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The LoB + SCS Solo Challenge vs Bhaal´s Cataclysm

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  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Wait, Chromatic Orb can't work with a solo character at all. An Invoker couldn't cast Greater Malison.
  • ArctodusArctodus Member Posts: 992
    edited May 2017
    @Harpagornis I think the best move for you would be to go on with Korgath. Continuing with a character that got far into the game is, at ĺeast for me, the best way to keep your motivation up. I also would like to see how far he will go... All the way, if the gods hear me !!! o:)
    Post edited by Arctodus on
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    Hm, I did not think about the saves from invis at all.
    I wonder how well a Berserker 9 dualed into Druid in SoD would hit Harm, having a much better Thac0 (12 base instead of 14, +3 because of weapon specialization and +2 because of Berserk).
    On the other Hand you only get 1 try instead of 2...
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited May 2017
    Your words ring true @Arctodus! But - before awakening Korgath again - we will try one more Berserker/Druid. Now or never! It was @Vynn who convinced me doing it one more time after he rolled a new character with nearly perfect stats while also digging out another nice portrait. Crazy guy! :D

    And so it came that Bavaborass the Human Berserker was born:


    Going for level 9 would most probably mean that you have to roll 16+ to land Harm. Still a bit of a gamble but if it works - a Druids dream! No hiding. No running. Just: BOOOM!! We like that! :D

    Maybe we should get some rest before starting with Bavaborass. Tiredness causes too many faults. Not a good strategy! :D

    EDIT: @Vynn started anyway - it seems he needs no sleep - and so Bavaborass already killed Shoal (47 bullets), grabbed Drizzts Items (Icingdeath +3), looted the hidden Ankheg Armor in Nashkel, bought 24 Stone to Flesh Scrolls from the temples in Nashkel and Beregost, aquired Shield Amulet and PfP-Scroll at the Carnival and killed Algernon for his Cloak. With Talanthyrs Invisibilty he will now try to start the Basilisk XP loop. Well - not now! First some rest - good night! ;)
    Post edited by Harpagornis on
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    edited May 2017
    I did some crit testing with Marty'rs against Drizzt who has exactly the same AC as Big B (-14 effective base non lob ac instead of -12 but his armor has +2 vs crush).
    Interestingly enough Drizzt is immune not only to crits but also Marty'rs on crit effect.
    (CriticalHit averted message, even tho he has no helm)
    In 49 Atatcks I managed 16 Hits and 7 crits, which is enough to kill any creature that is affected by the Martyr's on crit effect.
    This makes Martyr awesome for all classes with bad Thac0 (I used a blade and with violet potion, potion of power and best equip I had 2 Thac0 wielding Marty'rs single handed with one pip in the single weapon style.
    The amount of crits compared to hits is just obscene, almost 50% of the hits were crits and I don't think anyone can do 1k damage in 16 hits or any class can kill him in 49 attacks for that matter even with better Thac0.
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    You need at least n=1000 - the numbers of small samples are too error-prone! But you are right @Victor_Creed_SFV: Martyr´s Morningstar is another way dealing with Big B. Too bad that Druids cant use it! :D
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    Grond0 said:

    Don't forget that Belhifet regenerates - so is almost certain to need more than 7 criticals to kill him ...

    That's most probably true but the regen would make normal hits take even longer to kill him and with crits you can always get lucky and get 2 crits in very short succession especially if you have higher Thac0 than a Blade. :D

  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,456
    THAC0 only makes a difference to the chance of a critical to the extent it brings the roll required below a 20 when you have the relevant weapon style active (which I imagine most people would if if you were relying on Martyr's Morningstar o:)).
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    edited May 2017
    I found out something potentially interesting about the level 5 priest spell Slay Living.
    I used it on the Drow Sethyl in SoD Sorcerous Sundries and it showed Magic Resistance, but the Drow still died.
    I assume you can only resist the Magic damage part of the attack but have to save vs spell no matter what your MR.
    Ofc there is an offbeat chance you just have to MR against both the damage and the kill effect, since that particular Drow only has 50% MR.

    edit: Oh and I forgot, the Cleric/Mage has besides the pure cleric the highest chance to hit Slay Living/Harm in SoD (Harm not being available) since he can set his base Thac0 to Fighter level and also Slay Living has an attack adjustment of +2 while Harm only has +3.
    With Doom and Malison Big B's Save vs Spell is 6 without and 2 with Improved Invis, still not reliable enough for no reload but the priest probably has the same chance with Marty'rs than a fighter and if a cleric/mage actually get's his hands on enchanted weapon scroll... :naughty:
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    @Harpagornis
    what was your lowest amount of attacks needed without Martyr's?
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    The lowest number was with my Anti-Demon Ranger who killed Big B using 49 Invisibility Potions. With pure Fighters its mostly 80+ and with my F/T chars its not rare to reach 100+. Numbers differ significantly here! ;)
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    Also I just found out there is a wand of polymorphing in BG1 that actually rolls vs wand save.
    Big B's wand save is 3 - LoB = -2
    With Malison, Chant and Doom = 5
    With improved Invis = 1

