Restarting the game this morning, the first job was to rest and regain HPs by having Buckley's Buckler equipped. While I used to go to the top level of the mine to rest, for some time now I've preferred to rest on the 3rd level. The potential problem there is that with 10 guards spawning at a time, you need to be precise about where you try to rest to avoid being trapped. The first attempt was next to the stairs, but close to the doorway to ensure that any ambushing guards appear on the other side of the stairs and don't block the doorway. The guards did appear, but quickly running round the corner I could try again before those guards could get to me (they don't prevent resting unless actually in sight). If guards had appeared this time they would have been close enough not to block the other exit to the room and my superior speed would let me run round them - but I got a peaceful night.
The second battle horror only managed a single hit on me, while being subjected to run and hit tactics.
For Davaeorn the initial plan was to try and shoot him to block spell casting. If that failed things can become more chancy. However, with HPs still reasonably high and with the Boots of Grounding available, I was pretty confident of surviving his initial lightning bolt, meaning he would need to be lucky to avoid a spell shut down. As it happened his attempt at lightning failed after he was hit twice. Two more hits before he could teleport away again meant he was helpless and a few moments later he'd gone to complete a nice smooth opening encounter.
I rested again to get a second Bhaal horror, before flooding the mine to pick up a couple of reputation points.
Moving on to Baldur's Gate, I grabbed the dexterity tome to give myself an AC boost. Next was the poison quest, which opened up another tome (though a useless one), a slightly improved shield and the prize of an improved short bow. After shooting Jalantha down,
I bought 5 darts of stunning, which provided a very slim chance of stopping Lothander from getting away - but I couldn't even manage to attack him this time. However, the third of 3 hits stopped Larze in his tracks - saving me a bit of time and effort running him round.
Upstairs, I didn't even try attacking Marek after talking to him - instead just running down the stairs to dodge his spell. He doesn't chase between levels, allowing me freedom to come back up and try Bhaal horror - that sent him running to make him a helpless victim.
Drinking his antidote provided my final BG1 level.
A nice maximum HP roll, added to the Helm of Balduran, pushed HPs up into 3 figures.
A quick tour of the realms soon pushed reputation up to 20 without any problems when helping out Charleston Nib. I couldn't resist taking on the Doomsayer there and won comfortably enough despite getting fatigued during the contest.
With money not really being a constraint, I bought a selection of expensive ammunition at that point without bothering to get the Helm of Glory to lower prices still further.
Over at the coast, 4 exploding arrows ensured sirines would not have a chance to target me with their charms.
Shooting some golems in the cave allowed me to get the constitution tome, meaning I don't really need Buckley's Bucker any more. With just a couple of minutes left I just did a bit of inventory sorting, then travelled to Durlag's Tower ready for the next session.
Because of my rather erratic temperament, I didn't have too many close friends in Candlekeep. You had to be a very patient person to put up with me. I do however TRY to do the right thing. It's just that I am not very patient myself. That leads me to do things that I later regret. I do not however regret killing the assassins in Candlekeep. Firstly because they were trying to kill me, and secondly because they were carrying excellent equipment if I ever have a thief in the party.
I found a leter on Gorion's body telling me to go to the Friendly Arms Inn. However, those who ambushed us could well have read it and be waiting there to ambush me. I therefore headed for Beregost where I found a magical mace. I actually risked using it despite it not being indentified. I survived and I can pick it up and put it down at will. I therefore surmise that it isn't cursed.
In the inn where I found the mace I came across a cutpurse. I forced her to return the goods and she was NOT a happy bunny!
I killed a couple of ogrillon just south of the town before making my way to Nashkel, killing a number of hobgoblins and picking up the Colquetle amulet on the way. South of Nashkel another assassin attacked me.
At least killing him will make the Sword Coast a bit safer.
I made it safer still by killing a mage who has decided that all mages [except him] on the Sword Coast should be killed.
Thinking that I had made sufficient impact in the south to draw potential assassins there, I shifted my attention to the north, killing bandits on the way and killing Tarnesh when I arrived at the FAI.
I progressed further north killin numerous ankheg as well as Sonner and company.
I killed alll the ankheg that I could find.
I killed some powerful wolves near Lathander's Temple and went on to clear the Basilisk Area killing Mutamin in the process. Enrage was a boon
By heading south, I was able to reach Durlag's Tower where I cleared the upper parts quite easily. Enrage meant that I didn't need potions to avoid being charmed when opening chests.
Opening a chest set off a trap which badly hurt Rigglio, but not half as much as I did.
Rudier told me to keep clear of a cave. Being told that was all the impetus that I needed to enter.
I dealt with Silke and Bassilus and having done that decided to go on a recruitment drive.
Journal of Mildgyth the Mace
Having seen how many enemies I have, I decided that perhaps getting a party of complementary allies was in order. I started ny enrolling Sirene and then Tenya.
After that I picked up Ajantis before linking up with Xzar and Montaron.
I was a bit uncomfortable with Xzar, so was not too upset when he was killed. We then picked up Dynaheir.
Upon arriving at Nashkel, I dropped off everyone except Montaron since I was afraid that his attitude would cause conflict.
As we went to Beregost, Montaron was badly hurt by bandits.
In Beregost he somehow acquired a cloak without having to pay for it. Similarly he picked up a decent hammer, several scrolls and some potions at Ulgoth's Beard. I began to think that he was not being honest in the way he acquired them so I dropped him off in Ulgoth's Beard.
On the way back south, I helped Farmer Brun.
Returned Joia's ring and Perdue's sword.
I was then able to help Mellicamp get back into shape.
I was sadly unable to help get a werewolf back into shape, however I was given a sword in exchange for the body.
I then rejoined the rest of the party in Nashkel.
Here are our current stats:
Together, we headed south where we killed Greywolf.
Isra wanted to join us, but upon doing so we learned how weak she was. We therefore dropped her off again immediately.
We went to Gullykin where Alora joined us, cleared the area on the way to the Firewine ruins and killed Kahrk and Lethe.
After that we headed to the Valley of the tombs which we plundered.
We then headed for the Nashkel mines which we cleared easily.
We picked up Xan and left Alora there.
Due to Xan being in the party we were able to convince some lady ogres to eat vegetables rather than David Jansen.
We then rescued some slaves and afterwards dropped off Xan.
We picked up Alora and took a rabbit to Ugh much to his delight.
We then killed Tristan and Isolde.
Alora was killed in the sirine area.
However we killed them before having to kill some pirates nearby.
We plundered the caves and headed south to help an archaeologist. We took the idol outside and killed those there who would have killed us
We were asked to help Aaron which we did, helping a dryad on the way.
Part 3 is more of a maelstrom than Michio planned. Kagain proved to be fallible when a room full of guardians followed him outside. Michio and Viconia were trying to heal him but one last attack was quicker than their spells.
A few hundred gold is enough to get Kagain up and working for Michio again. We head into the Iron Throne headquarters and foolishly spurn a protection from magic scroll so things turn bad. Our resolve is firm though and despite Viconia getting confused we are able to crush their resistance.
Duke Eltan sends us back to Candlekeep. After being falsely imprisoned we break out and head through a secret library into the catacombs. Prat and his gang get a going over on our way out.
After all we've been through we decide to have a relaxing trip to an ice island. The first group of people we encounter turn hostile (Shar Teel kills one, a second carelessly teleports onto two skulltraps left by Edwin and dies before our Magic Missile incantations complete).
Everything is screaming at Michio to keep his party thief safe. If only he paid attention - despite her searching for traps he shoves her forward a bit too quickly and blanches as she almost perishes.
We think it is all over when Dezkiel is defeated, but Tellan comes over all strange and attacks after calling us buttercup.
After escaping from the island we head back to Durlags Tower to pick on Kirinhale the succubus.
We are emboldened enough to descend into the lower levels of the tower. It's a place to be careful. Very careful. Wouldn't want Michio to shove Shar Teel forwards quicker than her trap detection skills can handle.
Obviously we take a lot more care against flesh golems and skeleton warriors.
Plus our buffing before dealing with four warders pays off handsomely.
Edwin(a) gets a double dose of lightning bolts, surviving both but not the subsequent rebounds. The rest of us kill the two casters then drag his corpse back to a temple after Shar Teel opens and closes various doors on a control panel. It only takes her a couple of minutes for enough doors to be open for our way to be clear.
Four dwarven doomguards fare badly against our buffed attacks, Shar Teel getting some decent backstabs in to shorten the encounter.
We descend to another level, safely negotiate a repeating fireball room, and deal with three greater wyvens with the help of some statues. Once the wyverns are dead we kill off the statues and make our way through to the next corridor.
The smell of greater ghouls lies ahead so we stop for the night.
Journal of Mildgyth the Mace
We tried to join the bandits much to the disgust of Ajantis. He needn't have worried. Tazok attacked us. We fended him off and had a sleep to renew our spellbooks before taking on Brotus Bloodthirsty.
In the battle, both he and Dynaheir were killed.
We took her body to the temple to be raised and then took on the bandits north of Beregost, killing them all.
We then went to Beregost where we took on Tranzig who soon pleaded for mercy. At the behest of Sirene we let him go. That could be a mistake. Especially since we missed out on the loot.
We are now on our way back to the camp.
At Durlag's Tower I swiftly cleared the exterior without trouble. A PfP scroll made the roof easy, while inside I left most of the ghasts, but did give Riggilo some hair before killing him.
I left the tome though, rather than use up a valuable PfM scroll.
Back in the City, Ramazith's Tower didn't take long thanks to a quick use of Spider's Bane in between shooting ghasts and horror to make hobgoblins and kobolds into helpless targets.
