1 Berserker instakilled by Worgs on his first trip
1 Berserker Chromatic Orbed at level 4 by Ogre Mage
1 Berserker killed by lightning waiting near Drizzt
1 Berserker failing to land the killing blow on Drizzt
After that i gave it up... no more Berserkers...
3 Mages retired at Mutamins Garden cause of bad HP rolls
Today... finally... good rolls for my Mage3/Cleric who chose Malar for max skels. So far everything is going according to plan:
Candlekeep: 305 XP
Mutamins Garden: 22200 XP -> Level 5, 59 HP (!) two Lesser Basilisks tanked by Pseudo Dragon
Ambush: 4x Hobgoblin Archers shot Karla down to 24 HP before escaping and landing hit
Beregost: 900 + 4x270 +300 from quests, DoHM to get Invisibility Potion
Shoal: 5000 XP Attacked her with slingshot -> Sanctuary -> then smacking her down with Pseduo Dragon until talking triggered, Invisibility right after Droth appeared, Silence plus two Skels to hack down Shoal first while Droth proved to be too tough, retreat -> Level 6 (69 HP)
Ambush: Neutral Dogs
Tarnesh: 120
Landrin: 800
Tenya: 2535
Ulgoths Beard: Potion of Mirrored Eyes, Greenstone Amulet, Cloak of Displacement
Ambush: 2x Worgs
Durlags Tower: 26905 just Skels and Pseudo Dragon, PfF for trap which still hit for 54 damage ->Level 7 (74 HP)
Ambush: 4x Goblin Archers
Droth again: 5x Silence, 3x Skels plus Pseudo Dragon proved to be enough, 2x Blood Rage, Victory and Helmet
I think for now we should not add Myrkul even though i am still open for new ideas. Oh, i also retired my last runs (Totemic Druid, Mage3/Fighter and another Mage3/Cleric) cause after reinstalling the game some days ago i missed to enable double damage... shame on me!
Ah man, HP rolls I've also just parked a Berserker for two very poor HP rolls in a row (11 instead of 28)... I haven't forgotten how much my last Besrserker needed his HPs against Mulahey. Maybe I should lift Tymora's curse.
Your Cleric looks interesting Harpagornis, good start too! I've been thinking how to optimize a Cleric for this challenge. A Mage dual makes sense. I might try again at some point with my Necromancer who I retired early (twice) after she failed to kill Drizzt (this was before Tyr's curse), but right now my restarted Berserker is smacking away at Reevor's rats while I'm getting some work done.
Durlags Tower: Forgot the Tome of Wisdom, grabbed it protected from Greenstone Amulet while the skels were fighting Riggilo
Ambush: 5x Hobgoblins
Ambush : 8x Xvart
High Hedge: Killed the Golems with three raged up skels
Drizzt: Activated the Gnolls with Pseudo Dragon which did not trigger Drizzt. After twenty minutes a lightning hit him and suddenly he started attacking. Monitoring his HP Karla decided to give it a try called three skels and raged them, triggered the talking tu turn Drizzt hostile and then – suprisingly – it took only seconds until a might 15 damage hit took the Drow down
Ambush: 1x Half-Ogre
Brage: 1000 XP
Nashkel: Neira skelt down, sold Drizzts stuff, put on Ankheg Plate
Nashkel Mines: Greywolf killed by three raging skels, then 2x Santuary to get to Mulahey → 3x Skels → Silence and hacked to pieces
Valley of Tombs: Revenant and Wand of Monster Summoning using another Sanctuary
Nashkel: Sold stuff, managed to learn Web, Nimbul killed by Silence + Skels
After that Karla started pushing Rep - nothing special even though she managed to clear the whole Ankheg Cave with four raged up Skels (thanks to Mulaheys Ring), then made quick work of Tranzig and moved on into the Bandit Camp. Potion of Absorption while looting the chest under Sanctuary unseen. Then summoned four raging skels around Taurgosz -> Sanctuary -> thanks for the Plate Armor!
Next target will be the Cloakwood which maybe will cost some charges of Greenstone Amulet and/or Potions of Freedom. Lets see how this is going... tomorrow.
I've run this a few times now nR and it has worked so long as ambushes don't get you. My new little "wheeze" is ferret as familiar - unfortunately, even buffed with (2x) luck scrolls it still can't pickpocket Dushai, buuuuut what is the opinion on pickpocket hostility and Tyr. Am I allowed to beat them down if I can hostile them through pickpocket rather than just through dialogue?
Executive Summary: Angelo ruminates on his inefficiencies as he sweeps through the planar prison.
"Now that you're HLA-capable," Felicity remarked as they meandered from Waukeen's Promenade towards the Bridge District, "you'll be able to complete all of the remaining quests that you weren't able to before."
