@Wise_Grimwald Most likely you'll need to attach your save in the modding section (describing what mods you have installed) and ask the folks there to look at your save.
Thanks. I'll do that. Probably in BWS as I used their installer.
A question for the experienced SCS players, regarding SoA:
In which order do you usually complete the "big" (aka stronghold related) sidequests in chapter 2/3?
My current thoughts (based on only one very unsuccessful run quite some time ago) are along the lines of: De'Arnise Keep (except for Tor'Gal) and the Druid Grove should be pretty easy (I don't have tactics spirit trolls installed, unlike my previous attempt), the Temple Ruins as well (though protection from undead scrolls are removed in my installation), as long as I'm not high level enough to face liches. Mae'Var's guild should be doable if I can quickly take down Rayic Gethras (I think I have the right combination of spells available to achieve this). The Windspear Hills would force me to deal with powerful SCS vampires, though having an undead hunter is (hopefully) helpful. I have no idea yet how I should deal with behoders (they are at their most powerful in my installation), so the Unseeing Eye could be very dangerous (I know jelly form works quite well, but I'm not sure that will be enough for the bigger battles (the duration isn't too long, and the damage quite low), and in the past, I experienced some strange bugs with jelly form and the anti-magic ray, like getting stuck in jelly form literally forever). The planar sphere and astral prison sound pretty dangerous, I should propably save those for last.
I also have some questions regarding some specific types of enemies: Let's assume you have no anti-undead weapons or protection from undead scrolls available (a very likely scenario for me, as I use item randomiser): What are some good ways to deal with the more powerful types of vampires? I'm propably missing something really obvious here, but how do you quickly take down mages if they use SI:Abjuration to protect their buffs? The Shade Lord: I understand he has some pretty unique abilities - what exactly is required to safely kill him (once again, assuming that specific items aren't available)? Are there any other enemies with radically different abilities that I should propably really know about in early SoA?
Then Druid Grove. Use invisibility if necessary to go right to Cernd and let him deal with Faldorn. I use CTRL-Y to simulate his immortality in the original game, but otherwise, you should finish this quest whenever you have enough XP for Cernd to be at level 11. Then you can just have him repeatedly fight Faldorn, resurrecting him every time, until he lands Dolorous Decay on the first round. After that, she's a cakewalk. If you want Gnasher, bomb Dalok with Fireballs (the Efreeti Bottle is great for this; make sure you have Protection from Petrification before you fight the djinn).
Umar Hills. A Protection from Undead scroll and SI: Necromancy are enough to take down the Shade Lord, with a Sunstone Bullet to destroy the Shadow Altar. If you don't have Protection from Undead, just keep SI: Necromancy active and kite him. Secret Word and Breach can counter his numerous PFMW+Spell Deflection spells, if you can spare the spell slots. Put Death Ward on everyone who doesn't have SI: Necromancy and is visible; the Shade Lord casts Finger of Death and Chromatic Orb. No need to fight Thaxll'ssillyia.
Mae'Var. The only real danger is Rayic Gethras, and you can always repeatedly trigger the Fireball trap to kill him. Just make sure Charname is invisible or has Stoneskin when tackling Mae'Var; there's always a chance of a lucky backstab. Don't forget to buy the Nymph Cloak from Gorch before you assassinate Mae'Var.
Renfeld. Pai'Na (don't take Edwin there or he'll force you to fight the lich Nevaziah, and Fireball the spiders; they have really strong poison on the off chance they hit you). Rejiek Hidesman. Everything in the Unseeing Eye quest except for beholders. First two tasks for Bodhi or Aran Linvail. Free Hendak and the slaves, but make sure you have a thief to take down the petrification trap in the sewers and the Prismatic Spray trap in the slaver compound.
If you have 12 mage levels, learn Death Spell and use it to clear up the trolls in the De'Arnise Hold. When you get to TorGal, use summons to bait the spells out of the Yuan-ti Mages. Run away if the Yuan-ti approach the party without having spent their Chaos spells. If you snuck past all the trolls in the Druid Grove, now is a good time to wipe them out.
Windspear Hills, as much as your party composition allows. If you know how, walk around the spawn trigger for the undead room (you can view it with CTRL-4 if you don't already know where it is) to avoid fighting vampires. Traps are great for Samia (you can make her go hostile the first time you fight her if you threaten to steal the treasure for yourself) and for Conster. Don't fight Firkraag before Chapter 6.
If you have some really good anti-mage options, like Keldorn or a Wizard Slayer (or Insect Plague, if your SCS install doesn't nerf it), the Planar Sphere should be doable. Use the darts from the Cloak of Stars to kill Lavok, and avoid Tolgerias entirely if you're not ready for him. Remember that the tanar'ri's Death Gaze paralyzes you on a failed save vs. death and bypasses spell protections and MR (and I think it comes with Remove Magic, so buffs might not be safe).
Don't do the Planar Prison unless you have a really spectacular anti-mage option (Arrows of Dispelling aren't enough; you need a Wizard Slayer with Fire Seeds or a high-level Inquisitor or unnerfed Insect Plague). Kundane, the Boots of Speed, and Haer'dalis are not worth the gamble before Chapter 6. You can still kill Mekrath with little trouble; just don't enter the east area of his lair, lest you trigger a bunch of Yuan-ti Mages in a tight space.
Whenever you get the Amulet of Power and Protection from Magical Energy, you can try the first level of Watcher's Keep, but leave the Statues alone. Without the Amulet of Power and Protection from Magical Energy to deal with the Vampiric Wraiths, you can still avoid the main chamber and collect the Paladin's Bracers, the Crimson Dart, and the Golem Manual.
If you have Protection from Undead scrolls, you might tackle Kangaxx. But only if you really know what you're doing.
Do the third task for Bodhi or Aran Linvail (Potions of Absorption will defend you against vampire attacks if you have no Protection from Undead scrolls, but fighting against the Shadow Thieves is safer still). Tackle Mencar Pebblecrusher, but keep Charname protected from Brennan Risling's backstabs. Tackle Draug Fea and the Sewer Dwellers by charming Gaius with the Nymph Cloak. If you have a very strong party by this point, the Guarded Compound is doable. It's best just to nuke Koshi with damage spells and then escape with Invisibility 10' Radius. Koshi has terrible defenses and Celestial Fury is probably the only thing you really came for. If you can afford the Shield of Balduran, you can try finishing the Unseeing Eye quest. It's best to combine it with Vhailor's Helm; SCS beholders don't steal the shield from clones.
Use Ring of Human Influence to get into Spellhold. Run away from the Spellhold lich if you're high enough level to trigger it; use a Protection from Undead scroll on it if you have one. Buff the hell out of Charname before facing Bodhi in the maze. Unequip your gear before the fight with Irenicus so your clones arrive unarmed. Hit Irenicus with Cone of Cold and apply a bunch of magic attacks to break down his defenses; the other inmates will help you Breach him.
