@BelgarathMTH, thank you for the compliment. I'm feeling a bit embarrassed by your praise, but you're lawful good, so I assume that you're speaking the truth and not exaggerating.
I had a good teacher, you know ?.
I looked up "werewolf island", didn't know what you meant. Then I saw that it was that quest with Balduran's ship.
I don't remember the exact dialogue, that was before Durlag's Tower, but I had decided against the quest for paladin roleplaying reasons. I don't remember exactly, but something was off about Mendas and his offer, and I think Calahan warned us, too.
I don't know if I'm missing something important there, but I'd rather continue with the main quest now. Well, not right now. I'll continue in a day or two, to enjoy my lucky victories a bit longer, before I allow the game to throw something frustrating at me again. ?
@Arvia , you're fine to skip it. It's an independent adventure that is part of the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack. You only need to do it if your goal is a completionist run. Like I said, it's pretty dangerous in its climax fight. It's also a big adventure. It takes a few hours at least to play through.
Getting it started involves getting a map from Baldur's Gate, which will be a lot harder to do now that the Flaming Fist are hostile, but not impossible, if you change your mind.
I've never really thought about it from the paladin's point of view. The people holding the map attack on sight as soon as you enter the building, if I'm remembering correctly, so I think it may be possible to roleplay that you just wanted to inquire about it, and then had to defend yourself.
Anyway, it's a completely optional adventure. It can end your run if you can't beat the final boss there, because once you go, you're stuck until you beat it. No temple resources are available. If somebody dies, you're in trouble without reloading. I skip it most of the time.
@BelgarathMTH, I'm going to skip it. As I said, there was something off about Mendas' dialogue in Ulgoth's Beard, when he ranted against the Merchant League. I don't remember exactly, but I think it also made me cast Detect Evil and he pinged.
The people holding the map don't attack on sight; there is an entirely peaceful resolution to that part. It does require lies to pull off, so it's questionable from a paladin point of view.
And yes, there's something off about Mendas. He's lying to you about several things, and he won't be happy if you return from the island with what he asked for.
Great job on completing Durlags tower. The therella son Dalton was standing on the ledge alive where you killed the demon knight. He is easy to miss if you don't explore the whole room . I gave up on my paladin run as I could not break my old habits of looting everything and killing everyone who sassed me.
Very short update: I went back to Durlag's Tower immediately when I read that.
Thank the gods, he was still standing there. Although it doesn't make any sense that he survived the fight against the mirror likenesses *and* nobody spotted him and nothing hit him during our fight with the demon knight and his mirror fiends. It's a round room without any place to hide.
Sigh. Maybe "Dalton" is just the family name, and his first name is actually "Everett".
We have crossed the Thieves' Maze and will probably be facing Sarevok soon. I'm still trying to make sense of everything that happened until now.
On our way from the Friendly Arm Inn to the city, I had a long talk with Ajantis. We should have had this conversation in Candlekeep, but I was still too overwhelmed by the discovery that I carry the taint of Bhaal.
I can't believe that Torm would have given me my abilities as his paladin if there were evil inside me, and I still choose my own path, the path of justice and goodness, and won't accept that my fate is sealed.
However, my future is not my own anymore, to plan and promise as before. Above else, I have a duty to fight this evil, my unwanted heritage, inside myself and wherever else I find it. I gave the ring back to Ajantis. He has obligations to his family, and, sadly, I don't think I can be part of that. I have to end this while I still can. There were no oaths spoken yet, though I have now taken back a promise and broken a heart. Gods forgive me, but it can't be, although he will never be "just a fighting comrade" to me.
We didn't know how to proceed once we reached the city. There was still a death sentence pending. We decided to try to reach Scar and Duke Eltan through the sewers. Unfortunately, the first ones who spotted us after entering the city were the Flaming Fist.
With Scar dead, we couldn't trust anyone, and we could't find proof while in prison. The Flaming Fist are the enforcers of the law in this city, but the law itself is undermined and endangered by Sarevok, and we can't stop him if we're being held or executed. But we couldn't harm anyone either, so we had to run and hide in the sewers. On our way, we met Tamoko, a former ally of Sarevok's, who offered information if we promised to spare his life. We couldn't do that.
We also met several other people who informed us that Scar had been murdered, that Duke Eltan was victim of a mysterious disease and being taken care of in the Flaming Fist Headquarters by a cleric with doubtful reputation, and that Sarevok wanted to become a Grand Duke. It was suggested that we might find more information at the Iron Throne.
We decided that Duke Eltan was a priority, especially if his life was in danger. Entering the Flaming Fist Headquarters wouldn't be easy, now that we had openly resisted an arrest. We had no possibility to cast Invisibility on all of us, so we would just have to run in and hope to disable possible attackers.
We saved the Duke without killing anyone, but we had to use a lot of Command, Hold Person, Wand of Sleep and Paralryzation, while at the same time throwing all our healing spells at Held party members to keep them alive until the spells wore off. It was difficult, but in the end we reached the sewers with everyone alive. Unfortunately two persons followed us even into the sewers and everywhere, and we were out of disabling spells. In the end, I got stuck in a corner and had to kill them, but since they were just mercenaries and not members of the Flaming Fist, there were no consequences (i.e. no reputation loss)
We left Duke Eltan with the harbormaster and went to the Undercellars, where we killed the two assassins and learned of the plot to use doppelgangers and kill the two Grand Dukes at Sarevok's coronation. We took the assasins' invitation to go there. But before that, we still had to visit the Iron Throne to gather more evidence.
Almost everybody was trying to get out of there already, we encountered no resistance. I had to lie once, but I considered it necessary to avoid a slaughter. Our evidence against Sarevok won't be made more convincing if we really start to do what we were falsely accused of.
Upstairs we met Cythandria, who summoned two ogre berserkers and fought us, but in the end she surrendered, gave us Sarevok's diary and fled. The diary gave enough evidence of his plans.
It was time to go to the Ducal Palace to keep Sarevok from murdering the other Grand Dukes and becoming one himself.
The invitations got us in without trouble, but Sarevok recognized us and the noblemen turned out to be Greater Doppelgangers. Only positioning three of us between the Dukes and the attackers as meat shields and having the other three throw every incapacitating spell, wand or darts at them saved the two Grand Dukes from getting killed.
