Eira, the Elven Ranger solved the problems at Coastway Crossing and achieved:
- Level 9 which is max level for Rangers - The help of the Dwarves by killing the Lich - 50k gold to buy everything she wants - Identify Mirror which saves a lot of gold - 16 more Invisibility Potions -> 54 total - A Stone Ally that will summon 3x Golem
Eira is storming through SoD and reached Coalition Camp - her achievements:
- Dragon Shield +3 will help a lot when tanking - Full Plate +1 is superb thanks to bonus AC - many new potions for healing and buffing - skipped most parts with stealth or diplomacy - 80x Void Arrows +3 will prove useful later - 24 more Invisibility Potions -> 78 total
Dragonspear Castle is next - many Invisibility Potions are waiting all around!
Eira infiltrated Dragonspear Castle and picked up following loot:
- Crusaders Ring +3 Saves & AC vs Demons - Corinths Bow +3 THAC0, +4 Damage, +1 AC - Hydra +2 Morning Star adds up to +3d4 damage - Myconid Bloom Sac summons up to 5 Myconids - Ankheg Amulet for even more summoning - More potions and 16 Invisibility Potions -> 94 total - Commanders Chain Mail +3 with Fear Protection!
Dude, @Harpagornis, how can you be so fast!? And where do you get all those invisibility potions? (38 in BG1 alone, 94 now in SoD)? I was going to try and make Kaerl join Eira this week, but at your pace you'll have completed BG2 before that! Anyway, great stuff! Thanks also for your insightful information on Belhifet. I've only just discovered that it's possible to cast spells from scrolls even while protected by protection from magic as per the green scroll. Hopefully there are several Lower Resistance scrolls around. I'm not sure about that though. 2-3x Lower Resistance followed by Malison and then disablers could be worth trying, in addition to sling attacks and wand charges. Pulling a Polymorph Other or a Feeblemind would be awesome, unless the other demons dispel the condition.
The Crusader Attack was such a pain as the script of the Oger & Troll Wave was completly broken. Why? Because some of them - ignoring me and the dwarfes - were running straight to the barrels which forces not only retreat but also triggers the next Crusader Wave - Mages. That was impossible to beat. Lost five rounds in a row because of this crap. After that they acted "normally" and were taken down easily. The next waves were won on the first try - if you do not count the round where no allies appeared (another bug). After this it was all about collecting the loot:
10x Potion of Power but only 1 Invivibility Potion this time. Thats bad. So the total is now 95. Some more will come so we should break the 100 - hopefully!
@Blackraven: Eira imported only 14 Invisibility Potions from BG1 - not 38! I am so fast because i played SoD several times now - its just metagame knowledge! I dought that BG2 will be that easy - because there i lack knowledge. We will see! If you make it to Belhifet i am sure that this battle will be epic! Cancel no-reload there plz!
Eira will be in Avernus soon. This means: Belhifet is not far anymore. Maybe tomorrow!
EDIT: To get max. potions she waited some minutes before engaging into the Siege of Dragonspear and 1vs1 Ashatiel - who had no chance. 5 Potions of Power, some magic items and 8 Invisibility Potions so the total is now 103. Thats not perfect but together with the Sandman Ring Eira will have 113 Invisibility Charges - which should be more than enough especially with Racial Enemy "Demons".
I assume that's the SCS setting - if you allow recovery of all potions from enemies then most thief and mage types will drop a number if you can kill them quickly.
Getting Invisibility Potions is no big problem. As @Grond0 already said you will often find mage/thief chars dropping them. In SoD it gets even easier because you will nearly constantly find some of them or can buy up to 20 per merchant. If you abuse NPC killing you will get some more. So if you are patient the 100+ should be no big deal.
Big B is still waiting - hope that i will find some time today!
After this its decision time: Which Class should move on? Still open too!
I'm not sure that's possible; near infinity shows he wears the usual "grant a ton of immunitites" ring, and I think both polymorph and feeblemindedness are included.
How about blindness - that tends not to be covered by immunities?
Tried the Lower Magic Resistance + Greater Malison + Blind Combo - did not work so far...