Buff with Chaotic Commands and fight the Kuo-toa Prince. Leave the mind flayer city and beholder hive well alone unless you have a very strong party. Buff the party with Protection from Fire, Death Ward, and SI: Abjuration to deal with the Balor (I think you'll also need Remove Fear and Chaotic Commands to block symbol spells).
If you know how to deal with the Underdark questline, do so. Set traps on the mind flayer ambush site and sneak past N'ashtar on the way to rescuing Phaere. Talk-block Taso Kala when you bring Solaufein's eggs to Phaerea so you don't have to fight the Ghaunadaur priests. Traps also work great on the Egg Guards, but otherwise you need to be careful: they have like 10 HP, but -8 AC and very high MR. If Ust Natha's defenses are buffed in your install and you don't have fighters with really good THAC0 or thieves with traps, burn a Limited Wish to get Time Stop so you can get guaranteed hits on the Egg Guards.
If you're not sure you can do all the Ust Natha quests just right, turn Adalon hostile and flee (you shouldn't need to kill her). Then fight your way past the drow guards at the Underdark exit.
Protection from Undead scrolls will get you past Chapter 6 Bodhi. If you can spare one, give one to Drizzt. If you have Manasseh and Hazarmaveth aiding Bodhi in your install (I think they only appear if you install the Tactics-style Improved Bodhi component), ignore them and just weather their attacks--the important thing is to deal lots of damage to Bodhi very fast (use holy water on the pool to Slow her). Bodhi is immune to level 1-2 spells and cold and electricity, and has 75% MR. Lower Resistance and Flame Arrow should work well on her, but you shouldn't engage her in melee unless you have PFMW or have drunk two Potions of Absorption (she uses a crushing weapon and two such potions will force her to land criticals on you).
Don't bother fighting the rakshasas and golems of Suldannessellar. Just collect the items to summon Rillifane (drop all your items before speaking to Nizidramanii'yt and trade all your gold for the goblet) and Rillifane will kill everyone.
If you don't have really strong anti-mage options, run away from Irenicus at the Tree of Life. There's lots of room to navigate, and haste and Potions of Invisibility will screw up his attempts to get a handle on the party.
If your party isn't strong enough to handle the Slayer in Hell, use a Protection from Magic scroll on it to block its spells (Jon-bon has both Time Stop and Horrid Wilting and the other demons spam Remove Magic). If you're strong enough, use Potions of Invisibility to stay safe from the Slayer's Time Stop spells and spread out across the map to fight the demons before tackling the Slayer when its defenses are low.
@Enuhal: Any magic attack can take down SI: Abjuration in SCS. You don't need an alteration spell like Ruby Ray of Reversal; SI: Abjuration only blocks Breach and Dispel/Remove Magic, not Spell Thrust/Secret Word/Pierce Magic/Ruby Ray/Pierce Shield/Spellstrike. But if the enemy also has Spell Shield, you'll need to cast another magic attack first.
Thanks @semiticgod - that's some great info! I don't have time right now to comment further upon what you wrote, but I will do so either this evening or tomorrow.
The main question that remains for me: Provided you don't intend to just run away or skip these encounters (and no special antimagic kits or items are available), how do you generally try to beat high level spellcasters like Tolgerias, the Warden, Liches or (especially) Kangaxx (no protection from undead scrolls are available in this installation)?
While I'm not exactly sure I can deal with anything else in early SoA without reloads, I think I have at least some solid ideas of how it COULD be done with relatively low risk (though we shall see about that). High level spellcasters still do seem really scary, though.
1) Tolgerias - easy. Tons of space, any anti-mage tactics work. Summons to waste spells, pop in and out of invisibility to get him to waste defences, and once he is out of PfMW, a single arrow of dispelling followed by quick onslaught or something like that.
2) Liches / Kangaxx: wait til you have the Cloak of Mirroring is safest. Still need exceptional saving throws and a ton of defences / debuffs if you’re not cheesing them.
3) Warden can be kited if you’re fast enough (boots AND oil of speed to be sure). Get him to waste as many of his HLAs as possible and keep running as soon as it looks like he is doing something nasty. You need to clear rest of the prison first to be safe. Once he is out of his big abilities, he’s easy enough.
4) Shade Lord is incredibly nasty. Protection from Undead scroll is the cheesy way (maybe use the remove 9/10 option in Randomiser rather than all). Otherwise you need a ton of buffs, including SI Necromancy. He is quite vulnerable to wand damage if you can’t always debuff his weapon defences.
There are many ways for any encounter depending on your playstyle and how cheesy you want to be. I tend to go for quite a lazy but safe playstyle: make myself immune to whatever they do, ride out the attacks (often requires lots of invisibility and healing potions), and then smash them once they run out of defences. You can go for more aggressive options such as trying to debuff rather than waiting out defences but sometimes that requires you to compromise your own defences (e.g. not enough spells/time/aura to do both) which is not great for solo no-reload.
Shade Lord and thus all of Umar Hills I've always found easy, for what it's worth. He can't see through Invisibility, and Better Calls for Help don't seem to apply to him, so my usual steps are going up the stairs Invisibly, getting everyone southwest of his position, then letting everyone with magical ammunition fight Patrick and the Altar. The Shade Lord should be alone now. From there, have someone invisibly get in sight range of the Shade Lord, and have one and only one ranged attacker take a shot, and retreat immediately after the attack roll is made. Either you get out of there in time, in which case the Shade Lord doesn't do anything, or that custom script of his fires and in that second of time, your only character's out of vision. I haven't lost a run at Umar in ages, and is probably the only stronghold quest where that's true for me.
In order of ease of completion, I usually do Circus -> Slavers -> Harper's Hold -> Umar -> Druid grove -> De'Arnise Keep -> Mae'Var IF you have True Seeing/True Sight, Unseeing Eye if you have enough untargeted ranged spells (Fireball, Cloudkill, etc.) -> Spellhold. The Planar Sphere and Prison are the worst two, both having high level spellcasters with solid immunities and no way to escape to the rest of the world if things go south terribly quickly.
Dealing with High Level Spellcasters: the main method is generally Summons. And more Summons after Death spell is used. Even high level liches have trouble getting past level 15-versions of Animate Dead after their Death Spells are gone. There're a few that'll ignore the skeletons, though: the lich you can release from the Underdark prison thing is a notable one that I keep forgetting about that almost always turns into a disaster. For Kangaxx, I'll use a precious Pro. from Magic scroll on my tank; neither form can get past that as far as I'm aware, and even with enhanced AI only seemed to focus on killing the nearest character.
@Neverused Do you play with the option allowing spellstrike to take down PfM scrolls? Because I would expect at least the first version of Kangaxx to be able to cast spellstrike, specifically to prevent this tactic (which is what I, as well, always do in vanilla) from working.
True, though Neverused mentioned using it on their tank. Does the scroll stick around once Kangaxx changes his form? I would expect the demi-lich version to be treated as a new entity.