"That's the plan," Angelo confirmed.
"An Adventure Like None I've Ever Experienced Before"... and Will Never Experience!
Before all of the high level excitement kicked off, there was a loose end to tie up. So far, Angelo had acquired two Limited Wish scrolls and it was time that he used up the spare one. However, legend had it that genies thus summoned would spin their offers in riddles that only the wise could unravel. With his Wisdom being less than 10, Angelo glugged a potion of insight before casting the spell so that when the genie arrived, he could safely ask for a titular adventure.
Casting the spell in the tanner's basement, safely away from the Cowled Wizard's prying eyes, the genie acquiesced to his request and Vittorio appeared. Angelo agreed to accompany him to Desolar's Inn to meet Captain Dennis to get him to pay for some gong lessons, but once the meeting had commended, Vittorio miraculously remembered that he had, in fact, stolen said gong. Vittorio mentioned selling the gong to a fellow called Roger the Fence and instructed Angelo to take the matter up with him.
"This is awkward," Angelo muttered. "Didn't we murder him after he'd smuggled the rift device out of the sewer?"
"You could always try looking for Grae the shaman outside the trolls' mound in the Druid Grove," Felicity suggested. "That's where Roger would have sent you... maybe Grae will be there regardless."
Grae was not there regardless... and Drush, the ogre who Grae would have directed Angelo to, was also subsequently missing in action. Resigning himself to the fact that this quest was impossible to complete after Roger was dead, Angelo stole the boomerang dagger +2 - the main treasure on offer - from Captain Dennis. "If I'd been paying attention, I would have completed this quest first!" Angelo complained, as much to himself as anyone else.
Once Bitten, Raelis Shai
Now it was time for the main event. Raiding his storehouse, Angelo retrieved the portal gem he'd taken from Mekrath's lair and took it down to the basement of the Five Flagons. At the back, he found Haer'Dalis and Raelis Shai, the leader of the acting troupe to which Haer'Dalis was attached. Merely engaging with Raelis after Haer'Dalis had been rescued gave Angelo 5,000 XP and 300 GP, along with the opportunity to barter the reward of 1,200 GP for the portal gem's safe return. Bringing the portal gem gave another 21,250 XP, along with the proffered bounty.
Only at this point did Haer'Dalis reveal that he and the other bards were from another plane, having fled to Athkatla after a satirical play received a hostile reception. The portal gem would allow them escape, but they asked for Angelo's protection from a pursuing cambion while they made their exit. Raelis claimed that asking for payment was not a sign of friendship, but Angelo countered by saying that if she was truly leaving, she would have no use for Amnian coins. Seeing sense, Raelis donated another 1,000 GP and Angelo agreed to stand guard.
It was lucky that he had, as two quasits, a lesser fire elemental and a shadow fiend teleported in before the Sigil Troupe (as they were called) could escape. Despite his agreement, Angelo had no intention of fighting anything and used his ring of invisibility to disappear without alerting the cowled wizards. After waiting a little while, a bounty hunter appeared, snatching the Sigil Troupe through the freshly opened portal and leaving Angelo to decide whether to give chase.
"If you'd have been more organised," Felicity remarked, "you could have completed this bit in your pacifist quests."
Angelo dismissed her concerns. "This keeps things more organised. Besides, if we get that far, I'm sure you'll sort everything out in your post-BG2 report." And with that, he threw fate to the wind and leapt into the portal.
Mastering the Thralls
A weird, pulsing chamber greeted Angelo as he left the portal. Fortunately, his ring's Invisibility was still active, so Aawill and the room's other assorted bounty hunters didn't notice his arrival. Slipping rightwards, Angelo sneaked past them and circumvented some fleshy traps that would have hurled him into further uncharted territory. Angelo sensed that only monsters and stores of normal ammunition lay therein, but he did momentarily check into them whenever a yuan-ti mage prematurely used an Oracle spell to dispel his illusion.
After some rooting around, Angelo found an overlooked spot by the wyvern which was safe apart from some occasional patrols. He could have invisibly rested here had he desired, but Angelo used the haven as a place to set a time trap. Casting Mislead and using the bracers of blinding strike for a brief burst of Improved Haste, Angelo unsheathed both Icindeath and Belm (the latter in his off-hand) while his clone attracted the wyvern's attention. Its approach triggered the time trap, which was just what Angelo had hoped for.
Sprinting west, Angelo found the Master of Thralls, a hostile demon whose ability to see through Invisibility had prompted Angelo's time trap shenanigans. Ducking behind it, Angelo proceeded to loose his characteristic Mislead-backstab assault, an attack against which it had no defence.