EDIT: Eira is now tanking the Demon Hordes. With Anti-Slash-Equip she has AC -20. This means: The Demons can hit her only with a 20. Belhifet - i am coming!
I tried Blindness over and over again - its not working. Even when spamming Lower Resistance + Malison.
Eira finally killed Belhifet!!! Took over half an hour with cautious play. Surprisingly she needed only 50 Invisibility Potions - and critted Belhifet quite well. The +4 THAC0 & Damage against Racial Enemy is really a gamechanger! She was never in real danger and also made sure that her HP did not drop below 100 when attacking Belhifet. Another lifesaver: The -18 AC against Missiles and Slashing lead to many misses even for Belhifet.
Okay, the aftershow is waiting - time for some rest...
PS there is also no immunity to web or hold effects, hmm...
Yeah but against a 1130 HP, regenerating Belhifet, these spells only seem to offer temporary relief no?
@Harpagornis's findings re: Blindness aren't very encouraging either. It's looking more and more like wizards will have to rely very heavily on wands of lightning (provided they manage to cast Lower Resistance and Malison) and monster summoning), and on +3 sling bullets.
Yeah, Belhifet regenerates some HP each round. After hitting him for 20 damage and taking him to near death not one minute later he was only badly wounded again. So if you are not able to damage him constantly you are doomed. Missile Weapons suffer heavily thanks to 50% DR. As @Blackraven said: Belhifet will be a hellride for casters.
Okay, i am installing SCS for BG2 using mostly the hardest settings. Which means: I have no clue how to fight any of the improved monsters so i will most probably suffer a lot. Is there anywhere a guide on how to beat SCS improved enemies?
Next question: Barbarian or Ranger?
P.S. Great- the installation isnt working - skipping all way long. Will try it again.... P.P.S. It still fails to initialize and skipps everyhting. Chitin.key is there. Any clue?
Even the BG2-Fixpack isnt working - holy cow! Can anyone give me detailed instructions? BtW: I am using the Beamdog-Installation. No Steam or GOG... thanks!
1. Unpacking the SCS files to the Data/00783 Folder 2. Starting installation following the instructions 3. After everyting seems fine this error shows up:
Reading in data: spellcodes Copying and patching 1 file ... [./override/spell.ids] loaded, 26418 bytes ERROR: cannot convert level or %level% to an integer ERROR: [spell.ids] -> [override] Patching Failed (COPY) (Not_found)
ERROR Installing [Initialise mod (all other components require this)], rolling back to previous state Unable to Unlink [stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/OTHER.1000]: Unix.Unix_error(1, "unlink", "stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/OTHER.1000") [stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/UNSETSTR.1000] SET_STRING uninstall info not found Will uninstall 4 files for [STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2] component 1001. Restoring backed-up [stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/CHITIN.KEY] stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/CHITIN.KEY copied to CHITIN.KEY, 875808 bytes [./CHITIN.KEY] loaded, 875808 bytes [./CHITIN.KEY] 187 BIFFs, 62160 resources Uninstalled 4 files for [STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2] component 1001. ERROR: Not_found
When running the initializing only this error appears:
ERROR locating resource for 'COPY' Resource [%CLERIC_STORM_OF_VENGEANCE%.SPL] not found in KEY file: [./chitin.key]
Have you used the Big World Fixpack in the same way as with BG1? So: - download and unpack any mods wanted (just Strategems if that's all you're using), but don't run them. - download latest version of Weidu - download BW Fixpack and put into same folder as chitin.key (you need to take the contents out of the 'master' folder and put them in the game folder). - run the fixpack (effectively adding hotfixes to SCS to allow it to work with the current version of EE). - run the mods.
Yeah, i tried the same routine you described earlier @Grond0 that worked great for BG1. But for BG2 its not working. No Mod is working. Everytime errors. I am reinstalling the game atm...
Good luck @Harpagornis. I hadn't seen your mention of your problems. I must say my EET install is running pretty smoothly, though I still have to play BG2 with it. If things don't work out for you, you couls consider going EET as well.