Afterwards we gave them the evidence, Sarevok attacked me and fled into the Thieves' Maze, leaving me badly wounded. We will have to be very well prepared when we face him again.
The Thieves' Maze was full of undead and traps, but nothing that couldn't be handled. Only once Imoen walked into a trap and triggered a lightning bolt. Everyone got killed except for Yeslick and me, and we had to carry them back to the Temple of Helm. Storing all the dropped stuff in a container, of course. We were out of money again, but fortunately either the skeleton warriors or the doom guards had dropped two Laeral's Tears Necklaces, so that we could afford Resurrection for 4 people and get back to work.
So, that's it for my roleplayed report. I was very happy that I had gone through the Flaming Fist issue without getting caught or killing someone, and through the Ducal Palace without problems. I had no more fun to write more details because something really stupid happened at the exit of the Thieves' Maze. The mage Winski Perorate was lying there, and thanks to some problem with NPC Project, this is what happened:
He talked to Dynaheir. Apparently he was a young man with a talent for magic, and among Dynaheir's people they are forced to be instructed as mages. He had decided to run away, and Dynaheir wanted to bring him to justice in their country.
The summoned demon immediately spammed us with Confusion and lightning bolts. I had Yeslick cast Holy Smite, which unfortunately killed Winski and that led to a reputation loss of 10.
I was shocked at my mistake and reloaded without thinking much. Then the demon had everyone but me (greenstone amulet) confused and the others accidentally killed Winski. And then I had to reload again to see exactly what happened and because I needed his last dialogue line to report the problem over at the Gibberlings 3.
Now I'm upset and don't feel like continuing right now. It's unfair and worse than the issue with Tenya.
Evidently the mod makes the demon appear and attack, but they are using the Winski file from the vanilla version, where he counts as an innocent, therefore the reputation loss.
He doesn't turn hostile in the modded version, either, but he is obviously evil, otherwise he wouldn't be affected by Holy Smite, and you shouldn't lose 10 reputation points for accidentally killing an "innocent bystander" who has just summoned a demon and ordered it to kill you.
I could probably reload several times and he'd still get killed, because he leaves at least 4 party members confused.
And I also probably should have accepted it as back luck and fate the first time it happened, without a reload, because at least my reputation is still 10 now and I haven't Fallen. But it's unfair and either a bug or just not thought through.
Right now, my fun to continue this as a "minimal" reload is gone. I need a break. Or maybe I'll just continue to see how the fight with Sarevok goes, and then restart with a new character. Without any mods.
Number of reloads: 11 (the ogre south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh, a spider web north of the Red Wizards of Thay, Tenya [scripting issue], Prat, Prat, a spider web in the Candlekeep catacombs, Durlag's Tower Dwarven Doom Guards, Durlag's Tower greater wyvern, 2xWinski Perorate because of a bug in NPC Project)
You're very close to the end! (the mod situation with Winski sounds quite silly - without that mod you just go through - I never even imagined there could be something there)
Don't give up! You're literally 3 (or even 2) fights off from the end of the game!
@JuliusBorisov , I won't give up, I just feel sad and cheated because things were going well and then something so stupid happened. I hate reputation 10 for a paladin, and it was so unnecessary.
Okay, in the end, it's not the number of reloads that counts. Only, now I have 2 reloads more *and* still reputation 10.
An implementation of the reputation mechanic is far from ideal. You can donate to the church to bring it back to 18 - just check the needed amounts of money.
Even with those mechanic problems, you still managed to nearly complete the game with a relatively low amount of reloads, which is a testament to your ability and decision-making. The fact you are playing on mobile makes it all even more impressive.
@Arvia , I just wanted to tell you how impressed I am that you got through Palace fight with both Dukes alive. I don't think I've ever managed to save Lila.
Too bad you're not on the PC. If I'd lost 10 reputation to a silly mod bug, I'd have no qualms about adding it back in with the console.
@JuliusBorisov , thank you for trying to improve my mood ?. I'm probably overreacting, I know. It will be different tomorrow.
See, I didn't even think about buying back reputation because it was never necessary.
Btw I'm not playing on mobile, it's a tablet with 10 inch screen, big enough to see everything, and the controls are almost equal to PC, it's easy to handle. The only difficulty is that you can't use keys for quick commands, and to tap the tiny pixels for hidden easter egg items.
The controls in NWN:EE are much more complicated on touch screen.
The demon should have killed Winski and then attacked us. Knowing that gives me a little peace of mind. I will still count the two reloads of course, because they happened, but I will keep them separate in my mind because they were because of a bug in NPC Project.
What still annoys me is that I reloaded at all. I panicked at reputation 10 and didn't even think about donating to get it back, because I never had to do that.
Great job. I have enjoyed reading about your adventures. It even got me to try a paladin again. But I am a barbarian at heart. Looking forward to your final push on this run @Arvia.
@BelgarathMTH , asking for your permission to report the rest from the Thieves' Maze to Sarevok's fight in your thread, although I have taken another two reloads against the "Charname death only" rule.
@Arvia , I loved your in-character report. You did so well! I often fail to save Duke Eltan in my runs because I don't have the courage you did to try to get in and out of Flaming Fist headquarters. I succeeded once by taking Imoen alone in with two potions of invisibility I had been saving for just such a scenario, and I managed it once sending Minsc in alone in leather armor and using his by-then high stealth rating.
I feel awful for you about that bug. NPC Project changes other things throughout the game, too, making it much harder to minimal reload. And that sure was a truly horrible, serious, bug to still be present in the mod after all these years.
This is an example of why I've sworn off modding in games. Mods have ruined my play experience more times than I can count. I sometimes use a few minor rules changes from the Tweaks pack, but that's about it. My current philosophy is, the less mod use, the better. I will never again install any mods that make major changes in the game content, like NPC Project or SCS.
I hope maybe after a break you might decide to come back and finish. Maybe try getting to know NWN for a while and try to start having some fun with that. Either way, yours has been a fantastic minimal reload run, and I've really enjoyed reading it. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
@Arvia , You don't need my permission. I founded this thread to be very free and "anything goes". I only ask that posters keep an honest count of their reloads.
