The transmuter is a great mage. Stoneskin, mirror image, shadow door, what more do you need? No worries about getting those spell battle spells in your spell book to occupy the majority of spell slots per day never to actually use them. And once you get through watchers keep, you get wands that do those things for you.
The fun part of the transmuter is the save penalty on the disintegrate and petrification type spells. Just yummi.
I am having problems with the Tonder quest since I have reinstalled the game.
In the past I have received a +1 sword with extra fire damage for setting Tonder free of lythancropy.
Now, when he leaves his dwelling in search of Aiwell, he doesn't turn up outside the High Hedge door.
I am presuming that it is a mod causing the problem but have no idea which one.
I therefore don't know where to post the bug.
Help would be much appreciated.
Weidu logs below:
P.S. If I use C:CreateCreature("ACQ16003") to create Tonder everything works correctly.
It is therefore not a big deal, but it would be best to correct it if possible. I had the same problem in my previous set-up, but not before that. I am wondering if it is something to do with EET as it is only since using EET that I have had a problem.
How do you people usually proceed if you die during a run, but would like to keep trying with the same kit?
Do you start again in Candlekeep with the same character, or do you roll again for new stats?
I'm going to jump into a no-reload attempt with an Undead Hunter, but I don't expect to get very far, having played BG:EE only once (and BG1 once in 2000, but I didn't remember anything).
That's why I'm asking.
I wouldn't bother re-rolling. I'd just start at Candlekeep again. My advice would be, when you start a new game export the character(s) so that all you have to do is import them. That way, you can start with just the one character or use a variety of parties without having to spend time rolling again which can be more than a little boring.
In my heavily modded game, I have recently gone into EE Keeper and discovered that nearly all the halberds are listed as bastard swords and nearly all the katanas are listed as halberds.
Will this have any effect on the game? I am thinking in terms of proficiencies in particular.
@Wise_Grimwald: It might be intended, depending on your install. I've heard of one mod that uses the same proficiency for short swords and wakizashis, and for long swords and ninja-tos, which makes more sense. It's possible the halberd and katana thing is a side effect of that.
@semiticgod Thanks for the quick reply. In that case, I'll play on. I don't know a lot of the side effects of most of my mods. If I enjoy the game, that's really all that matters.
@Stromael: Yes. It might only summon 5 genies depending on whether the summoning cap applies, though, like Mordenkainen's Sword. The WoL trick applies to any quick slot item and any spell, ability, or item that can only target the caster initially. One exception appears to be Sunfire, though I thought I had previously seen it work in an earlier version of the game.
I've had a combination of bad luck, lack of experience and beginner's mistake...
I went into the 5th floor of the Iron Throne totally unprepared (during my first playthrough, I missed the 5th floor, went to Eltan and got to Candlekeep anyway, so I had no idea what waited for me there).
Long story short, Dynaheir got chunked.
I'm not going to give up, of course, but I didn't dare to continue completely without a mage. So, I dualed Imoen, who was a level 7 thief, into a level 1 mage, so that she can at least Identify and use wands and scrolls (that's because the alternatives would be to hire Edwin or Quayle, which I won't as a paladin), and picked up Alora as a thief. Less than ideal, I know, but I couldn't think of another solution.
I've bought every possible potion I could afford for myself.
Any advice what else I could or should get to raise my chances of survival before I go to Candlekeep? I've bought the Greenstone Amulet, too.
@Arvia commiserations for losing Dynaheir. You could be a little cheesy, temporarily dumping everyone except Imoen and getting her to scribe every scroll you can get your hands on, for a little XP boost (I don't know off the top of my head how much you get per scroll in un-modded BG1:EE). I don't know if you've popped into Durlag's Tower yet, but there are a few roof Basilisks you could slay for a few more XP for Immy. There's also a warehouse in BG with some Lisks to slay, and you get the quest from the guy outside (IIRC, it's a while since I made it into the Gate!). That's the most important consideration as far as she's concerned, to up her survivability and utility by unlocking higher level spells. Of course as a Wand blaster she will rock, especially if you can bring Paralyzation into the game.
If you need to boost her AC there's the Shield Amulet for sale in the Nashkel Carnival, which could help while she's low level.
An alternative powerful caster is Xan, a little depressing to be around, but you can use his Enchanter specialism to your benefit in boosting your Sleep, Charm and Confusion spells. His alignment is CN but he feels more like Good to me. His low Con makes him even squishier than Dynaheir, though.
