Brakko crushed Sarevok and friends. While Angelo was killed by the Skels (just waited for his buffs to expire) the rest was burned into the ground. Once Sarevok was alone Brakko kited him with Slingshots and Wand of Heaven until his evil brother went down. Nothing special.
Another start into SoD and another idiotic step into a potential deadly trap. A second of shock but - thanks to the good gods - Brakko saved. Too funny: I had disarmed every single trap but this one escaped my search (and memory). Korlasz was punched down by five Skels while Brakko had to use a Invisibility Potion this time as one sneaky backstabber tried to take him out (thanks Combat Log)!. With a lot of new stuff its time to revisit BG once more. Not to forget: Level 8/9 reached!
Brakko still in full control - Coastway Crossing cleared!!
At Coasway Crossing he had only one thing in mind "Revenge Sir Marcas!". Said and done he traveled to Coastway Forest, summoned five Skeleton Warriors and helped the Undead Hunters to defeat Tsolak and his wolf pack. But THIS time Brakko carefully disarmed all four traps while remembering poor Marcas for several seconds before putting an end to Tsolak. Job done! On his travel he watched some Trolls and Orcs fighting each other. With a quick Sanctuary he sneaked past them into a cave where he spotted a secret staircase in the water. Avoiding all the hard hitting Trolls around him he went down and quickly grabbed the fine Firefly Sling +2 and moved out again.
Back at Coastway Crossing he brought all Heirlooms back to Takos while keeping the always useful Identify Mirror. With the help of his undead friends he also cleared all spider infestations and revealed the secret of the ancient menhirs - fast and easy XP i call this. He then tricked Teleria the Mage with his Skeletons as she will not talk or attack as long as the MC is out of vision. Too bad Brakko is not able to use the Golem Figurine - 16 INT is far beyond his mind.
Time for the Undead infested Mines. With another call of five Skeletons he dispatched the first undead waves and rescued the Dwarves of Dumathoin. But before venturing forth he protected himself from Undead and sneaked through their lines without any danger. He lured the hard hitting Bronze Sentry into a sideroom and trapped it there, walked back to the Dwarves getting the Secret Revealed Stone which made short work of the Coldhearth Lich. Once the Lich went down without any retaliation Brakko burned it into oblivion. Fast and easy XP. Not to forget - the Dwarves promised to help in the upcoming fights. Good!!
As the bridge exploded once more Brakko has to find another way to Dragonspear Castle. The next maps will be funny!
So is the wand of the heavens, but you used that against Sarevok. Haven't you been holding on to INT boosting potions?
Either way nice progress man. Would you care to give me a very detailed description of the crusader attacks if you make it there? I haven't played that part in some time now, so your expertise would be very welcome
Well, why havent you mentioned before that the INT potions actuatlly stack @Blackraven ? LOL! Maybe the Golems will get the opportunity to have some fun! We will see!
The strategy against the Crusader Waves depends a bit on the class you are playing. As Cleric/Thief lacks Arrows of Detonation and Dispelling i have to switch back to some evil cheese. My plan so far:
- Trap the spawning area before first fight - Use Skeleton Warriors as decoy - Bomb them down with Necklace of Missiles - Swarm the area with Glyphs of Warding - Charm Mage(s) to precast Web (for Trolls)
As you can rest before talking in the Deadmans Pass you have - theoretically - all the time in the world. The main problems are the wandering troops that will trigger the Glyphs. So far there seem to be no safe point as they cross every section of the spawing areas. Damn it. Charming them wont help as new troops are constantly spawning. With good timing five or six Glyphs should be possible before resting fast to memorize the Skeleton Warriors. In my short tests the traps and glyphs alone are able to hurt the Trolls and Ogres quite a lot bringing some of them down to badly wounded. With Skels and Necklace of Missiles this should be enough to break them saving the Myconid and Golem summons for the third wave. Have to test more once Brakko is nearing the Crusader Waves.
Five Glyphs + seven traps + five Skeletons + summons + Necklace of Missile is NOT enough to stop the Ogre/Trolls. They just overrun me and the Dwarves. Even with precast Web many of them survive and keep hacking everything to pieces. I have to test it with a fully buffed and armed character. If everything fails Potion of Power stacking and Durlags Goblet should do the job. Also very important: Like always some of the Trolls or Ogres are trying to just run by to the barrel in the south. You know what happens then no?
Brakko stormed through the Fallen Temple and will be heading to Coalition Camp soon...
As Brakko skipped Morentherene the Green Dragon he directly moved to the Half-Dragon Ziatar. On his way he disarmed all traps (one of them in the Bugbear Cave deals 100+ damage for nice instakills) summoned five Skeletons and buffed up against incoming magic while also wearing Kiels Helmet (Fear!). After the talking he quickly retreated and closed the door nearby to cut down any incoming support. After the second approach Ziatar followed into the corridor where the Skeletons awaited her. Brakko on the other hand quickly closed the door behind her so the two Mages were out of the game too. The Skeletons did there job quite well while Brakko slinged nonstop and always healed up whenever her poison breath hit him. With an unstoppable Santuary Ziatar tried to heal herself up but always got disturbed by incoming Necklace of Missile Fireballs. Once she started attacking again the fight was quickly over with Ziatar falling on the ground.