I had 3 Potions of Invisibility, but I never even thought about going into the Flaming Fist headquarters without taking everyone. Besides, we were attacked outside, too, and I didn't notice that it was not a party required area.
I may have the courage, but you have the careful wisdom ?. Pity that we are in completely different time zones. I have never had an interest in multiplayer runs, but I bet it would be fun with you. Or total disaster. Lawful Good ethics certainly wouldn't be a reason for arguments, but I'm curious if our different tactical approaches would complement each other or clash.
I have calmed down about yesterday, I don't like to leave things unfinished, and @JuliusBorisov had said that I'm very close to the end of the game.
So, after killing the demon and Winski Perorate, we went to the Temple of Helm (Ajantis' god, and closest to my own, of those with a temple in the city) to atone for our mistake and our failure through prayer and sacrifice. We had about 5300 GP left and gave about 4000 as a donation. (That brought our reputation from 10 to 15 and left enough money to get several Elixier of Health, because we were running dangerously low on healing potions and didn't know what to expect before and during the final fight)
Back to the maze, we took the staircase down to the Undercity. It smelled of decay and old stones and I felt that tingling on my skin when large groups of undead are near.
I asked Imoen to be very, very careful and sneak back immediately if she spotted anything.
("Rahvin"? One of the Forsaken? I hope not... )
We couldn't be sure of their intentions, but they looked strong and had at least one mage with them. I decided to position the others a bit further away, activated the Greenstone Amulet and went to greet them.
Right. To find allies here would have been wishful thinking. I ran away back to the others (I have recently learned that it's better to make the enemies come to us, especially if you can draw them to you in smaller groups, and not let them choose the battleground and positions), and that was a good decision, because only the archer, the fighter and the ogre berserker followed me.
To position the spellcasters and archers further away is much better. Sadly, Hold and Slow didn't work .Only Ajantis and me drew Rahvin's arrows. That would have been okay, but they were arrows of detonation. Change of plan. Minsc, Imoen and Dynaheir kept shooting at Haseo and Gorf, Ajantis, Yeslick and me ran to engage Rahvin in melee to keep him from shooting his nukes. He hit us with another one before he died.
We healed ourselves as much as necessary to continue our fight and I went forward to draw out the mage.
Oh no. She had two more with her, we hadn't spotted them before. Good that we hadn't confronted them all where they stood. They threw Cloudkill and Hold Person. Time to run.
(I don't know how the range of those spells really works, but they flew after us over quite a distance when we ran away)
We managed to get out of the Cloudkill, but Ajantis was Held. They didn't follow us, so we could sit it out and use the time to patch up our injuries.
We had obviously met some very dangerous and skilled enemies, and we were losing precious time to stop my "brother" from becoming the new Lord of Murder. The time for honorable melee fight was over.
Dynaheir, please take Imoen's Cloak of Non-Detection, cast Improved Invisibility on yourself and go in. We will wait right outside of reach and come to your aid if they spot you.
To sneak up on them under an Invisibility spell and cast Sunfire would not be my first choice in an even battle, but as Lan Mandragoran used to say "Death is lighter than a feather, duty is heavier than a mountain". Our honorable death won't stop Sarevok.
They didn't attack Dynaheir immediately after the spell, so she used the time wisely and hit one of them, I think it was a cleric, with the Wand of Frost.
Wow. That's a powerful weapon. I should have used it earlier. But I think it's dangerous when companions are close.
*Now* the archer spotted Dynaheir and hit her. Time to fall back and lead him to us. We engaged him to keep him from firing and positioned us on his other side so that Dynaheir could take another shot at him.
I took care of the ghasts that had crept out of the ruins and went for the mage, after renewing the effect of the Greenstone Amulet.
Another Cloudkill. Who knows how many she has got. She's too dangerous to get close with everyone and she won't follow us, so I ordered the others to stay out of sight and hoped that I would be fast enough and that her own Cloudkill would also help to interrupt her spellcasting.
Good. That had been a rather difficult fight, but taking them on in smaller groups and planning more than "run in and hit them" had saved our skins. At least some of it. We had to get back to the entrance of the Undercity and rest to heal ourselves.
Imoen checked out the ruins to the sides, because there must be more undead here.
Breathe, Imoen. Come back to the others. They're not strong, just many. I have an idea.
That's it. Please follow me to this bottleneck and line up to wait patiently for your destruction.
(At that point my daughter walked in and asked what I was doing while they were watching a movie. I said "I'm killing skeletons." She said "That doesn't make sense. Skeletons are already dead.")
After eliminating a few more of those and 4 more resistant skeleton warriors we explored the way ahead and Imoen found the former temple of Bhaal, with Tamako, Sarevok's former disciple, waiting for us.
Oh girl. I wish I didn't have to kill you.
We didn't know what she might be capable of, so we didn't waste time with spells, we just hit her quickly with everything we had, so that she wouldn't have time to cast anything nasty.
Good decision. We successfully interrupted everything she tried to cast. Especially Arrows of Biting are perfect for that purpose. But we drew a little audience.
With that taken care of, we went to the temple doors and prepared for the worst. Everything would depend on that battle, so we used our most valuable resources, saved until now exactly for that. Remembering the battle against Aec'Letec, we took only the long-acting stuff now, because we didn't know if Sarevok was directly behind these doors or not, and we didn't want to waste irreplaceable consumables.
We took Potions of Storm/Cloud/Fire Giant Strength, of Heroism, of Invulnerability, the other three fighters got Potions of Fortitude, we had Dynaheir cast Resist Fear and Yeslick Protection from Evil Radius 10. We had three Potions of Absorption to protect us from Lightning Bolts. I decided to drink one myself and give the other two to Yeslick and Dynaheir, because we would need our spellcasters most in case of a mage battle. It would be foolish to assume that Sarevok was alone in there. I thought about taking Potions of Freedom, too, because we had enough for everyone, but we wouldn't be able to use Haste, so I equipped everyone with them instead, to drink them when necessary.
Okay, nobody in sight, but at least two spellcasters with Sarevok. Dynaheir Hasted us, Yeslick cast Chant, and we both used DUHM and I decided to drink a Potion of Magic Protection for 50% magic resistance, too. Stoneskin and Fireshield Red for Dynaheir, and she had the Potions of Invisibility with the clear instruction to throw them to anybody who needed to get away and drink healing potions.
