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Tyrants of the Moonsea: Shadow Dragon Gormfang

CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
My PC becomes immune to the shadow Dragon Gloomfang when I have the fighter Astor in my party. I can't even touch the dragon when I am alone so i thought I would try it with a party ( which I normally avoid as I am greedy for XP ). So I can either get blocked by the dragon or wipe it out with the help of this bug.
But after a few more tries and asking various npcs to join and leave and join my party again the problem is gone.
But now when i enter his area he is right there and my party gets instantly afraid and we all get slaughtered. Are there some items, besides that too-expensive-sword with keen and immunity to fear, that give immunity to fear I can find? Potions of clarity do not help as the dragon is on top of the area entry point when we get there so there is no time to administer.

My pc build is Sorc 1/RDD 4/ Monk 10, my best weapon is the +3 staff Striker.
I can just cheat and spawn in some items but i'd rather not.

Comments

  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    Saves against Fear is Will-based, so another tactic you could try is to boost your party's Will saves via spells/potions of Owl's Wisdom, spells like Bless, Prayer and even the humble Resistance. Have Barbarians activate their Rage ability before entering the new zone, and Bard Song also helps if you happen to have a bard in the party.
  • CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
    Yes but all those have limited durations which wear off over the course of travelling to the dragon's area.
  • CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
    The Gloomfang battle is almost the breaking point for me. Even after cheating by spawning in a couple pair of Dragon Slippers the battle was frustrating - though in the mods defence that is partly due to the fact I am playing on a mac with a touchpad rather than with a mouse. But the Minion of Darkness and Banelich battles were too much as well - though in those cases I blamed myself for soloing it and possible bug in that the Minion of Darkness or whatever it was called was immune to the Mace of Disruption +5 and therefore was probably not an undead. But most of the other battles I could handle easily solo so a party would have made them a joke.
    Top that off with the fact that my pc frequently got tired and needed to rest and as that meant going back to some safe area the game play was way too slow. Why do modders even after all these years still deliberately slow down the game like that?
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    I haven't played TotM, but I'm playing through Darkness over Daggerford now which uses that same "You are getting tired" custom script, and yes, I do find it annoying. I acknowledge that it's a nod to the old BG-style approach of needing to rest every day, but due to the sped-up clock in NWN, it just feels like it's happening far too frequently. For rest restrictions, I think the best system is either "resting is only permitted in certain areas" or "you need to eat food/rations to rest" or a combination of both. Setting it on a timer just gets annoying after a while.
  • CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
    edited December 2019
    Now I'm stuck on the Magic Golem battle in the arena in Hillsfar. How do i deal with the golem? I can awaken Blizzard by hitting her but then she turns hostile and kills me.
    PS: OK found how to defeat it on a youtube video like so -
    use a non-magical weapon, in my case a staff.
    Post edited by Calgacus on
  • themazingnessthemazingness Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 702
    While these make sense to me as level 15 fights, they aren't making sense to me as fights the game made you ready for. I am glad I played my character from level 14-15 in Infinite Dungeons and picked up some fear immunity and negative energy protection gear for the dragon fight. I had to swap them in.

    I was about to suggest that AL2 (Crimson Tides of Tethyr) might be the answer and the needed gear was in that, but considering this should be playable stand alone, that doesn't seem like the right answer.
  • CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
    Some of the areas, especially the cities are very nice looking - some of the best looking cities I've seen in NWN but the pathfinding in terrible - so bad it slows down play even more than the fatigue system.
    Another problem is that the cut scenes do not play well, the camera swivelling around is not smooth but very jerky so much so it looks as if the game is likely to crash.
    Also I get hardly any XP for killing some very tough bosses but then huge gobs of XP for some very trivial quests like talking the gambler into breaking his gambling habit.
  • themazingnessthemazingness Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 702
    edited January 2020
    Edit: didn't want to be so negative.

    The alignment choices could be expanded on. I play Neutral Good, but I wasn't given appropriate choices to play the neutral part, and one or two dialogue choices didn't clearly represent lawful, at least to me.

