I’m going to share the intro to The Maimed God’s Saga with you folks, and maybe said intro will give you an idea why I love this module so very much. In my opinion, it is the pinnacle module for cleric play, and I often return to it because of that.
The irony is that I’m very irreligious, teetering on the edge atheism, but love to play paladins and clerics.
@Cerabelus , great reporting, man! It's almost like watching you play live. I love your wry, tongue-in-cheek, humorous writing style. You keep me smiling the whole time I read your reports. And thanks for reporting in such amazing detail, with so many pictures! I know how much time and work it takes to organize a lot of pictures into a report post. It's a lot of fun to go back and read them once they're up, but the creating of them can get kind of exhausting. And you've done it three times in the past day! Much respect and admiration to you.
I was able to brute force my way past the guardian golem on the island, and made an alliance with the bronze golems to assist us in the coming battle for the rebel drow encampment. There was no need to solve the puzzle. But thanks for providing the solution! I found the book and the numbers console, and I saw the guardian golem saying two of the words, but I didn't know what to do with that, and frankly, I was in no mood. I thought "Heck, I bet I can just brute force my way through this thing with this character," and it turned out I could.
@Arvia , also a very nice report. In all honesty, I simply never stumbled onto the room with the blue dragon in it. I'm leveling my Deekin as a dragon disciple, for a few reasons. Roleplaying wise, I think it fits his character best as a former slave of Tymofarrar, and he makes a lot of comments about feeling his draconic nature rising within him. Mechanically, he becomes a beast in melee combat with those dragon disciple levels. I've got his spellcasting turned off, (he still sings his bard song frequently), I've got really good gear on him including a Chainmail of Speed, and the best defensive jewelry I can get for him (his current AC in my game is 38), and now that I have the extra spell slots, I also cast Greater Magic Weapon and Aid on him every rest cycle. He fights as well or better in melee than Valen the weapon master. And sometimes he even breathes fire on enemies!
Congratulations on beating the blue dragon without a respawn! What an exciting fight!
@Balkoth , Okay, maybe I'm wrong about the mages vs. warriors issue. I still think warriors are a lot stronger in NWN at high levels than in BG. They're also a lot easier to play. With a mage, you've always got the problem of needing just the right spells prepared for whatever situation, and you need a lot more knowledge, such as "Golems are not immune to acid, so I need Acid Breath and Acid Sheath spells for this dungeon." There's also always the worry of running out of spells, especially in multiple mob situations. No matter how many spell slots you have, there's always an end to them, and resting isn't always possible. I know there are wands and scrolls, and mages are very powerful in the hands of a player who knows what she's doing. (I've noticed enemy mages I've encountered in HotU always waste their Time Stop spells (so far). I don't know what they're doing during those rounds, but whatever it is, it isn't damaging me.)
@Cerabelus is leveling a mage, and I think he's doing a great job showing us how it's done to beat the OC with a mage. Although I guess his character is more of a mage-rogue.
I'm considering posting and reporting a paladin run through "Saga of Aielund" after I finish HotU. I know it's a much more challenging game at high levels (and at low levels, too). I just hope I don't get stopped by any scripting errors, because sometimes they happen (things fail to spawn, events fail to trigger, doors fail to open, etc.) It should be finishable, though, because I beat it once as a bard, of all things. That ending module is amazing.
I'm taking a break, I'm suddenly not having fun anymore. And if I find myself continuing to play just because I don't want to quit, it's definitely time to do something else.
Can't really say what's wrong, except that the Undermountain is getting on my nerves and I made some mistakes that reminded me of some of my brain's greatest weaknesses, and I hate when that happens. And some other things.
That attitude might change in a couple of days, I don't know. Right now I'm not continuing. But I won't wipe the saves, of course.
Status:
Level 18 (took Blind Fight)
Rescued Linu and Tomi, have Tomi and Deekin as henchmen, have finished level 2 of the Undermountain.
Respawn: 1 (Drow Subcommander, the one where you find Tomi. We killed each other at the same time, very frustrating.)
I'm taking a break, I'm suddenly not having fun anymore. And if I find myself continuing to play just because I don't want to quit, it's definitely time to do something else.
Can't really say what's wrong, except that the Undermountain is getting on my nerves and I made some mistakes that reminded me of some of my brain's greatest weaknesses, and I hate when that happens. And some other things.
That's weird to hear, HotU is widely considered the best of the three campaigns though I will say Chapter 1 is probably the weakest chapter.
Mind elaborating on what exactly is bothering you, even if you aren't sure? Maybe we can help.
Missing your original gear? Not connecting with companions? Wanting more story and less dungeon crawl? Traps and tricks annoying you? Something else?
@Balkoth , Okay, maybe I'm wrong about the mages vs. warriors issue. I still think warriors are a lot stronger in NWN at high levels than in BG.
No idea, sorry, but quite possible. Though a lot of that depends on the magic level of a module/world -- if the best item at level 40 is a +3 item then casters will tend to be better, if everyone is running around with +15 gear and 50 resistance to all damage then martials will tend to be better.
They're also a lot easier to play. With a mage, you've always got the problem of needing just the right spells prepared for whatever situation, and you need a lot more knowledge, such as "Golems are not immune to acid, so I need Acid Breath and Acid Sheath spells for this dungeon."
True, though basically nothing is immune to acid and the sheer damage of Mestil's Acid Sheath means 10, 20, or even 30 resistance to acid doesn't matter at higher levels.
It's "easier" for Sorcerers where you make sure you have a good selection of spells to handle various situations. But yes, playing a martial is generally much easier than playing a caster.
There's also always the worry of running out of spells, especially in multiple mob situations. No matter how many spell slots you have, there's always an end to them, and resting isn't always possible. I know there are wands and scrolls, and mages are very powerful in the hands of a player who knows what she's doing.
You can have 10+ spell slots per level end-game, which does give you some good staying power. But yes, if resting is restricted you could easily run out. In resting restricted environments the caster usually lets the martial beat up the easy stuff and saves his spells to wreck the hard stuff.
Wands and scrolls are pretty bad overall with a few specific exceptions.
So, today we encountered our first truly challenging boss, a dracolich! I had forgotten completely about this module, so I was doing it blind. We found a village in the Underdark where the dracolich had been "freeing" slaves of the illithids and drow in order to use them as human sacrifices to create an army of bone golems, as well as several dragon skeletons to use as quick re-animations for itself, and it had allied itself with a powerful vampire lord sorcerer, and a coven of vampires.
Sodalis was pulling a Davaeorn where he teleported between two rooms, and he placed two cloud effects and an Evard's Black Tentacles in between. Before I realized what was happening and could order a "Stand Your Ground", Deekin had run into "the bad stuff" and died. I managed to get Valen out of it by clicking "Follow" repeatedly to override his AI, and of course, I didn't go into "the bad stuff" myself. We just waited for Sodalis to teleport our way, whacked him with everything we had when he appeared, and used the time after he teleported away to heal and just wait again for him to reappear.
Deekin's rez dialogue is kind of adorable:
Hmm, I wonder what we could do with chairs, benches, and barrels in a vampire coven full of vampire coffins, where the vampires cannot be destroyed without wooden stakes through the heart while recovering in their coffins?
After killing some vamps, I made level 22. Since I had gotten both Divine Might and Divine Shield by Level 22, I decided to start taking Champion of Torm levels. I might as well go for Cleave, Great Cleave, and whatever other fighter feats I can get, plus the saving throws, especially since the CoT levels count as more levels for Lay on Hands and Smite Evil. (Not sure about Divine Might and Divine Shield).
So, Sodalis came back, of course, since we had not yet found his coffin and staked him. There was no way for me to fight him, and also keep my companions alive, especially since I needed to take the rounds to activate short duration buffs like Divine Might, Holy Sword, and Divine Favor to have a chance to succeed. I'm really sorry, guys. I wish you could take care of yourselves a little better.
Torm help us, Vixthra is a dracolich! I think he was strongest in his first phase, and I needed quite a few Potions of Heal, and almost died several times.
Hmm, I wonder what all these dragon skeletons are doing around here? I don't have to defeat Vix over and over for each of these skeletons do I? Oh, okay, I guess I do. Looks like three more times, from the dragon skeletons lying around.
I found that Divine Shield made all the difference here. Vix could hit AC 48 pretty easily, (I had put back on my Amulet of Natural Armor +5 after using the Amulet of Health to fight the vampires), but he couldn't hit AC 55 without a crit. Divine Shield greatly cut down on my use of Potions of Heal. This was the first fight in HotU where I felt like I was using every single paladin ability at my disposal to get through. I had ordered my two companions to stay back by the entrance. They could do little here but get themselves killed, and would be nothing but an unwelcome distraction.
Oh, so there's a phylactery back here with his treasure hoard. I wonder if running back here and destroying that first might have meant I didn't have to beat him four times? Oh, well, I'll destroy it now, just in case.
Valen has some limited Disarm skill, which I didn't know. He saved me some trapped chest bashing time here.
Ah, among the dracolich's treasure, the perfect gauntlets for Deekin! Here ya go, little buddy. Merry Christmas!
The townspeople thanked us for setting them truly free of evil masters.
On our way out, Deekin suddenly made a funny reference to Xanos. To really be able to appreciate all the references to previous content in HotU, you have to have played both the OC and SoU.
@Arvia , by all means, take a break from playing NWN and/or reporting, my good friend. Helm knows, I never force myself to continue playing and reporting any runs after I lose interest or stop having fun doing so. Your leisure time is precious, and I think it's really important that you feel like your batteries are recharged every time you get some time to play, reported or not. If playing a game and/or reporting it is leaving you feeling "meh", or worse yet, more drained than you were when you started the play session, it is absolutely time to take a break from that game, and play something else, or do something else.
Reloads: 0
Companion Deaths: 3 (Sodalis x 3)
Level: 22
@BelgarathMTH
I've had to change my tactics since I started because I was being too reckless, I'm not sure if running away as much as I do is considered "Tactical" but bottlenecking enemies on bridges and doorways is really good for a Mage using Cone AOE attack spells.
When playing a Wizard I use Buffs to boost combat abilities and conserve the AOE spells for larger groups, I don't like resting after 2 fights.
I don't usually go Invisible and scout around first but it's working out really well, getting in close and Shiving before they can buff...that Baram hit so damn hard though.
I found Chapter 2 a slog for a Mage, felt so squishy for ages but after getting past LVL 10 Wizard it's much better now.
Rei'Leena is currently 2 Rogue 12 Wizard and I think 2000xp from 15 ?.
Those Rogue Lvls have helped a lot, I've been able to get rid of most traps and locks except the more different ones.
Switching to 2 medium weapons has reduced the AB a bit more but I'm still hitting effectively so still good.
I'm hoping to get Improved two weapon fighting than Empower or Extend spell, than maybe Spell Focus's in Necromancy ?.
Extend is perfect for Death Armor, Elemental Shield & Mestil's Acid Sheath...they are very short term spells but extremely powerful together.