Next was the Neothelid. Buffed up and surrounded by freshly summoned Skeletons Brakko lured the beast into the entrance room. As the Skeletons are immune to all of its mind affecting attacks it tried to melee them down - and failed. This was much easier than expected as only one Skeleton was killed while the rest was still unharmed.
High Priestress Akanna was ever more of a faceroll. With her Aerial Servants lured out of the room Brakko closed the door and summoned four Skeletons. Together with some slinging the Priestress went down within seconds - poor girl. Brakko quickly grabbed the Wardstone went invisible and finally moved out of this place again. No need to bother with the Shadow Aspect...
The fight for Bridgefort should be no big deal as long as we keep the Fire Elemental busy!
P.S. Bridgefort surrendered, the Skels tanked the Fire Elemental while Brakko slinged it down. Coalition Camp next!
Brakko rolled through the last maps preparing for the Crusader Waves. He tried (nearly) everything he could.
1. Set up seven traps plus 12 Glyphs of Warding 2. Charmed Dynaheir for Web 3. Summoned five Skeleton Warriors 4. Buffed up with everything boosting HP to 252 5. Called in the Dwarves of Dumathoin for help 6. Combined Slingshots with Necklace of Missiles 7. Summoned Ankhegs to distract the Ogres/Trolls 8. Tanked like a god the remaining ones (still 9!!!)
All of them were wounded, some of them nearly dead. With Durlags Goblet it seemed only a matter of time before they would go down one after another but..... well...... i dont know how the Ogre managed to do that but this slippery - and still hasted - guy suddenly ignored me and ran directly south to the barrel. And yes: He triggered the following waves to come one after another. Brakko tried his best and still survived more than two minutes but at the end.... just take a look:
What else went wrong here? Bad luck not only cause of slippery Ogres but also right in the beginning as most enemies saved against the Glyphs. In my tests they regularly failed but not here - damn.
Maybe i should have tried to place even more Glyphs. Would have been very (!) tricky cause of the wandering troops but should be doable. Another downside: If you accidently kill someone around infamous Andrus Gath will immediately port in and trap your soul - game over.
Sorry about that @Harpagornis, I wish I could have given you some advice, but Cleric/Thief with their low APR and limited crowd control spells seems like a really hard class for this part of the challenge.
Honestly I can only see myself get past hurdles like the crusader attacks using a character with arcane spells and wands, and even then I'd have to be lucky I think. But I want to try a non-arcane class, true to the original challenge as you created it last year. Hope to join you with another Archer or maybe a Stalker.
Well, well. Lessons learned. Maybe we should wake up Xaghul the Dwarven Fighter/Cleric now? There must be a way through. There must!!!
Xaghul with Martyrs Morningstar & The Hydra Flail should crush them into the ground - no?
@Blackraven: Yeah, any Ranger class should be big fun. My Archer failed against Big B cause he was counting on crits from Martyrs Morningstar - a big fault. Or bad luck! Stalker sounds cool too!
Okay, we let Xaghul out of his cage and - well - he made short work of Korlasz. Even his Skels survived with ease as the evil Mage could not withstand the incoming blows and slingshots. With a lot of loot - especially potions - Xaghul will take some rest before taking another visit into the city. Good night!
P.S. Silence works on Korlasz when casted pre battle. One just has make sure to wait until the spell ends before the talking triggers...
As Vynn is traveling we have stopped Xaghul for today. Next week he will hopefully get the chance to revenge Brakko and obliterate the Crusaders. In the meanwhile i have started with Lyzz the Human Beast Master. Maybe this will give @Blackraven a kick to join in again. No?
However: Her journey so far was full of – well – bones...