Also, from the things I've read, a PfM scroll seems to be very useful or even needed for the Ascension battle at the throne, so I'm not sure if I can/should use the two available ones to fight demi-liches.
Just an alternative view on quest order. This is assuming solo. My perspective is to be as economical as possible in travelling rather than back and forth between Athkatla and the countryside.
1) Circus / everything in Promenade except Mencar’s gang. 2) Start chapter 2 and go straight to graveyard. 3) Clear out all upper tombs (some nice loot, especially with Randomiser something good can turn up, especially on Crypt King) but don’t go to lower tombs 4) Head for temple and take first ambush (Suna Seni’s gang, most of them are very weak and can be one-shotted) 5) Pick up all quests in Temple but don’t go to sewers or Guarded Compound 6) Government - pick up all quests and rescue Viconia 7) Back to Promenade - second ambush (also easy) to start Harper quest 8) Progess illithium quest / trade in Adventurer’s Mart (you probably already have 15k worth of loot). If feeling strong enough, now you can take out Mencar; otherwise wait until you have Lilarcor (immunity to charm and confuse very handy). 9) City Gates to pick up quest. This triggers third ambush, which you can fight or run depending on how difficult it looks. Naturally you’re not going anywhere near the lich yet. 10) Back to Slums and do the whole Coronet / slavers stuff. 11) Docks - do it all except Kangaxx. Thief stronghold is mega easy, Rayic Gethras is hardest bit but that’s a 1 on 1 fight which should be manageable as long as you pay attention to what he’s casting. Harper stuff gets you load of loot for minimal fighting. Pirates can also be cleared from their hideout. 12) Bridge. Do this in 2 rounds. First round: all the easy stuff / minimal fighting. Progress Fallen Paladins, skinner quest until basement, clear the noble estate (very easy and lots of gold), pick up all the quests. Second round is all the fighting, and great thing is you can do them one after the other with a lot of your buffs still running: kill the Fallen Paladins, then kill Captain Dennis’ crew, finish Buried Alive, and then Neb for illithium. Then do the skinner basement (polymorph mustard jelly makes you immune to the assassins, but not to the ghast or golem so they need to be killed fast). Finally do Valeria (highest chance of your buffs being dispelled, so do this last - but so many nice items possible with Randomiser). Naturally you are not doing lich or Rune yet. 13) Finish Sarles with fake illithium (store real illithium away) and pick up dawn ring quest (do that whenever convenient at night). 14) Clear lower tombs in graveyard (should be easy by now given your level and equipment) 15) Temple sewers. This is a spike in difficulty, especially Tarnor’s gang and the Rakshasa, so need to be well equipped and prepared. 16) Rescue Haer’Dalis. Some of the fights in here are tough, especially as you are likely to get 3 x yuan-ti mages and there is hardly any space. Mekrath himself is easy and you can run all around the compound if kiting necessary. 17) Planar Prison (!). Not for the faint of heart but I do this very early compared to most recommendations. Make sure you have all equipment and consumables (+ the rod of resurrection you get in Mekrath’s lair). You need to buff to the max for basically 4 big fights, as well as have buffs in reserve. Also somewhat notorious for SCS better calls for help messing a lot of things up when it comes to enemy movement and where they are (sometimes a lot of them kill themselves on the petrify trap near Warden). Because enemies wander all over the place, you can end up with mega-fights rather than a series of encounters. That said, the first fight is easiest (just beware of what the yuan-ti mage does, you likely have to leave him to last). The platform on the right with multiple yuan-ti mages is difficult, but you can head back left to stretch / kite. The Master of Thralls can be deadly if your buffs are removed, so you need to kill him fast (ignore elementals). And finally the Warden, who is insane except he can be (cheesily) kited to waste abilities (so in the end this fight becomes a doddle).
True, though Neverused mentioned using it on their tank. Does the scroll stick around once Kangaxx changes his form? I would expect the demi-lich version to be treated as a new entity.
Also, from the things I've read, a PfM scroll seems to be very useful or even needed for the Ascension battle at the throne, so I'm not sure if I can/should use the two available ones to fight demi-liches.
It's not a tactic I've used, but I think the idea is for a simmy to use the scroll(s) - thus allowing you to retain both copies for the future.
@Enuhal As I concluded after https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/783271/#Comment_783271 in "Accumulated Wisdom for BG2 Solo No Reload Games", if you don't solo, there're almost no reliable ways to kill the lich from the City Gates District with SCS before you return after the Spellhold (without reloading, ofc).
Time to leave Athkatla. Only things not yet done in Athkatla are:
1) Unseeing Eye quest 2) Planar Sphere 3) Guarded Compound 4) All liches (gates, bridge and sewers) 5) Kangaxx 6) Twisted Rune 7) Any chapter 3 stuff (assuming you have randomiser so no guarantee to get Amulet of Power. Otherwise you would definitely trigger this to get the Amulet)
18) de’Arnise Keep. Mostly a doddle, except for Spirit Trolls with their STR drain (you need to pop invisible and wait 50 rounds for this to expire!). The fact they keep going invisible and regenerate makes it hard to keep targeting them, but you really need to keep attacking one until dead. Torgal is tough with his support crew, but you can split them up to avoid fighting everyone at once. Lots of buffs needed but nothing majorly complex. 19) Umar Hills. Do the sidequests and kill Valygar while you’re here. The dungeon bit is tough but manageable. The liches that spawn are not true, full-powered SCS liches. The only high level spells they cast are the scripted ones (i.e. chain contingency, sequencers etc), otherwise it’s mainly defences and low level spells that they use. Greater mummies should be treated with respect, they hit hard. Dragon can be skipped or killed easily with the Limited Wish scroll from Adventurer’s Mart (use the one-off wish for Time Stop to chop it into pieces while it has no defences up). Shade Lord strategies already discussed. 20) Trademeet and Druid Grove. Do it all while you’re here, there’s no single particularly difficult encounter. Cernd can be used to kill Faldorn in a non-cheaty way by using Rod of Resurrection to heal him any time his HPs get too low. 21) Windspear Hills. Most of it is straightforward, biggest danger is the vampires. One slightly cheesy way to deal with them is to buff to max, cast Mislead in one of the rooms, run out (closing doors behind you), and chop them up as fast as poss. Not easy because they do move around a lot and likely to require multiple castings of Mislead (use invisibility to escape as soon as it expires, unless you want to be shredded apart). Firkraag can be done at the end or you can leave him to Chapter 6 if not confident. You just need full gamut of buffs (fire resistance, fear resistance, weapon defences) and SI Abjuration, he basically can’t touch you if your defences are sound. 22) Back to Athkatla and start Chapter 3. I always side with thieves but your call, easier fights if you go with Bodhi. A couple of tasks have to be done at night, so you want to start chapter to do those at right time. 23) Planar Sphere. Straightforward enough and you should be around 3m XP by now with this quest order. 24) Guarded Compound. At least do ground floor. Go to top floor if confident in your setup, buffs and equipment, or you can leave to Chapter 6. Invisibility is your friend if you get in any trouble, and keep up the stoneskins to prevent backstabs. 25) Unseeing Eye (if confident) or leave to Chapter 6. I’m assuming you don’t have the shield with randomiser. You should have HLAs by now which makes this much more manageable because you can kill beholders quickly. Well worth reading up on SCS beholder strategies either way. 26) Finish chapter 3. You can just kite Bodhi for a few rounds or smash her quickly with GWW or similar. 27) Off to Spellhold. Only things left undone (unless you chose to skip anything) are the setpiece liches, Kangaxx and Twisted Rune. They need to wait until Chapter 6 to be done more safely unless you have got lucky with key equipment or spells somewhere.