Sorcerer's have a lot more nuking power per day but I just can't go back to a limited spell selection anymore, being able to swap out spells is just too valuable for me to give up.
@Cerabelus , I have a different perspective on the paladin or cleric vs. mage deal. I like to have and protect companions, even if I have to constantly have them "Stand Your Ground" someplace safe while I smash the baddies to goo, or say "These little ones aren't worth the trouble, come, let me buy you a drink," and then cut the baddies' hands off with my lightsaber when they refuse.
The trouble for most mage damage magic for me, is that it's not party friendly. You're as likely to hurt allies as enemies with that crap. (Unless you play on "Normal", no friendly fire, which I consider to be kind of a cheat, especially since that same setting disables attacks of opportunity and critical hits on the player. I kind of consider all of "Normal" difficulty to be a massive cheat. )
I know all too well from my many, many cleric runs the awesome power of the "Extend Spell" feat for any caster.
Also, it's not required, but I'd really respect everyone's runs more if they'd keep a counter of how many respawns/reloads they've had in their runs.
As for Baram - He gave me one of my few respawns in my OC run as a pally. Huge respect to you for getting through that fight without a respawn or a reload, especially as a "squishy" caster.
I started too reckless and my respawns and reloads...well I stopped counting out of embaressment ?.
In SOU I'll count for sure.
I don't know what class I'll play in SOU but I'm thinking maybe a Human Monk/Druid, I have fond memories of running around as a Dire Bear with Monk AC and Flurry of Blows, than in HOTU running around as a Earth Elemental and if you manage to get 30 Wisdom a Epic Wild Shape Dragon ?.
This build is better in NWN 2 as you can get a feat called Natural Spell that lets you cast spells while shifted, imagine running around as a Dire Bear casting Call Lighting and Icestorms.
But I'm also considering Pure Wizard, I do love those spells.
I need to make a more Sturdy character or a lot more careful playthrough.
As for Baram - He gave me one of my few respawns in my OC run as a pally. Huge respect to you for getting through that fight without a respawn or a reload, especially as a "squishy" caster.
He smashed right through 2 seperate Greater Stoneskins, and I almost died 3 times, it was super lucky.
@Cerabelus , I don't think a high respawn/reload counter is embarrassing. I finished the OC with 9 Respawns and 1 Reload. Compared to @BelgarathMTH , that was quite high, but I'm not embarrassed. We're not doing a competition here.
I do understand the feeling of being too reckless, or rather careless/inattentive in my case, and then angry at oneself with the result. That happens to me all the time and was one of several reasons why I felt like quitting yesterday. Another big reason were the annoying first two levels of the Undermountain. The first level gave me huge trouble and cost me lots of valuable time trying to remember where I had already been and how to get from one part to the other. I spent an eternity on that, and I don't have that much leisure time. (I don't want to talk about the second level.)
Keeping a counter also helps you to compare builds or see how much you've learned from your experience when you play again.
Apologies to anyone I might have discouraged with my comment about preferring to be able to see a counter. I edited the original comment to take out the more aggressive sounding statements. Mea culpa.
What i meant by too reckless was jumping into battles like a buffed Fighter and not retreating when i should, Wizard's are Squishy and charging into battle before where ready is a less than a good tactical maneuver and had i taken more care before proceeding i would've limited those deaths.
I see it as my own overconfidence but i'm glad to say my current tactics are working well...and a lot of luck.
I think this Build works better for exploration and small battles and only later levels is suited for short term charging into battle (do as much damage as possible before your defenses run out), i do prefer the team play companion style of play in NWN 2 over NWN...even if both games could use better AI's, but in NWN 2 i can turn off the AI and take control during difficult moments.
BG 1&2 was better...obviously.
Anyway don't worry about my embarrassment..it took me awhile but i'm learning to alter my style...maybe Revat's Mum was right about me?
Well today i had a little time to play so after speaking to several people in town i decided to start with the local war front at Fort Ilkard.
Chapter 3
While appreciating my new Haste Boots i zipped around town talking to several people.
After talking to Aaron i went outside and started looking in boxes for "essential supplies" thank you Lord's Alliance, no doubt you placed these boxes here for me.
Found another Crafting book for Gargoyle Boots, Elootra must be around here somewhere with her Lab.
This Guard called me over and started complaing about the Uthgardt Tribes so i decided to talk to them myself.
Yusam here wants someone to investigate the Elk Tribe who has left the Lord's Alliance and joined Lukan against us and is attacking Fort Ilkard nearby, this just became my top priority.
Rolkid here is looking for someone to hunt down certain bandits who are attacking our supply lines, we cant defend or attack without supply's so i need to get on this as i proceed.
Someone stole Lillian's Snowglobe...we need to get on this ASAP, forget the war.
Husher needs a Star Sapphire, apparently it's in a Tomb nearby, another reason to forget the war.
Neurik needs me to represent Rolgan as he's been accuse of the murder of Griff an Alliance soldier, i want to help him now but he's safe for the moment and the Fort nearby is under attack, don't leave the temple and I'll be right back.
Elk Tribe and Bears camping the road and hungry for solders, i mean the Bears are hungry not the Elk Tribe i'm sure they where ready to ambush...i hope that's all.
In the next area before entering the Fort, while exploring found some Orc's and Ogre's, are these the Bandit's attacking our supply lines?
This place is packed with baddies, and this Champion with the Cold Aura was a cut above the rest...had to use Interposing Hand again, where'd he get a Cold Aura?
Fire Archer's and one of my targets, Guzud.
After Interposing Hand, 2 Chain Lightnings, 3 Acid Breaths and some Fire Slashing with several heal kits, he did not survive.
After failing to disable this trapped door i didn't want to risk taking a death trap so used the ultimate spell, several Magic Missiles.
Uncus was inside and he is part of the Elk Tribe, he is my current enemy but me and Yusem are looking to end hostilities so i told him he was free to go and he gave me a Feather of Peace, i hope this helps me negotiate a peace.
Rozun's friend is dead...there's nothing i can do.
(remembering my play on BG2 TOB, i wish i could use a Rod of Resurrection here)
Inside the second building of the Fort spoke to Eckel, owns a farm between here and the Elk Fort and needs someone to get a message to his wife back home, and he's opinion of Commander Damas the Forts commander is less than kind.
Well i can see what Eckel was talking about, this guy is...well i don't know how to put but when i told him i want to negotiate with the Uthgardt Elk Tribe he was less than open to the idea so i left.
The Front Gate has been busted in and is at risk of being overrun so i was forced to engage, than i went Invisible and ran past the front line looking for the Elk Tribe Fort.
Ran past all the Uthgardt and found the Fort, showed Uncus's Feather of Peace and asked to speak to the leader and he said to find Zokan their leader.
This Damas guy is really starting to...anyway Zokan wants the cure for the plague and Damas wont give it to them so they left the Alliance and joined the Luskans, Turns out Damas Infected them on purpose and i'm starting to feel the need for to mess up Damas.
This seems to confirm their story, i'm starting to want Damas to be infected himself but that may be a little dark.
This Damas guy really did infect them...i was so tempted to kill him but with some persuasion got the cure for 500gp, that's nothing for me so an easy choice.
Peace! than immediately checked the area to make sure it's over and the attacks at the fort are gone.
Decided to destroy the Catapult's and Ballista's to make sure no one get any idea's.
Told Damas i destroyed the siege equipment and he was pleased...i wish i had a way to put you on trial, but at least i got those 500gp's back .
Lvl 15.
Zokan gave me this Spear, i wonder if an Uthgardt would like to have it?
Yusam is pleased and gave me a very nice "Ring of Yusam", Improved Evasion...very nice.
Gave Guzud's head to Rulkid and he...oh did we really need to do that?
Now that hostilities have ended i decided to search the area for "Supplies" and at the Alliance Fort Paige here is very concerned about keeping these braziers lit.
Who put out these braziers? Paige wants them lit .
Ran past these 2 homesteads earlier near the Elk Fort.
...
After wishing i could raise dead i found another Crating Book.
Eckel's Wife was alive...good, gave her the note.
Back at the Elk Fort i decided to gather "Supplies" and after failing to disarm a trap...Oh Sh&@ 98 Electrical Damage and 3hp remains, what was i saying about not being reckless?
Some guy's Ashes...someone must want this back right?, is it wrong to hang on to them?
Do i need this?
Freed 2 prisoners...probably should've done that earlier, sorry.
2 more books by the same person.
3 locked gates, 3 bookcases and 3 books by the same person, Hmm.
Each book placed and unlocked the gates, a treasure room of the Elk's?, i know they want me to have them...we have an unspoken bond that goes beyond words.
Tomi needed the Ashes & Daelan needed the Spear from Zokan, i only knew that from previous plays.
this is the final upgrade for Tomi and Daelan's items.
well that's it for today, I'm seriously thinking Monk/Druid for SOU to be hardier and a few extra class skills.
The trouble for most mage damage magic for me, is that it's not party friendly.
It does make it trickier to use, which makes spells like Firebrand and Chain Lightning particularly valuable (no friendly fire). Experience also makes it easier to hit just enemies (and/or lob some AoEs at the start of the fight before ranks close).
Also, it's not required, but I'd really respect everyone's runs more if they'd keep a counter of how many respawns/reloads they've had in their runs.
I'm curious -- does this respect apply to things like the traps in Chapter 1? Because in some of those noble houses you can just instantly die to traps. Obviously you can just spam "Find Traps" even more or make sure you take Tomi and move at an absolute snail's pace, but those "walking along then I'm dead" moments are clearly fun.
Isaac's Greater Missile Storm is OP and pretty cheesy, I got use to not relying on it in NWN 2 but yeah that definitely would've smashed him.
I mean, what other spells are you using for single target offense against someone like Baram?
Serious question.
IIRC you're playing like a level 12 wizard/2 rogue which means your AB is awful and your damage is probably pretty bad too. So against tough enemies you really should be using your spells to win.
Even if it's "just" Elemental Shield/Mestil's Acid Sheath.
Sorcerer's have a lot more nuking power per day but I just can't go back to a limited spell selection anymore, being able to swap out spells is just too valuable for me to give up.
....
I should've ran back to prepare a better spell selection but I went with what I had and barely scrapped by.
JUUUUST sayin'.
P.S. Are you using things like GMW and Flame Weapon on your weapons?
P.P.S. Using two medium weapons gives -2 AB in exchange for ONE damage per hit with your offhand weapon. It's a really bad idea.
The first level gave me huge trouble and cost me lots of valuable time trying to remember where I had already been and how to get from one part to the other. I spent an eternity on that, and I don't have that much leisure time. (I don't want to talk about the second level.)
May I make a suggestion for the first level? DO NOT USE THE TELEPORTERS. That means you can just circle around the first level (go clockwise or counterclockwise) and then just explore the north followed by the south (or south followed by north). There's only three areas total there.
I'm kind of confused about the second level -- it's a central chamber with a north/east/south area to visit. What's troubling you there?