***** Starting with 36 HP thanks to Fairy Dragon? Yes please! ***** Weapon limitation is a problem? Pah. Dual wielding clubs for some real head banging! ****** Traveled to Shoal. Fairy Dragon tanked quite well and got hurt only a little bit. 20 Arrows fired - goodby Shoal. ***** Jumped to level 3. 64 HP already. Not bad, not bad. ****** Ambushed by Skeletons. Waved a short hello and quickly moved out. No hits, no damage. Too easy. How could she have known that this was only beginning? ***** In High Hedge two Skeletons suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Two Darts landed hitting for 4+2 damage. Stealthed out. ****** Another Skeleton appeared near Bassilus and started throwing. Hit for 6+4 damage. Ouch! ***** On her travel to the south a pack of four Skeletons ambushed Lyzz. They got some darts out but all of them missed. Phew! Looks like Undead are not liking Lyzz. Why? ***** Stealthed south and met Drizzt. Looks like he was on drugs cause he did not attack the Gnolls. Once he got critted down Lyzz quickly grabbed his equipment. Too bad she cannot use them. At least some gold! ***** Sure: Another undead ambush traveling south. This is really scary. The Ghast however was far too slow catching her – bye, bye! ***** Arrived at Nashkel. Looted the Ankheg Armor but – damn – Beast Masters cannot wear them either. Sold all the stuff to the eversmiling Merchant – 18827 gold now. Hah! Used it to buy 17x scrolls „Stone to Flesh“ at the local temple. ***** Moved on to Nashkel Carnival where a strange merchant offered a Violet Potion. Smells strange. Also got the always useful Shield Amulet and a scroll of Protection from Petrification. Poor Basilisks. ***** Traveled back to Beregost but – holy cow – another undead ambush. This cannot be. Four Skeletons tried to hunt down Lyzz – and failed. ***** Reached Beregost. Finally. Peaced up Marl and „released“ Algernon from his cloak. Now Lyzz is ready – time for some action! ***** Well, at least i thought so cause – damn – the game crashed. Must have been another undead attack. No? ***** How true these words were! Reloaded and traveled another time to Beregost but – you know it – Lyzz got attacked by Skeletons again. This must be a joke. However: They missed like noobs and Lyzz laughed at them. ***** Beregost, second try. Blabla with Marl. PuffPaff to Algernon. Ready again! ****** Arrived at the Basilisk area. Stealthed up to a Lesser Basilisk with Algernons Cloak on the – wait a moment. Forgot to identify it. Holy cow. Abort mission – back to the temple. ***** With the cloak identified Lyzz traveled back to the Basilisks and – no, no – no Undead this time! ***** Charm landed on second try. Good. New levels will be streaming in soon – beware undead creatures!!! *****
@Harpagornis, I've rolled a Stalker. Really cool character imo (portrait, voice, great roll). But then I started fearing all the traps... How do you guys deal with traps when playing a single-class warrior? This question is for you @Harpagornis, as well as for @histamiini and @Arctodus? The vampire cave in SoD for example. Would that simply be a no-go area for no-reloading purposes?
Traps are no problem for Warriors (and others) as long as you knew whats coming. For critical areas like Durlags Tower i always buff up with potions. Greenstone Amulet saved my life more than one time. Traps like the Vampire Cave or - even more hard hitting - the Bugbear Cave can be tanked quite easily with the Fighters HP pool. Pure Fighters should have ~140 HP which will be enough for nearly everything. What i have noticed is that Boots of Speed + Oil of Speed gives you a good chance to avoid traps completly. You are so fast that the trap will not trigger at all. Havent tested it extensivly but its something i am always wondering about in the Korlasz dungeon.
P.S. If you get the 80x Oil of Speed from Imoen in SoD you can always be fast as lightning!!!
Yeah, I can't help you much with this, @Blackraven, because I wasn't no-reloading with my fighters. And, when I tried no-reload with a Dwarven Defenders he died... to traps.
The only time I managed to finish BG1 in this challenge, I used a convinient mage/thief. He actually never died : he was parked indefinitvely in SoD. I think I still got him somewhere. I'll perhaps give him a go when my IR/SR run in the no-reload thread will end.
Okay, updated the challenger list. Too bad about Fafnir @chimaera. I am sure you could have been another new Lord of Murder! What about a no-reload Dragon Disciple?
@chimaera, my last run which ended in early SoD was a rep 1 run for 95% of the game. I didn't find it very interesting. It was on LoB difficulty. The party killed a couple of bounty hunters and law enforcers but eventually just avoided them with Invisibility. As for the linearity of ToB, have you ever played with the Wheels of Prophecy mod? It's supposed to give the player more freedom in terms of quest order and outcomes too I think. I always install it but since I'm a no-reloader, and not a brillant one at that, I almost never make it into ToB. So I can't say for sure if it would make ToB more interesting to you, but you might want to look into it.
With all equipment on board after some kiting sessions Lyzz followed the main campaign again. Sneaking to Mulahey was no problem and shortly after the evil cleric was feeded to his kobolds. Tranzig wasted his spells on Marl and summons while the Bandit Camp was a quick get in and out game. Nothing special.
Cloakwood Mines are next - tomorrow. But before going to bed Lyzz aquired the Mighty Oak +2 club from Amarande. She charmed the Druid Leader on her sixth try and sacrificed him to his brothers. The dual-wielding headbanging will start soon. Ah, i really like Rangers here for the free points in two weapon styles!
@Harpagornis: What does happen exactly if an enemy makes it to the barrels at the Coalition Camp? And you said that if you attack somebody next to Andrus, he imprisons you? Does that mean the game is over if Dosia dies? I thought some of your allies in the Coalition Camp fight were immortal.
@semiticgod: If enemies are able to run into vision range of Andrus (NOT Andrus Gath!!!) guarding the barrels she will blame you for failure and with it the next waves are automatically triggered. This means: The second wave Mages will join the fight in the west, one or two minutes later the third wave party will join and finally also the boss wave. With other words: You will get overwhelmed in no time without heavy CC or AoE damage.
One time - i thought it was with my Archer - i was able to beat them back as later on the immortal allies joined while i was firing Arrows of Detonation nonstop burning everything into the ground. It was still a very close battle with Andrus being wounded and all of her guards (except for the immortals ones) being dead. So if you like playing with fire: Thats the way to go!
If you kill anyone in camp Andrus Gath will appear and trap your soul. But you have some seconds before this happens. One time i killed the traitor to get Caelars Badge and just ran to the map edge traveling away. Once i was back the Mage was gone.
Lyzz made some huge progress and is heading to the final encounters in BG1 soon! Hopefully!
In the Cloakwood Mines luck was on her side as Drasus and friends all got charmed on first or second try this time. Once they were feeded to the guards Lyzz sneaked through the mines heading straight to Davaeorn. As the charm did not work on him she soaked up all trap damage thanks to Magic Blocking potion and parked the battle horrors as well as the evil Mage in the side room near the entrance. She then sneaked out of vision and waited until all guards had streamed in burning them into the ground with Necklace of Missiles. With only Davaeorn was left she buffed up against his spells (no chromatic orbs yeah!) and weared down his protections with a lot of arrows while soaking up his spells. Once he was without protection Lyzz rushed in and gave him some good headbanging with her clubs!
In the city of Baldurs Gate she quickly grabbed the Helm & Cloak of Balduran while doing Scars quests. She sneaked into the Iron Throne unseen and was sent back to Candlekeep where a Invisibilty Potion tricked the Ogre Mages. She charmed Rieltars Assassin and feeded him to his friends to get another easy two Invisibilty Potions before moving on to the catacombs. Buffed up against fire, lighting and magic missiles she looted the chests for the two precious Tomes. With a lot of loot it was now the moment to sneak out again unseen not bothering about the Dopplegangers or Prats party.
Time to get some more Tomes she thought and so she traveled through the lands using stealth to avoid any combats. With the last wisdom tome hiding in Durlags Tower she then decided to go directly for Durlags Goblet. Without Santuary and Skeletons this was at least a little bit of work. She buffed up against lighting & fire while also using Greenstone Amulet for this dreadful Dire Charm trap (i will always remember the one painful death thanks to it!!). Thanks to stealthing in and out it was only a matter of time until all Wardens were happy and the final confrontation at hand. Her main goal was clear: Quickly kill Love, get its Wardstone and move out.
She fully buffed up using even a precious Potion of Heroism while also shielding against Fears CC. Two wolfes were placed as decoys before the battle finally started. As Avarice and Pride could not see Lyzz she only had to deal with Love and Fear. While the latter one was unable to do anything to her Lyzz had to play hit and run with Love cause this little sucker can drop her HP really quickly. As Pride and Avarice still did not show up poor Love was unable to deal with the fast moving Beast Mistress who drained its HP slowly but surely. It was only a matter of time before Love dropped to the ground so Lyzz quickly grabbed the Wardstone and stealthed again. The next level was much easier as Lyzz shooted the Dummies one after another to open all doors. Only thing she had to do: Loot Kiels Helmet, ran back to the entrance room and wait until the Dopplegangers had shown up, reopen the third door and take Durlags Goblet for free. No fighting, no risk. With one of the most OP items in BG1 Lyzz stealthed out of this unholy place returning to the city of Baldurs Gate once more.
Time to visit Slythe and Cythandria!
P.S.: Sendai was charmed and feeded to her guards to get the wonderful Studded Leather Armor +2! P.P.S. Lyzz has 147 HP now. Cant get much better - no?
Does hitting the dummies in a particular order open all the doors in Durlag's Tower level 2? Did you not pick up Kiel's Helmet?
Note that the Cythandria fight is optional. With Slythe's invitation and his letter, you'll have your access to the Palacen and suffcient evidence against Sarevok.
I picked up Kiels Helmet @Blackraven - otherwise Durlags Goblet would be suicide!
I just hit the three dummies, grabbed the Wardstones as well as Kiels Helmet and waited in the entrance room for the Doppleganger ambushs. Once the door opens to the Goblet i grabbed it and sneaked out again.
Cythandria is optional? Holy cow! Why havent you told that before?
Lyzz almost can smell Sarevok but - holy cow - nearly got stopped cause of some unexpected "trouble"!
I just couldnt skip Cythandria as she had caused too much pain in the past!