It sounds like you've got essentially all useful items already, so just stick to your plans and trust your skills! A few Fireballs from the Wand of Fire will solve most things.
@semiticgod thanks, that's awesome. I guess that might form a staple corner of Wish resting, although does it start to bug out if there are too many genies?
@Stromael: I've seen no bugs from an excessive number of genies. I've summoned tons of them and they just deliver their dialogs right after each other.
@Arvia: Scribing scrolls won't do much to help Imoen. Unless perhaps you have a certain kind of EET install, scribing scrolls in BG1 will only give 10 XP per level of the scroll, instead of the 1,000 XP you'd get in BG2. Imoen will take a very long time to recover her thief levels if she dualed at level 7, and you're not going to get back those levels until Siege of Dragonspear unless you go very deep into Durlag's Tower and/or do the Balduran's Isle questline. She'll probably just be your wand user and caster of Protection from Petrification, Identify, and Invisibility for the time being.
If you kick out everyone else in the party but Imoen and have your paladin kill all three Greater Basilisks and the one Lesser Basilisk atop Durlag's Tower, and the one Greater Basilisk in one of the two "Warehouses" in the southern section of Baldur's Gate, that will net you 29,400 XP. That will put Imoen at level 4 and just a few grand away from level 5, though you'd still need 75,000 more (!) before Imoen hits level 8 and gets her thief levels back. If you did the basilisks with a full party and didn't kick anyone out, Imoen would only hit level 3, which at least is enough for her to cast Invisibility once per day.
Xan is an excellent option. If you overlooked him, he's in the Nashkel mines where you found Mulahey, though you'll need to give him the Moonblade in Mulahey's chest before he'll join the party. He would be fine for a paladin to recruit for RP purposes; there's nothing objectionable about him or his character.
Remind me--how far did you get in your previous run?
@Arvia I recall you already killed Sil, but there are also some extra Sirines you could tank singlehandedly, at the bottom of the Coastal map south of Candlekeep.
I've had a combination of bad luck, lack of experience and beginner's mistake...
I went into the 5th floor of the Iron Throne totally unprepared (during my first playthrough, I missed the 5th floor, went to Eltan and got to Candlekeep anyway, so I had no idea what waited for me there).
Long story short, Dynaheir got chunked.
I'm not going to give up, of course, but I didn't dare to continue completely without a mage. So, I dualed Imoen, who was a level 7 thief, into a level 1 mage, so that she can at least Identify and use wands and scrolls (that's because the alternatives would be to hire Edwin or Quayle, which I won't as a paladin), and picked up Alora as a thief. Less than ideal, I know, but I couldn't think of another solution.
I've bought every possible potion I could afford for myself.
Any advice what else I could or should get to raise my chances of survival before I go to Candlekeep? I've bought the Greenstone Amulet, too.
Firstly a paladin could have Quayle in the party. With your high Charisma he would have to do as he was told. He wouldn't leave even if you have a high reputation.
However if you are wanting to boost Imoen's level somewhat you could return to the ankheg nest and sleep a few times. It's a bit cheesy but sometimes such things have to be done. Just make sure that Imoen is out of sight of the ankheg. Invisibility is one way of achieving this. Another is to give her the boots of speed so that she can run away when they turn up.
In my first run (which is with reloads on death and not finished yet) I'm in SoD. So, I roughly know what to expect from now on, except that I played with NPC project last time, and now without mods.
Xan has left after talking to him in Nashkel, and as far as I know he leaves for good, doesn't he? I didn't think then that I might need a backup mage, or I wouldn't have talked to him.
I didn't mean to level up Imoen by scribing scrolls, I meant to get my hands on a few vital scrolls and have her cast from them in emergencies. I don't need her thief levels right now, I've recruited Alora.
Unfortunately, I have already done all the sirenes and basilisks. I don't dare to go deeper into Durlag's Tower yet, and I especially don't dare to do any of the high XP quests related to Ulgoth's Beard with only my level 7 Undead Hunter and a level 1 mage.
I have Wand of Frost, Fire, Lightning, two Wands of Paralyzation, the Wand of Polymorphing (or whatever the correct name is), Wand of Magic Missile, and the Wand of Heavens for Branwen. I also have several potions of explosion, firebreath and oil of fiery burning. Imoen also has about 50 darts of stunning.