As for your character to do BG2 with, I think Barbarian will give you a somewhat smoother experience. Magic rules in the Shadows of Amn portion of the game, and a Barbarian is better equipped to deal with that. In ToB both characters will become highly damage resistant, greater whirlwinding killing machines. I'm not saying you should go with Barbarian, just that the Barbarian will have an easier time.
Hhhmmm... Barbarian is tougher... and has Rage.... Ranger got some spellcasting... and has stealth... difficult!
Most annoying will be the slow movement speed. Holy cow - the chars are moving like snails...
Thinking about the start... normally i would do the tent with the crazy Gnome... but... with LoB this might be out of reach. What are maybe good starting points or quests?
And: Will anyone without stealth survive the improved LoB starting dungeon?
And: Will anyone without stealth survive the improved LoB starting dungeon?
Definitely a challenge. Playing solo I think you should be able to rest as much as you like (with Imoen SCS restricts you to one rest), but I can still imagine the mephits being a pain.
Hope you get your fresh installation up and running soon.
Oh dear... the installation including the modding took the whole evening... but.. finally... its working!!!
At least resting is possible when going solo in the starting dungeon. Anyway: No time to start the game.
Time for some sleep - tomorrow we will conquer SoA. Or at least we are trying...
EDIT: Just for the fun i let Su´kka fight the first small Duergar group. Even when only two of them are attacking her HP´s are dropping so fast that she goes down before taking anyone down. Its ridiculous. But - hey - she is at least able to kill a Mephit in a 1vs1. There is light at the end of the tunnel...
EDIT2: Su´kka managed to kill a Duergar in a 1vs1 fight - with 6HP´s left!
EDIT3: She won again a 1vs1 - 3 HP´s left... And again.... 56 HP´s left... shes getting stronger!!
EDIT4: Su´kka now got the trick. With cautious moving she can splitpull the Duergar beating them down one after another. Easy...
EDIT5: The starting dungeon is getting really funny - dead Duergar and Mephits all over the place. Even better: Su´kka found Greywolf´s Longsword +2 again - superb! More after some rest...
Another run ... another mistake. I was again working up the hard way, allowing no use of charged items and no purchases without 20/20 rep and charisma. Frey had just reached level 8 at Durlag's Tower and decided to use his newly learnt stoneskin to kill Riggilo. The problem with him is that he not only has invisibility potions, but if you let him out of your sight for an instant he will hide in shadows. However, if his potions are used up on stoneskins it's not particularly hard to run him round while killing him with magic missiles and slingshots.
On this occasion I decided to make things a bit easier by blocking him with the familiar so as not to have to run round. I carefully checked the number of backstabs he'd made using potions - which was three - thus leaving me a stoneskin left until that needed to be recast. He'd disappeared again so I snuggled up close to the familiar so he could backstab over the top of it and ...
As I said I'm confident he had only done 3 backstabs. However, he hits pretty quickly and I imagine I didn't notice a follow-up attack before Frey withdrew slightly after one of those backstabs (and obviously didn't notice either that stoneskin was no longer active ).
No excuses this time for that ending, so I'll take a break from this for a while. Best of luck to everyone else and I'll keep following to see if anyone can take down Mel ...
Su´kka finally escaped the starting Dungeon of Irenicus – what a mess!
- Thanks to splittpulling and no-rest-limit Su´kka was able to use guerilla tactic luring enemies around corners and play hit & run to minimze incoming damage. This worked pretty well with all Duergar including Illych. - Imoen, Jaheira, Minsc & Yoshimo had to move on their own - Su´kka cleared the air ship tanking the big mephit group – resting in between – and got Sarevoks Chaos Blade from the Djinn - Helped the Dryads by killing Illych - Killed the Otyugh playing hit & run around corners - Killed the Cambion with hit & run + Oil of Speed - Killed one Golem with Quarterstaff +1 - Killed the Duergar Mages thanks to Rage - Farmed a lot at the Mephit Portals before taking them down with Holy Might + Rage - Killed the Vampire (8000xp!) & Shadow Thieves → their own summons joined Su´kka! - Most important loot: Baldurans Helm & Varscona Longsword +2 - Experience right before leaving the dungeon: 640k – not bad no?
The city of Athkatla is waiting!
