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The LoB + SCS Solo Challenge vs Bhaal´s Cataclysm

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  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    The Nashkel Mine was easy for Daemon. Kobolds are a tough challenge for many characters, but not really a match for giant insects. They led the way to Mulahey's cave where the cleric found his HPs disappearing while being blinded by sunscorch.
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    I had tried using farsight there to initiate an attack on Mulahey, but the spell did nothing.

    Beetles wore down Nimbul and Tranzig. One of the nice things about them is their 8 hour duration - handy given the length of time it can take to get through mage buffs in LoB. There was a near death against Tranzig though when the text reported he had been acid stunned. Going to investigate, Daemon found the mage had pulled a fast one, but luckily he saved against a dire charm.

    On the way to the Bandit Camp, the amazons tried an ambush. Daemon was silenced there, but he had managed to just complete summoning some beetles first and they did all the hard work in the encounter.
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    Even without double damage I thought the Bandit Camp could be tricky, but decided to have a go at it. I got lucky on the initial encounter when Venkt was stunned by beetles and took the risk of doubling back to finish him off before he could recover - only just surviving Britik's attacks after that to make the few steps to the map edge.
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    Coming back again, Taurgosz was charmed and switched to a fist attack to take quick heavy damage - before being electrocuted.
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    A number more trips were made, picking off the odd enemy each time. Once most of the missiles were gone though, more significant damage could be done - see here for instance with a game of round and round the prickly bushes in the process of finishing the last of the bandits off.
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    The Camp was easier than I expected - mainly because Venkt went down so quickly, so I didn't have to worry about avoiding spells while running round.

    The only incident of note in the Cloakwood was an ambush by Molkar's gang. They killed a number of beetles, but not quite enough.
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    At the mine there was a bit of role reversal - with Drasus chasing slowly after taking a potion of freedom and Genthore much faster after using an oil of speed. That meant I failed to get Drasus on his own and the mages piled in afterwards - resulting in a strategic retreat. They all appeared to have follow-me scripts though that I couldn't shake without using invisibility. I had several attempts at killing Drasus, but didn't have quite enough time. However, when I switched the attempt to Genthore I did just manage him. With the odds improved, on the next trip I invested a potion of magic blocking, a potion of absorption and a potion of regeneration - and that proved enough to get Drasus.
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    I had the same problem with Kysus and Rezdan of them constantly renewing their spells. As they could always see my summons before I could see them that meant sneak attacks to stun them were difficult and they regularly used chaos on the summons before producing a horde of their own. Eventually though I got lucky with a stunning attack and was able to finish Kysus off. Without his partner in crime, Rezdan then fell in the next assault.
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    StummvonBordwehrhistamiiniHarpagornisAerakar
  • Mr_SaltyMr_Salty Member Posts: 188
    Mr_Salty wrote: »
    Hey does anyone know What this stupid genie flask is for ?
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    Hi @Mr_Salty
    Nice going with the Kensai.
    About the flask
    I vaguely remember that you have to go to the top floor of the crooked crane in the gate district.
    As I recall you will be directed to a place outside the city - the area is small? And you do get blasted with fireballs? So remember protection from fire?
    Did the quest some ten years ago, so my memory is kind of vague...

    thnx i will check it out soon and let ya know what i find! :smile:
    StummvonBordwehr
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    The Archer is about to fight Irenicus at the Tree of Life. STR drain killed Firkraag with ease, earning us a few thousands gold, and we avoided most of the fights at Suldanessellar, only fighting the Clay Golem and Stone Golems in the southeast house, the rakshasas attacking Demin, and the Nabassu and Raamilat.

    The Demin fight was trouble: we lost our Improved Invisibility saving throw bonuses to a divination spell, and then got hit by Greater Malison, putting our save vs. spell at 4. Since the only way to get immunities to disablers without burning a Potion of Magic Shielding was to equip the Shield of Harmony (which means low APR) and also Peridan if I wanted immunity to fear spells (which meant no darts), I decided to simply flee and come back later. A rakshasa followed me out, allowing me to kill it with Smite separately from the others. When I went back in, we pinned down the named rakshasa with another Smite spell, and that broke the fight.

    The Nabassu failed saves against Power Attack early on, and while Raamilat survived Smite and got Absolute Immunity off the ground, our clone's Arrow of Dispelling was still in midair when Absolute Immunity came out, so the arrow dispelled it and left him completely vulnerable anyway.

