting using Void-tipped Arrows and the Wand of Monster Summoning 9. Keep going until either Belhifet dies or Frisk's maximum HP starts dropping 10. If Belhifet lives and Frisk's maximum HP starts dropping, repeat step 4 in its entirety 11. Drink 10 Potions of Power 12. Repeat steps 5-8 13. If Belhifet lives, drink Potions of Invisibility and fire arrows from safety until the potions run out 14. If Belhifet lives, cast defensive spells via scrolls and continuing firing at Belhifet while surrounded 15. If Belhifet lives, Frisk will die.
I will die under the following conditions:
1. I use Durlag's Goblet without wearing Kiel's Helmet and when I have no Potion of Clarity active 2. I fail to keep my saves vs. spell at 1 or lower and fail a save against Demon Fear or Hold Person 3. I allow Belhifet to get past the wall of demons and attack me while I'm pinned and when my aura is not clear 4. I fail to keep summons active to keep the enemy from teleporting over to me and boxing me in when I'm not ready to tank them 5. I begin tanking too late, or spend too much time tanking, and allow my Potions of Heroism or Potions of Power to run out while I'm still boxed in 6. I begin tanking too soon, preventing me from dealing enough damage to kill Belhifet before the map is overrun with demons 7. I get too many unlucky attack and damage rolls, preventing me from dealing enough damage to kill Belhifet before the map is overrun with demons
The fight will probably take about 60 rounds. The slightest error could spell death, and even if I do everything just right, poor dice rolls could ruin everything and deliver Frisk to a slow, crushing, and inevitable death. I know victory is possible based on the previous test run, but as for whether victory is likely, I have no idea.
I've never felt so little control of the game. It really messes with you, the realization that you're dealing with an enemy that's so much stronger than you that your own superior intelligence is simply not enough to keep you alive.
Comments
Gorion
Diamond, Ring of Protection +1, Ring of Wizardy
Killed Algernon for charm cloak
Ankheg Plate, Oublek rep +1
Drizzt Scimitars, Chain Mail +4
Tenya Bowl lv2
Charmed (8) and killed Dushai for Ring of Freeaction
Rep to 11 at temple
Firebead rep +1 lv3, Scroll Case
Smacked the Hobgoblins for Joias ring rep +1
Brage rep +1
Ring of Fire Protection, Star Sapphire
Samuel rep +1
PfM from Hafiz
Melicamp rep +1 lv4, Potion Case, 17k gold
Scroll of Cloudkill
Driennes cat rep +1, PfU
Smacked Ingot, Halberd +2
I now had 18 rep and charm, and 19k gold so it was time to buy Sandthief ring, except it still cost 20k, so I only bought the Greenstone Amulet.
Ranged Vitiare for 3 invisibility potions
Hentold's dagger for another invisibility potion
Smacked the two Ogrillons for the note
Note for Mirianne for another Ring of Protection +1
Smacked the Girdle Ogre for Piercing Girdle
Smacked the Bjornins Half-Ogres rep +1
Smacked the Wargs for Ardrouine rep +1
Reached 20 rep and 19k again, which meant I could purchase the Sandthief Ring for 17k. Still some money collecting to do before commencing the xp loop.
I registered on the site solely for this thread, I love the challenge and plan on doing it. Few questions though:
1) If we do the challenge we have to post screenshots as we go yes?
2) Is the hall of fame on the original post up to date? I'm looking for potential character builds/ideas that haven't been done and want to try something nobody else has done yet.
Cheers
A more or less detailed description of your tactics would be okay but if you want to add screenshots you are welcome!
Yes, the Hall of Fame is up to date so you can easily pick a class combo that has not been played extensivly.
But at the end its up to you - have fun!
Not that it matters they all got stuck at the start of SOD even tho they weren't no reload butt heir creator is lazy. :P
I was originally thinking a Thief/Mage but I see Thief/Illusionist has already been done for BG1 at least. But it looks like it hasn't been done for the rest of the challenge.
I'm also thinking I might actually try it with a Wild Mage for the extra insanity when a wild surge hits
Have fun!
Too bad: A bad headache is preventing me from playing on with Krell - maybe tomorrow!
I got another challenger asking me questions via PM - maybe he will show up here in the next days. Would be great!
