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Sil and the Sirines

Permidion_StarkPermidion_Stark Member Posts: 4,861
My latest attempt at soloing as a Kensai/Thief came to a miserable end when I went up against Sil and the Sirines on the Lighthouse map. I had already killed four of the sirines and there were just two left when the protections from my Greenstone Amulet ran out. I then found myself suffering from two effects: Rigid Thinking and Confusion (at least I think it was Confusion - I was a bit confused at this point). The Sirines continued attacking me but only with their hands (because we were in melee so they didn't use their bows). The sirines only did one or two points of damage with each hit so my character died the slowest death ever, going down from 91 hit points to nothing a hit at a time. It was a depressing and lingering death, especially because all the way through I thought the effects must wear off and until I was down to twenty hit points confidently thought I would come back to my senses and get back in the fight.

Anyways, does anyone know what happened here? I thought sirines Dire Charmed you? How did sirines manage to cast rigid thinking on me? And why did the spell effects last for so long?
ThacoBell

Comments

  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    edited October 2018
    In a close up match I'm betting you were hit with a Feeblemind attack by touch, with a long duration. Seems like I recall experiencing that with a group before, so I rarely engage in a close quarters battle with them anymore.
    Post edited by Zaghoul on
    Permidion_StarkJuliusBorisovThacoBell
  • Permidion_StarkPermidion_Stark Member Posts: 4,861
    I didn't realise Sirines had a Feeblemind attack. They are even more deadly than I thought they were. I generally melee them because I am using the Greenstone Amulet as protection and it seems better than risking getting hit by a bunch of Arrows of Biting.
    JuliusBorisov
  • compleCCitycompleCCity Member Posts: 52
    Seems, you have some strategy/tactics mod installed …

    Sil is accompanied by two sirines only, so they are three. More are encountered earlier on the map, but not at Sil's place.

    And Sil and her two sirines, as all of them, can indeed only cast Dire Charm (three times) and Improved Invisibility, nothing more. (And those are the plain wizard versions of the spells, nothing modified.)
  • Permidion_StarkPermidion_Stark Member Posts: 4,861
    edited October 2018
    The first three Sirines I was referring to are the ones you meet on the beach before you get to Sil. I tend to think of it as being one battle against six sirines since I always go straight from one encounter to the next.

    I haven't got a strategy or tactics mod installed. I'm using some of the components from BG Tweaks but I don't think that should change the way Sirines behave. I agree that Sil and other Sirines are only supposed to be able to cast Dire Charm and Improved Invisibility (at least according to the Baldur's Gate wiki http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Sirine ) but these definitely had another form of attack, which caused two effects (probably Rigid Thinking and Feeblemind). I don't think they had this ability in vanilla BG1 so I assume it was added with BGEE?
  • Permidion_StarkPermidion_Stark Member Posts: 4,861
    @compleCCity

    Thanks for clearing up the mystery. Before I go back I'm going to get me a Necklace of Missiles and bomb them from a distance.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235

    I had checked the game files instead, only to be sure – those of the Enhanced Edition. ;) (Didn't cross-check the original ones, yet.)

    Found it! Their melee weapon, called Ghoul hand, causes exactly these: Feeblemindedness and Confusion. They all wield it. In the original game, only Confusion was attached, Feeblemindedness is EE stuff.

    Are you sure? I've lost NPCs to Sirenes when something they did never wore off and prevented me from controlling them pre-EE.
  • compleCCitycompleCCity Member Posts: 52
    Seems to be more time-consuming than expected … Okay, I wanted to update the sirines' articles on the wiki, to be able to give you detailed and correct information, @ThacoBell, but comparing all variants of them in all games they appear in, will cost me some more time.

    So here's what I can confirm so far for the creatures called simply "Sirine" in the original Baldur's Gate with Tales of the Sword Coast:
    • There are two variants: level 5 with three Dire Charm spells, and level 4 with only two; no further differences
    • Their melee attack, besides 1d2 crushing damage, applies Confusion and sets Intelligence to 3; these two effects can be countered with a save vs. spells, don't bypass MR and can be dispelled; if they reach their victim, they last for 25 rounds
    The Feeblemindedness seems to have been cut during development of the original game: there's a second item (or actually first: SIRINE.itm, in opposition to the active SIRINE1.itm) in the game files, but it's unused. It would apply Feeblemindedness instead of Confusion, and the effects would last double the time, 300 sec or 50 rounds/5 turns.

    I will update the related pages on the wiki in the coming days. I'll post them here when done.
    Permidion_StarkThacoBellJuliusBorisovRik_Kirtaniya
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    interesting
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    too late now, but in candle keep at the inn, if you rob one of the rooms, there is a potion of clarity which makes you immune to mind influencing stuff for one game hour i believe? it is a great potion to use at this point in the game since there is only a small hand full of those potions in the game period ( as in there might only be 3 that i can think of )

    it requires a 25.... i believe in the "break doors" or open locks score to get it
    JuliusBorisov
  • WatchForWolvesWatchForWolves Member Posts: 183
    Their melee attack is a kiss, by the way. Hence the feeblemindedness and confusion.
    Permidion_Starkraelcari
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    sarevok57 said:

    too late now, but in candle keep at the inn, if you rob one of the rooms, there is a potion of clarity which makes you immune to mind influencing stuff for one game hour i believe? it is a great potion to use at this point in the game since there is only a small hand full of those potions in the game period ( as in there might only be 3 that i can think of )

    it requires a 25.... i believe in the "break doors" or open locks score to get it

    I agree it is very useful, but it's actually reasonably easy to get - any exceptional strength 18(xx) character can get it in addition to thieves.
    JuliusBorisov
  • Permidion_StarkPermidion_Stark Member Posts: 4,861

    Their melee attack is a kiss, by the way. Hence the feeblemindedness and confusion.

    Since it does crushing damage I'm guessing it's a Glasgow Kiss.
    Hudzy
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