    This is turning out to be a great game though. A bit linear, but I enjoy it aside from a couple of mechanics quirks and balance issues.
    Post edited by themazingness on
  • CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
    edited January 2020
    I just got around to finishing the mod, here are my final notes:
    My favorite things about the mod were the very nice new tile-sets and monster models and the look of the area design. The area design, especially the cities with those new tile-sets/place-able objects looked great but path-finding and finding the best camera angle was often a pain. The interior area design was also very nice looking though in the world-map room, on the ship, getting my character to the map was hard as my party was blocking me in that tiny room.
    The new monster models also looked great.

    The toughest battles for my Monk/RDD were;
    1- Gormfang (see above) I think I ended up cheating by spawing in a few pairs of Dragon Slippers
    2- The *something* of Darkness, the most frustrating battle in the game for me, which I defeated by
    True Strike and maybe knockdown, rinse, repeat
    3- The first Lich (same dungeon as 1 above), which I defeated by
    Bigbys crushing hand, True Strike, maybe Mace of Disruption or some other super mace
    4- The Magic Golem (see above)
    5- the Demilich which I defeated by
    True Strike, upgraded weapons dealing Divine damage
    After the Demilich all other major boss battles were easy, even the finale. I had forgotten how to defeat Demiliches and so had to look it up online - then of course it was easy.

    So basically almost all the battles were either too hard or too easy. For example, I killed
    the super Black Dragon with one swing of my vorpal sword (on the second try at that battle), and beat Orcus down without even getting injured though I had to revive Sharalyn once as she was wielding a super rapier I think we needed to kill Orcus, and additionally
    a bunch of bosses without needing to strategize or to carefully buff before battle.
    My character was so loaded with loot that my party:
    ( Lyressa, Sharalyn and the floating sword )
    had a host of immunities.
    I often sold so much loot that the merchants ran out of gold and I ended up with a bloated inventory.

    In the place
    Temple of Tempus
    where you upgrade weapons, the upgraded weapons did not change names so a Sword +3 remained named "Sword +3" after being upgraded to +5. Adding extra damage of a particular type several times to the same weapon did not work but I think it did cost gold (might double check that). A way to specify a player designated name for an upgraded weapon might be cool. Also, the ability to upgrade monk gloves would have been useful, as it was, my monk ended up using a certain sword rather than his unarmed attacks.

    My biggest pains were the constant path-finding problems and the fatigue system which meant trudging
    back to a rest area ( Inn ) frequently.

    If I had it to do over again I would try a different character build as my Monk was really not that useful as I eventually stopped using my unarmed attacks as I often felt I needed to use certain special magical weapons. The main benefit of the monk was his disease and poison immunity.

    Trying to play this game/mod on my mac-book air without a mouse was very frustrating - I was constantly fighting with camera angle and distance and path-finding pains. Need to tweak my key-holing setting to help but the way the game still suddenly zooms the camera in and out needs to change.
    Post edited by Calgacus on
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    Sorry to hijack your thread, Calgacus, but I was wondering... Did you manage to find a way to upgrade Beirmoura (the talking sword)? Her dialogue seems to suggest that you can bring her to the Vault of Swords and use the altar there to upgrade her as you would normally for other weapons, but there doesn't appear to be any way to "convert" her into an actual item that you can place on the altar, despite Beirmoura herself saying that "if you want to wield me, just ask".
  • CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
    No I did not, I was wondering about that too. I never even noticed the convo option to wield her either.
  • themazingnessthemazingness Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 702
    Strange, the very first dialogue option I have for Beirmoura is to tell her I want to wield her. All you have to do is click on her. I just wish I could make her a companion again afterward. That's what I couldn't figure out. I haven't tried upgrading her. There is no point for me since my feats have my cleric specializing in scimitars. If I could upgrade her and make her a companion again, then it'd be worthwhile.
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    edited January 2020
    Yeah, I didn't accept that offer in the beginning because a) I was a Wizard and I can't wield Longswords anyway, and b) uh, hello? You want to wield a sentient weapon that just mentally dominated its previous wielder? Do I look like I have Wisdom 8? :P

    But from the sounds of it, if you do wield her from the start she can never be turned back into a companion, which kinda sucks. Her character concept is pretty neat, and her spell selection is practically entirely buffs for herself, or debuffs for foes, which actually works really well with my party build since it frees me to focus my spell slots on pure offense.