To protect myself without spells, I have bought or collected all the potions of speed, heroism, invisibility, absorption, freedom, fire resistance, regeneration, magic blocking/shielding/protection and so on that I could get my hands on.
I think I could handle Candlekeep, but I'm afraid I might have forgotten something. Maybe I'll do at least the Ice Island first, I'm undecided. I doubt I could collect enough easy XP right now to get Imoen to cast at least level 2 spells. Besides, there aren't so many scrolls left.
Sigh.
I guess I'll just have to dive into it. I mean, there are people soloing without any mage at all. I guess I'll be okay.
Edit: Imoen is fine as far as not being squishy (at least for a mage) goes, she has some 50 HP and AC 0 with her DEX, the Robe of the Good Archmage and a Ring of Protection +1.
@Wise_Grimwald , sorry, your reply came while I was typing my answer to the others.
I'm not going to dump Imoen, out of loyalty. Now that she's dualed, I can't take Quayle. But I will use some spam resting for XP, the Ankheg nest is a good idea. I'd rather not have her at level 1.
Or maybe traveling in the Cloakwood or sleeping in the Wyvern cave.
@Wise_Grimwald , sorry, your reply came while I was typing my answer to the others.
I'm not going to dump Imoen, out of loyalty. Now that she's dualed, I can't take Quayle. But I will use some spam resting for XP, the Ankheg nest is a good idea. I'd rather not have her at level 1.
Or maybe traveling in the Cloakwood or sleeping in the Wyvern cave.
I think that the ankhegs are a little bit safer, but the wyvern cave is also a good idea.
I currently have an inquisitor as my PC and he has both Dynaheir and Quayle in the party.
They have some amusing dialogue, so I am glad that I have them both.
Quayle is largely unaware that Dynaheir is making fun of him which makes it even funnier.
My suggestion would be to keep rolling as you are and you'll be fine. With wands, scrolls and potions, you won't miss too much of what a higher level mage could provide anyway. Most party buff type spells at those levels come from a priest anyway.
What does a level 7 mage provide? Magic Missiles, Fireballs and Lightning have scrolls and wands. Invisibility can be sourced many ways. Haste is a miss but Oils of Speed can fill the gap for front liners. Dispels can come from priests. Crowd control (web, stinking cloud, slow etc) is a miss but can other party members step up? Maybe a bard, if you have Garrick, can do a job for you? Maybe your priests can delve into Silence or Rigid Thinking? Maybe amend tactics a bit and use summons more.
There's many options available. Stay positive and roll with the punch (as you are), that's what makes no-reload fun. At the very least you will improve your skills as a player by trying new things that you may not have if you still had Dynaheir using her usual spells
For Candlekeep, if you don't intend to fight Rieltar (I honestly don't fight him unless I have Item Randomiser installed), there's actually fairly little a Mage is necessary for. Getting the WIS and STR tomes safely requires a Thief with a decent Find Traps score, but the only fight on that level of the catacombs are Phase Spiders and Ghasts. Both are fightable with ranged weapons: just make sure your front line has some sort of Free Action (from a ring, a potion, or Spider's Bane).
The greater doppelganger is a slugfest, but shouldn't be too problematic? The rest of the fights on the level don't require any magic spells either. Pratt and his gang is a bit harder: the most dangerous is one person that has Darts of Stunning. A single bad critical and bad saving throw can mean death. I recommend a Potion of Magic Shielding on your main character for this fight, unless you want to cheese out the fight with the Wand of Fire and bomb them out of sight. Any other type of crowd control would be good here, but level 2 spells are sufficient for that (Stinking Cloud, Horror, Web are good, for example). Finally, the two Basilisks on this level require either the mage spell Protection From Petrification or 2 or 3 Potions of Mirrored Eyes to safely fight them.
So I think you're set to do Candlekeep with a level 1 or level 3 Mage fairly comfortably: items are significantly more important than spells at this point, honestly.
The Greenstone Amulet would be a cheaper alternative to the Potion of Magic Shielding to block the Darts of Stunning (note that the thief in the Rieltar fight also uses those darts; not just the halfling in the Prat fight). I usually save Potions of Magic Shielding for emergencies and dangers I don't foresee, like a Chaos spell that comes out when the Greenstone Amulet isn't active (the potion activates instantly on a clear aura; the amulet takes a second or two). Prat is especially dangerous because his party is so close to all those Phase Spiders in the final area. Wandering into a Web trap with a bunch of spiders present because you failed a save against Confusion could be fatal.