Yeah definitely GMW & Flame, until Luskan i was using a shortsword in offhand but tried out the dual longswords and i'm still hitting effectively so kept going,
i use multiple buffs to boost combat stats with several items to boost STR & DEX.
This doesn't work in NWN 2 as only the highest stat boost is counted.
And just got Shadow Shield & Protection from Spells too.
@Balkoth , there was a part of the South, I think the one with the fairy queen, that can only be reached through teleportation, unless you can find hidden doors.
I thank you for your willingness to help, but I have finished them already. I was just explaining what bothered me. Of course I will know better next time.
On the second level, it was not the layout, but the traps and tricks that annoyed me, especially the goblins. I don't want to discuss it.
But I got through that (with the one Respawn because of the drow sub-commander) and have continued to play.
*******************************
I have reached Level 19 when freeing Halaster, and then I noticed that I can't ever go back after talking to him, and that I was supposed to find my equipment before that, but he teleported me to the Underdark without a chance.
I wouldn't have reloaded for forgetting a pair of boots with Tomi, but after just deciding that I would swallow my anger at my own stupidity and my hurt pride and continue, I wouldn't punish myself so much for another mistake that I'd continue without my gear from the OC.
I had a quicksave from before talking to Halaster, so I reloaded, got my stuff and will continue into the Underdark.
Level: 19
Respawn: 1 (Drow Sub-Commander in Undermountain)
Reload: 1 (to pick up my stolen equipment)
Yeah definitely GMW & Flame, until Luskan i was using a shortsword in offhand but tried out the dual longswords and i'm still hitting effectively so kept going
So first of all, how is your AC so low?
10 base AC + 7 (dex) + 4 (deflection from shield) + 2 (natural armor amulet) + 2 (bracers of armor) + 2 (Tumble, you could have +3 at this point but assuming it's probably only +2) + 4 (haste) + 1 (dodge from Mage Armor) = 32.
But you only have 26. Even if you didn't use Shield and instead used a ring/cloak +2 then you'd still have 30.
Baram, for example, attacks at +19/+14/+9/+4 with his main hand and +20/+15 with his offhand.
Against AC 26 he'll lands 0.7/0.45/0.2/0.05 = 1.4 hits per round with his main hand and 0.75/0.5 = 1.25 hit per rounds with his offhand. Total of 2.65 hits per round to simplify the math for now.
Against AC 32 that becomes 0.4/0.15/0.05/0.05 = 0.65 main hand and 0.45/0.2 = 0.65 offhand. Total of 1.3 hits per round -- in other words, you'd take half the damage. Less, actually, since it's a bigger impact on his main hand weapon which hits for more.
As for your own AB, let's bring some numbers into this, using your own character.
Say you're attacking yourself (so 26 AC is the target).
Right now your attack schedule is +15/+10/+19 main hand (the +19 is due to haste) for 19 average damage and +15 off hand for 15 average damage (this assumes the bonus 1d6 damage is never resisted). Both weapons do an additional 12.5 fire damage per hit from Flame Weapon (so 31.5 and 27.5 respectively).
That's 0.5/0.25/0.7 = 1.45 HPR * 31.5 = 45.675 main hand damage and 0.5 * 27.5 = 13.75 off hand damage. Total of 59.425 damage per round.
What if your offhand was a Short Sword (or Handaxe or another light weapon)?
Your attack schedule changes to +17/+12/+19 and +17 respectively but you lose 1 damage on the offhand.
That's 0.6/0.35/0.7 = 1.65 HPR * 31.5 = 51.975 main hand and 0.6 * 26.5 = 15.9 offhand for a total of 67.875 damage per round.
So you'd gain about 14% more damage simply by switching to a light offhand.
That's bigger than a static +1 AB increase (from Weapon Focus or something) which nets about a 10% damage increase and also bigger than picking up Improved Two Weapon Fighting (about an 11.5% increase).
@Balkoth , there was a part of the South, I think the one with the fairy queen, that can only be reached through teleportation, unless you can find hidden doors.
Ah, you're referring to the Fairy Bomb Maker, yes. That's more hidden away.
On the second level, it was not the layout, but the traps and tricks that annoyed me, especially the goblins. I don't want to discuss it.
Very well. I will mention that I basically never noticed anything the goblins did but I also had the Cowl of Warding equipped (immunity to mind spells and Freedom) which means the goblins couldn't Slow me, for example. Not sure what helm you're using.
@Balkoth , a difference of +5 to AC, that's why I wanted my gear back. And about 15 Potions of Heal. Sadly, my Bag of Holding was gone. But I have bought one from the Djinn.
I had that helmet. But they were raining Ice Storms and Negative Energy (I think that were the traps, though) on me, and some fire damage spells, too. And I forgot that I had a Gem of True Seeing to go for their shamans. At least I remembered that when I got downstairs to the drow.
@Balkoth , a difference of +5 to AC, that's why I wanted my gear back.
Interesting.
That said (as you've probably already discovered) you can immediately buy much better items at the start of Chapter 2. But I certainly understand not being aware of that fact and wanting your stuff back, damnit!
@Balkoth , I'm not in Chapter Two yet, only heard the Seer's speech, nothing more.
And no, I couldn't have known that I can buy better stuff. Anyway, I need to be able to afford it, too.
And I have, among other things, an Amulet of Natural Armor +5, a Ring of Protection +5, a Shield of Hadrezini (or whatever the name was) that gives +8 to AC, as opposed to the +6 of a Tower Shield +3, and Helm's Ring of Elemental Resistance. And another pair of Boots of Speed for one of my companions.
I doubt I'd get all that and so much better thrown at me soon (at affordable prices, that is).
By the way, I know you're just trying to troubleshoot, but to a new player it can sometimes be a bit frustrating to hear all the time how easy all this is for other people. Please don't forget it's my first playthrough of this game, and my first experience with 3rd edition rules, too. If you've played this type of game for ages, it's sometimes hard to remember that it wasn't always as easy as it is now.
By the way, I know you're just trying to troubleshoot, but to a new player it can sometimes be a bit frustrating to hear all the time how easy all this is for other people.
I understand. And that's why I haven't said anything about 99% of the stuff you've mentioned (or other people have mentioned) in terms of difficulty.
The goblins just have me baffled, I never got what the heck they were supposed to be doing. You're the first person I've ever seen who mentioned them specifically as causing headaches, so I was trying to figure out what was different in your case.
Okay, I finished the Beholder Lair today, but I almost didn't. It took two reloads and a respawn, plus consulting a walkthrough, so it was very frustrating, and it made me want to quit. I guess I'm glad now I didn't, though. I think this particular dungeon would be a lot easier on a second playthrough, armed with metaknowledge, but it's still a very high reload risk, because of the hated critical fail rule - with an army of beholders spamming petrification gazes at you, sooner or later, you're going to roll a one.
So, at the beginning of the dungeon, we got attacked by a drow squad led by "Eldath Ra'Sin", an assassin sent to kill us by the Valsharess. I didn't realize in time that Valen was in trouble, and he went down before I could get him to drink a Potion of Heal. Ra'Sin wasn't much threat to Deekin or me, because of our high AC, but Valen has really lousy AC no matter what gear I can find for him, because he doesn't use a shield.
I really wish I hadn't lost those Boots of Speed on Tomi! Valen could really use them.
Klling Eldath Ra'Sin (what an ironic name for an assassin - Eldath? Really? The goddess of pacifism and forest springs?) got us to level 23. I took a second level of Champion of Torm, got another +1 to saves, and took Armor Skin for a bonus feat (+2 to Natural AC that stacks with other sources of Natural AC).
Deekin got Red Dragon Disciple level 9 and got his wings. I thought they looked cute. But, as soon as we went into the Beholder Lair, the wings disappeared, apparently forever. I think that's a bug.
Remember when I mentioned that epic level D&D games start using cheese to challenge the players? The second floor of this Beholder Lair is a null magic zone. That includes turning off all magic items, and potions don't work, either. My AC went down to 23, and without Bull's Strength or Ogre Gauntlets, I couldn't even run. I could only walk very, very slowly.
There are lots and lots of spiders that cast Webs that last at least 20 seconds each, and you can't stop the poison. I could heal it with healer's kits, but Potions of Restoration to get rid of the initial ability damage weren't working.
Then, at the end, there's a giant demon spider boss the size of a small house, "Bebelith", and there was my first reload. I could have taken a respawn, but both companions were dead, and they don't respawn with you. It was just going to be more and more respawns/reloads, because my now non-magical longsword couldn't damage Bebelith, at all. Reload number one.
I considered trying to go back up to the first level, which causes a small army of beholders to spawn. I rolled a one on my twentieth or so fortitude save, and got petrified. Reload number 2.
I didn't see any way I was going to be able to finish this dungeon, so I went online looking for a walkthrough. There's a machine that can open a locked door with a Knock spell, into a passage that lets you bypass Bebelith. With my Lore skill, I still needed to roll 18 to understand it and activate it. I just started spam rolling until I got high rolls and gradually figured it out. A dungeon master in a live game wouldn't let you have more than one roll, but I was completely de-immersed at this point, so I just went out of character and did whatever I had to do to finish.
The passage leads to a chamber with an obelisk. I wonder if anyone ever figured it out "legitimately"? I guess maybe someone who likes puzzles might have tinkered with it and somehow seen the solution. I was in no mood. Back to the walkthrough.
There are four pressure plates with symbols on each of the four sides of the obelisk. The top one closest to the obelisk can't be pressed or changed, but the bottom three change the symbol every time you click. You have to make the bottom three match the one on top, four times, all the way around the obelisk.
This gives you a sphere with only three charges, that allows you to activate a null magic field up on the first level to disable the beholders. That's supposed to make the final boss fight easier, and I guess it does, somewhat, but the null magic doesn't last anywhere near long enough. It's only about 5 rounds. Meanwhile, there are at least 20 beholders, plus an eye tyrant. And, they have Grease all over the floor that keeps making you fall. Plus, they have an annoying habit of levitating way up and disappearing as soon as they get to "Badly Injured", then they come back down across the room and start spamming eye beams again.
I fell down in the Grease (which is the same as Paralysis - no actions possible), after the null magic wore off, and I couldn't drink a Heal potion while lying prone on the floor. (Does Freedom protect from Grease? Maybe part of the solution here is to make sure you have an item or a spell giving Freedom - I don't think I did. Of course, it wouldn't work while null magic was up.)
Sigh. My companions were still up and doing pretty well, so I took a respawn this time. You go to a pocket plane where there's a "Reaper" that can send you back. It takes a rogue stone to go there, and if you run out of rogue stones, no more respawns. I haven't seen any more in Chapter Two, and I don't think the genie has them. I think I have about five of the stones left.
So far we have three out of five adventure scenarios complete, leading up the final battle of the chapter. We rescued the Avariel, although I think that was an optional sidequest that didn't do anything, we made an alliance with the bronze golems to help in the final battle, we destroyed the undead army and the dracolich, also freeing a celestial who is supposed to show up at the final battle, and we destroyed the beholders, so there should be no vampires or beholders at the final fight. The dialogues in town suggested it might be possible to negotiate with the eye tyrant, but I didn't see any chances to do that.
