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The LoB + SCS Solo Challenge vs Bhaal´s Cataclysm

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  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,437
    @Harpagornis I was going to take some break after F/M/C run, but now I just have to roll concurrent Monk character to see what's that all about.
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    Like you mentioned it in another thread @semiticgod Loreth already has used the combined Salamandre + Fire Elemental Token to good effect. This not only gives double fire backlash but its also making her immune to normal weapons. I just have to make sure to equip main hand first (for unequipping its off-hand first) otherwise the game crashes. :s
  • billy_pilgrimbilly_pilgrim Member Posts: 132
    edited June 2019
    I've been playing with my monk a while now. I'm not doing a nR run, but I will not be doing xp loops. I did paralyze kirins party in mutamins garden, stone to fleshed them and finsihed them off one by one for the loot. Pretty cheezy, because once they are un paralyzed they don't move, I think their AI bugs out. I've tried using stunning blow but the stun duration is very short and the save is quite easy. The movement speed helps a lot, I decided to go for throwing daggers for ranged damage, though maybe a sling is better in the end. One thing I noticed is that if you unequip your main hand weapon but leave the offhand equipped you can still use stunning blow and the offhand weapon hit will also apply stun and give you an additional apr. Bracers of AC don't apply their AC bonus, but the legacy of the masters do apply their thac0 and damage bonus to unarmed hits. Stealth is instrumental and makes this run through BGI possible, I just ran through the bandit camp stealthed, opened the chest and quaffed an invis potion to get out. Wand of the heavens has been very useful too.
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,437
    edited June 2019
    @billy_pilgrim Yeah I too noticed how good movement bonus is for escaping stuff. But stunning blow seems to be pretty useless. Shield Amulet from Carnival is the top priority for Monk, as it sets base AC to 4, vs Missiles to 2. I'm using all the cheese, but I'm going for nR.

    Rolled Jin, Lawful Good Monk. I was thinking of Dark Moon Monk, to dispel Bel's Improved Invisibility with 100 Detect Illusion, but as it can't be used the same time when attacking, I decided for a good Monk so I could use Twinkle and Ring of Purity.

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    After killing Algernon, and getting Twinkle I bought rep back to 10 so I would get the good reward, in my install Cure Light Wounds is slightly more useful. Bought Shield Amulet for 4 base AC from Carnival, -4 AC with Dex bonus, Ring +1, Twinkle and Single-Weapon Style. Tanya's bowl (2500 xp) got me double level up, 4th level after charmed Mellum hacked Khark (3500 xp), 5th level after Kirinhale (4000 xp) and charmed Riggilo hacked the Ghost (3750 xp). Then fed Riggolo for the Ghasts. Easily killed Dushai 1on1 after luring him with Wand of Missiles away from others for Ring of Free Action.

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    With single Potion of Invisibility reached Mulahey, thinking it would be enough. Charmed him and he attacked the Kobbos. But at near death he had a morale failure and started running away from the Kobbos. This also meant I had to start running away because the Kobbos started targeting me too. Hit Mulahey with couple WoM's but it didn't kill him. Then disaster, he turned to red circle and summoned his minions. Now or never. I still had one WoM left, and it gloriously killed him. And then I just managed to squeeze past the Kobbo's and escape. Uh that was a close one.

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    Charmed Minsc hacked Nimbul, and charmed Marl ko'd Tranzig before I gave the killing blow. Free Charm attempt worked on Lamalha. Had to kite the rest for a while, but got Potion of Power for my troubles. I was slightly worried for the last incoming spell, but it was just Hold Person. Molkar waylay just escaped, because Unholy Blight was coming before I got chance to try Charm. Did the rep run for 20/20 economy and bought Sandthief ring and Greenstone amulet before Raiken escorted me to the Bandit Camp. Charmed Taurgosz and he was killed in the woods. Looted tent with two used from Sandthief Ring, Absorption, Shield and Greenstone Amulet. Cloakwood just ran through. Charmed Drasus and fed to the guards for the Boots of Speed, didn't bother with others. 2 Sandthiefs to Davaeorn. Had to rest twice with Hide in Shadows before the guard got charmed. Lured the Battle Horrors away, another Sandthief and guard hacked Daveorn, made into Baldur's Gate and got to 6th level. Getting to Baldur's Gate I could now buy the second green Protection from Petrification and do the casual xp-loop. Also my pet Petrified Kirian's party for the Golden Girdle. Level 8 with 80 hp, * in Long Swords, Scimitars, Slings and Single-Weapon Style.