Therefore Lyzz used her summons first so the Assassins wasted their backstabs on them. After that it was just tanking them down one after another. The two big Golems however she lured downstairs to open up the path for a fair 1vs1. Buffed up and protected against magic Lyzz dual-clubed on Cythandria destroying one Stoneskin after another and soaking up all spells. Some more invisibitly triggers later the Mage resigned and Lyzz got Sarevoks diary...
Next was Slythe and Krystin and - well - my wife. LOL. Lyzz charmed five guards, buffed up and tried to lure only Slythe to her new friends. The Assassin followed, got dispelled by an arrow and - yes - he wasted his backstabs on the guards. Too easy? No!
Cause now not only Kristin joined the fun but also my wife. While Kristin casted her ingame Confusion - which turned some guards hostile - my wife confused me with yelling from the side. Slythe had used my distraction and ignored all guards to rush in for Lyzz. He hit her like a truck and - for whatever reason - had all his buffs back. What??? Only a quick drink from Durlags Goblet saved Lyzz life. Phew!!! Thanks to Oil of Speed and Speed Boots she was then able to get some distance for another dispelling arrow - time to tank again. Now that should be an easy one - no? No!
Another confusion yell from my wife followed which put Lyzz into danger zone again and - even worse - Kristin moved in to start another spellcast. What to do? Heal up and eat her spell? Use a Magic Blocking Potion and risk to take another potential deadly hit from Slythe? Or move out and give Slythe the option to stealth again? Before i could answer that question or hit the pause button Lyzz landed a mighty 34 damage crit on Slythe who exploded into thousand pieces. She quickly grabbed his loot and moved out again right before Kristins confusion could hit her. HAH!!!
Damn this was closer then intended. Blame my wife. Or @Grond0!
Damn this was closer then intended. Blame my wife. Or @Grond0! )
Is that a touch harsh? It seems that not only am I responsible for my own unending list of deaths, but now I get blamed by other people - even when they don't actually die .
Comments
Another start into SoD and another idiotic step into a potential deadly trap. A second of shock but - thanks to the good gods - Brakko saved. Too funny: I had disarmed every single trap but this one escaped my search (and memory). Korlasz was punched down by five Skels while Brakko had to use a Invisibility Potion this time as one sneaky backstabber tried to take him out (thanks Combat Log)!. With a lot of new stuff its time to revisit BG once more. Not to forget: Level 8/9 reached!
At Coasway Crossing he had only one thing in mind "Revenge Sir Marcas!". Said and done he traveled to Coastway Forest, summoned five Skeleton Warriors and helped the Undead Hunters to defeat Tsolak and his wolf pack. But THIS time Brakko carefully disarmed all four traps while remembering poor Marcas for several seconds before putting an end to Tsolak. Job done! On his travel he watched some Trolls and Orcs fighting each other. With a quick Sanctuary he sneaked past them into a cave where he spotted a secret staircase in the water. Avoiding all the hard hitting Trolls around him he went down and quickly grabbed the fine Firefly Sling +2 and moved out again.
Back at Coastway Crossing he brought all Heirlooms back to Takos while keeping the always useful Identify Mirror. With the help of his undead friends he also cleared all spider infestations and revealed the secret of the ancient menhirs - fast and easy XP i call this. He then tricked Teleria the Mage with his Skeletons as she will not talk or attack as long as the MC is out of vision. Too bad Brakko is not able to use the Golem Figurine - 16 INT is far beyond his mind.
Time for the Undead infested Mines. With another call of five Skeletons he dispatched the first undead waves and rescued the Dwarves of Dumathoin. But before venturing forth he protected himself from Undead and sneaked through their lines without any danger. He lured the hard hitting Bronze Sentry into a sideroom and trapped it there, walked back to the Dwarves getting the Secret Revealed Stone which made short work of the Coldhearth Lich. Once the Lich went down without any retaliation Brakko burned it into oblivion. Fast and easy XP. Not to forget - the Dwarves promised to help in the upcoming fights. Good!!
As the bridge exploded once more Brakko has to find another way to Dragonspear Castle. The next maps will be funny!
So is the wand of the heavens, but you used that against Sarevok. Haven't you been holding on to INT boosting potions?
Either way nice progress man. Would you care to give me a very detailed description of the crusader attacks if you make it there? I haven't played that part in some time now, so your expertise would be very welcome
The strategy against the Crusader Waves depends a bit on the class you are playing. As Cleric/Thief lacks Arrows of Detonation and Dispelling i have to switch back to some evil cheese. My plan so far:
- Trap the spawning area before first fight
- Use Skeleton Warriors as decoy
- Bomb them down with Necklace of Missiles
- Swarm the area with Glyphs of Warding
- Charm Mage(s) to precast Web (for Trolls)
As you can rest before talking in the Deadmans Pass you have - theoretically - all the time in the world. The main problems are the wandering troops that will trigger the Glyphs. So far there seem to be no safe point as they cross every section of the spawing areas. Damn it. Charming them wont help as new troops are constantly spawning. With good timing five or six Glyphs should be possible before resting fast to memorize the Skeleton Warriors. In my short tests the traps and glyphs alone are able to hurt the Trolls and Ogres quite a lot bringing some of them down to badly wounded. With Skels and Necklace of Missiles this should be enough to break them saving the Myconid and Golem summons for the third wave. Have to test more once Brakko is nearing the Crusader Waves.
