Abigail Kinslayer the Neutral Evil Dwarf Fighter/Cleric
Abigail indulged in her bloody heritage, carving a swath towards Caelar and her "crusade" with her army of the dead.Through the troll claw woods and to the forest of wyrms. Her minions were particularly adept at killing the living - especially with her cloud of pestilence, and her greater command which enemies regularly failed their saves against. She avoided a sleeping green dragon to clear out a nest of bugbears, finding a temple of Bhaal. The dragon-spawn leader was no challenge to the undead, nor were the other cultists and she freed the blind priestess of her father, commanding her to resume bhaal's bloody work.
The neothelid was little challenge either - with her potions, buffs and minion shield she was able to hammer it down to chunks. Harder was the priestesses aerial servants which hit like bricks and were immune to her cloud of pestilence. Splitting them up she hammered them down with buffed skeletons - resting between, then the priestess herself.
Finally she reached the source of the strange mind-plague, a vile illithid. Knowing to keep out of its brain devouring range she split its controlled minions, hammering them down individually while blinded, supported by the skeletons. Once they were almost all taken care of, she set her minions on the illithid, their lack of brains neutering its main offensive weapons. She also discovered that despite its very high magical resistance it would still fail the occasional save vs breath, so a few stacked pestilent clouds were able to blind it.
Finally she opened the hidden chamber she had read about and destroyed the undead shadow aspect concealed within. Even its powerful illusions useless against true-sight and protection from undead. The last enemy in the temple dead, she though, wimiscally, that in the future this could be a temple to her.
With the ward-stone in hand she set out to Boarskyr bridge, arranging the surrender of the defendants, then preventing the crusaders from blowing the bridge using minions, cloud of pestilence and the ring of energy, pushing on to Coalition Camp, where she cleared dead mans pass for no reason before arriving at the underground river.
metacommentary
these SoD maps play almost exactly like a IWD HoF summon build except you don't level up - F/C can just play it like a summon-grind and clear maps completely. Not that there is any real need or enjoyment in doing so. The only difficult things are small areas where you can't summon+debuff before being mobbed.
I know I don't have to do any of these fights, but I also don't know what's where so if I was just running through I would have to play with the wiki open constantly. I am playing very sub-optimally imo, just goes to show the importance of meta-knowledge. Also, Its quite frustrating the number of chests that can't be opened with 25 strength . Maybe Fighter/Thief for my next run I think.
I also skipped killing Morentherene, since its so difficult to prepare. I saw @histamiini mention it is possible to 1v1 with Durlags +potions if you get it in the right place but in the end I skipped it. You can get a lucky cloud of pestilence (You basically get 1 spell before shit goes down) which will blind Mor, giving the associated benefits.
@alice_ashpool Yeah i feel like Cleric and Druids have huge advantages against specific enemies during BG1 and SoD. A Druid or Fighter/Druid will even get Harm (or any level 6 druid spell) during SoD and single class Druids are also going to get Magic Resistance during BG, which can come handy on some specific fights like Demon Knight or Skeleton Warriors with their 90% MR. An avenger can even web Drizzt for an easy kill. The only 2 party members that can have those advantages are Faldorn for BG1 and Jaheira for SoD. They can definitely get the fastest boss kills due to that if they get good rolls. If not using the -5 ST modification you can use Slay Living on Belhifet and litterally one shot him (or Morentherene, which work even with ST mod, at -12 AC buffing outside first gives much better odds and her spell save is pretty bad), as the slay effect bypass MR. With the mod, you'll need to MR + Doom him first. Power Word: Reload is needed here but it is still pretty insane to 1 shot a 1k+ HP creature without any buff or specific preparation, even before he can cast Remove Magic on you. MR+Harm+Critical Strike should also work for the rest of the trilogy which is pretty cool.
The cleric's revenge for everyone else being able to throw daggers at Morentherene
Don't forget detonating arrows for the crusader attack, which is definitely going to be much more painful with a cleric! No web, no detonators, no skull trap, no chaos... This is definitely going to require perseverance and some Goblet tanking. Still, i think that the great fighter Thac0 and APR with all the summon items and the strong cleric skeleton warriors are going to be enough, not without a lot of work though. Much better than a simple cleric however.
@alice_ashpool The worst part with the 90+ locked chests are the class spefic items. Series is littered with bad decisions like that. Cleric's can't get Sundermaul +3, Archers can't get +3 Arrows for Bel and Monks can't get the Monk specific gear in ToB...
and Monks can't get the Monk specific gear in ToB...
omg, I love these games, but, seriously... LoB-SCS monk is already an exercise in self torture, and now I find out this. As an example I ran my reload-ok monk Anastasia v5 through sarevok and holy hells that is the most painful final fight imaginable. With no oils of speed I couldn't get the timings right for hitting with the victor without getting clobbered by big bro, so I resorted to stealthing first, which required running behind a pillar, hitting stealth in the spilt second where you couldn't see sarevok then victoring.... 45 times. Which would have been "fine" if the whole room wasn't also filled with hostile bats flapping around so it only worked about 1 time in 4. I swear this took 1 hour irl of full concentration, but I kind of entered some sort of nether-zone time warp so it could have been longer for all I know
When @Grond0 said I wouldn't be able to get sundermaul ngl there was a moment where I almost quit... I wanted that hammer.
@alice_ashpool You can still get the Monk gear in SoA no problem, like Scarlett Ninjato and Gauntlets of Crushing. But the ToB gear, Headband of the Devout, Cloak of the Dark Moon and Nightwalkers would all be pretty nice to actually get.
If you don't use PfU you can also slow Sarevok down with the Skeleton Warriors. And get more time to hit him that way.
If you don't use PfU you can also slow Sarevok down with the Skeleton Warriors. And get more time to hit him that way.
I think I tried messing around with the skellies, but maybe I was just getting the timings completely wrong but I just couldn't pull it off reliably enough so popped the PfU scroll at that point and did stealth, then another one, then just dealt with the hostile skeletons wandering around a whole 4 hours of in game time later making stealthiness even harder xd). The stealth approach worked though, so I guess 2 (mildly alternate) ways for the monk to complete sarevok. My only worry is that stealth provides some really nice crutch-y utility in BG1 for the monk, but it means Anastasia will not have high level in Detect Illusion any time soon, which may well be an issue for Bel.
I think Belhifet is able to use improved invisibility at will, so detect illusion would probably not be much use for a monk - you might have slightly more time to hit him while fully visible, but he would also be more often totally invisible when you couldn't hit him, but he could easily hit you ...
Yeah Bel will disappear casting Improved Invisibility if you dispel it, so Detect Illusion shouldn't be used early when you still have great Thac0 from Champion's Strengths. But when those start to fail +4 AC can help to get those last few hits.
He is, i'm far from being a monk expert but i'd say that the best weapon for a monk against Belhifet would probably be the Fractal Blade, so short swords. 50% chance to dispel illusions on hit, so that should happen pretty often, with 10% chance of mirror image when hit. With the short sword +3 from the undercellar or single weapon style, i think it should work pretty well with potions and champion strength scrolls that i think monks can use. Not sure if The Root of the Problem, which you can get from the SoD druids would add some more punch to that setup as an off-hand.
Fractal Blade +3 10% Mirror Image is actually pretty good, basically it makes you ignore 30% of hits. Tongue of Acid +3, Twinkle +3 (except Dark Moon) and Icingdeath +3 work for Monks too.
I dont have much time while also being quite lazy to write everything down but - hey - my Swashbuckler managed to reach level 10. Here we go:
vs Mulahey: Stealthed through mines then charming the evil cleric (2x tries) and feeding him to the kobolds who for whatever are not turning hostile anymore.
vs Tranzig: Charmed and feeded Dunkin and Marl to the Mage than shooting him down.
vs Bandit Camp: Charming Raemon right before area transition in case of failure, then looting the chest with Potion of Absorbtion. Rested outside and charmed Taurgosz (4x tries) feeding him to a Blacktalon Elite who also remained neutral - like the rest of the camp.
vs Lamalha: Instant Inv Potion to avoid them going into stealth -> LMD -> eating one Fire Arrow for 16 damage
vs Molkar: Again Inv Potion -> Magic Blocking -> LMD -> taking hit from Molkar for 14 damage
vs Drasus: Charmed (3x tries) and feeded to the guards
vs Davaeorn: Disabled the traps then approaching the Mage in stealth landing charm on the very first try so the poor one got quickly hunted down by his own guards (quite funny that in my previous run it took 12 tries!)