Some dopplegangers failed to register a hit, but a bit more care was needed at the Iron Throne. The stairs were used to split up the opposition and they managed just a single hit when I allowed Gardush to stay close while finishing off the last of the casters.
I left Zhalimar to last and, even though I'm much better at range that's even more the case with him - so he got the melee treatment.
After reporting to Duke Eltan, it was off to Candlekeep. Without the ability to use potions there, I couldn't get the tomes, but DUHM is enough to open the 3rd tomb - with another PfM scroll. I virtually always kill Prat, but the only way to do that safely with a wizard slayer is exploding arrows and I decided not to use those up on when I gained so little. A PfP scrolls had no continuing value to me and was required anyway to get past the basilisks.
Back in Baldur's Gate I returned to Ramazith's Tower to kick open his lock box with DUHM - getting scrolls of PfM and PfP. Then it was off to find Slythe. I didn't bother with Krystin, so just shot Slythe with a dispelling arrow and meleed him down.
At the Palace the only preparation available was DUHM. Once the dopplegangers transformed Bhaal horror was used, but affected no-one.
That could have been very bad news if the dopplegangers had all ganged up on the dukes. Fortunately though, 3 of them attacked me, which is very unusual and I spent the rest of that round dispelling the others attacking Belt - taking a couple of blows in the process.
A second Bhaal horror gave text suggesting one of the dopplegangers was running, but none of them actually did so.
To try and protect Belt I switched between defending with Twinkle and shooting acid arrows at his attackers. After killing two of them my HPs were getting low, so I had to stop shooting - but that proved enough to allow Belt to finish off his last opponent and come to help me.
I disengaged to drag the last one away in order to ensure Belt would be safe from Sarevok.
After a final stocking up with ammunition, I made my way through the maze. The hour came up during that, but I decided to breach my standard procedure again and continue anyway. I left the Undercity party alone and headed for the old temple. As usual I was in two minds about whether to fight fair there, but the lure of 8 exploding arrows persuaded me to use the lightning trap to kill Angelo.
By that time, Sarevok was the only one left standing, but a single shot dispelled him.
I felt it was only appropriate to kill him with a Bhaal power and, after a mixture of melee and missiles, he was ready for the chop.
I arrived in Siege with over 300k XP, so immediately levelled up there - gaining grand mastery with my short bow.
On Balduran's Isle, the Crew were able to rest freely up until they'd cleared back to Kaishas Gan - so mainly used their melee weapons prior to that. They cleared the ship level by level, normally dragging enemies down from the level above to do them in more manageable chunks. I should have been attacking Karoug with both the dagger and broadsword found on the ship, in addition to Kondar. However, I forgot to equip Balduran's sword which meant it took rather longer than it should have done to beat down Karoug's regeneration. That was still eventually done, however, without resorting to any use of magic.
Back in the village, they switched to the large stocks of magical missiles they'd brought along, to avoid the danger of resting while infected with lycanthropy . On her own, Kaishas Gan was cut down within seconds and the Crew returned to the mainland.
Selaad proved no trouble there, with Balduran's Sword this time joining in the attack.
The final area to be explored was Durlag's Tower. The battle horrors there were now totally outclassed and cut down in seconds.
Inside, ghasts were also now no threat and just meleed. The occasional hold they inflicted made no significant difference to how fast they died.
To avoid any problems with congestion, Vito soloed the basilisks on the roof. Riggilo accepted Kirinhale's hair before the Crew kindly lifted the curse on him.
The Ghost nearby was shot down without completing a spell.
Descending into the murky depths of the Tower, Bugsy used item protection to give himself 110% fire resistance and 70% lightning resistance while exploring. There are several repeating fire traps that could be used to provide him with healing and that allowed the level to be fully explored while only resting once. Vito talked to the 4 warders before running away rapidly towards the exit, where the others were waiting. Fear and Avarice followed and were shot down. Pride died without inflicting any damage, but Love just had time to release a skull trap before falling.
After resting up, the Crew continued to the 2nd subterranean level. A bit of trial and error saw the doors at the start of the level opened and a few dopplegangers dealt with. Bugsy went to tread on a few traps beyond that, but I'd forgotten how many darts were released by a couple of those and he went too far. The darts kept coming and, as the others listened in horror to his weakening screams, eventually killed him .
A temple trip got Bugsy back in order and the exploration of the second level got back under way. Bugsy still tripped most of the traps, though everyone took the opportunity to switch equipment around in order to heal from a repeating fireball trap. Straight after that though I made a mistake with the Dwarven Doom Guards. I'd intended for Vito to let one of those past for the others to gang up on, before blocking the doorway to tank the others. However, the doorway was wider than it appeared and the others got in as well. In the small space available, one of the Crew got pushed into the trapped fake stairs, adding several skeleton warriors and a stinking cloud as additional complications to the fight.
Fortunately the dwarves had pretty good saves against the cloud and Vito's defensive ability was able to hold the majority of the enemies himself while the others dealt with the remainder.
I couldn't remember what rest spawns there might be, so used the fireball trap again to heal up before carrying on. I tried burning a potion of cloud giant strength + DUHM to get the Doom Guards treasure, but still couldn't open the main chest (I had a feeling there was something worthwhile in that, though couldn't remember what - checking a walkthrough while writing this the main items are Kiel's Buckler and Morningstar, which are no great loss). It was a good job they had healed up as, on the bridges, Islanne was surprisingly quick to release a lightning bolt. That was aimed at Vito, well away from the others, but a couple of bounces sent the bolt into the group and caused significant damage just before the dopplegangers could be finished off.
Rather than use the trap again, this time they just rested - using Buckley's Buckler to speed up healing. A few greater dopplegangers tried to disturb them, but they only appeared one at a time and were thus easy meat. They're now ready to dive deeper into Durlag's perils.
I rolled a new Undead Hunter, because I got bored playing Bg2 with reloads once I reached ToB (I thought it would be fun to play a relaxed game, but it's just not the same anymore, even if I reload only on PC death…) and started again in Candlekeep. core rules, no mods, strictly roleplayed Paladin of Lathander.
Unfortunately, it was a short run.
I set myself a time limit of 10 minutes to roll and got a 94 with Str 18/50. Not too bad.
Took Imoen with me, went to the FAI, Imoen successfully interrupted Tarnesh with her wand, we killed him, found Joia's ring, recruited Ajantis, went to Beregost, killed the spiders in Landrin's home, returned Mr. Colquette's amulet, the letter to what's-her-name and the boots that belonged to the cleptomanic dwarf, got waylaid by a circle of 10 bandits and decided to run for our lives instead of fighting them, while we dragged Imoen's dead body behind us.
After paying to raise her from the dead, we went south to Nashkel, fought another assassin in a bar, saved and recruited Branwen, decided to help Minsc rescue Dynaheir next, got waylaid by an ogre mage, and being a stupid, proud paladin (that happens when you're a zealot with more muscles than brains, running around with INT 9), I didn't order the others to run but we fought him, at Level 2 with my 26 lousy HP.
That was the end of our journey. He died immediately after me, so I hope my companions went at least to rescue Dynaheir and then went on with their lives. Well, until Sarevok became the Lord of Murder, that is.
I rolled a new Undead Hunter, because I got bored playing Bg2 with reloads once I reached ToB (I thought it would be fun to play a relaxed game, but it's just not the same anymore, even if I reload only on PC death…)
I rolled a new Undead Hunter, because I got bored playing Bg2 with reloads once I reached ToB (I thought it would be fun to play a relaxed game, but it's just not the same anymore, even if I reload only on PC death…)
It can be a bit of a one-way ticket .
Then I'll have to get more skilled very soon. I don't want to wait until I'm a grandmother before I see Athkatla again.
Michio drags his companions to and fro Beregost Temple (part 123 4)
Many Greater Ghouls thought their Shar-Teel sized snack would be very tasty. No matter how much they tucked in though the rest of the party found a way to keep her alive, healing her up in time for the next paralyzation.
Michio felt her predatoresque byline was worth a good slap on the back, only he shouldn't have done so near that trap. Shar-Teel really looks like she could do with a trip back to the temple so we ignore Edwin(a)'s dismissiveness of the value of her contribution.
We're past the giant chessboard, so undertaking such a journey may well end our exploration of the tower. Michio considers his options and slowly decides it is unsafe in the extreme to continue, so we find Mrs Durlag (Islanne) and ask her to return us to the surface.
With Shar-Teel breathing once more Michio decides to return to the tower and nose around. Perhaps we can find a way back into the danger zone.
On entering the room which previously contained Kaldran the bear we are teleported to the giant chessboard and our adventure can continue. It doesn't take very long for Kagain to select the wrong dialogue response to a statue. A lightning bolt hits him but moves on to kill Garrick. How about a temple trip now we know we can safely return.
Some time later we are back. We cautiously inch forward and only a few inches further we run into an Astral Phase spider that poisons Shar-Teel, prompting another predatorly byline. Michio rummages in his potion case and hands her an elixir of health. She gratefully gulps it and the poison continues for two more ticks so Michio is left staring at a dead companion and wondering if he'd passed her the wrong potion. We've got the route to the temple worked out now, so off we go.
A slow trek back sees us complete the various tasks and now we can face the Demon Knight. Our buffs look adequate with Kagain using both rings of fire protection to prevent dispelling. He uses a greenstone amulet charge in the hope of not getting stunned but this does get dispelled and he is forced to rely on saving throws for a while. If only he'd kept his ring of protection +2.
Regardless, he is only stunned in the last few moments and we kill off the Demon Knight before Kagain can take too much damage.
