Well my SD has finally made it to the Hephernan dungeon in SoD, with a fair dollop of save scumming. Even though I enter the cellars stealthed from the underground river, the crusaders there start following me around, so trying to remain stealthed while targeting Hephernan is proving to be quite a challenge with 50 enemies milling about. But I will persist and beat the silly mage down, an undead army, I do not approve.
Yeah SoD is a different story but the shifter is nut that much worse than Totemic, still has Nymphs, Fire Elementals and Harm. Ofc against Big B you can't rely on Harm in no reload. I'll stick to my Shadow/Mage for now, just want to get the Shapeshifter to Melissan and see how it goes for lols. @semiticgod Can't you cast AOF beforehand and still get 100%? Or does that not stack? (When you reduced the res to 50%)
@Victor_Creed_SFV: Armor of Faith and Hardiness can get you to 100% in that case, but Armor of Faith can be dispelled, unlike Hardiness. Still, a druid will have many castings of Armor of Faith and its other defenses will ensure it can cast it safely.
Thanks to @Harpagornis tips throughout this thread, for the waves at the crusader camp I managed to get through them! It was a real struggle and once again a lot of reloading. In my game charmed Dynaheir disappeares everytime just before the first wave started, in the end I cast a web where the first wave appears before she disappeared and this made the wave so much easier. Although I only get 3 APR with detonation arrows and haste, I wonder how @Harpagornis got 4, or was it not a thief char? Another problem I had was that I'd summoned 4 ankhegs for the 2nd weave, but they were still alive at the end, which meant I could only summon 1 mycanoid for the 3rd wave, which took me a lot of tries to complete.
It's the first time I got this far in SoD so I'm going to soldier on, and it's going to make a second run through so much easier, with any char I want to test. Maybe I'll try @Victor_Creed_SFV's broken shapeshifter next ^^
Btw as to the shapeshifter: The normal level 7 werewolf token can be dual wielded as well for 40% MR and 3 APR (without any APR Bonus), the base AC is actually 0 and not 1 like the description says and you can get Thac0 for putting points into Dagger proficiency. With Cloak of Balduran that's 60% MR in BG1 which is actually quite nice and with Potion you can get 110%.
Made it to Big B but I'm having all sorts of trouble. Caelar gets 2 shot almost instantly, I can cast her bolt and that's about it. Then I get dispelled, and I need to use greenstone, or else I get feared/held. My AC is pretty mediocre but it's -7 for missiles yet I constantly get hit by the eyriness (spelling?). Should I proceed to just try and kill the missile monsters, and then focus on Big B? the problem is the moment he gets close I'm just about dead and he sees through my invis anyway. My Thac0 is 7 (pretty bad) I'm guessing I can only hit big B on a crit? I've got the items I think I need for this character, ring of the crusade, Lon's amulet, cloverleaf, and the chant ring. I am wearing the Cats grace boots for the missile armour, and using staff of striking. I have the ankheg amulet fully charged as wel as the mycanoid thing and the mephit ring, but they all seem to die pretty much instantly. What am I doing wrong?
I think I need to hit and run here ~ managed to hit B twice, the best attempt so far I'm hitting on a 16 which isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Going to take a break for today ^^
I think I need to hit and run here ~ managed to hit B twice, the best attempt so far I'm hitting on a 16 which isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Going to take a break for today ^^
@Harpagornis has a very detailed strategy including items he uses somewhere in this thread I don't remember the exact page but one of the last attempts was also with a thief class. I think one of the main points you are missing is the 25 ST potion, with that and ideal equip you can get about 50% hit chance I think (Potion of Power?).
Earlier I tested the shapeshifter in BG1 and equipping the werewolf token in offhand does not bug my inventory here I can click on anything without removing offhand and still the game does not crash. Dual wielding either both claws (65% magres with Cloak) or putting Icingdeath in the Mainhand results in 4 apr, 1 more than I expected, coupled with the insane movespeed of the dogee you can kite just about anything. (Also The mainhand weapon does not receaive a dual wield penalty, Icingdeath has 7 Thaco single wielded or dual wielded with token) AC is at -7 without Claw of Kazgaroth which is quite alright.
