Wild Mage has been utterly fun to play in SoA. It's the most powerful of mages, gets all the spells and only one 9th lv slot less than Sorcerer. Just need to be aware where you cast. I've had only one mishap, casting Invisibility in Government District to summon Cowled Wizards, it cast Fireball and all in the area went red circle.
Area effect Fallen Planetars is quite nice surge breaking the summon limit. Although they quickly went against each other because of their Globe of Blades and Vorpalled each others.
The EE doesn't allow stacking of chaos shields through sequencers, so it's no longer possible to guarantee NRD will cast without a surge. However, the ability to cast NRD without pause greatly reduces the risks associated with spells not casting as a result of surges and using limited wish to get NRD spells back is much preferable to using wish to refresh spells (with the slight risk involved in that of imprisoning yourself ).
The EE doesn't allow stacking of chaos shields through sequencers, so it's no longer possible to guarantee NRD will cast without a surge. However, the ability to cast NRD without pause greatly reduces the risks associated with spells not casting as a result of surges and using limited wish to get NRD spells back is much preferable to using wish to refresh spells (with the slight risk involved in that of imprisoning yourself ).
I've not actually used NRD in this run once, so I've probably missed a lot of fun. That's because I wanted to minize permanently turning to squirrel in BG1 as lv1 mage, which probably is avoidable with Adoys Belt. But I realized this only after killing Neera. And in BG2 leveling normally you get so many spells so I haven't really even thought about using it.
I didn't actually realize the risk of casting 9th lv spells before you said it. So casting something like Spell Turning before is advisable, before getting the Thayan Circlet.
The EE doesn't allow stacking of chaos shields through sequencers, so it's no longer possible to guarantee NRD will cast without a surge. However, the ability to cast NRD without pause greatly reduces the risks associated with spells not casting as a result of surges and using limited wish to get NRD spells back is much preferable to using wish to refresh spells (with the slight risk involved in that of imprisoning yourself ).
I've not actually used NRD in this run once, so I've probably missed a lot of fun. That's because I wanted to minize permanently turning to squirrel in BG1 as lv1 mage, which probably is avoidable with Adoys Belt. But I realized this only after killing Neera. And in BG2 leveling normally you get so many spells so I haven't really even thought about using it.
I didn't actually realize the risk of casting 9th lv spells before you said it. So casting something like Spell Turning before is advisable, before getting the Thayan Circlet.
The same applies with level 8 spells (maze), which is why being able to refresh spells using limited wish is helpful. I'm not sure if spell turning would work to protect you - I think spell protections and magic resistance don't help against your own spells in the EE.
The same applies with level 8 spells (maze), which is why being able to refresh spells using limited wish is helpful. I'm not sure if spell turning would work to protect you - I think spell protections and magic resistance don't help against your own spells in the EE.
I was afraid of that, tested and nothing protects against casting it to yourself, at least from scrolls. Casting from clone to main char can be protected. Of course the chance of it is very low 1/20000 casting normally. Are you sure about Maze, as the spell code SPWI813 is not between the 0-10 pool of spells the wiki talks about?
The same applies with level 8 spells (maze), which is why being able to refresh spells using limited wish is helpful. I'm not sure if spell turning would work to protect you - I think spell protections and magic resistance don't help against your own spells in the EE.
I was afraid of that, tested and nothing protects against casting it to yourself, at least from scrolls. Casting from clone to main char can be protected. Of course the chance of it is very low 1/20000 casting normally. Are you sure about Maze, as the spell code SPWI813 is not between the 0-10 pool of spells the wiki talks about?
There's very little I'm sure about these days . I seem to remember it happening to me, but I might be wrong about that. Could also have been pre-EE ...