Five Glyphs + seven traps + five Skeletons + summons + Necklace of Missile is NOT enough to stop the Ogre/Trolls. They just overrun me and the Dwarves. Even with precast Web many of them survive and keep hacking everything to pieces. I have to test it with a fully buffed and armed character. If everything fails Potion of Power stacking and Durlags Goblet should do the job. Also very important: Like always some of the Trolls or Ogres are trying to just run by to the barrel in the south. You know what happens then no?
More tests coming soon...
As Brakko skipped Morentherene the Green Dragon he directly moved to the Half-Dragon Ziatar. On his way he disarmed all traps (one of them in the Bugbear Cave deals 100+ damage for nice instakills) summoned five Skeletons and buffed up against incoming magic while also wearing Kiels Helmet (Fear!). After the talking he quickly retreated and closed the door nearby to cut down any incoming support. After the second approach Ziatar followed into the corridor where the Skeletons awaited her. Brakko on the other hand quickly closed the door behind her so the two Mages were out of the game too. The Skeletons did there job quite well while Brakko slinged nonstop and always healed up whenever her poison breath hit him. With an unstoppable Santuary Ziatar tried to heal herself up but always got disturbed by incoming Necklace of Missile Fireballs. Once she started attacking again the fight was quickly over with Ziatar falling on the ground.
Next was the Neothelid. Buffed up and surrounded by freshly summoned Skeletons Brakko lured the beast into the entrance room. As the Skeletons are immune to all of its mind affecting attacks it tried to melee them down - and failed. This was much easier than expected as only one Skeleton was killed while the rest was still unharmed.
High Priestress Akanna was ever more of a faceroll. With her Aerial Servants lured out of the room Brakko closed the door and summoned four Skeletons. Together with some slinging the Priestress went down within seconds - poor girl. Brakko quickly grabbed the Wardstone went invisible and finally moved out of this place again. No need to bother with the Shadow Aspect...
The fight for Bridgefort should be no big deal as long as we keep the Fire Elemental busy!
P.S. Bridgefort surrendered, the Skels tanked the Fire Elemental while Brakko slinged it down. Coalition Camp next!
Brakko rolled through the last maps preparing for the Crusader Waves. He tried (nearly) everything he could.
1. Set up seven traps plus 12 Glyphs of Warding
2. Charmed Dynaheir for Web
3. Summoned five Skeleton Warriors
4. Buffed up with everything boosting HP to 252
5. Called in the Dwarves of Dumathoin for help
6. Combined Slingshots with Necklace of Missiles
7. Summoned Ankhegs to distract the Ogres/Trolls
8. Tanked like a god the remaining ones (still 9!!!)
All of them were wounded, some of them nearly dead. With Durlags Goblet it seemed only a matter of time before they would go down one after another but..... well...... i dont know how the Ogre managed to do that but this slippery - and still hasted - guy suddenly ignored me and ran directly south to the barrel. And yes: He triggered the following waves to come one after another. Brakko tried his best and still survived more than two minutes but at the end.... just take a look:
What else went wrong here? Bad luck not only cause of slippery Ogres but also right in the beginning as most enemies saved against the Glyphs. In my tests they regularly failed but not here - damn.
Maybe i should have tried to place even more Glyphs. Would have been very (!) tricky cause of the wandering troops but should be doable. Another downside: If you accidently kill someone around infamous Andrus Gath will immediately port in and trap your soul - game over.
However: Back to the drawing board!
Honestly I can only see myself get past hurdles like the crusader attacks using a character with arcane spells and wands, and even then I'd have to be lucky I think. But I want to try a non-arcane class, true to the original challenge as you created it last year. Hope to join you with another Archer or maybe a Stalker.
Good luck with your next attempt!
Xaghul with Martyrs Morningstar & The Hydra Flail should crush them into the ground - no?
@Blackraven: Yeah, any Ranger class should be big fun. My Archer failed against Big B cause he was counting on crits from Martyrs Morningstar - a big fault. Or bad luck! Stalker sounds cool too!
P.S. Silence works on Korlasz when casted pre battle. One just has make sure to wait until the spell ends before the talking triggers...
However: Her journey so far was full of – well – bones...