    Since SCS dragons in v32 apparently have a chance of being able to use their breath weapon just a single round after using it before on higher difficulties, it's entirely possible that Nizidramanii'yt could have blasted us with multiple consecutive breath weapons, and judging by his script, he's perfectly willing to use Remove Magic on the player (instead of on himself, as Firkraag did via a sequencer or something). To get undispellable acid resistance, we went to kill Thaxll'ssillyia and forge the Shadow Dragon Scale.

    Thaxll'ssillyia's breath weapon blinds the target for 6 seconds even on a successful save, so even the Amulet of Power and Belt of Inertial Barrier couldn't completely keep us safe. The dragon blinded us multiple times in just a few rounds, ruining our chance to kill it with STR drain (our clone didn't get blinded, but its THAC0 wasn't good enough to get reliable hits with Called Shot). However, our clone had excellent damage output as the rounds went by and eventually we killed the dragon through damage alone.

    Nizidramanii'yt disabled our clone at the very start of combat using Dragon Fear (which has a -4 save penalty!), but failed to dispel our Improved Haste, and since we had a Protection from Acid scroll on top of the Shadow Dragon scale, we were immune to his breath weapon and also made our first save against Plant Growth (which has a -10 save penalty!). By periodically summoning Lesser Fire Elementals from the Staff of Fire (since our disabled clone couldn't summon any more), we bought ourselves enough time to kill the dragon strictly through damage. Once we had the Golden Goblet of Life, we hurried over to the temple to place the goblet, Moonblade, and Talisman of Rillifane on the table and let Rillifane instantly kill Suneer and his goons.

    We recharged some of our stuff with Reirra, the elven merchant who teleports in after you summon Rillifane, since she offers very excellent prices, second only to the Sahuagin Priestess at the City of Caverns. It's probably a good idea to save some loot to sell off to her, since it will give you a little extra spending money to grab some endgame items.

    I think the only thing left is to purchase the Sling of Everard, kill Irenicus, and then use a Protection from Magic scroll on the Slayer in Hell to enter ToB.
    histamiiniStummvonBordwehrAerakar
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @histamiini: You think it might be a good idea to charm Cespenar with a Control Circlet and have him help against Irenicus, Bodhi, and Sarevok in the first Pocket Plane fight? I think a lot of enemies might just ignore Cespenar since he has 100% damage resistance, and some critters are coded to ignore targets with 75% or more.
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,428
    @semiticgod Well he would be a perfect tank but can't really say for sure. I seem to remember, that if you used the Control Circlet on Cespenar, after the duration ended he turned red circle. And then you needed to use it again to get him to speak and do the stuff for you. Or was it with the Staff of Command, can't really remember for sure...
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @histamiini: According to Near Infinity, both leave the target hostile. You must have used the Control Circlets, though, since the Staff of Command wouldn't break Cespenar's 100% MR or his spell level immunities. So, Cespenar is not a good option for that fight unless you're willing to spend more on him later on.

    Turns out we already purchased the Sling of Everard, so I just bought a bunch of last-minute potions instead. We got surprised by a mind flayer when visiting Roger the Fence, but a Potion of Stone Form kept us safe from any Psionic Maze spells. After finally killing the rakshasa and grabbing the Cloak of the Sewers, I decided to go ahead and smuggle the Rift Device out of the sewer using Roger the Fence, and it turns out that it is still possible in the most recent update (I've noticed there are some area transitions that charmed critters don't seem willing to travel through).

    However, I smuggled out the Rift Devices pieces individually because I was afraid of summoning the Unseeing Eye. What I failed to consider was that the Rift Device pieces won't fuse together unless you're in the Unseeing Eye's lair, and by the time I realized I couldn't fuse them without going back, I had already killed Roger the Fence, which left me with no means of smuggling the two pieces safely through the Temple sewers. This meant the Unseeing Eye quest was impossible to complete unless I attempted an item drop the moment we entered the Temple Sewers, then used the quick loot feature to drag the two pieces across the map. However, that might not be possible, and even if it is, it would be extremely risky to gamble the entire run on a fraction of a second of inputs, particularly since I'd have to do it twice to enter and then exit the sewers.

    So, we'll headcanon that we finish that quest after Melissan.

    At the Tree of Life, we kited the elementals, summoned a clone, and then had the clone quickly fire Arrows of Dispelling at Irenicus at 8 APR. That wasn't enough to remove all of his defenses when he cast Improved Mantle (he had at least a Stoneskin spell active, maybe via a contingency), but we did have plenty of Darts +5 and the APR to break through 10 Stoneskins in less than a round thanks to Greater Whirlwind Attack, and Irenicus' base HP was low enough that we could kill him before we ran out of Darts +5 (we only had 18, since Reirra was still surrounded by hostile rakshasas and I didn't want to bother recharging the Cloak of Stars) by amplifying the damage with Critical Strike.