In the city lots of questing reaching level 9. Skipped the Dopplegangers and Iron Throne storming to Candlekeep. There stealth + Oil of Fiery Bunring + Potion of Magic Blocking did the job escaping the Ogre Ambush. Grabbed PfP scroll, disarmed traps to take both Tomes then landing charm on Prat killing his party with spider spawns and using PfP to let him kill the two Greater Basiliks afterwards. Back in the city more quests reaching level 10 (and unbelievable 77 HP) without any trouble having for instance some fun against Ramazith playing stealth & door jumping. Now the really interesting part might start soon facing all those nasty bosses...
Sirus F/I in BG2 (lot of text, writing this as a journal as i'm rediscovering the game)
Irenicus dungeon:
Started the dungeon with 560000 xp, so 60k more than SoD cap.
Baited the Ogre Mage with monster summoning 3, then waited his protection invisible before castin 3x web and going for the kill with spider spawn.
Animal Summoning 3 + Haste + Slow with optional blind was an amazing quick killer, as well as spider spawn + web. Blind + Slow stack (i think) for a -8 to AC and Thac0 which is an incredible debuff. Even i could hit enemies relatively well at 5 Thac0.
Got Ashideena, which will be my main weapon until i get FoA +3, cleared everything then got Helm of Balduran.
Switched a few summon and CC spells for mirror image, protection from fire, protection from electricity and stoneskin and finished the dungeon without taking damage after that.
Only kept the wand of cloudkill but i don't plan to use it yet.
Managed to kill Ulvaryl with oil of speed + Phantom blade after debuffing with blind + slow, she really didn't last long.
Finished all the quests killing everything in the dungeon, got the conjure air elemental from the are with the genie and left for chapter 2, easiest part of the run so far.
Circus Tent
Started the chapter with 704k XP. Used Cernd house for storage, sold loot, bought scroll case and gem bag, bought rep to 15 then went to the circus tent.
Main goal here is to be able to buy items at the lowest cost possible. I should be able to get 20 rep after doing the circus, freeing the slaves, rescuing the girl from trolls, the skinner and killing Neb (or any Trademeet quest). Ring of human influence + friends for 20+ charisma.
For Karlat, died the first time to sword spiders (death 1 SOA for 24) made a web+web sequencer and pre-stoneskined before rest. Then buffed with haste, mirror image, non detection and spell immunity: Abjuration before entering the fight. Used Sequencer, then GM, then spider spawn for the kill while staying invisible. +1 Rep for 16
Den of Seven Vales
Level up to 9/11 for an additionnal level 3-4-5 spell, next illusionist level is sword spiders!
Dealt with the group of adventurer at the top of the Den of the Seven Vales (died 1 time to the mage using chaos and got backstabbed, so i went hard the 2nd time), stacked 4x web, then hasted 5x spiders, GM, stacked 4x cloudkill in the room and went invisible. There was only the assassin (saw him chug a potion invisible) and the dwarf left so i went downstairs to rest and finished them with 5x hasted spiders + 4x stacked webs.
Got Sandthief ring and Cloak of non-detection. The good thing with sandthief ring is that it doesn't trigger the mages like a spell would, so i can evade fights if i get jumped. Got 8.1k from selling loot.
Slave quest
Went to the Copper Coronet to free the slaves, nothing could survive monster summonning 3 and spiders, then went through the secret passage.
Did the Lilarcor quest, then finished the slaver quest (+1 red for 17) and freed the girl for +1 rep (18). Cleared the den by resting 3 time in the sewers. Had to use resist fear on spiders so they wouldn't be affected by horror. Also stacked 4x cloudkill to dispatch some enemies.
Stayed invisible outside after dragging the guard and the 2 other thugs to an amnian soldier.
Misc Stuff
Went to the graveyard and killed the crypt king with spiders, summoned monsters first to debuff with GM + Blind, got Namarra +2 for the shield slot for silence 15ft radius at -5 spell if needed.
Got waylaid by slavers on the way to the bridge district, got invisible with the sandthief ring then waited the mages buffs out while they couldn't dispel me. Summoned spiders at the top of the screen then webbed them from FoW, then GM + 2x Silence to shut the mages. Spiders got Chaos but it didn't stop them from killing everything. Turned back invisible and kept going. Made 5k from this encounter for 31k gold already.
Solved the skinner murder without going further in his house for the moment as i wouldn't risk it without mislead, then waited for Shank and Carbos to kill each others so i could save again. Leveled up to 10/11, still got the rep +1 (19), 500 gold and 45k xp.
Almost got mugged but lured the muggers to Lt Aegisfield before turning invisible to let him kill them. I though he killed all of them but they followed me inside the tavern after i looted the bodies and i survived 2 backstabs. Inside the inn i could cast spells so they really didn't last long once blinded and slowed. Had to drag another one who stayed hidden outside, made him attack an Ogre berserker instead this time.
Went to buy the glasses of identification now for 1.4k, got Neera waylaid on the way, figured out that Bernard is selling a Mordy sword scroll, which will be extremely useful later on and also Incendiary cloud. Two spells that can be used right away if using Vhailor's Helm. Summon Fiend could also be useful mixed with PfE.
Bought Mordy sword and Fiend for now then went to buy Vhailor's helm for a total of 18.5k (yep, let the quickslot thing unchanged. I really just wanted an AI change but it seems that improved mages won't work if i disable all the spell tweaks which is a shame, i still don't plan to abuse it too much... yet. It's just too fun not to use). Also bought 1x PfM as ultimate dispel, which should be useful against liches and 3x PfU.
Trademeet Genies
Got waylaid on the way to the city gates, silenced everybody and spider cleaned the scene to help the injured man and brought him back to Rylock in the Docks.
Ventured to Trademeet and almost got killed by an ambush of Orog, which i ran away from.
Used hasted monster summoning + silence + GM + blind + slow + hold monster to deal with the genies, who really didn't stand a chance. Got the efreeti bottle which might be useful and a rogue stone for the Twisted rune hideout later on.
Bought mislead from the smithy, left for the druid grove to help Cernd and get Belm invisible, did a small detour in Watcher's Keep to get the potion pouch.
Druid quest
Cleared the access to the druid temple with spiders and MS3 as usual, then let Cernd beat Faldorn, went back in Trademeet for +1 rep (max at 20) and got 32k total gold again and 177k from being able to use mislead.
Helped Triss for 30k xp. Went back to buy the shield of Balduran and the Robe of Cheesna for 22680 gold. Bought 10 freedom scrolls and also went to buy improved haste and PFMW from Cutpurse and did a scribing session of 43 scrolls, putting me at 49k xp from the next level.
De'Arnise Keep
Went to De'Arnise and got waylaid by bandits and almost got killed again, those waylaid are very dangerous now even if you don't want to fight.
Started cleaning the keep center room but suddently, looks like all the trolls building came down to the rescue so i had to go rest and redid the spider tactic mixed with cloudkill. After 3 rests, they all fell. This was actually a very fun crowd control battle. Cleared the level then lowered the drawbridge after clearing outside, leveled up to 11/12 after killing the spirit trolls.
Time for some additionnal mislead/improved haste fun, which will be critical for the golems. Also got sword spiders, which are going to be even deadlier.
Yuan-ti mage got the mislead treatment, as the rest of the level. Nothing could stop mislead at all in this dungeon, you just have to leave your copy in a much further room and no dispel will affect you. Mislead + Blind + slow for 12 thac0 bonus is incredible.
Got the flame head, then charmed Glaicus for the acid head, then went downstairs to make the FoA+3. Clearing the golems was a cake walk with mislead + IH. Took a few rests for the iron golem but eventually got it.
Prespawned spiders and entered the room with Torgal while on mislead. Dragged him down to the room below before using blur + mislead to buff to -2 spell saves, then mislead+IH him with 3x stacked web. Had to go back to rest 2 time before that attempt as i figured that spiders were not enough for this fight. This tactic of web + mislead also cleared the top room very easily. Notice that the mages would use remove magic, keeping me invisible but completely debuffed, so i went back to rest to use spell immunity.
Really needed to rest a lot to clear the whole thing but the xp was worth it.
Temple district sewer and guarded compound
Sold loot and went to the temple district. Cleared the guarded compound. Made myself immune to everything but magic damage just to be safe. Looted the whole place and sold to Roger the Fence, got 26k gold.