***** Starting with 36 HP thanks to Fairy Dragon? Yes please! ***** Weapon limitation is a problem? Pah. Dual wielding clubs for some real head banging! ****** Traveled to Shoal. Fairy Dragon tanked quite well and got hurt only a little bit. 20 Arrows fired - goodby Shoal. ***** Jumped to level 3. 64 HP already. Not bad, not bad. ****** Ambushed by Skeletons. Waved a short hello and quickly moved out. No hits, no damage. Too easy. How could she have known that this was only beginning? ***** In High Hedge two Skeletons suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Two Darts landed hitting for 4+2 damage. Stealthed out. ****** Another Skeleton appeared near Bassilus and started throwing. Hit for 6+4 damage. Ouch! ***** On her travel to the south a pack of four Skeletons ambushed Lyzz. They got some darts out but all of them missed. Phew! Looks like Undead are not liking Lyzz. Why? ***** Stealthed south and met Drizzt. Looks like he was on drugs cause he did not attack the Gnolls. Once he got critted down Lyzz quickly grabbed his equipment. Too bad she cannot use them. At least some gold! ***** Sure: Another undead ambush traveling south. This is really scary. The Ghast however was far too slow catching her – bye, bye! ***** Arrived at Nashkel. Looted the Ankheg Armor but – damn – Beast Masters cannot wear them either. Sold all the stuff to the eversmiling Merchant – 18827 gold now. Hah! Used it to buy 17x scrolls „Stone to Flesh“ at the local temple. ***** Moved on to Nashkel Carnival where a strange merchant offered a Violet Potion. Smells strange. Also got the always useful Shield Amulet and a scroll of Protection from Petrification. Poor Basilisks. ***** Traveled back to Beregost but – holy cow – another undead ambush. This cannot be. Four Skeletons tried to hunt down Lyzz – and failed. ***** Reached Beregost. Finally. Peaced up Marl and „released“ Algernon from his cloak. Now Lyzz is ready – time for some action! ***** Well, at least i thought so cause – damn – the game crashed. Must have been another undead attack. No? ***** How true these words were! Reloaded and traveled another time to Beregost but – you know it – Lyzz got attacked by Skeletons again. This must be a joke. However: They missed like noobs and Lyzz laughed at them. ***** Beregost, second try. Blabla with Marl. PuffPaff to Algernon. Ready again! ****** Arrived at the Basilisk area. Stealthed up to a Lesser Basilisk with Algernons Cloak on the – wait a moment. Forgot to identify it. Holy cow. Abort mission – back to the temple. ***** With the cloak identified Lyzz traveled back to the Basilisks and – no, no – no Undead this time! ***** Charm landed on second try. Good. New levels will be streaming in soon – beware undead creatures!!! *****
This can only get worse...
The vampire cave in SoD for example. Would that simply be a no-go area for no-reloading purposes?
P.S. If you get the 80x Oil of Speed from Imoen in SoD you can always be fast as lightning!!!
The only time I managed to finish BG1 in this challenge, I used a convinient mage/thief. He actually never died : he was parked indefinitvely in SoD. I think I still got him somewhere. I'll perhaps give him a go when my IR/SR run in the no-reload thread will end.
Is he not innocent?
Btw I read that Martyr's Morningstar crits only do 15% of the regular hp of enemies and don't apply to LoB bonuses.
Oh: Martyrs Monringstar crits Big B for 170 damage - just like it should be.
P.S. Anyone knows early Clubs +1 except for Krumm?
P.P.S. Reputation @20. Time to start the MC soon!
Hmm my Stalker will have to make do without Algernon's cloak
As for the linearity of ToB, have you ever played with the Wheels of Prophecy mod? It's supposed to give the player more freedom in terms of quest order and outcomes too I think. I always install it but since I'm a no-reloader, and not a brillant one at that, I almost never make it into ToB. So I can't say for sure if it would make ToB more interesting to you, but you might want to look into it.
Cloakwood Mines are next - tomorrow. But before going to bed Lyzz aquired the Mighty Oak +2 club from Amarande. She charmed the Druid Leader on her sixth try and sacrificed him to his brothers. The dual-wielding headbanging will start soon. Ah, i really like Rangers here for the free points in two weapon styles!
One time - i thought it was with my Archer - i was able to beat them back as later on the immortal allies joined while i was firing Arrows of Detonation nonstop burning everything into the ground. It was still a very close battle with Andrus being wounded and all of her guards (except for the immortals ones) being dead. So if you like playing with fire: Thats the way to go!
If you kill anyone in camp Andrus Gath will appear and trap your soul. But you have some seconds before this happens. One time i killed the traitor to get Caelars Badge and just ran to the map edge traveling away. Once i was back the Mage was gone.
In the Cloakwood Mines luck was on her side as Drasus and friends all got charmed on first or second try this time. Once they were feeded to the guards Lyzz sneaked through the mines heading straight to Davaeorn. As the charm did not work on him she soaked up all trap damage thanks to Magic Blocking potion and parked the battle horrors as well as the evil Mage in the side room near the entrance. She then sneaked out of vision and waited until all guards had streamed in burning them into the ground with Necklace of Missiles. With only Davaeorn was left she buffed up against his spells (no chromatic orbs yeah!) and weared down his protections with a lot of arrows while soaking up his spells. Once he was without protection Lyzz rushed in and gave him some good headbanging with her clubs!