There should be a couple Knock scrolls at Sorcerous Sundries, but failing that, a Potion of Cloud Giant Strength and the innate ability Draw Upon Holy Might (which your paladin should get after you arrive at the catacombs when you rest) will bump up your STR to 25, which is enough to force open the locks in the Candlekeep catacombs. The traps are dangerous, though--there are several Fireball traps, a Web trap, and a repeating Lightning Bolt trap that warrants a Potion of Insulation+Boots of Ground or a Potion of Absorption.
Right. I keep forgetting the Greenstone amulet also protects against Stun, probably because there's like two things that can stun in BG1 and I never feel confident enough to sneak path the Elder Orb to get it in BG2.
Oh yes, I found out the hard way that the Greenstone Amulet is slower than a potion. That's one of the reasons why Dynaheir got chunked. The whole party except Imoen got Confused in that battle.
The ghasts in the catacombs don't bother me, I'm an Undead Hunter and Minsc has Spider's Bane. Alora will hopefully be able to handle the traps.
Prat will be tricky, he made me reload twice in my first run. But I think I know a bit more about tactics now, and I will send my thief to scout and hopefully disarm the web traps first.
I think I won't fight Rieltar in Candlekeep.
I've decided to take it in stride, because I like to roleplay. If a companion died in real life, it would be logical for the others to try to fill the gap, but we would continue our mission nonetheless. I'm going to do the remaining side quests in BG city, to be well prepared, but then I'll go to Eltan to take me to Candlekeep, without leaving the city to generate high XP monsters by resting in sensitive areas.
Imoen will do well with wands. I've bought as many important scrolls as I could afford (like the two Haste and Invisibility scrolls, Greater Malison, Web, Horror, Stinking Cloud) and she will use them when it's absolutely necessary. I won't have her scribe any of them, unless she can cast their level already and I can boost her INT with potions to guarantee success.
This is actually interesting, to have to improvise and adapt to the situation, instead of just being able to hire a perfect replacement for Dynaheir.
After many, many attempts, I'm finally about to face Davaeorn. He has a fearsome reputation, especially considering the improvements imposed by SCS (v32 on Insane difficulty = Mages fully prebuff before every battle).
What advice can you veterans offer an aspiring adventurer? I have a full party of 6, the Ring of Energy (which should bypass his spell protections), access to Spell Thrust from my Sorcerer (which was very effective against Natasha and Hareishan), several Potions of Magic Protection, Blocking, Resistance and Invulnerability, two items of Free Action (ring and sword), and various other options.
How do you guys like to face him? Any tips are most welcome!
A single, sturdy character, someone who can survive against a pair of Battle Horrors for a few moments without needing to drink potions, should be able to kill Davaeorn very quickly by drinking a Potion of Magic Blocking and then spamming the Ring of Energy as soon as his or her aura is clear. Running away from the Battle Horrors should save that tank some HP. It only takes a few charges from the Ring of Energy to kill Davaeorn, so the rest of the party can just hang back and fuss with any guards that come in from the north.
If things get ugly, Davaeorn usually uses evocation spells, so resistances are the best option. His Stinking Cloud+Web Minor Sequencer, launched at the start of the fight, will require good saving throws if you go into it without a Potion of Magic Blocking. If your sorcerer can safely engage him (that is, if your sorcerer either has a lot of defenses active and/or is approaching Davaeorn while his aura is fogged), Spell Thrust will take down his MGOI and open him up to Melf's Acid Arrow, though he might escape using Invisibility to heal himself.
This is generally where I use one of two Protection from Magic scrolls in BG: throw it on your strongest warrior, put on the boots of Cheetah Speed, drink a potion of regeneration and shoot Davaeorn to death while the other 5 either hold on vs the flood of guards, or hang out invisibly. If worst comes to worst, and a ton of guards surround Davaeorn, potions of explosions and the One Gift Lost are generally enough to finish the fight.
I agree he's easier to take down safely with a single character. The rest of the party can just stay invisible while that's done (if no-one at all is visible though there's a danger that Davaeorn will teleport to the party and make them visible, which could be bad news). If you do want the whole party to fight you can stay right against the entrance to avoid the web and stinking cloud and prevent guards arriving behind you. However, your mages and other weak characters will be targeted by the archer guards, so it can be difficult to avoid casualties when doing that.