Killed the sewer gang with the same Mislead+IH+web tactic, killing them 1-2 per rest and staying safe, same with the Kobold gang but i manage to kill much more as i was 4-6 shotting them at 8 APR. Had to feeblemind Rakshasa as she seems to be immune to my 1-4 spells, now at 36k gold.
I figured out that it would be a good time to go to chapter 3 as i needed MoD+2 to deal with undeads. Didn't pay before to avoid hostilities with vampire, as they gave me trouble on my previous run. I still won't bother fighting them before killing all the cowled wizards for good xp.
Road to Mace of Distruption +2
Got ambushed by Del, i decided that i wanted some XP, so i went invisible with sandthief and used a PFU inside the temple, as they managed to level drain me. Thac0 was way too low so i abandonned the project and did the Mook quest.
Got amulet of cheese, then killed the traitors with mislead+spiders. With Guard Ring i no longer needed Blur for webs, just mislead was enough for the invisibility -4 ST bonus.
Went to graveyard to access the vampire lair and did a stop to kill Pai'na, who got killed mislead at the top of the room. (mislead + invisibility on clone). Finished the small spiders with the Efreeti bottle and my own spiders.
Went to the MoD invisible and started 1 shotting vampires and other undeads with mislead. It was efficient even without a pip into mace yet. As the vampires can be webbed, it was very easy to clear entire screens in seconds. Leveled up to 12/12 in the basement, putted * in maces.
Got another death a Bodhi (death 2 for 25, was doing very well so far!). She could see me invisible and drank my blood, which killed me in a second. So i redid the fight using PfU using Sim. 2 hits later she ran away.
Did the Sir Sarle quest for MoD +2, Neb got killed again in mislead+IH after spider diversion.
Cursed Twisted Rune Hideout of suffering, destroyer of world.
Did a small test around the Twisted rune hideout and the trick to hide your mislead copy up the stairs still work, so i managed to scout and use Oracle to see whats new ( : ). What i will try: Focus on the girl with the Staff of chesse, then slowly kill everybody with wand of cloudkill while having PfU. I can't think of any other way for now to deal with so many strong enemies in such a small area.
Rebought the wand of cloudkill fully charged and tried to clear it (only 6660 gold).
So my 1st try at the twisted rune: i chose to use an oil of speed and 2 mislead instead. Mislead at the top of the stairs, rushed where the mage with the staff is, used PFU while enemies where spawning then hacked the mage. Stole the staff and went to 1 shot the lich. Got stuck and died by i'm not sure what, felt like reflected damage maybe.
2nd try: got pwned by the planetar.
3rd try: Tried the lich first. However the planetar killed me while he stalled me with PfMW.
4th try: Killed the lich, mislead ended while hacking the mage
5th try: Killed the lich, got killed by a genie after the mage casted teleport field and turned everything to chaos
Stopped writing my attempts after this, but somewhat kept the count (might have counted one too much or one less somewhere i must admit)
...
17th try: Prebuffed with oil of speed and potion of invulnerability, then protection from fire, from evil, mislead and protection and from undead after the speech with the lich. Then Simulacrum cast PFM on the lich (needed 1 so far) and we both hack it with MoD+2 for insta-kill, WoCK where the mage is then get attention with sim and recast mislead and cast invisibility on it. Then WoCK until the mage is dead. When it is (yeah!!!!), grab staff, finish all but the vampire with WoCK and turning invisible right after cast, then 1 hit the vampire with MoD +2. After over an hour of trying, finally! I'll have to find a way to cheese this fight on futur playthroughs... I will also bring a protection from poison scroll as not being able to walk into cloudkill and constantly having to heal with potions made things even more difficult.
I'm going to keep a save there to try different things, one of them being pre-casting WoCK on the mage position to prevent all casting and killing her as soon as possible, it could make things much easier. The thing is, i have to get rid of the Lich ASAP as even with PFU, he will gate a Fiend that he perfectly control even using PfE (might have been some other damage but nothing else should see me invisible, i clearly saw it hit me and poison me) and a dark planetar that sees me invisible, dispel on hit and ruin my day for sure. He can also cast spells even after PfM as i died one time to magic missiles after leaving him alive to deal with the mage, so it doesn't totally prevent it's spellcasting and he's still the biggest threat. PfM does dispel all his protections permanently however, permitting a near insta-kill with MoD+2. I really can't see a way to beat this with a non-mage class, at least this early, until i can find a way to cheese the fight. It's also hard to always see what actually killed me as there is so much happening at the same time.
Next goals: ring of Gaxx, get fighter's HLA and mordy swords, hopefully planetar before leaving for chapter 4-6 for cloak of cheese and timestop/shapechange/BBoD scrolls. Twisted rune hideout has been the hardest fight i've done so far, nothing even came close. I was at 2 deaths before it, considering BG2 easier than BG1 so far as i could stay safe with a ton of useful starting abilities but i got 16 deaths just for that fight. Having a ton of fun so far! (yep, even doing twisted rune)
Is this a difference between BG1 and BG2 or an SCS install thing? - In my BG1 install PfM scrolls are forced auto-target on self for me, not sure if this is default or part of SCS doing this, and if it changes between BG1 and 2.
@alice_ashpool It's a BG2 change. In BG1 they're self cast only but in BG2 you can actually use them on enemies or a different party member, or even summons making them great dispel tools or untouchable fighters if needed.
What SCS changes by default is removing the simulacrum ability to use quickslots. It also changes many other core mecanism like making Harm do 150 damage instead of reducing HP to 1, or capping skull trap to 12d6, or as i discovered recently, added scrolls to some shops. I'm not a fan of any of those changes as i just want smarter AI and more challenging fights. I wouldn't install any of them but some options seem required to successfully install smarter mages and some ToB challenges.
Edit not related to scrolls: looks like i miscounted deaths. Had 3 prior to twisted rune not 2. Too scared to edit it on the actual post as it made it bug and deleted it on a previous post, i don't feel like rewriting this .
@XDarkStrikerX interesting! I haven't played BG2 properly for years, I like BG1 too much, and forget what differences there are. I currently have about half the gameplay tweaks installed and lose track of what does what - I think I have actually been uninstalling them them gradually, though there are some nice ones I will keep. IWD spells are a keeper though, so fun.
@alice_ashpool IWD spells are the next step for me. I'm even thinking of an old school Ranger/Cleric with the druid spells enabled for my next run. I never played IWD yet but i've read that apparently the new cleric and druid spells are amazing and super fun to use.
I also love BG1 more than BG2. While i really love both, i think i did around 10 times more playthroughs on BG1. I'm also the kind of person that prefer starting from scratch than already half leveled.
A little very positive update on my test considering the Rift Device. Indeed, Roger the fence can pickpocket it from you and you can make him attack you to drag him out of the sewers, then kill him to retrieve it. Just make sure to drop all your stuff first in a chest if you don't want this to take forever as he will pickpocket anything and also make sure that nobody sees you fighting as they will turn hostile (lured him to guarded compound), drop your charming item on the ground so he doesn't take it, in case you need to charm him again. This usually makes the quest impossible to complete. However, i don't know if this is known, but i have found a way to actually keep the rift device AND complete the quest, just make sure you stash it somewhere if you have to go back into the sewers unless you want to explode:
1-Talk to the diseased one with the rift device in your inventory.
2-Once inside, there will be a small pause before the avatar can spawn, open your inventory as soon as he stop talking and drop the rift device on the ground.
3-Avatar will spawn in give you the 50k xp + shield reward, rift device will stay on the ground.
4-Smuggle it out using Roger the Fence, which i charmed with the ring of human influence, nymph cloak will also work to not aggro him.
5-Kill Roger, enjoy your ranged Harm spell (well 10% hp but still amazing). Even more useful if you didn't disable clone quick slots.
I'm not planning to abuse it but it can definitely make the life of many characters much easier. Still, another tool in my backpack.
@XDarkStrikerX One tactic to make Twisted Rune easier at the beginning is to use PfU, then pass the doorway and return quickly, which will only spawn the Lich. Then you can casually range it, and others are only spawned after the Lich is killed.
@histamini just tried it with firetooth crossbow. Pre-buffed with mind focus for 25 dex, potion of heroism and oil of speed and could hit him with a roll of 10 and above for a quick kill at -1 thac0 without a pip in any ranged weapon. Spammed WoCK a few time at near death, then when they spawned used mislead to WoCK the mage. Got the staff, finished everybody in less than 2 minutes of cloudkill kiting with the staff... Got it first try and it made the whole thing incredibly easy... I should have asked you first!