Ok! For those who don't know, Raduziel had flagged me in another thread, in which he inquired about beastmasters. I moved the discussion over here.
I'll base my comments on my two SCS/Ascension solo no reload attempt with my beastmasters, Ashanti. The first Ashanti died in the Unseeing Eye quest when I embarrassingly forgot to return the Rift Device. She was never defeated in combat. The second Ashanti no reloaded SCS/Ascension up to the Throne, falling in the Ascension demon battles. That Ashanti was later allowed to face Melissan. She succeeded. She needed four reloads to complete the trilogy. All were avoidable mistakes
I'd encourage others to share as well, including and especially @Grond0, since he mentioned beastmasters in the aforementioned thread.
Onto beastmasters!
"The first step for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn." - Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem wasn't talking about beastmasters here (although now that I think about it she kind of was in a sense...), but her comment applies. Beastmasters have a terrible reputation. Forget that. Focus on what they can do, not what they can't do. Set the comparisons aside. Unlearn.
So, what can beastmasters do?
Melee Weapons: They can use some of the most damaging melee weapons in the game, including the Staff of Striking and the Staff of the Ram. They can do so with a warrior's THAC0 and with warrior strength potions
Ranged Weapons: They can wield slings, darts, and bows effectively, allowing strength stacking damage at range and tactical ammo use
Armor: Beastmasters can wear studded leather armor, including Shadow Dragon Armor and White Dragon Armor (NW: Unless EE changed this). Importantly, they can also combine unenchanted studded leather with bracers of AC 3 and protection items
Shields: Beastmasters can use all shields, including the Reflection Shield, the Shield of Harmony, and the Shield of Balduran (if available in your install)
Stealth: Beastmasters have excellent stealth skills
Spells: Beastmasters get low level druid pool divine spells, including Armor of Faith
Summons: Beastmasters have access to a variety of summons via items and also innate summons, expanding tactical avenues
Potions, Scrolls, and Items: Beastmasters can use all potions, including but not limited to strength potions, elemental resistance potions, potions of defense, potions of invulnerability, potions of clarity, potions of freedom and potions of magic shielding. They can also use green scrolls and combine them with elemental resistance potions. Finally, they get the Shield Amulet and the Greenstone Amulet, among others
HLAs: Beastmasters get the full set of warrior HLAs
This list is not exhaustive, and yet it should be readily apparent that there's actually a lot to work with here, despite the kit's terrible reputation, and the unhelpful comparative arguments. The raw material is there: it's just a matter of putting it to use.
So: How do we put it all together?
At this point, I need to specify a particular gaming context. I'll go with SCS/Ascension solo play, since that's the context I know best. I'll also specify no reload play since, again, that's the context I know best, but also because it is the subject of the thread
Let's break this down by stage of the adventure:
BG1: Beastmasters are actually pretty awesome in BG1. In my pre-EE run with Ashanti, my offensive approach was to use the Necklace of Missiles, darts of stunning, bows and Aule's Staff (the speed factor 1, +3 quarterstaff in Ulgoth's Beard). In an EE install, I'd work slings into the mix. I put one pip in two-weapon style to bring the speed factor of Aule's down to zero. Ashanti was very well equipped to fight at range, or employ mobile smack-n-go melee tactics, largely negating AC concerns. The Boots of Avoidance, the Cloak of Displacement, the Girdle of Piercing and the Fortress Shield addressed range weapon threats. When I wanted Ashanti to fight toe-to-toe, I'd use the Shield Amulet, a potions of defense or a potion on invulnerability + unenchanted studded leather and the appropriate girdle
Potions, the Greenstone Amulet and green scrolls handled spell threats
Stealth made concentrating resources in mission critical battles easier
All told, this was one of the easiest BG1 solos that I can recall
BG2 SoA: Very early on, I used the Staff Mace and the Sling of Seeking with the Reflection Shield in the off hand, wearing unenchanted studded leather. Tuigan was used, too. I acquired the Bracers of AC 3 and built a potion collection soon after. I also picked up the Staff of Striking, which IIRC, I may have allowed her to recharge, despite the fact that that usually isn't my practice. Blackblood came later. The Shield of Harmony was an early priority. It saw a lot of use for disabler defense
With Bracers of AC 3, unenchanted studded leather, protection items, and a shield, Ashanti's AC was adequate for SoA melee. Using the animals and Armor of Faith to soak up damage helped. She was arguably at her best, however, fighting at range or using smack-n-go tactics with the Staff of Striking. The most satisfying way to play her was to send the animals in first, fight at range, and then close in melee. She was a perfectly capable SoA warrior, if not a perfect SoA warrior
The difficult part was mitigating her disabler risk. Without a shorty save bonus and with limited access to immunity conferring weapons, beastmasters are vulnerable. Ashanti imported the Claw of the Kazgaroth rather than Balduran, which helped, given my playing style, but disabler risk was still difficult to manage. She was heavily reliant on potions. I had to be very careful with her aura use and always keep potion based counter at the ready.
Pop Quiz: You're running a beatmaster in an install with SCS/Ascension and no mod added items. If you could let your beastmasters use one and only one metal weapon, which one would you pick? Think about that one. My answer will probably surprise you.
I'd go with Dragonslayer, and it's not really a close call to me. Ashanti never had trouble dealing damage. She could always do enough. The challenge for her was insuring that she'd have defensive potion counters at the ready at all times. Since fear effects are common, and often associated with significant save penalties, they're a potential drain on limited resources and can contribute to aura use bottlenecks. The secret to Ashanti's success was that she did have a single mod item. It was a personal item, crafted especially for her, dubbed Call of the Wild. It was a helmet, very similar to Kiel's Helmet in BG1, although it did confer some other minor benefits
In the end, in my opinion, vulnerability to fear effects is the beastmasters most significant weakness, although the Moondog helps when you can use it.
NW: Stun may be a concern, too, depending on your install
Ok! That's all for now. I'll drop back by later with some ToB tips. I'll also provide links to Ashanti's run, including her fight with Mel
Get beastly!
Best,
A.
Btw: Ashanti's battle with Ascension Melissan appears here:
Beastmasters have a terrible reputation. Forget that. Focus on what they can do, not what they can't do. Set the comparisons aside.
A thousand times yes. More than anything else, this is what holds us back: thinking about how things can't be done, instead of thinking about how they can be done.
