Spider's Bane location wrong (SOLVED)
Soido
Member Posts: 338
IMO the placement of Spider's Bane sword is inappropriate. It is placed after the heavily infested spider area in Cloakwood. That sword should be before this area. This area is a difficulty spike due to one of the most powerful trap in the game - Web.
It was terrible experience to watch how a single phase spider killed 3 of my party npcs. A trap triggered and immobilized 3 characters. The other 3 escaped. But then the phase spider attacked the trapped ones and I couldn't dare push the other 3 npcs to help them. I knew if they enter the Web to help, they will die too so I had to watch from a safe distance how this nasty spider killed all 3 npcs slowly and agonizing. Finally the spider still hungry came to attack the remaining npcs and of course got slaughtered. I took their remains and went back to the temple to ressurect them. It was pain to order my npcs to leave those in need of help and just leave them to their doom.
Why this trapped trigger ? I sent Coran to scout that area, why didn't he spot the trap with 65 Detect Trap ? He detects some traps there and completely misses other traps. Sometimes he arbitrarily turns off detect mode when he enters stealth mode. Something is wrong with his AI behaviour.
It was terrible experience to watch how a single phase spider killed 3 of my party npcs. A trap triggered and immobilized 3 characters. The other 3 escaped. But then the phase spider attacked the trapped ones and I couldn't dare push the other 3 npcs to help them. I knew if they enter the Web to help, they will die too so I had to watch from a safe distance how this nasty spider killed all 3 npcs slowly and agonizing. Finally the spider still hungry came to attack the remaining npcs and of course got slaughtered. I took their remains and went back to the temple to ressurect them. It was pain to order my npcs to leave those in need of help and just leave them to their doom.
Why this trapped trigger ? I sent Coran to scout that area, why didn't he spot the trap with 65 Detect Trap ? He detects some traps there and completely misses other traps. Sometimes he arbitrarily turns off detect mode when he enters stealth mode. Something is wrong with his AI behaviour.
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I disagree why Web nullifies AC. Hold too. Grants free hits bypassing armor. Very punishing Web, at least keep armor modifiers. This armor is still worn no matter if they are immobilized. Armor is a shield, worn on the body, has nothing to do with mobility. You still have to penetrate that armor. Maybe DEX modifier is reasonable to bypass due to immobility but not armor modifiers.
Take a tank vehicle for example. You may immobilize the tank by breaking its chains, but this tank still has thick armor and moreover the tank can still fire back.
No wonder that guy is dead. He never had a chance to fight the spiders without this weapon
So if 65 in Traps for Coran is too low, then how about the cleric Detect Traps spell ? Does this spell always finds all traps ? Clerics don't have innate stealth but easily fixable by Sanctuary and Invisibility.
What? Why? Its a sword. They can drag it by the handle if need be. Its not like its some kind of spider specific cold iron that burns to the touch. It doesn't even do extra damage to spiders, only makes their webs useless.
It makes PERFECT sense for someone killed by the spiders to be taken back to their nest for feeding. The sword came along because it was in his possession when he died/Centeol recognized its potential threat and kept it in the safest place available.
Oh, and yes, the spell "find traps" will find the traps. But it can't disarm them, you still need a thief for that.
Any less than 50 - say, if you only put one level worth of improvement into Coran's skill - and you're not finding those traps at all.
The problem is that the chance in question is only checked once per round, and the detection area can be pretty small. It's very easy to move just a little too quickly, and blunder into undetected traps even when you're looking for them. The Find Traps spell doesn't help with this; it's just another once-per-round detection for its duration.
Some of your NPCs getting stuck in webs need also not be a death sentence. Spiders don't have particularly high HPs and using up consumables like acid arrows or wand charges can kill them quickly.
As for the placement of Spider's Bane, it was deliberately put as a solution after, not before, you encountered the problem. By modern standards I agree that looks strange, but Baldur's Gate is not a modern game and it assumed that players would die repeatedly while learning the game. Personally I prefer that older design standard, though I understand it's not to everyone's taste.
The correct way is to cast Invisibility on Coran and slowly, without rushing, reveal all traps.
Instead I relied on Coran's stealth ability which is risky approach of getting him detected by the spiders or the nethercaps and this causes him to rush the area too much and thus missing some traps.
I'd recommend using the spell for anything short of wyvern or phase spider poison; those two deal damage so fast that spending the time to walk over to the poisoned character and cast a speed-1 spell is really too much.
The problem with Slow Poison is that if the caster is the one who gets poisoned, the poison will often tick and interrupt the spell before it casts. Even though it takes only 2 segments to cast, the timing is dependent on when in the round the poisoning occurred versus whether the caster has already taken an action that round. Any other hit that happens in the round sequence before the caster gets to take an action can also interrupt the spell.
I find the antidote potions to be much more reliable and safe in a minimal or no reload run, because they cannot be interrupted, and they can be consumed in the same round as another action.
Interruption is only an issue if it happens between when you order the spell and when you cast it. As long as you're not ordering this spell on a clouded aura, it's very hard to interrupt.
And again, I recommend antidotes for the strongest poisons, where every second counts. Slow Poison is there to take the resource burden off from all of the lesser poisonings.
Similarly the golden sword of Balduran and Werebane would have been more useful if we found them before all those wolfweres prowling around, but we didn’t, and that’s just the way it is I’m afraid.
The Cloakwood spider level takes time to learn, but once you know how to do it, using the tricks described above (especially a stealthy thief with high Detect Traps, Antidotes, Invisibility potions and Poison Protection scrolls, in my opinion, oh and reload of course) it becomes straightforward.
Stealth is a "mode" and detection is also a "mode". You can only have one mode active at a time so as soon as Coran enters stealth he stops detecting traps. That is not a bug.
Of course you want to hide from the enemies as well as disarm their traps so that conflict needs to be resolved. Invisibility from spells, potions or items is the answer as you have discovered. If by accident you trigger the web trap he will be invisible while held so it is 100% safe.
Note that this requires careful micromanagement as the stealth will drop sooner or later. If you see enemies then it is best to back off until they are out of visual range and redo the hiding and activating find traps to maximise the time you are hidden lest you suddenly go out of stealth mode with some sword spiders nearby.
It's a pain to do but you can advance through the map easily enough using this tactic, I do it all the time. Obviously it is easier to cast invisibility on a thief, or use a potion of invisibility and scout the whole area.
IIRC, he just asks you to find his brother. Not the sword.