9000xp 3xMinotaurs
5750xp 5xGrizzly Bears
3000xp Dalok Silenced and casually hacked.
8000xp Adherent and Shadow Druid Silenced and hacked, got Magic Shielding.
14000xp Faldorn. At the start I passed few Invisibility potions for Cernd, and he went Invisible. He then leveled up and got Greater Werewolf form. First he cloned himself with Vhailor's, but the Clone got killed when it was Stunned by Bombadier Beetles. We cheesily waited those out Invisible and then Cernd attacked. He was once Charmed, but it did nothing as nobody attacked him. In the end Cernd only needed 4 Invisibility potions to kill Faldorn, because Greater Werewolf form has good regeneration.
18000xp Reporting to Trademeet.
15000xp Djinnies were tougher than I thought, Taquee fell quicky but I was being overrun in the tent so I escaped and got help from the Militia. In the end we needed the help from 3xRoR's.
25250xp +1rep Reporting to Mayor. We now had 20/20 Economy with the Helm of Noble.
31400xp Skindancer
16000xp Rest of the Trademeet. With 100k gold we bought Cloak of Displacement and Inertial Belt.
Getting the Wand of Wander from the sewers we used 5x Heroism, PfU (Alhoon) and used Kobold's to buff with Speed and Magic Shielding, which together with Barrier Belt should keep us immune from the Mind Flayer magic damage. Sanctuary and in we went. I wasn't even targeted getting the loot, but getting back the freaking Kobold's were blocking the way. No problem as we plowed our way through. I don't know why the Mindies weren't hunting me, but we took it gladly.
66000xp PfU still on we took the three minor Liches with 3apr ranged Azuredge +3.
55000xp Used another PfU for Kangaxx and hit him with Azuredge and he summoned Cornugon, which we waited out in the corner. Then we turned him to Demi Lich casually ranging with Azuredge. After this we casually stoned him with 3 hits from WoW. Next part was kind of funny as I forgot to bring +4 weapon with me to finish him off. No worries as Efreeti apparently has +4 weapon and it killed him. Lv16 and got Ring of Gaxx.
66390xp Temple Ruins Undead. Clone, Azuredge and PfU for one Lich.
84500xp Temple
69250xp Shade Lord and Shadow Altar with PfU.
45000xp Thixll stoned with two strikes from WoW.
28000xp Reporting to Umar, lv17 with third Skeli and top saves 1/3/2/2/4.
64000xp Firkraag stoned with 11 strikes from WoW, got Carsomyr +5.
52850xp Fallen Paladins. Clone and 3x Skelis, no need for healing.
We failed to save the Paladin's in the Umar Hills invasion and it wasn't even close.
35400xp Tyrianna, we revealed Hurgis as Impostor with Detect Evil and killed him.
Missed 33000xp killing Firkraag before the last Paladin's Guest
18000xp Vampiric Wraiths in WK. Belt of Inertial Barrier, Clone and 3x Skelis. Needed one rest outside.
92700xp Rest of the WK1, we left before activating the Statues. lv18, *Two-Handed Swords, Deva.
25750xp Emphatic Manifestation, Cure Light Wounds.
39950xp Undead Bridge, Deva and Clone with Azuredge.
18000xp 2xGauths
26260xp Rift Device
58000xp Unseeing Eye and 2xDeath Tyrants. Deva, Clone and 3x Skelis concentrated on the Death Tyrants eventually killing them. Lord first hit Unseeing Eye with Rift Device, then it was stoned after 10th hit from WoW. Using Rift Device was unneccesary, but no smuggling it out without charmed Roger the Fence. And Lord is cursed from Charming with items.
87000xp Had to spend 4xRoR's for the big Beholder party.
26000xp Attacking the Blind Priests we were surprised with Turn Paladin, as both Lord and Clone were turned. Wandering around we could do nothing, but luckily Deva and Skelis troopered enough to kill 4/6 Priests before getting unsummoned. In the mean time once recovered Lord was listening the battle in distance. Rested in Undead Bridge and attacked again, but this time Lord watched the battle from Sanctuary. And Deva quickly smacked the two priests. lv19, second best Skelis, Whirlwind. The level was now cleared and we could now rest and summon Gauths for some xp. In about half an hour we made lv21 with 0 base Thac0 and got our last lv4 spell slot. * Two-Handed Swords, Greater Whirlwind, Power Attack.
It was finally time to commit on something and we travelled to Planar Sphere. We used Sanctuary to reach the closed corridor before the Furnace room. Then hit Haflings with 3x Silence, but only managed to Silence Necre. Attacked the Haflings, but I was being murdered being alone, so I retreated back to corridor and closed the door. Which was the savior as I was Confused right after that. Waited the mage buffs out and attacked with Clone. And this time we wiped them out. Picked the last two pieces of coal with Sanctuary and smacked the Fire Elementals out. Used last Sanctuary to build the Golem, and we smacked the Elder Orb. 76500xp
For Lavok we still had Farsight, 2x Animals and 3x Skelis and Deva which should be enough. We used Farsight and started depleting his spells. Skeli, Death. Wolf, Alacrity, Wilting. Wolf, summons. Wolf, PfMW. Skeli, Skelis. Skeli, 2x Finger Death. At this point we had used all our spells, which was good planning. Then it was Deva's time to shine, Time Stop, Planetar, multisummons. Deva was super impressive tanking everything, healing himself in the process, and being unsummoned rather than killed. After Planetar was out Lord attacked with Whirlwind and Lavok was down soon after. We spent one RoR because of the remaining Skelis. 28750xp
Now we had a base to rest and refresh our spells, summons and abilities. We Silenced both Tolgerias and the Mage out of sight and attacked the mage with Whirldwind interrupting his Vocalize. Both mages were down after double Whirlwinds and triple Improved Hastes from the Ring of Gaxx. 50500xp
Tanar'ri was Farsighted and I sent my Death Squad (3x Skeli, Deva and Clone) after it. Clone was Confused immediately, Skelis were done soon, but again Deva shined pretty much soloing the Tanar'ri. Didn't bother any other enemies and the last part of the Sphere was done with Sanctuary. Got the Fire Elemental staff amon other stuff. 101000xp
At this point we realized we were carrying the freaking WK scroll for nothing, as Demogorgon can be skipped as ToB boss.
69750xp Attacked and killed Gaal and Cultists, and reported success. lv22, Critical Strike.
Sparred 10 minutes with the Gauths in Unseeing Eye area and got lv23 with Smite and top of the line Skelis.
3000xp Death Squad made minced meat of the Rakhasha for the AC cloak.
82500xp Death Squad then easily wiped Maevar's party and we reported the success back.
32000xp Hammerhelm and his Heretic Monks got hacked for the map update for Heretic Temple.
13000xp The bandit party were no match for Death Squad in the same area.
49000xp Did the easy guests in Heretic Temple, got Gem of Seeing.
80000xp Death Squad absolutely murdered the first four Statues in WK1.
Didn't really trust myself against the 8 Statues yet so we left, and sparred again with the Gauths for 20 minutes getting lv26, *Long Sword, Hardiness and Critical Strike. Then the eight Statues. Death Squad tried killing one of them, but the two mages got Time Stop, Planetar, Deaths rolling and Lord backed up. Waited Planetar out, and lured them to doorways. With Deva we managed to kill 6 of them including the other mage statue, and used just one RoR which was super impressive. Abilities used and Deva unsummoned we rested outside. Lord cast Deva from Sanctuary who attacked the non mage statue, and I buffed and Whirlwinded it. Deva from Sanctuary without braking it is such a nice ability. Again rested for the last mage statue. Summoned Deva for it and once it depleted mages PfMW's I attacked, and interrupted it to death. 156000xp
461500xp WK2 was leveled with Death Squad resting outside for every encounter. Giant Snake with no save Stun was Smited and killed by Clone. Chromatic Demon was Stoned with 9th hit from WoW. lv27, *Long Sword.