Interestingly enough, I had never thought of beastmasters as a weak class before joining an online community (they were my second-favorite ranger kit), where opinions about the kit considered it to be inferior. To this day, I'm still not sure why people think so poorly about its restrictions - I've never felt that any weapon restrictions (considering the sheer amount of amazing weapons in this game) are really all that bad, and there are amazing options for leather armor. The only item restrictions that I think can really handicap a class are the removal of entire item slots, and even then, as someone who played with entirely randomized groups for a long period of time, I wouldn't call any class or kit "weak" - they all have their own strengths that can make them an asset to the group (and considering that @Grond0 managed to get a solo wizard slayer into the hall of fame, the class with arguably the worst item restrictions in the game, I think we can safely say that no class is really "useless").
I should also mention that @Corey_Russell has gotten a beastmaster into the hall, so if he's around, he might have something to add to the conversation
@Alesia_BH Have fun in Cambodia, and I'm looking forward to a potential no-reload game in february/march!
I am currently playing SoD and have Dynaheir and Minsc in the party and want to split them up in order to have Jeheira join.
I have the mod installed that allows you to split up duos such as those two, however it doesn't appear to work in SoD. The old trick of leaving one of the duo in a building/cave etc and getting him/her to leave the party doesn't work as you have to go everywhere with your entire party.
The only way of getting rid of Minsc that I can think of is to get him killed and I would rather not do that. Paladins don't do that sort of thing.
@Wise_Grimwald You can still split up duos by going to a place you never intend to return to and boot one of the duo out of the party, then leave before the "do you really want me to go?"-conversation triggers. Just send the party member you want to leave behind away from your party leader, so you have enough time to leave before they can get to you to start the conversation, and then exit the area forever. I just tested this with Minsc and Dynaheir.
Comments
In which order do you usually complete the "big" (aka stronghold related) sidequests in chapter 2/3?
My current thoughts (based on only one very unsuccessful run quite some time ago) are along the lines of: De'Arnise Keep (except for Tor'Gal) and the Druid Grove should be pretty easy (I don't have tactics spirit trolls installed, unlike my previous attempt), the Temple Ruins as well (though protection from undead scrolls are removed in my installation), as long as I'm not high level enough to face liches. Mae'Var's guild should be doable if I can quickly take down Rayic Gethras (I think I have the right combination of spells available to achieve this).
The Windspear Hills would force me to deal with powerful SCS vampires, though having an undead hunter is (hopefully) helpful. I have no idea yet how I should deal with behoders (they are at their most powerful in my installation), so the Unseeing Eye could be very dangerous (I know jelly form works quite well, but I'm not sure that will be enough for the bigger battles (the duration isn't too long, and the damage quite low), and in the past, I experienced some strange bugs with jelly form and the anti-magic ray, like getting stuck in jelly form literally forever). The planar sphere and astral prison sound pretty dangerous, I should propably save those for last.
I also have some questions regarding some specific types of enemies:
Let's assume you have no anti-undead weapons or protection from undead scrolls available (a very likely scenario for me, as I use item randomiser): What are some good ways to deal with the more powerful types of vampires?
I'm propably missing something really obvious here, but how do you quickly take down mages if they use SI:Abjuration to protect their buffs?
The Shade Lord: I understand he has some pretty unique abilities - what exactly is required to safely kill him (once again, assuming that specific items aren't available)?
Are there any other enemies with radically different abilities that I should propably really know about in early SoA?
Then Druid Grove. Use invisibility if necessary to go right to Cernd and let him deal with Faldorn. I use CTRL-Y to simulate his immortality in the original game, but otherwise, you should finish this quest whenever you have enough XP for Cernd to be at level 11. Then you can just have him repeatedly fight Faldorn, resurrecting him every time, until he lands Dolorous Decay on the first round. After that, she's a cakewalk. If you want Gnasher, bomb Dalok with Fireballs (the Efreeti Bottle is great for this; make sure you have Protection from Petrification before you fight the djinn).
Umar Hills. A Protection from Undead scroll and SI: Necromancy are enough to take down the Shade Lord, with a Sunstone Bullet to destroy the Shadow Altar. If you don't have Protection from Undead, just keep SI: Necromancy active and kite him. Secret Word and Breach can counter his numerous PFMW+Spell Deflection spells, if you can spare the spell slots. Put Death Ward on everyone who doesn't have SI: Necromancy and is visible; the Shade Lord casts Finger of Death and Chromatic Orb. No need to fight Thaxll'ssillyia.
Mae'Var. The only real danger is Rayic Gethras, and you can always repeatedly trigger the Fireball trap to kill him. Just make sure Charname is invisible or has Stoneskin when tackling Mae'Var; there's always a chance of a lucky backstab. Don't forget to buy the Nymph Cloak from Gorch before you assassinate Mae'Var.
Renfeld. Pai'Na (don't take Edwin there or he'll force you to fight the lich Nevaziah, and Fireball the spiders; they have really strong poison on the off chance they hit you). Rejiek Hidesman. Everything in the Unseeing Eye quest except for beholders. First two tasks for Bodhi or Aran Linvail. Free Hendak and the slaves, but make sure you have a thief to take down the petrification trap in the sewers and the Prismatic Spray trap in the slaver compound.
If you have 12 mage levels, learn Death Spell and use it to clear up the trolls in the De'Arnise Hold. When you get to TorGal, use summons to bait the spells out of the Yuan-ti Mages. Run away if the Yuan-ti approach the party without having spent their Chaos spells. If you snuck past all the trolls in the Druid Grove, now is a good time to wipe them out.
Windspear Hills, as much as your party composition allows. If you know how, walk around the spawn trigger for the undead room (you can view it with CTRL-4 if you don't already know where it is) to avoid fighting vampires. Traps are great for Samia (you can make her go hostile the first time you fight her if you threaten to steal the treasure for yourself) and for Conster. Don't fight Firkraag before Chapter 6.
If you have some really good anti-mage options, like Keldorn or a Wizard Slayer (or Insect Plague, if your SCS install doesn't nerf it), the Planar Sphere should be doable. Use the darts from the Cloak of Stars to kill Lavok, and avoid Tolgerias entirely if you're not ready for him. Remember that the tanar'ri's Death Gaze paralyzes you on a failed save vs. death and bypasses spell protections and MR (and I think it comes with Remove Magic, so buffs might not be safe).
Don't do the Planar Prison unless you have a really spectacular anti-mage option (Arrows of Dispelling aren't enough; you need a Wizard Slayer with Fire Seeds or a high-level Inquisitor or unnerfed Insect Plague). Kundane, the Boots of Speed, and Haer'dalis are not worth the gamble before Chapter 6. You can still kill Mekrath with little trouble; just don't enter the east area of his lair, lest you trigger a bunch of Yuan-ti Mages in a tight space.