@Victor_Creed_SFV I do still have that potion, luckily enough I'm going to try it! But @Harpagornis's bounty had 156 hp with potion of power ~ with the same potion I only get 110. Does the constitution from being dwarf make such a big difference? -7 AC is indeed "quite alright" for BG1 ^^ although this is LoB and yea... AC...
@billy_pilgrim my point was it is as good as what other armored chars get, my Totemic has the exact same AC with Armor on. The speed of werewolf + Boots of Speed is just insane, nobody can keep up, so kiting is super ez and the scimitar has 2 Speed Factor. (You can also use Wand of Heaven while in Werewolf form)
I think @Harpagornis did something specific for the potion to give him more HP I forgot what it was tho.
Although the violet potion reduced my con to 3, if I quaff all my power potions I'm at 172 hp, but if I take the violet pot afterwards I'm down to 90. Does a constitution pot overwrite the violet potion?
Although the violet potion reduced my con to 3, if I quaff all my power potions I'm at 172 hp, but if I take the violet pot afterwards I'm down to 90. Does a constitution pot overwrite the violet potion?
Once my staff of striking runs out my dps is really pretty terrible. With a normal +3 staff any hit I squeeze in does about 20 damage to Big B I feel he regens that back within the time it takes me to land another one. I land hits on 11+ which isn't too bad but its not great either, and I miss a lot. I think I really need to use twinkle for the AC because of the eryness shooting all the time.
Some more tries and I realise it will take so long that my potions of power run out ~ so I guess I shouldn't stack them and just use them as they run out, the bonus to thac0 is too important.
Once my staff of striking runs out my dps is really pretty terrible. With a normal +3 staff any hit I squeeze in does about 20 damage to Big B I feel he regens that back within the time it takes me to land another one. I land hits on 11+ which isn't too bad but its not great either, and I miss a lot. I think I really need to use twinkle for the AC because of the eryness shooting all the time.
Twinkle does thesame damage anyway that's why I use it.
I got the bastard! On my third try this morning ^^ Finally he lies dead at my feet. As @Harpagornis mentioned its the eryness who are the most problematic for a char like this, if there are 2 of them it will be really hard to stay alive long enough to get B down. I had 42 extra healing pots and am left with 8 which is not too bad. My prot fro magic scroll ran out during the last part of the fight but luckily I anticipated it this time and quaffed 2 pots of magic resistance to get 100 MR. It was also really important to quaff potion of clarity on time, to prevent getting feared. This time I use mycanoid and ankheg summoning which allowed me to get an extra backstab or two, as wel as make it easier to kite around the arena while the other demons are preoccupied. I'm looking forward to SoA!
unfortunately my EET install is a bit bugged. When SoD transitioned to SoA I got some wierd cutscenes and it transported me to big B's throne room for a sec, afterwards dropping me in Irenicus' dungeon, Imoen appears at the same time as Irenicus, and his dialogue doesn't start. ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I think I export from the first autosave in SoA and start from there. Just EET things.
Revenge on the Chromatic Demon.. Let's just say with the immunity of Physical damage and the insane scaling LoB has given him to his health (roughly between 300-400 hp) ontop of the SCS scripting buff for demons. This was by NO means an easy fight. I'm under the impression that the mechanics of this fight were not really intended to be so high with only limited access to resources (wands) in the game. And yes, some cheese was used but cmon, this guy was TOUGH! Especially being a solo caster with no access to elemental melee weapons/being able to take advantage of attacks per round..
Deidre is supposed to be in the adventurers markt right? Or does SCS change when/where she appears? I also checked the copper coronet but she wasn't there either. I'm guessing its another EET bug.
@billy_pilgrim there is indeed a component of SCS that delays when Deirdre and Joluv appear - so if you've gone for a full SCS installation rather than picking and choosing that's probably the cause.