Jezebel at Throne of Bhaal. Balty cast Lunar Stance to avoid Time Stop, and Jezebel started Whirdwinding Solars with Ravager +6. The other Solar was Vorpalled almost immediatelly, but the other one disappeared. Tried fighting Bodhi a little, but she drank too much of my blood and had to retreat to avoid death by zero CON. I watched Imoen and Balty duel, and surprisingly they were evenly matched, and Imoen left right after she killed Balty. The other Solar appeared and we again Vorpalled it after a while. Baited Irenicus spells out before killing him. Didn't want to approach Bodhi so we stoned her with WoW. That was pretty easy first blood.
Started the first pool with Deva and retreated quickly, but was suprised that the main enemies now Teleported without Error on me, just like in the Abyss battle. And so started the battle royale, I had to kite them out because if I stopped they would quickly box me in. First order was to stone the Balor with WoW, because it would gate the most enemies in. Mariliths also summon unlimited Skelis eventually, so it was going to be stoned next. But then I was trapped by the enemies, because my larger BMU circle. I was quickly Thac0 nerfed by Cambions so really the only way of getting out of here was the WoW. Used probably 20 potions to stay alive. We first stoned the Cambions, then the Marilith because it's very hard to kill with infinite casting PfMW's. After that it was easy mobbing job of the lesser enemies. It was good that we bothered to pick up the second WoW from Thay, because I used the first one in this first pool alone. We turned to Ravager for the last two pools because I wanted to make them little bit easier. Being Ravager we could tank them without healing and casually stone them in order, Balor, Cambions and Marilith. It took 76 hits from WoW to complete the pools. At one point my Thac0 was pretty bad +151.
Jezebel v Big 6. Turned back to human form, and starting the battle we teleported on to one the pools so they couldn't touch us directly. Put we still had to kite their two Planetars and Deva out. With Reflection Shield on Illasera couldn't range us, although Sendai still used her Sling hitting herself. Cloak of Mirroring stops Yaga's Lava Bomb affecting ourselves, but staying close of the tether hurt all others of the Big 6. Started hitting Yaga with Sling of Erinne and +4 bullets. It took 200 bullets to get Yaga to near death with his 65 DR. Abazigal took 80 bullets, and after using 410 bullets all were near death. Sendai needs some attention because she could kill herself with her own bullets, but she healed herself once to full health and managed to stay alive. But then it happened, I was retreating to cast our last Improved Haste from the Cloak, and Sendai freaking killed herself spawning Melissan. And I still hadn't got them all to near 10 hp.
Jezebel v Melissan. As soon as Sendai was dead we cast AoF, which was slight mistake as we only managed then cast Focus against Time Stop like one second before Melissan cast it. Melissan teleported to our pool and started attacking us. And Jezebel started slinging the Big 6 with Critical Strikes, every death stunning Melissan for a round. We managed to kill them all, and then Teleported to other side of the closed tether, so that Melissan saw us but the two Solars didn't. This way Melissan doesn't Teleport without Error and can't attack us. Hit her with Rift Device getting her to 40% of Health, and started slinging her. She gated some enemies, and Marilith summoned some Skelis, but nothing major was attacking us. My +4 bullets ended Melissan near death, and we started using Frag Grenades on Cambion, which also hurt Melissan. And after a while Melissan was defeated.
So Blackguard beats Melissan and I finally managed to nR a solo Paladin. With closed pools and teleport tactic it's pretty straightforward battle now. Although Teleporting pool enemies and homing Big 6 makes it harder on their part than it was originally. Blackguard is probably stronger than Cavalier in this challenge. Poison/Charm immunity is better than Level Drain Immunity, but Blackguard gets easier Crusader Attacks with Detonators, great innate abilities and not falling in the Hell Trials is the biggest plus I think. With Cavalier it's always a gamble getting 25 STR and -4 AC.
I recently did a Priest of Talos insane NR over at TavernRPG. I noticed the cut off pools and decided to use them. Afterwards I didn't feel good about it. I ended up voluntarily withholding her from our Hall of Heroes because of it (that and my use of Mirroring at the very end).