    The Staff of Fire and Vhailor's Helm got us past Wraith Sarevok, and Peridan kept us safe during the Fear trial. We are now right before Irenicus in Hell.

    However, I don't think I'll tackle him today. I've played a lot already and as much as I want to get this over with, I also want to approach him fresh and well-rested. Plus, I thought I'd reach out to you guys for advice, since the fight will be rather sticky now that invisibility won't help against the Slayer.

    My current plan is to enter the fight with the Ring of Free Action to block the Balors' Implosion and Telekinesis attacks, nail the Slayer with a Protection from Magic scroll, run away, activate the Greenstone Amulet, and then alternate between relying on the Greenstone Amulet and the Ring of Free Action to avoid getting disabled until we kill both Balors via kiting. Since we'll have a 95% hit rate at 4 base APR and about 25 damage per hit, it shouldn't take too long to kill the Balors, and then it'll probably be safe to bring in a Vhailor's Helm clone to speed things up. Once the Glabrezus are gone, too, we can safely erect dispellable buffs to make sure we kill the Slayer before the Protection from Magic scroll's 100-round duration runs out.

    What do you guys think? @histamiini, @Harpagornis, @Grond0?
    StummvonBordwehrhistamiiniHarpagornisAerakar
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Also, we're going to use the Tear of Bhaal trick to get better saving throws than would otherwise be possible. I haven't decided how many tears to spend on saving throw bonuses, though. For a single tear, I can buy:

    1. +2 to saving throws
    2. +10% magic resistance
    3. +20% resistance to fire, cold, and electricity
    4. Immunity to +1 weapons and below
    5. +1 Wisdom and Charisma

    Number 5 is useless, number 4 is marginal, number 3 is pretty easy to replicate with items, and number 2 isn't reliable unless I combine it with multiple other options. But, spending 3 tears on number 1 would already give me a -5 save vs. spell if I keep the Ring of Gaxx, the Amulet of the Seldarine/Helm of Balduran, and the Ring of Protection +2/Improved Cloak of Protection +2 on at all times. What would be the ideal purchase?
    StummvonBordwehrhistamiiniHarpagornis
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    semiticgod wrote: »
    What do you guys think? @histamiini, @Harpagornis, @Grond0?

    Sounds like that should work, so long as you don't mind burning a PfM scroll. Is it not possible to leave your clone away from you at the start of the contest so that you don't lose a scroll?
    StummvonBordwehr
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Grond0: You mean, have the clone use the scroll? That's not possible in SCS v32 by default. I think you'd actually have to use a console command or tweak an .ini setting to make it possible again; it's not a discrete component you can opt not to install in v32.

    If clones could use the scrolls, I see no reason why the clone wouldn't be able to do it right off the bat even if it were right in front of the demons, as long as it had a Ring of Free Action to block any Implosion spells.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    @semiticgod you referred to clones using up ammunition - is it just quickslot item use that's been disabled then?
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Grond0: Yup. Weapons and non-quickslot items like Arrows of Dispelling and the Ring of Air Control are still usable by clones. Frankly, it's one of the only reasons Vhailor's Helm is worth buying in the first place.
    Grond0StummvonBordwehr
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,428
    edited May 2019
    @semiticgod That sounds ok, although I don't know if you need to use PfM on him. If you use all your summons to start the battle, they should buy enough time to your quick escape to bottom of the map, and that Slayer wastes some spells like Planetar, Time Stop etc. Also in my last playthrough with SCS v32 the Balor's attacked everybody, and actually killed the Glabrezus and Irenicus himself. Although I don't remember if I was using rc 9 or rc 10, so that could be still a thing.
  • Mr_SaltyMr_Salty Member Posts: 188
    semiticgod wrote: »
    Also, we're going to use the Tear of Bhaal trick to get better saving throws than would otherwise be possible. I haven't decided how many tears to spend on saving throw bonuses, though. For a single tear, I can buy:

    1. +2 to saving throws
    2. +10% magic resistance
    3. +20% resistance to fire, cold, and electricity
    4. Immunity to +1 weapons and below
    5. +1 Wisdom and Charisma

    Number 5 is useless, number 4 is marginal, number 3 is pretty easy to replicate with items, and number 2 isn't reliable unless I combine it with multiple other options. But, spending 3 tears on number 1 would already give me a -5 save vs. spell if I keep the Ring of Gaxx, the Amulet of the Seldarine/Helm of Balduran, and the Ring of Protection +2/Improved Cloak of Protection +2 on at all times. What would be the ideal purchase?

