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"Maybe this time" [NO-RELOAD THREAD]: "The Tale of TEN THOUSAND Trials"

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  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited March 2019
    semiticgod wrote: »
    According to Near Infinity, the Ravager regenerates 5 HP per second, or 30 HP per round. Combine that with -12 AC and 75% damage resistance, and kiting it with the Sling of Everard isn't going to cut it.

    Can you juggle the reflection shield so it's hitting itself?
    Corey_RussellStummvonBordwehrCrevsDaak
  • Corey_RussellCorey_Russell Member Posts: 996
    edited March 2019
    Grond0 wrote: »
    semiticgod wrote: »
    According to Near Infinity, the Ravager regenerates 5 HP per second, or 30 HP per round. Combine that with -12 AC and 75% damage resistance, and kiting it with the Sling of Everard isn't going to cut it.

    Can you juggle the reflection shield so it's hitting itself?

    I don't think you should use the Sling of Everard but the sling of seeking - with STR 25, GWW and/or haste, the damage can add up quick to the Ravager.

    EDIT: And @Grond0 is right, this should be combined with the Reflection Shield
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited March 2019
    Do you mean the sling of seeking @Corey_Russell? That was great in the original due to allowing a strength bonus, but in the EE all slings give strength bonuses and it just gives +2 to hit and damage - Everard is much better than that with +5 to hit and +2 damage. The best sling option would be the +5/+5 from the Erinne sling, but that's at the bottom of Watcher's Keep. The Sling of Arvoreen is +4/+4 and relatively easy to get. That may be better than Everard, but that would depend on what your chance to hit in a contest is.
    StummvonBordwehrCorey_RussellCrevsDaak
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Grond0: The Ravager's darts do surprisingly little damage; they deal 1d4+4 base damage and don't get a Strength bonus. If the Ravager landed every hit, the Shield of Reflection would add only 8.125 damage per round. The main reason the Shield of Reflection is important is because it keeps the Ravager from fighting back; it lets you kite without taking damage.

    The Sling of Everard is the only sling that can hit the Ravager without +4 or +5 bullets, and those are very finite in number unless you get the Erinne Sling, but you have to go all the way down to level 5 in Watcher's Keep and kill Azamantes in order to get that sling. Dealing with level 3 is a horrible bottleneck for a Shadowdancer given the demons you have to fight. Worse yet, you need to fight the mind flayers in level 4 to reach level 5, and those mind flayers have a dispelling spell and/or a Wand of Spell Striking, which means Potions of Genius and Mantle scrolls aren't enough to ensure safety without burning our very limited Spell Immunity scrolls, which I want for the very lengthy final battle.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Corey_Russell: All slings benefit from STR bonuses in EE; the Sling of Seeking is now only unique in that it doesn't require ammo but is less expensive than the Sling of Everard. If you had the Erinne Sling, that would be better than the Sling of Everard, since the sling lets you generate an infinite number of Bullets +4 and also deals 3 more damage per hit than the Sling of Everard.
    Corey_RussellAerakar
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    It looks like @Alesia_BH's run with Arkona the Barbarian had ATweaks installed, but the situation in Hell was still very grim (see the post at "15 August 2015 - 06:23 PM"), and even Alesia's expert kiting couldn't stop a Balor from making at least one attack roll due to the Balors teleporting during or immediately after Irenicus' Time Stop. Otherwise Alesia was able to stay out of range of the Balors' vorpal strikes, and I'm guessing Arkona's Barbarian movement rate bonus wasn't entirely necessary to do that. But that one didn't involve the "Fiendish Gating" component, or had a malfunctioning version, since the demons in that run didn't gate in any others.

    ATweaks might be viable for a solo no-reload character who doesn't have Death Ward or PFMW, since sufficiently precise kiting can keep you at least mostly out of range of the Balors and their no-save vorpal strikes. But I think that only applies without Fiendish Gating enabled. So ATweaks by itself doesn't "lock out" certain character builds; Fiendish Gating is just the feather that breaks the camel's back.

    @Alesia_BH and I had a very similar experience in one aspect: we both used a Potion of Invisibility to avoid Irenicus' Time Stop, but delayed drinking it for fear that a Glabrezu might dispel it with True Seeing. In both cases, we drank the potion right before Irenicus got Time Stop off the ground, though we still had 60% and 80% physical damage resistance from Hardiness and the Defender of Easthaven (plus 20% for Arkona due to being a level 20+ Barbarian) as a backup.
    StummvonBordwehrCrevsDaak
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    semiticgod wrote: »
    @Grond0: The Ravager's darts do surprisingly little damage; they deal 1d4+4 base damage and don't get a Strength bonus. If the Ravager landed every hit, the Shield of Reflection would add only 8.125 damage per round. The main reason the Shield of Reflection is important is because it keeps the Ravager from fighting back; it lets you kite without taking damage.

