Does LoB or SCS change creature saves? I'm trying to charm Glaicus with Nymph Cloak and Ring Of Human Influence, but are failing to do so. I checked his saves with NearInfinity, and it's
vs spells 7 (4 with the ring) vs breath 4
So using both my success should be about 28%. But I've tried 10 times and chance of it not working is something like 4% but it isn't working?
LoB gives everyone +5 to saves. The ring offers a save vs spells at +3 and the cloak save vs breath at +1 - so in LoB neither of them has a chance to affect Glaicus (unless you use something like malison, archer called shot, doom etc).
Does LoB or SCS change creature saves? I'm trying to charm Glaicus with Nymph Cloak and Ring Of Human Influence, but are failing to do so. I checked his saves with NearInfinity, and it's
vs spells 7 (4 with the ring) vs breath 4
So using both my success should be about 28%. But I've tried 10 times and chance of it not working is something like 4% but it isn't working?
LoB gives everyone +5 to saves. The ring offers a save vs spells at +3 and the cloak save vs breath at +1 - so in LoB neither of them has a chance to affect Glaicus (unless you use something like malison, archer called shot, doom etc).
Thanks, so applying doom I should get 1/20 chance with either of them.
Does LoB or SCS change creature saves? I'm trying to charm Glaicus with Nymph Cloak and Ring Of Human Influence, but are failing to do so. I checked his saves with NearInfinity, and it's
vs spells 7 (4 with the ring) vs breath 4
So using both my success should be about 28%. But I've tried 10 times and chance of it not working is something like 4% but it isn't working?
Charming Glaicus took some effort. Tried casting doom in his vicinity but was too slow every time because he applies speed potion and interrupts my casting. So I alerted him, drank invisibility potion, waited his Oil of Speed to end, doomed him and then charmed him.
LoB creatures recieve a +5 bonus to their saves @histamiini.
Lady Gulaishema has used the Basilisk XP loop and is already sitting at level 8 after fifteen minutes of work. She collected the first items like Ankheg Armor and kited Greywolf down to get his Sword. Killing Meilum proved to be more difficult cause she ran into a huge group of Kobolds. Retreating was not a good idea cause after retraveling to Firewine Ruins the number of Kobolds had doubled. Damn. To get around this problem she tried to charm - and it worked. Meilum was feeded to the angry Kobolds so she could finally grab his Gloves and retreated quickly from this horror...
Does LoB or SCS change creature saves? I'm trying to charm Glaicus with Nymph Cloak and Ring Of Human Influence, but are failing to do so. I checked his saves with NearInfinity, and it's
vs spells 7 (4 with the ring) vs breath 4
So using both my success should be about 28%. But I've tried 10 times and chance of it not working is something like 4% but it isn't working?
LoB gives everyone +5 to saves. The ring offers a save vs spells at +3 and the cloak save vs breath at +1 - so in LoB neither of them has a chance to affect Glaicus (unless you use something like malison, archer called shot, doom etc).
Thanks, so applying doom I should get 1/20 chance with either of them.
In theory you should not have had a chance to charm him. With the ring for instance his required save is 4, which is pushed up to 6 by doom - but LoB adds 5 to the dice roll, so even a roll of 1 would save. The reason why charming was possible is a bug associated with specialist mage bonuses and penalties - see this summary explanation (Glaicas is an unkitted fighter).
Does LoB or SCS change creature saves? I'm trying to charm Glaicus with Nymph Cloak and Ring Of Human Influence, but are failing to do so. I checked his saves with NearInfinity, and it's
vs spells 7 (4 with the ring) vs breath 4
So using both my success should be about 28%. But I've tried 10 times and chance of it not working is something like 4% but it isn't working?
LoB gives everyone +5 to saves. The ring offers a save vs spells at +3 and the cloak save vs breath at +1 - so in LoB neither of them has a chance to affect Glaicus (unless you use something like malison, archer called shot, doom etc).
Thanks, so applying doom I should get 1/20 chance with either of them.
In theory you should not have had a chance to charm him. With the ring for instance his required save is 4, which is pushed up to 6 by doom - but LoB adds 5 to the dice roll, so even a roll of 1 would save. The reason why charming was possible is a bug associated with specialist mage bonuses and penalties - see this summary explanation (Glaicas is an unkitted fighter).
Oh yeah forgot that 1/20 is actually always a save. Took a quick look of that and didn't understand anything.
Rune Assassins do indeed ignore invisibility. You can take advantage of that by dragging them upstairs one at a time without any of the other enemies following.
Making progress, slowly but surely. Circus Tent, after defeating Kalah almost died in the cutscene because Shadows kept smacking me like 3 seconds after, but anyway got onto lv10. What to do? I heard graveyard is idyllic this time of the year. Helped some ghost child to get his teddy bear, what perfect work for spawn of Lord of Murder right? Robbed all the tombs as graverobbing is made for a (weak) Paladin right? Got an Axe +2 in the process. Went into Druid Grove and with help of sanctuary got the Belm +2, to get 5 apr with Oil Of Speed. Started pretty much every stronghold guest and advanced them to a point where I couldn't advance anymore. And I've now aquired abilities such as charm, improved invisibility and mirror image and also got a Frostreaver +3 axe from De'Arnise stronghold. Helped Sir Sarles (Sir?) to get some Illithium (yes the right kind of) and after a while got to lv13 which got me my own Skeli. Of course it's a weak one, but it's my own damn it. And getting to lv13 I was finally strong enough to free some slaves in the Copper Coronet. Anyway getting stronger by the day. Soon even Lady Gulaishemama wont be able to stop me from aquiring all the powers to be the bhaalspawn!
Oh yeah almost forgot, visited also Watchers Keep and got a Potion Case and Paladin Bracers.
Well it is based on it, but I played IWD recently and had the feeling HoF is far less extreme. On the other hand it's kinda hard to tell, since you get much higher level in IWD and the enemies in the starting areas are pretty simple, kiting is your friend and there is not a lot of ranged/magic enemies until you get higher level than SoD cap and pretty powerful with certain classes. (Mages are relatively weak due to lack of scrolls, but Sorcs are monsters.)
The adjustments to enemies are the same. What's different and makes HoF feel so much easier is that by default you get vastly more experience for those enemies in IWD - and therefore you shoot up very rapidly in levels. That means that after kiting a few groups of goblins you can produce a virtually invulnerable party (boosted by great summons and regeneration from your bard).
This is completely correct. And there's an option to make more experience possible in BG as well.
Change 0 to 1 in the following line, and then LoB in BG will be precisely as HoF in IWD.
It was decided, though, for LoB to leave the XP bonus at 0, as high XP breaks the game, even on LoB. You can find old posts by @Gotural where he (back when the XP bonus was ON) finished the Irenicus dungeon with HLAs already available.
A little comment, please take no offense. The game even allow you to import an entire 9 level team to start, then how with XP bonus enabled dose break the game? In me thinking, with XP bonus enabled is the only way to make you play fairly and let you play from ground zero(with level 1 characters), even you may gain your level rapidly, there are still level caps holding back your character, plus the items and spells are limited with BGEE, this will not eventually make your party invulnerable. It's insufficient when compare Baldur's Gate with Icewind dale, both are quite different with play style. In Baldur's Gate LOB mode, even your entire team have reached the level cap, there are still a hell lot of challenges, with XP bonus enabled just let your party get right on track. Dose anyone want to present a comment on this?
PS: I have try begin my character from level 1 with no XP bonus recently, the process is completely a misery, if you want to recruit one of your favorite characters, such as Viconia and Neera, in most case, they would be killed during the fight. With no level, no XP, no spells, no THAC, there will be no kill, no kill then no mission accomplished, then no XP, no level up, and so on and on and on...I just think that there shouldn't be too much persistency.
Just take a closer look at this thread @kingnight and you will see that there are many ways to get fast and easy XP without the bonus - the most infamous one being the Basilik-XP-Loop that pushes you to the XP cap in no time.
Dont feel to secure @histamiini Lady Gulaishema is cracking her ways towards SoD. Even though i must admit: She is running into trouble all day long.
1. Stepping into the Magic Missile Trap in the Nashkel Mines while already being low and surviving with only 8 HP. 2. Eating a Chromatic Orb from Tranzig cause of mistiming - thanks to the evil gods she somehow saved 3. Got catched in the Bandit Camp cause i was not focusing on the game. She took several arrows and a Horror before escaping. 4. Taurgosz broke his Charm for no apparent reason (this bug again) 5. When retreating from Drasus after another mistimed Fireball action she went back to kill them all but Drasus has vanished. Searched the whole map but he was gone. With other words: Gulaishema had to move on wihout Boots of Speed. 6. At least Davaeorn was taken out clean and swiftly - hurray!