Taking the mastery orb and the staff of air from its lifeless body, Angelo also snatched the 40 darts of stunning from the nearby container before darting back and casting Invisibility on his clone just as the temporal flux returned to normal. Returning to the bounty hunters' cauldron he'd passed earlier on, Angelo tossed the orb into the pot for 24,750 XP more.
Awarding the Warden a Gruesome Death
The destruction of the mastery orb stopped the fleshy orifices from swallowing their victims into alternate areas. More importantly, it also brought the thralls to their senses and caused them to rebel against their former masters. This being LoB mode, Angelo didn't put too much faith in their success, but it did mean that he could hoover up the loot from their bodies. Unfortunately, he watched a yuan-ti mage's Cone of Cold freeze a female thrall solid and there was no retrieving Kundane +2, ring of protection +1 or gauntlets of weapon expertise from her shattered remains. Had Angelo been quicker, he might have pickpocketed the two latter items while she was neutral and attacking, but he wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
Renavigating his former, anticlockwise route, Angelo set another trap beside the leftmost maw. Invisibly resting, he did this 6 more times before vanishing again and edging forwards to find the cambion that Haer'Dalis had spoken of. Of the multiple creatures gathered at this hub, only this 'warden' could see through illusions and eagerly bounded towards Angelo after initiating some sequencers protecting it from any spells and magical weapons that Angelo could have struck it with during a time trap. Having successfully landed Power Word Blind, the cambion considered the battle as good as over... and it was...
"Those traps I set weren't ordinary snares," Angelo explained to Felicity. "They were spike traps which do magic damage."
The warden's demise only brought 10,000 XP (compared to the Master of Thrall's 16,000 XP), but it offered the planar prison cell key, as well as multiple gems, Wave's shaft and Adjatha the Drinker longsword. And interrupting his invisible return southwards was Tagget, a gnome accompanying Aawill, who hugged his hidden form until Angelo initiated conversation. Thanking Angelo for defeating the warden, Tagget doled out a further 5,000 XP before taking his leave.
"I'll kill you... yes, Aawill!"
Sensing that once he could never return once he'd left the planar prison, Angelo decided to wrap up a last piece of business. Although it wasn't strictly necessary, he had already lost Kundane and was not about to surrender yet more unique treasure. Casting his favourite Mislead-Spell Immunity: Divination combo, Angelo taught Aawill and chums the expensive lesson that not all bounties were worth pursuing. This netted him several goodies, including Melodic Chain +3 and a cloak of the shield, but something felt off. Refusing to surrender any loot, Angelo employed Albruin +1 to cast Detect Invisibility, revealing a hidden thief whose death yielded boots of speed and Pixie Prick +3.
Renewing his Invisibility, Angelo ignored the northern passage from the warden's chamber, since nothing of interest lay therein, and instead went west. Kirinaldo and Lunisia both shouted warnings of how Angelo would be vapourised if he approached without the planar prison cell key, but these prophecies were false: although having the planar prison cell key in his inventory made both the otherwise unremovable, repeating traps blocking the entrance disappear, protection from petrification was sufficient to stop either from affecting him... and he could even have talked to Raelis Shai to complete the dungeon without having killed the warden! But there was no harm in being thorough and Angelo had gotten some nice rewards for his efforts.
Whether the cambion was dead or not, Raelis granted 44,000 XP and teleported everyone out of the planar prison. Angelo refused Haer'Dalis' offer to join his cause, but allowed the blade to linger at the Five Flagons should he change his mind. He wouldn't, of course, but Haer'Dalis seemed like an eager beaver and Angelo hated being the bearer of bad news.
"I know that this was relatively painless with HLA support," Felicity said as they left the Five Flagons, "but this is the third time you've been careless this episode. If you'd have sprinted, you could have completed the planar prison without fighting anything, so it's technically a pacifist quest."
"If I'd have done that, I wouldn't have acquired this," Angelo said, turning the Wave shaft over in his hand. "Now I can take this to Cromwell and forge the mighty halberd. And there's someone else who lives in the Docks... Valygar Corthala!"
I've run this a few times now nR and it has worked so long as ambushes don't get you. My new little "wheeze" is ferret as familiar - unfortunately, even buffed with (2x) luck scrolls it still can't pickpocket Dushai, buuuuut what is the opinion on pickpocket hostility and Tyr. Am I allowed to beat them down if I can hostile them through pickpocket rather than just through dialogue?
I had the same idea, but Harpagornis wasn't keen - that's why the curse specifically refers to a target being made hostile through dialogue.