No advancing WK3 before becoming Evil Cavalier. At this point we used our one time recharge for #1 RoR. Before committing to Planar Prison we sparred with the Gauths yet again half an hour to lv29, at lv28 getting Cavalier max casting level. Planar Prison. Went in with Sanctuary and used Improved Haste to reach the pool closest of the Warden. Summoned Deva, then Clone who were able to kill both Golems, Aerial Servant and one Captain. Once Clone was out Lord joined the battle and we quickly killed the last two Mages. We did this because it's the only pool that allows resting, and we now had a base to refresh. 27000xp
With 3 Sanctuaries we level skipped and wasted Warden's buffs as it doesn't follow into the pools. First Contingency then PfMW, Sequencer, PfMW, 3x Cone of Cold Trigger and Dark Planetar. Lastly we Cloned and with 20 apr the Warden was dead in two rounds or so. 10000xp
After resting Clone and his Deva attacked the party below. Clone got confused pretty quickly, but Deva almost soloed all. I had to cast my own Deva to finish the last Bounty Hunter. Got Boots of Speed. Didn't bother with the rest and just left. 64800xp
After killing the last of the SoA Cataclysm enemies, skipping Layene because it offers us nothing, we are ready to sail away.
Some random thoughs so far:
- Loving the Ao curse so far as it makes so much sense, and I've only used three weapons, FoA +3, Azuredge +3 and Belm +2, if you don't count Bala's Axe for one Dispel. Well done @AvidGamerFan inventing this.
- Hating Ilmater even more in SoA. There's more of the stupid guest items to haul around, and I would propose of excluding them from the curse. Also because it's circumvented with merchants anyway it feels kind of unneccesary bother. Maybe allow all but Bag of Holding as it would make sense to stuff scrolls, bullets etc? Sister Garlena is the number one merchant here as she'll move to ToB with all the stuff.
- All other curses are fine I think for SoA. Although restricted prebuffing will start to hurt more here, but that's ok I think.
- Does having only two bosses in ToB make sense, as everybody will just skip Demogorgon? What about the Demi Lich? I know which I would skip between it and Demogorgon.
@histamiini i'm amazed how easy you make it look. I just beaten Kangaxx after an hour of trying at 14/14, was about to wait until after underdark, but finally managed to kill the demi-lich with fire elementals+daystar as MoD+2 wasn't destroying him and i couldn't hit except on crit.
2 questions for my futur runs (as i'm not redoing it right now... no way ):
-How can you transform Kangaxx into a demi-lich after using PfU on him? He seems to stay at near death forever for me.
-Does the WoW petrification effect has any chance to stone items?
@XDarkStrikerX Well Wand of Wonder is the real champion here, I don't know if the devs even realized how powerful item they created. Although without this ability it would be useless like many items in LoB. Easily rivals Staff of Magi in usefulness.
You have to wait PfU out if you use it on Kangaxx. SCS casting is based on nearness, so ranged attacks usually don't provoke the subjects if they don't see you. As in here I didn't use PfU on Kangaxx, but on miself, and just ranged the Lich casually transforming him. This is also the reason why Azuredge is better than MoD in SCS, because it allows ranged attack.
The same applies to his Demi form, as it doesn't move or activate if you don't get close, and WoW allows a distance kill.
I've no idea about Pertification destroying items with gore on, I would imagine so, but would have to test it out. I'm sure @Grond0 knows the answer straight away. Without gore on, there's no chance of destroying any items.
@histamiini very interesting. If only i knew that the demi-lich was going to be immune to destroy undead... at least the most troublesome are done now! (except the watcher's keep lich). Will definitely take axe proficiency for future runs then. I didn't think that i would learn so much doing a run like this, it's so fun so far. Don't be surprised if i'm in need of assistance for ascension fights
@XDarkStrikerX There's also one other Lich in WK if you want to do it, and one in Sendai Enclave. Although not anywhere near as potent as the WK Demi Lich which... well good luck with that one.
After reading some stuff back I was interested why the Mind Flayers weren't targeting Lord in the sewers. And after testing it out, it was because of Sanctuary. There's a difference for using Invisibility or Sanctuary against SCS Mind Flayers. With Invisibility they'll still use their ranged attacks, but with Sanctuary they mostly seem to wonder around, only getting close they'll try to melee.
@XDarkStrikerX Well Wand of Wonder is the real champion here, I don't know if the devs even realized how powerful item they created. Although without this ability it would be useless like many items in LoB. Easily rivals Staff of Magi in usefulness.
You have to wait PfU out if you use it on Kangaxx. SCS casting is based on nearness, so ranged attacks usually don't provoke the subjects if they don't see you. As in here I didn't use PfU on Kangaxx, but on miself, and just ranged the Lich casually transforming him. This is also the reason why Azuredge is better than MoD in SCS, because it allows ranged attack.
The same applies to his Demi form, as it doesn't move or activate if you don't get close, and WoW allows a distance kill.
I've no idea about Pertification destroying items with gore on, I would imagine so, but would have to test it out. I'm sure @Grond0 knows the answer straight away. Without gore on, there's no chance of destroying any items.
When a stone statue is destroyed it will destroy any normal items, but not those flagged as essential by the game. It's possible the Ring of Gaxx falls into that category as it's a quest item, but it's not something I've tried.
Incidentally, Kangaxx's initial lich form is immune to petrification, so the WoW won't help you trigger a change.
Comments
Abigail indulged in her bloody heritage, carving a swath towards Caelar and her "crusade" with her army of the dead.Through the troll claw woods and to the forest of wyrms. Her minions were particularly adept at killing the living - especially with her cloud of pestilence, and her greater command which enemies regularly failed their saves against. She avoided a sleeping green dragon to clear out a nest of bugbears, finding a temple of Bhaal. The dragon-spawn leader was no challenge to the undead, nor were the other cultists and she freed the blind priestess of her father, commanding her to resume bhaal's bloody work.
The neothelid was little challenge either - with her potions, buffs and minion shield she was able to hammer it down to chunks. Harder was the priestesses aerial servants which hit like bricks and were immune to her cloud of pestilence. Splitting them up she hammered them down with buffed skeletons - resting between, then the priestess herself.
Finally she reached the source of the strange mind-plague, a vile illithid. Knowing to keep out of its brain devouring range she split its controlled minions, hammering them down individually while blinded, supported by the skeletons. Once they were almost all taken care of, she set her minions on the illithid, their lack of brains neutering its main offensive weapons. She also discovered that despite its very high magical resistance it would still fail the occasional save vs breath, so a few stacked pestilent clouds were able to blind it.
Finally she opened the hidden chamber she had read about and destroyed the undead shadow aspect concealed within. Even its powerful illusions useless against true-sight and protection from undead. The last enemy in the temple dead, she though, wimiscally, that in the future this could be a temple to her.
With the ward-stone in hand she set out to Boarskyr bridge, arranging the surrender of the defendants, then preventing the crusaders from blowing the bridge using minions, cloud of pestilence and the ring of energy, pushing on to Coalition Camp, where she cleared dead mans pass for no reason before arriving at the underground river.
metacommentary
I know I don't have to do any of these fights, but I also don't know what's where so if I was just running through I would have to play with the wiki open constantly. I am playing very sub-optimally imo, just goes to show the importance of meta-knowledge. Also, Its quite frustrating the number of chests that can't be opened with 25 strength
I also skipped killing Morentherene, since its so difficult to prepare. I saw @histamiini mention it is possible to 1v1 with Durlags +potions if you get it in the right place but in the end I skipped it. You can get a lucky cloud of pestilence (You basically get 1 spell before shit goes down) which will blind Mor, giving the associated benefits.
Don't forget detonating arrows for the crusader attack, which is definitely going to be much more painful with a cleric!
omg, I love these games, but, seriously... LoB-SCS monk is already an exercise in self torture, and now I find out this. As an example I ran my reload-ok monk Anastasia v5 through sarevok and holy hells that is the most painful final fight imaginable. With no oils of speed I couldn't get the timings right for hitting with the victor without getting clobbered by big bro, so I resorted to stealthing first, which required running behind a pillar, hitting stealth in the spilt second where you couldn't see sarevok then victoring.... 45 times. Which would have been "fine" if the whole room wasn't also filled with hostile bats flapping around so it only worked about 1 time in 4. I swear this took 1 hour irl of full concentration, but I kind of entered some sort of nether-zone time warp so it could have been longer for all I know
When @Grond0 said I wouldn't be able to get sundermaul ngl there was a moment where I almost quit... I wanted that hammer.
If you don't use PfU you can also slow Sarevok down with the Skeleton Warriors. And get more time to hit him that way.