Baldurs Gate next - time to finally get some Speed Boots. Hopefully!
Okay, okay. After disrespecting the enemies too much Gulaishema went down in the Iron Throne. She tried to trick the backstabbers and charmed one of the named ones. They used their invisibility potions on Naaman so Gulaishema prepared to tank them down with ease. But turning around a corner proved to be a fatal error cause the Assassins stealthed again and hit her once. Still refusing to flee she healed up instead of using an Invisibility Potion. Only seconds later a fatal misstep let her walk directly into the arms of one Assassin who instakilled her with a 96 damage backstab. Game over! Time to rethink my risk taking.
I am thinking about crossing the red line or - with other words - give some kind of Mage a chance.
At the moment i am mostly attracted dualing a Mage at level 3 or 5 into Fighter but i am not sure if i should take a vanilla mage or some kind of specialist. I remember @Grond0 taking a Illusionist. Sounds good but wont it hurt to loose all those precisous Skull Traps in the end? Any thoughts are welcome!
Just take a closer look at this thread @kingnight and you will see that there are many ways to get fast and easy XP without the bonus - the most infamous one being the Basilik-XP-Loop that pushes you to the XP cap in no time.
Dont feel to secure @histamiini Lady Gulaishema is cracking her ways towards SoD. Even though i must admit: She is running into trouble all day long.
1. Stepping into the Magic Missile Trap in the Nashkel Mines while already being low and surviving with only 8 HP. 2. Eating a Chromatic Orb from Tranzig cause of mistiming - thanks to the evil gods she somehow saved 3. Got catched in the Bandit Camp cause i was not focusing on the game. She took several arrows and a Horror before escaping. 4. Taurgosz broke his Charm for no apparent reason (this bug again) 5. When retreating from Drasus after another mistimed Fireball action she went back to kill them all but Drasus has vanished. Searched the whole map but he was gone. With other words: Gulaishema had to move on wihout Boots of Speed. 6. At least Davaeorn was taken out clean and swiftly - hurray!
Baldurs Gate next - time to finally get some Speed Boots. Hopefully!
Thank you for reply, I have seen the discussions about the pre-mentioned Basilisk XP Loop. A marvelous discovery I had to admit, but in my consideration, I still think it as some kind of cheating, no offense, because it allows you to gain large benefits repeatedly without taking too much efforts. If you go to that way, then why not just open up XP bonus and save the efforts, I didn't see too much differences between the two cases. I think why so many people feel uncomfortable about the XP bonus is because it force you to change your game rules, but it's OK then, how can you just not receive a bonus by killing an enemy that is far more powerful than you. If somebody still think that there shouldn't be any bonus, then what make you feel difference, even under the circumstances of turning off the XP bonus, between killing normal beast and a powerful enemy such as lich or vampire etc.Besides, if you used some kinds of unofficial tricks just like the infamous Basilisk loop do, then you have already violated the rules. So, there should be, even have to be a bonus if you want to take the LOB challenge, because the enemy is too far more powerful than you at the very beginning, it is unbalanced because you can even hardly get started. Beside, just like I previously said, the XP bonus is just a key to get yourself right on track, even you reach your level cap, there are still gaps you can't even mend, such as all the enemys still have a 3~4+ level ahead of you, enemys still have enough saving throws to disable most of your spells, enemys still attack faster and cause more damages than you and are harder to kill, most of the wizard spells can still instantly end your life. Isn't that not even enough? Level up is just the beginning, there are still great pictures ahead. Still, words that I most wanted to spit, is that game designers are really cunning enough to trick players by letting the XP bonus setting remained hidden under a .lua script instead of open it up as a switch within the game.
I assume he means creating a human Illusionist then dual class it to a fighter, not the other way around.
@Harpagornis, maybe consider an Enchanter? Enemies will receive a penalty to charm/domination/chaos spells. You'll miss out on magic missile/fireball/lightning but I'm sure you can use wands in their place instead.
Hm I would not dual a mage into a fighter at level 3 or 4.
@kingnight totally agree the xp bonus doesn't really make the game easier because of the xp cap. For a full party it's just much more convenient, for a solo it's unnecessary but for 6 chars leveling can be a pain.