    Did people ever find a use for the Misty Cave in the River Lis, btw? I went exploring inside but all I found were a few Water Mephits and Water Elementals. There's a pretty pile of loot on a seemingly unreachable island, but it's also non-interactable so I presume it's there mainly for flavour.

    I have to say that Tyrants of the Moonsea's map and level design is top-notch though. The maps feel VERY well fleshed out with lots of placeables that make every area feel very lifelike. The downside, as you pointed out, Calgacus, is that the pathfinding is also kinda wonky and I have frequent problems getting stuck on terrain.

    EDIT: Also, did you guys also notice that Sharalyn does not seem to level up? She seems to be stuck as Ranger 5/Bard 7/Harper Scout 5, despite me now being level 21. (And Lyressa is also a level 20 Rogue, following the usual convention of being 1 level behind me. Beirmoura is also not levelling, but I'm guessing she's a rather special case.)
    Post edited by Zaxares on
  • CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
    @Zaxares I think the Misty Caves is where a certain monster makes an appearance once the related quest is started.
    I don't remember anything odd about Sharalyn's levels (though I do remember her getting killed much more often than anyone else) but I remember that Lyressa became an uber rogue/assassin about level 30 or so after a certain encounter even though I was only around 20 or so.

  • @Zaraxes

    Can confirm, Sharalyn does not level somehow. Not that it's an issue, I can roll on the mobs alone :smiley:

    For the Misty Cave, it is
    the lair of the dragon you'll be asked to hunt by the High Priest of Malar for their annual hunt. It only spawns if you bring him eggs that are given by the High Priest.

    As for Beirmoura, you can indeed enchant her at the Temple with everything, and then get her back as a companion (When you equip her as a longsword in your inventory, there's two different menus to cast spells from her since there are too many possible, and on the second menu you have a special action available that brings her back as a companion).

    Also, if you missed that nice detail,
    you can bring a companion with you at the ambassy ceremony in Mulmaster by buying another pass from the Red Wizard on Hillsfar's main place.

    Overall a very nicely made module, with an enormous plus for the ambiance of the various cities, it's very refreshing. However I found it way too easy, especially the end fight. Literally killed everything without using any supplies. I used scrolls for the fun but really didn't needed them. They could've given some KD immunity I think !

    Anyhow, does anyone know if another module will feature the rest of the story ?
  • themazingnessthemazingness Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 702
    edited January 2020

    Anyhow, does anyone know if another module will feature the rest of the story ?

    I'm not sure of its current status, but the creator of this module does have plans for the fourth in the series (AL1 and AL2 come before Tyrants of the Moonsea which is AL3, but they aren't connected much story-wise, aren't as polished, and won't be getting an Enhanced Edition revival).

    You can find out about AL4: The Blades of Netheril here:
    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/69482/the-blades-of-netheril-inc-enhanced-al1-2-3

    Post edited by themazingness on
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    edited January 2020
    @Calgacus: Yep, I finally found the quest that leads back to the Misty Cave today. I'd left a certain Keep for last on my list of travels, so that's why I hadn't found the quest before now. I guess that just leaves two other encounters as potential loose ends:
    The first is the encounter with the drow patrol in the River Lis map, where they leave behind a note from a mysterious "M" person. I suppose it COULD be Maganus, but the note makes it sound like it was written by a Lolth-worshipper, which Magnus isn't. Thus far I haven't encountered any follow-up to this.

    The second is the unmarked house in Mulmaster with the trio of vampires that also leaves a note from a "K", which after reading some lore books, I take to be Kauvros, Orcus' vampiric lieutenant. Again, thus far I haven't encountered any follow-up to this.