We went in, made the mistake of walking right over Bhaal's ugly face on the floor and triggered a skull trap or something, but it hardly did any damage. I don't have more screenshots because I was so nervous and focused on that important fight that I forgot to take some. Also, the fight was surprisingly short.
We approached a kind of altar, where Sarevok, Angelo and Semaj awaited us. Yeslick, Dynaheir and the two archers positioned themselves in the back, targeting Angelo and Semaj with arrows, Holy Smite and I don't remember what I had Dynaheir cast, I think it was Glitterdust in case of Invisibility and to blind them. Ajantis and me went straight for Sarevok, because I had felt in the Ducal Palace how quickly he could deal heavy damage. I saw a Web spell flying and was glad for the Potions of Freedom that everybody had. Semaj had teleported to our backs and thrown it. We drank the potions before it hit. The two of us ignored everything else and kept our focus on Sarevok while the others shot at Angelo and Semaj, and all of a sudden it was over. None of us had wounds worth mentioning.
((It happened so fast that I thought "What, that was it?" and felt the urge to check the difficulty setting. But we had been well prepared and protected, and our attack had been coordinated, that was all. I only regret that we couldn't kill the other two, but the game was over with his death, so I will just have to imagine that they dropped dead when it happened))
Sarevok is dead, his mad dream to fulfill the prophecy and become the new Lord of Murder is over. But I doubt that we will be able to rest, because this doesn't feel like an ending. Fate is taking a deep breath, that's all. Our duty is not done.
Number of reloads: 11 (the ogre south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh, a spider web north of the Red Wizards of Thay, Tenya [scripting issue, not character death], Prat, Prat, a spider web in the Candlekeep catacombs, Durlag's Tower Dwarven Doom Guards, Durlag's Tower greater wyvern, 2xWinski Perorate [NPC Project bug, not character death] )
@Arvia , wow, that was exciting to read! You got through the final battle without a reload! You go, girl!
I love how you're getting so good at tactics and at controlling the battlefield. I don't think any of my fights with Sarevok have ever gone as smoothly as yours wound up going.
(Question to @JuliusBorisov and/or @semiticgod - Does drinking a potion of Freedom *after* Haste is already active negate the Haste?)
Since you already know BG2 so well, I'd love to see you take Arvia up against Siege of Dragonspear next. It's a very good expansion pack, and it is loaded with hard ethical decisions for a paladin, since the main villain of it *is* a "paladin".
Regardless of whatever you decide to do next from here, congratulations on one of the best Baldur's Gate reports I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Thank you so much for taking the time to write and share all these wonderful run reports with us.
(At that point my daughter walked in and asked what I was doing while they were watching a movie. I said "I'm killing skeletons." She said "That doesn't make sense. Skeletons are already dead.")
Brilliant.
Congratulations on your BG1 victory, @Arvia! I hope you take your paladin into Siege of Dragonspear and beyond. SoD is a lovely adventure with a lot to offer. Ajantis and Yeslick will not be able to stay in the party past the first dungeon and Imoen will leave entirely, but there are some excellent SoD NPCs that I think you will appreciate. I am especially fond of M'Khiin.
@BelgarathMTH: Drinking a Potion of Freedom will not dispel haste effect; it will only prevent them as long as the Potion of Freedom lasts. You can have both of them active by simply drinking the Potion of Freedom first.
Thank you both, @semiticgod and @BelgarathMTH . I have already imported the final save into SoD and will continue after a short break.
Also, after importing, I have uninstalled BG:EE and then done a clean install without mods for the next time.
That was really helpful information about the Potion of Freedom and Haste. I thought that Haste wouldn't work if you cast it on people under the effect of the potion, same as when you're wearing a Ring of Free Action.
@kansasbarbarian , actually I'm thinking about rolling another undead hunter again and trying no-reload after finishing SoD once with this one.
I'll stick to paladin kits for the moment. When I know the game better, I'll try cleric or mage, because I suck at managing my spellcasters efficiently, and playing one might help to learn. Tried sorcerer once in BG2:EE and didn't like it, gave up after a short time. Cleric would suit me better I think.
Just in case anyone doesn't know: you can use Irfanview to convert images to JPG's en masse, and the process is remarkably quick and simple. You just open up an image in Irfanview, press "B" for "batch," and it'll let you select an entire folder of screenshots to convert from PNG to JPG. This saved me a lot of time when posting my no-reload runs.
@EnialusMeliamne , this is the post that I was referring to in the other thread. I hope it works for BMP to JPG, too.
Drinking a Potion of Freedom will not dispel haste effect; it will only prevent them as long as the Potion of Freedom lasts. You can have both of them active by simply drinking the Potion of Freedom first.
Unfortunately the opposite seems to be true. The Potion of Freedom negated my Boots of Speed, as expected, but when we cast Haste on the party, it didn't work.
When I just died during the final battle (for another reason) I then tried to cast Haste first and take the Potion of Freedom afterwards, and it worked. Probably useless, if I'm going to get dispelled again anyway, but good to know all the same.
So, after losing no-reload status, I'm going to write my last report over there and then the second attempt of the final battle with Sarevok here.
Drinking a Potion of Freedom will not dispel haste effect; it will only prevent them as long as the Potion of Freedom lasts. You can have both of them active by simply drinking the Potion of Freedom first.
Unfortunately the opposite seems to be true. The Potion of Freedom negated my Boots of Speed, as expected, but when we cast Haste on the party, it didn't work.
When I just died during the final battle (for another reason) I then tried to cast Haste first and take the Potion of Freedom afterwards, and it worked. Probably useless, if I'm going to get dispelled again anyway, but good to know all the same.
So, after losing no-reload status, I'm going to write my last report over there and then the second attempt of the final battle with Sarevok here.
True. Haste must precede the freedom potions. Condolences but still a great effort, @Arvia!
Have fun with SoD (I read that's what you're going to do right?)