Now, oh joy, I get to go see what mind flayers can do to me when I roll a one.
I think I'll stop the counter on companion deaths. It's getting too complicated. For example, do I count where they died in the reload to Bebelith? I'd rather not worry about it going forward. Just keeping track of my own counter is going to be complicated enough, because I remember things getting even worse in Chapter Three.
So far, I want to keep going so I can see Aribeth's dialogues again, but I don't think I'll be replaying HotU any more often than I play Throne of Bhaal. Maybe never again, actually. I just don't have as much fun with D&D once it gets this crazy with the high level play.
I think this particular dungeon would be a lot easier on a second playthrough, armed with metaknowledge, but it's still a very high reload risk, because of the hated critical fail rule - with an army of beholders spamming petrification gazes at you, sooner or later, you're going to roll a one.
A dungeon master in a live game wouldn't let you have more than one roll, but I was completely de-immersed at this point, so I just went out of character and did whatever I had to do to finish.
A dungeon master in a live game also wouldn't spam you with 30 things counting on you rolling a 1 eventually, no? Not a decent one, anyway.
Just disable the autofail on 1, it's a rule that makes no sense in this video game context where you can get spammed like crazy (or alternatively you can spam instadeaths yourself). There's a reason Bioware included that option.
P.S. On "normal" difficulty, what Bioware presumably tested on, petrification isn't permanent so you can often recover and continue fighting (or your companions win and then you continue).
I couldn't drink a Heal potion while lying prone on the floor. (Does Freedom protect from Grease? Maybe part of the solution here is to make sure you have an item or a spell giving Freedom - I don't think I did. Of course, it wouldn't work while null magic was up.)
You would need Knockdown immunity, Freedom prevents being slowed or paralyzed.
So far we have three out of five adventure scenarios complete, leading up the final battle of the chapter.
If you're curious, you can actually do all five adventure scenarios. Easiest with some intentional setup but quite possible for that to happen completely by accident.
Have you two played NWN 2? It's a much more story driven experience compared to SOU and HOTU but the first 2 hours are appropriately slower since we start at LVL 1 and need some experience and equipment and that gold...we need that gold.
I'm sorry SOU and HOTU isn't as fun for you but I see what you mean, if I want a heavier story experience I'll play BG 1&2 than NWN 2
how do you feel about Icewind Dale? That too is lighter on the story, the best comparison I've heard between BG and IWD is "in BG the story happens to you, but in IWD you happen to the story".
If I could think of something missing from NWN 2 OC that @BelgarathMTH would like is random party banter, there is scripted events and they comment on dialogue but they don't talk while running around which would be nice but considering their all voiced I can't complain too much.
@Cerebelus , I've been playing NWN 2 since it was released. Check out the beginning of this thread from page one. I started out with a roleplayed druid, up through just before my trial before Lord Nasher, and the inevitable fight with Lorne.
I've always found the story in IWD to be very engaging. It's just that your character and her friends aren't the center of it. I guess maybe some people don't like a game where they're not "the Chosen One", but I'm not one of those people. I'm perfectly happy to play a D&D campaign where I'm just a nobody, with no special destiny, being driven by story events like all the other nobodies. So as such, I've always loved Icewind Dale, and it has a permanent place on my gaming rotation.
@Balkoth , @sarevok57 already warned me earlier in the thread that if I wanted to complete all five modules from Chapter Two, before the final battle, I needed to start avoiding going back to the rebel drow encampment after completing one or two of them. Thank you so much for that warning, @sarevok57 . I would have been kind of pissed off if I had gotten dragged into the chapter finale without finishing everything. Also, how do I turn off "critical fail on one"? I've never seen any control to do that.
Okay, so we finished Chapter Two tonight. The Illithid module was much more fun and "easy" than the Beholder Lair. The final battle, was, well, let's say very ambitious. It was a lot of fun and very exciting, but my game started to lag terribly, and then it crashed to a black screen with battle music playing during one of the cutscenes. I had to replay the whole thing from a previous save, the second time sitting on the quicksave button throughout. On the reload, the guard captain caught me before I could sell my stuff, and purchase the Ring of Protection +6 and an Amulet of Natural Armor +6 I had purchased the first time. That was irritating. At least my final weapon upgrades had been saved from before the crash.
I am not counting the reload from the game crash. The Aurora engine has problems when the scripting for big war scenarios gets too complicated, with too many toons doing too many things at once. It often crashes in those kinds of scenarios, and the scripts fail, especially when cutscenes are involved.
There was a good rp opportunity in the mind flayer city. I had an opportunity to rescue a human woman from Illithid thralldom, as long as I kept up my cover as a slaver, and convinced her that I was just another slavemaster who commanded her to take a message back to the Seer in the rebel drow city. If I had done the "lawful stupid" thing and just attacked the whole city, which we could have done, this woman would have probably died in the attack. If my actions make me "neutral good", then so be it, but Torm didn't seem to care. "Good" always trumps "Lawful", in my opinion.
Okay, the guard to the complex where the Elder Brain was housed wasn't going to let us in, on the Elder Brain's orders, unless I removed the helmet that was protecting me from being mind wiped and dominated by the mind flayers. I "politely" declined. By killing it. Now the whole city would be hostile, but at least I saved one human woman first.
Oh dear. Every time I see a Blade Barrier, I think of Morag's instakill Blade Barrier. But there was no way forward without running through it that I could see.
Wait a minute.
Oh dear, they have a dragon in here?
Wait a minute. I'm starting to see what's going on here. Hmm.
The Elder Brain was reasonable. But it needed the cursed Mirror that had screwed the Avariel to be able to stop the other Elder Brains from bringing in illithids to the battle for the rebel drow encampment. Shoot, I wish I hadn't given it to the Seer! Now I have to use the Relic of the Reaper to do some fancy teleportation work, talk to the Seer to get that mirror back, and hope I don't trigger the finale involuntarily before I can secure the mind flayers' neutrality and non-participation.
Finishing the mind flayer quest gave me level 24. I got a point of Charisma, bringing it to 18, and I decided, based on the bitter lesson taught to me by that awful null magic zone in the Beholder Lair, that I needed more natural Strength, not dependent on magic. So, I took Epic Strength I, which is only one point, but 17 Strength is a lot better than 16 if I ever need to handle my heavy armor and shield without any magic again. If I ever get another attribute point, it will go to Strength, to get it to an unadjusted 18.
While teleporting through the Reaper's "Stargate" hub, I saw a strange pool that I had never clicked on to see what it was, so I clicked it. Whoa! It contained the best items I had given to Tomi before I lost him. Yay! Now Valen has Boots of Speed, which he desperately needed!
Here's the final state of my upgraded Lightsaber. Thank goodness I got it done and saved it before that annoying guard captain could force-trigger the finale, losing me access to the crafter forever. I didn't spend 50,000 gold per point to increase my enhancement bonus, because I have the Greater Magic Weapon spell to take it to +5, and I would have had to waste 150,000 gold just to get it up to +5. Then, another 50,000 gold to get it to +6. I think the other affixes I could afford will be more useful in the long run. I took Keen (does stack with Improved Critical, according to the Improved Critical description), Magic Resistance, Regeneration, 2d6 acid, (I was working on a base +2 longsword here, because I couldn't replace the 1d6 acid in my original Gladiator's Blade), and True Seeing.
So, once the finale is triggered, you can never rest again until you finish Chapter Two, and the final battle is huge, involving armies, and then the Valsharess, with no chance to rest. I really don't see how a mage or a buff-dependent cleric could do this scenario without metagaming to be sure to have all spell slots recharged before the battle gets force-started, completely beyond player control. I consider this a major design flaw in this HotU chapter. Luckily, as a paladin, my Holy Shield with Extra Turning gave me, I think it was 17 casts of Divine Shield, and Divine Might, and I had most of those casts left. Divine Shield proved to be critical against the Valsharess' whip attacks. Without it, she could hit me easily with her very high BAB and APR. With it, she could almost never hit me with her whip.
So, Gods and Nine Hells, I had a "D'oh!" moment against the Valsharess, and got a respawn. I still had on the helmet that protected me from mind flayer powers instead of from mind-affecting spells in general, and she stunned me. With her epic level cleric spell book loaded with Cause Wounds, Flame Strikes, and who knows whatever other awful spells, that stun was a death sentence! And so easily prevented if I'd had the right helmet on!
Sigh. Okay, I had the Reaper teleport me straight back into the fight. I still couldn't rest with him, by the way. So I *still* had no buffs other than my remaining Divine Shields.
The Valsharess kept using either spells or Potions of Heal. I guess that's fair, since I do it. This fight was really, really hard, especially since I had no buffs other than Divine Shield. I had to keep running out of "the bad stuff", including a Blade Barrier, while she unloaded her massive spell book on me. I pretty much had to just keep healing over and over until she finally emptied out her spells and went to melee. With Divine Shield and plenty of healing supplies (thank Torm!) she wasn't that hard to beat once her spells were gone.
Okay, the next spoiler tag contains *MASSIVE plot spoilers!* Do not open it if you don't want to know.
I thought it was clever how they worked the respawn mechanic into the story here, and also let you know that there would be no respawn mechanic in Chapter Three.
So, once the finale is triggered, you can never rest again until you finish Chapter Two, and the final battle is huge, involving armies, and then the Valsharess, with no chance to rest. I really don't see how a mage or a buff-dependent cleric could do this scenario without metagaming to be sure to have all spell slots recharged before the battle gets force-started, completely beyond player control. I consider this a major design flaw in this HotU chapter.
He was drinking, gambling, lost an Heirloom to Griff, "Felt Strange", "Mind was Clouded" apparently Griff attacked him first...hmm, i'll need to ask around for more info.
Edegar is one of the Juror's and he claims to be "Keeping an Open Mind", i should hope so.
Dalcia is another Juror, she's an Uthgardt but say's she is waiting for the trial before deciding, she's worried that the Uthgardt religion could be a factor in his trial...religion is always a touchy subject and i hope this isn't part of the trial and i'm not gonna start a religious argument.
Rolgan's wife Vanda is a witness to Rolgan's actions coming home from gambling, apparently "he'd been drinking" but "he seemed...different", hmm than she sent Rolgan back to find Griff and get back the Heirloom and apparently was going to offer Griff more than it's material worth.
Palla is another Juror and is very disappointing in Rolgan, she claims to be taking her position seriously but say's if drinking was the cause of Rolgan's behavior she must vote guilty.
Zed is a witness and thinks i'm a sucker...how rude, anyway he confirmed the gambling story and "guess the savage didn't like it", he also seems to be holding back and something is wrong with his leg.
Used a kit on his leg than he was a little happier, he say's "Griff spiked the Uthgardt's drink" and this was something he'd done before than he claims Griff was cheating and wanted to "take everything the Uthgardt owns", this Griff sounds like he was a charming honest fellow indeed.