I personally think the original behavior should be restored. That's exploitable, too, in its own way but it's not as egregious. I suppose playing with the cutoff pools and restricting use of them is a reasonable option but that makes the battlefield too uniform and uninteresting.
Do you know if anyone has raised this over at G3? I'd do it myself but I don't have an account there.
Cheers!
A.
NW: To be clear, no judgements on your use of the pools. You're playing on a different difficulty setting and in a different challenge. We're just operating with a different ruleset at TavernRPG. It's not better or worse, just different.
I recently did a Priest of Talos insane NR over at TavernRPG. I noticed the cut off pools and decided to use them. Afterwards I didn't feel good about it. I ended up voluntarily withholding her from our Hall of Heroes because of it (that and my use of Mirroring at the very end).
I personally think the original behavior should be restored. That's exploitable, too, in its own way but it's not as egregious. I suppose playing with the cutoff pools and restricting use of them is a reasonable option but that makes the battlefield too uniform and uninteresting.
Do you know if anyone has raised this over at G3? I'd do it myself but I don't have an account there.
Cheers!
A.
NW: To be clear, no judgements on your use of the pools. You're playing on a different difficulty setting and in a different challenge. We're just operating with a different ruleset at TavernRPG. It's not better or worse, just different.
I agree with you, it's kind of shoehorny mechanic currently, as it makes it so much easier especially in LoB nR. But at the same time I think it kind of balances the homing beacon mechanic, that Ascension added about the same time to the bosses. Where they'll will home on to you even if you lose them in the fog of war. And I think it could possibly be impossible to beat it currently in this challenge without the closed pools. Honestly I think the original Ascension end battle was better and more fair, with open pools, and without homing bosses. I would also make it so that every pool refreshed your char completely.
Honestly I think the original Ascension end battle was better and more fair, with open pools, and without homing bosses.
Agreed. I'd been looking forward to v2. It ended up being semi-disappointing because of those mechanics, especially the cut off polls. I'd love to see someone implement a tweak to restore the original behavior? @jmerry ?
I would also make it so that every pool refreshed your char completely.
Don't tempt me, lol. I have a personal rule against introducing modifications that advantage the player but that sounds more fun, ngl. That would definitely be a suitable difficulty fine tuning option.
Anyhoo, I hope I haven't derailed this thread from the subject of your accomplishment. Once again, congrats! If we'd like to continue this we can pick it up in another thread, maybe the Adventurer's Lounge
Comments
Area effect Fallen Planetars is quite nice surge breaking the summon limit.
I didn't actually realize the risk of casting 9th lv spells before you said it. So casting something like Spell Turning before is advisable, before getting the Thayan Circlet.
The same applies with level 8 spells (maze), which is why being able to refresh spells using limited wish is helpful. I'm not sure if spell turning would work to protect you - I think spell protections and magic resistance don't help against your own spells in the EE.
Started the first pool with Deva and retreated quickly, but was suprised that the main enemies now Teleported without Error on me, just like in the Abyss battle. And so started the battle royale, I had to kite them out because if I stopped they would quickly box me in. First order was to stone the Balor with WoW, because it would gate the most enemies in. Mariliths also summon unlimited Skelis eventually, so it was going to be stoned next. But then I was trapped by the enemies, because my larger BMU circle. I was quickly Thac0 nerfed by Cambions so really the only way of getting out of here was the WoW. Used probably 20 potions to stay alive. We first stoned the Cambions, then the Marilith because it's very hard to kill with infinite casting PfMW's. After that it was easy mobbing job of the lesser enemies. It was good that we bothered to pick up the second WoW from Thay, because I used the first one in this first pool alone. We turned to Ravager for the last two pools because I wanted to make them little bit easier. Being Ravager we could tank them without healing and casually stone them in order, Balor, Cambions and Marilith. It took 76 hits from WoW to complete the pools. At one point my Thac0 was pretty bad +151.