P.S. I am feeling really sorry @Grond0! Maybe you should continue your "normal" no-reload-challenge in the meanwhile - what class is on the run atm?
Wow - i am really impressed by Su´kkas power as she solved the problems in the circus tent on the first try!
After the riddle she kited the Orcs with her new Longbow and freed Aerie.
Su´kka skipped the next map with the Werewolves to get right to Kalah.
Before engaging the mad Gnome she buffed herself up: Oil of Speed + Holy Might + Rage
Fully buffed she directly attacked Kalah. As tanking was not possible she lured the shadows away to get time for more slashes. After repeating this for several times Kalah went down - victory!
P.S. I am feeling really sorry @Grond0! Maybe you should continue your "normal" no-reload-challenge in the meanwhile - what class is on the run atm?
I hadn't played it in recent weeks, but have just run a true-class mage through BG1. It's an amazing feeling when a measly single skull trap can kill an entire kobold . The mage is the last of the 3 characters I generated prior to SoD being released. Once the mage is done my intention is that other characters will have to do the Siege as well, which will add a bit more challenge ...
Good to see Fafnir getting past Bridgefort! Now things will get interesting - let us know once you reach the Crusader Attacks!!
Nah - i am not fast. At least not in SoA where i wanna enjoy the whole story more than just rushing through. Su´kka reached level 11 after kiting some fools in the Slums. Copper Coronet is next.
Oh, she also tried to kill Mencar Peeblecrusher and his party. Remember the infinite respawn loop? Did not work anymore. Even worse the AI is not only much smarter but hits so hard that Su´kka goes down in no time. Will spare this one for later.
I updated the OP and canceled the challenges of @Grond0 and @Victor_Creed_SFV - for the moment. @Blackraven you are still with us? If anyone else wants to join - feel free to do this!
Comments
- Level 9 which is max level for Rangers
- The help of the Dwarves by killing the Lich
- 50k gold to buy everything she wants
- Identify Mirror which saves a lot of gold
- 16 more Invisibility Potions -> 54 total
- A Stone Ally that will summon 3x Golem
Moving on to Forest of Wyrms and Bridgefort!
- Dragon Shield +3 will help a lot when tanking
- Full Plate +1 is superb thanks to bonus AC
- many new potions for healing and buffing
- skipped most parts with stealth or diplomacy
- 80x Void Arrows +3 will prove useful later
- 24 more Invisibility Potions -> 78 total
Dragonspear Castle is next - many Invisibility Potions are waiting all around!
- Crusaders Ring +3 Saves & AC vs Demons
- Corinths Bow +3 THAC0, +4 Damage, +1 AC
- Hydra +2 Morning Star adds up to +3d4 damage
- Myconid Bloom Sac summons up to 5 Myconids
- Ankheg Amulet for even more summoning
- More potions and 16 Invisibility Potions -> 94 total
- Commanders Chain Mail +3 with Fear Protection!
The Crusaders Attacks are next...
Thanks also for your insightful information on Belhifet. I've only just discovered that it's possible to cast spells from scrolls even while protected by protection from magic as per the green scroll. Hopefully there are several Lower Resistance scrolls around. I'm not sure about that though. 2-3x Lower Resistance followed by Malison and then disablers could be worth trying, in addition to sling attacks and wand charges. Pulling a Polymorph Other or a Feeblemind would be awesome, unless the other demons dispel the condition.
10x Potion of Power but only 1 Invivibility Potion this time. Thats bad. So the total is now 95. Some more will come so we should break the 100 - hopefully!
@Blackraven: Eira imported only 14 Invisibility Potions from BG1 - not 38!
I am so fast because i played SoD several times now - its just metagame knowledge!
I dought that BG2 will be that easy - because there i lack knowledge. We will see!
If you make it to Belhifet i am sure that this battle will be epic! Cancel no-reload there plz!
Eira will be in Avernus soon. This means: Belhifet is not far anymore. Maybe tomorrow!