    What doe the experts say? I have seen rolls of 0 and since Big B's base save is negative he should actually be capable of rolling 0?
    If this is a 5% chance of succes we could still potentially kill him in the 2 turns Magic Resist lasts, but we'd have to recast Doom once and not get swarmed by demons that much so we can't move.
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,456
    The roll you see is only displayed on a successful save and shows the adjusted, not the original, roll. The lowest original roll you can get is a 1, so a save with a 0 indicates:
    1) a negative adjustment of at least -6 (e.g. malison + doom) was countering the LoB +5 to saves; and
    2) the enemy has good saves (could be buffed by something like improved invisibility).
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    So @Grond0 do you think Big B can fail a save under the above mentioned conditions?
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,456
    Not under those conditions, no. It would be possible if you dispelled improved invisibility, but I understand that he's likely to quickly recast that. I suppose a Priest of Helm dualled to a mage might have a chance by using his true sight special ability ...
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    True sight doesn't remove the saving throw bonus of improved Invis it only helps you to cast spells directly, in this case not that useful I guess except for the casting of MR on him.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    edited May 2017
    True Sight removes the invisibility effect outright; it should remove the save bonuses as well. True Seeing works by removing illusionary spells, so all opcodes in any illusion spell should be removed. Weaker divination spells might not do this, but True Seeing should.

    If you have SR installed, True Seeing will affect you instead of the enemy, but it gives you the invisibility detection opcode, which is supposed to let you ignore your target's AC and saving throw bonuses.
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    Thats nice to read @Preyer - looks like you had a lot of fun! ;)

    @Vynn has tricked me badly cause - well - Bavaborass isnt going to be a Druid. When looking at his weapon specs he had two points in Flails/ Morning Star - lol. With other words: Bavaborass is going to be a Berserker/Cleric after all. Thanks @Vynn for this chaos! Maybe its fate! :D

    I comply to this "godlike" interference and will start the Basilisk XP loop. Lets hope that we can test the Martyr´s Morningstar under real conditions soon! This is too funny... :D
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    edited May 2017
    Very interesting @semiticgod this means transforming Belhifet into a squirrel is actually possible and shouldn't require to many attempts with the wand (at least a lot less than 20 tries).
    Having True Seeing and MR as level 5 spell is actually possible even for an Illusionist/Cleric, that doesn't get 21 WIS thru tomes, since there is the Glimmer of Hope mace which gives you WIS+1. :D
    (Just cast True Seeing and then switch to whatever weapon you want equipped)
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,456
    @Victor_Creed_SFV I don't have experience of SR, but as @semiticgod says true seeing will remove the save bonuses as well as the invisibility effect in the basic game. I'm not sure that's a more likely option to succeed than just whacking Big B, but if you want to avoid a lot of kiting then give it a go :D.

    Are there any hold monster scrolls for sale in SoD? If so that would be a better option to try than the wand of polymorphing.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Grond0: There are indeed Hold Monster scrolls, though I don't remember where. I think Belegarm has almost all scrolls.

    Where can you find the Wand of Polymorphing? As far as I know, it's only available with Item Revisions installed.
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,456
    edited May 2017
    @semiticgod I think the druid that's peeping at the twin sisters in Baldur's Gate has one.

    Edit: his name is Gervisse in the NW of city.
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited May 2017
    @Vynn and me had some differences regarding Bavaborass so we decided to split the gaming for this time. He will play on with his Berserker/Cleric will i rerolled Bavaborass and transformed him into a Dwarven Fighter/Cleric. Sturdy and flexible - that should be good enough for late SoD. Hopefully! My only problem is the lack of time.

    I am eager to see if Mages will get some kind of easy-to-use key to open the gates beyond Big B. For the F/C i am more concerned about the Crusader Attacks but i already have a plan in mind - should work. Whats up with your Cleric/Illusionist @semiticgod - is he still alive? Ideas or motivation for a new run @Grond0? Why not Berserker/Druid? Are you planning to go on with some Mage Combo in SoD @Victor_Creed_SFV to try out the new ideas in practice? And where is @Blackraven hiding? Questions over questions! Anyway: I will take some sleep before going on with Bavaborass - good night! ;)
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,456
    As you may have noticed Harpagornis my recent runs in this challenge seem to have a common theme - some good play initially, but with gradually increased risk-taking over time until one risk too many proves fatal. I've said it many times of course, but I'll see if I can maintain focus this time with Freya the sorcerer and get some more experience in SoD. I have no plan for how to use the sorcerer to complete that, but I don't expect that to be a problem ...

    Thus far she's:
    - kited Shoal to get to level 3, then practised her kiting skills further by running round the ogre clan in the same area.
    - blinded and killed a few carrion crawlers and dire wolves while resting in that area in order to get to level 4 (and get invisibility to allow safe travel).
    That lot took quite a while and she got hit at one point by natural lightning. I'll be trying to avoid taking any damage in the run apart from natural lightning.
    - killed Algernon for his cloak and then went up to Ulgoth's Beard to charm Dushai and take him to a secluded spot to get his ring. She also charmed an ogre on the way (and fed it to wolves) and killed the fishermen to get Tenya's bowl.
    - robbed the ankheg nest invisibly and picked up a bit more reputation from Joia (also at the FAI charmed a couple of guards to kill Tarnesh and pulled Jaheira outside to kill her for her invisibility potion) and Firebead.
    - a few more tasks around Beregost included charming Silke and wearing her down with spider poison to allow a single MM to finish her off. That got Freya to level 5.
  • Victor_Creed_SFVVictor_Creed_SFV Member Posts: 609
    @Harpagornis I'm definitely gonna test out the combo in near future but I'm also still playing Droolit.
    I might start a no reload M/C in BG1 at some point if some theories check out to be true.
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