Jezebel v Big 6. Turned back to human form, and starting the battle we teleported on to one the pools so they couldn't touch us directly. Put we still had to kite their two Planetars and Deva out. With Reflection Shield on Illasera couldn't range us, although Sendai still used her Sling hitting herself. Cloak of Mirroring stops Yaga's Lava Bomb affecting ourselves, but staying close of the tether hurt all others of the Big 6. Started hitting Yaga with Sling of Erinne and +4 bullets. It took 200 bullets to get Yaga to near death with his 65 DR. Abazigal took 80 bullets, and after using 410 bullets all were near death. Sendai needs some attention because she could kill herself with her own bullets, but she healed herself once to full health and managed to stay alive. But then it happened, I was retreating to cast our last Improved Haste from the Cloak, and Sendai freaking killed herself spawning Melissan. And I still hadn't got them all to near 10 hp.
Jezebel v Melissan. As soon as Sendai was dead we cast AoF, which was slight mistake as we only managed then cast Focus against Time Stop like one second before Melissan cast it. Melissan teleported to our pool and started attacking us. And Jezebel started slinging the Big 6 with Critical Strikes, every death stunning Melissan for a round. We managed to kill them all, and then Teleported to other side of the closed tether, so that Melissan saw us but the two Solars didn't. This way Melissan doesn't Teleport without Error and can't attack us. Hit her with Rift Device getting her to 40% of Health, and started slinging her. She gated some enemies, and Marilith summoned some Skelis, but nothing major was attacking us. My +4 bullets ended Melissan near death, and we started using Frag Grenades on Cambion, which also hurt Melissan. And after a while Melissan was defeated.
So Blackguard beats Melissan and I finally managed to nR a solo Paladin. With closed pools and teleport tactic it's pretty straightforward battle now. Although Teleporting pool enemies and homing Big 6 makes it harder on their part than it was originally. Blackguard is probably stronger than Cavalier in this challenge. Poison/Charm immunity is better than Level Drain Immunity, but Blackguard gets easier Crusader Attacks with Detonators, great innate abilities and not falling in the Hell Trials is the biggest plus I think. With Cavalier it's always a gamble getting 25 STR and -4 AC.
What are your thoughts on the cut off pools?
I recently did a Priest of Talos insane NR over at TavernRPG. I noticed the cut off pools and decided to use them. Afterwards I didn't feel good about it. I ended up voluntarily withholding her from our Hall of Heroes because of it (that and my use of Mirroring at the very end).
I personally think the original behavior should be restored. That's exploitable, too, in its own way but it's not as egregious. I suppose playing with the cutoff pools and restricting use of them is a reasonable option but that makes the battlefield too uniform and uninteresting.
Do you know if anyone has raised this over at G3? I'd do it myself but I don't have an account there.
Cheers!
A.
NW: To be clear, no judgements on your use of the pools. You're playing on a different difficulty setting and in a different challenge. We're just operating with a different ruleset at TavernRPG. It's not better or worse, just different.
I agree with you, it's kind of shoehorny mechanic currently, as it makes it so much easier especially in LoB nR. But at the same time I think it kind of balances the homing beacon mechanic, that Ascension added about the same time to the bosses. Where they'll will home on to you even if you lose them in the fog of war. And I think it could possibly be impossible to beat it currently in this challenge without the closed pools. Honestly I think the original Ascension end battle was better and more fair, with open pools, and without homing bosses. I would also make it so that every pool refreshed your char completely.
Agreed. I'd been looking forward to v2. It ended up being semi-disappointing because of those mechanics, especially the cut off polls. I'd love to see someone implement a tweak to restore the original behavior? @jmerry ?
Don't tempt me, lol. I have a personal rule against introducing modifications that advantage the player but that sounds more fun, ngl. That would definitely be a suitable difficulty fine tuning option.
Anyhoo, I hope I haven't derailed this thread from the subject of your accomplishment. Once again, congrats! If we'd like to continue this we can pick it up in another thread, maybe the Adventurer's Lounge