Wild Mage would be pretty cool @canadianchris - may chaos be with you!
I wouldn't recommend trying out a no-reload run, though, unless you're going with a non-LoB run. I've been trying to beat this challenge no-reload and it has been immensely trying--to the extent that it ruins much of the fun. I've just been doing no-reload runs for so long that it doesn't feel right to reload anymore.
Charmed (3) Bentan and fed him to Kobolds, PfM
Charmed (3) Meilum and fed him to Kobolds, Legacy of Masters
Charmed (2) Bassilus and fed him to Hobgoblins, 7k gold
Smacked Hairtooth and Gnarl for Dex bracers
Cha Tome, loot
Con Tome, loot, used one Potion of Invisibility and reached 14k gold
Neera was killed, Gem Bag
Bought 17 Stone to Flesh scrolls, 7 Mirrored Eyes potions, Red/Violet potions, Protection from Petrification scroll, Necklace of Missiles and Shield Amulet
Invisibility, charmed (2) Lesser Basilisk, Protection from Petrification and made him petrificate the 3 Basilisk group killing the lesser ones. Looped the Greater Basilisk 15 times to reach the level cap. Then it Petrified Mutamin and his Basilisks, I used Necklace of Missiles to agro Kirians mob, and my pet then petrified them for the Slashing Belt and nice loot. Wasted one invisibility potion, but gained another.
Smacked Galdo and Krumm for the Blunt Belt and reached 15k gold. Bought the Claw of Kazgaroth for 7,5k.
Seven, Dwarven Defender lv8
128 hp (136 without the Claw)
Scimitar **
Longbow *
Two-Weapon Style ***
3x Defensive Stance
Save vs. spell 4 (2 with Defensive Stance)
I think Seven is ready to get the main guest rolling.
1. The Bow of the Banshee's Cloak of Fear effect has a small chance of sending enemies running, which can be fatal during the Coalition Camp invasion. Don't use it for that fight.
2. Pre-set Skull Traps (14 in total) did not kill all of the Crusader paladins and clerics, as some of them spawned after the others triggered the Skull Traps, leaving 4 of them alive. But 6 pre-cast Web spells kept them pinned down long enough for the whole fight to be a cakewalk.
I've done the math once more and once again, the numbers look fine. But I've been fooled by numbers before; they don't take into account the sheer chaos of the fight.
It looks like I will have to go blitzkrieg from round 1. I can't reliably clear the field with Arrows of Detonation, which means I'm just going to have to start firing them right off the bat and hope they keep the enemy horde thin, instead of letting the enemy build up over time so I can wipe them all out at once. If I spend 27 rounds firing 3 Arrows of Detonation per round, I should be able to keep the number of enemies roughly at 5, assuming Belhifet always gets two summons instead of the average of 1.5 summons. If I micromanage the crap out of the game and re-quip Cloverleaf every single time I fire an arrow, I should be able to kill Belhifet with 80 Arrows of Detonation (just under 1200 damage) while keeping the enemy horde manageable.
After that, I have about 36 rounds before the number of enemies renders kiting impossible, assuming Belhifet gets 1.5 summons per 3 rounds. If I can fire 3 arrows per round for 26 rounds, I can deal 600 damage with Void-tipped Arrows. Sometime during this period, my Potions of Heroism will run out.
That amounts to 1800 damage total on Belhifet, and 60 Potions of Invisibility at the very end could neutralize the effect of his regeneration (120 damage for 120 HP regenerated). But with all the lost time from kiting and drinking potions, it's entirely possible I'll deal less than 60% of that and just barely lose the chance to kill Belhifet.
Under realistic conditions, Hold Monster is probably not cost-effective. We'd need 8 uses of aura in 10 rounds, sacrificing about 260 damage for a 65% chance of disabling him, earning us 250 free damage and halting his summoning for 10 rounds, which earns us 260 damage by delaying the point at which kiting becomes impossible. Factoring in the chance of failure, we'd be sacrificing 260 damage on average to deal 260 damage on average, at the cost of losing 8 rounds of aura.
However, Ray of Enfeeblement might have a chance of instantly killing Behlifet when combined with Called Shot and Void-tipped Arrows. The arrows' STR drain can't kill anyone, since they don't work if the target's STR is at 1, but based on my understanding of stat drain, a kill should be possible if we get him to fail 5 saving throws against the STR drain and then get him to fail his save against Ray of Enfeeblement, setting his base STR to 5 and making his -5 STR drain bring that down to zero. But the odds of Ray of Enfeeblement working is about 50% (75% under optimal conditions), and the odds of getting those 5 failed saves from the Void-tipped Arrows is even smaller.
Alright any other racial powers that didnt?
Greenstone Amulet + Shield Amulet + Defensive Stance and smacked Tarnesh
Charmed (3) Mulahey and fed him to the Kobbos, 3500 g
GsA+SA+DS, tried to charm Nimbul but it didn't work, but I just smacked him and his two Mirror Images down, 2k gold
GsA+SA+DS, smacked Neira, 500 g
Charmed (1) Silke and fed her to the Thayan's, 600 g and Potion of Invulnerability
Dwarf vs. dwarf with Karlat, he had no chance
GsA+SA+DS, smacked Tranzig, 1800 g
Molkar waylay, bye
Charmed (1) Taurgoz, and walked him to the woods, emptying the tent and letting him to die. Full Plate meaning I could sell my Ankheg Plate, 5700 g
Tent 7000 g + nice loot
Charmed (2) Hakt for his Dead Shot +2 bow
Smacked the 9 Taslois for Cloak of Non-Detection
Two Phase Spiders surprised me in the second Cloakwood area, but I smacked them with one antidote, Scimitar +2 600g
Third Cloakwood area, Potion of Invulnerability and met Faldorn, didn't I just kill you?
Mines, charmed (1) the first guard, and lured the second on to me, where we smacked him down
The guard then lured Genthore onto us, smacked down, 2500 g
The guard then lured Drasus onto us, smacked down with 3 health potions, Boots of Speed + 800 g
Didn't bother with Kysus or Rezdan
Charmed (2) the guard in Davaeorn room, who lured both Battle Horrors one by one onto me, where we smacked them down
The guard then smacked Davaeorn, breaking his weapon, so he only got him unconsious and I got the killing blow
The guard then smacked Stephan down, lmao at his screams
The guard then helped to smack the Mustard Jelly, after which I thanked him for his perfect service and smacked him down with one blow
Drank Potion of Frost Giant Strenght and looted the chests I could
The whole place netted 18000 g + PfU
Lamalha waylay, bye
Sold my stuff and I've now 50k gold and got into the Baldur's Gate
One thing is bothering me though, is the Claw of Kazgaroth's blur effect which prevents seeing if I'm invisible or not.
This does a lot to thin the enemy herd, and I was just about to take down a couple of Cornugons at Near Death, at which point I could have broken out of the corner and resumed kiting Belhifet when he had only 5 allies. He had less than 500 HP if my memory is correct, which meant that we definitely could have brought him down.
Then the Potion of Power bug struck, and Frisk's HP went from 720/720 to 140/700. A few attacks and a Cornugon's Absorb Health spell killed them. There's no way of knowing exactly when that first Potion of Power wears off, which means it's not really possible, or at least extremely unrealistic, to use Dimension Door or a Potion of Invisibility to escape at the right time.
I'm not sure taking down Belhifet with an Archer/Mage is realistic with that bug in place. I could avoid using Potions of Power and try relying on the ~400 HP I get from Potions of Heroism, but it would cut our damage per round in half due to the need to stop and use Durlag's Goblet more often.
I'll do another test to see if Potions of Heroism alone are sufficient, but if they aren't, I might have to find a workaround for the Potion of Power bug just to win this fight.
Every other tactic I've tried is not workable. Potions of Invisibility aren't good enough; 60 Potions of Invisibility only buy me about 250 damage, and if I run out before Belhifet dies, I'm screwed--I'd be surrounded by demons and each one would get +4 to hit and damage on me when I become visible again. Potions of Power aren't good enough; our maximum APR of 2 is absolutely crippling. Kiting only works for so long before the enemy multiplies, and eventually, even a fraction of a second of visibility is enough to get myself boxed in by demons using Teleport Without Error.
A single-classed Archer could do this easily thanks to the +4 to hit and damage from its racial enemy. Any other fighter could tackle Belhifet in melee combat before the Potion of Power bug kicked in. But an Archer/Mage is really suboptimal for this one bottleneck.