    Tear of Bhaal trick ? care to explain this in detail ? lol
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,428
    @Mr_Salty Didn't know about such trick either until @semiticgod mentioned it, but found the description about it here https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/65834/exploits-tricks-and-nonstandard-tactics/p1

    Something new to try this run. :)
    StummvonBordwehr
  • Mr_SaltyMr_Salty Member Posts: 188
    edited May 2019
    so u can use the 1 tear for all 5 but after that the other tears dont work ? so u have to throw away the other tear bonuses ? @semiticgod 50% magic resistance not bad idea haha or +10 saving throws mmm or 100% fire cold and electricity
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,428
    Yeah basically you can choose what reward you want, to five times after which the door opens. Taking -10 AC you get nothing else.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • Mr_SaltyMr_Salty Member Posts: 188
    histamiini wrote: »
    Yeah basically you can choose what reward you want, to five times after which the door opens. Taking -10 AC you get nothing else.

    ooo that -AC is i think the best imho !! haha
  • Mr_SaltyMr_Salty Member Posts: 188
    @histamiini @semiticgod btw guys i specced into the daggers for the firetooth but the firetooth is REALY REALY late game........ is there no other returning dagger that u can get early on in Amn ???
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,428
    @Mr_Salty There's a Boomerang Dagger +2 which you get in chapter 2 from the Limited Wish guest.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @histamiini: I doubt my summons would be worth much. The best summons an Archer can get more than once per day are the Lesser Fire Elementals from the Staff of Fire, and they are not that strong at this point in the game:

    148 or 168 HP
    -9 AC
    5 save vs. death
    8 save vs. spell
    4 THAC0
    3d8 crushing damage plus 1d6 fire damage per hit
    2 attacks per round

    The Lesser Earth Elementals are basically the same.

    I've removed the summoning cap, but I still prefer to obey it, and I do need to save some charges for the Pocket Plane fight. A pack of 5 elementals will die in less than 3 rounds and fail to kill a single demon, and the Slayer can wipe out all of them in a single Time Stop. I cannot summon elementals faster than the demons can kill them, and the pack of 5 elementals will only buy me enough time to kill a single demons. The elementals won't be able to absorb many spells before crumpling.

    @Mr_Salty: For no-reload purposes, the Tear of Bhaal trick is primarily useful for the magic resistance and saving throw bonuses, since an elven Archer has terrible saving throws (base 6 save vs. spell at best) and the Succubi at the Throne of Bhaal have a charm spell with a -5 save penalty, one of many high-penalty disablers that could end the run. High MR can also block fatal Maze spells from Abazigal, but generally won't be sufficient to guarantee safety unless you use at least two tears, the Amulet of the Seldarine, the Ring of Gaxx, and another 10% MR item or items like the Robe of Vecna or Sword of Balduran, plus a Potion of Magic Protection. I normally prefer 3 tears for saving throw bonuses to guarantee successful saves and 2 tears for MR for slightly better protection against Maze.
    histamiini
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,428
    Triss with summons stormed through the Asylum, took Boots of Speed with tokens because I didn't bother risking Planar Prison yet. Farsight trick against Irenicus, and bought Lonk the Sane out because it was cheap, and faster that way. Irenicus surrendered in couple seconds, and then the crazy Planetar soloed Murderers. Got the last level and final form:

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    HLA's

    * Whirlwind
    * Greater Whirlwind
    * Power Attack
    ****** Critical Strike
    * Smite
    *** Hardiness (12r)
    * Level 6 Spell
    * Level 7 Spell
    * Level 8 Spell
    * Improved Alacrity
    * Planetar

    Weapon Proficiencies

    ** Flails
    ** Scimitars
    ** Quarterstaff
    * Two-Handed Sword
    * War Hammer
    * Single-Weapon Style
    *** Two-Weapon Style

    Summons leveled City of Caverns, selling loot for Priestess got me 70k gold. The 8 apr Planetar pretty much soloed the Drow parties in Underdark. Wasted one PfU to kill the lich, I've plenty of them still. Balor Smited and Vorpalled in few seconds. Vithal managed to cast 3 Time Stops to pawn my summons including the Planetar, had to use Smite to pawn him. Got Time Stop which F/I can cast 3 times. Buying everything from Ust Natha I was left 10k gold.