Well Jevon was an interesting fellow, having been tried himself several times before his opinion of the courts is somewhat low and hopes i get Rolgan off...ok ill get right on it.
Averick is another Juror and talking to him was...an ordeal but his opinion of Griff was low and he doesn't think much of the Uthgardt either, if only i could turn back time, speaking to him was less than useful.
Lodar is another witness and confirmed the story of gambling and also heard Griff shouting and saw Griff and Rolgan fight with swords, this guy was present and saw much of that nights events...yet he hasn't mentioned the drinking...hmm.
Let's have a couple of drinks, Barkeep we need Ale here!
After we got a little tipsy he mentioned Griff kept getting into fights and was "kind of a racist".
come on Lodar...let's get sloshed!
Well Lodar did witness Griff spiking peoples drinks before to "give him an edge", what a guy.
Well after me and Lodar got a good buzz we are ready for the trial.
i took a total of 20 pics during the trial but i decided to condense a little.
as soon as we begin i noticed Edegar instantly votes guilty...WTH! you said "open mind"
Skimming ahead i asked Lodar & Zed "did Griff spike Rolgan's drink? and they confirmed it, did Zed witness the fight? no he didn't, did Lodar see who started the fight? no he didn't, i didn't ask them about drinking or religion.
Vanda told Rolgan to go back and speak to Griff and appeal to his sense of decency and return the heirloom.
Rolgan said he went back to Griff and Griff just attacked him and talked about his "mind was hazy with fog".
Closing areguments.
the witness never actually saw who started the fight.
Griff spiked Rolgan's Drink.
Edegar was clearly bias and didn't respond much to my arguments but 4 of 5 is good.
Neurik was happy.
i purposely avoided asking questions of drinking and racism against the Uthgardt as those are just too sensitive and people are very divided on those subjects.
Well a good verdict but because I've done it many times before, next time I'm looking for another supply line target, Snowglobe and the Tomb.
I took so many pics during the actual trial so i skipped about 17 of them .
@BelgarathMTH
I've had some great plays of IWD 1, so much happens before we arrive. we can't be the centre of everything all the time, sometimes you just want to be the guy who turns up and gets involved, I'm not the "saviour of the universe" I'm just the mysterious stranger .
Last time I played i went with Fighter/Mage, Cleric of Lathander, Dwarven Defender, Fighter/Thief, Dragon Disciple, Avenger Druid on highest difficulty for that extra XP, obviously the Dwarven Defender was instrumental.
I must have skimmed a bit on the first 10 pages of posts.
"Edit"
What i meant about highest difficulty was Insane difficulty, i didn't mean Heart of Fury mode.
I tried that mode once and it was a bit much.
those 2 reloads ( just got back to this page after being gone for a little bit ) i can totally see
the fights with the beholders ( especially in the boss area ) getting the good ol' petrification, happens to the best of us, although you were lucky, i think i had to reload 3 times in that area, and you only had the one? nicely done
and the bebelith, this is the first thing i think about when i make my character at level 1 in the OC is this guy, that anti magic area, oi, that be a tough sell
usually i luck out with a devastating critical and take it out in one go, but this time i got lucky because:
i found the door that leads to the anti magic thing, and there was some whack ball outside of it and i was able to cast a knock spell from it which opened the locked door, so then i want to the anti magic spire thingy and disable that before that fight, so it went much better this time
Comments
The irony is that I’m very irreligious, teetering on the edge atheism, but love to play paladins and clerics.
I was able to brute force my way past the guardian golem on the island, and made an alliance with the bronze golems to assist us in the coming battle for the rebel drow encampment. There was no need to solve the puzzle. But thanks for providing the solution! I found the book and the numbers console, and I saw the guardian golem saying two of the words, but I didn't know what to do with that, and frankly, I was in no mood. I thought "Heck, I bet I can just brute force my way through this thing with this character," and it turned out I could.
@Arvia , also a very nice report. In all honesty, I simply never stumbled onto the room with the blue dragon in it. I'm leveling my Deekin as a dragon disciple, for a few reasons. Roleplaying wise, I think it fits his character best as a former slave of Tymofarrar, and he makes a lot of comments about feeling his draconic nature rising within him. Mechanically, he becomes a beast in melee combat with those dragon disciple levels. I've got his spellcasting turned off, (he still sings his bard song frequently), I've got really good gear on him including a Chainmail of Speed, and the best defensive jewelry I can get for him (his current AC in my game is 38), and now that I have the extra spell slots, I also cast Greater Magic Weapon and Aid on him every rest cycle. He fights as well or better in melee than Valen the weapon master. And sometimes he even breathes fire on enemies!
Congratulations on beating the blue dragon without a respawn! What an exciting fight!
@Balkoth , Okay, maybe I'm wrong about the mages vs. warriors issue. I still think warriors are a lot stronger in NWN at high levels than in BG. They're also a lot easier to play. With a mage, you've always got the problem of needing just the right spells prepared for whatever situation, and you need a lot more knowledge, such as "Golems are not immune to acid, so I need Acid Breath and Acid Sheath spells for this dungeon." There's also always the worry of running out of spells, especially in multiple mob situations. No matter how many spell slots you have, there's always an end to them, and resting isn't always possible. I know there are wands and scrolls, and mages are very powerful in the hands of a player who knows what she's doing. (I've noticed enemy mages I've encountered in HotU always waste their Time Stop spells (so far). I don't know what they're doing during those rounds, but whatever it is, it isn't damaging me.)
@Cerabelus is leveling a mage, and I think he's doing a great job showing us how it's done to beat the OC with a mage. Although I guess his character is more of a mage-rogue.
I'm considering posting and reporting a paladin run through "Saga of Aielund" after I finish HotU. I know it's a much more challenging game at high levels (and at low levels, too). I just hope I don't get stopped by any scripting errors, because sometimes they happen (things fail to spawn, events fail to trigger, doors fail to open, etc.) It should be finishable, though, because I beat it once as a bard, of all things. That ending module is amazing.
I'm taking a break, I'm suddenly not having fun anymore. And if I find myself continuing to play just because I don't want to quit, it's definitely time to do something else.
Can't really say what's wrong, except that the Undermountain is getting on my nerves and I made some mistakes that reminded me of some of my brain's greatest weaknesses, and I hate when that happens. And some other things.
That attitude might change in a couple of days, I don't know. Right now I'm not continuing. But I won't wipe the saves, of course.
Status:
Level 18 (took Blind Fight)
Rescued Linu and Tomi, have Tomi and Deekin as henchmen, have finished level 2 of the Undermountain.
Respawn: 1 (Drow Subcommander, the one where you find Tomi. We killed each other at the same time, very frustrating.)
That's weird to hear, HotU is widely considered the best of the three campaigns though I will say Chapter 1 is probably the weakest chapter.
Mind elaborating on what exactly is bothering you, even if you aren't sure? Maybe we can help.
Missing your original gear? Not connecting with companions? Wanting more story and less dungeon crawl? Traps and tricks annoying you? Something else?
No idea, sorry, but quite possible. Though a lot of that depends on the magic level of a module/world -- if the best item at level 40 is a +3 item then casters will tend to be better, if everyone is running around with +15 gear and 50 resistance to all damage then martials will tend to be better.
True, though basically nothing is immune to acid and the sheer damage of Mestil's Acid Sheath means 10, 20, or even 30 resistance to acid doesn't matter at higher levels.
It's "easier" for Sorcerers where you make sure you have a good selection of spells to handle various situations. But yes, playing a martial is generally much easier than playing a caster.
You can have 10+ spell slots per level end-game, which does give you some good staying power. But yes, if resting is restricted you could easily run out. In resting restricted environments the caster usually lets the martial beat up the easy stuff and saves his spells to wreck the hard stuff.
Wands and scrolls are pretty bad overall with a few specific exceptions.
Deekin's rez dialogue is kind of adorable:
Hmm, I wonder what we could do with chairs, benches, and barrels in a vampire coven full of vampire coffins, where the vampires cannot be destroyed without wooden stakes through the heart while recovering in their coffins?
After killing some vamps, I made level 22. Since I had gotten both Divine Might and Divine Shield by Level 22, I decided to start taking Champion of Torm levels. I might as well go for Cleave, Great Cleave, and whatever other fighter feats I can get, plus the saving throws, especially since the CoT levels count as more levels for Lay on Hands and Smite Evil. (Not sure about Divine Might and Divine Shield).
So, Sodalis came back, of course, since we had not yet found his coffin and staked him. There was no way for me to fight him, and also keep my companions alive, especially since I needed to take the rounds to activate short duration buffs like Divine Might, Holy Sword, and Divine Favor to have a chance to succeed. I'm really sorry, guys. I wish you could take care of yourselves a little better.
Torm help us, Vixthra is a dracolich! I think he was strongest in his first phase, and I needed quite a few Potions of Heal, and almost died several times.
Hmm, I wonder what all these dragon skeletons are doing around here? I don't have to defeat Vix over and over for each of these skeletons do I? Oh, okay, I guess I do. Looks like three more times, from the dragon skeletons lying around.
I found that Divine Shield made all the difference here. Vix could hit AC 48 pretty easily, (I had put back on my Amulet of Natural Armor +5 after using the Amulet of Health to fight the vampires), but he couldn't hit AC 55 without a crit. Divine Shield greatly cut down on my use of Potions of Heal. This was the first fight in HotU where I felt like I was using every single paladin ability at my disposal to get through. I had ordered my two companions to stay back by the entrance. They could do little here but get themselves killed, and would be nothing but an unwelcome distraction.
Oh, so there's a phylactery back here with his treasure hoard. I wonder if running back here and destroying that first might have meant I didn't have to beat him four times? Oh, well, I'll destroy it now, just in case.
Valen has some limited Disarm skill, which I didn't know. He saved me some trapped chest bashing time here.
Ah, among the dracolich's treasure, the perfect gauntlets for Deekin! Here ya go, little buddy. Merry Christmas!
The townspeople thanked us for setting them truly free of evil masters.
On our way out, Deekin suddenly made a funny reference to Xanos. To really be able to appreciate all the references to previous content in HotU, you have to have played both the OC and SoU.
@Arvia , by all means, take a break from playing NWN and/or reporting, my good friend. Helm knows, I never force myself to continue playing and reporting any runs after I lose interest or stop having fun doing so. Your leisure time is precious, and I think it's really important that you feel like your batteries are recharged every time you get some time to play, reported or not. If playing a game and/or reporting it is leaving you feeling "meh", or worse yet, more drained than you were when you started the play session, it is absolutely time to take a break from that game, and play something else, or do something else.
Reloads: 0
Companion Deaths: 3 (Sodalis x 3)
Level: 22
I've had to change my tactics since I started because I was being too reckless, I'm not sure if running away as much as I do is considered "Tactical" but bottlenecking enemies on bridges and doorways is really good for a Mage using Cone AOE attack spells.
When playing a Wizard I use Buffs to boost combat abilities and conserve the AOE spells for larger groups, I don't like resting after 2 fights.