@Arvia: The Boots of Speed are an exception. Oil of Speed/Haste->Potion of Freedom will let you keep both Free Action and haste at the same time, but Free Action will negate and prevent the movement rate bonus from the Boots of Speed, regardless of in which order you drink the potion and equip the boots. This is because the Potion of Freedom and Boots of Speed both modify your movement rate via opcode 126, and the potion also grants immunity to that opcode. Thus, the potion re-sets your movement rate to the normal rate and then prevents the boots (or anything else) from bumping it up.
@Arvia: The Boots of Speed are an exception. Oil of Speed/Haste->Potion of Freedom will let you keep both Free Action and haste at the same time, but Free Action will negate and prevent the movement rate bonus from the Boots of Speed, regardless of in which order you drink the potion and equip the boots. This is because the Potion of Freedom and Boots of Speed both modify your movement rate via opcode 126, and the potion also grants immunity to that opcode. Thus, the potion re-sets your movement rate to the normal rate and then prevents the boots (or anything else) from bumping it up.
@semiticgod , thank you for the explanation. Besides, Haste wouldn't have saved me either in the final battle, otherwise I wouldn't have needed another two attempts.
But from now on I'm going to remember. Cast Haste first, then Potion of Freedom, not the other way. I think it's good that it doesn't work with the Boots of Speed. It's a bit OP to have them stack with Haste already. Almost like Balthazar .
@Blackraven , thank you. Yes, I'm currently taking my other paladin through SoD. But I'm robbed of several items because I didn't know who would disappear when. I'm continuing anyway so that I'll know the story.
I'm playing with Arvia, Undead Hunter level 8, the one from my first BG:EE playthrough.
I'm in the Dwarven dig site now, on the lower level with lots of undead. I have recruited Minsc and Dynaheir, Corwin, Glint and M'Khiin. No reloads until now, except for the ones from BG, of course.
Lots of new types of undead, with some nasty skills, especially the Shadowed Souls!
@Arvia that area blew me away the first time I played it, what with the atmosphere and new types of undead. I was so happy I had specialized in a blunt weapon.
@Arvia that area blew me away the first time I played it, what with the atmosphere and new types of undead. I was so happy I had specialized in a blunt weapon.
Me, too. Even with my Undead Hunter bonuses the Burning Earth didn't do much. I used a morningstar then. And Dynaheir threw many, many fireballs. Without a full party, I would have died multiple times.
And just when I thought it couldn't get worse, I met new types of trolls, too, and had to carry four corpses to the cleric in the camp...
The monsters (and enemies in general) in SoD seem to be a lot smarter... for example, when someone gets Held, they suddenly come running and focus on him. Terribly annoying of course, but it makes sense. Not "always hit the one you saw first" anymore.
Comments
I had a good teacher, you know ?.
I looked up "werewolf island", didn't know what you meant. Then I saw that it was that quest with Balduran's ship.
I don't remember the exact dialogue, that was before Durlag's Tower, but I had decided against the quest for paladin roleplaying reasons. I don't remember exactly, but something was off about Mendas and his offer, and I think Calahan warned us, too.
I don't know if I'm missing something important there, but I'd rather continue with the main quest now. Well, not right now. I'll continue in a day or two, to enjoy my lucky victories a bit longer, before I allow the game to throw something frustrating at me again. ?
Getting it started involves getting a map from Baldur's Gate, which will be a lot harder to do now that the Flaming Fist are hostile, but not impossible, if you change your mind.
I've never really thought about it from the paladin's point of view. The people holding the map attack on sight as soon as you enter the building, if I'm remembering correctly, so I think it may be possible to roleplay that you just wanted to inquire about it, and then had to defend yourself.
Anyway, it's a completely optional adventure. It can end your run if you can't beat the final boss there, because once you go, you're stuck until you beat it. No temple resources are available. If somebody dies, you're in trouble without reloading. I skip it most of the time.
And yes, there's something off about Mendas. He's lying to you about several things, and he won't be happy if you return from the island with what he asked for.
Thank the gods, he was still standing there. Although it doesn't make any sense that he survived the fight against the mirror likenesses *and* nobody spotted him and nothing hit him during our fight with the demon knight and his mirror fiends. It's a round room without any place to hide.
Sigh. Maybe "Dalton" is just the family name, and his first name is actually "Everett".
We have crossed the Thieves' Maze and will probably be facing Sarevok soon. I'm still trying to make sense of everything that happened until now.
On our way from the Friendly Arm Inn to the city, I had a long talk with Ajantis. We should have had this conversation in Candlekeep, but I was still too overwhelmed by the discovery that I carry the taint of Bhaal.
I can't believe that Torm would have given me my abilities as his paladin if there were evil inside me, and I still choose my own path, the path of justice and goodness, and won't accept that my fate is sealed.
However, my future is not my own anymore, to plan and promise as before. Above else, I have a duty to fight this evil, my unwanted heritage, inside myself and wherever else I find it. I gave the ring back to Ajantis. He has obligations to his family, and, sadly, I don't think I can be part of that. I have to end this while I still can. There were no oaths spoken yet, though I have now taken back a promise and broken a heart. Gods forgive me, but it can't be, although he will never be "just a fighting comrade" to me.
We didn't know how to proceed once we reached the city. There was still a death sentence pending. We decided to try to reach Scar and Duke Eltan through the sewers. Unfortunately, the first ones who spotted us after entering the city were the Flaming Fist.
With Scar dead, we couldn't trust anyone, and we could't find proof while in prison. The Flaming Fist are the enforcers of the law in this city, but the law itself is undermined and endangered by Sarevok, and we can't stop him if we're being held or executed. But we couldn't harm anyone either, so we had to run and hide in the sewers. On our way, we met Tamoko, a former ally of Sarevok's, who offered information if we promised to spare his life. We couldn't do that.
We also met several other people who informed us that Scar had been murdered, that Duke Eltan was victim of a mysterious disease and being taken care of in the Flaming Fist Headquarters by a cleric with doubtful reputation, and that Sarevok wanted to become a Grand Duke. It was suggested that we might find more information at the Iron Throne.
We decided that Duke Eltan was a priority, especially if his life was in danger. Entering the Flaming Fist Headquarters wouldn't be easy, now that we had openly resisted an arrest. We had no possibility to cast Invisibility on all of us, so we would just have to run in and hope to disable possible attackers.