Trying to crack De'Arnise and grinding my way through the trolls slowly. Damn Spirit trolls are annoying with their Strenght drain, so I concentrated first hunting them, and after cleared the first floor. Using chokepoint tactic works well after you've killed the Spirit Trolls. I'm seeing a lot of trolls also stuck each other, bug of LoB's many enemies? Second floor was mostly the same. Was able to alert -> invisibility -> wait -> doom -> charm Glaicus for xp. Killed all the golems 1 by 1 and raided the floor, hit lv14. Time to meet this TorGal. The mob completely destroyed me, so I had try to disperse them. And quickly learnt that luring them 1 by 1 into the library room where the Yuan-ti mage was, and shutting doors let me have some quality time with them alone. This is how I wiped the mob out, Yuan-ti mages, Greater Trolls and Umber Hulk Elders. Then tried to take on TorGal. A whole lot of nope. He has like 90% DR and hits always and can see through invisibility. Tried to kite him with +3 Axe but he has too fast health regen. Tried some spells on him but didn't get anything through. Does SCS change TorGal's stats and is there a way to find how? According NearInfinity he has 30 MR and save vs spell 7. I doomed him to 9, taking LoB into account 4. But I can't hold him when I should've 10% chance. It goes sometimes saved vs spell and sometimes magic resistance, magic resistance is first right? Anyway left TorGal on his own for now.
Did almost all the mundane jobs in Athkatla. Was strong enough for the Crypt King in the graveyard, hit lv15 in the sewers and I now have also * in Two-Handed Weapon Style and Two-Handed swords. Getting ready for my ultimate prize.
Time to do some lich hunting. Lich 1 in the sewers. Used PfU and waited his Pit Fiend to unsummon, ran away his Planetar around the Unseeing Eye base, waited his demons to unsummon and just meleed him away. Lich 2 in the Bridge District. Used PfU and just meleed him interrupting his spell casting. Lich 3 in the City Gate District. This time used PfU on him and he could do nothing. See getting better by the minute. Also got Daystar +4 vs Undead and went to meet Kangaxx. Used PfM on his lich form and he couldn't cast any spells then after he transformed to Demi I used a PfU on him and casually meleed him away with Daystar +4. Got my second end game item, Ring Of Gaxx which also meant immunity to disease and Improved Haste thrice a day, or 9 apr with me Axe +3 and Belm.
Was it time for Firkraag already? Went to meet him, nothing too hard in this dungeon. Juggernaut Golems had ridiculous DR like 90, but luckily they didn't hit that hard. Killed Director straight melee taking one healing pause. Killed Samia's gang by dispersing them and taking them 1 by 1. Killed Adamantium Golem trapping him on a door and just casually hitting him from range with an Axe +3 and had a cup of coffee at the same time. Didn't bother with the Undead mob. Hit lv16. Waited Conster to waste his spells by going invisible couple times and just meleed him away. Tried to give Firkraag a Rigid Thinking but his save was 1 and after dooming him I was too slow trying cast it. Also didn't have Boots of Speed yet so couldn't out run him. So I left him be. I'll be back.
Speaking of Boots of Speed. Final showdown with Mae'Var, got the Cleric with improved haste, retreated outside, healed and went inside. Had all the luck in the world when Mae'Var blocked all the other enemies in the door and I just meleed him away. Retreated once again, healed, and wasted the rest of the assassins. Hit lv17 which meant I reached my max base saves, 4 vs spells. Charmed Renal and made him attack his fellow thieves, and got instakilled everytime. Don't know what killed me, but after making Renal attack I quickly went outside, used Sanctuary and then came back in to watch Renal getting wasted. Got all his stuff including Boots Of Speed. Sweet. One problem though, all the Shadow Thieves were now my enemies, including Aran Linvail who was actually invisible. Although using Invisibility Purge and then force talking to him got the guest rolling, I didn't want to risk it, rolled previous save and let poor old Renal be for now. Time to attack Watchers Keep.
Here an old text challenging Torgal as a Warrior @histamiini:
Fighting Torgal – Warrior Edition
Improved Torgal with all his adds can be a real nightmare. But even Torgal alone is a fearsome enemy: He moves fast, hits hard (three or four hits and Su´kka is done), uses Mantle of Fear as well as a slowing attack. And: He regenerates quickly and will use several healing potions!!!
To stand any chance in this fight Su´kka used a very important fact: Only Torgal can see through invisibility and will follow you forever – alone! This means: Get in range of Torgal and his party → go invisible → lure Torgal to the stairway. Climbing the stairs stops the movement of Torgal.
