The journey of Naivasha, Half-Elf Transmuter (minimal reload SCS/Ascension adventure)
Blackraven
Member Posts: 3,486
Introduction
Hey dear readers, this thread is about my attempt to solo a Transmuter all the way to the Throne of Bhaal. I'm a pretty staunch no-reloader but this documented playthrough is going to be an exception. The question it intends to answer is not "Can Blackraven take a solo Transmuter through the entire saga without reloads?" but "How could a solo no-reload Transmuter reach and beat Amelyssan in an SCS/Ascenson setup?"
Note that the phrasing of the latter question means I'm not going to gamble my way through the game. I mean to play as if I'm no-reloading. I think this run will qualify as a minimal reload run. I'm not going to rely on lucky dice rolls for hits or saves and reloading whenever the outcome doesn't please me. I'm also not going to do high risk quests early on just because I know I can reload if I fail. And I'm inclined to skip certain optional content because it's either too tedious (think Durlag's Tower requiring constant rests to refresh Knock spells to open locks and Polymorph Self for Jelly form to trigger traps), or simply unappealing from a risk-reward perspective. If readers however ask me to try an area I intend to avoid, I'll take that into consideration.
Why do I want to do this? Well first of all I recently failed to defend Boareskyr Bridge in SoD with a no-reload Transmuter (who had a party of specialist mages with her) and I really lamented the end of that run. I even considered trying again with a party of specialists, but came up with this instead. Secondly, I like Transmuters conceptually: using magical energy to shape the universe the way you see fit is pretty impressive. In Baldur's Gate the school offers an interesting mix of offensive, defensive and utility spells that I intend to use a lot. Thirdly, Transmuters are arguably the weakest, most vulnerable of the specialist mages. With Abjuration as their barred school, Transmuters have to make do without
- many combat protections (such as Protection from Magical Weapons, elemental protection spells, and spells that protect against magic damage),
- any and all spell protections (globe of invulnerability, spell deflection/turning, spell immunity and the like),
- and most debuffing spells (Spell Thrust, Breach, Pierce Magic, etc).
For me this makes the Transmuter the most aberrant mage type. Certain potions and items can mitigate the loss of Abjuration magic, and Naivasha will no doubt try to collect those.
My set-up contains an almost full SCS v32 install and, for BG2, Ascension. In addition to those mods I should also mention some Anthology Tweaks through which Thac0 progression for non-fighters goes beyond 10, fighters enjoy "true grandmastery", and casters get expanded spell progression tables. This goes for Charname but also for enemies. Finally note that I purposely abstained from installing the SCS component that turns caster HLAs into special abilities they can cast once a day. I use all these tweaks mainly to make single classes a bit stronger compared to multi-classes. By the way I also play with a number of other mods that make life slightly easier. I'll refer to them when the occasion arises.
Our protagonist is Naivasha,
named after a gorgeous lake with a gorgeous name in Kenya, that I've been fortunate enough to visit. I was informed it means 'rippling waters' in the Masai language. I think it sounds fairly Half-Elf magey no?
Getting a solid roll didn't take too long. Maybe because she's a Half-Elf? Her stat distribution I can explain as follows:
STR: I didn't want an 18 here because it takes away some of the charm of polymorphing later on if the poly forms aren't as physically strong as the natural form. I think it's nice to polymorph and use the Strength spell and later on the innate Bhaal ability Draw Upon Holy Might to obtain giant strength.
DEX: the 18 here was mainly for early game survivability and to a lesser extent for the ranged Thac0 advantage.
CON: 17 + 1 from the tome in Alaric's cave will allow Naivasha to equip the claw of Kazgaroth without sacrificing HPs from that item's CON penalty.
INT: 17 is the minimum required to copy spells with guaranteed success into the spellbook. Naivasha can use the red potion from the Nashkel Carnival for one spell-scribing session before she gets the INT tome in Baldur's Gate.
WIS: 15 + 3 will allow her to cast Wish late in the game with a guaranteed good wish option.
CHA: 11 + 1 from the Gnoll Stronghold won't be enough to get optimal shop prices until she gets a nymph cloak. Naivasha could kill Algernon for his cloak, but even though role-playing isn't the primary focus of this playthrough, I really don't like killing innocents nor doing anything completely out of character or against alignment. In the case of Algernon though, it's easy for me to ride a moral high horse, as I'll let Naivasha use Lord Foreshadow's Ring of Human Influence, which sets CHA to 18. That item is from the classic BG1 NPC Project mod, which is one of the best known and most used BG1 mods, and such a staple in my installs that it has become part of the canon for me.
There is no powergaming rationale behind Naivasha's Chaotic Good alignment. Thematically Lawful Evil could be the best fit since the Imp familiar can cast Polymorph Self. On the other hand I don't generally enjoy playing evil. Besides I read somewhere that Transmuters couldn't be lawful in early DnD and honestly I somehow view Naivasha as more chaotic too.
Naivasha's starting proficiency is darts and her spells are Expeditious Retreat (an IWD spell added by SCS v32 that hastes the caster for three rounds but stops them from casting or attacking), Shield, and Sleep.
I don't know exactly what to expect yet. I can imagine myself playing Naivasha much like a Cleric-Thief hybrid. I can see Naivasha relying on stealth (invisibility), divide and conquer tactics, and use of consumables much like a thief. While Wraithform, Polymorph Self, Tenser's Transformation, and Shapechange, supported by buffs, are vaguely reminiscent of a Cleric's transformation into a champion with Holy Power, DUHM, Righteous Magic etc. Hopefully I'll learn from this experience and hopefully my findings will be worth reading for fellow forumites. Anyone with tips or ideas to make the most out of the Transmuter is of course welcome to comment below. And comments or suggestions regarding my reporting style are just as welcome.
Next I'll report on the early game.
Hey dear readers, this thread is about my attempt to solo a Transmuter all the way to the Throne of Bhaal. I'm a pretty staunch no-reloader but this documented playthrough is going to be an exception. The question it intends to answer is not "Can Blackraven take a solo Transmuter through the entire saga without reloads?" but "How could a solo no-reload Transmuter reach and beat Amelyssan in an SCS/Ascenson setup?"
Note that the phrasing of the latter question means I'm not going to gamble my way through the game. I mean to play as if I'm no-reloading. I think this run will qualify as a minimal reload run. I'm not going to rely on lucky dice rolls for hits or saves and reloading whenever the outcome doesn't please me. I'm also not going to do high risk quests early on just because I know I can reload if I fail. And I'm inclined to skip certain optional content because it's either too tedious (think Durlag's Tower requiring constant rests to refresh Knock spells to open locks and Polymorph Self for Jelly form to trigger traps), or simply unappealing from a risk-reward perspective. If readers however ask me to try an area I intend to avoid, I'll take that into consideration.