I dont have much time while also being quite lazy to write everything down but - hey - my Swashbuckler managed to reach level 10. Here we go:
vs Mulahey: Stealthed through mines then charming the evil cleric (2x tries) and feeding him to the kobolds who for whatever are not turning hostile anymore.
vs Tranzig: Charmed and feeded Dunkin and Marl to the Mage than shooting him down.
vs Bandit Camp: Charming Raemon right before area transition in case of failure, then looting the chest with Potion of Absorbtion. Rested outside and charmed Taurgosz (4x tries) feeding him to a Blacktalon Elite who also remained neutral - like the rest of the camp.
vs Lamalha: Instant Inv Potion to avoid them going into stealth -> LMD -> eating one Fire Arrow for 16 damage
vs Molkar: Again Inv Potion -> Magic Blocking -> LMD -> taking hit from Molkar for 14 damage
vs Drasus: Charmed (3x tries) and feeded to the guards
vs Davaeorn: Disabled the traps then approaching the Mage in stealth landing charm on the very first try so the poor one got quickly hunted down by his own guards (quite funny that in my previous run it took 12 tries!)
In the city lots of questing reaching level 9. Skipped the Dopplegangers and Iron Throne storming to Candlekeep. There stealth + Oil of Fiery Bunring + Potion of Magic Blocking did the job escaping the Ogre Ambush. Grabbed PfP scroll, disarmed traps to take both Tomes then landing charm on Prat killing his party with spider spawns and using PfP to let him kill the two Greater Basiliks afterwards. Back in the city more quests reaching level 10 (and unbelievable 77 HP) without any trouble having for instance some fun against Ramazith playing stealth & door jumping. Now the really interesting part might start soon facing all those nasty bosses...
Irenicus dungeon:
Baited the Ogre Mage with monster summoning 3, then waited his protection invisible before castin 3x web and going for the kill with spider spawn.
Animal Summoning 3 + Haste + Slow with optional blind was an amazing quick killer, as well as spider spawn + web. Blind + Slow stack (i think) for a -8 to AC and Thac0 which is an incredible debuff. Even i could hit enemies relatively well at 5 Thac0.
Got Ashideena, which will be my main weapon until i get FoA +3, cleared everything then got Helm of Balduran.
Switched a few summon and CC spells for mirror image, protection from fire, protection from electricity and stoneskin and finished the dungeon without taking damage after that.
Only kept the wand of cloudkill but i don't plan to use it yet.
Managed to kill Ulvaryl with oil of speed + Phantom blade after debuffing with blind + slow, she really didn't last long.
Finished all the quests killing everything in the dungeon, got the conjure air elemental from the are with the genie and left for chapter 2, easiest part of the run so far.
Circus Tent
Main goal here is to be able to buy items at the lowest cost possible. I should be able to get 20 rep after doing the circus, freeing the slaves, rescuing the girl from trolls, the skinner and killing Neb (or any Trademeet quest). Ring of human influence + friends for 20+ charisma.
For Karlat, died the first time to sword spiders (death 1 SOA for 24) made a web+web sequencer and pre-stoneskined before rest. Then buffed with haste, mirror image, non detection and spell immunity: Abjuration before entering the fight. Used Sequencer, then GM, then spider spawn for the kill while staying invisible. +1 Rep for 16
Den of Seven Vales
Dealt with the group of adventurer at the top of the Den of the Seven Vales (died 1 time to the mage using chaos and got backstabbed, so i went hard the 2nd time), stacked 4x web, then hasted 5x spiders, GM, stacked 4x cloudkill in the room and went invisible. There was only the assassin (saw him chug a potion invisible) and the dwarf left so i went downstairs to rest and finished them with 5x hasted spiders + 4x stacked webs.
Got Sandthief ring and Cloak of non-detection. The good thing with sandthief ring is that it doesn't trigger the mages like a spell would, so i can evade fights if i get jumped. Got 8.1k from selling loot.
Slave quest
Did the Lilarcor quest, then finished the slaver quest (+1 red for 17) and freed the girl for +1 rep (18). Cleared the den by resting 3 time in the sewers. Had to use resist fear on spiders so they wouldn't be affected by horror. Also stacked 4x cloudkill to dispatch some enemies.
Stayed invisible outside after dragging the guard and the 2 other thugs to an amnian soldier.
Misc Stuff
Got waylaid by slavers on the way to the bridge district, got invisible with the sandthief ring then waited the mages buffs out while they couldn't dispel me. Summoned spiders at the top of the screen then webbed them from FoW, then GM + 2x Silence to shut the mages. Spiders got Chaos but it didn't stop them from killing everything. Turned back invisible and kept going. Made 5k from this encounter for 31k gold already.
Solved the skinner murder without going further in his house for the moment as i wouldn't risk it without mislead, then waited for Shank and Carbos to kill each others so i could save again. Leveled up to 10/11, still got the rep +1 (19), 500 gold and 45k xp.
Almost got mugged but lured the muggers to Lt Aegisfield before turning invisible to let him kill them. I though he killed all of them but they followed me inside the tavern after i looted the bodies and i survived 2 backstabs. Inside the inn i could cast spells so they really didn't last long once blinded and slowed. Had to drag another one who stayed hidden outside, made him attack an Ogre berserker instead this time.
Went to buy the glasses of identification now for 1.4k, got Neera waylaid on the way, figured out that Bernard is selling a Mordy sword scroll, which will be extremely useful later on and also Incendiary cloud. Two spells that can be used right away if using Vhailor's Helm. Summon Fiend could also be useful mixed with PfE.
Bought Mordy sword and Fiend for now then went to buy Vhailor's helm for a total of 18.5k (yep, let the quickslot thing unchanged. I really just wanted an AI change but it seems that improved mages won't work if i disable all the spell tweaks which is a shame, i still don't plan to abuse it too much... yet. It's just too fun not to use). Also bought 1x PfM as ultimate dispel, which should be useful against liches and 3x PfU.
Trademeet Genies
Ventured to Trademeet and almost got killed by an ambush of Orog, which i ran away from.
Used hasted monster summoning + silence + GM + blind + slow + hold monster to deal with the genies, who really didn't stand a chance. Got the efreeti bottle which might be useful and a rogue stone for the Twisted rune hideout later on.
Bought mislead from the smithy, left for the druid grove to help Cernd and get Belm invisible, did a small detour in Watcher's Keep to get the potion pouch.
Druid quest
Helped Triss for 30k xp. Went back to buy the shield of Balduran and the Robe of Cheesna for 22680 gold. Bought 10 freedom scrolls and also went to buy improved haste and PFMW from Cutpurse and did a scribing session of 43 scrolls, putting me at 49k xp from the next level.
De'Arnise Keep
Started cleaning the keep center room but suddently, looks like all the trolls building came down to the rescue so i had to go rest and redid the spider tactic mixed with cloudkill. After 3 rests, they all fell. This was actually a very fun crowd control battle. Cleared the level then lowered the drawbridge after clearing outside, leveled up to 11/12 after killing the spirit trolls.
Time for some additionnal mislead/improved haste fun, which will be critical for the golems. Also got sword spiders, which are going to be even deadlier.
Yuan-ti mage got the mislead treatment, as the rest of the level. Nothing could stop mislead at all in this dungeon, you just have to leave your copy in a much further room and no dispel will affect you. Mislead + Blind + slow for 12 thac0 bonus is incredible.
Got the flame head, then charmed Glaicus for the acid head, then went downstairs to make the FoA+3. Clearing the golems was a cake walk with mislead + IH. Took a few rests for the iron golem but eventually got it.
Prespawned spiders and entered the room with Torgal while on mislead. Dragged him down to the room below before using blur + mislead to buff to -2 spell saves, then mislead+IH him with 3x stacked web. Had to go back to rest 2 time before that attempt as i figured that spiders were not enough for this fight. This tactic of web + mislead also cleared the top room very easily. Notice that the mages would use remove magic, keeping me invisible but completely debuffed, so i went back to rest to use spell immunity.
Really needed to rest a lot to clear the whole thing but the xp was worth it.
Temple district sewer and guarded compound
Killed the sewer gang with the same Mislead+IH+web tactic, killing them 1-2 per rest and staying safe, same with the Kobold gang but i manage to kill much more as i was 4-6 shotting them at 8 APR. Had to feeblemind Rakshasa as she seems to be immune to my 1-4 spells, now at 36k gold.
I figured out that it would be a good time to go to chapter 3 as i needed MoD+2 to deal with undeads. Didn't pay before to avoid hostilities with vampire, as they gave me trouble on my previous run. I still won't bother fighting them before killing all the cowled wizards for good xp.