@alice_ashpool: Tyr says loud and clear that you may attack and kill innocents only if you can hostile them through dialoogue first. Failed Pickpocketing would made this far too cheap - sorry! ;o)
Now that Wand of Polymorph doesn't work anymore against Belhifet with the fixed saves, I was thinking how Sorcerer could beat Belhifet. Anyone tried the Fireshield Blue and Otilluke's Resilient Sphere combo? I tested it few scrolls and the tactic works in principle and numbers look good for Sorcerer. There's 31 Otilluke's Resilient Sphere scrolls, 7 Fireshield Blue scrolls, Sorcerer can cast 7 himself and 2 from Robe of Arcane Aptitude (Spell Sequencer). Basically each one lasts 10 rounds because you need to refresh Fireshield when you refresh Otilluke's. Belhifet only needs 103 rounds on average to kill himelf, and 16 castings of Otilluke's gives 160 rounds of safety. Of course there's time lost between castings and Belhifet will lose apr on summoning Demons, but 60 rounds of leeway sounds good.
@histamiini The problem I experienced with this is that the Erinyes seems to see through and dispel invisibility. Once that happens there is little chance of refreshing both Fireshield blue and ORS before being ganked since there's a large all surrounding welcoming party waiting when ORS expires. Any thoughts?
Shoving yourself in a corner makes for some funny stuff since they all teleport on top of each other, shifting and shunting each other around - where's my telefrag?
@alice_ashpool: Tyr says loud and clear that you may attack and kill innocents only if you can hostile them through dialoogue first. Failed Pickpocketing would made this far too cheap - sorry! ;o)
turns out the being saddled with the ferret familiar was not punishment enough
turns out the being saddled with the ferret familiar was not punishment enough
Have you tried adding Cat's Grace? A ferret familiar has 18 DEX, Cat's Grace can make that 20. Combined with Luck, could that make the difference?
Wow, thanks. It worked.... kinda, when you abuse pausing to get in lots of pickpockets before they go hostile with the inevitable failures. Also I cast all 3 luck scrolls but am unsure if the first has expired with its pitiful 3 round duration (is there a tiny window when all 3 scrolls are active?)
The caveat is that she will go hostile, the upside is that you have a 80% chance of snagging the ring of free action.
Attempts at pickpocketing for Ring of Free Action:
1: Yes
2: Yes
3: No
4: Yes (back to back success, did not go hostile)
5: Yes
6: Yes
7: No
8: Yes
9: Yes
10: Yes
With Drizzt currently under assault the moment is here to report on my latest Berserker, Mkungu. This is her at level 6, very close to 7:
with the tome of Leadership & Influence and that of Understanding (from Durlag's Tower) already read. So the original stat roll was 95 rather than 97, in which case I would have gone for Druid. Mkungu starts out specialized in flails and TWF.
After retiring Mkungu twice at level 7 due to relatively poor HP rolls, I decided to lift Tymora's curse. As a single-class warrior, one gets hit a lot, so this should add to her survivability while also allowing her to learn spells with INT potions once dual-classed to Mage.
Summary of events:
- Candlekeep (305 XP)
- Ambush: neutral wild dogs
- Ring of the Princes +1
- Evermemory, rest outside FAI
- Beregost: Marl (900 XP), Dudley family quarrel (500 XP), start but do not complete slime quest to save +1 rep reward for later (Karlat follows Mkungu outside, gets parked in house south of Feldepost's Inn), get caught stealing in house left of Burning Wizard for -1 rep.
- Pick up Colquetle amulet, survive Hobgoblin ambush thanks to only taking 4 dmg from one crit and landing one herself too,
ask Colquetle for compensation (250 XP) for another -1 rep, at 9 now.
- Nashkel: rest for Drain innate, chat with Noober (400 XP) for level 2, sell Evermemory, temple donations up to rep 12, Oublek (+1 rep), manor house for invis potion, babysitting quest (+300 XP, +1 rep)
- Cloudpeaks: Albert (1k XP), Drienne (200 XP, +1 rep), loot xvart village cave for flail +1 (avoiding damage), Brage (1k XP, +1 rep). Level 3.
- Samuel (500 XP, +1 rep), one ambush on way to FAI (hobgoblins).
- North of FAI: Frightened widow (300 XP), Tenya (2,5k XP),
Again not very well done. Forgot to rest at her house, had no minor drain left for easy damage. Fled from Unholy Blight, waited out Tenya's buffs, enraged and landed a hit.
kill Sonner for 2nd flail +1 (35 XP).
- Beregost: complete Slime quest (500 XP, +1 rep), Firebead (300 XP +1 rep).
- Nashkel area: Revenant (900 XP), Warm Place for Noober (150 XP).
- East of Temple of the Morning: depetrify Corianna (100 XP, potion of mirrored eyes).
- Mutamin's Garden (24,8k XP): 9 basilisks, including both greater basilisks as well as Mutamin, attacking with flails & non-proficient throwing daggers.
9th basilisk finished off while getting hit by hostile Korax. When basilisk's paralysis ends, Mkungu quaffs potion of mirrored eyes to secure the XP
Levels 5 and 6.
- Bandit ambush on way to Ulgoth's Beard, buy Sandthief's Ring and Cloak of Displacement.
- Durlag's Tower: evade attacking battle horrors, free Kirinhale (4k XP), slay Basilisks (22,4k XP).
Green scroll lasts more than enough. In fact Mkungu manages to kill all four basilisks within the two hour duration of Brage's stone giant strength potion. Still she has some difficulty with the monsters: she gets poisoned once by greater basilisks who sometimes switch to melee, and the lesser basilisk is helped by a gnoll. Mkungu finishes that one off out of reach of the gnoll, inside the tower, enraging so as not to get stunned by the trap.
- Threaten Neville (100 XP), loot gnoll stronghold cave for tome and minor spoils.
- Wounded hobgoblin (200 XP), Drizzt's loot -> looking at my screen apparently Drizzt has been slain by one of the gnolls already (and Mkungu has been lucky to avoid getting struck by lightning).
Time to continue the adventure! Although I'm again unsure whether to dual at 7 (and complete the dual in BG1, simply postponing flail grandmastery until BG2) or to dual at 8 and level up from Mage level 6 to 9 in SoD for flail grandmastery against Belhifet. Decisions, decisions...
Another challenge idea came to me last night. It's along the lines of the wizard slayer or the adventurer challenges in that the details are (hopefully!) relatively simple, but will also provide complexity all the way through. This is not intended to be added to the Cataclysm (although you can if you like!). Hopefully, it'll also hit casters and non-casters equally hard.
Amnesia Challenge
Your character has been afflicted with amnesia, making them forget how to use multiple weapons and spells effectively:
Arcane casters can only have as many arcane spells scribed as a sorcerer of equal level (e.g. a level 8 wizard could have 5 level 1 spells, 3 level 2 spells, 2 level 3 spells and 1 level 4 spell scribed). Numbers of spells they can memorise remain unaffected.
Divine casters can only choose from as many divine spells as a shaman of equal level would have access to. (e.g. a level 6 cleric can only choose from 4 level 1 spells, 2 level 2 spells and 1 level 3 spell). Numbers of spells they can memorise (including bonuses from Wisdom) remain unaffected.
Each character can only carry as many weapons as fit into their quickslots. So a paladin could carry 3 different weapons, a fighter could carry 4 and a mage could carry 2. An additional 1-handed weapon can be kept exclusively for off-hand use if desired, and can be interchanged with a shield as necessary.
Hopefully, casters will be hit harder at the start while martial classes will have it easier. The lack of restrictions on other items should still allow all classes to compete early on. However, I also hope the limitations should become equally biting by the end, where the range of hazards is broader and more special spells/weapons are needed.
I've included a FAQ for discussions on my initial thoughts on rule interpretations.
Divine casters receive all their spells once reaching the appropriate level up...
Just so, and it's on your honour not to cheat. Lathander/Helm/Talos/Mother Nature is watching!
Can I scribe excess arcane spells and then simply not memorise them?
Nope. No XP bonuses for scribing beyond your allocated limit.
Can I stock more than 3 sets of ammunition?
Yes, although this is subject to change if an egregious exploit is found.
Can a weapon initially be main-hand and then moved to off-hand later?
Nope. You decide when you acquire it whether it is main or off-hand and this choice is permanent.
Can I sell my excess weapons or must I drop them?
You can sell or exchange an old weapon for a new one, but this exchange is one-way and permanent.
Can I swap my permitted spells around as I level up?
Can a sorcerer or shaman do this? No? Then neither can you.
Spontaneous casters don't seem particularly hard hit by this challenge.
Shamans have a rough time anyway, so they deserve a break. If you want to play a sorcerer, kindly choose another challenge.
The details are, of course, up for negotiation. Hopefully they sound reasonable and I'd love to hear everyone's feedback. Feel free to combine with any of the other challenges for double the pain fun!
Hah, i like your concept @AvidGamerFan of limiting spell/weapon selection even though i must admit that my Clerics/Druids normally only use a handful of spells to be quite effective. But one will have to think twice which spells to pick in the long run thats for sure. Could be well another curse for Cataclysm in my eyes or played as a single, unique challenge! ;o)
Any thoughts on the "Tie difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings to the difficulty slider" element of SCS for BG2?
its the only one i'm hesitating about installing - the last time I remember something like this is was Tactics spawning a lich + squad in front of the Temple of Amaunator floorpuzzle, back in classic.
Hah, i like your concept @AvidGamerFan of limiting spell/weapon selection even though i must admit that my Clerics/Druids normally only use a handful of spells to be quite effective. But one will have to think twice which spells to pick in the long run thats for sure. Could be well another curse for Cataclysm in my eyes or played as a single, unique challenge! ;o)
I agree that divine casters need a less versatile spell roster, but this will hopefully be counter-balanced by the weapon restrictions being more limiting. I also quite like that multi-classes, having grown fat on having the best of both worlds, must now contend with having each weakness debilitate them equally. Single-classed thieves get totally shafted, I reckon, but they weren't well-suited for LoB anyway.
Any thoughts on the "Tie difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings to the difficulty slider" element of SCS for BG2?
its the only one i'm hesitating about installing - the last time I remember something like this is was Tactics spawning a lich + squad in front of the Temple of Amaunator floorpuzzle, back in classic.
Only the lich and the bone golems are immune to Protection from Undead (the lich can't attack you, but physically, but they can still bombard you with spells). But you can drain the lich's spells by hopping in and out of its sight while invisble, since it won't move to find you. Once it's dry, use the protection scroll and flee through them across the Temple of Amaunator puzzle. Angelo did this when he was tackling the temple and he was fine.
Any thoughts on the "Tie difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings to the difficulty slider" element of SCS for BG2?
its the only one i'm hesitating about installing - the last time I remember something like this is was Tactics spawning a lich + squad in front of the Temple of Amaunator floorpuzzle, back in classic.
I always play with it, but according to Harpagornis's post on p1 this isn't a requirement. Improved AI settings, better calls for help, prebuffing, improved creatures & chapter-end-fights are the SCS components mentioned there. I've skipped some SCS components myself, such as Inquisitor Dispel nerfing, and powerful items' moving to ToB.
I'm currently messing around in Irenicus's dungeon with my imported Sophia v2 (sorry Bel but not today). Something has broken with my SCS install though, since the deurgar are all there, but there's no limit on resting - no ambushes occur, so every encounter is trivialised by 3-4x hasted Phase spiders + web, rest and repeat. Time to add in the arbitrary and punishing optional rules.
Everyone... except for some basics... may chose whatever SCS settings they like even though i prefer to put activate most of them. Yeah, you can rest all day long with a solo char in the Irenicus dungeon @alice_ashpool which puts away lots of its danger. But if you allow yourself only one rest then things might get interesting... ;o)
What´s the opinion on the nice idea of @AvidGamerFan? Shall we put this into Cataclysm as another curse or should it be a standalone challenge? Maybe both?
Yeah, you can rest all day long with a solo char in the Irenicus dungeon @alice_ashpool which puts away lots of its danger. But if you allow yourself only one rest then things might get interesting... ;o)
Yeah, I was just under the impression that the harder irenicus dungeon component stopped resting:
This is a very low-key modification to the initial dungeon. It replaces the pathetic goblins with duergar (which I think has a better "feel" to it in any case) and it prevents you from sleeping more than once. (I allow you to sleep once because (i) it gives you a chance to choose your spells, and (ii) Imoen has some rest-related dialogue that I don't want to block.)
Would make for a much more interesting challenge. Is this a difference between party and solo?
I remember Weimar's Harder Illych you could rest but you would always be ambushed by duergar when you did, im not sure if SCS is ment to be the same or if it is just meant to prohibit resting.
With the random liches in particular - those monsters show up even in vanilla if your protagonist is a high enough level. There are four spots with that spawn trigger (two in the temple ruins, one in the undead village, one in Spellhold).
In vanilla, that trigger gives you a lich if (Protagonist has 2M XP).
With the SCS component, that trigger gives you a lich if: (Spawn difficulty is LoB) or (Spawn difficulty is Insane+ and protagonist has 400K XP) or (Difficulty is Insane and protagonist has 1M XP). The lich will not spawn regardless of protagonist XP on Hardcore or below.
If you leave the spawn difficulty on "default" and let it float with game difficulty, the Insane difficulty version is the highest you can reach - but that component has two levels beyond Insane which can be forced if you really want it.
What about making the weapon reduction a bit more flexible @histamiini - for instance every 10 levels Charname may use an additional weapon of his/her choice. More opinions on that one?
Karla the Mage3/Cleric has arrived in BG but with the Skels killing everything with ease i will park her for the moment maybe trying to test some more Druids. Totemic´s seem to be strong early on but what about the others? Lets see how the Avenger deals with Cataclysm...
What about making the weapon reduction a bit more flexible @histamiini - for instance every 10 levels Charname may use an additional weapon of his/her choice. More opinions on that one?
I don't know, giving up weapon making it permanently inaccessible sounds very hard to me. Although I'm just guessing here, maybe it's feasible. The idea is good though, making some uses for additional slots.