Why do I want to do this? Well first of all I recently failed to defend Boareskyr Bridge in SoD with a no-reload Transmuter (who had a party of specialist mages with her) and I really lamented the end of that run. I even considered trying again with a party of specialists, but came up with this instead. Secondly, I like Transmuters conceptually: using magical energy to shape the universe the way you see fit is pretty impressive. In Baldur's Gate the school offers an interesting mix of offensive, defensive and utility spells that I intend to use a lot. Thirdly, Transmuters are arguably the weakest, most vulnerable of the specialist mages. With Abjuration as their barred school, Transmuters have to make do without
- many combat protections (such as Protection from Magical Weapons, elemental protection spells, and spells that protect against magic damage),
- any and all spell protections (globe of invulnerability, spell deflection/turning, spell immunity and the like),
- and most debuffing spells (Spell Thrust, Breach, Pierce Magic, etc).
For me this makes the Transmuter the most aberrant mage type. Certain potions and items can mitigate the loss of Abjuration magic, and Naivasha will no doubt try to collect those.
My set-up contains an almost full SCS v32 install and, for BG2, Ascension. In addition to those mods I should also mention some Anthology Tweaks through which Thac0 progression for non-fighters goes beyond 10, fighters enjoy "true grandmastery", and casters get expanded spell progression tables. This goes for Charname but also for enemies. Finally note that I purposely abstained from installing the SCS component that turns caster HLAs into special abilities they can cast once a day. I use all these tweaks mainly to make single classes a bit stronger compared to multi-classes. By the way I also play with a number of other mods that make life slightly easier. I'll refer to them when the occasion arises.
Our protagonist is Naivasha,
named after a gorgeous lake with a gorgeous name in Kenya, that I've been fortunate enough to visit. I was informed it means 'rippling waters' in the Masai language. I think it sounds fairly Half-Elf magey no?
Getting a solid roll didn't take too long. Maybe because she's a Half-Elf? Her stat distribution I can explain as follows:
STR: I didn't want an 18 here because it takes away some of the charm of polymorphing later on if the poly forms aren't as physically strong as the natural form. I think it's nice to polymorph and use the Strength spell and later on the innate Bhaal ability Draw Upon Holy Might to obtain giant strength.
DEX: the 18 here was mainly for early game survivability and to a lesser extent for the ranged Thac0 advantage.
CON: 17 + 1 from the tome in Alaric's cave will allow Naivasha to equip the claw of Kazgaroth without sacrificing HPs from that item's CON penalty.
INT: 17 is the minimum required to copy spells with guaranteed success into the spellbook. Naivasha can use the red potion from the Nashkel Carnival for one spell-scribing session before she gets the INT tome in Baldur's Gate.
WIS: 15 + 3 will allow her to cast Wish late in the game with a guaranteed good wish option.
CHA: 11 + 1 from the Gnoll Stronghold won't be enough to get optimal shop prices until she gets a nymph cloak. Naivasha could kill Algernon for his cloak, but even though role-playing isn't the primary focus of this playthrough, I really don't like killing innocents nor doing anything completely out of character or against alignment. In the case of Algernon though, it's easy for me to ride a moral high horse, as I'll let Naivasha use Lord Foreshadow's Ring of Human Influence, which sets CHA to 18. That item is from the classic BG1 NPC Project mod, which is one of the best known and most used BG1 mods, and such a staple in my installs that it has become part of the canon for me.
There is no powergaming rationale behind Naivasha's Chaotic Good alignment. Thematically Lawful Evil could be the best fit since the Imp familiar can cast Polymorph Self. On the other hand I don't generally enjoy playing evil. Besides I read somewhere that Transmuters couldn't be lawful in early DnD and honestly I somehow view Naivasha as more chaotic too.
Naivasha's starting proficiency is darts and her spells are Expeditious Retreat (an IWD spell added by SCS v32 that hastes the caster for three rounds but stops them from casting or attacking), Shield, and Sleep.
I don't know exactly what to expect yet. I can imagine myself playing Naivasha much like a Cleric-Thief hybrid. I can see Naivasha relying on stealth (invisibility), divide and conquer tactics, and use of consumables much like a thief. While Wraithform, Polymorph Self, Tenser's Transformation, and Shapechange, supported by buffs, are vaguely reminiscent of a Cleric's transformation into a champion with Holy Power, DUHM, Righteous Magic etc. Hopefully I'll learn from this experience and hopefully my findings will be worth reading for fellow forumites. Anyone with tips or ideas to make the most out of the Transmuter is of course welcome to comment below. And comments or suggestions regarding my reporting style are just as welcome.
Next I'll report on the early game.
9
Comments
Any mage is vulnerable during the first four levels, with only a few spells to cast, it doesn't make much of a difference what type of mage you play. Therefore I'm going to take a low risk, high reward approach to set Naivasha up for the main questline. There won't be too much going on in terms of Alteration magic, simply because most of the interesting and useful Alteration spells aren't avalailable until the Cloakwood mine (Slow), the city of Baldur's Gate (Haste, Polymorph Self, Teleport Field) or Candlekeep (Wraithform).
In the early game even a Transmuter does well to just rely on Sleep a lot (Color Spray doesn't last enough), and that's what Naivasha does. She just manages to finish the rogue ogre south of the FAI with her darts before the spell expires, picks up the ring of wizardry for more spells to cast, and uses Sleep again on such foes as Joia's hobgoblins and Mirianne's ogrillons. Two castings suffice to deal with Landrin's spiders.
At level 3, Naivasha heads to the High Hedge where she buys a single scroll of Invisibility. She doesn't have the gold yet to buy more scrolls and scribe a whole batch into her book, but invisibility makes life so much easier that I'm willing to try my luck with two out of Thalantyr's three invisibily scrolls. With some good fortune (55% chance of success) she copies the scroll to her spellbook.
As reputation increases at about half the normal pace in my install due to an SCS setting, Naivasha does four donations to the Temple of Helm from the proceeds of the Nashkel ankheg armor and some other loot, so that her reputation will reach its maximum sooner. She moves on to do some of the reputation quests. Oublek and Mr Coquetle put in a good word for her, but Drienne, Lena, Hulrik and Brun (who is brought his son's corpse through Invisibility) do not. Babysitting in Nashkel (BGQE) and Bjornin's gratitude help her reach 20 though. In the middle of all this, a Chromatic Orb read from a scroll suffices to placate Tenya up north for an easy 2.5k XP.
Naivasha buys all the spells she may have use for at the Sorcerous Sundries, but there is still one low level scroll she's missing: Web. She decides to wait and see if she can get that as a random drop. The same goes for Knock by the way, and - if she's very lucky - Polymorph Self (a scroll dropped in a previous playthrough by a basilisk).