Whenever you get the Amulet of Power and Protection from Magical Energy, you can try the first level of Watcher's Keep, but leave the Statues alone. Without the Amulet of Power and Protection from Magical Energy to deal with the Vampiric Wraiths, you can still avoid the main chamber and collect the Paladin's Bracers, the Crimson Dart, and the Golem Manual.
If you have Protection from Undead scrolls, you might tackle Kangaxx. But only if you really know what you're doing.
Do the third task for Bodhi or Aran Linvail (Potions of Absorption will defend you against vampire attacks if you have no Protection from Undead scrolls, but fighting against the Shadow Thieves is safer still). Tackle Mencar Pebblecrusher, but keep Charname protected from Brennan Risling's backstabs. Tackle Draug Fea and the Sewer Dwellers by charming Gaius with the Nymph Cloak. If you have a very strong party by this point, the Guarded Compound is doable. It's best just to nuke Koshi with damage spells and then escape with Invisibility 10' Radius. Koshi has terrible defenses and Celestial Fury is probably the only thing you really came for. If you can afford the Shield of Balduran, you can try finishing the Unseeing Eye quest. It's best to combine it with Vhailor's Helm; SCS beholders don't steal the shield from clones.
Use Ring of Human Influence to get into Spellhold. Run away from the Spellhold lich if you're high enough level to trigger it; use a Protection from Undead scroll on it if you have one. Buff the hell out of Charname before facing Bodhi in the maze. Unequip your gear before the fight with Irenicus so your clones arrive unarmed. Hit Irenicus with Cone of Cold and apply a bunch of magic attacks to break down his defenses; the other inmates will help you Breach him.
Buff with Chaotic Commands and fight the Kuo-toa Prince. Leave the mind flayer city and beholder hive well alone unless you have a very strong party. Buff the party with Protection from Fire, Death Ward, and SI: Abjuration to deal with the Balor (I think you'll also need Remove Fear and Chaotic Commands to block symbol spells).
If you know how to deal with the Underdark questline, do so. Set traps on the mind flayer ambush site and sneak past N'ashtar on the way to rescuing Phaere. Talk-block Taso Kala when you bring Solaufein's eggs to Phaerea so you don't have to fight the Ghaunadaur priests. Traps also work great on the Egg Guards, but otherwise you need to be careful: they have like 10 HP, but -8 AC and very high MR. If Ust Natha's defenses are buffed in your install and you don't have fighters with really good THAC0 or thieves with traps, burn a Limited Wish to get Time Stop so you can get guaranteed hits on the Egg Guards.
If you're not sure you can do all the Ust Natha quests just right, turn Adalon hostile and flee (you shouldn't need to kill her). Then fight your way past the drow guards at the Underdark exit.
Protection from Undead scrolls will get you past Chapter 6 Bodhi. If you can spare one, give one to Drizzt. If you have Manasseh and Hazarmaveth aiding Bodhi in your install (I think they only appear if you install the Tactics-style Improved Bodhi component), ignore them and just weather their attacks--the important thing is to deal lots of damage to Bodhi very fast (use holy water on the pool to Slow her). Bodhi is immune to level 1-2 spells and cold and electricity, and has 75% MR. Lower Resistance and Flame Arrow should work well on her, but you shouldn't engage her in melee unless you have PFMW or have drunk two Potions of Absorption (she uses a crushing weapon and two such potions will force her to land criticals on you).
Don't bother fighting the rakshasas and golems of Suldannessellar. Just collect the items to summon Rillifane (drop all your items before speaking to Nizidramanii'yt and trade all your gold for the goblet) and Rillifane will kill everyone.
If you don't have really strong anti-mage options, run away from Irenicus at the Tree of Life. There's lots of room to navigate, and haste and Potions of Invisibility will screw up his attempts to get a handle on the party.
If your party isn't strong enough to handle the Slayer in Hell, use a Protection from Magic scroll on it to block its spells (Jon-bon has both Time Stop and Horrid Wilting and the other demons spam Remove Magic). If you're strong enough, use Potions of Invisibility to stay safe from the Slayer's Time Stop spells and spread out across the map to fight the demons before tackling the Slayer when its defenses are low.
That's BG2.
While I'm not exactly sure I can deal with anything else in early SoA without reloads, I think I have at least some solid ideas of how it COULD be done with relatively low risk (though we shall see about that). High level spellcasters still do seem really scary, though.
1) Tolgerias - easy. Tons of space, any anti-mage tactics work. Summons to waste spells, pop in and out of invisibility to get him to waste defences, and once he is out of PfMW, a single arrow of dispelling followed by quick onslaught or something like that.
2) Liches / Kangaxx: wait til you have the Cloak of Mirroring is safest. Still need exceptional saving throws and a ton of defences / debuffs if you’re not cheesing them.
3) Warden can be kited if you’re fast enough (boots AND oil of speed to be sure). Get him to waste as many of his HLAs as possible and keep running as soon as it looks like he is doing something nasty. You need to clear rest of the prison first to be safe. Once he is out of his big abilities, he’s easy enough.
4) Shade Lord is incredibly nasty. Protection from Undead scroll is the cheesy way (maybe use the remove 9/10 option in Randomiser rather than all). Otherwise you need a ton of buffs, including SI Necromancy. He is quite vulnerable to wand damage if you can’t always debuff his weapon defences.
There are many ways for any encounter depending on your playstyle and how cheesy you want to be. I tend to go for quite a lazy but safe playstyle: make myself immune to whatever they do, ride out the attacks (often requires lots of invisibility and healing potions), and then smash them once they run out of defences. You can go for more aggressive options such as trying to debuff rather than waiting out defences but sometimes that requires you to compromise your own defences (e.g. not enough spells/time/aura to do both) which is not great for solo no-reload.
In order of ease of completion, I usually do Circus -> Slavers -> Harper's Hold -> Umar -> Druid grove -> De'Arnise Keep -> Mae'Var IF you have True Seeing/True Sight, Unseeing Eye if you have enough untargeted ranged spells (Fireball, Cloudkill, etc.) -> Spellhold. The Planar Sphere and Prison are the worst two, both having high level spellcasters with solid immunities and no way to escape to the rest of the world if things go south terribly quickly.
Dealing with High Level Spellcasters: the main method is generally Summons. And more Summons after Death spell is used. Even high level liches have trouble getting past level 15-versions of Animate Dead after their Death Spells are gone. There're a few that'll ignore the skeletons, though: the lich you can release from the Underdark prison thing is a notable one that I keep forgetting about that almost always turns into a disaster. For Kangaxx, I'll use a precious Pro. from Magic scroll on my tank; neither form can get past that as far as I'm aware, and even with enhanced AI only seemed to focus on killing the nearest character.
@Neverused Do you play with the option allowing spellstrike to take down PfM scrolls? Because I would expect at least the first version of Kangaxx to be able to cast spellstrike, specifically to prevent this tactic (which is what I, as well, always do in vanilla) from working.
Also, from the things I've read, a PfM scroll seems to be very useful or even needed for the Ascension battle at the throne, so I'm not sure if I can/should use the two available ones to fight demi-liches.