We saved the Duke without killing anyone, but we had to use a lot of Command, Hold Person, Wand of Sleep and Paralryzation, while at the same time throwing all our healing spells at Held party members to keep them alive until the spells wore off. It was difficult, but in the end we reached the sewers with everyone alive. Unfortunately two persons followed us even into the sewers and everywhere, and we were out of disabling spells. In the end, I got stuck in a corner and had to kill them, but since they were just mercenaries and not members of the Flaming Fist, there were no consequences (i.e. no reputation loss)
We left Duke Eltan with the harbormaster and went to the Undercellars, where we killed the two assassins and learned of the plot to use doppelgangers and kill the two Grand Dukes at Sarevok's coronation. We took the assasins' invitation to go there. But before that, we still had to visit the Iron Throne to gather more evidence.
Almost everybody was trying to get out of there already, we encountered no resistance. I had to lie once, but I considered it necessary to avoid a slaughter. Our evidence against Sarevok won't be made more convincing if we really start to do what we were falsely accused of.
Upstairs we met Cythandria, who summoned two ogre berserkers and fought us, but in the end she surrendered, gave us Sarevok's diary and fled. The diary gave enough evidence of his plans.
It was time to go to the Ducal Palace to keep Sarevok from murdering the other Grand Dukes and becoming one himself.
The invitations got us in without trouble, but Sarevok recognized us and the noblemen turned out to be Greater Doppelgangers. Only positioning three of us between the Dukes and the attackers as meat shields and having the other three throw every incapacitating spell, wand or darts at them saved the two Grand Dukes from getting killed.
Afterwards we gave them the evidence, Sarevok attacked me and fled into the Thieves' Maze, leaving me badly wounded. We will have to be very well prepared when we face him again.
The Thieves' Maze was full of undead and traps, but nothing that couldn't be handled. Only once Imoen walked into a trap and triggered a lightning bolt. Everyone got killed except for Yeslick and me, and we had to carry them back to the Temple of Helm. Storing all the dropped stuff in a container, of course. We were out of money again, but fortunately either the skeleton warriors or the doom guards had dropped two Laeral's Tears Necklaces, so that we could afford Resurrection for 4 people and get back to work.
So, that's it for my roleplayed report. I was very happy that I had gone through the Flaming Fist issue without getting caught or killing someone, and through the Ducal Palace without problems. I had no more fun to write more details because something really stupid happened at the exit of the Thieves' Maze. The mage Winski Perorate was lying there, and thanks to some problem with NPC Project, this is what happened:
He talked to Dynaheir. Apparently he was a young man with a talent for magic, and among Dynaheir's people they are forced to be instructed as mages. He had decided to run away, and Dynaheir wanted to bring him to justice in their country.
The summoned demon immediately spammed us with Confusion and lightning bolts. I had Yeslick cast Holy Smite, which unfortunately killed Winski and that led to a reputation loss of 10.
I was shocked at my mistake and reloaded without thinking much. Then the demon had everyone but me (greenstone amulet) confused and the others accidentally killed Winski. And then I had to reload again to see exactly what happened and because I needed his last dialogue line to report the problem over at the Gibberlings 3.
Now I'm upset and don't feel like continuing right now. It's unfair and worse than the issue with Tenya.
Evidently the mod makes the demon appear and attack, but they are using the Winski file from the vanilla version, where he counts as an innocent, therefore the reputation loss.
He doesn't turn hostile in the modded version, either, but he is obviously evil, otherwise he wouldn't be affected by Holy Smite, and you shouldn't lose 10 reputation points for accidentally killing an "innocent bystander" who has just summoned a demon and ordered it to kill you.
I could probably reload several times and he'd still get killed, because he leaves at least 4 party members confused.
And I also probably should have accepted it as back luck and fate the first time it happened, without a reload, because at least my reputation is still 10 now and I haven't Fallen. But it's unfair and either a bug or just not thought through.
Right now, my fun to continue this as a "minimal" reload is gone. I need a break. Or maybe I'll just continue to see how the fight with Sarevok goes, and then restart with a new character. Without any mods.
Party level:
7 (Yeslick)
8 (Arvia, Ajantis, Minsc)
9 (Imoen, Dynaheir)
Number of reloads: 11 (the ogre south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh, a spider web north of the Red Wizards of Thay, Tenya [scripting issue], Prat, Prat, a spider web in the Candlekeep catacombs, Durlag's Tower Dwarven Doom Guards, Durlag's Tower greater wyvern, 2xWinski Perorate because of a bug in NPC Project)
Don't give up! You're literally 3 (or even 2) fights off from the end of the game!
Okay, in the end, it's not the number of reloads that counts. Only, now I have 2 reloads more *and* still reputation 10.
Even with those mechanic problems, you still managed to nearly complete the game with a relatively low amount of reloads, which is a testament to your ability and decision-making. The fact you are playing on mobile makes it all even more impressive.
Too bad you're not on the PC. If I'd lost 10 reputation to a silly mod bug, I'd have no qualms about adding it back in with the console.
See, I didn't even think about buying back reputation because it was never necessary.
Btw I'm not playing on mobile, it's a tablet with 10 inch screen, big enough to see everything, and the controls are almost equal to PC, it's easy to handle. The only difficulty is that you can't use keys for quick commands, and to tap the tiny pixels for hidden easter egg items.
The controls in NWN:EE are much more complicated on touch screen.
The demon should have killed Winski and then attacked us. Knowing that gives me a little peace of mind. I will still count the two reloads of course, because they happened, but I will keep them separate in my mind because they were because of a bug in NPC Project.
What still annoys me is that I reloaded at all. I panicked at reputation 10 and didn't even think about donating to get it back, because I never had to do that.
I feel awful for you about that bug. NPC Project changes other things throughout the game, too, making it much harder to minimal reload. And that sure was a truly horrible, serious, bug to still be present in the mod after all these years.
This is an example of why I've sworn off modding in games. Mods have ruined my play experience more times than I can count. I sometimes use a few minor rules changes from the Tweaks pack, but that's about it. My current philosophy is, the less mod use, the better. I will never again install any mods that make major changes in the game content, like NPC Project or SCS.