Does anyone have any idea how the Potion of Power bug might be fixed?
Tried this so often and it never worked.
Testing found that 420 HP from Potions of Heroism is in fact sufficient to tank the enemy while firing Arrows of Detonation. But you need to have auto-pause set to "hit"; setting it to "injured" is not enough. Otherwise you run the risk of getting hit down below 88 HP, at which point a Cornugon's Absorb Health can kill you in one shot (Potions of Magic Shielding could block half the damage per potion drunk, but the duration is 30 rounds and can wear off without you noticing). Also, you cannot let Belhifet get in melee range; you need the other demons to box him out. This means that this tactic is only effective when a certain minimum number of demons is on the map.
You can ensure that they box Belhifet out with a 3-step process:
1. Go invisible (Improved Invisibility is better for the tanking process).
2. Run around the edges of the screen until Belhifet teleports after you when you're away from a corner.
3. Hurry to a corner and break invisibility by attacking.
Belhifet will not teleport after you because he already did so that round; his aura isn't clear for him to do it. The other demons will immediately teleport over to you and surround you. If there are enough, they'll form a wall that Belhifet cannot get past. You can then target Belhifet with Arrows of Detonation.
This requires the following buffs:
Potion of Invulnerability
Oil of Speed
Enchanted Weapon
Potions of Heroism (20)
Optional but useful buffs include:
Blur
Improved Invisibility
Potion of Magic Shielding
Potion of Clarity (to avoid accidentally drinking Durlag's Goblet without equipping Kiel's Helmet)
I was able to win the fight by kiting Belhifet with the Wand of Monster Summoning and Void-tipped Arrows until he was below 500 HP, at which point I switched to tanking. When there were only five demons left, I escaped the corner and resumed kiting him. I got him down to 4 HP, but avoided killing him so I could figure out how much time was left in my Potions of Heroism.
There were only three rounds left, not counting some slight stalling during the final rounds of kiting. This means that I'm cutting it very close. In fact, if it weren't for some instant-casting buffs I used at the start of the fight to speed things up, I might have gotten low on HP before Belhifet got to 4 HP.
If those potions run out before Belhifet dies, I need to make sure it happens when there are few enemies on the map. Otherwise a bad move could get me surrounded and I'd have no HP barrier to stay alive. To make sure this doesn't happen, I'll need to delay the tanking process until Belhifet is further below 500 HP--maybe when he's at 450 or even 400. But if I delay it too much, I might find myself running low on HP while still boxed in.
Dice rolls could dramatically influence how long each phase takes, so it's possible that even if I knew the optimal time to begin tanking, bad luck could kill me. And if I avoid delaying it and simply wait until the Potions of Heroism wear off so I could switch to tanking with Potions of Power, I might not be able to break out of the corner within the 20-30 round duration of the Potions of Power.
The one remaining problem is timing. In the chaos, I simply don't have a means of gauging when Belhifet is going to cast Gate, when my summons are going to die, or when my potions wear off. The first two are critical for the kiting process, and the last one is critical for the tanking process.
I might try one more test run just to practice, but after that, I'll do the real run, and the result of that fight will determine whether Frisk moves on to Shadows of Amn or not.
@Victor_Creed_SFV: To my knowledge, elves only get resistance to the unconsciousness effects of Command and Sleep.
Baldur's Gate
Dex tome
Gauntlets of Weaponskill 2000 g
Helm of Balduran, got save vs. spell already to 1
GsA+SA+DS and smacked Drelik down, then Jardak with 7 health potions, got the Helm of the Noble Cha +1 which made me 20/20 for the best discounts
Helped Nadine for second Necklace of Missiles
Went to Oberan Estate, and charmed (3) Delorna, who summoned a spider and five others, which killed first Helshara, then Ithmeera, and lastly Delorna herself and I got the third Necklace of Missiles. I wonder if I'll get magically blamed for that...