In the city of Baldurs Gate she quickly grabbed the Helm & Cloak of Balduran while doing Scars quests. She sneaked into the Iron Throne unseen and was sent back to Candlekeep where a Invisibilty Potion tricked the Ogre Mages. She charmed Rieltars Assassin and feeded him to his friends to get another easy two Invisibilty Potions before moving on to the catacombs. Buffed up against fire, lighting and magic missiles she looted the chests for the two precious Tomes. With a lot of loot it was now the moment to sneak out again unseen not bothering about the Dopplegangers or Prats party.
Time to get some more Tomes she thought and so she traveled through the lands using stealth to avoid any combats. With the last wisdom tome hiding in Durlags Tower she then decided to go directly for Durlags Goblet. Without Santuary and Skeletons this was at least a little bit of work. She buffed up against lighting & fire while also using Greenstone Amulet for this dreadful Dire Charm trap (i will always remember the one painful death thanks to it!!). Thanks to stealthing in and out it was only a matter of time until all Wardens were happy and the final confrontation at hand. Her main goal was clear: Quickly kill Love, get its Wardstone and move out.
She fully buffed up using even a precious Potion of Heroism while also shielding against Fears CC. Two wolfes were placed as decoys before the battle finally started. As Avarice and Pride could not see Lyzz she only had to deal with Love and Fear. While the latter one was unable to do anything to her Lyzz had to play hit and run with Love cause this little sucker can drop her HP really quickly. As Pride and Avarice still did not show up poor Love was unable to deal with the fast moving Beast Mistress who drained its HP slowly but surely. It was only a matter of time before Love dropped to the ground so Lyzz quickly grabbed the Wardstone and stealthed again. The next level was much easier as Lyzz shooted the Dummies one after another to open all doors. Only thing she had to do: Loot Kiels Helmet, ran back to the entrance room and wait until the Dopplegangers had shown up, reopen the third door and take Durlags Goblet for free. No fighting, no risk. With one of the most OP items in BG1 Lyzz stealthed out of this unholy place returning to the city of Baldurs Gate once more.
Time to visit Slythe and Cythandria!
P.S.: Sendai was charmed and feeded to her guards to get the wonderful Studded Leather Armor +2!
P.P.S. Lyzz has 147 HP now. Cant get much better - no?
Does hitting the dummies in a particular order open all the doors in Durlag's Tower level 2? Did you not pick up Kiel's Helmet?
Note that the Cythandria fight is optional. With Slythe's invitation and his letter, you'll have your access to the Palacen and suffcient evidence against Sarevok.
I just hit the three dummies, grabbed the Wardstones as well as Kiels Helmet and waited in the entrance room for the Doppleganger ambushs. Once the door opens to the Goblet i grabbed it and sneaked out again.
Cythandria is optional? Holy cow! Why havent you told that before?
I just couldnt skip Cythandria as she had caused too much pain in the past!
Therefore Lyzz used her summons first so the Assassins wasted their backstabs on them. After that it was just tanking them down one after another. The two big Golems however she lured downstairs to open up the path for a fair 1vs1. Buffed up and protected against magic Lyzz dual-clubed on Cythandria destroying one Stoneskin after another and soaking up all spells. Some more invisibitly triggers later the Mage resigned and Lyzz got Sarevoks diary...
Next was Slythe and Krystin and - well - my wife. LOL. Lyzz charmed five guards, buffed up and tried to lure only Slythe to her new friends. The Assassin followed, got dispelled by an arrow and - yes - he wasted his backstabs on the guards. Too easy? No!
Cause now not only Kristin joined the fun but also my wife. While Kristin casted her ingame Confusion - which turned some guards hostile - my wife confused me with yelling from the side. Slythe had used my distraction and ignored all guards to rush in for Lyzz. He hit her like a truck and - for whatever reason - had all his buffs back. What??? Only a quick drink from Durlags Goblet saved Lyzz life. Phew!!! Thanks to Oil of Speed and Speed Boots she was then able to get some distance for another dispelling arrow - time to tank again. Now that should be an easy one - no? No!
Another confusion yell from my wife followed which put Lyzz into danger zone again and - even worse - Kristin moved in to start another spellcast. What to do? Heal up and eat her spell? Use a Magic Blocking Potion and risk to take another potential deadly hit from Slythe? Or move out and give Slythe the option to stealth again? Before i could answer that question or hit the pause button Lyzz landed a mighty 34 damage crit on Slythe who exploded into thousand pieces. She quickly grabbed his loot and moved out again right before Kristins confusion could hit her. HAH!!!
Damn this was closer then intended. Blame my wife. Or @Grond0!
Palace Ambush will be next - tomorrow!