1) Circus / everything in Promenade except Mencar’s gang.
2) Start chapter 2 and go straight to graveyard.
3) Clear out all upper tombs (some nice loot, especially with Randomiser something good can turn up, especially on Crypt King) but don’t go to lower tombs
4) Head for temple and take first ambush (Suna Seni’s gang, most of them are very weak and can be one-shotted)
5) Pick up all quests in Temple but don’t go to sewers or Guarded Compound
6) Government - pick up all quests and rescue Viconia
7) Back to Promenade - second ambush (also easy) to start Harper quest
8) Progess illithium quest / trade in Adventurer’s Mart (you probably already have 15k worth of loot). If feeling strong enough, now you can take out Mencar; otherwise wait until you have Lilarcor (immunity to charm and confuse very handy).
9) City Gates to pick up quest. This triggers third ambush, which you can fight or run depending on how difficult it looks. Naturally you’re not going anywhere near the lich yet.
10) Back to Slums and do the whole Coronet / slavers stuff.
11) Docks - do it all except Kangaxx. Thief stronghold is mega easy, Rayic Gethras is hardest bit but that’s a 1 on 1 fight which should be manageable as long as you pay attention to what he’s casting. Harper stuff gets you load of loot for minimal fighting. Pirates can also be cleared from their hideout.
12) Bridge. Do this in 2 rounds. First round: all the easy stuff / minimal fighting. Progress Fallen Paladins, skinner quest until basement, clear the noble estate (very easy and lots of gold), pick up all the quests. Second round is all the fighting, and great thing is you can do them one after the other with a lot of your buffs still running: kill the Fallen Paladins, then kill Captain Dennis’ crew, finish Buried Alive, and then Neb for illithium. Then do the skinner basement (polymorph mustard jelly makes you immune to the assassins, but not to the ghast or golem so they need to be killed fast). Finally do Valeria (highest chance of your buffs being dispelled, so do this last - but so many nice items possible with Randomiser). Naturally you are not doing lich or Rune yet.
13) Finish Sarles with fake illithium (store real illithium away) and pick up dawn ring quest (do that whenever convenient at night).
14) Clear lower tombs in graveyard (should be easy by now given your level and equipment)
15) Temple sewers. This is a spike in difficulty, especially Tarnor’s gang and the Rakshasa, so need to be well equipped and prepared.
16) Rescue Haer’Dalis. Some of the fights in here are tough, especially as you are likely to get 3 x yuan-ti mages and there is hardly any space. Mekrath himself is easy and you can run all around the compound if kiting necessary.
17) Planar Prison (!). Not for the faint of heart but I do this very early compared to most recommendations. Make sure you have all equipment and consumables (+ the rod of resurrection you get in Mekrath’s lair). You need to buff to the max for basically 4 big fights, as well as have buffs in reserve. Also somewhat notorious for SCS better calls for help messing a lot of things up when it comes to enemy movement and where they are (sometimes a lot of them kill themselves on the petrify trap near Warden). Because enemies wander all over the place, you can end up with mega-fights rather than a series of encounters. That said, the first fight is easiest (just beware of what the yuan-ti mage does, you likely have to leave him to last). The platform on the right with multiple yuan-ti mages is difficult, but you can head back left to stretch / kite. The Master of Thralls can be deadly if your buffs are removed, so you need to kill him fast (ignore elementals). And finally the Warden, who is insane except he can be (cheesily) kited to waste abilities (so in the end this fight becomes a doddle).
To be continued
Time to leave Athkatla. Only things not yet done in Athkatla are:
1) Unseeing Eye quest
2) Planar Sphere
3) Guarded Compound
4) All liches (gates, bridge and sewers)
5) Kangaxx
6) Twisted Rune
7) Any chapter 3 stuff (assuming you have randomiser so no guarantee to get Amulet of Power. Otherwise you would definitely trigger this to get the Amulet)
18) de’Arnise Keep. Mostly a doddle, except for Spirit Trolls with their STR drain (you need to pop invisible and wait 50 rounds for this to expire!). The fact they keep going invisible and regenerate makes it hard to keep targeting them, but you really need to keep attacking one until dead. Torgal is tough with his support crew, but you can split them up to avoid fighting everyone at once. Lots of buffs needed but nothing majorly complex.
19) Umar Hills. Do the sidequests and kill Valygar while you’re here. The dungeon bit is tough but manageable. The liches that spawn are not true, full-powered SCS liches. The only high level spells they cast are the scripted ones (i.e. chain contingency, sequencers etc), otherwise it’s mainly defences and low level spells that they use. Greater mummies should be treated with respect, they hit hard. Dragon can be skipped or killed easily with the Limited Wish scroll from Adventurer’s Mart (use the one-off wish for Time Stop to chop it into pieces while it has no defences up). Shade Lord strategies already discussed.
20) Trademeet and Druid Grove. Do it all while you’re here, there’s no single particularly difficult encounter. Cernd can be used to kill Faldorn in a non-cheaty way by using Rod of Resurrection to heal him any time his HPs get too low.
21) Windspear Hills. Most of it is straightforward, biggest danger is the vampires. One slightly cheesy way to deal with them is to buff to max, cast Mislead in one of the rooms, run out (closing doors behind you), and chop them up as fast as poss. Not easy because they do move around a lot and likely to require multiple castings of Mislead (use invisibility to escape as soon as it expires, unless you want to be shredded apart). Firkraag can be done at the end or you can leave him to Chapter 6 if not confident. You just need full gamut of buffs (fire resistance, fear resistance, weapon defences) and SI Abjuration, he basically can’t touch you if your defences are sound.
22) Back to Athkatla and start Chapter 3. I always side with thieves but your call, easier fights if you go with Bodhi. A couple of tasks have to be done at night, so you want to start chapter to do those at right time.
23) Planar Sphere. Straightforward enough and you should be around 3m XP by now with this quest order.
24) Guarded Compound. At least do ground floor. Go to top floor if confident in your setup, buffs and equipment, or you can leave to Chapter 6. Invisibility is your friend if you get in any trouble, and keep up the stoneskins to prevent backstabs.
25) Unseeing Eye (if confident) or leave to Chapter 6. I’m assuming you don’t have the shield with randomiser. You should have HLAs by now which makes this much more manageable because you can kill beholders quickly. Well worth reading up on SCS beholder strategies either way.
26) Finish chapter 3. You can just kite Bodhi for a few rounds or smash her quickly with GWW or similar.
27) Off to Spellhold. Only things left undone (unless you chose to skip anything) are the setpiece liches, Kangaxx and Twisted Rune. They need to wait until Chapter 6 to be done more safely unless you have got lucky with key equipment or spells somewhere.
The expected behavior is that Contingency and Chain Contingency are cast when the game is unpaused and take a round of casting time to do so.
https://support.baldursgate.com/issues/35101
Just dropping by to wish y'all a happy new year. Rock on, friends!
Best
A.
Just dropping by to wish y'all a happy new year. Rock on, friends!