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    With the help of WoH I was able to take on Doppelgangers 1on1. Charmed Abela casually ko'd Ragefast, and charmed Ramazith depleted his spells by casting and interrupting them. Then he summoned a Skeli and we casually hacked him. In Iron Throne charmed Diyab who lured Kaalos to backstage to be killed with Wand of Heavens. Then Shennara killed him, and Naaman too for PfU. Didn't bother with the rest. Candlekeep and Catacomps ran through looting the good stuff. Slythe was a hairy encounter but using WoH and charmed Larze eventually handled it. Denak was charmed and fed to the spiders for the Ring of Energy which is crucial against Love. I still need Durlag's Goblet before taking on Palace Ambush.

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  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,313
    edited June 2019
    I rolled up Mendel the LoB monk a long time ago in a previous installation, but I don't think he got used a great deal. It's a little while since I played this challenge, so I decided to give him a go to see if we can gather enough monks together to start a monastery. I thought about trying poverty out, but it's difficult to see a way even past Sarevok like that and I decided not to restrict equipment beyond my standard rules.

    Leaving Candlekeep Mendel killed Imoen, Xzar and Montaron before heading to Beregost to get Algernon's cloak. The next stop was the Lake area where Mendel had to retreat once before a single gnoll broke its weapon in order to allow him to pick up the easy 12k XP for Drizzt. The 4 levels gained gave a very nice additional 36 HPs.

    After learning LMD in Nashkel, Mendel took a further reputation hit by going up to Ulgoth's Beard to get Dushai's ring of free action - charming an ogre on the way to get its belt.

    A bit of time was spent gaining a few points of reputation to avoid any bounty hunters spawning. Then the sirines in the Beregost temple were charmed and drawn outside. They were all successfully finished off, providing enough XP for level 6, with 8 more HPs.

    Dual-wielding against paralysed basilisks helped Korax kill all the separated monsters, but Mutamin narrowly escaped thanks to slowing Korax - meaning he went hostile before the mage could be finished off. After a number of rests Mendel eventually managed to charm the greater basilisk. That was petrified when exchanging gazes with the final lesser basilisk,
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    but Mendel revived it with a green scroll before finishing it off with LMD (I don't allow getting more than one lot of XP from a single creature, so the lesser basilisk remained a statue). Mutamin and Kirian's mob were all charmed and disposed of - Mendel got to level 7 in the process of that, keeping up his good record with another 10 HPs.
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  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,313
    Dash it all (insert own oath here). Mendel did the Nashkel Mine without any problems and dealt with Nimbul with a helping hand from Neira. Back in Beregost he set Dunkin and then Marl onto Tranzig. Things had seemed to go reasonably well, but Tranzig managed to finish off Marl with 15 HPs left - meaning Mendel needed to hit him in addition to using LMD. To give himself the best chance of a hit he went into stealth. Unfortunately, despite the fight with Tranzig not being a particularly long one, that appeared to trigger a full recovery of spells by Tranzig. He remirrored and immediately cast dire charm at Mendel and a belated potion of invulnerability failed to ward that off ...
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,437
    Durlag's Tower upstairs looted, basement Ghasts kited with WoH, and Warder level then looted with Absorption, Potion of Fire Resistance + Icingdeath and Greenstone Amulet. Activated the Warders with Shield and Clarity. Managed to lure Avarice to the basement, and Fear to the exit to the basement. Which meant I could lure Love to the engine room, which offered enough space to kite him with Ring of Energy. He could not slow nor charm me so basically he could do nothing as he was too slow to catch me. From the next level picked up some of the uselful stuff, Durlag's Goblet, Champion's Strength, PfE '10 and Chaotic Commands scrolls before making my escape.

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    For the Palace Ambush charmed the mage, shaman and assassin out of the way. Then charmed 5 Fists, and started the ambush. With Liia's teleport field making the Greater Doppelgangers wander aimlessly we easily picked them up. Nobody got really even hurt. After this the assassin didn't stand a chance alone. The shaman wrecked havoc with its globe of something, but no-one got killed. Mage was wreaking havoc too, until Liia dispelled it. Then it too was free lunch. Neither Belt nor Liia got killed.

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    Did bunch of collecting. Charmed Helshara, lured outside, depleted spells and killed. The same for Delorna for fourth OGL. Recharged all. Undercity mob was charmed, they wasted Tamoko before they killed themselves.

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    Temple of Bhaal. 42 hits from OGL killed all four minions, deposited the Skelis onto a corner with Invisibility. And then hit Sarevok with 48 OGL's leaving 10 for Korlasz. Then 6 Oil of Fiery Burnings and 7 Potions of Explosions which got him to 460 hp. After which I started kiting with Ring of Energy. Monk speed and Skelis distracting between provided just enough space to get pretty slow casting Ring of Energy going without taking hits from Sarevok. Took a while, and couple Durlag's Goblets, but after 34 hits, Sarevok went down.

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    So Monk passes BG1 the same way any other class could (except Wizard Slayers :D ), 90% charming with Algernon's cloak, Sandthief ring for Invisibility, OGL's for end fight and Ring of Energy for Love and Sarevok.
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,437
    edited June 2019
    Did some testing with Monk gear in SoD and Fist/Weapon combo is probably the strongest, not against Bel because Fist is still +1, but in general. Unarmed Thac0 bonus applies to off-hand weapon. Also Bracers of the Shuttered Lid Blind 2 rounds on crit, no save, pass mr, applies to on-hand weapons too.

    Bracers of the Shuttered Lid (Unarmed Thac0 -2, Blind on crit)
    Headband of Focus (Unarmed Thac0 -2, +5% crit)
    Fist +1, 2.5 apr, 19 crit, 1d12+1 dmg, 0 Thac0, AC 0

    Legacy of Masters
    Twinkle +3, 1.5 apr, 19 crit, 1d8+3+2 dmg, 1 Thac0, AC -3

    Bracers of the Shuttered Lid
    Headband of Focus
    Fist +1/Twinkle +3, 3.5 apr, 19/20 crit, 1d12+1/1d8+3 dmg, 4/6 Thac0, AC -2

    Legacy of Masters
    Twinkle +3/Icingdeath +3, 2.5 apr, 20/20 crit, 1d8+3+2 dmg, 5/9 Thac0, AC -2
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,437
    edited June 2019
    Looked the Crusader Attacks a little,

    Troll wave:

    Yarok, Chaotic Evil, 338 hp, -13 AC, 4 apr, -1 Thac0, 14-20 dmg crushing, BDYAROK
    2x Ogre Crusader, Chaotic Evil, 275 hp, -12 AC, 3.5 apr, 2 Thac0, 12-18 dmg crushing, Enrage, BDWAVE13
    4x Troll, Chaotic Evil, 230 hp, -7 AC, 4 apr, 7 Thac0, 2-12 dmg piercing, BDWAVE11
    2x Orc Crusader, Chaotic Neutral, 308 hp, -1 AC, 3.5 apr, 6 Thac0, 6-13 dmg slashing, Barbarian Rage, BDWAVE12
    2x Mercenary, Chaotic Neutral, 254 hp, -4 AC, 3.5 apr, 5 Thac0, 6-13 dmg slashing, BDWAVE14
    2x Barbarian, Chaotic Neutral, 269 hp, -3 AC, 3.5 apr, 5 Thac0, 9-18 dmg slashing, Barbarian Rage, BDWAVE15

    2x Ogre Mage, Lawful Evil, 230hp, -11 AC, 3.5 apr, 5 Thac0, 9-18 dmg slashing, 5/4/6/7/5, 0 xR, cast Haste, will Vocalize after Silence, BDWAVE16

    Modron Heart, -2 Thac0, -2 AC, +2 dmg vs chaotic is probably the amulet for the wave. Although it doesn't stack with Ring of Purity (-2 AC vs evil) or PfE, which then don't stack with Ring of the Crusade (vs. demons/devils).

    Dosia will restore spells/per day items 3 times so you can use them in every wave:

    Amulet of Whispers (Silence '15)
    Bala's Axe (Dispel Magic)
    Clasp of Helm (Detect Illusion)
    Ring of the Tiny Fiend (1d4 Mephits for Turn)
    Robe of Arcane Aptitude (Spell Sequencer)
    The Suncatcher (Sunfire)

    Optimal monk load out for the Troll Wave. Forces all opponents hit only 20's, has the best damage output, and protects against critical hits.

    Monk AC

    0 Base (Potion of Defense 2h)
    -6 25 Dexterity (2x Potion of Mind Focus 12h)
    -8 Modron Heart (vs. Chaotic), Ring of Purity (vs. evil)
    -9 Sidestep Slippers
    -11 Twinkle +3
    piercing -13 Ring +2
    slashing -16 Golden Girdle
    crushing -23 Potion of Absorption (2h)

    Monk Thac0

    11 Base (level 10)
    5 Storm Giant Strength +12 (2h)
    4 Duhm +14 (1 turn)
    1 Potion of Power (4 turns)
    -1Modron Heart +16 (vs. Chaotic)
    -2 Ring of Purity (Chant)
    -4 Bracers of the Shuttered Lid (-2 Thac0 Unarmed, Blind 2 rounds on crit)
    -6 Headband of Focus (-2 Thac0 Unarmed, 19 crit)
    -3/-1 Fist +1/Twinkle +3, 3.5 apr, 24 average damage, 19/20 crit + Blind

    Cloak of the Gargoyle (5 DR, Protection against Critical Hits)
    Post edited by histamiini on
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    Yeah, the Monk really looks powerful nowadays with all the infos we have collected over the year(s) @histamiini! ;)

    Loreth with Level 25 reached and maximum spells slots opened had such an easy time afterwards gathering gold for the Shadow Thieves that there isnt much to say: She just crushed everything. Doing Trademeet for instances was quick businuss as the Genies and Faldorn could do nothing against the fully buffed Avenger guarded by Elemental Princes, Devas and many more. Maybe i will give more details soon once we are nearing Spellhold and the battles start to get a bit more interesting - lets see!
    Post edited by Harpagornis on
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    Loreth moving on...

    Siding with the Shadow Thieves: The whole questline was easy going especially as the Deva can clear out the whole vampire crypt on its own while Loreth watched the slaughter out of invsibility. A quick retreat + rest was enough to make Bodhi teleporting away finishing the last quest without any risk. After that we continued with the Gauth XP loop reaching Level 30 after another two hours.

    Ayslum: Loreth quickly convinced the pirate captain that she is mad getting into the Asylum without any fighting. As she lost all items after the cutscene with Irenicus she relied on summons to crush the goblins while also distracting the Lich long enough with summons to slip past it killing the Vampire once its Time Stop was used. As the Minotaurs in the level below could not touch the Fire Elementals getting the two horns was no problem.

    After solving all puzzles Loreth used Farsight plus summons on Irenicus even though this took some time as he called in his own summons (Dark Planetar!) while also using all kinds of high level stuff including Time Stop. At the end the Deva and Chan managed to bring him down to nearly dead before triggering the mad mages and teleporting in for a quick surrender. Once she got back her Elemental Tokens Loreth used the portal not bothering with the Sahuagin City.

    Underdark: This was completly rushed as doing the Drow questline would have been far too painful. Therefore Loreth quickly killed the Gnome holding the warding stone for Aladon who got attacked afterwards breaking the questline as well as opening the door out of the Underdark.

    Escaping however proved to be a little bit more time consuming as Loreth had to first clear some Kua-Toa rooms – including the prince – which forced her to do another rest in between. She always stayed out of sight from the Kua-Toas as they tend to charge on her if they got the chance. So whenever one or two Kua-Toas managed to move around the summons she quickly transformed into Earth-Fire-Elemental-Form which made her untouchable for all attackers while also pulling out some good damage on them. After clearing her back she used two elemental princes (thanks to being lucky with Elemental Summons) Sunnis and Chan as well as the Deva to punch through the door guardians. This was easier than expected as the Drow Mage burned down their own troops so once only the Mages and the Glabrezu were left she quickly slipped through eating one Remove Magic which did nothing.

    Thanks to some speedrushing and getting to level 30 this early most opposition was either avoided or crushed by the summons. Bodhi and Irenicus should get more interesting - after some preparation! ;)
    Post edited by Harpagornis on
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    Loreth nearing the end...

    Bodhi: With Drizzt, Deva, Elemental Princes and three rests Bodhi was finally on her won. The trick then was to avoid her Bat Cloud using the stairs while also cleansing the blood pools to cripple her regeneration. After that Drizzt – who had waited near the stears until Bodhi was left – the Deva and the Elemental Prince had no problem taking her down for the first time. Loreth used Bodhis second wind to rest and call in another Elemental Prince and Deva that knocked her out without problems for 91k XP. So no need for Harm here which would have forced Loreth to roll a 20 while also bypassing Bodhis 75% MR. So far the summons conquer all...

    Suldanessalar: Getting the items for the altar was no big deal using invisbility to avoid any rakshasas or golems.

    Talisman: Pressed Corellan, Rillifane, Water, Tree of Life, Suldanessellar and took the Talisman.
    Moonblade: Watch he Elf and Demon die to grab the Blade
    Golden Goblet of Life: Dropped all quest items before giving 49979 gold to the black dragon in exchange for the Goblet
    Stone Harp: Took the harp and moved out again
    Horn: Sneaked in, grabbed the Horn and moved out avoiding the Golems alltogether

    Fully buffed Loreth sneaked into the temple using Fire-Earth-Elemental Form putting the talisman, moonblade and golden goblet on the alter activating the Avatar. For some reason he always misses to kill Suneer so after the cutscene not only the Mage was next to Loreth but also a Dark Planetar. Thanks to her increased movement speed Loreth could escape Fire Storm and Spell Thrust to climb the Tree of Life once more!

    Tree of Life: After removing his protections the fully buffed up Loreth used Beetles to distract Irenicus and let him waste his spells while watching the scene with Farsight. He used Dimension Door once to teleport right next to Loreth but there another Beetle was already waiting and Loreth quickly moved out of his vision again. Once his Time Stop and big summons were gone more Beetles moved in until the evil Mage slowly but surely ran out of spells and Loreth switched to Fire Elementals and Stalkers. Surprisingly this was enough to take him out. No Deva, no Elemental Prince just a quick drop into hell. Now things should start to heat up...

    Hell: Hunting tears and getting closer to Irenicus.

    Test of Pride: No need to fight the Gold Dragon.
    Test of Fear: Remove Fear to easily grab the Tear
    Test of Selfishness: Walking the evil path
    Test of Greed: Exchanged Blackrazor for another Tear
    Test of Wrath:Did not rage but killed Sar0evok with summons

    Still a game of summons and nowhere near the horrors of Sarevok or Big B. Maybe Slayer Irenicus will change that... :D
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    A quick look at Slayer Irenicus looks like bad news.

    We managed to seperate him in our test fights but even when running out of spells he is able to regulary crush the Deva and Elemental Prince. Thanks to -21 AC the other summons have a hard time to hit him while Harm would force us to roll 19+ while also bypassing his MR. Pushing our own AC to -31 using Tears, Fire Elemental Form and buffs is not enough vs his Thac0 of -17. Holy cow.

    IF we would change the SCS installation and allow the HLA´s to be casted multiple times the Elemental Princes would crush him without much problems. I dont like this at all... >:)

    Natures Beauty is able to blind him but... is this enough? More ideas for this one? ;)

    P.S. As time is lacking we will be off for several days so the Slayer has to wait "a bit" more...
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    Okay, we got the trick against Slayer Irenicus...

    1. Buff up but dont use any summons around the spawning points
    2. Once the battle starts haste up and move south after a short delay
    3. Watch how the Balors turn on the Glabrezu and then attack the Slayer
    4. Drink a cup of tea and praise the cheese once the final cutscene triggers

    That was... well.... quite surprising... B)

    The only thing that could go wrong (even though the chance should be <5%) is that both Balors instakill the Galbrezu with their vorpal attack but for this case summons placed in the south can be used to lure them back to Irenicus so they start punching him again after your summons are gone.

    Sometimes the Glabrezu tried to teleport up to Loreth but delaying the movement shortly after the battle starts let them switch to some spellcasting instead. As they cant spend another action for one round this gives more than enough time to get out of their vision - even more as they do not try to follow for whatever reason.

    We have tested this "strategy" several times now and so far it worked flawlessly - its just a matter of time as the Balors have to fight against the quick regeneration of the Slayer which so far meant 10-15 minutes before the final cutscene triggers.

    Say hello to ToB once again - next week! ;)
    Post edited by Harpagornis on
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Harpagornis: Change the SCS installation. I normally don't like doing so in the middle of a run, but you're really going to need the extra power. Making HLAs into innate abilities isn't necessarily standard practice for SCS installs anyway.

    Nature's Beauty could work if blinding him would end the combat and allow you to rest, but SCS v32 has randomized spells and True Seeing is supposed to cure blindness, which means you'd have to disrupt a True Seeing spell if he has one memorized (as he does in my install). The Slayer has no immunity to Web or paralysis, so you could pin him down with Web or Implosion and apply damage with Energy Blades. Unfortunately, Implosion won't work against spell protections, and its duration isn't long enough for you to kill him with Energy Blades alone (the level 7 spell slots for Implosion and Energy Blades don't add up), and Web only has a 7.5% chance of working per casting, so you'd basically need to get lucky rolls to get through his HP, so it's not much different from just trying to land Harm and running away whenever Harm fails.

    So I wouldn't count on Nature's Beauty. I think more Elemental Princes is the answer here.
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    No need for reinstallation @semiticgod as we have already beaten the Slayer using the method described above. Looks like there is some kind of AI issue which turns the Balors against the Glabrezu and Irenicus. Feels really cheesy but - hey - we need to use everything we can get for this one. No? ;)

    With some luck we will start ToB next week maybe reaching our doom again when meeting Sendai. If we can get there... :D
  • histamiinihistamiini Member Posts: 1,437
    @Harpagornis Yeah that Balor's attacking Slayer has been a thing with 2.5 and SCS v32, don't know which is causing that because I don't remember that being originally a thing. Although that doesn't always work as other Balor can also start attacking the other one, and one Balor can't overcome Slayer's regeneration.
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    @histamiini: Yeah, the Balors might attack each other but using the method described above so far always worked. As the Glabrezu waste their time using spells/abilities instead of moving/teleporting the Balors are moving in from the left/right attacking/killing them and - with the Slayer in the middle - both start to attack him as he is the nearest target. Moving immediately after the battle starts might trigger the Glabrezu teleport which breaks the starting positions and - maybe - lead one Balor to another. With the small delay however this is not the case. Tested it more than a dozen times now - works fine! :)
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    I'm pleased to report that the Balors have been sent to obedience school. Don't expect this trick to work on SCS 32.3 (release fairly imminent, this evening (Pacific) if I get the chance to squeeze in an install test).
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    Still with little time we tested and pushed the very first fights in ToB with Loreth...

    Illasera: This one now looks completly different than before. No arrows, no vision through invisiblity so luring her away from the others did not work anymore but lots of spells and a mage with time stop. As the summons got slaughtered easily in our test fights we found a neat and effective way to solve that problem using 11x Webs + 10x Spike Stones + Farsight + Improved Invisbility to have vision control over the area without getting caught by potential wanderers. While the Black Reavers most of the time got webbed and Illasera only moved north and then back into the stones Loreth waited in the south carefully laying more spikes until Illasera went down and the rest fled.

    First pocket plane challenge: Summons + Farsight + Rests while also abusing the summon door trick. After two rests all troops including Duke Eltan, Aran Linvail and Ellesime were taken out by elementals, stalkers, beetles and devas watching the slaughter while being invisible.

    Lets see if we can get to Gromnir in the next days... ;)

  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    Next move...

    Gromnir: Going through the tunnels and the base levels of his stronghold was all about summons before preparing for the big one himself. Buffed up Loreth approached Gromnir who also can no longer see through invsibility while running towards his support troops after the battle started. As one soldier was blocking the path to him so we could not immediately run down the stairs Loreth first harmed down this one before using two more Harms until Gormnir went down to 1 HP. The rest was calling in Energy Blades while shooting right from the stairs out of invisibility and avoiding the Mages Symbol of Fear + Stun trigger. After the fifth Energy Blade Gromnir - who desperatly tried to heal up with potions - went down for 30k XP while moving down the stairs again triggered the talking with Melissan. That was easier than expected.

    Lets see what Harm can do against Yaga-Shura...
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    Loreth slowly moving on...

    Forest of Mir: To trick the Master Wrait and the Skeleton Mage Loreth buffed up and used Deva, Elemental Prince and Fire Elementals as decoy. After the talking she just run straight up to Nyalee and – thanks to the fast movement speed of the Fire Elemental Form – she avoided getting caught by the Time Stop of the Skeletal Mage. Once the talking was finished Loreth simply ran back after casting Improved Invisibility once more without getting touched.

    Yaga-Shuras Stronghold: This one was rushed by using invsibility and calling in summons to decoy the Burning Man and the Fire Trolls as they can spot Loreth through invisibility. Once she had all four Wardstones collected (using Pocket Plane rests inbetween) she opened the path to the upper levels. Using Farsight to get clear vision of the enemy positions she first rushed to Nyalees Heart ignoring Imix who did not even follow when moving out again. After that the Deva and friends were used as decoys against Brimstone and Berenns party without problems so Loreth quickly grabbed Yaga Shuras Heart to move out again. Even though one Fell Cat – who also can spot invisible chars – tried to follow her Loreth went downstairs without taking any damage. Somehow Brimstone the Dragon managed to appear there but quickly moving to the east avoided any breath attack – job done.

    Forest of Mir again: After getting there Loreth immediately ported to the Pocket Plane for buffing up first as the Skeleton Mage and its friends always rushed to the starting location. Fully buffed Loreth now had enough time calling in the Deva and Elemental Prince before rushing up invisible talking with Nyalee once more. But instead of fighting the mad Druid Loreth just ran out again reaching the map border easily.

    Yaga Shura: Buffed up Loreth used Energy Blades so after landing a hit with the sixth one he disappeared again. Time for her summons to wrac havoc upon the soldiers until Yaga Shura finally reappeared guarded by a Cleric, Mage and a Fighter who – unlike the giant – could not see through invisbility. The only problem was that the Fighter was blocking his path so the Deva and Elemtal Prince had to take him down first. As we killed the Cleric first instead of the Fighter Loreth had to use another Pocket-Plane rest before luring Yaga Shura away from the others. As he easily gets stuck on walls she just ran around one corner and – once the big one was in place – she casted Harm to move in for some big pain. On the fourth try she finally managed to roll a 19 bringing Yaga Shura down to 1 HP while using Energy Blades as the finishing move.

    Second Pocket Plane Challenge: After using the door-trick the rest was all about summons, summons and more summons. Two rests later Semaj was on his own and as he got a really big amount of summon spells Loreth used one Beetle after another while waiting each time until Semjas summons disappeared. It took over 20 Beetles – and lots of Farsights – until the bigger Fire Elemental and finally the Deva as well as Chan joined the party for a quick finish.

    So Amkethran next. Abazigal or Sendai? We died to Sendai once but even the big dragon and his lair looks like a lot of pain. We will have to do some tests first taking a closer look on the SCS v32 changes. The end could be near...
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    We decided to go for Abazigal first this time...

    Draconis Phase I: The first phase was easy after lots of Borings Beetles soaked away his spell pool so Deva and Elementals could overwhelm him without a real fight.

    Draconis Phase II: Our tests had shown that summons alone as well as Harm did not work well against his Dragon form so Loreth fell back to another trick stacking 10x Spike Growth + 9x Spike Stones. Even though he used Stone Skin over and over again the damage was enough to bring him down to nearly dead. Not to forget: He did not move a single time eating the complete spike package. After getting lucky with summoning Sunnis two times they joined the Deva for some final punching - half a minute later Draconis was gone.

    Abazigals Lair is open for further exploration... hopefully tomorrow!
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    Loreth going deeper into Abazigals Lair...

    Greater Werewyvern: This one was absolutely painful as this beast together with the Lizardman destroyed all summons in no time while the regeneration made the Werewyvern nearly unkilable. Nearly cause Loreth switched to Harm killing the Lizardman first as - for some reason - they always followed the Werewyvern. With the field cleared it was now all about using Deva and Elemental Prince as decoy while casting Harm over and over again. It took 45 (!) tries and lots of rests until Harm finally landed and bypassed MR before the summons took away the remaining HP.

    Anadramatis: Loreth first avoided the Lizardman Shamans using invisibility meeting the dragon. Not interested in a fair fight she sended in the Deva and two times Sunnis again to bring him down to nearly dead without any retaliation. Then the first talking triggered and shortly after the surrender followed.

    Kua-Toas
    : As they cant damage most summons or Loreth in Elemental Form they were easiliy dispatched getting to the monk and then back to Amkethran for the rope.

    Dragon Ambush I: As only one of the black dragons followed the fully buffed up Loreth used the presummoned Deva and Sunnis to decoy it long enough before going in with Harm. After seven tries a critical hit landed and the remaining Deva finished it quickly. The second dragon was treated with the same medicine but this time Loreth had to harmonize the beast thirteen times including some resting.

    But then what? Instead of triggering the next dragon the game freezed for unknown reasons. I tried it again and again – with talking, without talking – the next dragon is not coming while Loreth cannot move or do anything.

    Is there any way around @DavidW?
    Post edited by Harpagornis on
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    Hmm. You're playing solo, and on v32? And it happens reliably? Talk me through exactly what your strategy looks like. And what happens if you just approach them normally and CTRL-Y them?
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    After traveling solo from Amkehtran with the rope i tried various things @DavidW:

    - Walking towards the dragon so the talking scene triggers
    - Using summons to trigger the talking
    - Using summons without triggering the talking (happens for some reason when calling Elementals)
    - Using CTRL+J to teleport right next to them

    Regardless of the starting conditions and killing them with Harm + Summons or just using CTRL+Y the result is always the same: The camera moves a bit but instead of calling in the next dragon my character cant move or do any action even though the animations are still working.

    First i thought it might be related to the Fire Elemental Form but the Human Form results in the same thing. At the moment i am reinstalling SCS completly to see if this might solve the problem.
  • HarpagornisHarpagornis Member Posts: 1,658
    edited June 2019
    The complete reinstallation of SCS v32 has made things even worse. Not only is the Dragon Ambush not working but the improved tactical battle against Abazigal is also put back to vanilla. And - yes - this option is installed i double checked that one... thats no fun... :(

    P.S. I also created a new char to see if the bugs might be related to Loreth only but: Nope!
  • DavidWDavidW Member Posts: 823
    OK, this is getting a bit complicated to field on this forum - if you want me to do a detailed look can you write it up as a post on the SCS forum and post a Weidu.log?
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