She summons her fairy dragon for 6 more HPs, buys a green scroll of Protection from Petrification (the mage spell is off limits as an Abjuration spell), has the wand of fire identified, and travels to Mutamin's Garden. As her darts deal puny damage Naivasha decides to use the wand of fire on the basilisks, and does so as efficiently as she can. A well-placed scorcher can strike three to four basilisks twice in the southern part of the area. She lures a single basilisk in the middle of the map to the north to gain as much from her wand scorchers.
Naivasha kills one lone basilisk east of Mutamin with her darts. After that Korax manages to Hold Mutamin with some difficulty, namely after suffering damage from two Chromatic Orbs and a Magic Missile, and finishes off the remaining basilisks. This single area is just enough for Naivasha to grow from level 4 to level 6 (circa 17k to 42k XP).
She decides to level up even further. She buys three potions of mirrored eyes, and travels to Durlag's Tower. Two wand scorchers take down two Battle Horrors.
Unfortunately none of the basilisks or battle horrors drop any nice scrolls, just gold and gems.
At about 76k XP, even level 8 (90k) seems within reach. The ankheg area provides the missing 14k. All she needs is to memorize lots of Sleep spells and a single Shield to provide some protection. Naivasha gets hit a few times from range, but she has a decent amount of HPs by now, so she can shrug it off. In that regard tackling this area only now, is well-timed. Two ankhegs in the cave drop a very welcome Web scroll.
The "surface ankhegs" give Naivasha a bit of a hard time. They attack in pairs with one trying to get close while the other stays at range, making it hard to catch both within one Sleep's AoE. This is Naivasha trying (and failing) to escape a critical hit close to the edge of the area, from an ankheg that resists her Sleep spell.
Naivasha reaches level 8 and travels to Sorcerous Sundries for the robe of the good archmagi and to Ulgoth's Beard to sell a lot of loot, and to buy all level 4 scrolls available to her as well as the Greenstone Amulet. She finally quaffs the red potion and copies her scrolls into her spellbook. Notable spells include Mirror Image, Stinking Cloud, Strength, Web, Ghost Armor (her best armor spell), Skull Trap, Greater Malison, Polymorph Other(!), and three Emotion spells: Courage (+1 to hit, +3 to damage, +5 HPs), Hope (+2 to saves, +2 to hit, and +2 damage), and Hopelessness.
Emotion: Courage and Emotion: Hope, more SCS v32 additions, look like promising buffs for a Polymorphed Naivasha. Both spells last for one hour, and could really boost her when Polymorphed, with a combined +3 to hit and +5 to damage. Add to that gauntlets of weapon expertise (to hit +1, damage +2), pre-cast Haste, Strength from a Minor Spell Sequencer followed by the Draw Upon Holy Might Bhaalpower (for 21 STR at level 9), and her Flind form might just be able to kick butt in ways that would even please a guy like Minsc. Also, the EE Enchanted Weapon spell may allow her to use this form against creatures like Golems and Vampires in BG2, though such enemies that don't drop loot also make good candidates for Disintegration
I have yet to see if Naivasha can first cast Courage and Hope and then Polymorph without nullifying their effects. If she can't she'll have to wait until BG2 for a Contingency or a Spell Sequencer, which would be a pity.
Back to the action... I'm reluctant to recharge it, but I must say the Greenstone Amulet sees a lot of usage quite soon after its acquisition. Alaric's cave and Durlag's tower, for the CON and WIS tomes (both behind charm traps), are the first two.
Meilum then is the first in what will hopefully be a long line of victims of transmutation: Expeditious Retreat to create distance, Greater Malison, and Polymorph Other!
Bassilus, a foe that should be taken seriously in SCS, is next. He's a level 12 Cleric who I've seen cast Harm, Flamestrike, Aerial Servant in addition to charm and hold spells. Naivasha buffs with Ghost Armor, Shield (not necessary but part of her buffing routine), Mirror Image, and a charge of the Greenstone Amulet. She also equips a ring of fire resistance to mitigate any fire damage. She then approaches the priest just enough to be visible to him and trigger his dialogue. She immediately retreats and casts Greater Malison from just out of sight. Naivasha approaches a second time and casts a Polymorph Other, Bassilus saves and casts a Mental Domination in return. With still 30 seconds of Greenstone protection, she doesn't have to worry. Let's try again, and... SUCCESS! Bassilus the squirrel swigs a rare potion of superior healing but that doesn't save him from Aule's staff.
There are still several optional areas to explore, optional foes to best, and potions and scrolls to buy, but as her inventory screen shows, she's pretty well-equipped, and ready for the main questline:
Good thinking on Polymorph Self. The flind form could actually hit Belhifet! So could the jelly form, albeit at much worse APR, though the Archer's Eyes can increase the critical hit chance of the jelly form. Belhifet shouldn't be too hard if you keep some Fire Shield, Blue scrolls on hand. Slythe and Kristin are going to be really unhappy about Naivasha's jelly form.
ToB seems to me like the big sticking point. I've been so reliant on PFMW that I can't imagine operating without it. But I can see potential in kiting, and Wish Hardiness could stack with a polymorph spell to get fighter-grade resistances. Iron golem form could hit 60%, or 85% with the Ravager bonus, and jelly form could get 70% slashing resistance (95% with the Ravager bonus!) and total immunity to missile, crushing, and piercing damage.
As always, I have to mention that the Wand of Lightning trick will multiply the effects of the Wish spell, which would obviate the need for relying too heavily on clones for Wish-rests. And as long as I'm mentioning exploits, the Ring of Spell Turning could actually let a Transmuter use the scorcher loop, either with Agannazar's Scorcher or Lance of Disruption (300+ damage and 240+ damage with successful saves, respectively, assuming you're using a Spell Sequencer to cast three at once), possibly between two clones.
Remember that Spirit Armor stacks and will be an important alternative to Spell Immunity: Enchantment. It can be placed in a Spell Sequencer for an instant +9 to saves vs. spell, since Remove Magic will be able to take down pre-buffs.
If you're playing on Tactical/Core difficulty, those Fallen Solars won't spawn at the Throne of Bhaal (at least, not alongside the Five), which means you could kite a lot of them. Skull Traps and Delayed Blast Fireball do work to bring down the Five if you cast enough of them, and Melissan should be vulnerable to the Wand of Paralyzation if you manage to burn through her Spell Trap (very doable with a Lance of Disruption scorcher loop, actually), nail her with a few Pierce Magic charges from the Wand of Spell Striking to lower her MR, and then stun-lock her with Greater Malison and the Wand of Paralyzation.
I can't wait to see Naivasha take down Sarevok! Good luck!
On the other hand, lack of abjuration hurts and it will especially be difficult to deal with soa+tob mages who layer on tons of abjurations with scs. No spell turning, no spell immunity will also make your own protections very difficult to protect. Poly into jelly may not cut it when liches in bg2 summon up vorpal wielding planetars and balors.