EDIT: To get max. potions she waited some minutes before engaging into the Siege of Dragonspear and 1vs1 Ashatiel - who had no chance. 5 Potions of Power, some magic items and 8 Invisibility Potions so the total is now 103. Thats not perfect but together with the Sandman Ring Eira will have 113 Invisibility Charges - which should be more than enough especially with Racial Enemy "Demons".
Big B is still waiting - hope that i will find some time today!
After this its decision time: Which Class should move on? Still open too!
Tried the Lower Magic Resistance + Greater Malison + Blind Combo - did not work so far...
EDIT: Eira is now tanking the Demon Hordes. With Anti-Slash-Equip she has AC -20.
This means: The Demons can hit her only with a 20. Belhifet - i am coming!
Eira finally killed Belhifet!!! Took over half an hour with cautious play. Surprisingly she needed only 50 Invisibility Potions - and critted Belhifet quite well. The +4 THAC0 & Damage against Racial Enemy is really a gamechanger! She was never in real danger and also made sure that her HP did not drop below 100 when attacking Belhifet. Another lifesaver: The -18 AC against Missiles and Slashing lead to many misses even for Belhifet.
Okay, the aftershow is waiting - time for some rest...
@Harpagornis's findings re: Blindness aren't very encouraging either. It's looking more and more like wizards will have to rely very heavily on wands of lightning (provided they manage to cast Lower Resistance and Malison) and monster summoning), and on +3 sling bullets.
Okay, i am installing SCS for BG2 using mostly the hardest settings. Which means: I have no clue how to fight any of the improved monsters so i will most probably suffer a lot. Is there anywhere a guide on how to beat SCS improved enemies?
Next question: Barbarian or Ranger?
P.S. Great- the installation isnt working - skipping all way long. Will try it again....
P.P.S. It still fails to initialize and skipps everyhting. Chitin.key is there. Any clue?
Even the BG2-Fixpack isnt working - holy cow! Can anyone give me detailed instructions?
BtW: I am using the Beamdog-Installation. No Steam or GOG... thanks!
1. Unpacking the SCS files to the Data/00783 Folder
2. Starting installation following the instructions
3. After everyting seems fine this error shows up:
Reading in data: spellcodes
Copying and patching 1 file ...
[./override/spell.ids] loaded, 26418 bytes
ERROR: cannot convert level or %level% to an integer
ERROR: [spell.ids] -> [override] Patching Failed (COPY) (Not_found)
ERROR Installing [Initialise mod (all other components require this)], rolling back to previous state
Unable to Unlink [stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/OTHER.1000]: Unix.Unix_error(1, "unlink", "stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/OTHER.1000")
[stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/UNSETSTR.1000] SET_STRING uninstall info not found
Will uninstall 4 files for [STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2] component
1001. Restoring backed-up [stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/CHITIN.KEY]
stratagems_external/backup/stratagems/1000/CHITIN.KEY copied to CHITIN.KEY, 875808 bytes
[./CHITIN.KEY] loaded, 875808 bytes
[./CHITIN.KEY] 187 BIFFs, 62160 resources
Uninstalled 4 files for [STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2] component
1001. ERROR: Not_found
When running the initializing only this error appears:
ERROR locating resource for 'COPY'
Resource [%CLERIC_STORM_OF_VENGEANCE%.SPL] not found in KEY file:
[./chitin.key]
Someone got a clue what i can do? Thanks!
- download and unpack any mods wanted (just Strategems if that's all you're using), but don't run them.
- download latest version of Weidu
- download BW Fixpack and put into same folder as chitin.key (you need to take the contents out of the 'master' folder and put them in the game folder).
- run the fixpack (effectively adding hotfixes to SCS to allow it to work with the current version of EE).
- run the mods.
But for BG2 its not working. No Mod is working. Everytime errors. I am reinstalling the game atm...
I must say my EET install is running pretty smoothly, though I still have to play BG2 with it. If things don't work out for you, you couls consider going EET as well.
As for your character to do BG2 with, I think Barbarian will give you a somewhat smoother experience. Magic rules in the Shadows of Amn portion of the game, and a Barbarian is better equipped to deal with that. In ToB both characters will become highly damage resistant, greater whirlwinding killing machines. I'm not saying you should go with Barbarian, just that the Barbarian will have an easier time.