Road to Mace of Distruption +2
Got amulet of cheese, then killed the traitors with mislead+spiders. With Guard Ring i no longer needed Blur for webs, just mislead was enough for the invisibility -4 ST bonus.
Went to graveyard to access the vampire lair and did a stop to kill Pai'na, who got killed mislead at the top of the room. (mislead + invisibility on clone). Finished the small spiders with the Efreeti bottle and my own spiders.
Went to the MoD invisible and started 1 shotting vampires and other undeads with mislead. It was efficient even without a pip into mace yet. As the vampires can be webbed, it was very easy to clear entire screens in seconds. Leveled up to 12/12 in the basement, putted * in maces.
Got another death a Bodhi (death 2 for 25, was doing very well so far!). She could see me invisible and drank my blood, which killed me in a second. So i redid the fight using PfU using Sim. 2 hits later she ran away.
Did the Sir Sarle quest for MoD +2, Neb got killed again in mislead+IH after spider diversion.
Cursed Twisted Rune Hideout of suffering, destroyer of world.
Rebought the wand of cloudkill fully charged and tried to clear it (only 6660 gold).
So my 1st try at the twisted rune: i chose to use an oil of speed and 2 mislead instead. Mislead at the top of the stairs, rushed where the mage with the staff is, used PFU while enemies where spawning then hacked the mage. Stole the staff and went to 1 shot the lich. Got stuck and died by i'm not sure what, felt like reflected damage maybe.
2nd try: got pwned by the planetar.
3rd try: Tried the lich first. However the planetar killed me while he stalled me with PfMW.
4th try: Killed the lich, mislead ended while hacking the mage
5th try: Killed the lich, got killed by a genie after the mage casted teleport field and turned everything to chaos
Stopped writing my attempts after this, but somewhat kept the count (might have counted one too much or one less somewhere i must admit)
...
17th try: Prebuffed with oil of speed and potion of invulnerability, then protection from fire, from evil, mislead and protection and from undead after the speech with the lich. Then Simulacrum cast PFM on the lich (needed 1 so far) and we both hack it with MoD+2 for insta-kill, WoCK where the mage is then get attention with sim and recast mislead and cast invisibility on it. Then WoCK until the mage is dead. When it is (yeah!!!!), grab staff, finish all but the vampire with WoCK and turning invisible right after cast, then 1 hit the vampire with MoD +2. After over an hour of trying, finally! I'll have to find a way to cheese this fight on futur playthroughs... I will also bring a protection from poison scroll as not being able to walk into cloudkill and constantly having to heal with potions made things even more difficult.
I'm going to keep a save there to try different things, one of them being pre-casting WoCK on the mage position to prevent all casting and killing her as soon as possible, it could make things much easier. The thing is, i have to get rid of the Lich ASAP as even with PFU, he will gate a Fiend that he perfectly control even using PfE (might have been some other damage but nothing else should see me invisible, i clearly saw it hit me and poison me) and a dark planetar that sees me invisible, dispel on hit and ruin my day for sure. He can also cast spells even after PfM as i died one time to magic missiles after leaving him alive to deal with the mage, so it doesn't totally prevent it's spellcasting and he's still the biggest threat. PfM does dispel all his protections permanently however, permitting a near insta-kill with MoD+2. I really can't see a way to beat this with a non-mage class, at least this early, until i can find a way to cheese the fight. It's also hard to always see what actually killed me as there is so much happening at the same time.
Next goals: ring of Gaxx, get fighter's HLA and mordy swords, hopefully planetar before leaving for chapter 4-6 for cloak of cheese and timestop/shapechange/BBoD scrolls. Twisted rune hideout has been the hardest fight i've done so far, nothing even came close. I was at 2 deaths before it, considering BG2 easier than BG1 so far as i could stay safe with a ton of useful starting abilities but i got 16 deaths just for that fight. Having a ton of fun so far! (yep, even doing twisted rune)
What SCS changes by default is removing the simulacrum ability to use quickslots. It also changes many other core mecanism like making Harm do 150 damage instead of reducing HP to 1, or capping skull trap to 12d6, or as i discovered recently, added scrolls to some shops. I'm not a fan of any of those changes as i just want smarter AI and more challenging fights. I wouldn't install any of them but some options seem required to successfully install smarter mages and some ToB challenges.
Edit not related to scrolls: looks like i miscounted deaths. Had 3 prior to twisted rune not 2. Too scared to edit it on the actual post as it made it bug and deleted it on a previous post, i don't feel like rewriting this
I also love BG1 more than BG2. While i really love both, i think i did around 10 times more playthroughs on BG1. I'm also the kind of person that prefer starting from scratch than already half leveled.
1-Talk to the diseased one with the rift device in your inventory.
2-Once inside, there will be a small pause before the avatar can spawn, open your inventory as soon as he stop talking and drop the rift device on the ground.
3-Avatar will spawn in give you the 50k xp + shield reward, rift device will stay on the ground.
4-Smuggle it out using Roger the Fence, which i charmed with the ring of human influence, nymph cloak will also work to not aggro him.
5-Kill Roger, enjoy your ranged Harm spell (well 10% hp but still amazing). Even more useful if you didn't disable clone quick slots.
I'm not planning to abuse it but it can definitely make the life of many characters much easier. Still, another tool in my backpack.
I have updated two curses that should give Cataclysm just a little bit more punch even though @histamiini will still complain about them for sure.
Arvoreen:
The inventory may be accessed during combat only to use consumables. Duplicates of any kind cannot use quick slot items
Chauntea:
No XP farming except for charname who dual classes after reaching at least 3 million XP´s
9000xp 3xMinotaurs
5750xp 5xGrizzly Bears
3000xp Dalok Silenced and casually hacked.
8000xp Adherent and Shadow Druid Silenced and hacked, got Magic Shielding.
14000xp Faldorn. At the start I passed few Invisibility potions for Cernd, and he went Invisible. He then leveled up and got Greater Werewolf form. First he cloned himself with Vhailor's, but the Clone got killed when it was Stunned by Bombadier Beetles. We cheesily waited those out Invisible and then Cernd attacked. He was once Charmed, but it did nothing as nobody attacked him. In the end Cernd only needed 4 Invisibility potions to kill Faldorn, because Greater Werewolf form has good regeneration.
18000xp Reporting to Trademeet.
15000xp Djinnies were tougher than I thought, Taquee fell quicky but I was being overrun in the tent so I escaped and got help from the Militia. In the end we needed the help from 3xRoR's.
25250xp +1rep Reporting to Mayor. We now had 20/20 Economy with the Helm of Noble.
31400xp Skindancer
16000xp Rest of the Trademeet. With 100k gold we bought Cloak of Displacement and Inertial Belt.
Getting the Wand of Wander from the sewers we used 5x Heroism, PfU (Alhoon) and used Kobold's to buff with Speed and Magic Shielding, which together with Barrier Belt should keep us immune from the Mind Flayer magic damage. Sanctuary and in we went. I wasn't even targeted getting the loot, but getting back the freaking Kobold's were blocking the way.
66000xp PfU still on we took the three minor Liches with 3apr ranged Azuredge +3.
55000xp Used another PfU for Kangaxx and hit him with Azuredge and he summoned Cornugon, which we waited out in the corner. Then we turned him to Demi Lich casually ranging with Azuredge. After this we casually stoned him with 3 hits from WoW. Next part was kind of funny as I forgot to bring +4 weapon with me to finish him off. No worries as Efreeti apparently has +4 weapon and it killed him. Lv16 and got Ring of Gaxx.
66390xp Temple Ruins Undead. Clone, Azuredge and PfU for one Lich.
84500xp Temple
69250xp Shade Lord and Shadow Altar with PfU.
45000xp Thixll stoned with two strikes from WoW.
28000xp Reporting to Umar, lv17 with third Skeli and top saves 1/3/2/2/4.
64000xp Firkraag stoned with 11 strikes from WoW, got Carsomyr +5.
52850xp Fallen Paladins. Clone and 3x Skelis, no need for healing.
We failed to save the Paladin's in the Umar Hills invasion and it wasn't even close.
35400xp Tyrianna, we revealed Hurgis as Impostor with Detect Evil and killed him.
Missed 33000xp killing Firkraag before the last Paladin's Guest
18000xp Vampiric Wraiths in WK. Belt of Inertial Barrier, Clone and 3x Skelis. Needed one rest outside.