We return to Ulgoth's Beard but before we can update the dwarf on our success we are ambushed and in the ensuing combat we lose the dagger he wanted us to retrieve.
Two more cultist groups await us outside a building and inside. We buff at this point, three of us using potions of mirrored eyes (1 turn protection) and the others using potions of magic shielding (3 turns, guaranteed saves). On top of strength, speed, heroism and mind focusing we have cleric and mage buffs active so we descend.
Our first target is their mage, with some fireballs injuring the cultists at the rear. Shar-Teel and Kagain melee as we shoot and cast spells to kill the remaining cultists, with Shar-Teel resisting various attacks from the summoned Aec'Letec. After a few rounds Shar-Teel starts to take damage so she swaps positions with Kagain and they kill the last pair of cultists.
Garrick has been held for a while but is in no danger, while Shar-Teel is attempting hit and run backstabs. She fails twice but attacks each time, and on her third attempt she is successful. She races in to apply a backstab but Aec'Letec falls just before she reaches him.
Michio crosses the quest out of his journal. Now, something about Balduran's Isle. He perhaps ought to see if he can find any scrolls of raise dead if he is to follow in the footprints of a dwarven wrecking crew.
Finding scrolls of Raise Dead turns out to just be a pipe dream, so Michio needs to be doubly careful not to get anyone killed on the next trip to an isle of lycanthropes. Shar-Teel only has one minor scare, sneaking into the base level of Balduran's ship and getting stuck next to Kagain who is fighting a number of enemies. She gulps a potion or two and survives.
Karoug is at the uppermost level of the ship and is left until last. Kagain has one pip in bastard sword and uses the Kondar weapon. Michio has the Werebane dagger with one pip, while Shar-Teel perseveres with a non-proficient sword of Balduran. Edwin uses a Malison before we try spells.
Kaishas Gan turns out to be a Loup Garou, forcing us to kill her.
Mendas has been waiting impatiently for us at Ulgoths Beard, and reveals his true identiy as Selaad. It may be his first name and it is certainly his last.
With the three Sword Coast mini-quests complete it is time to return to Baldur's Gate. Our reputation is high (17) so we decide not to rescue Duke Eltan - he'll be fine...
Michio decides to tackle Cythandria and obtain evidence she may have on her body.
That evidence looks fairly damning to us but we decided to get a second set. How difficult can it be.
Michio intended to deal with Krystin too - only remembering about her at the subsequent write-up so a lucky escape for her or us - we'll never know.
The coronation at the ducal palace turns out to be an elaborate trap - good job we are buffed to the nines and have Kagain in melee, Shar-Teel with arrows of dispelling, Viconia with her +3 sling and three spellcasters dropping Magic Missiles in to scythe the doppeldangers down before they can kill either Duke.
We make our way through the thieves maze without incident before Shar-Teel sights Rahvin and his supporting cast. We intend to position ourselves to attack but a careless misjudgement sees Rahvin talking to one of the party and the battle is on.
(note: Grond0 and to a lesser extent Corey_Russell will be familiar with this sort of stupidity on my part in multiplayer but additional pausing in single player makes it even less excusable)
A single arrow of detonation causes a great deal of pain to us, but we get some debilitaing spells up and make them pay dearly.
We need a decent opening inside the temple and Shar-Teel tries to do this. She misses Sarevok with an arrow of dispelling and slowly retreats - as she is wearing the ring of free action. No traps trigger but Sarevok has run past Kagain and caught up to her. Semaj has arrived and cast Mirror Image.
A calculated attempt by Shar-Teel to dispel Semaj's images falters as she misses, and as she tries to run from Sarevok he hits her and then lands a second fatal blow. We're a person down with Semaj and Sarevok in play so things look bad.
Michio casts Remove Magic as Garrick casts Dispel Magic. Edwin(a) uses his wand of monster summoning to distract Sarevok who is chewing on Kagain's tail.
Down goes Semaj's protection so we attack him and he survives a volley of missiles, magic missiles and Kagain's axe. Another hit and he is down.
Kagain switches to a throwing axe as Edwin(a) tosses in a Malison. Garrick utilises his looted wand of monster summoning too as Sarevok is cutting them down without mercy.
The Malison takes effect so Viconia tries a Doom. That also works so we pick our next spells carefully. Blind and two types of Hold are chosen, and Sarevok fails his saves.
We opt not to use fireball or skulltrap, and supply some Magic Missiles instead.
We thought that may have been enough but Sarevok demands just a little more and we're off to a Safehouse.
Party inventory at the start of SoD:
Imoen is muttering that Michio won't get out of SoD alive. That sounds reasonably prescient but not too much of a surprise based on my track record.
@Grond0 , how’d you get your wizard slayer to read the tome to increase CON? Is there a mod for that?
@Klorox no - all tomes were always readable by wizard slayers right from the vanilla game. In source material for AD&D the situation is confusing. A number of tomes are specifically said to be non-magical (for instance constitution can be developed by following an exercise regime). From memory there's at least 1 that is magical and 1 or 2 that don't specifically say. The way in which they were used and the time taken for that were also different.
Bioware standardized the situation by treating them as all the same and all usable by the wizard slayer (that decision may partly have been about game balance). Playing solo in the unmodded game the wizard slayer still can't get the strength tome as there's no way to get strength up to 24 to bash the lock - but if someone else grabs the tome, the wizard slayer would gladly make use of it .
In the SoD opening dungeon, I intimidated Porios into surrendering.
A use of PfU allowed various undead enemies to be slaughtered on the way through. The Flaming Fist helped out against the last group of mercenaries, several of whom were frozen by stunning darts.
More mercenaries agreed to open the door to Korlasz
and her protections were removed by a couple of dispelling arrows. A single acid arrow was enough for her to surrender and a couple more killed her as she attempted to leave.
Fanegonorom provided a shield upgrade before I left.
In Baldur's Gate, I killed Minsc to get Kiel's Helmet and increased the headgear selection with the Battle Tankard (I can't use the Spectacles). With about 60k gained from selling the items in my containers though, there was no real point in taking equipment from other NPCs.
After leaving the City the first action was at the Coast Way Forest. After agreeing to help Tsolak I typically try with a fighter to time a dispelling arrow so it's fired just before Ikros goes invisible (in order to dispel that when it hits). That's tricky though and with the wizard slayer spell failure ability I just attacked immediately - that gave me time for two shots, though annoyingly one was a critical miss. Quickly withdrawing, I was safely out of range when Ikros used an emotion spell on Tsolak and 3 more hits theoretically shut down his spellcasting.
As the mage was no longer an immediate threat to Tsolak, I switched to darts of stunning to attack Isabella, but she wasn't easy to hit with non-proficient darts and saved against the 2 hits I did manage in a couple of rounds. With Tsolak badly wounded, I came into melee and successfully got Isabella's attention by hitting her.
At that point Ikros somehow managed to cast hold undead on the vampire, even though he should not have recovered from the 5 round duration of spell failure (possibly that's a scripted spell, rather than a standard one).
That made Ikros more of a threat in melee as well - fortunately he proved less adept at saving against a single stunning dart than Isabella.
Isabella is well protected in melee though and she was still standing when the 7 round duration of the stun ran out - not to worry though, another single dart re-established that and shortly after that both opponents were dead.
Travelling back towards the Coast Way Crossing, I had the opportunity to fight some orcs and trolls, but they had nothing of interest and I continued on my way. Back at the Crossing I returned some heirlooms to Takos and took back the shield as a reward (typically I keep the mirror, but couldn't use that and anyway, with no need for money, the shield would be more useful for a wizard slayer). I also traded the Eagle Bow for the very marginally better Savage Shortbow before going to the bridge. I was a fraction of a second slow running behind the tent there and some of the enemies got enough sight of me to react, but they couldn't do much damage before Caelar called for a parley.
I ran straight through the Troll Claw Woods and on to the Forest of Wyrms - where Tsolak's messenger caught up with me with the regeneration ioun stone. Without the ability to go invisible I had to shoot my way through wyverns, phase spiders and bugbears to get to the dragon's cave. More bugbears were found beyond that and I used a sunray to thin those out a bit.
Despite being hit twice while casting, the shaman managed to release a hold person. I was in the process of running away from that by habit (and had enough time to get back into the dragon's cave before the projectile arrived), when I remembered that I had Spider's Bane available .
The regeneration ioun stone let me trip the spike trap on the way to the next cave, but time was up while recovering HPs from that and the remaining bugbears will have to wait for the next session.
@Grond0 , how’d you get your wizard slayer to read the tome to increase CON? Is there a mod for that?
@Klorox no - all tomes were always readable by wizard slayers right from the vanilla game. In source material for AD&D the situation is confusing. A number of tomes are specifically said to be non-magical (for instance constitution can be developed by following an exercise regime). From memory there's at least 1 that is magical and 1 or 2 that don't specifically say. The way in which they were used and the time taken for that were also different.
Bioware standardized the situation by treating them as all the same and all usable by the wizard slayer (that decision may partly have been about game balance). Playing solo in the unmodded game the wizard slayer still can't get the strength tome as there's no way to get strength up to 24 to bash the lock - but if someone else grabs the tome, the wizard slayer would gladly make use of it .
You’re right, and you even used the example I was thinking of.
I played a solo wizard slayer through BG1 and had no way to get the STR tome.
@Grond0 , how’d you get your wizard slayer to read the tome to increase CON? Is there a mod for that?
@Klorox no - all tomes were always readable by wizard slayers right from the vanilla game. In source material for AD&D the situation is confusing. A number of tomes are specifically said to be non-magical (for instance constitution can be developed by following an exercise regime). From memory there's at least 1 that is magical and 1 or 2 that don't specifically say. The way in which they were used and the time taken for that were also different.
Bioware standardized the situation by treating them as all the same and all usable by the wizard slayer (that decision may partly have been about game balance). Playing solo in the unmodded game the wizard slayer still can't get the strength tome as there's no way to get strength up to 24 to bash the lock - but if someone else grabs the tome, the wizard slayer would gladly make use of it .
You’re right, and you even used the example I was thinking of.
As I've got such a bad memory I quickly looked it up.
The tomes for dexterity, wisdom, charisma and intelligence are all described as non-magical.
The tomes for constitution and strength are described as looking non-magical and the contents of the book provide non-magical training methods that result over a period of time in the stat increase. However, the description does say the books will radiate an aura of magic if detect magic is cast on them.
There are separate, rather different, tomes for priests of either good or evil alignment. Those are clearly stated as being magical and have magical effects (for the right person giving +1 to wisdom and an XP bonus, but with various penalties to any other reader).
Overall, I would say the decision to treat the tomes as non-magical is clearly the best representation of the source material - if the desire is to treat them all consistently.
On the third underground level they hurried through a furnace before Bugsy explored to set off the traps in the next area. Vito tanked the Ashirukuru backstabs before they were despatched with a volley of missile fire.
Vito then tanked the first two greater wyverns, but had to swap with others when the 3rd hit him twice in rapid succession.
Inside that room they activated the statues one by one and dealt with their avatars - picking up a 3rd suit of full plate in the process.
Bugsy took that and put it to good use while soloing the skeleton archers.
In the cold room, Kaldron failed to register a hit on Vito.
In the slime room I couldn't remember if fire or magic damage was needed. A rare use of magic missile wands just duplicated the threat, so they all switched to fiery missiles - which did the job.
However, when trying to rest to heal up I got too close to the repeating fireball trap there. One fireball triggered, taking Vito low on HPs and he tried to run while everyone else froze in place - but the trap must already have been triggered multiple times and a second fireball laid Vito low.
Unpausing then showed a 3rd fireball on the way and a couple of items were switched round to give greater protection to those lower on HPs.
Fortunately, 3 seemed to be it for the moment. I was concerned about movement setting it off again, but everyone was able to successfully move away safely.
After picking up all the gear they undertook the long trip to the temple. Eventually back at the elemental rooms they shot down the Air Aspect.
In the final room the Phoenix Guard also took one too many missiles and the Crew suddenly found themselves on the chess board.
The 4 Crew with Necklaces sent down an initial volley of fireballs to take a significant toll of the opposition. I don't think I've done this for quite a while without SCS installed, so it felt wrong that no enemies were charging forwards. However, not looking a gift horse in the mouth, additional fireballs from out of sight killed the others.
They made steady progress through the 4th level and Al used another potion of cloud giant strength to open the chest near Durlag's Throne - being rewarded there with a shield +2 and sling +3. In the slime caverns things like crypt crawlers and greater ghouls had no real chance of causing the Crew a problem - and Grael fared no better.
Another strength potion gained a flametongue sword and a staff of striking - and another chance for Bugsy to test his stamina against traps.
Shortly after that he tripped another trap around a corner. Initially I thought that was a spike trap, but in case it was a repeating one I rested, with the party slightly separated, so that Bugsy could use Buckley's Buckler to recover HPs. That was a good job as, when he started back to the others, the animation showed clearly this time it was a wall crushing trap.
I don't remember that one, but I did at one time study quite closely the behavior of the similar one on the second level - and noted the possibility that could affect people well outside the apparent area of the trap. In this case Al was also affected, but he shrugged off a 68 HP blow that would have killed many characters.
However, I'm a slow learner. Bugsy had already died once in the Tower to a repeating dart trap and found another when he went to double-check that what I thought was a dead end was indeed so. Having spotted the end of the passage he turned back, just as he was hit with the first dart - and in turning back he must have triggered the trap for a second time. The darts kept coming relentlessly and, with Bugsy down to single figures, I thought I might as well try resting. That was successful - but as soon as the 8 hours were up the darts restarted and Bugsy's heart stopped.
Islanne's spirit offered a quick exit, but it was still a wearisome journey back after visiting the temple. I thought I had completed everything on the level at this point, but the Throne Room was still locked. Eventually, however, I talked again to Durlag's Spirit and he opened the way. Another cloud giant strength potion there gained a Cloak of the Shield. Vito used a potion of genius to put PfM on himself in preparation for the final encounter, while the others added a few potion buffs before entering the demon's lair. The Demon Knight just had time to dispel Vito and Baby Face and attempt a useless fireball on Vito - but that was its lot.
The traps in the Tower are a bit of a pain without a thief, but it's certainly possible to survive them all with a bunch of fighters, without even using any resources - if someone was playing a bit more carefully and patiently than me of course .
With Durlag's Tower out of the way, there's just a bit of work left in Ulgoth's Beard before the Crew can go to attend to Sarevok ...
Vito - L8, 93 HPs, 477 kills, 2 deaths, **** scimitar / ** darts
Baby Face - L8, 103 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 481 kills, 0 deaths, **** long sword / ** crossbow
Mad Dog - L8, 109 HPs, 410 kills, 0 deaths, **** axe / ** dual wielding
Carlo - L8, 87 HPs, 441 kills, 0 deaths, **** flail / ** sling
Bugsy - L8, 108 HPs, 419 kills, 2 deaths, **** hammer / ** shortbow
Al (PC) - L8, 103 HPs, 458 kills, **** 2-handed sword / ** longbow
The kills race is very evenly balanced this run compared to previous attempts. In the past Vito has sometimes run away with it, when taking a very aggressive approach, rather than the more defensive duties he's concentrated on so far this time. Mad Dog suffered for some time as a result of throwing axes - and finding enemies were dead before his slower weapon could come into play. However, he's the only one dual-wielding and, now that most work is being done in melee, he's making ground up on the leaders.
I used a combination of The One Gift Lost, a Protection from Undead scroll, and drawing enemies into the Flaming Fist to clear Korlasz's Family Tomb. Korlasz was killed.
Baldur's gate was cleared mostly without incident, although I did almost die to the four thieves outside of The Three Old Kegs. I made the mistake of talking down the bar fight too, where I usually kill one of the captains and receive the gift from the other one. Selling my collection of jewelry, gems, and scrolls from BG brought me up to 64k gold for a shopping spree.
After arriving at Coast Way Crossing, I immediately headed west to the Coast Way Forest to make a deal with a vampire. I drink a Potion of Clarity prior to the encounter just in case, but Ikros is stunned by my second Dart of Stunning and killed quickly after. I move to a spot where Isabella is able to block me from kiting her, but DUHM and Blur bring my AC to 7, and Tsolak and I kill her. I then charm Rasaad and get him killed by orcs.
On the way back, I trigger the orc/troll encounter. I bombard them from offscreen with TOGL. I mostly do the same to the trolls immediately in the cave. I equip Nimbul's Topsider's Crutch to enter the pool and retrieve Firefly +2. Back at the Coast Way Crossing, I'm greeted by Tsolak's messnger and receive the Ioun Stone.
I turn in the halflings items and receive Biter. On the way to see Teleria, I kill some spiders and reach level 10. Biter is put to work on the Lesser Stone Golem and Teleria.
I had gathered up a large group of enemies in the dwarven dig site, and the dwarven clerics all gave up their amulets. Biter was used to kill the Bronze Sentry, and two Protection from Undead scrolls were used to clear the undead. I turned in the amulets to Coldhearth for his later assistance.
I hide behind the tent at the bridge until Caelar arrives to parlay.
I stealth through the Troll Claw Woods and trigger the Goblin Waylay. I get confused by the myconids but kill them all through the confusion. I believe this is the first save I have to attempt through the entire run.
I stealth up to Morentherene and realize I forgot to purchase throwing daggers, so I head back to camp and purchase some Throwing Daggers +1. I attack her while sleeping, and while the second one hits, it doesn't deal damage or instantly kill her (maybe only regular throwing daggers work?). She wakes up and hits me with a Dragon Fear, which I fortunately save against, but is another save I didn't intend to make. I end up running from her and coming back, where I save a second time before giving up and moving on.
I clear the cultists prior to Ziatar with TOGL and kill her by stealthing, opening the door, slinging a stone, and closing the door a number of times. I save a fear from her as well. I drink a Potion of Genius and summon a stone golem for help against the Neothelid. The Neothelid summons two swords which the stone golem distracts, and I run out, closing the door behind me. The Neothelid Dimension Walks, and I think I use the Greenstone Amulet then beat it down.
I trigger Akanna but close the door and head to Darkshelin. I use a similar tactic to the one against Ziatar, but launch TOGL charges instead of ranged attacks. Mohad Flintborn manages to make it out of the room, so I close the door and kite him. I return to the room, but they're all ready when I open the door, and I save against a Psionic Blast. I pop a Greenstone Amulet charge and lure the kensai and Darkshelin away. The kensai was weakened from prior TOGL charges and falls easily. Darkshelin falls quickly to Darts of Wounding, and I go back and clean up the remaining two. Akanna is still hostile, so I draw the aerial servants away one at a time, kill them, then come back and kill her.
The Shadow Aspect is next, and after some kiting, it hits me, goes invisible, and quadruple backstabs me, ending the run. I will not attempt the Shadow Aspect again. Disappointed, to say the least.
The Shadow Aspect is next, and after some kiting, it hits me, goes invisible, and quadruple backstabs me, ending the run. I will not attempt the Shadow Aspect again. Disappointed, to say the least.
Hard luck @jessejmc, but it sounds like a good effort. For a solo character there's nothing really to gain from killing the Shadow Aspect (or Darskhelin and his boys), though I certainly understand the desire to test them out .
Journal of Mildgyth the Mace
We returned to the bandit camp and at first things didn't go well. Sirene got killed and Tenya badly injured due to getting stuck in our own web.
Fortunately we were able to grab Sirene's possessions and flee to the FAI where we recuperated before getting Sirene raised.
We returned and had more success.
Eventually we discovered who was behind the raids and where we should go next.
We struggled but prevailed. In the process Dynaheir levelled up, so perhaps things will get a little easier.
I pulled the bugbears in the cave back one by one to be shot down. The only potential danger with that was the shaman, but he failed to complete a spell once he was left on his own.
The next bit in the temple is the most dangerous for a wizard slayer as its the first time in the run so far you're exposed to spell effects with no way of guaranteeing protection against them. There is a way to boost your chances somewhat though and I decided to leave the area for the moment while I went to find that.
I started journeying with the aim of finding a big hole in the ground, but the first thing found was a young green dragon in need to rescue from some hill giants.
Another area transition though found the required hole. The first thing to do was clear out the goblins guarding it - and a single exploding arrow for the witchdoctor sped up that process.
Inside the cave I didn't try dodging the initial myconids as I was confident I could beat them up even if confused - fortunately that confidence proved justified, with that group only managing a single critical.
I was a bit more concerned about the pacifier spores from the blue myconid, but saved against the one lot of those it sent before acid arrows burned through it. The prize on offer there was the Spell Breaker long sword - allowing me to take my spell saving throw down from 5 to 1.
Back at the temple I killed the various groups of Ziatar's guards, bit by bit - resting to recover HPs. With that complication out of the way, I attacked Ziatar. He's vulnerable to stun and the second dart that hit him struck home.
Keherrem was already hostile as a result of seeing me kill the guards, so he got spiked. Then it was time to take a risk with the Neothelid. Scrolls of PfM and protection from poison are of some use, but it has non-magical disablers that I can't entirely protect against. Hence, rather than fighting it, I just ran past as quickly as possible to get to Akanna. Unfortunately she saved against a first hit by a stunning dart and disappeared, while I switched to Twinkle to try and protect against her aerial servants. After running round for a couple of rounds, a text message warned of the Neothelid teleporting in - just as I successfully stunned Akanna.
A few more seconds finished her off before I tried to escape. I've been in that situation before and the Neothelid has a nasty habit of blocking the doorway - but this time there was just space to squeeze past and I was on my way - leaving the Neothelid to fight it out with aerial servants not appreciating the poison spread everywhere.
On the way out I had no interest in a fair fight with a dragon - fortunately there's nothing particularly fair about throwing daggers at a sleeping target .
Moving on to Boareskyr Bridge I returned Keherrem's badge to get entry to the Crusader Camp before teleporting into the fort. The dragon scales provided a shield upgrade there before I was tasked to get a scroll from Vichand. I nearly always kill him, but you need to do that quickly to avoid alerting the camp - and that's not as easy for wizard slayers as fighters who can use firebreath potions. Hence I just intimidated him into handing over the scroll.
After shooting down a dark wraith, I converted some voidstone shards into arrows before surrendering the fort. The mage on the bridge is another possible hiccup, though he'd need to be pretty lucky against dispelling arrows. However, time was up, so that test will have to wait for tomorrow.
Arriving at Ulgoth's Beard, both Cult Assassins missed their backstabs, meaning the opening fight was pretty easy.
The fight at the entrance to the temple was also straight-forward.
They rested up before going inside. This time both Assassins there hit their backstabs and Carlo suffered further hits (probably because he's the only one still in basic plate mail) and had to retreat a bit. However, it was still a pretty comfortable victory.
After resting up again, they ventured downstairs to find the shadowy mastermind of the goings on at Durlag's Tower. Almost immediately on their entrance Vito was held and a couple of seconds later Baby Face joined him. Al and Bugsy equipped dispelling arrows to release them though.
Shortly after that Tracea Carol was the first to fall.
Aec'Letec pursued Mad Dog seeking revenge, but found no more victims until she looked up what seemed only moments later to find herself alone.
Vito was held again at that point, but dispelled once more as the Crew gathered around their chosen victim.
Aec'Letec was hitting Baby Face hard, but her life force was also disappearing fast and a critical from Mad Dog proved too much for her to handle.
Back in Baldur's Gate I spent about 70k on luxury ammunition - no point in scrimping as I still had over 40k in cash and a lot more than that in negotiable items. Finally, everything was ready for the final fight. Rather than just cheese that, Al edged up into sight of Sarevok and shot him with a dispelling arrow before retreating without Sarevok talking.
Vito then edged forward until Sarevok came out and had his conversation.
Vito took an invisibility potion to strand Sarevok briefly, while the others waited a second for Semaj to teleport out. He managed to release his contingency, but was dead before he could finish a follow-up spell.
Vito then tempted Angelo to show himself. He came under heavy attack, but managed to shoot a couple of exploding arrows before going down.
Tazok was next, followed by a stray battle horror.
Then, finally, it was Sarevok's last stand as the Crew gathered round him. With the attacks pouring in I'm pretty sure he should have been way below 0 HPs, but eventually he realized he was supposed to be dead and the closing animation triggered ...
Although the Crew had earned vastly more than the XP cap on their travels, the amount in excess of that taken forward into SoD is only that earned since the last save. That means they only had 171k each - but the advantage of that is that they'll have longer with the joy of seeing their XP rise in SoD .
Michio tackles the Safehouse and whatever lies beyond (part 12345 6)
The Safehouse contains various mercenaries who are unable to stop our controlled progress through the area. We descend some stairs into a lower level and Safana uses a Protection from Undead scroll to clear several areas on her own. The scroll expires as she explores a secret room so we help her destroy the last three undead together with a fourth wraith which appears from elsewhere.
Fireballs clear the next area where assassins lurk, and Korlasz is shown no mercy - more fireballs eliminating her support so we can whittle her down to size.
Michio's celebratory rest in the ducal palace is cut short by more assassins. Corwin helps him out, and he sets out into the city to find his former party members. Garrick doesn't want to travel with Michio any longer so Michio recruits Safana and hands her some better equipment. There is nobody else Michio wants to recruit so after a brief bit of shopping we use confusion and fireballs to foil a burglarly at the Sorcerous Sundries.
Then it's time to set off for the Crusade. Michio spies Viconia and Edwin, telling them to step back into line. The party is forming but we have no melee shield and limited offensive capability (other than Edwin's verbal insults).
n.b. Edwin is carrying the cursed girdle - his default gender has changed to female, becoming male when equipped so he will role-play wearing it.
Michio asks if Viconia is up to melee, and asks Corwin to provide some ranged punch. This might work.
It does work, for a while. Meanwhile, Safana tries to skirt around Edwin's skulltrap and we'll never know if she got too close or if a passing rat activated it.
After looting everything we return to camp and get our fallen party member raised. We're a bit light on headgear so we unfriend Ikros and Isabella rather than return to the dwarven dig site.
A short while afterwards, a messenger from the vampire delivers an item which Safana tries on, providing her with regenerative abilities.
Anyway, back to Viconia tanking for us. It may work generally but goes badly against trolls - she dies before we can thin them down and Safana dies a few moments later. Corwin has to run and shoot, while Edwin and Michio continue their spells.
The mage was waiting on the bridge and I immediately targeted him with arrows. His first spell was disrupted by damage and running round between shots, I hit him several more times to shut down his casting before he was finished off and his guards followed.
I was reluctant to use horror there, as I've had a couple of occasions where the bridge has exploded with no obvious explanation and horror may well have been a factor there (though it shouldn't induce berserk behavior, scared creatures will run and do sometimes attack things that they bump into).
At the Coalition Camp, I talked to Helvdar about his desire for lucky boots and bought some more ammunition and the Soft Feet boots from Waizahb. I then quickly reported in to the leaders and accepted some Bwoosh and poison.
Moving on to Dead Man's Pass I avoided straying from the road, but still found plenty of enemies coming to find me and spent a fair time running them round.
I had to keep a close eye out for bombardier beetles due to their no-save stun acid attack if you let them get too near. At some point during those battles I realized I'd hit the XP cap and levelled up to level 10. With the road eventually clear I went to find a cave bear and took its skin.
Travelling to Dragonspear I skipped past a dead magic ambush area. I stayed at the castle only long enough to free Skie.
A brief return to camp saw the Lucky Boots made (+3 saving throws for dwarves), before making an early use of those at the Underground River to ensure I wouldn't be confused by some myconids (a bit surprisingly, their Bloom-Sac is treated as non-magical and therefore gives me a summoning option). Without the ability to go invisible I had to fight all the guards to the underground entrance, but darts of stunning helped speed that up (they also had the advantage of allowing use of a shield - helpful given a number of those guards are archers (and use called shot) with pretty good THAC0.
With the enemies all dead I was eventually free to move inside. I placed the Bwoosh before blagging my way into the inner area.
The cleric there sold me a few more restoration scrolls before I nipped upstairs. Some myconids provided a distraction there while I went to poison the food and water. With them dead though, it looked for a moment as though I could be trapped after poisoning the water and listening to Hephernaan's rant, but I managed to ease my way through.
However, even with boots of speed the word got back to the entrance before me and it looked unlikely I would be able to get back over the little bridge without being trapped. Fortunately, horror came in handy there again and I made my way outside to safety.
To be honest, I think trying to lay down poison like that is too risky a strategy for a wizard slayer. However, having got away with it this time, let's see if I can get through SoD again (which I've only done once in my previous 30 attempts with this character).
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Restarting the game this morning, the first job was to rest and regain HPs by having Buckley's Buckler equipped. While I used to go to the top level of the mine to rest, for some time now I've preferred to rest on the 3rd level. The potential problem there is that with 10 guards spawning at a time, you need to be precise about where you try to rest to avoid being trapped. The first attempt was next to the stairs, but close to the doorway to ensure that any ambushing guards appear on the other side of the stairs and don't block the doorway. The guards did appear, but quickly running round the corner I could try again before those guards could get to me (they don't prevent resting unless actually in sight). If guards had appeared this time they would have been close enough not to block the other exit to the room and my superior speed would let me run round them - but I got a peaceful night.
The second battle horror only managed a single hit on me, while being subjected to run and hit tactics.
Moving on to Baldur's Gate, I grabbed the dexterity tome to give myself an AC boost. Next was the poison quest, which opened up another tome (though a useless one), a slightly improved shield and the prize of an improved short bow. After shooting Jalantha down,
A quick tour of the realms soon pushed reputation up to 20 without any problems when helping out Charleston Nib. I couldn't resist taking on the Doomsayer there and won comfortably enough despite getting fatigued during the contest.
Over at the coast, 4 exploding arrows ensured sirines would not have a chance to target me with their charms.
Wizard Slayer L8, 103 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 251 kills
Journal of Mildgyth, a Berserker
Because of my rather erratic temperament, I didn't have too many close friends in Candlekeep. You had to be a very patient person to put up with me. I do however TRY to do the right thing. It's just that I am not very patient myself. That leads me to do things that I later regret. I do not however regret killing the assassins in Candlekeep. Firstly because they were trying to kill me, and secondly because they were carrying excellent equipment if I ever have a thief in the party.
I found a leter on Gorion's body telling me to go to the Friendly Arms Inn. However, those who ambushed us could well have read it and be waiting there to ambush me. I therefore headed for Beregost where I found a magical mace. I actually risked using it despite it not being indentified. I survived and I can pick it up and put it down at will. I therefore surmise that it isn't cursed.
In the inn where I found the mace I came across a cutpurse. I forced her to return the goods and she was NOT a happy bunny!
I killed a couple of ogrillon just south of the town before making my way to Nashkel, killing a number of hobgoblins and picking up the Colquetle amulet on the way. South of Nashkel another assassin attacked me.
At least killing him will make the Sword Coast a bit safer.
I made it safer still by killing a mage who has decided that all mages [except him] on the Sword Coast should be killed.
I killed some powerful wolves near Lathander's Temple and went on to clear the Basilisk Area killing Mutamin in the process. Enrage was a boon
Rudier told me to keep clear of a cave. Being told that was all the impetus that I needed to enter.
I dealt with Silke and Bassilus and having done that decided to go on a recruitment drive.
Having seen how many enemies I have, I decided that perhaps getting a party of complementary allies was in order. I started ny enrolling Sirene and then Tenya.
I was a bit uncomfortable with Xzar, so was not too upset when he was killed. We then picked up Dynaheir.
As we went to Beregost, Montaron was badly hurt by bandits.
On the way back south, I helped Farmer Brun.
I then rejoined the rest of the party in Nashkel.
Here are our current stats:
Isra wanted to join us, but upon doing so we learned how weak she was. We therefore dropped her off again immediately.
After that we headed to the Valley of the tombs which we plundered.
Due to Xan being in the party we were able to convince some lady ogres to eat vegetables rather than David Jansen.
We then rescued some slaves and afterwards dropped off Xan.
Part 3 is more of a maelstrom than Michio planned. Kagain proved to be fallible when a room full of guardians followed him outside. Michio and Viconia were trying to heal him but one last attack was quicker than their spells.
The smell of greater ghouls lies ahead so we stop for the night.
We tried to join the bandits much to the disgust of Ajantis. He needn't have worried. Tazok attacked us. We fended him off and had a sleep to renew our spellbooks before taking on Brotus Bloodthirsty.
In the battle, both he and Dynaheir were killed.
We took her body to the temple to be raised and then took on the bandits north of Beregost, killing them all.
We then went to Beregost where we took on Tranzig who soon pleaded for mercy. At the behest of Sirene we let him go. That could be a mistake.
We are now on our way back to the camp.
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At Durlag's Tower I swiftly cleared the exterior without trouble. A PfP scroll made the roof easy, while inside I left most of the ghasts, but did give Riggilo some hair before killing him.
Back in the City, Ramazith's Tower didn't take long thanks to a quick use of Spider's Bane in between shooting ghasts and horror to make hobgoblins and kobolds into helpless targets.
After reporting to Duke Eltan, it was off to Candlekeep. Without the ability to use potions there, I couldn't get the tomes, but DUHM is enough to open the 3rd tomb - with another PfM scroll. I virtually always kill Prat, but the only way to do that safely with a wizard slayer is exploding arrows and I decided not to use those up on when I gained so little. A PfP scrolls had no continuing value to me and was required anyway to get past the basilisks.
Back in Baldur's Gate I returned to Ramazith's Tower to kick open his lock box with DUHM - getting scrolls of PfM and PfP. Then it was off to find Slythe. I didn't bother with Krystin, so just shot Slythe with a dispelling arrow and meleed him down.
At the Palace the only preparation available was DUHM. Once the dopplegangers transformed Bhaal horror was used, but affected no-one.
After a final stocking up with ammunition, I made my way through the maze. The hour came up during that, but I decided to breach my standard procedure again and continue anyway. I left the Undercity party alone and headed for the old temple. As usual I was in two minds about whether to fight fair there, but the lure of 8 exploding arrows persuaded me to use the lightning trap to kill Angelo.
I arrived in Siege with over 300k XP, so immediately levelled up there - gaining grand mastery with my short bow.
Wizard Slayer L9, 118 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 338 kills
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On Balduran's Isle, the Crew were able to rest freely up until they'd cleared back to Kaishas Gan - so mainly used their melee weapons prior to that. They cleared the ship level by level, normally dragging enemies down from the level above to do them in more manageable chunks. I should have been attacking Karoug with both the dagger and broadsword found on the ship, in addition to Kondar. However, I forgot to equip Balduran's sword which meant it took rather longer than it should have done to beat down Karoug's regeneration. That was still eventually done, however, without resorting to any use of magic.
Back in the village, they switched to the large stocks of magical missiles they'd brought along, to avoid the danger of resting while infected with lycanthropy
The final area to be explored was Durlag's Tower. The battle horrors there were now totally outclassed and cut down in seconds.
Descending into the murky depths of the Tower, Bugsy used item protection to give himself 110% fire resistance and 70% lightning resistance while exploring. There are several repeating fire traps that could be used to provide him with healing and that allowed the level to be fully explored while only resting once. Vito talked to the 4 warders before running away rapidly towards the exit, where the others were waiting. Fear and Avarice followed and were shot down. Pride died without inflicting any damage, but Love just had time to release a skull trap before falling.
After resting up, the Crew continued to the 2nd subterranean level. A bit of trial and error saw the doors at the start of the level opened and a few dopplegangers dealt with. Bugsy went to tread on a few traps beyond that, but I'd forgotten how many darts were released by a couple of those and he went too far. The darts kept coming and, as the others listened in horror to his weakening screams, eventually killed him
A temple trip got Bugsy back in order and the exploration of the second level got back under way. Bugsy still tripped most of the traps, though everyone took the opportunity to switch equipment around in order to heal from a repeating fireball trap. Straight after that though I made a mistake with the Dwarven Doom Guards. I'd intended for Vito to let one of those past for the others to gang up on, before blocking the doorway to tank the others. However, the doorway was wider than it appeared and the others got in as well. In the small space available, one of the Crew got pushed into the trapped fake stairs, adding several skeleton warriors and a stinking cloud as additional complications to the fight.
I couldn't remember what rest spawns there might be, so used the fireball trap again to heal up before carrying on. I tried burning a potion of cloud giant strength + DUHM to get the Doom Guards treasure, but still couldn't open the main chest (I had a feeling there was something worthwhile in that, though couldn't remember what - checking a walkthrough while writing this the main items are Kiel's Buckler and Morningstar, which are no great loss). It was a good job they had healed up as, on the bridges, Islanne was surprisingly quick to release a lightning bolt. That was aimed at Vito, well away from the others, but a couple of bounces sent the bolt into the group and caused significant damage just before the dopplegangers could be finished off.
Vito - L8, 93 HPs, 460 kills, 1 death, **** scimitar / ** darts
Baby Face - L8, 103 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 463 kills, 0 deaths, **** long sword / ** crossbow
Mad Dog - L8, 109 HPs, 368 kills, 0 deaths, **** axe / ** dual wielding
Carlo - L8, 87 HPs, 424 kills, 0 deaths, **** flail / ** sling
Bugsy - L8, 108 HPs, 379 kills, 1 death, **** hammer / ** shortbow
Al (PC) - L8, 103 HPs, 436 kills, **** 2-handed sword / ** longbow
Unfortunately, it was a short run.
I set myself a time limit of 10 minutes to roll and got a 94 with Str 18/50. Not too bad.
Took Imoen with me, went to the FAI, Imoen successfully interrupted Tarnesh with her wand, we killed him, found Joia's ring, recruited Ajantis, went to Beregost, killed the spiders in Landrin's home, returned Mr. Colquette's amulet, the letter to what's-her-name and the boots that belonged to the cleptomanic dwarf, got waylaid by a circle of 10 bandits and decided to run for our lives instead of fighting them, while we dragged Imoen's dead body behind us.
After paying to raise her from the dead, we went south to Nashkel, fought another assassin in a bar, saved and recruited Branwen, decided to help Minsc rescue Dynaheir next, got waylaid by an ogre mage, and being a stupid, proud paladin (that happens when you're a zealot with more muscles than brains, running around with INT 9), I didn't order the others to run but we fought him, at Level 2 with my 26 lousy HP.
That was the end of our journey. He died immediately after me, so I hope my companions went at least to rescue Dynaheir and then went on with their lives. Well, until Sarevok became the Lord of Murder, that is.
It can be a bit of a one-way ticket
Then I'll have to get more skilled very soon. I don't want to wait until I'm a grandmother before I see Athkatla again.
Many Greater Ghouls thought their Shar-Teel sized snack would be very tasty. No matter how much they tucked in though the rest of the party found a way to keep her alive, healing her up in time for the next paralyzation.
With Shar-Teel breathing once more Michio decides to return to the tower and nose around. Perhaps we can find a way back into the danger zone.
On entering the room which previously contained Kaldran the bear we are teleported to the giant chessboard and our adventure can continue. It doesn't take very long for Kagain to select the wrong dialogue response to a statue. A lightning bolt hits him but moves on to kill Garrick. How about a temple trip now we know we can safely return.
Regardless, he is only stunned in the last few moments and we kill off the Demon Knight before Kagain can take too much damage.
Two more cultist groups await us outside a building and inside. We buff at this point, three of us using potions of mirrored eyes (1 turn protection) and the others using potions of magic shielding (3 turns, guaranteed saves). On top of strength, speed, heroism and mind focusing we have cleric and mage buffs active so we descend.
Our first target is their mage, with some fireballs injuring the cultists at the rear. Shar-Teel and Kagain melee as we shoot and cast spells to kill the remaining cultists, with Shar-Teel resisting various attacks from the summoned Aec'Letec. After a few rounds Shar-Teel starts to take damage so she swaps positions with Kagain and they kill the last pair of cultists.
Garrick has been held for a while but is in no danger, while Shar-Teel is attempting hit and run backstabs. She fails twice but attacks each time, and on her third attempt she is successful. She races in to apply a backstab but Aec'Letec falls just before she reaches him.
Finding scrolls of Raise Dead turns out to just be a pipe dream, so Michio needs to be doubly careful not to get anyone killed on the next trip to an isle of lycanthropes. Shar-Teel only has one minor scare, sneaking into the base level of Balduran's ship and getting stuck next to Kagain who is fighting a number of enemies. She gulps a potion or two and survives.
Karoug is at the uppermost level of the ship and is left until last. Kagain has one pip in bastard sword and uses the Kondar weapon. Michio has the Werebane dagger with one pip, while Shar-Teel perseveres with a non-proficient sword of Balduran. Edwin uses a Malison before we try spells.
Michio decides to tackle Cythandria and obtain evidence she may have on her body.
The coronation at the ducal palace turns out to be an elaborate trap - good job we are buffed to the nines and have Kagain in melee, Shar-Teel with arrows of dispelling, Viconia with her +3 sling and three spellcasters dropping Magic Missiles in to scythe the doppeldangers down before they can kill either Duke.
We make our way through the thieves maze without incident before Shar-Teel sights Rahvin and his supporting cast. We intend to position ourselves to attack but a careless misjudgement sees Rahvin talking to one of the party and the battle is on.
(note: Grond0 and to a lesser extent Corey_Russell will be familiar with this sort of stupidity on my part in multiplayer but additional pausing in single player makes it even less excusable)
A single arrow of detonation causes a great deal of pain to us, but we get some debilitaing spells up and make them pay dearly.
A calculated attempt by Shar-Teel to dispel Semaj's images falters as she misses, and as she tries to run from Sarevok he hits her and then lands a second fatal blow. We're a person down with Semaj and Sarevok in play so things look bad.
Michio casts Remove Magic as Garrick casts Dispel Magic. Edwin(a) uses his wand of monster summoning to distract Sarevok who is chewing on Kagain's tail.
Kagain switches to a throwing axe as Edwin(a) tosses in a Malison. Garrick utilises his looted wand of monster summoning too as Sarevok is cutting them down without mercy.
Party inventory at the start of SoD:
Imoen is muttering that Michio won't get out of SoD alive. That sounds reasonably prescient but not too much of a surprise based on my track record.
@Klorox no - all tomes were always readable by wizard slayers right from the vanilla game. In source material for AD&D the situation is confusing. A number of tomes are specifically said to be non-magical (for instance constitution can be developed by following an exercise regime). From memory there's at least 1 that is magical and 1 or 2 that don't specifically say. The way in which they were used and the time taken for that were also different.
Bioware standardized the situation by treating them as all the same and all usable by the wizard slayer (that decision may partly have been about game balance). Playing solo in the unmodded game the wizard slayer still can't get the strength tome as there's no way to get strength up to 24 to bash the lock - but if someone else grabs the tome, the wizard slayer would gladly make use of it
Not in the unmodded game.
Previous updates:
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In the SoD opening dungeon, I intimidated Porios into surrendering.
In Baldur's Gate, I killed Minsc to get Kiel's Helmet and increased the headgear selection with the Battle Tankard (I can't use the Spectacles). With about 60k gained from selling the items in my containers though, there was no real point in taking equipment from other NPCs.
After leaving the City the first action was at the Coast Way Forest. After agreeing to help Tsolak I typically try with a fighter to time a dispelling arrow so it's fired just before Ikros goes invisible (in order to dispel that when it hits). That's tricky though and with the wizard slayer spell failure ability I just attacked immediately - that gave me time for two shots, though annoyingly one was a critical miss. Quickly withdrawing, I was safely out of range when Ikros used an emotion spell on Tsolak and 3 more hits theoretically shut down his spellcasting.
Travelling back towards the Coast Way Crossing, I had the opportunity to fight some orcs and trolls, but they had nothing of interest and I continued on my way. Back at the Crossing I returned some heirlooms to Takos and took back the shield as a reward (typically I keep the mirror, but couldn't use that and anyway, with no need for money, the shield would be more useful for a wizard slayer). I also traded the Eagle Bow for the very marginally better Savage Shortbow before going to the bridge. I was a fraction of a second slow running behind the tent there and some of the enemies got enough sight of me to react, but they couldn't do much damage before Caelar called for a parley.
I ran straight through the Troll Claw Woods and on to the Forest of Wyrms - where Tsolak's messenger caught up with me with the regeneration ioun stone. Without the ability to go invisible I had to shoot my way through wyverns, phase spiders and bugbears to get to the dragon's cave. More bugbears were found beyond that and I used a sunray to thin those out a bit.
The regeneration ioun stone let me trip the spike trap on the way to the next cave, but time was up while recovering HPs from that and the remaining bugbears will have to wait for the next session.
Wizard Slayer L9, 118 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 402 kills
It's an old character with portrait, gender and name changed in Keeper. Don't often get rolls like that!
You’re right, and you even used the example I was thinking of.
I played a solo wizard slayer through BG1 and had no way to get the STR tome.
As I've got such a bad memory I quickly looked it up.
Overall, I would say the decision to treat the tomes as non-magical is clearly the best representation of the source material - if the desire is to treat them all consistently.
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On the third underground level they hurried through a furnace before Bugsy explored to set off the traps in the next area. Vito tanked the Ashirukuru backstabs before they were despatched with a volley of missile fire.
In the cold room, Kaldron failed to register a hit on Vito.
After picking up all the gear they undertook the long trip to the temple. Eventually back at the elemental rooms they shot down the Air Aspect.
They made steady progress through the 4th level and Al used another potion of cloud giant strength to open the chest near Durlag's Throne - being rewarded there with a shield +2 and sling +3. In the slime caverns things like crypt crawlers and greater ghouls had no real chance of causing the Crew a problem - and Grael fared no better.
However, I'm a slow learner. Bugsy had already died once in the Tower to a repeating dart trap and found another when he went to double-check that what I thought was a dead end was indeed so. Having spotted the end of the passage he turned back, just as he was hit with the first dart - and in turning back he must have triggered the trap for a second time. The darts kept coming relentlessly and, with Bugsy down to single figures, I thought I might as well try resting. That was successful - but as soon as the 8 hours were up the darts restarted and Bugsy's heart stopped.
Islanne's spirit offered a quick exit, but it was still a wearisome journey back after visiting the temple. I thought I had completed everything on the level at this point, but the Throne Room was still locked. Eventually, however, I talked again to Durlag's Spirit and he opened the way. Another cloud giant strength potion there gained a Cloak of the Shield. Vito used a potion of genius to put PfM on himself in preparation for the final encounter, while the others added a few potion buffs before entering the demon's lair. The Demon Knight just had time to dispel Vito and Baby Face and attempt a useless fireball on Vito - but that was its lot.
The traps in the Tower are a bit of a pain without a thief, but it's certainly possible to survive them all with a bunch of fighters, without even using any resources - if someone was playing a bit more carefully and patiently than me of course
With Durlag's Tower out of the way, there's just a bit of work left in Ulgoth's Beard before the Crew can go to attend to Sarevok ...
Vito - L8, 93 HPs, 477 kills, 2 deaths, **** scimitar / ** darts
Baby Face - L8, 103 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 481 kills, 0 deaths, **** long sword / ** crossbow
Mad Dog - L8, 109 HPs, 410 kills, 0 deaths, **** axe / ** dual wielding
Carlo - L8, 87 HPs, 441 kills, 0 deaths, **** flail / ** sling
Bugsy - L8, 108 HPs, 419 kills, 2 deaths, **** hammer / ** shortbow
Al (PC) - L8, 103 HPs, 458 kills, **** 2-handed sword / ** longbow
The kills race is very evenly balanced this run compared to previous attempts. In the past Vito has sometimes run away with it, when taking a very aggressive approach, rather than the more defensive duties he's concentrated on so far this time. Mad Dog suffered for some time as a result of throwing axes - and finding enemies were dead before his slower weapon could come into play. However, he's the only one dual-wielding and, now that most work is being done in melee, he's making ground up on the leaders.
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Previous
Character sheet
I used a combination of The One Gift Lost, a Protection from Undead scroll, and drawing enemies into the Flaming Fist to clear Korlasz's Family Tomb. Korlasz was killed.
Baldur's gate was cleared mostly without incident, although I did almost die to the four thieves outside of The Three Old Kegs. I made the mistake of talking down the bar fight too, where I usually kill one of the captains and receive the gift from the other one. Selling my collection of jewelry, gems, and scrolls from BG brought me up to 64k gold for a shopping spree.
After arriving at Coast Way Crossing, I immediately headed west to the Coast Way Forest to make a deal with a vampire. I drink a Potion of Clarity prior to the encounter just in case, but Ikros is stunned by my second Dart of Stunning and killed quickly after. I move to a spot where Isabella is able to block me from kiting her, but DUHM and Blur bring my AC to 7, and Tsolak and I kill her. I then charm Rasaad and get him killed by orcs.
On the way back, I trigger the orc/troll encounter. I bombard them from offscreen with TOGL. I mostly do the same to the trolls immediately in the cave. I equip Nimbul's Topsider's Crutch to enter the pool and retrieve Firefly +2. Back at the Coast Way Crossing, I'm greeted by Tsolak's messnger and receive the Ioun Stone.
I turn in the halflings items and receive Biter. On the way to see Teleria, I kill some spiders and reach level 10. Biter is put to work on the Lesser Stone Golem and Teleria.
I had gathered up a large group of enemies in the dwarven dig site, and the dwarven clerics all gave up their amulets. Biter was used to kill the Bronze Sentry, and two Protection from Undead scrolls were used to clear the undead. I turned in the amulets to Coldhearth for his later assistance.
I hide behind the tent at the bridge until Caelar arrives to parlay.
I stealth through the Troll Claw Woods and trigger the Goblin Waylay. I get confused by the myconids but kill them all through the confusion. I believe this is the first save I have to attempt through the entire run.
I stealth up to Morentherene and realize I forgot to purchase throwing daggers, so I head back to camp and purchase some Throwing Daggers +1. I attack her while sleeping, and while the second one hits, it doesn't deal damage or instantly kill her (maybe only regular throwing daggers work?). She wakes up and hits me with a Dragon Fear, which I fortunately save against, but is another save I didn't intend to make. I end up running from her and coming back, where I save a second time before giving up and moving on.
I clear the cultists prior to Ziatar with TOGL and kill her by stealthing, opening the door, slinging a stone, and closing the door a number of times. I save a fear from her as well. I drink a Potion of Genius and summon a stone golem for help against the Neothelid. The Neothelid summons two swords which the stone golem distracts, and I run out, closing the door behind me. The Neothelid Dimension Walks, and I think I use the Greenstone Amulet then beat it down.
I trigger Akanna but close the door and head to Darkshelin. I use a similar tactic to the one against Ziatar, but launch TOGL charges instead of ranged attacks. Mohad Flintborn manages to make it out of the room, so I close the door and kite him. I return to the room, but they're all ready when I open the door, and I save against a Psionic Blast. I pop a Greenstone Amulet charge and lure the kensai and Darkshelin away. The kensai was weakened from prior TOGL charges and falls easily. Darkshelin falls quickly to Darts of Wounding, and I go back and clean up the remaining two. Akanna is still hostile, so I draw the aerial servants away one at a time, kill them, then come back and kill her.
The Shadow Aspect is next, and after some kiting, it hits me, goes invisible, and quadruple backstabs me, ending the run. I will not attempt the Shadow Aspect again. Disappointed, to say the least.
Hard luck @jessejmc, but it sounds like a good effort. For a solo character there's nothing really to gain from killing the Shadow Aspect (or Darskhelin and his boys), though I certainly understand the desire to test them out
We returned to the bandit camp and at first things didn't go well. Sirene got killed and Tenya badly injured due to getting stuck in our own web.
We returned and had more success.
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I pulled the bugbears in the cave back one by one to be shot down. The only potential danger with that was the shaman, but he failed to complete a spell once he was left on his own.
I started journeying with the aim of finding a big hole in the ground, but the first thing found was a young green dragon in need to rescue from some hill giants.
Back at the temple I killed the various groups of Ziatar's guards, bit by bit - resting to recover HPs. With that complication out of the way, I attacked Ziatar. He's vulnerable to stun and the second dart that hit him struck home.
On the way out I had no interest in a fair fight with a dragon - fortunately there's nothing particularly fair about throwing daggers at a sleeping target
Moving on to Boareskyr Bridge I returned Keherrem's badge to get entry to the Crusader Camp before teleporting into the fort. The dragon scales provided a shield upgrade there before I was tasked to get a scroll from Vichand. I nearly always kill him, but you need to do that quickly to avoid alerting the camp - and that's not as easy for wizard slayers as fighters who can use firebreath potions. Hence I just intimidated him into handing over the scroll.
Wizard Slayer L9, 118 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 474 kills
Previous updates:
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https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1113296/#Comment_1113296
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1113457/#Comment_1113457
Arriving at Ulgoth's Beard, both Cult Assassins missed their backstabs, meaning the opening fight was pretty easy.
After resting up again, they ventured downstairs to find the shadowy mastermind of the goings on at Durlag's Tower. Almost immediately on their entrance Vito was held and a couple of seconds later Baby Face joined him. Al and Bugsy equipped dispelling arrows to release them though.
Back in Baldur's Gate I spent about 70k on luxury ammunition - no point in scrimping as I still had over 40k in cash and a lot more than that in negotiable items. Finally, everything was ready for the final fight. Rather than just cheese that, Al edged up into sight of Sarevok and shot him with a dispelling arrow before retreating without Sarevok talking.
Although the Crew had earned vastly more than the XP cap on their travels, the amount in excess of that taken forward into SoD is only that earned since the last save. That means they only had 171k each - but the advantage of that is that they'll have longer with the joy of seeing their XP rise in SoD
Here are the inventories they're taking forward.
Vito - L8, 93 HPs, 483 kills, 2 deaths, **** scimitar / ** darts
Baby Face - L8, 103 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 489 kills, 0 deaths, **** long sword / ** crossbow
Mad Dog - L8, 109 HPs, 425 kills, 0 deaths, **** axe / ** dual wielding
Carlo - L8, 87 HPs, 446 kills, 0 deaths, **** flail / ** sling
Bugsy - L8, 108 HPs, 425 kills, 2 deaths, **** hammer / ** shortbow
Al (PC) - L8, 103 HPs, 463 kills, **** 2-handed sword / ** longbow
The Safehouse contains various mercenaries who are unable to stop our controlled progress through the area. We descend some stairs into a lower level and Safana uses a Protection from Undead scroll to clear several areas on her own. The scroll expires as she explores a secret room so we help her destroy the last three undead together with a fourth wraith which appears from elsewhere.
Fireballs clear the next area where assassins lurk, and Korlasz is shown no mercy - more fireballs eliminating her support so we can whittle her down to size.
Michio's celebratory rest in the ducal palace is cut short by more assassins. Corwin helps him out, and he sets out into the city to find his former party members. Garrick doesn't want to travel with Michio any longer so Michio recruits Safana and hands her some better equipment. There is nobody else Michio wants to recruit so after a brief bit of shopping we use confusion and fireballs to foil a burglarly at the Sorcerous Sundries.
n.b. Edwin is carrying the cursed girdle - his default gender has changed to female, becoming male when equipped so he will role-play wearing it.
Michio asks if Viconia is up to melee, and asks Corwin to provide some ranged punch. This might work.
It does work, for a while. Meanwhile, Safana tries to skirt around Edwin's skulltrap and we'll never know if she got too close or if a passing rat activated it.
Anyway, back to Viconia tanking for us. It may work generally but goes badly against trolls - she dies before we can thin them down and Safana dies a few moments later. Corwin has to run and shoot, while Edwin and Michio continue their spells.
Previous updates:
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The mage was waiting on the bridge and I immediately targeted him with arrows. His first spell was disrupted by damage and running round between shots, I hit him several more times to shut down his casting before he was finished off and his guards followed.
At the Coalition Camp, I talked to Helvdar about his desire for lucky boots and bought some more ammunition and the Soft Feet boots from Waizahb. I then quickly reported in to the leaders and accepted some Bwoosh and poison.
Moving on to Dead Man's Pass I avoided straying from the road, but still found plenty of enemies coming to find me and spent a fair time running them round.
Travelling to Dragonspear I skipped past a dead magic ambush area. I stayed at the castle only long enough to free Skie.
With the enemies all dead I was eventually free to move inside. I placed the Bwoosh before blagging my way into the inner area.
To be honest, I think trying to lay down poison like that is too risky a strategy for a wizard slayer. However, having got away with it this time, let's see if I can get through SoD again (which I've only done once in my previous 30 attempts with this character).
Wizard Slayer L10, 121 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 553 kills