    I also went through the encounter that can potentially boost Lyressa to epic levels, but I decided against advising her to undergo the ceremony. I think that having a Chaotic Evil undead rogue at my back, especially given the hints that we'll be facing Orcus at some point, would just be asking for trouble. XD

    @Battle2104_Ecthelion: That's very interesting to know, thanks! Can you provide instructions on how to turn Beirmoura into a wieldable sword when she's already a companion though? I can't seem to find any dialogue option that lets me do so. Or is that something you can only do the very first time you meet her?
    Good pick-up on the 2nd pass for the Thayan ceremony! I didn't know that was possible; I was aware you could get two passes, but I didn't feel like spending the extra gold. I went in solo and didn't have TOO much trouble despite being a pure Wizard; my Firebrand spells took out the Emerald Golems easily enough, although the Ruby and Diamond golems seemed to be immune to all spell levels. Still, between the various NPCs and some assistance from a summoned Greater Elemental and my familiar meant that they all went down without me even getting a scratch.

    EDIT: And finally...
    I hope that we DO get the chance to go back to Hillsfar and kill Maalthir. I've got a bone to pick with him. :P I get the feeling that may not happen though, if he's a "Big Plot NPC" in the FR setting like Fzoul or Selfaril or Manshoon.
  • CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
    edited January 2020
    @Zaxares I also did not get any follow up on those encounters - nor the one with the kinky noble nor on those mysterious tracks in one of the cities that
    suggested there might be undead in a house up ahead
    .
    As for Lyressa,
    I had no trouble from her after the ceremony though she was perhaps too powerful afterwards and made the mostly easy combats far too easy.
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    edited January 2020
    Calgacus wrote: »
    I also did not get any follow up on those encounters - nor the one with the kinky noble nor on those mysterious tracks in one of the cities
    I remember that. It was in Thentia, and I guess it was just a hint pointing to Dragatha the Bone Mage hiding out in the Keep.
  • @Zaraxes For Beirmoura, I had a dialog line with her that said "I want to wield you", which she replied by something along the lines of "How could a girl refuse ?". No idea why it's seemingly missing for you !

    For the drow encounter :
    you have to come back at night, I did it at midnight but have no idea if it works at line 2 AM. Use rest/transitions to get to the right time, or wait. The note you find says something like "Under the cover of darkness", that'd why.

    Could you detail a bit more about the K note ? If you speak of the warehouse south of Mulmaster, I did rest in it and got attacked by a few ghosts but that was all, I don't know if there's more.

    Does someone have any idea about Lady and Lord Derlson in Mulmaster ? The former's in a house and the latter in the Temple of Loviatar having his fun, but I couldn't find any dialog option or things to do with them beyond that. Maybe a reference I didn't get ?

    And I left Lyrassa as she was aswell, so no clue about that.
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    @Zaraxes For Beirmoura, I had a dialog line with her that said "I want to wield you", which she replied by something along the lines of "How could a girl refuse ?". No idea why it's seemingly missing for you !

    For the drow encounter :
    you have to come back at night, I did it at midnight but have no idea if it works at line 2 AM. Use rest/transitions to get to the right time, or wait. The note you find says something like "Under the cover of darkness", that'd why.

    Could you detail a bit more about the K note ? If you speak of the warehouse south of Mulmaster, I did rest in it and got attacked by a few ghosts but that was all, I don't know if there's more.

    Does someone have any idea about Lady and Lord Derlson in Mulmaster ? The former's in a house and the latter in the Temple of Loviatar having his fun, but I couldn't find any dialog option or things to do with them beyond that. Maybe a reference I didn't get ?

    And I left Lyrassa as she was aswell, so no clue about that.

    I remember that line too, but the trouble is that the line only appears the FIRST time you talk to her. Once you've accepted her as a companion, there doesn't appear to be any way to turn her back into a wieldable weapon again.

    Regarding the drow encounter, the first time I encountered the drow was at night anyway. (It was just one Priestess and a Weapon Master.) Was there a second encounter with new/different NPCs if you wait around till night time?

    I'm a little fuzzy on whether the vampire encounter takes place in Mulmaster or Melvaunt. (It's definitely not in Thentia or Zhentil Keep.) Basically, you enter an unmarked house and get attacked by 3 vampires. On the corpse of one of them you find a note saying "The time is almost right to strike blah blah blah", that's signed by a "K". I actually remember that haunted warehouse (it's actually in Melvaunt, not Mulmaster), although I didn't think to try resting in it. I just walked around the warehouse with Search mode on looking to see if I could find anything, but nothing came up.

