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My first SCS/Insane playthrough

Hello Everyone,

I been reading the forums here and i finally decided to create an account and post my first experience with SCS/Insane.

Disclaimer: I do not consider my self an expert of this wonderful game by any means, i just been playing it a lot in the past months and i wanted to share my experience.

First of all, i came back after 10 years of not playing BG because i run into Mivsan_NT videos in youtube and i was really impressed. Not only they are very enjoyable videos, but they are also incredibly detailed. At the end i will include a youtube link so you can check them if you wish.

With that out of the way, let's start:

So after some time of wiping to the install mod boss, i finally managed to get everything i wanted: aTweaks, NPC Project, Unfinished business and SCS (i think i did a full install on the latter).

Next, it was time to decide my 2 heroes (i usually play with 2).

Given that this was my first time going with SCS, i decided 1 of my chars should be what in my noob experience is the most broken class in the series: Human Berserker. The stats were not something too high, just a 87 roll with 91+ excep. strength (i usually aim to this exc. str, mainly to improve my weight limit, but of course the bonus dmg is always welcome). Regarding the human part, i did it just in case i decided to dual to mage in the sequel.

My second char was a half orc fighter thief multi (i usually have a thief in one of my 2 chars in order to get the star sapphire in candlekeep). In this particular case, i also went for a thief because Mivsan recommended in one of his videos having detect illusion when playing with SCS and boy he was right.

I won't go on a step by step description of my experience since this is already a pretty long first post. So here are the highlights:

1. SCS made the game so much more enjoyable and like many before me have mentioned in previous posts over the years, it is super fair and raises the bar by quite some margin so my eternal gratitude to everyone involved in making this wonderful mod (Also to the creator of the other mods i used as well).

2. Although the difficulty significantly increased, it was by no means a reaload fest. My first reality check came with Silke in beregost when i tried to kill her being level 1. My amusement on watching that girl out maneuver the hell out of my boys was just out of this world.

3. The challenge of SCS made me use tools that in previous BG EE runs i never used which made the experience a whole lot more enjoyable: Spells i never memorized, potions i thought to be just easy gold, scrolls of protection, etc.

To conclude this big wall of text i will list the fights i found most challenging and my noob advice to people new to SCS:

Toughest fights:
1. Kahrk (Ogremagi in Firewine): This guy made me reload like 15 times before actually killing him (my whole party was between 6 and 7 with most of the best gear. Improved haste + the many mage defenses he can recast are a complete nightmare).

2. The 3 mages in the Shandalar island (and to a lesser extent, the ankheg guy). This one was a nightmare not because the mages are special in any way but because of the small space you have to maneuver. They love throwing confusions and it is very hard to adjust).

3. Sarevok: i thought this one would be the toughest considering previous posts i read here but it was actually ok. I think i reloaded only like 3 times before actually killing him (Imoen got owned tho). Kiting him with 1 char while the rest of the party deals with his band made it less of a pain. The only part it gets rough, is when the mages run out of high level spells and start throwing lightning bolts all over the room).

4. Davaeorn: This one was easier than expected. Having Dorn with Spider's bane dealing with the guards and the Web + Stinking cloud contingency made it a 2 shot.

Honorable mention: Durlag's Tower in genera. Being the hardest dungeon by a longshot in the unmodded game, i thought this would be a nightmare but it was actually pretty easy. Wardens are not that much tougher than in the unmodded game and the only fight that requires a lot more plannig is the chess fight.

New found wisdom (tools i hardly used in unmodded runs):

1. Web spell: I am in love with this spell after this experience. It makes the bandit camp and Davaeorn a walk in the park.

2. Potions in general: I use to think they were just easy gold but in SCS they improve your odds by a large margin.

3. Thief Detect illusion: All high level mages have minor globe, invis and mirror images. This skill is 100% worth it.

4. Usable items i did not value as much such as One Gift Amulet (combining it with wands of fire, Boom)

Thank you for reading and apologies for my grammar and the big wall of text (i am from Argentina, so english is my second language).

I would like to thank again all the people involved in creating/updating the mods i used and Mivsan for getting me to try this with his videos. Soa and TOB are next in line.

Below you can find Mivsan_NT youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKyqtqkMUpne_yW1jRdGHtA









StummvonBordwehrTakisMegasSeorrLudwig_IIJuliusBorisovALIENAerakarOrlonKronsteenDJKajurusemiticgoddessbutteredsoulMivsan

Comments

  • ALIENALIEN Member Posts: 1,269
    @TheLungo You voice is perfect :smile:
    JuliusBorisovAerakarTakisMegas
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    We're missing @Mivsan - her YouTube Baldur's Gate playthrough is so nice.

    Welcome to the forum, @TheLungo . ;)
    AerakarTakisMegasMivsan
  • tedmann12tedmann12 Member Posts: 128
    How did you beat Sarevok? I had to resort to some pretty serious cheese. That fight on SCS was by far the hardest fight between both bg1 and 2. Even after pulling the mages and killing them 1 by 1, Sarevok just fucking annihlated all my chars in melee battle. I had to soften him up by hitting him with like literally 20 fireballs from outside the screen.

    So I am so curious how you were able to 1v1 him while your party fought his mages who were each a pain in the ass.

  • TheLungoTheLungo Member Posts: 21
    tedmann12 wrote: »
    How did you beat Sarevok? I had to resort to some pretty serious cheese. That fight on SCS was by far the hardest fight between both bg1 and 2. Even after pulling the mages and killing them 1 by 1, Sarevok just fucking annihlated all my chars in melee battle. I had to soften him up by hitting him with like literally 20 fireballs from outside the screen.

    So I am so curious how you were able to 1v1 him while your party fought his mages who were each a pain in the ass.

    I split the map in 2 basically. In the southern part i had a full AC fighter kiting Sarevok (something like -8 AC) while the rest of my party (+3 skeleton warriors) dealt with the gang near the throne. The only annoying one was Angelo. He has like 6 million spell defenses which make him very hard to kill (wtb Breach). I did have a lot of potions of extra healing (i saved those only for the though fights).
  • MivsanMivsan Member Posts: 139
    Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm very happy to hear you liked my videos and that they might have in some part re-ignited your passion for the game.

    I love reading stories about trying SCS for the first time and players' experiences with it, the "wake up" calls and different realizations people have thanks to the challenges the mod presents. Thanks for sharing yours and spreading some more SCS love!
    TheLungo
  • TheLungoTheLungo Member Posts: 21
    Mivsan wrote: »
    Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm very happy to hear you liked my videos and that they might have in some part re-ignited your passion for the game.

    I love reading stories about trying SCS for the first time and players' experiences with it, the "wake up" calls and different realizations people have thanks to the challenges the mod presents. Thanks for sharing yours and spreading some more SCS love!

    Thanks to you for doing those amazing videos!
    MivsanHudzy
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