I don't usually go Invisible and scout around first but it's working out really well, getting in close and Shiving before they can buff...that Baram hit so damn hard though.
I found Chapter 2 a slog for a Mage, felt so squishy for ages but after getting past LVL 10 Wizard it's much better now.
Rei'Leena is currently 2 Rogue 12 Wizard and I think 2000xp from 15 ?.
Those Rogue Lvls have helped a lot, I've been able to get rid of most traps and locks except the more different ones.
Switching to 2 medium weapons has reduced the AB a bit more but I'm still hitting effectively so still good.
I'm hoping to get Improved two weapon fighting than Empower or Extend spell, than maybe Spell Focus's in Necromancy ?.
Extend is perfect for Death Armor, Elemental Shield & Mestil's Acid Sheath...they are very short term spells but extremely powerful together.
Sorcerer's have a lot more nuking power per day but I just can't go back to a limited spell selection anymore, being able to swap out spells is just too valuable for me to give up.
The trouble for most mage damage magic for me, is that it's not party friendly. You're as likely to hurt allies as enemies with that crap. (Unless you play on "Normal", no friendly fire, which I consider to be kind of a cheat, especially since that same setting disables attacks of opportunity and critical hits on the player. I kind of consider all of "Normal" difficulty to be a massive cheat.
I know all too well from my many, many cleric runs the awesome power of the "Extend Spell" feat for any caster.
Also, it's not required, but I'd really respect everyone's runs more if they'd keep a counter of how many respawns/reloads they've had in their runs.
As for Baram - He gave me one of my few respawns in my OC run as a pally. Huge respect to you for getting through that fight without a respawn or a reload, especially as a "squishy" caster.
In SOU I'll count for sure.
I don't know what class I'll play in SOU but I'm thinking maybe a Human Monk/Druid, I have fond memories of running around as a Dire Bear with Monk AC and Flurry of Blows, than in HOTU running around as a Earth Elemental and if you manage to get 30 Wisdom a Epic Wild Shape Dragon ?.
This build is better in NWN 2 as you can get a feat called Natural Spell that lets you cast spells while shifted, imagine running around as a Dire Bear casting Call Lighting and Icestorms.
But I'm also considering Pure Wizard, I do love those spells.
I need to make a more Sturdy character or a lot more careful playthrough.
He smashed right through 2 seperate Greater Stoneskins, and I almost died 3 times, it was super lucky.
What was your AC?
If you had access to Greater Stoneskin, why no Elemental Shield/Mestil's Acid Sheath?
Were you concealed from Improved Invisibility?
If he's such a tough boss did you have some IGMSes for him?
Yes I was using Improved Invisibility.
Isaac's Greater Missile Storm is OP and pretty cheesy, I got use to not relying on it in NWN 2 but yeah that definitely would've smashed him.
I should've ran back to prepare a better spell selection but I went with what I had and barely scrapped by.
After that I approached Voleron more seriously and ran back to prepare.
I do understand the feeling of being too reckless, or rather careless/inattentive in my case, and then angry at oneself with the result. That happens to me all the time and was one of several reasons why I felt like quitting yesterday. Another big reason were the annoying first two levels of the Undermountain. The first level gave me huge trouble and cost me lots of valuable time trying to remember where I had already been and how to get from one part to the other. I spent an eternity on that, and I don't have that much leisure time. (I don't want to talk about the second level.)
Keeping a counter also helps you to compare builds or see how much you've learned from your experience when you play again.
I see it as my own overconfidence but i'm glad to say my current tactics are working well...and a lot of luck.
I think this Build works better for exploration and small battles and only later levels is suited for short term charging into battle (do as much damage as possible before your defenses run out), i do prefer the team play companion style of play in NWN 2 over NWN...even if both games could use better AI's, but in NWN 2 i can turn off the AI and take control during difficult moments.
BG 1&2 was better...obviously.
Anyway don't worry about my embarrassment..it took me awhile but i'm learning to alter my style...maybe Revat's Mum was right about me?
Well today i had a little time to play so after speaking to several people in town i decided to start with the local war front at Fort Ilkard.
Chapter 3
While appreciating my new Haste Boots i zipped around town talking to several people.
After talking to Aaron i went outside and started looking in boxes for "essential supplies" thank you Lord's Alliance, no doubt you placed these boxes here for me.
Found another Crafting book for Gargoyle Boots, Elootra must be around here somewhere with her Lab.
This Guard called me over and started complaing about the Uthgardt Tribes so i decided to talk to them myself.
Yusam here wants someone to investigate the Elk Tribe who has left the Lord's Alliance and joined Lukan against us and is attacking Fort Ilkard nearby, this just became my top priority.
Rolkid here is looking for someone to hunt down certain bandits who are attacking our supply lines, we cant defend or attack without supply's so i need to get on this as i proceed.
Someone stole Lillian's Snowglobe...we need to get on this ASAP, forget the war.
Husher needs a Star Sapphire, apparently it's in a Tomb nearby, another reason to forget the war.
Neurik needs me to represent Rolgan as he's been accuse of the murder of Griff an Alliance soldier, i want to help him now but he's safe for the moment and the Fort nearby is under attack, don't leave the temple and I'll be right back.
Elk Tribe and Bears camping the road and hungry for solders, i mean the Bears are hungry not the Elk Tribe i'm sure they where ready to ambush...i hope that's all.
In the next area before entering the Fort, while exploring found some Orc's and Ogre's, are these the Bandit's attacking our supply lines?
This place is packed with baddies, and this Champion with the Cold Aura was a cut above the rest...had to use Interposing Hand again, where'd he get a Cold Aura?
Fire Archer's and one of my targets, Guzud.
After Interposing Hand, 2 Chain Lightnings, 3 Acid Breaths and some Fire Slashing with several heal kits, he did not survive.
After failing to disable this trapped door i didn't want to risk taking a death trap so used the ultimate spell, several Magic Missiles.
Uncus was inside and he is part of the Elk Tribe, he is my current enemy but me and Yusem are looking to end hostilities so i told him he was free to go and he gave me a Feather of Peace, i hope this helps me negotiate a peace.
Rozun's friend is dead...there's nothing i can do.
(remembering my play on BG2 TOB, i wish i could use a Rod of Resurrection here)
Inside the second building of the Fort spoke to Eckel, owns a farm between here and the Elk Fort and needs someone to get a message to his wife back home, and he's opinion of Commander Damas the Forts commander is less than kind.
Well i can see what Eckel was talking about, this guy is...well i don't know how to put but when i told him i want to negotiate with the Uthgardt Elk Tribe he was less than open to the idea so i left.
The Front Gate has been busted in and is at risk of being overrun so i was forced to engage, than i went Invisible and ran past the front line looking for the Elk Tribe Fort.
Ran past all the Uthgardt and found the Fort, showed Uncus's Feather of Peace and asked to speak to the leader and he said to find Zokan their leader.
This Damas guy is really starting to...anyway Zokan wants the cure for the plague and Damas wont give it to them so they left the Alliance and joined the Luskans, Turns out Damas Infected them on purpose and i'm starting to feel the need for to mess up Damas.
This seems to confirm their story, i'm starting to want Damas to be infected himself but that may be a little dark.
This Damas guy really did infect them...i was so tempted to kill him but with some persuasion got the cure for 500gp, that's nothing for me so an easy choice.
Peace! than immediately checked the area to make sure it's over and the attacks at the fort are gone.
Decided to destroy the Catapult's and Ballista's to make sure no one get any idea's.
Told Damas i destroyed the siege equipment and he was pleased...i wish i had a way to put you on trial, but at least i got those 500gp's back
Lvl 15.
Zokan gave me this Spear, i wonder if an Uthgardt would like to have it?
Yusam is pleased and gave me a very nice "Ring of Yusam", Improved Evasion...very nice.
Gave Guzud's head to Rulkid and he...oh did we really need to do that?
Now that hostilities have ended i decided to search the area for "Supplies" and at the Alliance Fort Paige here is very concerned about keeping these braziers lit.
Who put out these braziers? Paige wants them lit
Ran past these 2 homesteads earlier near the Elk Fort.
...
After wishing i could raise dead i found another Crating Book.
Eckel's Wife was alive...good, gave her the note.
Back at the Elk Fort i decided to gather "Supplies" and after failing to disarm a trap...Oh Sh&@ 98 Electrical Damage and 3hp remains, what was i saying about not being reckless?
Some guy's Ashes...someone must want this back right?, is it wrong to hang on to them?
Do i need this?
Freed 2 prisoners...probably should've done that earlier, sorry.
2 more books by the same person.
3 locked gates, 3 bookcases and 3 books by the same person, Hmm.
Each book placed and unlocked the gates, a treasure room of the Elk's?, i know they want me to have them...we have an unspoken bond that goes beyond words.
Tomi needed the Ashes & Daelan needed the Spear from Zokan, i only knew that from previous plays.
this is the final upgrade for Tomi and Daelan's items.
well that's it for today, I'm seriously thinking Monk/Druid for SOU to be hardier and a few extra class skills.
It does make it trickier to use, which makes spells like Firebrand and Chain Lightning particularly valuable (no friendly fire). Experience also makes it easier to hit just enemies (and/or lob some AoEs at the start of the fight before ranks close).
I'm curious -- does this respect apply to things like the traps in Chapter 1? Because in some of those noble houses you can just instantly die to traps. Obviously you can just spam "Find Traps" even more or make sure you take Tomi and move at an absolute snail's pace, but those "walking along then I'm dead" moments are clearly fun.
I mean, what other spells are you using for single target offense against someone like Baram?
Serious question.
IIRC you're playing like a level 12 wizard/2 rogue which means your AB is awful and your damage is probably pretty bad too. So against tough enemies you really should be using your spells to win.
Even if it's "just" Elemental Shield/Mestil's Acid Sheath.
JUUUUST sayin'.
P.S. Are you using things like GMW and Flame Weapon on your weapons?
P.P.S. Using two medium weapons gives -2 AB in exchange for ONE damage per hit with your offhand weapon. It's a really bad idea.
May I make a suggestion for the first level? DO NOT USE THE TELEPORTERS. That means you can just circle around the first level (go clockwise or counterclockwise) and then just explore the north followed by the south (or south followed by north). There's only three areas total there.
I'm kind of confused about the second level -- it's a central chamber with a north/east/south area to visit. What's troubling you there?
i use multiple buffs to boost combat stats with several items to boost STR & DEX.
This doesn't work in NWN 2 as only the highest stat boost is counted.
And just got Shadow Shield & Protection from Spells too.
I thank you for your willingness to help, but I have finished them already. I was just explaining what bothered me. Of course I will know better next time.
On the second level, it was not the layout, but the traps and tricks that annoyed me, especially the goblins. I don't want to discuss it.
But I got through that (with the one Respawn because of the drow sub-commander) and have continued to play.
*******************************
I have reached Level 19 when freeing Halaster, and then I noticed that I can't ever go back after talking to him, and that I was supposed to find my equipment before that, but he teleported me to the Underdark without a chance.