I remember Alesia from bioware forums doing a run with transmuter sorceress with no abjuration school, and she was succesful. So it is doable. I look forward to bg2 parts.
Oh, @Blackraven - I can't express enough how glad I am to see you back to BG. Good luck, looking forward to your reports.
I used to run a solo transmuter Knud some time ago - in the end it was a very enjoyable, albeit unsuccessful, run.
By the way, if it would be of interest to you, I tried to compile some aspects of Polymorph: Self spell here, though I do not make any promises that this is fully up-to-date. I would say that the main takeaway is that stat-enhancing spells do not necessarily need to be cast via sequencers in order to affect the various forms, as was the case with the original game / older versions (in BG1EE this may still be required).
Edit: I've just noticed that you are aware of the references mentioned above since you participated in the discussion - apologies for the spam.
At level 8 Naivasha has little to fear from her encounter with Mulahey and his minions. She enters the priest's room invisibly, and buffs with Ghost Armor, Greenstone amulet, and Mirror Image. Naivasha opens with a Malison that affects Mulahey and a number of his minions. Without having to worry about an enchantment spell cast at her, she follows up with a Poly Other and Mulahey fails to make his save. After that, Skull Traps serve to close up shop.
As with Mulahey's lair, she enters Tazok's tent invisibly, where she positions herself not far from Venkt. Unlike the previous battles, this one she takes very seriously. A couple of criticals from those archers and she's in huge trouble if not dead. In addition to Ghost Armor, Shield (in case Venkt casts Magic Missiles), and Mirror Image, Naivasha also reads a green Protection from Poison scroll against Hobgoblin elite arrows of biting and she quaffs a potion of freedom as her first move is a double Web from her Sequencer. She then moves into the Web, and away from Venkt, saving against a Blindness as she proceeds to finish the mage and his companions with wand scorchers.
Lamalha's party ambushes Naivasha on her way to the mines. Obviously the safest thing to do is to just leave the area, but even in a strict no-reload setting I would try to take them on. Naivasha is invisible, so she has the initiative. She applies her basic buffs Ghost Armor and Mirror Image (there aren't many buffing spells for a Transmuter, which makes them easier to play in a way), and she swigs a rare potion of defense and one of freedom. She takes all these preparatory actions with the rogues Maneira and Telka in sight. If you move out of their line of sight they're very likely to go invisible. As it is, however, they remain visible, saving Naivasha a scroll of Detect Invisibility. She has no Sequencer active, a bit of an oversight on my part, but she has Web memorized anyway. It holds only Zeela initially. Lamalha starts casting a spell (Doom) and the rogues miss with their darts and arrows before they get held as well. Naivasha proceeds with a Malison (to keep her enemies Webbed), and then finishes her foes with wand scorchers and Skull Traps.
Baldur's Gate
In Baldur's Gate, her first target is Ramazith. Cloudkill cast from out of sight fills almost the entire room and kills the wizard. The wizard's ring, amulet and tome of clear thought are all key items for Naivasha. Reading the tome raises her intelligence to 17, ensuring all of her scrolls and many new ones bought at Sorcerous Sundries are successfully copied to her spell book with potions of mind focusing and genius. She buys lots of potions at Halbazzer's shop as well, protective ones, such as defense, stone form, and magic blocking/protection/shielding, but also offensive ones (fiery burning, fire breath, explosions) as well as strength and agility potions which I normally rarely buy. But these potions have good synergies with Poly Self. Potions of strength can be drunk while shapeshifted to help with melee Thac0, especially once strength can be further enhanced with DUHM, while potions of agility boost most forms' AC and the Mustard Jelly form's ranged Thac0.
Speaking of the jelly form, it has fantastic defensive properties as most players probably know,
What I find remarkable, is that both strength and dexterity boosts seem to increase the jelly form's Thac0. This screenshot shows Naivasha having gained +1 to Thac0 from the Legacy of the Masters, +1 from a strength potion, and +2 from an agility potion.
The form has impressive damage potential, with each attack dealing 5d4 damage and capable of poisoning and slowing enemies. Interestingly, strength bonuses apply to the jelly's ranged damage, so 21 STR at level 9 (potion + DUHM), Legacy of the Masters, and Emotion: Courage and Hope will turn their base 5d4 into 5d4 +16(!) (9+2+5) damage per attack, not bad at all at two APR with Haste or an oil of speed.
In sum, the Jelly form seems not only worthwhile for its defenses but can also be made into a competent offensive form for at BGEE, SoD and parts of SoA, especially if you take into consideration that the spell's duration increases by 3 rounds every level. With the spell's decent duration and their highly damaging attacks, jellies don't have to land lots of hits. One thing worth noting though is that shifting out of jelly form into natural form (for example to cast a spell) and back into jelly form, removes the stat boosts from STR andt DEX increasing potions or spells.
Reluctant to deal with his many helpers, Naivasha visits Degrodel under Invisibility, and gets the quest for the Helm and Cloak of Balduran started. With Vail's help she manages to convince Quenash to part with the cloak, while Poly Self, jelly form, allows her to pick up the helmet and sell it not much later.
Gervisse is wand-stunned and slain for the wand of polymorphing, more an RP item than anything, and Sunin is the first wizard she battles openly, thanks largely to finally having Poly Self at her disposal. She buffs with Ghost Armor (mainly because it lasts longer than Poly Self and thus serves as some protection in case her poly form doesn't last enough), and the two Emotion buffs to boost Thac0 and damage. When Sunin goes hostile, Naivasha takes jelly form while her foe does what he should do, namely summoning monsters.
After having bought all of Black Lily's relevant potions, Naivasha delivers the goods that Alatos had asked for. Jelly form in a Cloudkill deal with most enemies. Only Narlen and Alatos himself survive, but they are slain by a Stoneskinned Naivasha with a Skull Trap and Magic Missiles.
Naivasha travels to Mutamin's garden for another item she might have use for when polymorphed: the golden girdle. A single Cloudkill deals with Kirian and her three buddies. Molkar and his gang belatedly and somewhat unexpectedly ambush Naivasha. She's a bit low on spells, but she still has her level 3 Skull Traps and uses those to deal with her attackers.
Ice Island
I'll finish this update with the Ice Island, visited for BGEE's only Stoneskin scroll for a solo character but not for a first reload
Naivasha decides to take on Tellan, a level 13 Illusionist who wears a robe of the evil archmagi in my install (thanks to SCS?). Naivasha wants that robe so she can trade it for more scrolls and potions. Sorcerous Sundries sells 20 scrolls of Chaos, Poly Self, and Malison each for example, and the temple of Gond 20 oils of speeds, and Naivasha has uses for those items. She applies her usual buffs, including the Emotion spells, and polymorphs into a jelly. Tellan summons a Nishruu that can't hit her, gets slowed by Naivasha and wastes several spells on her.