Charming Davaeorn with Algernon's Cloak is a big gamble for a no-reload run. Davaeorn has excellent saving throws. If you did use Algernon's Cloak, it would be better to charm the Guard in plate mail (which you can re-try if you fail by running away and resting elsewhere), use the Guard to lure over the Battle Horrors, kill the Battle Horrors, and then approach Davaeorn just enough to spot him, order the Guard to attack Davaeorn while paused, and immediately pull your character away from Davaeorn before Davaeorn initiates dialog. Davaeorn won't react to the Guard attacking if the player manages to not trigger his dialog.
@semiticgod Any chance you'd be willing to record a video when you do this next? My success rate of getting the guard to attack without triggering Davaeorn's dialogue is around 5%.
I'm about to do the bandit camp on attempt 7 of an avenger (with party, post + screenshots coming), and I haven't decided how I'm going to handle Davaeorn. My current plan is to silence (Viconia) and web from out of range, but I'm not sure how effective that will be. I usually draw out the battle horrors and use the guard to waste most of his spells and then move in and kill him.
@jessejmc: I don't have the recording software I normally use, but I think what's happening is that you're lingering too long in Davaeorn's field of vision. He only needs a fraction of a second to talk to you, so what I do is slowly inch towards him, rapidly unpausing and pausing step by step until the instant I see him--which should happen while the game is paused (I basically double-click the space bar constantly). Then I order my character to fall back, select the Guard, have the Guard attack Davaeorn, and then unpause.
If you inch towards him while constantly double-clicking the spacebar, you should be able to get out of his field of vision before he spots you. It may help to use the Boots of the Cheetah and/or an Oil of Speed to make sure you can fall back quickly, but I've generally gone without haste effects.
Comments
The fun part of the transmuter is the save penalty on the disintegrate and petrification type spells. Just yummi.
Enjoy!
In the past I have received a +1 sword with extra fire damage for setting Tonder free of lythancropy.
Now, when he leaves his dwelling in search of Aiwell, he doesn't turn up outside the High Hedge door.
I am presuming that it is a mod causing the problem but have no idea which one.
I therefore don't know where to post the bug.
Help would be much appreciated.
Weidu logs below:
P.S. If I use C:CreateCreature("ACQ16003") to create Tonder everything works correctly.
It is therefore not a big deal, but it would be best to correct it if possible. I had the same problem in my previous set-up, but not before that. I am wondering if it is something to do with EET as it is only since using EET that I have had a problem.
Do you start again in Candlekeep with the same character, or do you roll again for new stats?
I'm going to jump into a no-reload attempt with an Undead Hunter, but I don't expect to get very far, having played BG:EE only once (and BG1 once in 2000, but I didn't remember anything).
That's why I'm asking.
Will this have any effect on the game? I am thinking in terms of proficiencies in particular.
I went into the 5th floor of the Iron Throne totally unprepared (during my first playthrough, I missed the 5th floor, went to Eltan and got to Candlekeep anyway, so I had no idea what waited for me there).
Long story short, Dynaheir got chunked.
I'm not going to give up, of course, but I didn't dare to continue completely without a mage. So, I dualed Imoen, who was a level 7 thief, into a level 1 mage, so that she can at least Identify and use wands and scrolls (that's because the alternatives would be to hire Edwin or Quayle, which I won't as a paladin), and picked up Alora as a thief. Less than ideal, I know, but I couldn't think of another solution.
I've bought every possible potion I could afford for myself.
Any advice what else I could or should get to raise my chances of survival before I go to Candlekeep? I've bought the Greenstone Amulet, too.
If you need to boost her AC there's the Shield Amulet for sale in the Nashkel Carnival, which could help while she's low level.
An alternative powerful caster is Xan, a little depressing to be around, but you can use his Enchanter specialism to your benefit in boosting your Sleep, Charm and Confusion spells. His alignment is CN but he feels more like Good to me. His low Con makes him even squishier than Dynaheir, though.
It sounds like you've got essentially all useful items already, so just stick to your plans and trust your skills!
@semiticgod thanks, that's awesome. I guess that might form a staple corner of Wish resting, although does it start to bug out if there are too many genies?