    The Sling of Everard is the only sling that can hit the Ravager without +4 or +5 bullets, and those are very finite in number unless you get the Erinne Sling, but you have to go all the way down to level 5 in Watcher's Keep and kill Azamantes in order to get that sling. Dealing with level 3 is a horrible bottleneck for a Shadowdancer given the demons you have to fight. Worse yet, you need to fight the mind flayers in level 4 to reach level 5, and those mind flayers have a dispelling spell and/or a Wand of Spell Striking, which means Potions of Genius and Mantle scrolls aren't enough to ensure safety without burning our very limited Spell Immunity scrolls, which I want for the very lengthy final battle.

    There are multiple hundreds of +4 bullets for sale, so unless you're using them against enemies that don't require them there should be no chance of running out.
    semiticgoddessAerakarCrevsDaak
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Grond0: In that case, the Sling of Arvoreen from the Underdark combined with +4 bullets would deal about 6 more damage per hit compared to the Sling of Everard by itself, and have 3 better THAC0. Not a game-changer for a Shadowdancer, though, since we're stuck at 2 APR regardless.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    By the way: I do have another plan for the Ravager, based entirely on the fact that the Hand of Murder spell from Ascension (one of the evil-aligned Pocket Plane rewards) will let me deal 12 extra nonmagical magic damage per melee hit for 6 rounds (which drains to my own HP, not that that matters), an absolutely massive boost that my clones will be able to use. That magic damage will completely bypass the Ravager's massive damage resistances!

    Fun fact: I almost abandoned this run when I looked up the Ravager in Near Infinity, since I didn't see how I could beat him without the Scorcher Ammunition. Only the Answerer and Hand of Murder reassured me that it was doable.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Also, I started a solo Archer run with an elf, but first things come first: finishing the "no magic items" run finishing the Shadowdancer run.
    Blind_Visionary
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited March 2019
    semiticgod wrote: »
    @Grond0: In that case, the Sling of Arvoreen from the Underdark combined with +4 bullets would deal about 6 more damage per hit compared to the Sling of Everard by itself, and have 3 better THAC0. Not a game-changer for a Shadowdancer, though, since we're stuck at 2 APR regardless.

    Sure - but for the purpose of the fight with the Ravager the comparison should be with Everard using +4 bullets. Everard then gives you 1 better THACO, but does 2 less damage per hit - for a dwarven thief (at least for one without modded THAC0), Everard is going to be preferable. That may not matter if you're playing with Ascension (where the sling attack won't work in either case), but will help defeat the Ravager in the unmodded game.
    CharlestonianTemplarCorey_RussellsemiticgoddessCrevsDaak
  • Corey_RussellCorey_Russell Member Posts: 996
    Well done @Blind_Visionary - looks like you might have some BGT setup? Hope that doesn't mean your BG 2 allies turn to werewolves...
    Blind_Visionary
  • Blind_VisionaryBlind_Visionary Member Posts: 203
    Hope that doesn't mean your BG 2 allies turn to werewolves...

    Yeah; I can’t wait to find out if my little expedition to Dragonspear Castle is going to be overrun by greater wolfweres...

    Corey_RussellGrond0Mantis37CrevsDaak
  • enqenqenqenq Member Posts: 499
    Fruit Hammer II couldn't handle a wolf alone, had to abort. Fruit Slicer II brought friends, Fruit Hammer II had to abort, but got killed trying to escape.

    Fruit Hammer III has a new plan for that dastardly last kill. He is currently slaying beetles with the starter staff, and it it is oh so pleasant to not have to worry about him running out of ammo and running into melee range.
    CharlestonianTemplarGrond0Mantis37CrevsDaak
  • enqenqenqenq Member Posts: 499
    Fruit Hammer III's plan is set in motion!
    Fruit Hammer III figured his best bet would be to drag the wolves away from the runaway orc and slay him without interference. The plan was successful, and the orc was worth experience!

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    Woo! An undramatic victory. After this, Fruit Hammer III still had a Sanctuary memo to use, which meant he could walk back to town and rest safely, or just try to rest on the spot and walk away if awoken. Instead, Fruit Hammer III interrupted his own Sanctuary cast because he couldn't decide what he wanted to do next. This meant he was trapped between the orc cave and three wolves that he probably could get past...

    He elected to rest, and nobody came to wake him. He thanked Tymora, to whom he was pledged. Fruit Hammer was NG, but Fruit Hammer II and III were/are CG, ever faithful to Tymora to have her blessing save the day when spontaneous idiocy risks ruining it.
    StummvonBordwehrCrevsDaak
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