Still puzzled about Tellan, I also decided to record a video of his remarkable behavior:
First minute is just some buffing and using the console to spawn Tellan. Between minute 2:00 and 3:55, he acts normally, casting one spell around (slowed by Naivasha's jelly attacks). At the 3:55 mark he starts to go loco with his spells... I wonder if any of you guys recognize this behavior.
Also if readers appreciate (short) vids of some key fights, I'd be willing to upload those.
In BG1 the Ducal Palace fight remains dicey. My idea would be three Hasted Skeletons (two from spellbook, one cast from scroll), try to haste some of the Flaming Fist too (seemed to work before) and maybe throw in some disablers (Slow, Chaos from scroll). In SCS v32 the duchess is no longer idle so casting invisibility on her won't work anymore. A Teleport Field might keep her safe but will also reduce the effectiveness of the meleers (Belt, Fist, Skellies), so is probably not worth it. Magic Missiles, wands, Melf's Minute Meteors for dealing damage. I read your post that friendly fire won't turn the Fist hostile, so Skull Traps are another option? Am not keen on charming some of the nobles, though it's not something I want to rule out in advance either.
In SoD Avernus looks to be a serious challenge. I have a lot of questions here. Will Naivasha be able to ignore the different types of fiends in the first few areas and just rush toward the elevator? I believe she'll have to kill one group summoned by Thrix before a gate to the next area will open. Would be nice if Naivasha could choose not to expose herself to those fiends nor to waste resources on them. And then the elevator: just a Resilient Sphere and wait till she arrives at her destination? Or will the elevator just keep on going until the last of the fiends is slain? Belhifet himself seems most safely handled with a Resilient Sphere and Fire Shield Blue, as you say. That was the strategy I had in mind as well. I'll also want to try an optimally buffed Flind form, just to see what it's capable of. I'm thinking of saving the violet potion from the Nashkel Carnival for 25 STR for this occasion, potions of agility, mind focusing and fortitude to make up for the loss of DEX and CON, and the best item /potion/spell buffs available.
SoA should work with good planning of quests. As a solo character Naivasha will gain XP fast, widening her options and increasing her chances of survival. ToB seems nightmarish, with Illasera, the Solars (am currently playing on insane difficulty), and Mel. I'd like to avoid having to use the WoL trick and the scorcher loop, but maybe I won't find other, reliable ways. Will keep your other tips in mind too.
@lunar, are you sure about Alesia's transmuter sorceress? I found some posts about a character named Alastria in 2011, but I think she abandoned the character in late BG1 or maybe early SoA. She did beat BG2 (or at least ToB) with reloads with a true transmuter but that was an install with Questpack and certain components of Tactics, and it wasn't a Trilogy run. Sadly her reports on that character are all gone, though she mentioned this about it in 2015:
During my Transmuter, Alastria's, Ascension solo, I had to do some crazy stuff to get around the lack of Abjuration spells, especially ProMW. At the Throne she used a Teleport Field Greased up and loaded with Limited Wish bunny rabbits. The idea had been to use Grease to slow bunny dispersal, insuring that demons in the Teleport Field would find a bunny and hence be less likely to attack Alastria. That worked.
She used the same approach against Mel and the 5 during one phase of the battle. That worked for awhile. It was fun to watch Abazigal chase greasy bunny-wunnies around. But then Yaga-Shura Lava Bombed the whole setup, and there was an epic fury grease fire. I felt bad for the bunnies. I haven't used Grease since then.
@JuliusBorisov you're such a kind forum friend! Thank you man, you have Rasaad levels of kindness.
@Borco, thank you too! I'll read up on Knud, and your thread has definitely been a useful guide for me!
So I did a bit of some digging here.
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/442474/#Comment_442474 - from Alesia herself: "I'm glad to hear you're making good progress Edwin.
Allowing reloads and without tactical mods transmuters are capable. However, the Abjuration school becomes increasingly important as the difficulty of the gaming context increases. Even with Tactics (parts) and the Questpack installed, Alastria was nearly reload free up until the end of SoA. Life didn't get difficult for her until she reached the Ascension Tougher Battles encounters.
Running a transmuter in an SCS-Ascension solo no reload would be a formidable challenge. Having soloed SCS-Ascension with a beastmaster, an unkitted cleric, and a jester, amongst others, I suspect that the transmuter build would be one of the most difficult to no reload. "
"and from http://blackstrider.net/forum_bioware_arhiv/forum.bioware.com/topic/124374-baldurs-gate-1-no-reload-challenge/page-507.html#entry18781597:
The character I'd like to play, but would have difficulty with is my transmuter, Alastria. And when I say Alastria, I don't mean my abjuration spell wielding melee sorcerer, Alastria, but rather the original transmuter kit Alastria from the old forums. Transmuter Alastria soloed a Questpack/Tactics (parts)/Ascension install, with reloads, years ago. She'd have a rough time solo no reloading SCS/Ascension, I suspect."
So it turns out @Alesia_BH didn't do a transmuter sorcerer run, - just a transmuter run (without SCS), and an "abjuration spell wielding melee sorcerer".
More about Alastria as a Transmuting/Melee Sorceress here - http://blackstrider.net/forum_bioware_arhiv/forum.bioware.com/topic/124374-baldurs-gate-1-no-reload-challenge/page-47.html#entry5897865 (SCS was used here).
What @Blackraven attempts here is exactly that challenge Alesia mentioned, so more props to our raven!
@Blackraven: If you don't want to charm the nobles, you might still be willing to charm other critters in Baldur's Gate and lure them into the Ducal Palace. By routing them through the sewers, you can get any charmable character into the palace, even those that are in the other districts. You can recruit everything from Larze (high HP tank) to Ithtyl (she knows Greater Malison and Chaos and can pre-buff with Mislead), Phase Spiders from the sewers, and Halbazzer Drin, who knows one or two level 9 spells, at least in SCS v32. You could come up with RP justifications for some critters, if not all of them.
If you really wanted to push things, you might even be able to charm the Greater Basilisk in the warehouse and bring it over to the palace, though it might be difficult due to the basilisk's wide circle and the basilisk would be very dangerous indeed if it got confused during the fight (it would be perfectly practical if you could cast Protection from Petrification, of course).
I've noticed that the game ends if anyone attacks Sarevok, even if that's a member of the Flaming Fist, which is a danger I haven't heard of until recently. Failing to subdue the doppelganger mage could end everything unless you seriously nuke everyone else. Cloudkill might instantly kill the Flaming Fist, which could actually be good.