@Arvia: Scribing scrolls won't do much to help Imoen. Unless perhaps you have a certain kind of EET install, scribing scrolls in BG1 will only give 10 XP per level of the scroll, instead of the 1,000 XP you'd get in BG2. Imoen will take a very long time to recover her thief levels if she dualed at level 7, and you're not going to get back those levels until Siege of Dragonspear unless you go very deep into Durlag's Tower and/or do the Balduran's Isle questline. She'll probably just be your wand user and caster of Protection from Petrification, Identify, and Invisibility for the time being.
If you kick out everyone else in the party but Imoen and have your paladin kill all three Greater Basilisks and the one Lesser Basilisk atop Durlag's Tower, and the one Greater Basilisk in one of the two "Warehouses" in the southern section of Baldur's Gate, that will net you 29,400 XP. That will put Imoen at level 4 and just a few grand away from level 5, though you'd still need 75,000 more (!) before Imoen hits level 8 and gets her thief levels back. If you did the basilisks with a full party and didn't kick anyone out, Imoen would only hit level 3, which at least is enough for her to cast Invisibility once per day.
Xan is an excellent option. If you overlooked him, he's in the Nashkel mines where you found Mulahey, though you'll need to give him the Moonblade in Mulahey's chest before he'll join the party. He would be fine for a paladin to recruit for RP purposes; there's nothing objectionable about him or his character.
Remind me--how far did you get in your previous run?
Firstly a paladin could have Quayle in the party. With your high Charisma he would have to do as he was told. He wouldn't leave even if you have a high reputation.
However if you are wanting to boost Imoen's level somewhat you could return to the ankheg nest and sleep a few times. It's a bit cheesy but sometimes such things have to be done. Just make sure that Imoen is out of sight of the ankheg. Invisibility is one way of achieving this. Another is to give her the boots of speed so that she can run away when they turn up.
In my first run (which is with reloads on death and not finished yet) I'm in SoD. So, I roughly know what to expect from now on, except that I played with NPC project last time, and now without mods.
Xan has left after talking to him in Nashkel, and as far as I know he leaves for good, doesn't he? I didn't think then that I might need a backup mage, or I wouldn't have talked to him.
I didn't mean to level up Imoen by scribing scrolls, I meant to get my hands on a few vital scrolls and have her cast from them in emergencies. I don't need her thief levels right now, I've recruited Alora.
Unfortunately, I have already done all the sirenes and basilisks. I don't dare to go deeper into Durlag's Tower yet, and I especially don't dare to do any of the high XP quests related to Ulgoth's Beard with only my level 7 Undead Hunter and a level 1 mage.
I have Wand of Frost, Fire, Lightning, two Wands of Paralyzation, the Wand of Polymorphing (or whatever the correct name is), Wand of Magic Missile, and the Wand of Heavens for Branwen. I also have several potions of explosion, firebreath and oil of fiery burning. Imoen also has about 50 darts of stunning.
To protect myself without spells, I have bought or collected all the potions of speed, heroism, invisibility, absorption, freedom, fire resistance, regeneration, magic blocking/shielding/protection and so on that I could get my hands on.
I think I could handle Candlekeep, but I'm afraid I might have forgotten something. Maybe I'll do at least the Ice Island first, I'm undecided. I doubt I could collect enough easy XP right now to get Imoen to cast at least level 2 spells. Besides, there aren't so many scrolls left.
Sigh.
I guess I'll just have to dive into it. I mean, there are people soloing without any mage at all. I guess I'll be okay.
Edit: Imoen is fine as far as not being squishy (at least for a mage) goes, she has some 50 HP and AC 0 with her DEX, the Robe of the Good Archmage and a Ring of Protection +1.
I'm not going to dump Imoen, out of loyalty. Now that she's dualed, I can't take Quayle. But I will use some spam resting for XP, the Ankheg nest is a good idea. I'd rather not have her at level 1.
Or maybe traveling in the Cloakwood or sleeping in the Wyvern cave.
I think that the ankhegs are a little bit safer, but the wyvern cave is also a good idea.
I currently have an inquisitor as my PC and he has both Dynaheir and Quayle in the party.
They have some amusing dialogue, so I am glad that I have them both.
Quayle is largely unaware that Dynaheir is making fun of him which makes it even funnier.