@grond0 that'll be it then. Do they appear before the underdark with this component?
edit: one will appear after 4 stronghold quests, and the other after chapter 6. this ruins my plans for dual classing, rofl. Oh well, l'll see who pops up after 4 stronghold quests, and just reload after finishing the 4th until I get deirdre.
Hmm Just completed the thieves guild quest line, but Mae'var wasn't wearing the shadow armour you usually get from him and Renal didn't reward me with the +3 shortsword. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
@billy_pilgrim are you using Rogue Rebalancing? This places the +3 sword later in the game before the Bodhi final battle.
As I have learned after this happened to me in a recent game, SCS removes the shadow armor unintentionally from Mae Var so that he can now cast arcane spells as a mage/thief. As @Victor_Creed_SFV suggests, keeper in the armor.
@Victor_Creed_SFV@Aerakar Thanks guys, yea I guess its SCS. RR introduces the shortsword +3 with the backstab multiplier, but Renal will still reward you with a normal +3 shortsword.
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Ofc against Big B you can't rely on Harm in no reload.
I'll stick to my Shadow/Mage for now, just want to get the Shapeshifter to Melissan and see how it goes for lols.
@semiticgod Can't you cast AOF beforehand and still get 100%? Or does that not stack? (When you reduced the res to 50%)
It's the first time I got this far in SoD so I'm going to soldier on, and it's going to make a second run through so much easier, with any char I want to test. Maybe I'll try @Victor_Creed_SFV's broken shapeshifter next ^^
The normal level 7 werewolf token can be dual wielded as well for 40% MR and 3 APR (without any APR Bonus), the base AC is actually 0 and not 1 like the description says and you can get Thac0 for putting points into Dagger proficiency.
With Cloak of Balduran that's 60% MR in BG1 which is actually quite nice and with Potion you can get 110%.
I think one of the main points you are missing is the 25 ST potion, with that and ideal equip you can get about 50% hit chance I think (Potion of Power?).
Earlier I tested the shapeshifter in BG1 and equipping the werewolf token in offhand does not bug my inventory here I can click on anything without removing offhand and still the game does not crash.
Dual wielding either both claws (65% magres with Cloak) or putting Icingdeath in the Mainhand results in 4 apr, 1 more than I expected, coupled with the insane movespeed of the dogee you can kite just about anything.
(Also The mainhand weapon does not receaive a dual wield penalty, Icingdeath has 7 Thaco single wielded or dual wielded with token)
AC is at -7 without Claw of Kazgaroth which is quite alright.
The speed of werewolf + Boots of Speed is just insane, nobody can keep up, so kiting is super ez and the scimitar has 2 Speed Factor.
(You can also use Wand of Heaven while in Werewolf form)
I think @Harpagornis did something specific for the potion to give him more HP I forgot what it was tho.
Some more tries and I realise it will take so long that my potions of power run out ~ so I guess I shouldn't stack them and just use them as they run out, the bonus to thac0 is too important.
Revenge on the Chromatic Demon.. Let's just say with the immunity of Physical damage and the insane scaling LoB has given him to his health (roughly between 300-400 hp) ontop of the SCS scripting buff for demons. This was by NO means an easy fight. I'm under the impression that the mechanics of this fight were not really intended to be so high with only limited access to resources (wands) in the game. And yes, some cheese was used but cmon, this guy was TOUGH! Especially being a solo caster with no access to elemental melee weapons/being able to take advantage of attacks per round..
edit: one will appear after 4 stronghold quests, and the other after chapter 6. this ruins my plans for dual classing, rofl. Oh well, l'll see who pops up after 4 stronghold quests, and just reload after finishing the 4th until I get deirdre.
As I have learned after this happened to me in a recent game, SCS removes the shadow armor unintentionally from Mae Var so that he can now cast arcane spells as a mage/thief. As @Victor_Creed_SFV suggests, keeper in the armor.