About Avernus: you'll need Potions of Clarity if you're not in jelly form, since some critters will use fear and charm effects. You'll fight one group of enemies right before the elevator, and Thrix will reappear and talk to you again. If you're friendly to him and answer his riddle (3, murder), he'll let you pass without a fight, as well as give you a +3 staff. If you're not friendly to him, he'll summon another batch of enemies, and if you answer the riddle wrong, you die.
The elevator cannot be waited out. There are three waves of three enemies each, which notably includes a pair of Hell Cats who constantly turn invisible. The Ring of Energy will let you get past their invisibility, as will a Wand of Frost. You get about 3 rounds in between each wave no matter how long you take to kill them, and there are a few rounds after the third wave before you emerge at Belhifet. The last wave cannot see through invisibility (only Erinyes, Belhifet, and maybe Hell Cats can), so you could actually just spam the Wand of Monster Summoning in the elevator, let the ogres kill anything immune to nonmagical weapons, and then drink a Potion of Invisibility right before killing the last enemy of the third wave, giving you plenty of time to restore all your buffs before finishing the last elevator fight and proceeding to Belhifet.
I don't know if it would be more practical to tank Belhifet with Resilient Sphere or just jelly form (that 30% slashing resistance could help, and it ensures you don't need to worry about re-drinking a Potion of Clarity) with Stoneskin/Mirror Image scrolls and/or Durlag's Goblet. Stacking Potions of Power can bump up your HP into the hundreds, given enough potions, but once the first potion you drank wears off, your current HP will drop dramatically, and the subsequent potions will also significantly drop your HP, so Durlag's Goblet isn't fully reliable if Belhifet survives past the 40-round duration of your first Potion of Power. That's especially true for a mage with low base HP. Greater Restoration scrolls are slightly slower than Durlag's Goblet, but you can buy a lot of them, so they're a great supplement. They're also good for keeping Caelar alive, though you basically have to spend every round casting them on her, and if she fails a save against Command or something, even the scrolls won't be enough.
The Archer's Eyes work with jelly form, so you can deal a bit of damage to Belhifet as a jelly despite being at point-blank range.
Note that you can buy 6 Fire Shield Blue scrolls from Belegarm and find another on the body of the mage next to Alatos in the Baldur's Gate Thieves' Guild. You can just charm him and feed him to the nearby carrion crawlers. Note that he won't be there if you try to visit him too late (I tried finding him after Slythe and Kristin and the guild was wiped out prematurely as per the post-Ducal Palace sequence).
With her business in Baldur's Gate concluded, Naivasha begins the endgame. This video shows her dealing with the Iron Throne with relative ease. TL;DW: spell + potion buffs (defense, magic shielding, speed) two summoned spiders and a skellie, a double Web from a Minor Sequencer, some charges of the wand of fire and couple of damage spells.
She quaffs an invisibility potion to get past the ogre magi ambush near Candlekeep and refrains from fighting Rieltar and his men. Underground, the Knock spell and jelly form allow her to loot the crypts safely and to deal with the phase spiders, whose piercing attacks can't hurt her, while the wand of fire definitely hurts them.
Two greater basilisks are dealt with as well, since Naivasha needn't worry about petrification in jelly form, and basilisks sometimes drop interesting loot. This time she gets a second Invisibility 10' Radius scroll.
Back in the city, Slythe and Krystin are a walk-over thanks again to jelly form. Neither the rogue's piercing backstabs nor the mage's spells and missiles are a threat to Naivasha.
Following @semiticgod's solid advice, she "convinces" her confrere Halbazzar Drin to lend his aid at the Ducal Palace, i.e. she uses the very Nymph cloak he produced for her (one charge sufficed). Quite amusing to take the archwizard along for a walk through to sewers and to the palace.
Commoners be like: "What's old Halbazzer doing out here with that criminal?"
Naivasha enters Sarevok's sanctum invisibly, having bypassed slimes, undead and the Iron Throne party, only to head back and travel to Spiderwood for the ring of energy that @semiticgod mentioned and we almost forgot about (mostly Skull Traps and Fireballs cast from a safe distance).
Naivasha reveals herself to Sarevok and retreats to cast Cloudkill. With some Skull Traps she manages to finish off Semaj and Tazok, but that still leaves Diarmid who's PfMagic, Angelo who can dispel her buffs while she can't dispel his, and an undispellably Hasted Sarevok. She lures them away and deals with the animated skeletons of Semaj and Tazok, taking advantage of her her staff's speed factor and of her faster movement.
She manages to Malison and Chaos Angelo, who then starts to attack Diarmid with his bow, dispelling the latter's haste. Naivasha finishes the mage with her wand of fire. As the reader may have noticed by now, Naivasha has been quite reliant on wands, especially wands of fire.
A lot of running and kiting ensues because Diarmid remains to be a huge threat as long as his PfMagic is active and as long as he has arrows to fire. He gets through Naivasha's Stoneskins and badly injures her wih a single critical.
SoD journey to Dragonspear Castle
Naivasha tackles the opening dungeon without doing any fighting. A summoned spider lures Porios's guards away from the door to the armory, allowing Naivasha to enter and convince him to surrender. On the second level PfUndead to keep the Bone Bats away, jelly form for traps, and invisibility enable Naivasha to appear right in front of Korlasz. After her dialogue, a single wand of frost charge deals sufficient damage for Korlasz to surrender.
In Chapter 9 Naivasha chooses her battles carefully. In the old Bhaal temple, she relies on the proven tactic of 'confront and retreat' to defeat Ziatar and her mages with some devastating Skull Traps. Ziatar casts Sanctuaries but Naivasha bypasses those with her wand of fire. The half-dragon falls when she loses some temporary extra HPs from a DUHM that expires.
Skeleton warriors and a phase spider occupy the Neothelid. The spider basically kills the monster alone with its poison.
More skeleton warriors soften up Akanna and her aerial servants, before Naivasha finishes them with her wand of fire.
She sends her skellies into the room to occupy foes, casts Malison into the room, followed by a Cloudkill and a Web as the first foes come looking for her.
She sneaks into the Underground River area, showing herself only to barter with Bellowgulp Bluefingers, to do battle in Kanaglym, and to get access to the Warrens (convincing the door guard she has sensitive information to communicate to the Crusader higher-ups). In Kanaglym, PfUndead and the Secret Revealed neutralize Zhadroth. Naivasha manages to finish the wandering lich without showing herself to the necromancers and triggering that battle.
In the warrens, Naivasha buys three expensive potions of power from priest Polvi, bringing her total up to twelve. She enters the Dragonspear Castle cellars fully buffed (2x potion of magic protection, oil of speed, polymorph activated). Invisibly, she manages to poison the food and water supplies and to reach Hephernaan's chambers before Crusaders can detect her. Opening the left container triggers a level drain trap, a bad trade off for three Abjuration spell scrolls. The Crown of Lies is a welcome addition to Naivasha's wardrobe though. She smacks a still blue-circled Hephernaan with Aule's Staff (his evil has become obvious enough by now), triggering his dialogue and making the elevator to the warrens usable again. Teleport Field and Dimension Door have been memorized to facilitate her escape, but fortunately the gate in the middle of the main are isn't blocked by Crusaders, so Naivasha can just rush out.