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    Mind Flayer ambush. 2x Mind Focus and 12x Intelligence, Blunt Belt, and Potion of Absorbtion, Smite and the fight was end in probably less than a minute and didn't even get hit. Not so slight over buff. Also natural -4 vs Spell is nice against Mindies. Used one PfU on Deirex, still 9 left.

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    Buffed up and used Time Stop to hack the Elder Orb, but it triggered PfMW even with stopped time. So I waited invisible it to end, and the next two Time Stops got him. Tricked the Drow and escaped with the real dragon eggs.

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    Mind Flayer Dungeon. Pit fights and the Jailor were done without wasting any other resources other than WoMS and Extra Healing Potions. Used the one Mind Flayer to open the door. First Mind Flayer party, 2x Mind Focus, 12x Intelligence, and with 9 apr FoA wasted them pretty easily. For the next two big parties I used one Potion of Absorbtion, and it wasn't even close, I still had like all my resources left. Master Brain was smoked out of sight with WoCK. Didn't bother fighting rest of them, but just picked the Staff of Command and left. Also got the Fire Control Ring and all four Control Circlets.

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    With Time Stop killed the single Demon Knight holding Soul Reaver and Crom Fayer component. Didn't bother with the rest of the Kuo-Toa, but Adalon just made the way for me to escape. Kruin was hacked with Time Stop before he could talk to me. Bought Defender of Easthaven, Black Blade Disaster and Shapechange and was broke again. Time to make some moneys.

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    Twisted Rune, PfU, Improved Haste and ranged Shangalar from afar with Tuigan Bow and Piercing Arrows. Two Time Stops and Layene was killed, and that was also the end of others as I got Staff of Magi, and could smoke others without being seen with WoCK. Vaxal and Revanek fell, after which I casually hacked Shyressa as I still had PfU on. Also got a thing called Lesser Grimoire of Demon Binding which I don't recall seeing. Quick look to NearInfinity reveals that it's SCS added item, and there's also a Greater Grimoir of Demon Binding, which is with the Demi-Lich in Watchers Keep. Although I'm not really sure what they really do?

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    Guarded Compound got the same fate. 33k gold. Time Stop and killed Ruhk the Transmuter for the Fire Resistance Ring. Firkraag stoned the last time. Black Blade Distaster Time Stop surprised Samia. Kaol and Akae died in the same Time Stop. Planetar then sweeped the rest. 56k gold. 30k on Red Dragon Scale, Crom Fayer, Silver Sword and Gesen Bow. Spare Time Stop scroll plus two others, and again completely broke.

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    Mooar money!
    Grond0StummvonBordwehrsemiticgoddessHarpagornis
  • Mr_SaltyMr_Salty Member Posts: 188
    @histamiini how does this farsight trick work ? u just use farsight and walked the planetar there manualy and attacked irenicus with it thats it ? or is there something else
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,428
    edited May 2019
    @Mr_Salty That's pretty much it. And after Irenicus is at near death, releasing the prisoners and activating the battle, he surrenders pretty much immediatelly.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @histamiini: Well done in the Underdark! I notice you had no trouble with the mind flayer ambush--what do you think made the difference for you? My Archer didn't have quite the damage output to kill the enemies before they brought down Solaufein and broke the Ust Natha questline.
    histamiini
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,428
    edited May 2019
    @semiticgod Don't know for sure, but mostly better damage output and summons? I started the fight with Fire Elementals and Planetar, and although they got stunned they bought some time. For me to Smite all, and then use the 9 apr FoA with Critical Strike to wipe them out. Rod of Resurrection could have saved it for you?
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @histamiini: Maybe level 29 or something? Top APR was 8 because I lost access to the Crimson Dart and our damage output was stronger with the Strong Arm than with normal darts, and more sustainable than Darts +5. If I hadn't lost the Crimson Dart, we'd have had 9 APR with Improved Haste active.

    I think our low-quality summons were part of the problem. All or nearly all of them failed saves against Psionic Blast on the first round, so we basically had no summons beyond our clone. I probably could have succeeded if I had used a Rod of Resurrection charge on Solaufein, because I had made a point of keeping the mind flayers focused on us, and it was the umber hulks that brought him down.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,428
    edited May 2019
    @semiticgod Hmm, probably the FoA Slow effect had an impact? As with 9 apr it slows target in few seconds on average. I usually alternate target between Mindies when surrounded because of this.
    semiticgoddess
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