I wouldn't have reloaded for forgetting a pair of boots with Tomi, but after just deciding that I would swallow my anger at my own stupidity and my hurt pride and continue, I wouldn't punish myself so much for another mistake that I'd continue without my gear from the OC.
I had a quicksave from before talking to Halaster, so I reloaded, got my stuff and will continue into the Underdark.
Level: 19
Respawn: 1 (Drow Sub-Commander in Undermountain)
Reload: 1 (to pick up my stolen equipment)
So first of all, how is your AC so low?
10 base AC + 7 (dex) + 4 (deflection from shield) + 2 (natural armor amulet) + 2 (bracers of armor) + 2 (Tumble, you could have +3 at this point but assuming it's probably only +2) + 4 (haste) + 1 (dodge from Mage Armor) = 32.
But you only have 26. Even if you didn't use Shield and instead used a ring/cloak +2 then you'd still have 30.
Baram, for example, attacks at +19/+14/+9/+4 with his main hand and +20/+15 with his offhand.
Against AC 26 he'll lands 0.7/0.45/0.2/0.05 = 1.4 hits per round with his main hand and 0.75/0.5 = 1.25 hit per rounds with his offhand. Total of 2.65 hits per round to simplify the math for now.
Against AC 32 that becomes 0.4/0.15/0.05/0.05 = 0.65 main hand and 0.45/0.2 = 0.65 offhand. Total of 1.3 hits per round -- in other words, you'd take half the damage. Less, actually, since it's a bigger impact on his main hand weapon which hits for more.
As for your own AB, let's bring some numbers into this, using your own character.
Say you're attacking yourself (so 26 AC is the target).
Right now your attack schedule is +15/+10/+19 main hand (the +19 is due to haste) for 19 average damage and +15 off hand for 15 average damage (this assumes the bonus 1d6 damage is never resisted). Both weapons do an additional 12.5 fire damage per hit from Flame Weapon (so 31.5 and 27.5 respectively).
That's 0.5/0.25/0.7 = 1.45 HPR * 31.5 = 45.675 main hand damage and 0.5 * 27.5 = 13.75 off hand damage. Total of 59.425 damage per round.
What if your offhand was a Short Sword (or Handaxe or another light weapon)?
Your attack schedule changes to +17/+12/+19 and +17 respectively but you lose 1 damage on the offhand.
That's 0.6/0.35/0.7 = 1.65 HPR * 31.5 = 51.975 main hand and 0.6 * 26.5 = 15.9 offhand for a total of 67.875 damage per round.
So you'd gain about 14% more damage simply by switching to a light offhand.
That's bigger than a static +1 AB increase (from Weapon Focus or something) which nets about a 10% damage increase and also bigger than picking up Improved Two Weapon Fighting (about an 11.5% increase).
Ah, you're referring to the Fairy Bomb Maker, yes. That's more hidden away.
Very well. I will mention that I basically never noticed anything the goblins did but I also had the Cowl of Warding equipped (immunity to mind spells and Freedom) which means the goblins couldn't Slow me, for example. Not sure what helm you're using.
Just curious, what gear from the OC did you still want to be using at that point?
Hope you enjoy Chapter 2 more, I think it's my favorite chapter of any Bioware campaign.
I had that helmet. But they were raining Ice Storms and Negative Energy (I think that were the traps, though) on me, and some fire damage spells, too. And I forgot that I had a Gem of True Seeing to go for their shamans. At least I remembered that when I got downstairs to the drow.
Interesting.
That said (as you've probably already discovered) you can immediately buy much better items at the start of Chapter 2. But I certainly understand not being aware of that fact and wanting your stuff back, damnit!
Huh. Sorry if I seem confused, I just remember the goblins being nothing more than speedbumps and am therefore rather curious.
And no, I couldn't have known that I can buy better stuff. Anyway, I need to be able to afford it, too.
And I have, among other things, an Amulet of Natural Armor +5, a Ring of Protection +5, a Shield of Hadrezini (or whatever the name was) that gives +8 to AC, as opposed to the +6 of a Tower Shield +3, and Helm's Ring of Elemental Resistance. And another pair of Boots of Speed for one of my companions.
I doubt I'd get all that and so much better thrown at me soon (at affordable prices, that is).
By the way, I know you're just trying to troubleshoot, but to a new player it can sometimes be a bit frustrating to hear all the time how easy all this is for other people. Please don't forget it's my first playthrough of this game, and my first experience with 3rd edition rules, too. If you've played this type of game for ages, it's sometimes hard to remember that it wasn't always as easy as it is now.
I understand. And that's why I haven't said anything about 99% of the stuff you've mentioned (or other people have mentioned) in terms of difficulty.
The goblins just have me baffled, I never got what the heck they were supposed to be doing. You're the first person I've ever seen who mentioned them specifically as causing headaches, so I was trying to figure out what was different in your case.
No insult intended.
Enjoy Chapter Two!
So, at the beginning of the dungeon, we got attacked by a drow squad led by "Eldath Ra'Sin", an assassin sent to kill us by the Valsharess. I didn't realize in time that Valen was in trouble, and he went down before I could get him to drink a Potion of Heal. Ra'Sin wasn't much threat to Deekin or me, because of our high AC, but Valen has really lousy AC no matter what gear I can find for him, because he doesn't use a shield.
I really wish I hadn't lost those Boots of Speed on Tomi! Valen could really use them.
Klling Eldath Ra'Sin (what an ironic name for an assassin - Eldath? Really? The goddess of pacifism and forest springs?) got us to level 23. I took a second level of Champion of Torm, got another +1 to saves, and took Armor Skin for a bonus feat (+2 to Natural AC that stacks with other sources of Natural AC).
Deekin got Red Dragon Disciple level 9 and got his wings. I thought they looked cute. But, as soon as we went into the Beholder Lair, the wings disappeared, apparently forever. I think that's a bug.
Remember when I mentioned that epic level D&D games start using cheese to challenge the players? The second floor of this Beholder Lair is a null magic zone. That includes turning off all magic items, and potions don't work, either. My AC went down to 23, and without Bull's Strength or Ogre Gauntlets, I couldn't even run. I could only walk very, very slowly.
There are lots and lots of spiders that cast Webs that last at least 20 seconds each, and you can't stop the poison. I could heal it with healer's kits, but Potions of Restoration to get rid of the initial ability damage weren't working.
Then, at the end, there's a giant demon spider boss the size of a small house, "Bebelith", and there was my first reload. I could have taken a respawn, but both companions were dead, and they don't respawn with you. It was just going to be more and more respawns/reloads, because my now non-magical longsword couldn't damage Bebelith, at all. Reload number one.
I considered trying to go back up to the first level, which causes a small army of beholders to spawn. I rolled a one on my twentieth or so fortitude save, and got petrified. Reload number 2.
I didn't see any way I was going to be able to finish this dungeon, so I went online looking for a walkthrough. There's a machine that can open a locked door with a Knock spell, into a passage that lets you bypass Bebelith. With my Lore skill, I still needed to roll 18 to understand it and activate it. I just started spam rolling until I got high rolls and gradually figured it out. A dungeon master in a live game wouldn't let you have more than one roll, but I was completely de-immersed at this point, so I just went out of character and did whatever I had to do to finish.
The passage leads to a chamber with an obelisk. I wonder if anyone ever figured it out "legitimately"? I guess maybe someone who likes puzzles might have tinkered with it and somehow seen the solution. I was in no mood. Back to the walkthrough.
There are four pressure plates with symbols on each of the four sides of the obelisk. The top one closest to the obelisk can't be pressed or changed, but the bottom three change the symbol every time you click. You have to make the bottom three match the one on top, four times, all the way around the obelisk.
This gives you a sphere with only three charges, that allows you to activate a null magic field up on the first level to disable the beholders. That's supposed to make the final boss fight easier, and I guess it does, somewhat, but the null magic doesn't last anywhere near long enough. It's only about 5 rounds. Meanwhile, there are at least 20 beholders, plus an eye tyrant. And, they have Grease all over the floor that keeps making you fall. Plus, they have an annoying habit of levitating way up and disappearing as soon as they get to "Badly Injured", then they come back down across the room and start spamming eye beams again.
I fell down in the Grease (which is the same as Paralysis - no actions possible), after the null magic wore off, and I couldn't drink a Heal potion while lying prone on the floor. (Does Freedom protect from Grease? Maybe part of the solution here is to make sure you have an item or a spell giving Freedom - I don't think I did. Of course, it wouldn't work while null magic was up.)
Sigh. My companions were still up and doing pretty well, so I took a respawn this time. You go to a pocket plane where there's a "Reaper" that can send you back. It takes a rogue stone to go there, and if you run out of rogue stones, no more respawns. I haven't seen any more in Chapter Two, and I don't think the genie has them. I think I have about five of the stones left.
So far we have three out of five adventure scenarios complete, leading up the final battle of the chapter. We rescued the Avariel, although I think that was an optional sidequest that didn't do anything, we made an alliance with the bronze golems to help in the final battle, we destroyed the undead army and the dracolich, also freeing a celestial who is supposed to show up at the final battle, and we destroyed the beholders, so there should be no vampires or beholders at the final fight. The dialogues in town suggested it might be possible to negotiate with the eye tyrant, but I didn't see any chances to do that.
Now, oh joy, I get to go see what mind flayers can do to me when I roll a one.
Level: Paladin 21/Champion of Torm 2
Reloads: 2 (Bebelith, Beholder Petrification)
Respawns: 1 (Eye Tyrant)
I think I'll stop the counter on companion deaths. It's getting too complicated. For example, do I count where they died in the reload to Bebelith? I'd rather not worry about it going forward. Just keeping track of my own counter is going to be complicated enough, because I remember things getting even worse in Chapter Three.
So far, I want to keep going so I can see Aribeth's dialogues again, but I don't think I'll be replaying HotU any more often than I play Throne of Bhaal. Maybe never again, actually. I just don't have as much fun with D&D once it gets this crazy with the high level play.
Just disable the autofail on 1, it's a rule that makes no sense in this video game context where you can get spammed like crazy (or alternatively you can spam instadeaths yourself). There's a reason Bioware included that option.
P.S. On "normal" difficulty, what Bioware presumably tested on, petrification isn't permanent so you can often recover and continue fighting (or your companions win and then you continue).
You would need Knockdown immunity, Freedom prevents being slowed or paralyzed.
@Arvia
Have you two played NWN 2? It's a much more story driven experience compared to SOU and HOTU but the first 2 hours are appropriately slower since we start at LVL 1 and need some experience and equipment and that gold...we need that gold.
I'm sorry SOU and HOTU isn't as fun for you but I see what you mean, if I want a heavier story experience I'll play BG 1&2 than NWN 2
how do you feel about Icewind Dale? That too is lighter on the story, the best comparison I've heard between BG and IWD is "in BG the story happens to you, but in IWD you happen to the story".