Hey... this should be a challenge @histamiini... not a walk in the park... so it has to be painful cause... yeah.. pain is fun... well thats at least my credo... and @Grond0´s. You may look at your old saves to get a view on how many weapons you have got. I can say for sure that my poverty Druid has so far used... well... 0 weapons... and she´s still alive... *G*
@Harpagornis No I get it and it sounds interesting idea. I just looked my Blade on hold, and him keeping Staff of Magi on one slot, making one slot for destroying weapons. First it sounds hard because many weapons are situational, and then I think it could become boring when you're keeping Staff of Magi and FoA from SoA onwards as an example. Just my 2c.
Comments
SCS gives them two-handed style, so that's 1d10+1 total damage - 50% to deal 7 or more. Or 90% if you have a ranged weapon equipped.
1 Berserker instakilled by Worgs on his first trip
1 Berserker Chromatic Orbed at level 4 by Ogre Mage
1 Berserker killed by lightning waiting near Drizzt
1 Berserker failing to land the killing blow on Drizzt
After that i gave it up... no more Berserkers...
3 Mages retired at Mutamins Garden cause of bad HP rolls
Today... finally... good rolls for my Mage3/Cleric who chose Malar for max skels. So far everything is going according to plan:
Candlekeep: 305 XP
Mutamins Garden: 22200 XP -> Level 5, 59 HP (!) two Lesser Basilisks tanked by Pseudo Dragon
Ambush: 4x Hobgoblin Archers shot Karla down to 24 HP before escaping and landing hit
Beregost: 900 + 4x270 +300 from quests, DoHM to get Invisibility Potion
Shoal: 5000 XP Attacked her with slingshot -> Sanctuary -> then smacking her down with Pseduo Dragon until talking triggered, Invisibility right after Droth appeared, Silence plus two Skels to hack down Shoal first while Droth proved to be too tough, retreat -> Level 6 (69 HP)
Ambush: Neutral Dogs
Tarnesh: 120
Landrin: 800
Tenya: 2535
Ulgoths Beard: Potion of Mirrored Eyes, Greenstone Amulet, Cloak of Displacement
Ambush: 2x Worgs
Durlags Tower: 26905 just Skels and Pseudo Dragon, PfF for trap which still hit for 54 damage ->Level 7 (74 HP)
Ambush: 4x Goblin Archers
Droth again: 5x Silence, 3x Skels plus Pseudo Dragon proved to be enough, 2x Blood Rage, Victory and Helmet
I think for now we should not add Myrkul even though i am still open for new ideas. Oh, i also retired my last runs (Totemic Druid, Mage3/Fighter and another Mage3/Cleric) cause after reinstalling the game some days ago i missed to enable double damage... shame on me!
Your Cleric looks interesting Harpagornis, good start too! I've been thinking how to optimize a Cleric for this challenge. A Mage dual makes sense. I might try again at some point with my Necromancer who I retired early (twice) after she failed to kill Drizzt (this was before Tyr's curse), but right now my restarted Berserker is smacking away at Reevor's rats while I'm getting some work done.
Durlags Tower: Forgot the Tome of Wisdom, grabbed it protected from Greenstone Amulet while the skels were fighting Riggilo
Ambush: 5x Hobgoblins
Ambush : 8x Xvart
High Hedge: Killed the Golems with three raged up skels
Drizzt: Activated the Gnolls with Pseudo Dragon which did not trigger Drizzt. After twenty minutes a lightning hit him and suddenly he started attacking. Monitoring his HP Karla decided to give it a try called three skels and raged them, triggered the talking tu turn Drizzt hostile and then – suprisingly – it took only seconds until a might 15 damage hit took the Drow down
Ambush: 1x Half-Ogre
Brage: 1000 XP
Nashkel: Neira skelt down, sold Drizzts stuff, put on Ankheg Plate
Nashkel Mines: Greywolf killed by three raging skels, then 2x Santuary to get to Mulahey → 3x Skels → Silence and hacked to pieces
Valley of Tombs: Revenant and Wand of Monster Summoning using another Sanctuary
Nashkel: Sold stuff, managed to learn Web, Nimbul killed by Silence + Skels
After that Karla started pushing Rep - nothing special even though she managed to clear the whole Ankheg Cave with four raged up Skels (thanks to Mulaheys Ring), then made quick work of Tranzig and moved on into the Bandit Camp. Potion of Absorption while looting the chest under Sanctuary unseen. Then summoned four raging skels around Taurgosz -> Sanctuary -> thanks for the Plate Armor!
Next target will be the Cloakwood which maybe will cost some charges of Greenstone Amulet and/or Potions of Freedom. Lets see how this is going... tomorrow.
