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The LoB + SCS Solo Challenge vs Bhaal´s Cataclysm

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  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,456
    edited May 2017
    By the way @JuliusBorisov I said that I accept the higher HP for familiars in LoB. If you don't want to take that though, you might want to be aware that an unmodded psuedo-dragon in BGEE has only 12 HPs, i.e. the character gets a bonus of 6 (LoB gives 2xbase+20 to familiars - so bonus rises to 22). Your mods obviously default the familiar to the SoA version (with base HPs of 24, rising to 68 in LoB).

    With all this action going on, I think I'll see if I can join the throng in SoD. I'll do a bit of familiar-farming of my own by restarting my illusionist (dualling to fighter at level 3).
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Harpagornis said:


    I thought that SoD already is broken - it is not?

    Not to my knowledge, at least not in the way BG1 and BG2 are. The pet basilisk strategy breaks the start of BG1, Algernon's Cloak breaks the Ducal Palace, and although I failed to execute it, I understand that other people know how to divide and conquer the Sarevok fight. As for BG2, the game is open enough that we can get lots of HLAs before tackling the tougher fights.

    We don't have a method for hitting the XP cap early in SoD, so I'd assume that reaching max level in time for Big B requires completing potentially dangerous side quests. I suppose you could use the pet basilisk strategy late in SoD, because there's an 8,000 XP vampire not far from a Greater Basilisk that we could farm if we brought in a lot of Stone to Flesh scrolls from BG1. But that's not until late in the game.

    SoD also tends to have large clusters of enemies, and the LoB bonuses scale dramatically with multiple enemies. I don't think my cleric/illusionist has the tools to take down large enemy groups without using a Wand of Monster Summoning (which is expensive) or doing a lot of kiting.
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    Harpagornis said:

    Harm on no-reload is NOT viable against Big B for several reasons @semiticgod : The casting of "Magic Resistance" takes so long that Big B sometimes goes invisible before - spell lost. Even if you get lucky and you can lower him to 40% MR you need to land Harm (thanks to Iron Skin and summon distraction casting it works most of the time). If i remember correctly even my Berserker7/Druid would need to roll a 20 AND hope that it passes his MR. Thats a 3% chance of bringing him down to 1 HP IF everything works fine!

    I thought that SoD already is broken - it is not?

    With all the proven tactics around beating it regularly with no-reload will be just a matter of time! ;)

    Good to see you back on the run @Grond0 - hope you can join the SoD train soon! ;)

    Korgath will face Big B today - i am more than ready this time! :D

    Can't you use True sight vs his invis?
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,456
    In relation to XP if you want to maximise that for SoD early you can just petrify a few more basilisks in BGEE :D. The XP cap means you don't get the benefit of that immediately, but you should find the XP resurfaces at the start of SoD.
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited May 2017
    Korgath moved into Avernus – but luck wasnt always on his side...

    The Demon Waves on the bridge can be tanked but as there is still a small chance that they get lucky rolls (which would cause a suprising death or forces several charges of Durlags Goblet) Korgath switched to the hit & run abusing stealth and map retreating (using Whispers of Silence to avoid dispelling!). This took some time but as only the Barbed Defense of Hamatulas (works like a piercing Fire Shield) and the Erinyes Archers (can attack through invisibility) could damage him he was on the safe side all the time.

    Once the second wave died (switching to full tank equipment after the big demons were gone) he solved the riddle and chose to take the Acid Longsword +3 (10% chance to slow enemy, +1d3 acid damage). The demons in the elevator went down easily so it was finally time to buff up: Protection from Magic, Potion of Storm Giant Strength, Potion of Invulnerability, Oil of Speed, Potion of Regeneration, Potion of Power.

    Once the talking ended Big B dispelled Caelar (who was removed from party) while Korgath threw in 4 Myconids while shooting his Void Arrows +3 (remember that the description is wrong: It deals 4-9 bonus magic damage not 3!!). He moved around all demons trying to catch him and continued with summoning until the demons started to kill them too quickly. With Caelar also going down Korgath switched to hit & run – satisfied that he managed to deal over 150 damage in the starting phase.