Most annoying will be the slow movement speed. Holy cow - the chars are moving like snails...
Thinking about the start... normally i would do the tent with the crazy Gnome... but... with LoB this might be out of reach. What are maybe good starting points or quests?
And: Will anyone without stealth survive the improved LoB starting dungeon?
Hope you get your fresh installation up and running soon.
At least resting is possible when going solo in the starting dungeon. Anyway: No time to start the game.
Time for some sleep - tomorrow we will conquer SoA. Or at least we are trying...
EDIT: Just for the fun i let Su´kka fight the first small Duergar group. Even when only two of them are attacking her HP´s are dropping so fast that she goes down before taking anyone down. Its ridiculous. But - hey - she is at least able to kill a Mephit in a 1vs1. There is light at the end of the tunnel...
EDIT2: Su´kka managed to kill a Duergar in a 1vs1 fight - with 6HP´s left!
EDIT3: She won again a 1vs1 - 3 HP´s left... And again.... 56 HP´s left... shes getting stronger!!
EDIT4: Su´kka now got the trick. With cautious moving she can splitpull the Duergar beating them down one after another. Easy...
EDIT5: The starting dungeon is getting really funny - dead Duergar and Mephits all over the place. Even better: Su´kka found Greywolf´s Longsword +2 again - superb! More after some rest...
On this occasion I decided to make things a bit easier by blocking him with the familiar so as not to have to run round. I carefully checked the number of backstabs he'd made using potions - which was three - thus leaving me a stoneskin left until that needed to be recast. He'd disappeared again so I snuggled up close to the familiar so he could backstab over the top of it and ...
As I said I'm confident he had only done 3 backstabs. However, he hits pretty quickly and I imagine I didn't notice a follow-up attack before Frey withdrew slightly after one of those backstabs (and obviously didn't notice either that stoneskin was no longer active
No excuses this time for that ending, so I'll take a break from this for a while. Best of luck to everyone else and I'll keep following to see if anyone can take down Mel ...
- Thanks to splittpulling and no-rest-limit Su´kka was able to use guerilla tactic luring enemies around corners and play hit & run to minimze incoming damage. This worked pretty well with all Duergar including Illych.
- Imoen, Jaheira, Minsc & Yoshimo had to move on their own
- Su´kka cleared the air ship tanking the big mephit group – resting in between – and got Sarevoks Chaos Blade from the Djinn
- Helped the Dryads by killing Illych
- Killed the Otyugh playing hit & run around corners
- Killed the Cambion with hit & run + Oil of Speed
- Killed one Golem with Quarterstaff +1
- Killed the Duergar Mages thanks to Rage
- Farmed a lot at the Mephit Portals before taking them down with Holy Might + Rage
- Killed the Vampire (8000xp!) & Shadow Thieves → their own summons joined Su´kka!
- Most important loot: Baldurans Helm & Varscona Longsword +2
- Experience right before leaving the dungeon: 640k – not bad no?
The city of Athkatla is waiting!
P.S. I am feeling really sorry @Grond0!
Maybe you should continue your "normal" no-reload-challenge in the meanwhile - what class is on the run atm?
After the riddle she kited the Orcs with her new Longbow and freed Aerie.
Su´kka skipped the next map with the Werewolves to get right to Kalah.
Before engaging the mad Gnome she buffed herself up: Oil of Speed + Holy Might + Rage
Fully buffed she directly attacked Kalah. As tanking was not possible she lured the shadows away to get time for more slashes. After repeating this for several times Kalah went down - victory!
Level 11 is near!
Nah - i am not fast. At least not in SoA where i wanna enjoy the whole story more than just rushing through. Su´kka reached level 11 after kiting some fools in the Slums. Copper Coronet is next.
Oh, she also tried to kill Mencar Peeblecrusher and his party. Remember the infinite respawn loop? Did not work anymore. Even worse the AI is not only much smarter but hits so hard that Su´kka goes down in no time. Will spare this one for later.
I updated the OP and canceled the challenges of @Grond0 and @Victor_Creed_SFV - for the moment.
@Blackraven you are still with us? If anyone else wants to join - feel free to do this!