    Near as I can tell, Lady and Lord Derlson are just flavour NPCs to help provide some lore/humor about the Church of Loviatar. The Church has a potential role in Elf's quest in the same city, provided you saved him back in Hillsfar, but that seems to be it. (And while on the subject, the journal entry for Elf's quest seems to suggest that you can seek out "allies" to help free the slaves, but I couldn't find anyone in the city to help out. It's possible you have to talk to someone OUTSIDE Melvaunt, but talking to Kettia or the captain in the inn both turned up nothing. The only avenue I could take was talking to the Loviatar priestess to obtain blackmail material against the slave trader.)
  • The line for the blade is supposed to appear all the time, it did for me (I even swapped her as weapon to cast stoneskin all the time), so it must be a bug.

    There's nothing more to the drow encounter I think, there's nothing but the note if you come during day and at night you find like a Priestess a WM and one or two other random drows if I remember correctly.

    Seems I missed that vampire encounter ! And you're right about the haunter warehouse, it's Melvaunt.

    Yeah, I didn't find any other way of freeing the slaves than paying 100k or going to Loviatar's Priestess. But I didn't seek help outside the city either.

    If you finished the module, any insight as to which allies you can get for the final assault ? I got
    Elf and the mage (I don't know what's her name in English), the Shadowvar assassins and the golem from the temple in Melvaunt. I tried talking to the Elven City and Mulmaster's chief but I couldn't got them to help. Wondering if there's more you can fetch since the quest for allies wasn't marked done.
  • CalgacusCalgacus Member Posts: 273
    I remember having
    Sharalyn, Lyressa, the floaty sword and that's all I remember for sure though I might have had those assassins too.
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    edited January 2020
    The line for the blade is supposed to appear all the time, it did for me (I even swapped her as weapon to cast stoneskin all the time), so it must be a bug.

    Hmmm... I wonder, when you first encountered her, did you select the option to wield her first, or did you straight up take her as a companion (like I did)? Maybe the bug depends on whether or not you opted to wield her first.

    As far as allies goes:
    Like you, I could only find four potential allies. Elf, Blizzard, the Shadovar assassins, and Rex the Siege Golem. A little warning that Rex only appears right in front of the gates of the main keep. I was confused as to why he wasn't showing up at first and thus spent some time looking around before finally decided to start the assault and spotting him inside the courtyard in front of the doors. Why on earth the orc guards decided to let some suspicious golem stroll right past them and stand in front of the main gates, I'll never know. :P

    EDIT: Come to think of it, I'd have really liked it if you could convince Dragoth the Necromancer to send his undead troops, as well as himself, to assist in the siege of Kur-Tharsu, most likely by convincing him that this is a way for him to make amends.

    Post edited by Zaxares on
  • Yeah, I selected the dialog to wield her back when I was in the inn to look at her stats. Might be that indeed.

    The idea about the troops would've been interesting indeed !
  • NeanerathNeanerath Member Posts: 1
    edited April 2020
    Zaxares wrote: »
    Sorry to hijack your thread, Calgacus, but I was wondering... Did you manage to find a way to upgrade Beirmoura (the talking sword)? Her dialogue seems to suggest that you can bring her to the Vault of Swords and use the altar there to upgrade her as you would normally for other weapons, but there doesn't appear to be any way to "convert" her into an actual item that you can place on the altar, despite Beirmoura herself saying that "if you want to wield me, just ask".

    I couldn't wield her either at the beginning, and I got her as a companion at the beginning. It turns out the option won't appear if you are not able to wield longswords (elf or martial feat). I deleveled my character and gave her a fighter level and was able to wield and enchant her.
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    That's very handy to know, Neanarath! Thanks for the find and the update. :D
  • rashkaerashkae Member Posts: 179
    Oooh, that's a *big* oversight.. so if your PC is not a martial type, there's no way to arm your fighter hench with a weapon that can be used against the final boss.

    Oops.
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