Belhifet is no more!
The Crusader attacks on the Coalition Camp Naivasha thwarts with
- Cloudkill, five Hasted skeleton warriors, wand scorchers, and archers backing her against the trolls, orcs, and ogres;
- 3x Skull Trap from her robe's Spell Sequencer and wizard slayer backing against the mages;
- Cloudkill, fresh skeleton warriors, wands against the last group. Naivasha aggressively drives the enemy back toward the edge of the area because failing to do so seems to cause Crusaders to keep pouring in, increasing the odds of one of them reaching the barrels.
Naivasha reduces the battle for Dragonspear Castle to a duel with Ashatiel by pre-buffing her flind form away from the fighting (basic spells like Stoneskin, Shield, Blur, MI from her spellbook before polymorphing and spells from scrolls and stat boosting potions after polymorphing), and going straight for Ashatiel's spawning point. This is a bit more involved than expected. Due to Naivasha's skipping of quite a bit of content the enemy is stronger than usual. Their numbers are larger and they're blocking the gate. Naivasha casts Dimension Door to reach her destination.
The second area does involve quite a bit of fighting. Naivasha rushes past a group of fiends toward the gate guarded by Thrix, but they catch up with her shortly after Thrix sets some other fiends on her. She struggles to stand her ground, surrounded by enemies who dispel her illusions (Blur, Improved Invisibility) and break through her Stoneskins. She needs to stay on the move to re-apply buffs.
While the combo of Ring of Free Action + Otiluke's Minor Sphere + Fire Shield: Blue to get Belhifet to kill himself with cold damage from the Fireshield seems the safest way to go about things, I'm more interested in having a Naivasha actually battle the fiend in flind form. Thankfully this isn't no-reload so we are allowed to fail. Naivasha buffs with everything she has (except the Emotion spells that I somehow forget, have only tested those spells once or twice in BG1 and I must have overlooked them in the scroll case). Spell buffs are Stoneskin, Spirit Armor (two or three scrolls for reliable saves vs spells, thanks @semiticgod), Blur, and Mirror Image. The last two will be dispelled sooner rather than later but every little advantage is a plus. Potions are more important: violet potion for 25 STR, agility and fortitude to restore DEX and CON, mind focusing (3x, for 25 DEX), stone form, clarity, power (12x, for the Thac0 and HP boosts), speed, regeneration. Green scrolls are read for 100% fire and electricity protection. My timing isn't perfect it turns out once the last fiend is down, because there's a few wasted rounds that I should have saved for potions of power.
Caelar joins Naivasha and takes Hephernaan's dispel while Naivasha remains at safe distance. Before the aasimar gets the boot she drinks her potions of invulnerability and fortitude. The duo immediately bring the pain to Belhifet with three early criticals.
Naivasha has 18 Greater Restoration scrolls and 15 Detect Invisibility scrolls which she reads to keep Caelar alive and Belhifet visible, with the Wizzard Hat donned for faster casting. She keeps her attacks focused on Belhifet and manages to land some more critical hits when she's not casting.
I find it a bit of a shame that I forgot to cast the Emotion: Courage and Hope spells for a display of optimal use of Naivasha's melee ability. Naivasha landed at least five critical hits. I think the Emotion spells can make up for a wizard whose to hit rolls aren't as lucky.
I replayed the fight with Caelar in the party, focusing only on Belhifet and the duo managed to defeat Belhifet before Naivasha's Polymorph had expired, so ignoring the other fiends seems to be the more efficient approach for a non-solo attempt.
I may replay the fight another time with the Emotion buffs to see if Naivasha can reliably beat Belhifet in buffed up flind form, but I couldn't wait with SoA, so I'll have to look into that later.
Chateau Irenicus
As a solo character Naivasha has no restrictions on resting in Irenicus' dungeon. She rests plenty of times to replenish spells: Knock for locks, Poly Self for traps, Animate Dead and Cloudkill to deal with enemies (including even the cambion). She breezes though the dungeon, with only one upset: an acid trap that her jelly form doesn't protect her from.
The Ring of the Crusade shouldn't help against Belhifet unless there's been an update. It applies to demons or Chaotic Evil critters, and Belhifet and his allies are Lawful Evil devils instead. Also, unless there's been a different update, multiple "Protection from Evil/whatever" opcodes don't stack with each other (not the THAC0 or damage bonuses, but the AC+saving throws bonuses), so a +2 anti-evil and a +2 anti-undead effect wouldn't grant +4 to critters that were both evil and undead.
You mention the ring of the crusade
I think it’s the Mordrons heart amulet that you partially have in mind
Ps. well done Blackraven - but it almost goes without saying
Just for the clarification. The ring of purity says evil creatures
(Using a new account because I'm a silly-dilly and forgot my old login info...)
I'm just writing to confirm a few things:
1) @Blackraven 's run is awesome and everybody from everywhere should enthusiastically follow
2) @JuliusBorisov 's research was correct: I did not successfully no reload a "transmuting sorcerer" in a SCS/Ascension install. I have run two characters named Alastria, both of whom relied heavily on the alteration school:
i) Alastria I: A solo true transmuter (mage) in a Tactics (parts) + Questpack + Ascension install, back in pre-SCS days. That run was a "success" albeit with reloads.
ii) Alastria II: A solo abjuration spell wielding melee sorcerer, who was a candidate SCS/Ascension no reloader. @lunar was right: that was the one who fell to a rhakshasa ambush in Suldanessellar.
(Note also that that was my first run after a multi-year break and there were some errors, so read that one critically.)
Anyhoo, best wishes to Naivasha! This is a super-cool idea for a run, @Blackraven. I'm vaguely jealous. Good hunting!
Cheers,
A.
On the other hand, some no-reloaders would consider such a bug deserving of a reload, and more importantly, more reloads will no doubt follow in BG2 because that's where life gets hard for Transmuters (I'm thinking of ToB in particular).
Early Adventures in Amn
Like most of my Charnames, Naivasha celebrates her new found freedom in the Den of the Seven Vales, where she has a run-in with Mencar Pebblecrusher and his men. The way she handles the gang is illustrative of her general approach to combat - and probably of my own personal playstyle, which tends to be roguey. Naivasha always tries to make optimal use of the battleground, looking for the initiative, creating space to move around, and keeping an eye out for exit points. Summons (especially skeleton warriors) and disablers (Malisons, Webs, Cloudkills) see heavy usage. She also tends to divide groups of foes. This isn't as heroic as I'd like, and it's dangerous because she can't always fight on her own terms and she has to be prepared for that.