92700xp Rest of the WK1, we left before activating the Statues. lv18, *Two-Handed Swords, Deva.
25750xp Emphatic Manifestation, Cure Light Wounds.
39950xp Undead Bridge, Deva and Clone with Azuredge.
18000xp 2xGauths
26260xp Rift Device
58000xp Unseeing Eye and 2xDeath Tyrants. Deva, Clone and 3x Skelis concentrated on the Death Tyrants eventually killing them. Lord first hit Unseeing Eye with Rift Device, then it was stoned after 10th hit from WoW. Using Rift Device was unneccesary, but no smuggling it out without charmed Roger the Fence. And Lord is cursed from Charming with items.
87000xp Had to spend 4xRoR's for the big Beholder party.
26000xp Attacking the Blind Priests we were surprised with Turn Paladin, as both Lord and Clone were turned. Wandering around we could do nothing, but luckily Deva and Skelis troopered enough to kill 4/6 Priests before getting unsummoned. In the mean time once recovered Lord was listening the battle in distance. Rested in Undead Bridge and attacked again, but this time Lord watched the battle from Sanctuary. And Deva quickly smacked the two priests. lv19, second best Skelis, Whirlwind. The level was now cleared and we could now rest and summon Gauths for some xp. In about half an hour we made lv21 with 0 base Thac0 and got our last lv4 spell slot. * Two-Handed Swords, Greater Whirlwind, Power Attack.
It was finally time to commit on something and we travelled to Planar Sphere. We used Sanctuary to reach the closed corridor before the Furnace room. Then hit Haflings with 3x Silence, but only managed to Silence Necre. Attacked the Haflings, but I was being murdered being alone, so I retreated back to corridor and closed the door. Which was the savior as I was Confused right after that. Waited the mage buffs out and attacked with Clone. And this time we wiped them out. Picked the last two pieces of coal with Sanctuary and smacked the Fire Elementals out. Used last Sanctuary to build the Golem, and we smacked the Elder Orb. 76500xp
For Lavok we still had Farsight, 2x Animals and 3x Skelis and Deva which should be enough. We used Farsight and started depleting his spells. Skeli, Death. Wolf, Alacrity, Wilting. Wolf, summons. Wolf, PfMW. Skeli, Skelis. Skeli, 2x Finger Death. At this point we had used all our spells, which was good planning. Then it was Deva's time to shine, Time Stop, Planetar, multisummons. Deva was super impressive tanking everything, healing himself in the process, and being unsummoned rather than killed. After Planetar was out Lord attacked with Whirlwind and Lavok was down soon after. We spent one RoR because of the remaining Skelis. 28750xp
Now we had a base to rest and refresh our spells, summons and abilities. We Silenced both Tolgerias and the Mage out of sight and attacked the mage with Whirldwind interrupting his Vocalize. Both mages were down after double Whirlwinds and triple Improved Hastes from the Ring of Gaxx. 50500xp
Tanar'ri was Farsighted and I sent my Death Squad (3x Skeli, Deva and Clone) after it. Clone was Confused immediately, Skelis were done soon, but again Deva shined pretty much soloing the Tanar'ri. Didn't bother any other enemies and the last part of the Sphere was done with Sanctuary. Got the Fire Elemental staff amon other stuff. 101000xp
At this point we realized we were carrying the freaking WK scroll for nothing, as Demogorgon can be skipped as ToB boss.
69750xp Attacked and killed Gaal and Cultists, and reported success. lv22, Critical Strike.
Sparred 10 minutes with the Gauths in Unseeing Eye area and got lv23 with Smite and top of the line Skelis.
3000xp Death Squad made minced meat of the Rakhasha for the AC cloak.
82500xp Death Squad then easily wiped Maevar's party and we reported the success back.
32000xp Hammerhelm and his Heretic Monks got hacked for the map update for Heretic Temple.
13000xp The bandit party were no match for Death Squad in the same area.
49000xp Did the easy guests in Heretic Temple, got Gem of Seeing.
80000xp Death Squad absolutely murdered the first four Statues in WK1.
Didn't really trust myself against the 8 Statues yet so we left, and sparred again with the Gauths for 20 minutes getting lv26, *Long Sword, Hardiness and Critical Strike. Then the eight Statues. Death Squad tried killing one of them, but the two mages got Time Stop, Planetar, Deaths rolling and Lord backed up. Waited Planetar out, and lured them to doorways. With Deva we managed to kill 6 of them including the other mage statue, and used just one RoR which was super impressive. Abilities used and Deva unsummoned we rested outside. Lord cast Deva from Sanctuary who attacked the non mage statue, and I buffed and Whirlwinded it. Deva from Sanctuary without braking it is such a nice ability. Again rested for the last mage statue. Summoned Deva for it and once it depleted mages PfMW's I attacked, and interrupted it to death. 156000xp
461500xp WK2 was leveled with Death Squad resting outside for every encounter. Giant Snake with no save Stun was Smited and killed by Clone. Chromatic Demon was Stoned with 9th hit from WoW. lv27, *Long Sword.
No advancing WK3 before becoming Evil Cavalier. At this point we used our one time recharge for #1 RoR. Before committing to Planar Prison we sparred with the Gauths yet again half an hour to lv29, at lv28 getting Cavalier max casting level. Planar Prison. Went in with Sanctuary and used Improved Haste to reach the pool closest of the Warden. Summoned Deva, then Clone who were able to kill both Golems, Aerial Servant and one Captain. Once Clone was out Lord joined the battle and we quickly killed the last two Mages. We did this because it's the only pool that allows resting, and we now had a base to refresh. 27000xp
With 3 Sanctuaries we level skipped and wasted Warden's buffs as it doesn't follow into the pools. First Contingency then PfMW, Sequencer, PfMW, 3x Cone of Cold Trigger and Dark Planetar. Lastly we Cloned and with 20 apr the Warden was dead in two rounds or so. 10000xp
After resting Clone and his Deva attacked the party below. Clone got confused pretty quickly, but Deva almost soloed all. I had to cast my own Deva to finish the last Bounty Hunter. Got Boots of Speed. Didn't bother with the rest and just left. 64800xp
After killing the last of the SoA Cataclysm enemies, skipping Layene because it offers us nothing, we are ready to sail away.
Some random thoughs so far:
- Loving the Ao curse so far as it makes so much sense, and I've only used three weapons, FoA +3, Azuredge +3 and Belm +2, if you don't count Bala's Axe for one Dispel. Well done @AvidGamerFan inventing this.
- Hating Ilmater even more in SoA. There's more of the stupid guest items to haul around, and I would propose of excluding them from the curse. Also because it's circumvented with merchants anyway it feels kind of unneccesary bother. Maybe allow all but Bag of Holding as it would make sense to stuff scrolls, bullets etc? Sister Garlena is the number one merchant here as she'll move to ToB with all the stuff.
- All other curses are fine I think for SoA. Although restricted prebuffing will start to hurt more here, but that's ok I think.
- Does having only two bosses in ToB make sense, as everybody will just skip Demogorgon? What about the Demi Lich? I know which I would skip between it and Demogorgon.
Should have posted it yesterday... my own fault...!
And I'm fairly sure Chauntea can't hurt me retroactively, that's not how laws work.
2 questions for my futur runs (as i'm not redoing it right now... no way
-How can you transform Kangaxx into a demi-lich after using PfU on him? He seems to stay at near death forever for me.
-Does the WoW petrification effect has any chance to stone items?
You have to wait PfU out if you use it on Kangaxx. SCS casting is based on nearness, so ranged attacks usually don't provoke the subjects if they don't see you. As in here I didn't use PfU on Kangaxx, but on miself, and just ranged the Lich casually transforming him. This is also the reason why Azuredge is better than MoD in SCS, because it allows ranged attack.
The same applies to his Demi form, as it doesn't move or activate if you don't get close, and WoW allows a distance kill.
I've no idea about Pertification destroying items with gore on, I would imagine so, but would have to test it out. I'm sure @Grond0 knows the answer straight away. Without gore on, there's no chance of destroying any items.
When a stone statue is destroyed it will destroy any normal items, but not those flagged as essential by the game. It's possible the Ring of Gaxx falls into that category as it's a quest item, but it's not something I've tried.
Incidentally, Kangaxx's initial lich form is immune to petrification, so the WoW won't help you trigger a change.