    Thanks to 129 Potions of Invisibility and one fully charged Sandthief Ring it was now all about timing. Rush in to Big B whenever he was not crowded by Demons and attack out of invisibility. Thanks to a 60% Hit Chance (55% when switching to Kiels Helmet) he went in over and over again. Everything worked fine – until Big B dropped to „nearly dead“.

    From now on luck went against Korgath: The Erinyes managed to get in lucky hits while he was constantly rolling bad numbers and missed nearly every attack. In between Korgath had to rebuff his protections and heal up again using several charges from Durlags Goblet. All of this gave Big B time to regenerate up to „badly wounded“ again. Damn!

    Even worse: On one of his attacks he stayed half a second too long so that Big B landed a 52 damage slash AND the Erinyes managed to roll a 20 bringing him down to 28 HP. As he was forced to drink another Invisibility Potion immediately healing (beside the regeneration potion) was out of reach for several seconds. Korgath tried to use the Pillars in breaking vision with the Erinyes so they could not shoot again. With seconds running slower than ever Korgath clicked on Durlags Goblet like crazy when he saw another arrow coming from the second Erinyes (they can damage for 30+ damage with one of their special arrows) who had sneaked by unseen. A shocking moment later it missed and Durlags Goblet finally procced. Phew!

    At full health again luck turned in his favour again! He managed to backstab Big B for 72 damage cause the big one was calling in another demon and not taking attention of Korgath. A big error! From now on Korgath rolled big numbers again and even though he had to rebuff his magic protections once more Big B could not escape his fate. With another 57 damage backstab (never turn your back to Korgath!) Big B got hit hard falling to the ground like a rolling thunder!

    Finally its done! One hour of sweating and clicking around like crazy. But this time luck was on our side. Braxx and Krell got their revenge – rest in peace good friends. Korgath himself will also take a rest before moving on to SoA – Good Night! ;)

    EDIT: Does this really work @Grond0? Even the XP from Sarevok did not transfer to SoD so i always start with 161k XP. The only exception are Dual Class characters as i described before. Has anyone tested it?
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    Awesomeley done @Harpagornis.
    I don't quite understand what you mean hoping true seeing breaks Imp Invis, the only way to protect from it is having SI Divination there is no MR or save vs it.
    So if you precast True Seeing (it lasts for 1 turn :D) then cast MR at Big B he has a 22/24% chance of resisting Harm via MR which should be no big deal since you get 2 casts of that at level 12.
    Main problem would be hitting him with it, since there is no critical strike in BG1 :tongue:
    But at least one could maximise the roll with Potion of Power and duhm.

  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    Yeah, True Sight should work. I only meant that if Big B goes invisible right after True Sight dispels and the Magic Resistance cast is not finished. And: He can use Imp. Invisibility at will and it also happened to me that he went invisible again after dispel (very rarely).

    Potion of Power works with Harm, Enrage too but DoHM did not boost my THAC0 in any way - too bad!
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    Hm, that's very strange about the Thac0 @Harpagornis , did you already have 25 Str? :D
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    Harm works with Base THAC0 only so Strength does no have any effect. Unlike Potion of Power which reduces Base THAC0!

    Maybe thats it?! ;)
  • ArctodusArctodus Member Posts: 992
    Nice job @Harpagornis ! A well deserved win in my opinion.

    Like @semiticgod, I don't think that SoD is broken down as much as BG1, at least not for every class. How would you approach the Coalition Camp attack with a cleric/mage or a pure cleric ? And Big B for that matter ? Druids has Fire Elementals to help them against Coalition Camp. They also have very good weapons for free in the Drizzt's scimitar. Not an option for clerics. So yeah, there's still work to do.
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited May 2017
    Okay, maybe i should i have formulated it a bit clearer @Arctodus : For the classes i prefer to play its broken! Better? ;)

    Pure Clerics and Monks will be tougher but i lack experience with these classes. For Clerics Big B should be doable thanks to Martyr's Morningstar +2. Monks can use +3 weapons but the lack of helms will make it a nightmare. For Coalition Camp the big question is if there is any way to prevent charmed troops from disappearing. Maybe there is another way... ;)
    Post edited by Harpagornis on
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