Best
A.
Happy New Year to you too Alesia.
I'm here, willing to learn
I'll base my comments on my two SCS/Ascension solo no reload attempt with my beastmasters, Ashanti. The first Ashanti died in the Unseeing Eye quest when I embarrassingly forgot to return the Rift Device. She was never defeated in combat. The second Ashanti no reloaded SCS/Ascension up to the Throne, falling in the Ascension demon battles. That Ashanti was later allowed to face Melissan. She succeeded. She needed four reloads to complete the trilogy. All were avoidable mistakes
I'd encourage others to share as well, including and especially @Grond0, since he mentioned beastmasters in the aforementioned thread.
Onto beastmasters!
"The first step for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn." - Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem wasn't talking about beastmasters here (although now that I think about it she kind of was in a sense...), but her comment applies. Beastmasters have a terrible reputation. Forget that. Focus on what they can do, not what they can't do. Set the comparisons aside. Unlearn.
So, what can beastmasters do?
Melee Weapons: They can use some of the most damaging melee weapons in the game, including the Staff of Striking and the Staff of the Ram. They can do so with a warrior's THAC0 and with warrior strength potions
Ranged Weapons: They can wield slings, darts, and bows effectively, allowing strength stacking damage at range and tactical ammo use
Armor: Beastmasters can wear studded leather armor, including Shadow Dragon Armor and White Dragon Armor (NW: Unless EE changed this). Importantly, they can also combine unenchanted studded leather with bracers of AC 3 and protection items
Shields: Beastmasters can use all shields, including the Reflection Shield, the Shield of Harmony, and the Shield of Balduran (if available in your install)
Stealth: Beastmasters have excellent stealth skills
Spells: Beastmasters get low level druid pool divine spells, including Armor of Faith
Summons: Beastmasters have access to a variety of summons via items and also innate summons, expanding tactical avenues
Potions, Scrolls, and Items: Beastmasters can use all potions, including but not limited to strength potions, elemental resistance potions, potions of defense, potions of invulnerability, potions of clarity, potions of freedom and potions of magic shielding. They can also use green scrolls and combine them with elemental resistance potions. Finally, they get the Shield Amulet and the Greenstone Amulet, among others
HLAs: Beastmasters get the full set of warrior HLAs
This list is not exhaustive, and yet it should be readily apparent that there's actually a lot to work with here, despite the kit's terrible reputation, and the unhelpful comparative arguments. The raw material is there: it's just a matter of putting it to use.
So: How do we put it all together?
At this point, I need to specify a particular gaming context. I'll go with SCS/Ascension solo play, since that's the context I know best. I'll also specify no reload play since, again, that's the context I know best, but also because it is the subject of the thread
Let's break this down by stage of the adventure:
BG1: Beastmasters are actually pretty awesome in BG1. In my pre-EE run with Ashanti, my offensive approach was to use the Necklace of Missiles, darts of stunning, bows and Aule's Staff (the speed factor 1, +3 quarterstaff in Ulgoth's Beard). In an EE install, I'd work slings into the mix. I put one pip in two-weapon style to bring the speed factor of Aule's down to zero. Ashanti was very well equipped to fight at range, or employ mobile smack-n-go melee tactics, largely negating AC concerns. The Boots of Avoidance, the Cloak of Displacement, the Girdle of Piercing and the Fortress Shield addressed range weapon threats. When I wanted Ashanti to fight toe-to-toe, I'd use the Shield Amulet, a potions of defense or a potion on invulnerability + unenchanted studded leather and the appropriate girdle
Potions, the Greenstone Amulet and green scrolls handled spell threats
Stealth made concentrating resources in mission critical battles easier
All told, this was one of the easiest BG1 solos that I can recall
BG2 SoA: Very early on, I used the Staff Mace and the Sling of Seeking with the Reflection Shield in the off hand, wearing unenchanted studded leather. Tuigan was used, too. I acquired the Bracers of AC 3 and built a potion collection soon after. I also picked up the Staff of Striking, which IIRC, I may have allowed her to recharge, despite the fact that that usually isn't my practice. Blackblood came later. The Shield of Harmony was an early priority. It saw a lot of use for disabler defense
With Bracers of AC 3, unenchanted studded leather, protection items, and a shield, Ashanti's AC was adequate for SoA melee. Using the animals and Armor of Faith to soak up damage helped. She was arguably at her best, however, fighting at range or using smack-n-go tactics with the Staff of Striking. The most satisfying way to play her was to send the animals in first, fight at range, and then close in melee. She was a perfectly capable SoA warrior, if not a perfect SoA warrior
The difficult part was mitigating her disabler risk. Without a shorty save bonus and with limited access to immunity conferring weapons, beastmasters are vulnerable. Ashanti imported the Claw of the Kazgaroth rather than Balduran, which helped, given my playing style, but disabler risk was still difficult to manage. She was heavily reliant on potions. I had to be very careful with her aura use and always keep potion based counter at the ready.
Pop Quiz: You're running a beatmaster in an install with SCS/Ascension and no mod added items. If you could let your beastmasters use one and only one metal weapon, which one would you pick? Think about that one. My answer will probably surprise you.
I'd go with Dragonslayer, and it's not really a close call to me. Ashanti never had trouble dealing damage. She could always do enough. The challenge for her was insuring that she'd have defensive potion counters at the ready at all times. Since fear effects are common, and often associated with significant save penalties, they're a potential drain on limited resources and can contribute to aura use bottlenecks. The secret to Ashanti's success was that she did have a single mod item. It was a personal item, crafted especially for her, dubbed Call of the Wild. It was a helmet, very similar to Kiel's Helmet in BG1, although it did confer some other minor benefits
In the end, in my opinion, vulnerability to fear effects is the beastmasters most significant weakness, although the Moondog helps when you can use it.
NW: Stun may be a concern, too, depending on your install
Ok! That's all for now. I'll drop back by later with some ToB tips. I'll also provide links to Ashanti's run, including her fight with Mel
Get beastly!
Best,
A.
Btw: Ashanti's battle with Ascension Melissan appears here:
http://blackstrider.net/forum_bioware_arhiv/forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/page-304.html
The rest of Ashanti's run can be found in the same thread. I'm reluctant to link it, though, because I used a very lazy posting style in that run
I may have a window to play in February/March, though, which is why my thoughts have turned to BG. Maybe I'll see you then!
Best,
A.
I should also mention that @Corey_Russell has gotten a beastmaster into the hall, so if he's around, he might have something to add to the conversation
@Alesia_BH Have fun in Cambodia, and I'm looking forward to a potential no-reload game in february/march!
I have the mod installed that allows you to split up duos such as those two, however it doesn't appear to work in SoD. The old trick of leaving one of the duo in a building/cave etc and getting him/her to leave the party doesn't work as you have to go everywhere with your entire party.
The only way of getting rid of Minsc that I can think of is to get him killed and I would rather not do that. Paladins don't do that sort of thing.
Any ideas?