What does a level 7 mage provide? Magic Missiles, Fireballs and Lightning have scrolls and wands. Invisibility can be sourced many ways. Haste is a miss but Oils of Speed can fill the gap for front liners. Dispels can come from priests. Crowd control (web, stinking cloud, slow etc) is a miss but can other party members step up? Maybe a bard, if you have Garrick, can do a job for you? Maybe your priests can delve into Silence or Rigid Thinking? Maybe amend tactics a bit and use summons more.
There's many options available. Stay positive and roll with the punch (as you are), that's what makes no-reload fun. At the very least you will improve your skills as a player by trying new things that you may not have if you still had Dynaheir using her usual spells
The greater doppelganger is a slugfest, but shouldn't be too problematic? The rest of the fights on the level don't require any magic spells either. Pratt and his gang is a bit harder: the most dangerous is one person that has Darts of Stunning. A single bad critical and bad saving throw can mean death. I recommend a Potion of Magic Shielding on your main character for this fight, unless you want to cheese out the fight with the Wand of Fire and bomb them out of sight. Any other type of crowd control would be good here, but level 2 spells are sufficient for that (Stinking Cloud, Horror, Web are good, for example). Finally, the two Basilisks on this level require either the mage spell Protection From Petrification or 2 or 3 Potions of Mirrored Eyes to safely fight them.
So I think you're set to do Candlekeep with a level 1 or level 3 Mage fairly comfortably: items are significantly more important than spells at this point, honestly.
There should be a couple Knock scrolls at Sorcerous Sundries, but failing that, a Potion of Cloud Giant Strength and the innate ability Draw Upon Holy Might (which your paladin should get after you arrive at the catacombs when you rest) will bump up your STR to 25, which is enough to force open the locks in the Candlekeep catacombs. The traps are dangerous, though--there are several Fireball traps, a Web trap, and a repeating Lightning Bolt trap that warrants a Potion of Insulation+Boots of Ground or a Potion of Absorption.
The ghasts in the catacombs don't bother me, I'm an Undead Hunter and Minsc has Spider's Bane. Alora will hopefully be able to handle the traps.
Prat will be tricky, he made me reload twice in my first run. But I think I know a bit more about tactics now, and I will send my thief to scout and hopefully disarm the web traps first.
I think I won't fight Rieltar in Candlekeep.
I've decided to take it in stride, because I like to roleplay. If a companion died in real life, it would be logical for the others to try to fill the gap, but we would continue our mission nonetheless. I'm going to do the remaining side quests in BG city, to be well prepared, but then I'll go to Eltan to take me to Candlekeep, without leaving the city to generate high XP monsters by resting in sensitive areas.
Imoen will do well with wands. I've bought as many important scrolls as I could afford (like the two Haste and Invisibility scrolls, Greater Malison, Web, Horror, Stinking Cloud) and she will use them when it's absolutely necessary. I won't have her scribe any of them, unless she can cast their level already and I can boost her INT with potions to guarantee success.
This is actually interesting, to have to improvise and adapt to the situation, instead of just being able to hire a perfect replacement for Dynaheir.
I'm really excited to see if it's going to work!
Thank you all for your support!
What advice can you veterans offer an aspiring adventurer? I have a full party of 6, the Ring of Energy (which should bypass his spell protections), access to Spell Thrust from my Sorcerer (which was very effective against Natasha and Hareishan), several Potions of Magic Protection, Blocking, Resistance and Invulnerability, two items of Free Action (ring and sword), and various other options.
How do you guys like to face him? Any tips are most welcome!
If things get ugly, Davaeorn usually uses evocation spells, so resistances are the best option. His Stinking Cloud+Web Minor Sequencer, launched at the start of the fight, will require good saving throws if you go into it without a Potion of Magic Blocking. If your sorcerer can safely engage him (that is, if your sorcerer either has a lot of defenses active and/or is approaching Davaeorn while his aura is fogged), Spell Thrust will take down his MGOI and open him up to Melf's Acid Arrow, though he might escape using Invisibility to heal himself.
I'm about to do the bandit camp on attempt 7 of an avenger (with party, post + screenshots coming), and I haven't decided how I'm going to handle Davaeorn. My current plan is to silence (Viconia) and web from out of range, but I'm not sure how effective that will be. I usually draw out the battle horrors and use the guard to waste most of his spells and then move in and kill him.
If you inch towards him while constantly double-clicking the spacebar, you should be able to get out of his field of vision before he spots you. It may help to use the Boots of the Cheetah and/or an Oil of Speed to make sure you can fall back quickly, but I've generally gone without haste effects.