If I could think of something missing from NWN 2 OC that @BelgarathMTH would like is random party banter, there is scripted events and they comment on dialogue but they don't talk while running around which would be nice but considering their all voiced I can't complain too much.
I've always found the story in IWD to be very engaging. It's just that your character and her friends aren't the center of it. I guess maybe some people don't like a game where they're not "the Chosen One", but I'm not one of those people. I'm perfectly happy to play a D&D campaign where I'm just a nobody, with no special destiny, being driven by story events like all the other nobodies. So as such, I've always loved Icewind Dale, and it has a permanent place on my gaming rotation.
@Balkoth , @sarevok57 already warned me earlier in the thread that if I wanted to complete all five modules from Chapter Two, before the final battle, I needed to start avoiding going back to the rebel drow encampment after completing one or two of them. Thank you so much for that warning, @sarevok57 . I would have been kind of pissed off if I had gotten dragged into the chapter finale without finishing everything. Also, how do I turn off "critical fail on one"? I've never seen any control to do that.
Okay, so we finished Chapter Two tonight. The Illithid module was much more fun and "easy" than the Beholder Lair. The final battle, was, well, let's say very ambitious. It was a lot of fun and very exciting, but my game started to lag terribly, and then it crashed to a black screen with battle music playing during one of the cutscenes. I had to replay the whole thing from a previous save, the second time sitting on the quicksave button throughout. On the reload, the guard captain caught me before I could sell my stuff, and purchase the Ring of Protection +6 and an Amulet of Natural Armor +6 I had purchased the first time. That was irritating. At least my final weapon upgrades had been saved from before the crash.
I am not counting the reload from the game crash. The Aurora engine has problems when the scripting for big war scenarios gets too complicated, with too many toons doing too many things at once. It often crashes in those kinds of scenarios, and the scripts fail, especially when cutscenes are involved.
There was a good rp opportunity in the mind flayer city. I had an opportunity to rescue a human woman from Illithid thralldom, as long as I kept up my cover as a slaver, and convinced her that I was just another slavemaster who commanded her to take a message back to the Seer in the rebel drow city. If I had done the "lawful stupid" thing and just attacked the whole city, which we could have done, this woman would have probably died in the attack. If my actions make me "neutral good", then so be it, but Torm didn't seem to care. "Good" always trumps "Lawful", in my opinion.
Okay, the guard to the complex where the Elder Brain was housed wasn't going to let us in, on the Elder Brain's orders, unless I removed the helmet that was protecting me from being mind wiped and dominated by the mind flayers. I "politely" declined. By killing it. Now the whole city would be hostile, but at least I saved one human woman first.
Oh dear. Every time I see a Blade Barrier, I think of Morag's instakill Blade Barrier. But there was no way forward without running through it that I could see.
Wait a minute.
Oh dear, they have a dragon in here?
Wait a minute. I'm starting to see what's going on here. Hmm.
The Elder Brain was reasonable. But it needed the cursed Mirror that had screwed the Avariel to be able to stop the other Elder Brains from bringing in illithids to the battle for the rebel drow encampment. Shoot, I wish I hadn't given it to the Seer! Now I have to use the Relic of the Reaper to do some fancy teleportation work, talk to the Seer to get that mirror back, and hope I don't trigger the finale involuntarily before I can secure the mind flayers' neutrality and non-participation.
Finishing the mind flayer quest gave me level 24. I got a point of Charisma, bringing it to 18, and I decided, based on the bitter lesson taught to me by that awful null magic zone in the Beholder Lair, that I needed more natural Strength, not dependent on magic. So, I took Epic Strength I, which is only one point, but 17 Strength is a lot better than 16 if I ever need to handle my heavy armor and shield without any magic again. If I ever get another attribute point, it will go to Strength, to get it to an unadjusted 18.
While teleporting through the Reaper's "Stargate" hub, I saw a strange pool that I had never clicked on to see what it was, so I clicked it. Whoa! It contained the best items I had given to Tomi before I lost him. Yay! Now Valen has Boots of Speed, which he desperately needed!
Here's the final state of my upgraded Lightsaber. Thank goodness I got it done and saved it before that annoying guard captain could force-trigger the finale, losing me access to the crafter forever. I didn't spend 50,000 gold per point to increase my enhancement bonus, because I have the Greater Magic Weapon spell to take it to +5, and I would have had to waste 150,000 gold just to get it up to +5. Then, another 50,000 gold to get it to +6. I think the other affixes I could afford will be more useful in the long run. I took Keen (does stack with Improved Critical, according to the Improved Critical description), Magic Resistance, Regeneration, 2d6 acid, (I was working on a base +2 longsword here, because I couldn't replace the 1d6 acid in my original Gladiator's Blade), and True Seeing.
So, once the finale is triggered, you can never rest again until you finish Chapter Two, and the final battle is huge, involving armies, and then the Valsharess, with no chance to rest. I really don't see how a mage or a buff-dependent cleric could do this scenario without metagaming to be sure to have all spell slots recharged before the battle gets force-started, completely beyond player control. I consider this a major design flaw in this HotU chapter. Luckily, as a paladin, my Holy Shield with Extra Turning gave me, I think it was 17 casts of Divine Shield, and Divine Might, and I had most of those casts left. Divine Shield proved to be critical against the Valsharess' whip attacks. Without it, she could hit me easily with her very high BAB and APR. With it, she could almost never hit me with her whip.
So, Gods and Nine Hells, I had a "D'oh!" moment against the Valsharess, and got a respawn. I still had on the helmet that protected me from mind flayer powers instead of from mind-affecting spells in general, and she stunned me. With her epic level cleric spell book loaded with Cause Wounds, Flame Strikes, and who knows whatever other awful spells, that stun was a death sentence! And so easily prevented if I'd had the right helmet on!
Sigh. Okay, I had the Reaper teleport me straight back into the fight. I still couldn't rest with him, by the way. So I *still* had no buffs other than my remaining Divine Shields.
The Valsharess kept using either spells or Potions of Heal. I guess that's fair, since I do it. This fight was really, really hard, especially since I had no buffs other than Divine Shield. I had to keep running out of "the bad stuff", including a Blade Barrier, while she unloaded her massive spell book on me. I pretty much had to just keep healing over and over until she finally emptied out her spells and went to melee. With Divine Shield and plenty of healing supplies (thank Torm!) she wasn't that hard to beat once her spells were gone.
Okay, the next spoiler tag contains *MASSIVE plot spoilers!* Do not open it if you don't want to know.
Level: Paladin 21, Champion of Torm 3
Reloads: 2 (Bebelith, beholder petrification)
Respawns: 2 (Eye Tyrant, Valsharess)
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He was drinking, gambling, lost an Heirloom to Griff, "Felt Strange", "Mind was Clouded" apparently Griff attacked him first...hmm, i'll need to ask around for more info.
Edegar is one of the Juror's and he claims to be "Keeping an Open Mind", i should hope so.
Dalcia is another Juror, she's an Uthgardt but say's she is waiting for the trial before deciding, she's worried that the Uthgardt religion could be a factor in his trial...religion is always a touchy subject and i hope this isn't part of the trial and i'm not gonna start a religious argument.
Rolgan's wife Vanda is a witness to Rolgan's actions coming home from gambling, apparently "he'd been drinking" but "he seemed...different", hmm than she sent Rolgan back to find Griff and get back the Heirloom and apparently was going to offer Griff more than it's material worth.
Palla is another Juror and is very disappointing in Rolgan, she claims to be taking her position seriously but say's if drinking was the cause of Rolgan's behavior she must vote guilty.
Zed is a witness and thinks i'm a sucker...how rude, anyway he confirmed the gambling story and "guess the savage didn't like it", he also seems to be holding back and something is wrong with his leg.
Used a kit on his leg than he was a little happier, he say's "Griff spiked the Uthgardt's drink" and this was something he'd done before than he claims Griff was cheating and wanted to "take everything the Uthgardt owns", this Griff sounds like he was a charming honest fellow indeed.
Well Jevon was an interesting fellow, having been tried himself several times before his opinion of the courts is somewhat low and hopes i get Rolgan off...ok ill get right on it.
Averick is another Juror and talking to him was...an ordeal but his opinion of Griff was low and he doesn't think much of the Uthgardt either, if only i could turn back time, speaking to him was less than useful.
Lodar is another witness and confirmed the story of gambling and also heard Griff shouting and saw Griff and Rolgan fight with swords, this guy was present and saw much of that nights events...yet he hasn't mentioned the drinking...hmm.
Let's have a couple of drinks, Barkeep we need Ale here!
After we got a little tipsy he mentioned Griff kept getting into fights and was "kind of a racist".
come on Lodar...let's get sloshed!
Well Lodar did witness Griff spiking peoples drinks before to "give him an edge", what a guy.
Well after me and Lodar got a good buzz we are ready for the trial.
i took a total of 20 pics during the trial but i decided to condense a little.
as soon as we begin i noticed Edegar instantly votes guilty...WTH! you said "open mind"
Skimming ahead i asked Lodar & Zed "did Griff spike Rolgan's drink? and they confirmed it, did Zed witness the fight? no he didn't, did Lodar see who started the fight? no he didn't, i didn't ask them about drinking or religion.
Vanda told Rolgan to go back and speak to Griff and appeal to his sense of decency and return the heirloom.
Rolgan said he went back to Griff and Griff just attacked him and talked about his "mind was hazy with fog".
Closing areguments.
the witness never actually saw who started the fight.
Griff spiked Rolgan's Drink.
Edegar was clearly bias and didn't respond much to my arguments but 4 of 5 is good.
Neurik was happy.
i purposely avoided asking questions of drinking and racism against the Uthgardt as those are just too sensitive and people are very divided on those subjects.
Well a good verdict but because I've done it many times before, next time I'm looking for another supply line target, Snowglobe and the Tomb.
I took so many pics during the actual trial so i skipped about 17 of them
I've had some great plays of IWD 1, so much happens before we arrive. we can't be the centre of everything all the time, sometimes you just want to be the guy who turns up and gets involved, I'm not the "saviour of the universe" I'm just the mysterious stranger
Last time I played i went with Fighter/Mage, Cleric of Lathander, Dwarven Defender, Fighter/Thief, Dragon Disciple, Avenger Druid on highest difficulty for that extra XP, obviously the Dwarven Defender was instrumental.
I must have skimmed a bit on the first 10 pages of posts.
"Edit"
What i meant about highest difficulty was Insane difficulty, i didn't mean Heart of Fury mode.
I tried that mode once and it was a bit much.
those 2 reloads ( just got back to this page after being gone for a little bit ) i can totally see
the fights with the beholders ( especially in the boss area ) getting the good ol' petrification, happens to the best of us, although you were lucky, i think i had to reload 3 times in that area, and you only had the one? nicely done
and the bebelith, this is the first thing i think about when i make my character at level 1 in the OC is this guy, that anti magic area, oi, that be a tough sell
usually i luck out with a devastating critical and take it out in one go, but this time i got lucky because: