@BelgarathMTH , right, I forgot that you had started to play something else.
Yes, the games that are heavy on story development and roleplaying choices are nice, but they're not so much fun if you play them in bits and pieces and have to stop after an hour. I noticed that last week. I really wanted to see how the story continued in NWN and ended up getting less sleep than I should have. Also, if you've spent that hour only thinking about dialogue choices and solving puzzles, you don't have the feeling that you've achieved much.
People keep referring to games as Diablo style. I don't know a thing about Diablo. My first boyfriend, who introduced me to Baldur's Gate when I was 18, used to play Diablo II and I watched sometimes, but I don't remember anything, except something weird, I think there were mad cows with halberds or poleaxes.
Anyway, have a good time hacking and slashing!
And thank you for your teaching run as a NWN paladin, it was fun and I've learned a lot.
I'm not sure what you mean by "automatic rest before the battle". There was a cutscene that said "Now we wait the night and rest" or something like that, but my buff spells did not recharge. Another failed script or bug, perhaps? I had to do the final fight with no buff spells available, except for my Divine Shields based on Turn Undead charges that I still had left, thank goodness.
I checked the code in the toolset and the game was even more generous than I expected. It force rests you both before the big city battle and before the final solo battle with the Valsheress.
I then played it through (twice) to verify the code was working properly. It was.
So please avoid making sweeping comments like "I consider this a major design flaw in this HotU chapter" when Bioware explicitly went out of their way to avoid exactly the problem you're discussing.
Maybe something weird happened for you specifically. Maybe it's a flaw in the EE and isn't occurring in Diamond. But it's most definitely not a "major design flaw" on Bioware's end.
@Balkoth has supplemented Aielund with a useful tool that allows you to order your companions to attack the same target as you, which helps a lot with overriding the default AI's terrible tendency to make companions switch targets at random.
I am starting to wonder whether Discipline is a very useful skill. If the wolf could roll high enough to hit me at all on a Knockdown attack, its attack roll was automatically going to far exceed my Discipline.
It is a valid concern. On the flip side, say the wolf is attacking at +5 with Knockdown and only hits you on a 20. You have 14 Discipline. You will now only get knocked down 50% of the time on natural 20s rather than 10)% of the time.
At least the game could give us a small chance to get up for a moment. How much Discipline do I need to resist? Or do only the Dragon Slippers with their Immunity to Knockdown help?
Need to make a DC28 reflex save or have Knockdown immunity.
People keep referring to games as Diablo style. I don't know a thing about Diablo.
Games that are mostly about beating up hordes of monsters and gaining lots of loot/levels with little story and often no actual choices to make. Usually have randomly generated maps for more replayability.
After having my stuff stolen i raided the top floor of the Yawning Portal and took out my frustration on the Drow and Duergar.
How dare you!
I don't know who these people are so i just kept walking.
...6506 XP
Deekin!, i hope you don't get downed 7 times like our last adventure.
Sobrey at the magic shop had some nice robes for sale amd she gave me the best sale prices throughout the chapter.
Bright colours really aren't my style.
I rescued a Goblin!
Deekin, i can't help but notice your dragon tooth amulet...didn't i give a dragon tooth to Ayala as it was stolen from Drogon?
Dragon Dead!...i totally didn't die the first try.
Hmm a nice talking blade, I'm sure there's no danger in taking it...he wants me to.
These nice fellows where less than pleased i took the blade, Undeath to Death.
Turns out "Enserric the Grey" was killed by these fine people and his soul was absorbed into the blade perhaps 50 years ago.
"I love the taste of Elf blood in the morning, oh yes!", "Let's cut it's beard off once it's dead", "careful, these outsiders can be tricky", "the taste of undead is so vile", "why must i debase myself striking such vermin"...just some of the lovely quotes of Enserric.
While checking myself out with my new robes i came out of the mirror and tried to kill myself.
My Pixie Meran found some secret doors to the Bomb Maker.
Solved the bridge puzzle but decided to walk away to keep exploring.
The Fairy Sorceress was less than pleased but after a beat down she was more talkative, i let her go and behind her was some treasure and a Keg of Alchemist Fire.
Went Invisible and navigated the narrow path...they have no idea.
"Orcs! There's always orcs!" another Enserric quote.
Illusions, Dispel the ground around the chests and get gold and several Ioun Stones work 8000gp each.
Testing out my new Sunburst spell.
Is it evil that i refused the Ogre Mage's surrender?, put down the keg and ignited it...secondary exit to the 2nd level opened up.
More Illusion chests.
Wail of the Banshee and Finger of Death...Delicious .
Rakshasa are immune to spells up to 8th lvl...not immune to Wail of the Banshee .
Deekin meet his first death here ...is doing better than last time.
Yes!...unfortunately i had to give up my +4 constitution boots to use them.
Horrid Wilting .
Annoying Goblin's.
Berger seemed nice enough...if i created a Golem it certainly wouldn't be a Flesh Golem.
Rescued the Formian slaves and tried to talk to Queeny but i interrupted the conversation and she left...woops.
They were nice enough to group up for me.
15 pages of my gear...no magic bags , i had to load up Deekin and me than sell some lesser stuff to the Djinni, we are totally overloaded.
Chapter 1 Complete.
Oh!...the Djinni had some nice new robes for me but that color though.
Inverted Colours to my other robes.
Enserric suggest's a well made Golem could be made to house his Soul.
Hmm i wonder if we can go to an Island that has a great many "well made" Golem's.
Unfortunately this doesn't lead to anything and it was a massively missed opportunity to get a Golem Wizard companion who has unfinished business with his family...Beamdog this could be an interesting item in some new module or campaign.
Nasher left his Ring down here...i heard he was a total di...anyway apparently all 4 items are part of a set granting additional benefits.
712,174gp, hmm what will i spend it on.
About 670,000 later .
Made piles of money and spent most of it in one go...totally worth it.
@Arvia
Diablo 1 was a slower dark atmosphere beginning, one location and one larger dungeon.
Diablo 2 was the best, hunting the growing number of baddies, following the cause, each chapter has different henchman to hire Archer, Spearman, Sword + Shield Caster, Barbarian, Classes are Barbarian, Assassin, Druid, Sorcerer, Necromancer, Paladin, Amazon, each class has 3 branches of the skill tree to follow.
Diablo 3 I have mixed feelings about, I enjoyed it but I can't really explain it, something just didn't feel like Diablo.
Blizzard has been corrupted by Activision's scummy micro purchases now so their games have lost the "Blizzard feel".
Dealing with House Maeviir first, we can't have possible betrayers hanging about camp.
This Matron seemed a little spiteful and the risk too great, Wail of the Banshee.
The Strange Town first and Sabal and her gang of Red Sister's are causing trouble.
The town is cursed and it's a race to get the Magic Mirror fragments, the librarian medusa had the first but i need the potion form her room to protect myself than she was more talkative.
Me and Deekin ambushed Sabal and a small contingent, all too easy.
Queeny inside the cave was totally crazy and gave Sabal a shard.
The town "Merchant" had a compass to the next Mirror, he traded it for a burned book???
Damn it...she ambushed me this time.
This Wizard's Tower is a wild magic zone, Enserrick...it's time to slash.
A Balor chicken .
Next floor up and this Balor Lord was very dangerous, i used many kits.
Damn i hate Slaad, i went for the Death Slaad first.
With them gone the Wizard's Apprentice was easy and surrendered quickly, another shard.
i hate this challenge, this guy poisons you and after each successful challenge it get s worse, The Spider was the easiest to fight so i kept doing that challenge.
Into the keep and many Drider tried to stop me, the Assassin was so annoying and when i killed him he slinged up to the ceiling and i couldn't find his corpse...missed some loot.
After using Wail of the Banshee to thin the ranks, her remaining forces than Sabal fell quickly.
The strange town gone now and i have the powerful mirror, i gave it to the Seer.
To the Isle of the Maker and the Dwarf Merchant gave me good prices so i decided to offload some lesser gear but i noticed some Poison Bolts were worth quite a bit so i started separating them to see how much i could get.
...something like 203,000 for 99 of these special Poison Bolts.
Into the Maker's Lair and after fighting some lesser Golems i found some interesting information.
A golems head, Hmm what can i do with this.
Umm...Enserric? are you going to kill me?
Weapons Spirit vs Dispel Magic...he did not survive.
The Control Room.
Hmm.
Used the books recipies and a Alchemist Bench to make some anti-golem tools.
The Scavenger's Words translates to 5 4, summoned and the control room destroys him.
The door guardian summoned with 7 9.
next floor down and more parts, Maybe i can upgrade myself to become a Golem?
Agreed to help these nice fellows.
Yep, I'm gonna become a Golem.
With Aghaaz and his fellow Flesh Golem's gone i can get the Source.
Very Dangerous fight...for them .
Got the source and gave it to Farren for his help against the Valsharess.
I don't know why but they never showed up to the final battle.
The Necromancer's greatest weakness, any weapon above +5 breaches Stoneskin and we don't get the 8th lvl spell Premonition ...died again.
This is the part you find out the Maker is a little crazy and obsessed with trying to create the perfect Golem, his complaint was the Golems didn't evolve to become self reliant but what if he used Enserrick to add the consciousness, he's already a free thinker and the Maker already knows how to make the perfect body, this should've been an option to convince the Maker to make Enserrick a new body .
Magic Missile Barrage!
Follow the Instructions and...
A new Henchman is created with Perma Haste, Dispel on hit, Increased Strength, Regeneration.
Also you can talk to him to store some spells for him to cast on his own.
Dahanna demanded 10,000 gold for me taking all the treasure and glory, normally i wouldn't have but i tried something new and turns her clan has invested much into the expedition because they've fallen on hard times...10,000 gold was pocket change compared to what i found.
Enserrick i maxed out...excellent.
On the way to the Mind Flayer's this scout fell down a hole so i jumped in too, he failed to notice the Acid Cube creeping on him.
Sometimes my screenshots close the examine window but i remember what this it.
Platinum Helm:
Electrical Resist.
Perma Haste.
Shots playing up again but this is Nasher's Cloak.
Damn Slavers.
Keeping a low profile i put on the helm to stop mind reading and entered the city.
The "Tentacle Head's" as Deekin called them have a merchant who sold Nasher's Gloves.
at this point i remembered i forgot to get Nasher's Nimble Boot from the Djinni.
Once the Cloak, Gloves, Ring & Boots are equiped the set bonus activates and you get +7 AC +7 STR +7 DEX, +10 Dicipline...unfortunately Henchman cannot activate the set bonus so i'm using it for now.
While i was here i purchased a slave...wait what?, now i know what your thinking but i only did that to get her away from here and i sent her to the Seer's camp for her freedom , she didn't believe me that she was free so i lied about sending a message.
Damn it! my need for treasure has blown my cover, time to clear out the city.
After clearing out the city i freed the slaves, now i can focus on the Tentacle Heads.
Oh Yes!, I'll be there soon Brain.
Stupid Illusions everywhere, the journey to the Brain was annoying but...
Die! you...
Where am i?, oh hello "Charming Young Women".
I can't stay...i have Brains to slash.
Yuck!...did i have to make such a mess?
Off to the Beholder's and...
Oh hello Eldath, are we gonna be new friends?
I guess not.
He made me retreat and my Golem drew his attention until i healed up and gave him 3 Finger's of Death.
Oh Shi%@, Emergency Time Stop...my first use of that spell all game.
2 Finger's and Empowered Flame Arrow.
For some reason these Beholder's were so crap, they didn't use their Dispelling cone attack once???, if they did i would've been crippled.
1 Wail of the Banshee...unexpectedly easy.
still no Dispelling attack???, in the past I've had mixed results in these caves...stupid AI.
The Golem lead the way until we could get rid of the anti-magic zone, straight to the cause and took the core.
This town needs my help...Mortanious Away!
Only 127 for +10 Kit's...yes please, you can be certain i sold many lesser items here.
293,329gp
I guess ringing the gong and charging the Head Vampire wasn't the best plan, he should've stayed and finished me off.
lol...this Human was trying to punch the door open.
Guards came running in from all over...i really know how to keep a low profile.
2 Black Pearl's...what will i do with these.
now that Pics are working again Nasher's Items.
...my saber is red again.
He Time Stopped me.
Again!, stop it.
Good Work Golem, he dispelled that prick and after multiple Sunbursts my trusty Golem took him down.
Sunburst!
Again!
.
This Warlord's Plate would be particularly good for a Pally.
Undeath to Death!, Bye Shadow Master.
Back for more?
Hmm a nice little Mace.
Freed a Diva, does mean I'm an ally of the heavens now?
Bye Sodalis.
Oh Shi%@!
Good, I've got Fire spells and he's not Immune.
I held back my power too much and my Golem paid the price...Perma Death .
Unleashed everything...if only i did that from the start.
Vixthra was Immune to cold...He's Phylactery's not.
Hmm, Delicious treasure.
Stopped off at my new favorite merchant and sold all my lesser stuff...those Negative Energy Bolts from the Shadow Master are worth 9kmfor 10 bolts .
586,530 and I'm still hording the best stuff for Chapter 3.
The night before the Army approaches.
Did i just make a deal with my enemy?, nope but she just removed the Geas binding me to attack her.
Good now i can be sure i attack you of my own volition.
It Begins.
Oh Shi&@, that Priest just tried to Implode me.
Destroy them all!
First Reload...i screwed up and destroyed the gate, betrayed the Seer...woops.
Defend the Seer, Extended Evard's Black Tentacles.
Damn those Tentacle Heads, Wail of the Banshee.
The Enemy Lurks within.
Oh No.
The Valsharess, Charge!
Damn it.
Hmm, you were betrayed by the Archdevil...who could've guessed that would happen.
Are me and Mephy gonna be super friends now?
Got in a quick IGMS before she finished casting Heal.
@Cerabelus , Congrats on finishing Chapter Two. You're doing great with your counters staying low. I think anything under 10 total, not counting companion deaths (sometimes they're just too stupid to live) is pretty good.
Those Beholders never even dispelled me...WTH, other times I've been there they used the Dispel Attack which also causes Spell Failure which cripples a Mage, they didn't use it once this time...why is the AI a bit mixed in performance?
I've been missing my Golem ?, but I found someone to take his place.
In chapter 3 I got caught up looting and poor Deekin got ambushed...I didn't even notice until I returned from looting a chest, had to raise him.
It is done...the adventures of Mortanious the Necromancer are over.
My full report is gonna have to wait until i have time but we can add a couple of reloads due to my own foolishness and
2 betrayals .
I had fun but the Henchman are pretty crap, because i played an Elf and they Active Search toggle on at all times as a Racial benefit and the Henchman try to constantly copy you they do the same but they have to walk while Active Search is toggled on so it's pretty annoying and my new Henchman just stands their watching every battle for ages before joining in...i don't know why.
Beamdog...Henchman are Shi%@...the AI is Shi%@, if your gonna make new modules one day Please!...Please bring back the Full Party Control...Please!.
Ok I'll settle down and I'll try to fully report tomorrow but it's gonna take a while...i took many pics.
Just checked and all the Pics i took throughout the OC, SOU & HOTU take up 4.59gb...i got heavy handed on the F12 obviously, it probably would've been easier to record .
I've killed the Eye Tyrant. Or rather, we've killed most of the Beholders and then my new friend Valen, with his freakishly high damage output, finished the Eye Tyrant while I respawned. Then I helped Valen with the rest of the Beholders and resurrected Deekin.
It was the Grease that killed me again. It didn't even give me a moment to drink a Potion of Heal when I got up, and I think the Eye Tyrant or one of the Beholder Mages messed with my buffs, because I failed almost every saving throw and fell again immediately, and that continued in an endless loop.
I should have kept those Dragon Slippers against Knockdown. But without metaknowledge it's impossible to know which item to keep, and you need so much money in this game...
Oh well.
There are some ruins downstairs, haven't been there yet and don't know when I'll be able to continue.
Besides, I feel more like pausing this run for a while to continue with my Undead Hunter in SoD. My time for games is severely limited right now, and somehow I find it easier to play BG if I only have like 30min every other day.
Level: 24
Reloads: 3 (all non-death.1 because of game crash)
Respawns: 3
Deekin deaths: 2
Valen deaths: 2
This thread inspired me to do a playthrough with a character I called Gimli Son of Gloin who was a Fighter/Dwarven Defender with a Greataxe. I had previously finished Shadows of Undrentide and then did Shadohaunt (one of the bridge module winners) but then set him aside...until now.
Realized that I wasn't sure I had ever done a playthrough using two companions in every chapter (or any chapter, I didn't want to lose the XP and didn't need them). Decided to go with Daelan and Deekin in Chapter 1 (and then continued with Deekin the rest of the game).
Deekin was told to go 16 Bard/4 RDD pre-epic (last bard level was done specifically at level 20 to hit a perform breakpoint, 16/4 split was done to avoid losing a BAB), then 6 more RDD for the strength boost at level 10, then Bard from then out (wound up 18 bard/10 RDD).
Naturally I gave Daelen something other than his stupid double axe (think I gave him a sword and shield, there's only one Greataxe using warrior in this party).
Did order of Avariel/Undead/Illithid/Golems/Beholder, decided I'd rather fight the Mind Flayers than give them the mirror. Had the entire party enchanted with weapons +8 and 2d6 acid (plus usually another property of two). Deekin was using Enserric the Dagger for the vampiric regen.
Did one reload in the dead magic zone for the Beholders since Deekin was an idiot fighting the Bebilith and I wanted to prove I could win the fight without a death. Otherwise I could have just rezzed him.
At the beginning of Act 3 I had 2.7 million gold and thought I was safe to spend some more of it -- maxed out weapons for all three of us (+10, keen, regen, 2d6 acid, the works). And still had like 2 million I want to say? So figured I could splurge on some amulets/rings and a shield for Deekin, wound up with 1 million gold after both the weapons and the items.
BAD IDEA. This bit me in the ass.
The Grimgnaw fight was the only fight of any difficulty and actually required a Heal potion or two for the companions due to the Acid Sheaths and such.
Unfortunately, when we got to the Knower of Names I discovered I was about 450k gold short of buying every single name (and I mean every single name, had bad luck where nothing overlapped -- though I did made a mistake, see below). I didn't want to replay the chapter to not buy a few items earlier so I cheated in 500k.
It turned out some of those names were also "worthless" since the game ignores the fates of any companion NOT with you for the final battle. So helping Nathyrra and Aribeth wasn't acknowledged by the game (and it took a lot of finagling to be able to use the true names on all four possible companions). I also made a mistake -- I asked for the True Name of the Knower of Names BEFORE asking for the True Name of the Sleeping Man's love...which turned out to be the Knower of Names. If I had done Sleeping Man's love first then I would have saved the money on the Knower of Names's name.
I think I never encountered this problem before for a few possible reasons:
1, I was playing solo (or at most one companion) which means you save a ton of money on enchanting weapons and have more gear to sell
2, I was playing a Sorcerer (or some other class with the same issue) who couldn't even get a Heavy Flail enchanted for Valen (or rapier for Nathyrra, or whatever).
3, I didn't try to get the True Names for all four companions and then have no overlap on other names (minus the mistake I mentioned earlier).
I did establish save points throughout the modules (mostly in Chapter 2 and 3) so if people want to see a video or something just let me know...
@Balkoth
Arvia hasn't played HOTU before and doesn't know the events of the end of Chapter 2 and all of Chapter 3, we gotta protect those spoilers .
@Arvia
I've had many problems in the past against beholders and i must have got very lucky to kill them very quickly this time, all they had to do was use their dispelling attack but not one of them used it this time???
I understand wanting to focus your time on SOD, I've been thinking of doing BG as well but maybe I'll wait for the Switch release, I've never played NWN on the go before but i did play a little of BG1 on Android 2 years ago...it took some getting use to.
I'm hoping the UI is easy to use.
I haven't reported the end to my Campaign because i was thinking @Arvia & @BelgarathMTH wont be able to read it yet, should i report anyway?
@Balkoth, that was interesting. I skipped over the parts that looked like plot spoilers.
Do I understand correctly that you managed to upgrade more than one weapon with 2d6 acid? I think the blacksmith didn't let me choose the same upgrade twice, although it was for another weapon. Or maybe it was because my weapon already had another kind of elemental damage.
I couldn't enchant a heavy flail for Valen either. I don't think it's possible, unless there's some cheat that allows you to equip his flail. He won't part with it. Neither for me to have it enchanted, nor to leave it in his inventory to let him use another weapon.
I didn't mind, because he's dealing so much damage with his special abilities already. It would only bother me if I needed a certain level of enchantment to hit something.
@Cerabelus , I can't speak for anyone else, but I think you shouldn't wait for me to finish before you report. I have no idea when I will finish this game.
So, before you forget everything that happened, why don't you write your report whenever you feel like it? I will read it, just maybe don't put all the screenshots into one huge spoiler tag. If you put things like a final fight or an enormous plot twist into a separate spoiler tag, with the warning "this tag contains a major plot twist", people can choose whether to read it or not.
Besides, I usually can't resist spoiler tags, and most of the time they don't contain such huge surprises after all. The only plot twist that really surprised me was the turn of events in the Host Tower in Luskan, concerning a certain lady.
@Cerabelus , Please feel free to post your final report. I've moved on from NWN for the time being. I've been playing Titan Quest lately. Also, I've played to the end of HotU before, years ago, and I'm not concerned about any spoilers. I already remember pretty much everything of any importance.
Do I understand correctly that you managed to upgrade more than one weapon with 2d6 acid? I think the blacksmith didn't let me choose the same upgrade twice, although it was for another weapon. Or maybe it was because my weapon already had another kind of elemental damage.
The devs coded the blacksmith so that if you have a weapon that does 1 (literally just 1) bonus fire (or any other type of bonus damage) damage then the blacksmith will tell you "I can't add 2d6 <blank> damage because your weapon already has that property, I'd just be wasting your gold."
Which of course is ridiculous, at a minimum they should let you overwrite it. Also there's not actually anything in the game engine that prevents a weapon from having half a dozen (or more) bonus sources of damage so this is purely a balance concern.
So yeah, your other weapon probably had some kind (any kind) of bonus damage.
I couldn't enchant a heavy flail for Valen either. I don't think it's possible, unless there's some cheat that allows you to equip his flail. He won't part with it. Neither for me to have it enchanted, nor to leave it in his inventory to let him use another weapon.
You have to buy him a new one and enchant it (again, ridiculous that you can't just enchant his starting weapon). I actually made a script override that allowed you to enchant party member weapons directly in HotU so a wizard, for example, can't enchant party member weapons while a fighter can.
@Cerabelus , I've looked through your reports and can't find any details, would you mind sharing how you fought that nasty boss spider in the dead magic zone under the beholder lair in HotU chapter 2?
It cost me 3 reloads already (I'm out of rogue stones to respawn), and I only got it to Near Death once. I can hardly hit it, and it always poisons and kills us. I can't figure out how to deactivate the obelisk so that our items and buffs will work again.
I guess that was not the best way to relax. Should have continued my no reload in BG:EE instead...
would you mind sharing how you fought that nasty boss spider in the dead magic zone under the beholder lair in HotU chapter 2?
So there's three ideal ways to deal with this.
1, be a combat heavy class that can just kill the thing in a straight up fight. The big thing is getting past the 30 DR the thing has, which will take crits or sneak attacks. Divine Might could work as well, not sure if they make the null magic stop that. Valen's crits and Nathyrra's sneak attacks (if you have her focus on Rogue) should hopefully do it. The AC of the party will obviously be bad and you can't heal so it's a DPS race.
2, be knowledgeable. You need to pass a DC 44 Lore check or DC 34 Spellcraft check at the Ancient Device (earlier on near the locked door). A level 21 character with 0 intelligence modifier can pass the Lore check eventually if you keep trying, assuming you fully invested into Lore. Spellcraft check is obviously much easier.
3, be sneaky. You could literally just stealth past, thing has 22 Spot/Listen and a level 21 Rogue can have 30ish Stealth from just base ranks and Dex mod. But what's even easier is disarming/unlocking the door near the Ancient Device, it's only DC 28 to disarm/unlock which characters with single digit levels can easily do.
I'd need to know more about your character or party to help more.
Divine Might works, and so does Deekin's bard song. Valen can hit it, my paladin only sometimes. I think it's only the divine damage that gets through. I got it to Near Death on my best attempt.
About the Ancient Device
I passed the check to use the device, but only to cast Knock (that's how I opened the door), to heal us, and I think the other was to cast a lightning bolt, but I don't know what I'm supposed to use that for. I didn't find any clue how to deactivate the obelisk.
@Cerabelus , I've looked through your reports and can't find any details, would you mind sharing how you fought that nasty boss spider in the dead magic zone under the beholder lair in HotU chapter 2?
It cost me 3 reloads already (I'm out of rogue stones to respawn), and I only got it to Near Death once. I can hardly hit it, and it always poisons and kills us. I can't figure out how to deactivate the obelisk so that our items and buffs will work again.
I guess that was not the best way to relax. Should have continued my no reload in BG:EE instead...
My Golem carried the way to the Obelisk but I'm pretty sure I used Finger of Death ?.
But I deactivated the Obelisk first.
at the base of the Obelisk there are 4 rows of symbols, starting each row is a fixed symbol and each one after is clickable, change the symbols of each row to match the first.
Sorry it took me so long to respond, I've been pretty busy lately and forgetting to check the forum.
After another 3 reloads, I've finally killed the spider demon. I managed it by using the Ancient Device for Stoneskin, using Divine Might (my Divine damage was all that got through) and focusing my limited healing resources (only kits and Lay on Hands worked) on Valen, who did more damage, and myself.
Whenever Divine Might wore off, I stepped back, healed Valen, cast Divine Might again and attacked. Unfortunately I couldn't keep Deekin alive, because I had to focus my resources. But I needed the bard song... he didn't take it personally.
Then I realized that I had to deactivate the obelisk to use the Rod of Resurrection, so I googled again and finally found a post that solved it.
I'll eventually face the Valsharess, but for now I'm focusing on my no-reload run in BG. I just couldn't find peace as long as that stupid spider was alive ?.
I gotcha. Yeah, trying to fight the thing is supposed to be a punishment for not having any skills. Imagine being a caster and going against it, for example. But gotta figure out the puzzle, obviously, glad to hear you're past it.
I found out a new Premium Module came out Tyrants of the Moonsea, i was excited and i even thought about posting my gameplay...without going into spoilers i only got about 15 minutes into the game and each time i try to leave the Tavern the game crashes , I'm still interested but I'll have to wait for patches.
After another 3 reloads, I've finally killed the spider demon. I managed it by using the Ancient Device for Stoneskin, using Divine Might (my Divine damage was all that got through) and focusing my limited healing resources (only kits and Lay on Hands worked) on Valen, who did more damage, and myself.
Whenever Divine Might wore off, I stepped back, healed Valen, cast Divine Might again and attacked. Unfortunately I couldn't keep Deekin alive, because I had to focus my resources. But I needed the bard song... he didn't take it personally.
Then I realized that I had to deactivate the obelisk to use the Rod of Resurrection, so I googled again and finally found a post that solved it.
I'll eventually face the Valsharess, but for now I'm focusing on my no-reload run in BG. I just couldn't find peace as long as that stupid spider was alive ?.
I gotcha. Yeah, trying to fight the thing is supposed to be a punishment for not having any skills. Imagine being a caster and going against it, for example. But gotta figure out the puzzle, obviously, glad to hear you're past it.
before i accidentally found out about the secret door in the back trick, i've always just relied upon a devastating critical, with 10 levels of RDD and even without items your STR will still be huge so that fort DC can be pretty big
i remember the one time i fought him my first attack roll was a critical hit and he flopped over when he failed his fortitude save haha
I gotcha. Yeah, trying to fight the thing is supposed to be a punishment for not having any skills. Imagine being a caster and going against it, for example. But gotta figure out the puzzle, obviously, glad to hear you're past it.
No, I figured out the puzzle later (with a walkthrough). I fought the spider demon without deactivating the dead magic zone. Solving the obelisk would have made the fight so much easier.
Or, if by "puzzle" you mean using the device, my Lore skill was high enough.
By the way, I've finished HotU, for completion's sake. The story was okay, but not as deep as I would have wished. I still like the OC better.
I also stopped counting reloads during the fight with the last Guardian and then Maugrim and his gang.
This game is obviously meant to test your limits and impossible to no-reload without knowing what to expect.
Yeah Maugrim and the gang are nasty...good old death magic saved my day ? but I was pretty nervous going in, I let out a Wail of the Banshee and got 2 of them and focused down the Lich and after that it was mop up but in the past I've had many reloads there.
The Last Guardian again I was nervous as he is known for having very high Magic Resistance but I used Mord's Disjunction to weaken that and gave him a couple of IGMS's.
If we had a full party control system and the right companions you would've had more tactical options under your control.
At the moment I'm playing BG1 EE on the Switch, i went with a Pally Inquisitor because I expected to need some adjustment for a controller and I didn't want to be fumbling with it trying to constantly select spells, I'm getting used to it and I think it's going alright.
My children want a Switch for Christmas, maybe I'll agree after all
The problem with the Guardian was that you don't stand a chance as a fighter if you haven't upgraded your weapon to +8 enchantment. I was lucky to have an Astral Blade in my inventory.
That's the kind of knowledge I meant.
That orb to cause a dead magic zone didn't work against the Guardian. Against Maugrim and the lich and their gang I didn't remember to use it.
My companions weren't ideal, either, I had Aribeth and Valen with me. I simply had to take Aribeth, of course. And while Valen is a fierce damage dealer, he's difficult to keep alive with his lousy AC. But he had just declared his undying love for my paladin, so I could hardly dump him in Hell, especially given his background.
Other annoying things that needed meta knowledge were the dungeon where the mimic steals your armor and the one after that. I wonder if some people really figured them out on their own the first time. Maybe I'm just slow in the head, but I tried for ages and then had to look it up in a walkthrough.
Comments
Yes, the games that are heavy on story development and roleplaying choices are nice, but they're not so much fun if you play them in bits and pieces and have to stop after an hour. I noticed that last week. I really wanted to see how the story continued in NWN and ended up getting less sleep than I should have. Also, if you've spent that hour only thinking about dialogue choices and solving puzzles, you don't have the feeling that you've achieved much.
People keep referring to games as Diablo style. I don't know a thing about Diablo. My first boyfriend, who introduced me to Baldur's Gate when I was 18, used to play Diablo II and I watched sometimes, but I don't remember anything, except something weird, I think there were mad cows with halberds or poleaxes.
Anyway, have a good time hacking and slashing!
And thank you for your teaching run as a NWN paladin, it was fun and I've learned a lot.
I checked the code in the toolset and the game was even more generous than I expected. It force rests you both before the big city battle and before the final solo battle with the Valsheress.
I then played it through (twice) to verify the code was working properly. It was.
So please avoid making sweeping comments like "I consider this a major design flaw in this HotU chapter" when Bioware explicitly went out of their way to avoid exactly the problem you're discussing.
Maybe something weird happened for you specifically. Maybe it's a flaw in the EE and isn't occurring in Diamond. But it's most definitely not a "major design flaw" on Bioware's end.
Glad you're enjoying it.
It is a valid concern. On the flip side, say the wolf is attacking at +5 with Knockdown and only hits you on a 20. You have 14 Discipline. You will now only get knocked down 50% of the time on natural 20s rather than 10)% of the time.
Something that's not obvious is that you're considered flat-footed when using Healer's Kits and thus lose things AC.
Need to make a DC28 reflex save or have Knockdown immunity.
Like Belgarath said, I'd suggest not using the full Real Skies hak.
Hell, when I did my video playthrough I actually flat out disabled sky boxes to avoid even minor decreases in load times. So that's another option.
Only the sky boxes should really be more of a strain than the default game graphics.
Games that are mostly about beating up hordes of monsters and gaining lots of loot/levels with little story and often no actual choices to make. Usually have randomly generated maps for more replayability.
I'll mark the end of Chapter 2.
I don't think I would've noticed the Immortality had I not read your post.
After having my stuff stolen i raided the top floor of the Yawning Portal and took out my frustration on the Drow and Duergar.
How dare you!
I don't know who these people are so i just kept walking.
Deekin!, i hope you don't get downed 7 times like our last adventure.
Sobrey at the magic shop had some nice robes for sale amd she gave me the best sale prices throughout the chapter.
Bright colours really aren't my style.
I rescued a Goblin!
Deekin, i can't help but notice your dragon tooth amulet...didn't i give a dragon tooth to Ayala as it was stolen from Drogon?
Dragon Dead!...i totally didn't die the first try.
Hmm a nice talking blade, I'm sure there's no danger in taking it...he wants me to.
These nice fellows where less than pleased i took the blade, Undeath to Death.
Turns out "Enserric the Grey" was killed by these fine people and his soul was absorbed into the blade perhaps 50 years ago.
"I love the taste of Elf blood in the morning, oh yes!", "Let's cut it's beard off once it's dead", "careful, these outsiders can be tricky", "the taste of undead is so vile", "why must i debase myself striking such vermin"...just some of the lovely quotes of Enserric.
While checking myself out with my new robes i came out of the mirror and tried to kill myself.
My Pixie Meran found some secret doors to the Bomb Maker.
Solved the bridge puzzle but decided to walk away to keep exploring.
The Fairy Sorceress was less than pleased but after a beat down she was more talkative, i let her go and behind her was some treasure and a Keg of Alchemist Fire.
Went Invisible and navigated the narrow path...they have no idea.
"Orcs! There's always orcs!" another Enserric quote.
Illusions, Dispel the ground around the chests and get gold and several Ioun Stones work 8000gp each.
Testing out my new Sunburst spell.
Is it evil that i refused the Ogre Mage's surrender?, put down the keg and ignited it...secondary exit to the 2nd level opened up.
More Illusion chests.
Wail of the Banshee and Finger of Death...Delicious
Rakshasa are immune to spells up to 8th lvl...not immune to Wail of the Banshee
Deekin meet his first death here
Yes!...unfortunately i had to give up my +4 constitution boots to use them.
Horrid Wilting
Annoying Goblin's.
Berger seemed nice enough...if i created a Golem it certainly wouldn't be a Flesh Golem.
Rescued the Formian slaves and tried to talk to Queeny but i interrupted the conversation and she left...woops.
They were nice enough to group up for me.
15 pages of my gear...no magic bags
Chapter 1 Complete.
Oh!...the Djinni had some nice new robes for me but that color though.
Inverted Colours to my other robes.
Enserric suggest's a well made Golem could be made to house his Soul.
Hmm i wonder if we can go to an Island that has a great many "well made" Golem's.
Unfortunately this doesn't lead to anything and it was a massively missed opportunity to get a Golem Wizard companion who has unfinished business with his family...Beamdog this could be an interesting item in some new module or campaign.
Nasher left his Ring down here...i heard he was a total di...anyway apparently all 4 items are part of a set granting additional benefits.
712,174gp, hmm what will i spend it on.
About 670,000 later
Made piles of money and spent most of it in one go...totally worth it.
lvl 19
Respawn: 1 (Dragon)
Reload: 0
Companion: 2
Diablo 1 was a slower dark atmosphere beginning, one location and one larger dungeon.
Diablo 2 was the best, hunting the growing number of baddies, following the cause, each chapter has different henchman to hire Archer, Spearman, Sword + Shield Caster, Barbarian, Classes are Barbarian, Assassin, Druid, Sorcerer, Necromancer, Paladin, Amazon, each class has 3 branches of the skill tree to follow.
Diablo 3 I have mixed feelings about, I enjoyed it but I can't really explain it, something just didn't feel like Diablo.
Blizzard has been corrupted by Activision's scummy micro purchases now so their games have lost the "Blizzard feel".
Dealing with House Maeviir first, we can't have possible betrayers hanging about camp.
This Matron seemed a little spiteful and the risk too great, Wail of the Banshee.
The Strange Town first and Sabal and her gang of Red Sister's are causing trouble.
The town is cursed and it's a race to get the Magic Mirror fragments, the librarian medusa had the first but i need the potion form her room to protect myself than she was more talkative.
Me and Deekin ambushed Sabal and a small contingent, all too easy.
Queeny inside the cave was totally crazy and gave Sabal a shard.
The town "Merchant" had a compass to the next Mirror, he traded it for a burned book???
Damn it...she ambushed me this time.
This Wizard's Tower is a wild magic zone, Enserrick...it's time to slash.
A Balor chicken
Next floor up and this Balor Lord was very dangerous, i used many kits.
Damn i hate Slaad, i went for the Death Slaad first.
With them gone the Wizard's Apprentice was easy and surrendered quickly, another shard.
i hate this challenge, this guy poisons you and after each successful challenge it get s worse, The Spider was the easiest to fight so i kept doing that challenge.
Into the keep and many Drider tried to stop me, the Assassin was so annoying and when i killed him he slinged up to the ceiling and i couldn't find his corpse...missed some loot.
After using Wail of the Banshee to thin the ranks, her remaining forces than Sabal fell quickly.
The strange town gone now and i have the powerful mirror, i gave it to the Seer.
To the Isle of the Maker and the Dwarf Merchant gave me good prices so i decided to offload some lesser gear but i noticed some Poison Bolts were worth quite a bit so i started separating them to see how much i could get.
Into the Maker's Lair and after fighting some lesser Golems i found some interesting information.
A golems head, Hmm what can i do with this.
Umm...Enserric? are you going to kill me?
Weapons Spirit vs Dispel Magic...he did not survive.
The Control Room.
Hmm.
Used the books recipies and a Alchemist Bench to make some anti-golem tools.
The Scavenger's Words translates to 5 4, summoned and the control room destroys him.
The door guardian summoned with 7 9.
next floor down and more parts, Maybe i can upgrade myself to become a Golem?
Agreed to help these nice fellows.
Yep, I'm gonna become a Golem.
With Aghaaz and his fellow Flesh Golem's gone i can get the Source.
Very Dangerous fight...for them
Got the source and gave it to Farren for his help against the Valsharess.
I don't know why but they never showed up to the final battle.
The Necromancer's greatest weakness, any weapon above +5 breaches Stoneskin and we don't get the 8th lvl spell Premonition
This is the part you find out the Maker is a little crazy and obsessed with trying to create the perfect Golem, his complaint was the Golems didn't evolve to become self reliant but what if he used Enserrick to add the consciousness, he's already a free thinker and the Maker already knows how to make the perfect body, this should've been an option to convince the Maker to make Enserrick a new body
Magic Missile Barrage!
Follow the Instructions and...
A new Henchman is created with Perma Haste, Dispel on hit, Increased Strength, Regeneration.
Also you can talk to him to store some spells for him to cast on his own.
Dahanna demanded 10,000 gold for me taking all the treasure and glory, normally i wouldn't have but i tried something new and turns her clan has invested much into the expedition because they've fallen on hard times...10,000 gold was pocket change compared to what i found.
Enserrick i maxed out...excellent.
On the way to the Mind Flayer's this scout fell down a hole so i jumped in too, he failed to notice the Acid Cube creeping on him.
Sometimes my screenshots close the examine window but i remember what this it.
Platinum Helm:
Electrical Resist.
Perma Haste.
Shots playing up again but this is Nasher's Cloak.
Damn Slavers.
Keeping a low profile i put on the helm to stop mind reading and entered the city.
The "Tentacle Head's" as Deekin called them have a merchant who sold Nasher's Gloves.
at this point i remembered i forgot to get Nasher's Nimble Boot from the Djinni.
Once the Cloak, Gloves, Ring & Boots are equiped the set bonus activates and you get +7 AC +7 STR +7 DEX, +10 Dicipline...unfortunately Henchman cannot activate the set bonus so i'm using it for now.
While i was here i purchased a slave...wait what?, now i know what your thinking but i only did that to get her away from here and i sent her to the Seer's camp for her freedom
Damn it! my need for treasure has blown my cover, time to clear out the city.
After clearing out the city i freed the slaves, now i can focus on the Tentacle Heads.
Oh Yes!, I'll be there soon Brain.
Stupid Illusions everywhere, the journey to the Brain was annoying but...
Die! you...
Where am i?, oh hello "Charming Young Women".
I can't stay...i have Brains to slash.
Yuck!...did i have to make such a mess?
Off to the Beholder's and...
Oh hello Eldath, are we gonna be new friends?
I guess not.
He made me retreat and my Golem drew his attention until i healed up and gave him 3 Finger's of Death.
Oh Shi%@, Emergency Time Stop...my first use of that spell all game.
2 Finger's and Empowered Flame Arrow.
For some reason these Beholder's were so crap, they didn't use their Dispelling cone attack once???, if they did i would've been crippled.
1 Wail of the Banshee...unexpectedly easy.
still no Dispelling attack???, in the past I've had mixed results in these caves...stupid AI.
The Golem lead the way until we could get rid of the anti-magic zone, straight to the cause and took the core.
This town needs my help...Mortanious Away!
Only 127 for +10 Kit's...yes please, you can be certain i sold many lesser items here.
293,329gp
I guess ringing the gong and charging the Head Vampire wasn't the best plan, he should've stayed and finished me off.
lol...this Human was trying to punch the door open.
Guards came running in from all over...i really know how to keep a low profile.
2 Black Pearl's...what will i do with these.
now that Pics are working again Nasher's Items.
He Time Stopped me.
Again!, stop it.
Good Work Golem, he dispelled that prick and after multiple Sunbursts my trusty Golem took him down.
Sunburst!
Again!
This Warlord's Plate would be particularly good for a Pally.
Undeath to Death!, Bye Shadow Master.
Back for more?
Hmm a nice little Mace.
Freed a Diva, does mean I'm an ally of the heavens now?
Bye Sodalis.
Oh Shi%@!
Good, I've got Fire spells and he's not Immune.
I held back my power too much and my Golem paid the price...Perma Death
Unleashed everything...if only i did that from the start.
Vixthra was Immune to cold...He's Phylactery's not.
Hmm, Delicious treasure.
Stopped off at my new favorite merchant and sold all my lesser stuff...those Negative Energy Bolts from the Shadow Master are worth 9kmfor 10 bolts
586,530 and I'm still hording the best stuff for Chapter 3.
The night before the Army approaches.
Did i just make a deal with my enemy?, nope but she just removed the Geas binding me to attack her.
Good now i can be sure i attack you of my own volition.
It Begins.
Oh Shi&@, that Priest just tried to Implode me.
Destroy them all!
First Reload...i screwed up and destroyed the gate, betrayed the Seer...woops.
Defend the Seer, Extended Evard's Black Tentacles.
Damn those Tentacle Heads, Wail of the Banshee.
The Enemy Lurks within.
Oh No.
The Valsharess, Charge!
Damn it.
Hmm, you were betrayed by the Archdevil...who could've guessed that would happen.
Are me and Mephy gonna be super friends now?
Got in a quick IGMS before she finished casting Heal.
It's over!, me and Mephy are gonna...
Oh No.
@Arvia
The End of Chapter 2.
lvl 25
Respawn: 2 (Dragon, Mithral Golems)
Reload: 1 (Accidental Betrayal)
Companion: 3 (The Golem is Perma Dead
I've been missing my Golem ?, but I found someone to take his place.
In chapter 3 I got caught up looting and poor Deekin got ambushed...I didn't even notice until I returned from looting a chest, had to raise him.
The wild surges in the wizard tower were crazy, I almost didn't want to kill that Balor, because in my case he turned into a cute penguin
Edit: I stopped reading mid-report before your final battle with the Valsharess started, so that I won't know what happens.
My full report is gonna have to wait until i have time but we can add a couple of reloads due to my own foolishness and
2 betrayals
I had fun but the Henchman are pretty crap, because i played an Elf and they Active Search toggle on at all times as a Racial benefit and the Henchman try to constantly copy you they do the same but they have to walk while Active Search is toggled on so it's pretty annoying and my new Henchman just stands their watching every battle for ages before joining in...i don't know why.
Beamdog...Henchman are Shi%@...the AI is Shi%@, if your gonna make new modules one day Please!...Please bring back the Full Party Control...Please!.
Ok I'll settle down and I'll try to fully report tomorrow but it's gonna take a while...i took many pics.
Just checked and all the Pics i took throughout the OC, SOU & HOTU take up 4.59gb...i got heavy handed on the F12 obviously, it probably would've been easier to record
It was the Grease that killed me again. It didn't even give me a moment to drink a Potion of Heal when I got up, and I think the Eye Tyrant or one of the Beholder Mages messed with my buffs, because I failed almost every saving throw and fell again immediately, and that continued in an endless loop.
I should have kept those Dragon Slippers against Knockdown. But without metaknowledge it's impossible to know which item to keep, and you need so much money in this game...
Oh well.
There are some ruins downstairs, haven't been there yet and don't know when I'll be able to continue.
Besides, I feel more like pausing this run for a while to continue with my Undead Hunter in SoD. My time for games is severely limited right now, and somehow I find it easier to play BG if I only have like 30min every other day.
Level: 24
Reloads: 3 (all non-death.1 because of game crash)
Respawns: 3
Deekin deaths: 2
Valen deaths: 2
Realized that I wasn't sure I had ever done a playthrough using two companions in every chapter (or any chapter, I didn't want to lose the XP and didn't need them). Decided to go with Daelan and Deekin in Chapter 1 (and then continued with Deekin the rest of the game).
Deekin was told to go 16 Bard/4 RDD pre-epic (last bard level was done specifically at level 20 to hit a perform breakpoint, 16/4 split was done to avoid losing a BAB), then 6 more RDD for the strength boost at level 10, then Bard from then out (wound up 18 bard/10 RDD).
Naturally I gave Daelen something other than his stupid double axe (think I gave him a sword and shield, there's only one Greataxe using warrior in this party).
Did order of Avariel/Undead/Illithid/Golems/Beholder, decided I'd rather fight the Mind Flayers than give them the mirror. Had the entire party enchanted with weapons +8 and 2d6 acid (plus usually another property of two). Deekin was using Enserric the Dagger for the vampiric regen.
Did one reload in the dead magic zone for the Beholders since Deekin was an idiot fighting the Bebilith and I wanted to prove I could win the fight without a death. Otherwise I could have just rezzed him.
At the beginning of Act 3 I had 2.7 million gold and thought I was safe to spend some more of it -- maxed out weapons for all three of us (+10, keen, regen, 2d6 acid, the works). And still had like 2 million I want to say? So figured I could splurge on some amulets/rings and a shield for Deekin, wound up with 1 million gold after both the weapons and the items.
BAD IDEA. This bit me in the ass.
The Grimgnaw fight was the only fight of any difficulty and actually required a Heal potion or two for the companions due to the Acid Sheaths and such.
Unfortunately, when we got to the Knower of Names I discovered I was about 450k gold short of buying every single name (and I mean every single name, had bad luck where nothing overlapped -- though I did made a mistake, see below). I didn't want to replay the chapter to not buy a few items earlier so I cheated in 500k.
It turned out some of those names were also "worthless" since the game ignores the fates of any companion NOT with you for the final battle. So helping Nathyrra and Aribeth wasn't acknowledged by the game (and it took a lot of finagling to be able to use the true names on all four possible companions). I also made a mistake -- I asked for the True Name of the Knower of Names BEFORE asking for the True Name of the Sleeping Man's love...which turned out to be the Knower of Names. If I had done Sleeping Man's love first then I would have saved the money on the Knower of Names's name.
I think I never encountered this problem before for a few possible reasons:
1, I was playing solo (or at most one companion) which means you save a ton of money on enchanting weapons and have more gear to sell
2, I was playing a Sorcerer (or some other class with the same issue) who couldn't even get a Heavy Flail enchanted for Valen (or rapier for Nathyrra, or whatever).
3, I didn't try to get the True Names for all four companions and then have no overlap on other names (minus the mistake I mentioned earlier).
I did establish save points throughout the modules (mostly in Chapter 2 and 3) so if people want to see a video or something just let me know...
Arvia hasn't played HOTU before and doesn't know the events of the end of Chapter 2 and all of Chapter 3, we gotta protect those spoilers
@Arvia
I've had many problems in the past against beholders and i must have got very lucky to kill them very quickly this time, all they had to do was use their dispelling attack but not one of them used it this time???
I understand wanting to focus your time on SOD, I've been thinking of doing BG as well but maybe I'll wait for the Switch release, I've never played NWN on the go before but i did play a little of BG1 on Android 2 years ago...it took some getting use to.
I'm hoping the UI is easy to use.
I haven't reported the end to my Campaign because i was thinking @Arvia & @BelgarathMTH wont be able to read it yet, should i report anyway?
Do I understand correctly that you managed to upgrade more than one weapon with 2d6 acid? I think the blacksmith didn't let me choose the same upgrade twice, although it was for another weapon. Or maybe it was because my weapon already had another kind of elemental damage.
I couldn't enchant a heavy flail for Valen either. I don't think it's possible, unless there's some cheat that allows you to equip his flail. He won't part with it. Neither for me to have it enchanted, nor to leave it in his inventory to let him use another weapon.
I didn't mind, because he's dealing so much damage with his special abilities already. It would only bother me if I needed a certain level of enchantment to hit something.
@Cerabelus , I can't speak for anyone else, but I think you shouldn't wait for me to finish before you report. I have no idea when I will finish this game.
So, before you forget everything that happened, why don't you write your report whenever you feel like it? I will read it, just maybe don't put all the screenshots into one huge spoiler tag. If you put things like a final fight or an enormous plot twist into a separate spoiler tag, with the warning "this tag contains a major plot twist", people can choose whether to read it or not.
Besides, I usually can't resist spoiler tags, and most of the time they don't contain such huge surprises after all. The only plot twist that really surprised me was the turn of events in the Host Tower in Luskan, concerning a certain lady.
My bad, didn't see any spoilers in Arvia's post directly above mine.
The devs coded the blacksmith so that if you have a weapon that does 1 (literally just 1) bonus fire (or any other type of bonus damage) damage then the blacksmith will tell you "I can't add 2d6 <blank> damage because your weapon already has that property, I'd just be wasting your gold."
Which of course is ridiculous, at a minimum they should let you overwrite it. Also there's not actually anything in the game engine that prevents a weapon from having half a dozen (or more) bonus sources of damage so this is purely a balance concern.
So yeah, your other weapon probably had some kind (any kind) of bonus damage.
You have to buy him a new one and enchant it (again, ridiculous that you can't just enchant his starting weapon). I actually made a script override that allowed you to enchant party member weapons directly in HotU so a wizard, for example, can't enchant party member weapons while a fighter can.
It cost me 3 reloads already (I'm out of rogue stones to respawn), and I only got it to Near Death once. I can hardly hit it, and it always poisons and kills us. I can't figure out how to deactivate the obelisk so that our items and buffs will work again.
I guess that was not the best way to relax. Should have continued my no reload in BG:EE instead...
1, be a combat heavy class that can just kill the thing in a straight up fight. The big thing is getting past the 30 DR the thing has, which will take crits or sneak attacks. Divine Might could work as well, not sure if they make the null magic stop that. Valen's crits and Nathyrra's sneak attacks (if you have her focus on Rogue) should hopefully do it. The AC of the party will obviously be bad and you can't heal so it's a DPS race.
2, be knowledgeable. You need to pass a DC 44 Lore check or DC 34 Spellcraft check at the Ancient Device (earlier on near the locked door). A level 21 character with 0 intelligence modifier can pass the Lore check eventually if you keep trying, assuming you fully invested into Lore. Spellcraft check is obviously much easier.
3, be sneaky. You could literally just stealth past, thing has 22 Spot/Listen and a level 21 Rogue can have 30ish Stealth from just base ranks and Dex mod. But what's even easier is disarming/unlocking the door near the Ancient Device, it's only DC 28 to disarm/unlock which characters with single digit levels can easily do.
I'd need to know more about your character or party to help more.
Divine Might works, and so does Deekin's bard song. Valen can hit it, my paladin only sometimes. I think it's only the divine damage that gets through. I got it to Near Death on my best attempt.
About the Ancient Device
My Golem carried the way to the Obelisk but I'm pretty sure I used Finger of Death ?.
But I deactivated the Obelisk first.
at the base of the Obelisk there are 4 rows of symbols, starting each row is a fixed symbol and each one after is clickable, change the symbols of each row to match the first.
Sorry it took me so long to respond, I've been pretty busy lately and forgetting to check the forum.
Whenever Divine Might wore off, I stepped back, healed Valen, cast Divine Might again and attacked. Unfortunately I couldn't keep Deekin alive, because I had to focus my resources. But I needed the bard song... he didn't take it personally.
Then I realized that I had to deactivate the obelisk to use the Rod of Resurrection, so I googled again and finally found a post that solved it.
Thank you too, @Cerabelus.
I'll eventually face the Valsharess, but for now I'm focusing on my no-reload run in BG. I just couldn't find peace as long as that stupid spider was alive ?.
I gotcha. Yeah, trying to fight the thing is supposed to be a punishment for not having any skills. Imagine being a caster and going against it, for example. But gotta figure out the puzzle, obviously, glad to hear you're past it.
before i accidentally found out about the secret door in the back trick, i've always just relied upon a devastating critical, with 10 levels of RDD and even without items your STR will still be huge so that fort DC can be pretty big
i remember the one time i fought him my first attack roll was a critical hit and he flopped over when he failed his fortitude save haha
No, I figured out the puzzle later (with a walkthrough). I fought the spider demon without deactivating the dead magic zone. Solving the obelisk would have made the fight so much easier.
Or, if by "puzzle" you mean using the device, my Lore skill was high enough.
By the way, I've finished HotU, for completion's sake. The story was okay, but not as deep as I would have wished. I still like the OC better.
I also stopped counting reloads during the fight with the last Guardian and then Maugrim and his gang.
This game is obviously meant to test your limits and impossible to no-reload without knowing what to expect.
Yeah Maugrim and the gang are nasty...good old death magic saved my day ? but I was pretty nervous going in, I let out a Wail of the Banshee and got 2 of them and focused down the Lich and after that it was mop up but in the past I've had many reloads there.
The Last Guardian again I was nervous as he is known for having very high Magic Resistance but I used Mord's Disjunction to weaken that and gave him a couple of IGMS's.
If we had a full party control system and the right companions you would've had more tactical options under your control.
At the moment I'm playing BG1 EE on the Switch, i went with a Pally Inquisitor because I expected to need some adjustment for a controller and I didn't want to be fumbling with it trying to constantly select spells, I'm getting used to it and I think it's going alright.
The problem with the Guardian was that you don't stand a chance as a fighter if you haven't upgraded your weapon to +8 enchantment. I was lucky to have an Astral Blade in my inventory.
That's the kind of knowledge I meant.
That orb to cause a dead magic zone didn't work against the Guardian. Against Maugrim and the lich and their gang I didn't remember to use it.
My companions weren't ideal, either, I had Aribeth and Valen with me. I simply had to take Aribeth, of course. And while Valen is a fierce damage dealer, he's difficult to keep alive with his lousy AC. But he had just declared his undying love for my paladin, so I could hardly dump him in Hell, especially given his background.
Other annoying things that needed meta knowledge were the dungeon where the mimic steals your armor and the one after that. I wonder if some people really figured them out on their own the first time. Maybe I'm just slow in the head, but I tried for ages and then had to look it up in a walkthrough.
I just finished the Nashkel mines without difficulty but upon exit I forgot how tough the gang is so we died a few time ?.
Have you played the NWN content Darkness over Daggerford?, I played it for the first time a few months ago and I enjoyed it.
My Squishy Mage had a difficult beginning on DOD for the first 20 mins.
I haven't played Darkness over Daggerford yet. It's on my list, but I think I'll do another BG:EE no-reload attempt first.