In the case of Mencar's gang, Naivasha starts out buffed only with Stoneskin, provokes Mencar, saves against a Slow from Pooky, goes invisible and retreats. She summons skeleton warriors downstairs and attacks with a Web and a Cloudkill. Brennan bails once he's free from Naivasha's web, Pooky and Smaeluv remain inside, but Amon and later Mencar follow Naivasha downstairs and even outside. Thus she only has to fight one foe at a time, with her skeleton warriors doing the bulk of the work.
Discovering Riejiek Hidesman as the skinner murderer helps Naivasha reach level 12 (with Slings as her 3rd weapon proficiency next to staves and darts). And she returns to his hideout to clean it up. Polymorph jelly for the snares and of course the rune assassins, a bone golem and some ghasts. Two fireshields and her trusty skeleton warriors help speed up their demise, although the second assassin does survive her summons.
Her first ambush (Suna Seni/Eldarin) she survives with relative ease thanks to her habit of traveling invisibly. It allows her to prebuff (Spirit Armor, MI, Shield Poly Self) and summon skeleton warriors and some lizard men. Her skellies and two stacked Cloudkills suffice for an easy victory.
With her reputation still below 20, she decides to spend her gold first on a casting license from Corneil.
Ending the local slave trade is Naivasha's next mission. After installing Hendak as the Copper Coronet's new owner, Naivasha moves to close the Slaver Stockade. She finds a spot in the lower left corner,
With a spell-casting license in her pocket, Naivasha decides it's time to deal with Anarg and his fallen paladins. She relies on Skellies, Malison and a Chaos rather than a Cloudkill considering enemy HPs.
A fatigued Naivasha goes on a shopping trip that proves costly in not just a monetary sense. Wandering in the slums at night without an Invisibility running, she gets ambushed by some muggers. A well-timed Remove Magic followed by a devastating Flamestrike, reduces her health to 7 HPs.
An excursion to the Windspear Hills brings in some more XP from the dryads but the main quest of the area will have to wait. Back in Athkatla, Naivasha starts the Shadow Thieves quest. She dispatches Rayic Gethras's golems with summons (tough lizard men and umber hulks), and the wizard himself with skeletal summons and MMMs as soon as his PfMW expires.
She puts the lvl 7 spell Limited Wish to effective use, summoning a horde of bunnies in Prebek and Sanasha's home. It helps her distract her many enemies (who refuse to follow her outside), before she deals with them in flind form.
She completes the Harper quest without incident and travels to Trademeet to stop the animal attacks. She doesn't bother with the monsters in the wilderness area, but goes straight to Cernd. He joins and they sneak past the guards of Faldorn's lair. In my install with multiple strongholds enabled, it's Charname that has to fight Faldorn for leadership over the grove. Unbuffed Naivasha first goes invisible to buff with Stoneskin, Spirit Armor, Poly Self and MI. She attacks Faldorn in flind form, further buffed by DUHM, but can't keep up with she-bear Faldorn and her summons.
So far so good. Naivasha is now only two level-ups removed from the original SoA cap, but she doesn't feel too powerful yet. She's also still relatively poorly equipped, although she has picked up the belt of inertial barrier and just now the robe of Vecna, now that the delayed bonus merchants have arrived. I find myself playing rather cautiously, picking quests carefully, and resorting to reliable tactics rather than save or else spells, of which the Alteration school offers several. We'll have to see how Naivasha fares in the tougher quests.
In buying the Shadow Thieves' help, and in completing the Wellyn and caretaker Paladin quests at the graveyard, Naivasha gains another level, number 16, and with it two level 8 spells. This means one more level to go until the SoA cap, and I'm considering adhering to said cap, i.e. to accumulate XP without leveling up until she's reached the ToB portion of the game.
Naivasha does some shopping in Trademeet (cloak of displacement) and she gets the tri-souled sapphire from the thieves guild. A Rogue Rebalancing item, this is an ioun stone that allows the wearer to cast Find Traps, Detect Invisibility, and Knock thrice a day at the cost of fatigue after a few castings. Handy because my memory of traps in BG2 isn't great and this item saves me the trouble of looking up trap locations in a guide.
The Planar Sphere is the first of the harder stronghold quests Naivasha decides to embark on, and I must say, she's in for quite a bit of fun. Naivasha isn't the type of person to kill Valygar and open the sphere with his body. She takes him with her and has him wait in the first room. Here he is shown how magic can be put to good purpose, such as the destruction of hostile a clay golem.
In a battle with several golems, Naivasha gets a bit too close to a clay golem, and although it can't hurt her through her Stoneskins, it does manage to inflict its Cursed Wounds upon her and her summons. She'll only be able to lift that curse through a priest at a temple, although DUHM regeneration before resting allows her to heal outside of combat. She defeats the golems with the help of a summond earth elemental and an efreeti from a bottle she'd appropriated in Trademeet.
This is how Lavok prepares for battle:
Next is Tolgerias, who sort of makes up for Lavok's meek performance. Naivasha pre-casts a mordy sword and three skeleton warriors, and Hastes them. She casts her Cloudkill into the room that successfully interrupts both Tolgerias and his assistant. Tolgerias still manages to summon an efreeti and a djinni. Those creatures can be annoying but they have the skeleton warriors to contend with rather than Naivasha. The skellies and Naivasha's cloud get rid of the assistant mage. As soon as she goes looking for Tolgerias, the cowled wizard casts a Remove Magic at her and strips away all her buffs.
The elemental rooms Naivasha navigates smoothly with the help of her summons. A greater fire elemental is taken on separately as it ventures into Naivasha's room on its own. Skeletal decoys, a water elemental and some magic missiles dispatch it.
The abyssal plane awaits, a dangerous place. Naivasha casts Invisibility on herself, and finds a secluded spot to buff and summon her aides.
In the power core she dispatches several golems with her summons, her Lance of Disruption spell (a great tool for dealing physical damage against magic resistant enemies),
As mentioned in the beginning of this post I'm throughly enjoying this gaming experience right now. Naivasha feels powerful enough to handle different types of challenges (enemy mages, magic resistant golems, demons), at least in moderation. Her first order of business is now to expand her potion collection, because she didn't like what she saw in her potion bag when she was up against those demons, and Transmuters, more than any other type of mage, seem to benefit a lot from a wide collection of potions.
Before completing the quest, she reached level 17, her final SoA level. As I said I think it would be more interesting to refrain from further leveling until ToB. There's still plenty to strive for in SoA in the way of items, including Alteration scrolls like Tenser's and Sphere of Chaos, and some of the IWD spells like Seven Eyes and Trollish Fortitude. Besides surplus XP won't go to waste if it is gained in ToB.