In a perfect scenario Torgal should now wait right before the room with the stairs. This will give you all the time to buff yourself up once you go down again.
Preparation for the waiting Torgal: Simulacrum + Oil of Speed + Holy Might → Lure Torgal intro the stairway room → close the door so the other Trolls do no get attracted → Rage + Attack!
Fighting Torgal alone is still tricky cause of his insane damage output and regeneration. The trick was: Wait for Torgal to pick one target -> move this target back while the second warrior continues hacking him down. If he switches the target you switch too – and so on. Thanks to the Flail of Ages slowing effect this gets a lot easier.
In my case both Su´kkas were still standing at the end - what a fight! Most important: Never ever forget to keep Rage up all the time – otherwise the mantle of fear might turn the tide into Torgals favor!
If i remember correctly @Arctodus managed to sling Firkraag down with his pure Fighter but Speed Boots or Oil of Speed will be mandatory then.
Charming Mae´Var himself is also funny. Not to forget: It seems there is an auto-kill-script when trying to kill Renal. But as the Planar Prison isnt far away you should get your Speed Boots soon!
@histamiini About Torgal, which Hold Spell did you try? I'm not sure which one would work vs trolls. (Apart from the obvious Hold Monster) Hold Person should not work vs trolls and he obviously is not undead. Also if he has 30% MR you don't really have a 10% chance against a save of 4.
Preparation for the waiting Torgal: Simulacrum + Oil of Speed + Holy Might → Lure Torgal intro the stairway room → close the door so the other Trolls do no get attracted → Rage + Attack!
Fighting Torgal alone is still tricky cause of his insane damage output and regeneration. The trick was: Wait for Torgal to pick one target -> move this target back while the second warrior continues hacking him down. If he switches the target you switch too – and so on. Thanks to the Flail of Ages slowing effect this gets a lot easier.
Charming Mae´Var himself is also funny. Not to forget: It seems there is an auto-kill-script when trying to kill Renal. But as the Planar Prison isnt far away you should get your Speed Boots soon!
That's interesting tactic! But I've to wait until I get Deidre and the helm. Could also try TorGal after getting 65 DR with Hardness and AoF.
I think I'll get Renal killed after I've dealt with the Undead, so I don't have to force talk to Linvail but only once, and that way I can have Boots of Speed and challenge Firkraag, and get Carsomyr into Spellhold.
EDIT: oh yeah Planar Prison, not Spellhold. So I don't have to get Renal killed after all.
@histamiini About Torgal, which Hold Spell did you try? I'm not sure which one would work vs trolls. (Apart from the obvious Hold Monster) Hold Person should not work vs trolls and he obviously is not undead. Also if he has 30% MR you don't really have a 10% chance against a save of 4.
Oh yeah how silly of me using Hold Person. Well he's a talking Troll so why not?
I created Vynn the Human Enchanter who dualed to Fighter at level 3.
So far things have been running really smoothly:
Grabbed the Ring of Protection and Ring of Wizardry → Escaped an ambush by Hobgoblin during travel to High Hedge → Arriving at Shoals Coast a Wolf appeared out of nowhere forcing retreat → Managed to reach Shoal on second attempt taking her down with the help of the Fairy Dragon → Pushed to level 3 Vynn rested near the map border memorizing 2x Invisibility which will make traveling much safer → Watched how Drizzt was slain by a group of Gnolls and took his items → Reached Nashkel and took theAnkheg Plate, bought 17x Stone to Flesh Scrolls → Visited Nashkel Carnival and left it with PfP-Scroll, Necklace of Missiles & Shield Amulet → Traveled without problems to Beregost where Algernon met his fate → Moved on the temple to get some more Stone to Flesh Scrolls → Reached the basilisk area and charmed a Lesser Basilisk on third try → Executed the Basilisk-XP-Loop and dualed at Mage level 3 to Fighter → Vynn left the basiliks at Fighter level 8 and traveled to Ulgoths Beards where he buried Dushai outside of the village to get his Ring of Free Action
Now its time to push reputation to 20 before moving on with the main quest.
P.S. Keep going @histamiini - things should become easier with every level you get.
Watchers Keep Level 1. Dealt the annoying Vampire Wraiths 1 by 1 with the help of Negative Plain Protection. Alerted the first 4 statues, damn these are tough. Well the fighter variations were tough, clerics fell pretty easily 1on1. Hit level 18 and got myself a Deva, damn these are also tough, for once LoB was being fair! Alerted the next 8 statues, and dispersed them through out the level. With the help of Deva was able to pick them up 1 by 1, lastly ranged the large Golem through a door hole. Upgraded my Axe +3 to Usuno Blade +4, and I'm now carrying 10 melee weapons for their various abilities. Can't wait to get the bag of holding eventually.
Is it really worth picking up the second * on Two-Handed Weapon Style, if I'm pretty much using Improved Haste and Greater Whirlwind rest of the game?
Watchers Keep Level 1. Dealt the annoying Vampire Wraiths 1 by 1 with the help of Negative Plain Protection. Alerted the first 4 statues, damn these are tough. Well the fighter variations were tough, clerics fell pretty easily 1on1. Hit level 18 and got myself a Deva, damn these are also tough, for once LoB was being fair! Alerted the next 8 statues, and dispersed them through out the level. With the help of Deva was able to pick them up 1 by 1, lastly ranged the large Golem through a door hole. Upgraded my Axe +3 to Usuno Blade +4, and I'm now carrying 10 melee weapons for their various abilities. Can't wait to get the bag of holding eventually.
Is it really worth picking up the second * on Two-Handed Weapon Style, if I'm pretty much using Improved Haste and Greater Whirlwind rest of the game?
It's not worth putting a 2nd pip into 2h weapon style, but if you don't have a good alternative I'd rather put it in there than in something you're never gonna use.
As soon as you hit more than one attack your initiative goes up like crazy and if you use GWW you should be on 0 with pretty much any 2h weapon. Carsomyr is pretty fast with 4 base speed factor and staffs are even faster. You don't get the extra initiative from specialization as a fighter gets, but just the high amount of attacks should boost your initiative to the maximum.
@Victor_Creed_SFV That's what I thought, so basically it's just 1 dmg more per attack. But I'll still probably take it as I can still specialize Flails and Bastard Swords which were my original plan.
After emptying Watcher's Keep 1st level I finally had enough money for the Thieves Guild. Did the first two guests for them and got couple nice items, including level drain protection. After which I went to help Haer'Dalis. Nothing too hard, got lv19 and Hardiness! With the help of Hardiness and Deva survived the first onslaught in Planar Prison and got probably the most important item in the game, Boots of Sweet Speed. Damn these Yuan-Ti mages are annoying when they wander all over place putting on Stone Skins, at least fight back. So I left the game on AI and when I returned they were dead. Master Thrall was a demon, a strangely weak demon who got pwned by me. And with the help Deva, and Hardiness I also defeated the Warden. This completed the second stronghold guest.
Was it finally time for TorGal? Lets find out. Went in, Mirror Image, Hardiness, Deva, 3x Improved Haste, done. Completed 3rd stronghold and got to lv20, which gave me the last lv4 spell slot and also a Whirlwind.
Comments
Lady Gulaishema has used the Basilisk XP loop and is already sitting at level 8 after fifteen minutes of work. She collected the first items like Ankheg Armor and kited Greywolf down to get his Sword. Killing Meilum proved to be more difficult cause she ran into a huge group of Kobolds. Retreating was not a good idea cause after retraveling to Firewine Ruins the number of Kobolds had doubled. Damn. To get around this problem she tried to charm - and it worked. Meilum was feeded to the angry Kobolds so she could finally grab his Gloves and retreated quickly from this horror...
In the mean time I'm driving Tanner out of the city, all well except Rune Assassins can see through sanctuary and attack me?
Oh yeah almost forgot, visited also Watchers Keep and got a Potion Case and Paladin Bracers.
PS: I have try begin my character from level 1 with no XP bonus recently, the process is completely a misery, if you want to recruit one of your favorite characters, such as Viconia and Neera, in most case, they would be killed during the fight. With no level, no XP, no spells, no THAC, there will be no kill, no kill then no mission accomplished, then no XP, no level up, and so on and on and on...I just think that there shouldn't be too much persistency.
Dont feel to secure @histamiini Lady Gulaishema is cracking her ways towards SoD. Even though i must admit: She is running into trouble all day long.
1. Stepping into the Magic Missile Trap in the Nashkel Mines while already being low and surviving with only 8 HP.
2. Eating a Chromatic Orb from Tranzig cause of mistiming - thanks to the evil gods she somehow saved
3. Got catched in the Bandit Camp cause i was not focusing on the game. She took several arrows and a Horror before escaping.
4. Taurgosz broke his Charm for no apparent reason (this bug again)
5. When retreating from Drasus after another mistimed Fireball action she went back to kill them all but Drasus has vanished. Searched the whole map but he was gone. With other words: Gulaishema had to move on wihout Boots of Speed.
6. At least Davaeorn was taken out clean and swiftly - hurray!
Baldurs Gate next - time to finally get some Speed Boots. Hopefully!
At the moment i am mostly attracted dualing a Mage at level 3 or 5 into Fighter but i am not sure if i should take a vanilla mage or some kind of specialist. I remember @Grond0 taking a Illusionist. Sounds good but wont it hurt to loose all those precisous Skull Traps in the end? Any thoughts are welcome!
@Harpagornis, maybe consider an Enchanter? Enemies will receive a penalty to charm/domination/chaos spells. You'll miss out on magic missile/fireball/lightning but I'm sure you can use wands in their place instead.
Just a thought!
@kingnight totally agree the xp bonus doesn't really make the game easier because of the xp cap.
For a full party it's just much more convenient, for a solo it's unnecessary but for 6 chars leveling can be a pain.
Did almost all the mundane jobs in Athkatla. Was strong enough for the Crypt King in the graveyard, hit lv15 in the sewers and I now have also * in Two-Handed Weapon Style and Two-Handed swords. Getting ready for my ultimate prize.
Time to do some lich hunting. Lich 1 in the sewers. Used PfU and waited his Pit Fiend to unsummon, ran away his Planetar around the Unseeing Eye base, waited his demons to unsummon and just meleed him away. Lich 2 in the Bridge District. Used PfU and just meleed him interrupting his spell casting. Lich 3 in the City Gate District. This time used PfU on him and he could do nothing. See getting better by the minute. Also got Daystar +4 vs Undead and went to meet Kangaxx. Used PfM on his lich form and he couldn't cast any spells then after he transformed to Demi I used a PfU on him and casually meleed him away with Daystar +4. Got my second end game item, Ring Of Gaxx which also meant immunity to disease and Improved Haste thrice a day, or 9 apr with me Axe +3 and Belm.
Was it time for Firkraag already? Went to meet him, nothing too hard in this dungeon. Juggernaut Golems had ridiculous DR like 90, but luckily they didn't hit that hard. Killed Director straight melee taking one healing pause. Killed Samia's gang by dispersing them and taking them 1 by 1. Killed Adamantium Golem trapping him on a door and just casually hitting him from range with an Axe +3 and had a cup of coffee at the same time. Didn't bother with the Undead mob. Hit lv16. Waited Conster to waste his spells by going invisible couple times and just meleed him away. Tried to give Firkraag a Rigid Thinking but his save was 1 and after dooming him I was too slow trying cast it. Also didn't have Boots of Speed yet so couldn't out run him. So I left him be. I'll be back.
Speaking of Boots of Speed. Final showdown with Mae'Var, got the Cleric with improved haste, retreated outside, healed and went inside. Had all the luck in the world when Mae'Var blocked all the other enemies in the door and I just meleed him away. Retreated once again, healed, and wasted the rest of the assassins. Hit lv17 which meant I reached my max base saves, 4 vs spells. Charmed Renal and made him attack his fellow thieves, and got instakilled everytime. Don't know what killed me, but after making Renal attack I quickly went outside, used Sanctuary and then came back in to watch Renal getting wasted. Got all his stuff including Boots Of Speed. Sweet. One problem though, all the Shadow Thieves were now my enemies, including Aran Linvail who was actually invisible. Although using Invisibility Purge and then force talking to him got the guest rolling, I didn't want to risk it, rolled previous save and let poor old Renal be for now. Time to attack Watchers Keep.
Fighting Torgal – Warrior Edition
Improved Torgal with all his adds can be a real nightmare. But even Torgal alone is a fearsome enemy: He moves fast, hits hard (three or four hits and Su´kka is done), uses Mantle of Fear as well as a slowing attack. And: He regenerates quickly and will use several healing potions!!!
To stand any chance in this fight Su´kka used a very important fact: Only Torgal can see through invisibility and will follow you forever – alone! This means: Get in range of Torgal and his party → go invisible → lure Torgal to the stairway. Climbing the stairs stops the movement of Torgal.
In a perfect scenario Torgal should now wait right before the room with the stairs. This will give you all the time to buff yourself up once you go down again.
Preparation for the waiting Torgal: Simulacrum + Oil of Speed + Holy Might → Lure Torgal intro the stairway room → close the door so the other Trolls do no get attracted → Rage + Attack!
Fighting Torgal alone is still tricky cause of his insane damage output and regeneration. The trick was: Wait for Torgal to pick one target -> move this target back while the second warrior continues hacking him down. If he switches the target you switch too – and so on. Thanks to the Flail of Ages slowing effect this gets a lot easier.
In my case both Su´kkas were still standing at the end - what a fight! Most important: Never ever forget to keep Rage up all the time – otherwise the mantle of fear might turn the tide into Torgals favor!
If i remember correctly @Arctodus managed to sling Firkraag down with his pure Fighter but Speed Boots or Oil of Speed will be mandatory then.
Charming Mae´Var himself is also funny. Not to forget: It seems there is an auto-kill-script when trying to kill Renal. But as the Planar Prison isnt far away you should get your Speed Boots soon!
About Torgal, which Hold Spell did you try?
I'm not sure which one would work vs trolls.
(Apart from the obvious Hold Monster)
Hold Person should not work vs trolls and he obviously is not undead.
Also if he has 30% MR you don't really have a 10% chance against a save of 4.
I think I'll get Renal killed after I've dealt with the Undead, so I don't have to force talk to Linvail but only once, and that way I can have Boots of Speed and challenge Firkraag, and get Carsomyr into Spellhold.
EDIT: oh yeah Planar Prison, not Spellhold. So I don't have to get Renal killed after all. Oh yeah how silly of me using Hold Person. Well he's a talking Troll so why not?
3/20*0.7 should be about 10%
So far things have been running really smoothly:
Grabbed the Ring of Protection and Ring of Wizardry → Escaped an ambush by Hobgoblin during travel to High Hedge → Arriving at Shoals Coast a Wolf appeared out of nowhere forcing retreat → Managed to reach Shoal on second attempt taking her down with the help of the Fairy Dragon → Pushed to level 3 Vynn rested near the map border memorizing 2x Invisibility which will make traveling much safer → Watched how Drizzt was slain by a group of Gnolls and took his items → Reached Nashkel and took theAnkheg Plate, bought 17x Stone to Flesh Scrolls → Visited Nashkel Carnival and left it with PfP-Scroll, Necklace of Missiles & Shield Amulet → Traveled without problems to Beregost where Algernon met his fate → Moved on the temple to get some more Stone to Flesh Scrolls → Reached the basilisk area and charmed a Lesser Basilisk on third try → Executed the Basilisk-XP-Loop and dualed at Mage level 3 to Fighter → Vynn left the basiliks at Fighter level 8 and traveled to Ulgoths Beards where he buried Dushai outside of the village to get his Ring of Free Action
Now its time to push reputation to 20 before moving on with the main quest.
P.S. Keep going @histamiini - things should become easier with every level you get.
Is it really worth picking up the second * on Two-Handed Weapon Style, if I'm pretty much using Improved Haste and Greater Whirlwind rest of the game?
As soon as you hit more than one attack your initiative goes up like crazy and if you use GWW you should be on 0 with pretty much any 2h weapon.
Carsomyr is pretty fast with 4 base speed factor and staffs are even faster.
You don't get the extra initiative from specialization as a fighter gets, but just the high amount of attacks should boost your initiative to the maximum.
After emptying Watcher's Keep 1st level I finally had enough money for the Thieves Guild. Did the first two guests for them and got couple nice items, including level drain protection. After which I went to help Haer'Dalis. Nothing too hard, got lv19 and Hardiness! With the help of Hardiness and Deva survived the first onslaught in Planar Prison and got probably the most important item in the game, Boots of Sweet Speed. Damn these Yuan-Ti mages are annoying when they wander all over place putting on Stone Skins, at least fight back. So I left the game on AI and when I returned they were dead. Master Thrall was a demon, a strangely weak demon who got pwned by me. And with the help Deva, and Hardiness I also defeated the Warden. This completed the second stronghold guest.
Was it finally time for TorGal? Lets find out. Went in, Mirror Image, Hardiness, Deva, 3x Improved Haste, done. Completed 3rd stronghold and got to lv20, which gave me the last lv4 spell slot and also a Whirlwind.