No reload runs and TotSC content

Pingwin

If you are trying a no-reload run through BG1, do you bother with Durlag's Tower, Ice Island and Balduran's Island?

Durlag's Tower in particular seems far too dangerous once you get down to around level 2 or 3 and there doesn't seem to be that much loot that makes the danger levels worthwhile.

Neverused

Nope; the only two items of value in my opinion are Kiel’s helmet and the goblet. I figure I’d lose more runs than I’d save if I had to get those items.

Arctodus

I often do parts of those no-reload, even with SCS. They’re not as hard as it seems in the first place.

Ice Island can be real tricky, because the first fight is against three good mages. If you have a good backstabber, you can take one out in one hit, but it’s still a hard fight. After that though, it’s not that bad; you only fight one arcane caster at a time. The rest of the island is easy. And it nets you a Stoneskin scroll. Worthwhile if you ask me.

Balduran Island is super easy, because there’s only melee grunts there. A well buffed fighter can deal with the place by himself. However, if you don’t have Item Randomizer, there’s not much of a reason to do it. So yeah, I only do it with Item Randomizer - or with Item Revisions, because then the items there are much better. IR bastard swords are super cool.

Durlag’s Tower, I often stop before the chess fight. Before that, there’s some cool stuff to find. It’s just that, the chess fight can be really dicey and there’s not a lot of good loot after that. I’d say that the chess fight is the hardest part of Durlag, because the rest is not too hard. The wardens, taken one at a time, are not too troublesome. The demon, with the right tactic, can also be dealt with without too much of a problem. I never finish the cutists arc nowadays though. It leads to problematic fights (can’t prebuff when you arrive in Ulgoth’s Beard) for not much of a reward.

Enuhal

In party runs, I usually do all of these. Over the years, I've developed mostly foolproof tactics for the various parts of TotSC (such as using my strongest fighter-type with a PfM-Scroll and the Belt of the Antipode to clear the Ice Island, luring the werewolves at the shipwreck downstairs and outside into waiting and buffed summons + party members, bombarding the chessboard with webs/fireballs while my party is immune to lightning damage, going invisible via 6 potions right away upon reentering Ulgoth's Beard and staying out of sight of the cult assassins and drinking the right potion to deal with Aec'Letec (with magic shielding being the most powerful option there), and I don't like to skip content, even if the rewards aren't amazing.

That being said, I recently did lose a run at Balduran's Island due to picking the wrong dialogue options when talking to Dradeel, so there's no 100% safety. Every piece of content carries some risk with it.

When playing solo, I usually only get the wisdom tome from Durlag's and sometimes clear the Ice Island with PfM if I need the extra XP or the spellscrolls. Yes, for some characters items like the Sling +3 or the Large Shield +2 would be an upgrade, but I don't have similiarly safe tactics for solo characters as I have for large groups, and I also like to maintain a faster pace of play when soloing, so I'm more likely to skip content in general.

Pingwin

The chess board at least is easy - I like to cast invisibility on one of my "bishops" who moves forward just far enough to see what is going on. The rest of the party then chucks fireballs and potions of explosions until it's game over.

The bit of Durlag's tower that I really hate is the garden area before that. I've seen Garrick get chunked by a backstab from one of those invisible monsters that did over 80 damage which was probably a critical hit, but even non-critical backstabs from those things I've seen do 48 damage.

Overall I'm thinking that, whilst Balduran's Island or going deep in Durlag's Tower might get my party that final level up, there's too much scope for getting killed by a single mistake whereas going up against Sarevok without having hit max levels is still going to be pretty easy.

Pingwin

Arctodus said:

Balduran Island is super easy, because there’s only melee grunts there. A well buffed fighter can deal with the place by himself. However, if you don’t have Item Randomizer, there’s not much of a reason to do it. So yeah, I only do it with Item Randomizer - or with Item Revisions, because then the items there are much better. IR bastard swords are super cool.

I guess it is probably easier with a solo fighter than a whole party. A solo character has a slim chance of getting bitten by a vampiric wolf and paralysed which would be game over, but for a party, the riskiest thing seems to be trying to keep the more fragile party members safe.

I don't use any mods so the treasure isn't worth bothering with unless there's a significance to the butter knife that I'm unaware of.

I'm about to start a no-reload run. I'll probably explore the upper part of Durlag's Tower and maybe go down deep enough to get the helm and the goblet but then that will be it.

Arctodus

Well, if you’re in a team, buff up only one fighter and let him do the work while the rest take a back seat. Solo or not, that tactic works.

Zaghoul

I enjoy those areas every no reload run as it's just too tempting not to go, especially with experience points totals option unlocked. I like the restored 2nd level of Ice Island just for the chance at encountering snow golems. That first CofCold attack was a nice surprise.

Enuhal

@Pingwin My approach for the garden area in Durlag's is to always send a group of skeletons ahead of the actual party. The invisible backstabbers will reveal themselves by attacking the summons that way (you can have vulnerable party members be invisible for additional safety).

Pingwin

Zaghoul said:

I enjoy those areas every no reload run as it's just too tempting not to go, especially with experience points totals option unlocked. I like the restored 2nd level of Ice Island just for the chance at encountering snow golems. That first CofCold attack was a nice surprise.

There's a second level to the Ice Island? I must have missed that, going to have to go back and have a look for it.

Zaghoul

@Pingwin That is restored content from the mod Unfinished Business. Just updated by @AstroBryGuy recently.

Permidion_Stark

I'm doing a no re-load solo run at the moment and I am also wondering about whether to do the TotSC content. I'm playing as a Kensai/Thief and don't use any potions and I am also restricting my character to daggers and throwing knives only. I will definitely go to Durlag's Tower to get the tome but I've got a bad feeling I would come unstuck if I attempted the Ice Island or the Isle of Balduran.

AstroBryGuy

Zaghoul said:

I enjoy those areas every no reload run as it's just too tempting not to go, especially with experience points totals option unlocked. I like the restored 2nd level of Ice Island just for the chance at encountering snow golems. That first CofCold attack was a nice surprise.

Glad you liked that!

PS - For Ravenloft fans, the snow golems are inspired by the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium.