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"Maybe this time" [NO-RELOAD THREAD]: "The Tale of TEN THOUSAND Trials"

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  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    Now trying a Trio of Cyricists headed by Cyricus the Cruel who clearly has divine blood in his veins. Because of this he has had no difficulty in gaining other Cyricist followers.
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    {My cleric/thief is based on Tiax, a character that I have always wanted to take through the series. This is the nearest that I can get. Cyrax is a barbarian who I want to dual to a mage. However, I'm not sure if it is possible to dual barbarians]
    Mantis37CharlestonianTemplar
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    Barbarians are not allowed to dual-class in the unmodded game. Sorry, then - looks like your party won't have any arcane magic unless you recruit some extra help.
    CharlestonianTemplar
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    edited August 2020
    jmerry wrote: »
    Barbarians are not allowed to dual-class in the unmodded game. Sorry, then - looks like your party won't have any arcane magic unless you recruit some extra help.

    I'll choose a different party then. Thanks for telling me before I got started. I have chosen a fighter instead of a barbarian. She may look frail, but looks can be very deceptive.

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    Post edited by Wise_Grimwald on
    Grond0Aerakar
  • JonirenJoniren Member Posts: 22
    I am not very familiar with BG1, so please bear with my questions. Hopefully it is not treated as completely off the topic.

    You lowered your reputation from the initial value to 9 by scoring a kill on Drizzt, is that correct?

    Also - how do you deal with attacks happening in transition from location to location? I distinctly remember some of them were really nasty.


    Your general strategy against mages is to shoot them from afar to lower their casting chances?

    What are the crucial items to get during BG1 solo fighter run? How is that selection different for a Wizard Slayer?
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    edited August 2020
    Joniren wrote: »
    I am not very familiar with BG1, so please bear with my questions. Hopefully it is not treated as completely off the topic.

    You lowered your reputation from the initial value to 9 by scoring a kill on Drizzt, is that correct?

    Also - how do you deal with attacks happening in transition from location to location? I distinctly remember some of them were really nasty.


    Your general strategy against mages is to shoot them from afar to lower their casting chances?

    What are the crucial items to get during BG1 solo fighter run? How is that selection different for a Wizard Slayer?


    The use of poison greatly lowers casting chance. This can be using poison arrows, backstabbing with a poison dagger, or using an assassin's/blackguard's ability to poison. magic missile also has a good chance of interrupting casting as there are a number of missiles.

    No items are essential, [Some players avoid powerful ones to make the game more challenging] but magical weapons don't break so make the game easier [Some enemies use protecction from ordinary weapons spells, others protection from magical weapons spells].

    Greywolf's sword is very good being slightly better than +2, but there are plenty of +1 swords around too. In the area where Bassilus is, he has a +2 warhammer and another character has a +2 short sword.

    There is a +3 quarterstaff for sale at Ulgoth's Beard.

    In the early game Sonner [North of the Friendly Arms has a +1 flail] It is easily available.

    In Cloakwood a +2 two handed sword that gives freedom of action is very useful.

    In Ulgoth's Beard there is a ring of freedom of action that can be pickpocketted.

    In the south are +1 and +2 halberds.

    However, no one item is essential, you use the weapon that is best for your character. If you read people's write-ups you will find that notable items will be mentioned.

    Wands are of course important for mages, but people play without having a mage in the party.

    Items of importance if fighting basilisks are potions/scrolls/spells that protect from petrification. Fight basilisks with one character who is protected and keep the other party members out of harm's way.
    Post edited by Wise_Grimwald on
    histamiiniAerakarjessejmc
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited August 2020
    Joniren wrote: »
    I am not very familiar with BG1, so please bear with my questions. Hopefully it is not treated as completely off the topic.
    @Joniren all questions welcome :D. Best of luck if you have a go at a solo wizard slayer.

    Joniren wrote: »
    You lowered your reputation from the initial value to 9 by scoring a kill on Drizzt, is that correct?
    That's right. The amount reputation falls depends on the value its at at the time (so reputation of 20 will reduce to 10 if you kill an innocent for example). You can fine tune things further by getting caught stealing (penalty of 1). The loss from Drizzt took me to below 9, but 9 is the highest it can go and still give you the evil powers - hence I avoided raising it beyond that until I'd got 2 Bhaal horrors. Particularly for the solo wizard slayer, that gives you a significantly better chance of success at the Palace.

    Joniren wrote: »
    Also - how do you deal with attacks happening in transition from location to location? I distinctly remember some of them were really nasty.
    A full bandit ambush can be nasty for some characters - particularly low level ones. Those only occur on the road though and only at night, so can easily be avoided by taking different routes or just travelling by day. For a wizard slayer the most dangerous ambush is the chance of a basilisk if travelling in the eastern areas. The chance of an ambush is quite low and, in most cases, you can run south out of its sight before it attacks so it would be very rare for me to die to that - but it has occasionally happened. I don't use autopause, but one reason for using that would be to ensure you get a chance to react to ambushes as soon as they occur (so that you don't wait around for a ghast to attack you for instance).

    Joniren wrote: »
    Your general strategy against mages is to shoot them from afar to lower their casting chances?
    I think my general strategy would be summed up as always having a line of retreat, i.e. being able to run off the map or into a building before a spell arrives. That's generally easier to do from range when you can see the projectile coming, but in some cases melee is preferable. You don't necessarily need to run away completely - if you get out of sight of a caster before they complete a spell and their script does not make them wander (and no other enemies are active), you can just accept spells like rigid thinking and hold person (mods can change this behavior though).

    Joniren wrote: »
    What are the crucial items to get during BG1 solo fighter run? How is that selection different for a Wizard Slayer?
    There's not much that's really crucial, but there are lots of items that can make things easier. Invisibility allows you to bypass encounters, so potions and the ring at Ulgoth's Beard are helpful. Potions like strength, mind focusing, speed, magic shielding and regeneration allow you to take on harder fights earlier (firebreath potions are also extremely effective at killing enemies). There are plenty of +2 weapons to choose from, but if you want a +3 weapon they are rather scarcer (the staff at Ulgoth's Beard is an easy one to get though). Full plate mail is great stuff and you can either buy that in Beregost or wait to inherit Taurgosz's suit at the Bandit Camp. Necklaces of missiles allows you to win many combats from out of sight (or protect yourself from fire and watch opponents burn up around you). Darts of stunning are plentiful and extremely effective in BG1 (even without proficiency fighters can make good use of those). Boots of speed are handy to allow you to choose where and when you fight.

    A wizard slayer can't use most potions, but can use healing and antidote ones (I don't do so, but that's just a personal restriction for all my characters). With miscellaneous magic (like necklaces) unavailable, the WS has to rely on his own fighting abilities. That makes use of magical ammunition much more important. For instance exploding arrows can be used to get past the sirines to get the constitution tome from the pirate cave, dispelling arrows can be helpful at the palace, for Slythe and for Sarevok, darts of stunning are great against fighter types, arrows of piercing allow you to significantly increase your chance to hit etc. Also don't forget green scrolls. They can offer you protection from magic, petrification, poison and elemental damage - covering a lot of the more dangerous encounters, though you need to be careful not to waste the PfM ones when not needed. You may have noticed from my write-up that I got the +1 full plate from Tamoko. Normally that armor is useless for a solo character in the unmodded game because it means you can't wear rings of protection - thus you end up with both worse AC and saving throws. However, as the wizard slayer can't wear those anyway, the armor is an improvement on standard full plate (it comes too late to be of much use though, unless you're continuing on to SoD).
    histamiiniMantis37Aerakarjessejmc
  • Corey_RussellCorey_Russell Member Posts: 996
    edited August 2020
    One item I find extremely useful in my solo runs is the greenstone amulet. This allows taking on mages/clerics fairly safely as you can't be disabled with that active. The sleep wand, us-able by any class (well okay not Wizard Slayers) (assuming you got an INT of 9) can be pretty useful in surviving ambushes. A potion of magic blocking is very useful in many encounters - even if you don't kill the mage/bard/cleric in 5 rounds (even though many times you can), by the time the potion wears off, the enemy has used up their most dangerous spells, so dramatically increases your chance of victory vs that caster.
    Wise_GrimwaldGrond0Aerakarjessejmc
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    edited August 2020
    @Grond0 Like the rhyming write-up but "Hopping on a bike" doesn't sound quite right considering the location/time-frame he is in.

    A party of Lawful Evil Helmites next. I am presuming that Helm is OK with giving his divine powers to a Blackguard since he is OK with giving them to a lawful evil priest.

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    The party are pretty law-abiding. It's their motivation that makes them evil. For instance if Helmstaff is caught thieving, he will pay the fine without demur.
    AerakarjessejmcMantis37Enuhal
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited August 2020
    @Grond0 Like the rhyming write-up but "Hopping on a bike" doesn't sound quite right considering the location/time-frame he is in.

    It doesn't seem like a major problem to me :p. The world of Toril encompasses a huge range of cultures (deliberately so to provide scope for gaming). While the Sword Coast may be the closest analogue to medieval Europe, it's certainly not intended to be restricted to what was found there. Elsewhere on Toril there are advances far beyond bicycles (like non-magical flying machines for instance) and the Hall of Wonders in Baldur's Gate is evidence that knowledge of technology has spread there.
    Wise_GrimwaldAerakar
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    Grond0 wrote: »
    @Grond0 Like the rhyming write-up but "Hopping on a bike" doesn't sound quite right considering the location/time-frame he is in.

    It doesn't seem like a major problem to me :p. The world of Toril encompasses a huge range of cultures (deliberately so to provide scope for gaming). While the Sword Coast may be the closest analogue to medieval Europe, it's certainly not intended to be restricted to what was found there. Elsewhere on Toril there are advances far beyond bicycles (like non-magical flying machines for instance) and the Hall of Wonders in Baldur's Gate is evidence that knowledge of technology has spread there.

    I suppose that my problem is that I think that the Hall of Wonders doesn't belong either.
    Grond0
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    edited August 2020
    I won't be running this game just yet as I'm in the middle of a run, but I created a blackguard to go with a portrait I have just made and had a 97 roll with a strength of 18/00. :)
    I'll have to look after her! here are the roll and the portrait.

    As you can tell, she is the half-sister of Grimla Greeneyes.
    The only differences are her stats [three extra points plus better strength], the fact that she is right-handed instead of left-handed, the colour of her eyes is different, and the location of her home is different.

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    The portraits are based on artwork by sang heun Lee put on a background of photos taken by me, and is to be found everywhere on the web.
    Post edited by Wise_Grimwald on
    Grond0Mantis37AerakarEnuhal
  • JonirenJoniren Member Posts: 22
    Grond0 wrote: »
    Trio 28, Core rules, unmodded (update 3)
    Enchanter - L8, 25 HPs, 81 kills
    Kensai - L8, 52 HPs, 159 kills, 1 death
    Assassin - L7, 80 HPs, 152 kills, 0 deaths
    Thwaka again won the kills in that session to take the lead, though he might have to suffer a handicap penalty for dying ...

    Should you update the death counts as well, then?
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited August 2020
    Joniren wrote: »
    Grond0 wrote: »
    Trio 28, Core rules, unmodded (update 3)
    Enchanter - L8, 25 HPs, 81 kills
    Kensai - L8, 52 HPs, 159 kills, 1 death
    Assassin - L7, 80 HPs, 152 kills, 0 deaths
    Thwaka again won the kills in that session to take the lead, though he might have to suffer a handicap penalty for dying ...

    Should you update the death counts as well, then?

    Ah, I see the problem - I had the stats for kensai and assassin the wrong way round - now corrected ;).
    Joniren
  • Corey_RussellCorey_Russell Member Posts: 996
    Grond0 wrote: »
    Then, while Siri and Thwaka stood outside Tazok's tent discussing how best to deal with Venkt they heard a thump - and realized that discussion was now moot.

    Actually it was Kencore and Siri who were outside, as it was Thwaka who did the "thump".
    Wise_Grimwald
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    Grond0 wrote: »
    Then, while Siri and Thwaka stood outside Tazok's tent discussing how best to deal with Venkt they heard a thump - and realized that discussion was now moot.

    Actually it was Kencore and Siri who were outside, as it was Thwaka who did the "thump".

    The problem is that all these half-orcs look alike o:).
  • Corey_RussellCorey_Russell Member Posts: 996
    Grond0 wrote: »
    Grond0 wrote: »
    Then, while Siri and Thwaka stood outside Tazok's tent discussing how best to deal with Venkt they heard a thump - and realized that discussion was now moot.

    Actually it was Kencore and Siri who were outside, as it was Thwaka who did the "thump".

    The problem is that all these half-orcs look alike o:).

    Except they are different genders.
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    edited August 2020
    Grond0 wrote: »
    Grond0 wrote: »
    Then, while Siri and Thwaka stood outside Tazok's tent discussing how best to deal with Venkt they heard a thump - and realized that discussion was now moot.

    Actually it was Kencore and Siri who were outside, as it was Thwaka who did the "thump".

    The problem is that all these half-orcs look alike o:).

    Except they are different genders.

    ?

    Journal of Grimla

    After being ambushed at the Friendly Arms Inn which should be perhaps called the Unfriendly Arms, we left in search of safety, killing some hobgoblins on the way.

    Sonner and his friends offered us a magical weapon in return for killing a Cleric of Umberlee. We decided that killing them for the weapon would be the easier option. Sadly we discovered that the weapon wasn't one that any of us was adept in using.

    When we met up with the Cleric she was friendly enough but said that our payment would have to wait.
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    Nearby Helmic was very badly injured by an ankheg that saved against his command spell. However, we all survived and rested until fully recovered.
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    Our plans were to seek refuge in Baldur's Gate but we were denied entrance.

    In transit to Beregost, we were attacked by wolves. This was sufficient for Stealthblade to level up.

    Upon arrival at High Hedge Helmic was once more badly hurt, this time by gnolls.
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    Nearby Bassilus attacked us. That was a tough battle due to his spells of disablement. Only I survived the conflict.
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    We returned to the Friendly Arms to raise my companions.
    As we were running out of it gold we decided to go to the ankheg area to regain some by selling their shells. Unfortunately some of it had to be spent in reviving Stealthblade once more.
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    At least we get more gold for a shell than it costs to raise him.

    We at last actually reached Beregost and from there headed towards Nashkel.
    Once more we were accosted, this time by ogrillon, but they proved to be no match for our skill with ranged weapons.
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    We returned to Beregost to deliver the letter, but after accepting a commission from Silke she attacked us when we refused to murder at her behest. Her magical skills did not match ours. :)
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    We also killed Karlat before giving Perdue his sword.
    The journey to Nashkel then proved uneventful and at the carnival we killed Zordral.
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    Heading westward we killed Vax and Zal and reunited Albert and Rufie.
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    We headed westward and in transit were attacked by gnolls. Upon resting we were ttacked by more gnolls and upon resting again, by wolves!
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    Eventually we were able to regain our health.

    We then killed Krumm and Caldo using command to disable them and afterwards we helped 'Drienne's cat before killing Ingot.

    Heading west, we killed Hairtooth and Gnarl before raiding a cave.
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    We proceeded north where killing a polar bear earned us a pair of boots.
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    Continuing northward we gained a +1 sword by killing Neville prior to going on to help an archaeologist.
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    We then helped Brage by taking him to the temple of Helm.

    EDIT

    Run came to an end by being simultaneously charmed and poisoned by sirines. :( Shouldn't have gone there without the greenstone amulet.
    Post edited by Wise_Grimwald on
    histamiiniEnuhaljessejmc
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    edited August 2020
    I changed my mind about running another blackguard. I thought that instead of having a character who does all the right things for the wrong motives, I would play a character who is normally all sweetness and light, but who has an uncontrollable rage when you need to stay well clear of him. In other words - a berserker. At Candlekeep upon being given 300 gold pieces, he immediately gave it away again at the temple. This was not for any ulterior motive. it's the way he is.
    I actually prefer this sort of character to the lawful evil ones. He has his flaws and he knows that he has, but he doesn't pretend to be somebody that he's not.
    Here he is Brynjar the Berserk:
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    Upon leaving Candlekeep reputation is 11 and he is fairly well equipped with 3 axes, but he forgot to buy some throwing axes for ranged combat. He'll have to stop off somewhere for some shopping. ** in axes and ** in dual wielding.
    Post edited by Wise_Grimwald on
    EnuhalAerakarMantis37
  • Corey_RussellCorey_Russell Member Posts: 996
    edited August 2020
    Run came to an end by being simultaneously charmed and poisoned by sirines. :( Shouldn't have gone there without the greenstone amulet.

    @Wise_Grimwald - just thought I'd let you know - a lot of players use the clarity potion you get in Candlekeep for the Sirines near the pirate cave. As for the poison, if your saves vs. death aren't very good, protection from poision from Thalantyr is always an option. One last thing - if you stand in the middle of the sirines as much as possible, you'll be close enough they will use melee which makes it considerably safer as well.
    AerakarGrond0
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