I hope maybe after a break you might decide to come back and finish. Maybe try getting to know NWN for a while and try to start having some fun with that. Either way, yours has been a fantastic minimal reload run, and I've really enjoyed reading it. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
I had 3 Potions of Invisibility, but I never even thought about going into the Flaming Fist headquarters without taking everyone. Besides, we were attacked outside, too, and I didn't notice that it was not a party required area.
I may have the courage, but you have the careful wisdom ?. Pity that we are in completely different time zones. I have never had an interest in multiplayer runs, but I bet it would be fun with you. Or total disaster. Lawful Good ethics certainly wouldn't be a reason for arguments, but I'm curious if our different tactical approaches would complement each other or clash.
I have calmed down about yesterday, I don't like to leave things unfinished, and @JuliusBorisov had said that I'm very close to the end of the game.
So, after killing the demon and Winski Perorate, we went to the Temple of Helm (Ajantis' god, and closest to my own, of those with a temple in the city) to atone for our mistake and our failure through prayer and sacrifice. We had about 5300 GP left and gave about 4000 as a donation. (That brought our reputation from 10 to 15 and left enough money to get several Elixier of Health, because we were running dangerously low on healing potions and didn't know what to expect before and during the final fight)
Back to the maze, we took the staircase down to the Undercity. It smelled of decay and old stones and I felt that tingling on my skin when large groups of undead are near.
I asked Imoen to be very, very careful and sneak back immediately if she spotted anything.
("Rahvin"? One of the Forsaken? I hope not... )
We couldn't be sure of their intentions, but they looked strong and had at least one mage with them. I decided to position the others a bit further away, activated the Greenstone Amulet and went to greet them.
Right. To find allies here would have been wishful thinking. I ran away back to the others (I have recently learned that it's better to make the enemies come to us, especially if you can draw them to you in smaller groups, and not let them choose the battleground and positions), and that was a good decision, because only the archer, the fighter and the ogre berserker followed me.
To position the spellcasters and archers further away is much better. Sadly, Hold and Slow didn't work .Only Ajantis and me drew Rahvin's arrows. That would have been okay, but they were arrows of detonation. Change of plan. Minsc, Imoen and Dynaheir kept shooting at Haseo and Gorf, Ajantis, Yeslick and me ran to engage Rahvin in melee to keep him from shooting his nukes. He hit us with another one before he died.
We healed ourselves as much as necessary to continue our fight and I went forward to draw out the mage.
Oh no. She had two more with her, we hadn't spotted them before. Good that we hadn't confronted them all where they stood. They threw Cloudkill and Hold Person. Time to run.
(I don't know how the range of those spells really works, but they flew after us over quite a distance when we ran away)
We managed to get out of the Cloudkill, but Ajantis was Held. They didn't follow us, so we could sit it out and use the time to patch up our injuries.
We had obviously met some very dangerous and skilled enemies, and we were losing precious time to stop my "brother" from becoming the new Lord of Murder. The time for honorable melee fight was over.
Dynaheir, please take Imoen's Cloak of Non-Detection, cast Improved Invisibility on yourself and go in. We will wait right outside of reach and come to your aid if they spot you.
To sneak up on them under an Invisibility spell and cast Sunfire would not be my first choice in an even battle, but as Lan Mandragoran used to say "Death is lighter than a feather, duty is heavier than a mountain". Our honorable death won't stop Sarevok.
They didn't attack Dynaheir immediately after the spell, so she used the time wisely and hit one of them, I think it was a cleric, with the Wand of Frost.
Wow. That's a powerful weapon. I should have used it earlier. But I think it's dangerous when companions are close.
*Now* the archer spotted Dynaheir and hit her. Time to fall back and lead him to us. We engaged him to keep him from firing and positioned us on his other side so that Dynaheir could take another shot at him.
I took care of the ghasts that had crept out of the ruins and went for the mage, after renewing the effect of the Greenstone Amulet.
Another Cloudkill. Who knows how many she has got. She's too dangerous to get close with everyone and she won't follow us, so I ordered the others to stay out of sight and hoped that I would be fast enough and that her own Cloudkill would also help to interrupt her spellcasting.
Good. That had been a rather difficult fight, but taking them on in smaller groups and planning more than "run in and hit them" had saved our skins. At least some of it. We had to get back to the entrance of the Undercity and rest to heal ourselves.
Imoen checked out the ruins to the sides, because there must be more undead here.
Breathe, Imoen. Come back to the others. They're not strong, just many. I have an idea.
That's it. Please follow me to this bottleneck and line up to wait patiently for your destruction.
(At that point my daughter walked in and asked what I was doing while they were watching a movie. I said "I'm killing skeletons." She said "That doesn't make sense. Skeletons are already dead.")
After eliminating a few more of those and 4 more resistant skeleton warriors we explored the way ahead and Imoen found the former temple of Bhaal, with Tamako, Sarevok's former disciple, waiting for us.
Oh girl. I wish I didn't have to kill you.
We didn't know what she might be capable of, so we didn't waste time with spells, we just hit her quickly with everything we had, so that she wouldn't have time to cast anything nasty.
Good decision. We successfully interrupted everything she tried to cast. Especially Arrows of Biting are perfect for that purpose. But we drew a little audience.
With that taken care of, we went to the temple doors and prepared for the worst. Everything would depend on that battle, so we used our most valuable resources, saved until now exactly for that. Remembering the battle against Aec'Letec, we took only the long-acting stuff now, because we didn't know if Sarevok was directly behind these doors or not, and we didn't want to waste irreplaceable consumables.
We took Potions of Storm/Cloud/Fire Giant Strength, of Heroism, of Invulnerability, the other three fighters got Potions of Fortitude, we had Dynaheir cast Resist Fear and Yeslick Protection from Evil Radius 10. We had three Potions of Absorption to protect us from Lightning Bolts. I decided to drink one myself and give the other two to Yeslick and Dynaheir, because we would need our spellcasters most in case of a mage battle. It would be foolish to assume that Sarevok was alone in there. I thought about taking Potions of Freedom, too, because we had enough for everyone, but we wouldn't be able to use Haste, so I equipped everyone with them instead, to drink them when necessary.
Okay, nobody in sight, but at least two spellcasters with Sarevok. Dynaheir Hasted us, Yeslick cast Chant, and we both used DUHM and I decided to drink a Potion of Magic Protection for 50% magic resistance, too. Stoneskin and Fireshield Red for Dynaheir, and she had the Potions of Invisibility with the clear instruction to throw them to anybody who needed to get away and drink healing potions.
We went in, made the mistake of walking right over Bhaal's ugly face on the floor and triggered a skull trap or something, but it hardly did any damage. I don't have more screenshots because I was so nervous and focused on that important fight that I forgot to take some. Also, the fight was surprisingly short.
We approached a kind of altar, where Sarevok, Angelo and Semaj awaited us. Yeslick, Dynaheir and the two archers positioned themselves in the back, targeting Angelo and Semaj with arrows, Holy Smite and I don't remember what I had Dynaheir cast, I think it was Glitterdust in case of Invisibility and to blind them. Ajantis and me went straight for Sarevok, because I had felt in the Ducal Palace how quickly he could deal heavy damage. I saw a Web spell flying and was glad for the Potions of Freedom that everybody had. Semaj had teleported to our backs and thrown it. We drank the potions before it hit. The two of us ignored everything else and kept our focus on Sarevok while the others shot at Angelo and Semaj, and all of a sudden it was over. None of us had wounds worth mentioning.
((It happened so fast that I thought "What, that was it?" and felt the urge to check the difficulty setting. But we had been well prepared and protected, and our attack had been coordinated, that was all. I only regret that we couldn't kill the other two, but the game was over with his death, so I will just have to imagine that they dropped dead when it happened))
Sarevok is dead, his mad dream to fulfill the prophecy and become the new Lord of Murder is over. But I doubt that we will be able to rest, because this doesn't feel like an ending. Fate is taking a deep breath, that's all. Our duty is not done.
Party levels:
7 (Yeslick)
8 (Arvia, Ajantis, Minsc)
9 (Imoen, Dynaheir)
Number of reloads: 11 (the ogre south of the FAI, Daer'Ragh, a spider web north of the Red Wizards of Thay, Tenya [scripting issue, not character death], Prat, Prat, a spider web in the Candlekeep catacombs, Durlag's Tower Dwarven Doom Guards, Durlag's Tower greater wyvern, 2xWinski Perorate [NPC Project bug, not character death] )
I love how you're getting so good at tactics and at controlling the battlefield. I don't think any of my fights with Sarevok have ever gone as smoothly as yours wound up going.
(Question to @JuliusBorisov and/or @semiticgod - Does drinking a potion of Freedom *after* Haste is already active negate the Haste?)
Since you already know BG2 so well, I'd love to see you take Arvia up against Siege of Dragonspear next. It's a very good expansion pack, and it is loaded with hard ethical decisions for a paladin, since the main villain of it *is* a "paladin".
Regardless of whatever you decide to do next from here, congratulations on one of the best Baldur's Gate reports I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Thank you so much for taking the time to write and share all these wonderful run reports with us.
Congratulations on your BG1 victory, @Arvia! I hope you take your paladin into Siege of Dragonspear and beyond. SoD is a lovely adventure with a lot to offer. Ajantis and Yeslick will not be able to stay in the party past the first dungeon and Imoen will leave entirely, but there are some excellent SoD NPCs that I think you will appreciate. I am especially fond of M'Khiin.
@BelgarathMTH: Drinking a Potion of Freedom will not dispel haste effect; it will only prevent them as long as the Potion of Freedom lasts. You can have both of them active by simply drinking the Potion of Freedom first.
Also, after importing, I have uninstalled BG:EE and then done a clean install without mods for the next time.
That was really helpful information about the Potion of Freedom and Haste. I thought that Haste wouldn't work if you cast it on people under the effect of the potion, same as when you're wearing a Ring of Free Action.
I'll stick to paladin kits for the moment. When I know the game better, I'll try cleric or mage, because I suck at managing my spellcasters efficiently, and playing one might help to learn. Tried sorcerer once in BG2:EE and didn't like it, gave up after a short time. Cleric would suit me better I think.
@EnialusMeliamne , this is the post that I was referring to in the other thread. I hope it works for BMP to JPG, too.
Unfortunately the opposite seems to be true. The Potion of Freedom negated my Boots of Speed, as expected, but when we cast Haste on the party, it didn't work.
When I just died during the final battle (for another reason) I then tried to cast Haste first and take the Potion of Freedom afterwards, and it worked. Probably useless, if I'm going to get dispelled again anyway, but good to know all the same.
So, after losing no-reload status, I'm going to write my last report over there and then the second attempt of the final battle with Sarevok here.
True. Haste must precede the freedom potions. Condolences but still a great effort, @Arvia!
Have fun with SoD (I read that's what you're going to do right?)
@semiticgod , thank you for the explanation. Besides, Haste wouldn't have saved me either in the final battle, otherwise I wouldn't have needed another two attempts.
But from now on I'm going to remember. Cast Haste first, then Potion of Freedom, not the other way. I think it's good that it doesn't work with the Boots of Speed. It's a bit OP to have them stack with Haste already. Almost like Balthazar
@Blackraven , thank you. Yes, I'm currently taking my other paladin through SoD. But I'm robbed of several items because I didn't know who would disappear when. I'm continuing anyway so that I'll know the story.
I'm playing with Arvia, Undead Hunter level 8, the one from my first BG:EE playthrough.
I'm in the Dwarven dig site now, on the lower level with lots of undead. I have recruited Minsc and Dynaheir, Corwin, Glint and M'Khiin. No reloads until now, except for the ones from BG, of course.
Lots of new types of undead, with some nasty skills, especially the Shadowed Souls!
Me, too. Even with my Undead Hunter bonuses the Burning Earth didn't do much. I used a morningstar then. And Dynaheir threw many, many fireballs. Without a full party, I would have died multiple times.
And just when I thought it couldn't get worse, I met new types of trolls, too, and had to carry four corpses to the cleric in the camp...
The monsters (and enemies in general) in SoD seem to be a lot smarter... for example, when someone gets Held, they suddenly come running and focus on him. Terribly annoying of course, but it makes sense. Not "always hit the one you saw first" anymore.