Shopping Spree
60 Arrows of Detonation
50 Arrows of Dispelling
26 Speed Potions
3 Invisibility Potions
3 Storm Giant Strength Potions
1 Power Potion
2 Heroism Potions
2 Protection from Magic
2 Protection from Undead
4th Necklace of Missiles
Recharged Greenstone Amulet (50) and one of the four Necklace of Missiles (25)
50k buff
GsA+SA and smacked Ragefast, Nymph Cloak, 2000 g
GsA+SA+Invis and smacked Ramazith, PfM, Potion Invulnerability, Ring of Protection +2, Int tome, 4000 g
Seven Suns, 9400 g, PfU
Bought Arrow of Slaying 1600 g
Slayed Ogre Mage with the arrow and smacked the Carrion Crawlers with Ring of Free Action, 6500 g
Smacked Vay-aa, Desreta and Yago with GsA+SA+DS, Potion of Invulnerability, 3500 g
Smacked Larze with Blunt belt + Potion of Absorbtion + Defensive Stance, 2000 g
Charmed Quenash (1) and made her attack one of the guards. Cloak of Balduran, so Seven has reached his max item based save vs spell of impressive -1, in BG1!
Iron Throne, in and out using one invisibility potion, 3000 g, Potion of Storm Giant Strength
Climbed again back to 29k gold
Wasted one invisibility potion to escape the Ogre Mage waylay, which still leaves me with three
The worst part is that after all of the optimizations I've done, all the number crunching and all the data and all the different methods of handling all the multi-directional threats of this fight, I'm still not sure if the plan I have is reliable enough to count on:
1. Buff with 20 Potions of Heroism and 1 Potion of Invulnerability, Clarity, Storm Giant Strength, and Oil of Speed, plus 2 Potions of Mind Focusing
2. Take down the critters in the elevator using the Wand of Monster Summoning and Acid Arrows
3. Kite Belhifet and company with the Wand of Monster Summoning and Void-tipped Arrows until Belhifet is at 450-500 HP
4. Go invisible, drink new Potions of Clarity and Invulnerability, a new Oil of Speed, re-cast Enchanted Weapon, cast Blur and Improved Invisibility, all while running away from Belhifet and avoiding getting boxed in by all the demons
5. Bait Belhifet's Teleport Without Error, run to a corner and fire a single Arrow of Detonation so all the lesser demons crowd around and box out Belhifet
6. Set auto-pause to "hit" and begin firing Arrows of Detonation at Belhifet
7. Whenever HP approaches 100, equip Kiel's Helmet, switch to Twinkle and the Sunfire shield instead of the bow, drink Durlag's Goblet, and make one or two attack rolls with the scimitar to make sure Frisk's aura is clear
8. As soon as there is a gap in the wall of enemies, break out and resume kiting using Void-tipped Arrows and the Wand of Monster Summoning
9. Keep going until either Belhifet dies or Frisk's maximum HP starts dropping
10. If Belhifet lives and Frisk's maximum HP starts dropping, repeat step 4 in its entirety
11. Drink 10 Potions of Power
12. Repeat steps 5-8
13. If Belhifet lives, drink Potions of Invisibility and fire arrows from safety until the potions run out
14. If Belhifet lives, cast defensive spells via scrolls and continuing firing at Belhifet while surrounded
15. If Belhifet lives, Frisk will die.
I will die under the following conditions:
1. I use Durlag's Goblet without wearing Kiel's Helmet and when I have no Potion of Clarity active
2. I fail to keep my saves vs. spell at 1 or lower and fail a save against Demon Fear or Hold Person
3. I allow Belhifet to get past the wall of demons and attack me while I'm pinned and when my aura is not clear
4. I fail to keep summons active to keep the enemy from teleporting over to me and boxing me in when I'm not ready to tank them
5. I begin tanking too late, or spend too much time tanking, and allow my Potions of Heroism or Potions of Power to run out while I'm still boxed in
6. I begin tanking too soon, preventing me from dealing enough damage to kill Belhifet before the map is overrun with demons
7. I get too many unlucky attack and damage rolls, preventing me from dealing enough damage to kill Belhifet before the map is overrun with demons
The fight will probably take about 60 rounds. The slightest error could spell death, and even if I do everything just right, poor dice rolls could ruin everything and deliver Frisk to a slow, crushing, and inevitable death. I know victory is possible based on the previous test run, but as for whether victory is likely, I have no idea.
I've never felt so little control of the game. It really messes with you, the realization that you're dealing with an enemy that's so much stronger than you that your own superior intelligence is simply not enough to keep you alive.