I've run this a few times now nR and it has worked so long as ambushes don't get you. My new little "wheeze" is ferret as familiar - unfortunately, even buffed with (2x) luck scrolls it still can't pickpocket Dushai, buuuuut what is the opinion on pickpocket hostility and Tyr. Am I allowed to beat them down if I can hostile them through pickpocket rather than just through dialogue?
Executive Summary: Angelo ruminates on his inefficiencies as he sweeps through the planar prison.
"Now that you're HLA-capable," Felicity remarked as they meandered from Waukeen's Promenade towards the Bridge District, "you'll be able to complete all of the remaining quests that you weren't able to before."
"That's the plan," Angelo confirmed.
Casting the spell in the tanner's basement, safely away from the Cowled Wizard's prying eyes, the genie acquiesced to his request and Vittorio appeared. Angelo agreed to accompany him to Desolar's Inn to meet Captain Dennis to get him to pay for some gong lessons, but once the meeting had commended, Vittorio miraculously remembered that he had, in fact, stolen said gong. Vittorio mentioned selling the gong to a fellow called Roger the Fence and instructed Angelo to take the matter up with him.
"This is awkward," Angelo muttered. "Didn't we murder him after he'd smuggled the rift device out of the sewer?"
"You could always try looking for Grae the shaman outside the trolls' mound in the Druid Grove," Felicity suggested. "That's where Roger would have sent you... maybe Grae will be there regardless."
Grae was not there regardless... and Drush, the ogre who Grae would have directed Angelo to, was also subsequently missing in action. Resigning himself to the fact that this quest was impossible to complete after Roger was dead, Angelo stole the boomerang dagger +2 - the main treasure on offer - from Captain Dennis. "If I'd been paying attention, I would have completed this quest first!" Angelo complained, as much to himself as anyone else.
Only at this point did Haer'Dalis reveal that he and the other bards were from another plane, having fled to Athkatla after a satirical play received a hostile reception. The portal gem would allow them escape, but they asked for Angelo's protection from a pursuing cambion while they made their exit. Raelis claimed that asking for payment was not a sign of friendship, but Angelo countered by saying that if she was truly leaving, she would have no use for Amnian coins. Seeing sense, Raelis donated another 1,000 GP and Angelo agreed to stand guard.
It was lucky that he had, as two quasits, a lesser fire elemental and a shadow fiend teleported in before the Sigil Troupe (as they were called) could escape. Despite his agreement, Angelo had no intention of fighting anything and used his ring of invisibility to disappear without alerting the cowled wizards. After waiting a little while, a bounty hunter appeared, snatching the Sigil Troupe through the freshly opened portal and leaving Angelo to decide whether to give chase.
"If you'd have been more organised," Felicity remarked, "you could have completed this bit in your pacifist quests."
Angelo dismissed her concerns. "This keeps things more organised. Besides, if we get that far, I'm sure you'll sort everything out in your post-BG2 report." And with that, he threw fate to the wind and leapt into the portal.
After some rooting around, Angelo found an overlooked spot by the wyvern which was safe apart from some occasional patrols. He could have invisibly rested here had he desired, but Angelo used the haven as a place to set a time trap. Casting Mislead and using the bracers of blinding strike for a brief burst of Improved Haste, Angelo unsheathed both Icindeath and Belm (the latter in his off-hand) while his clone attracted the wyvern's attention. Its approach triggered the time trap, which was just what Angelo had hoped for.
Sprinting west, Angelo found the Master of Thralls, a hostile demon whose ability to see through Invisibility had prompted Angelo's time trap shenanigans. Ducking behind it, Angelo proceeded to loose his characteristic Mislead-backstab assault, an attack against which it had no defence.
Renavigating his former, anticlockwise route, Angelo set another trap beside the leftmost maw. Invisibly resting, he did this 6 more times before vanishing again and edging forwards to find the cambion that Haer'Dalis had spoken of. Of the multiple creatures gathered at this hub, only this 'warden' could see through illusions and eagerly bounded towards Angelo after initiating some sequencers protecting it from any spells and magical weapons that Angelo could have struck it with during a time trap. Having successfully landed Power Word Blind, the cambion considered the battle as good as over... and it was...
"Those traps I set weren't ordinary snares," Angelo explained to Felicity. "They were spike traps which do magic damage."
The warden's demise only brought 10,000 XP (compared to the Master of Thrall's 16,000 XP), but it offered the planar prison cell key, as well as multiple gems, Wave's shaft and Adjatha the Drinker longsword. And interrupting his invisible return southwards was Tagget, a gnome accompanying Aawill, who hugged his hidden form until Angelo initiated conversation. Thanking Angelo for defeating the warden, Tagget doled out a further 5,000 XP before taking his leave.
Renewing his Invisibility, Angelo ignored the northern passage from the warden's chamber, since nothing of interest lay therein, and instead went west. Kirinaldo and Lunisia both shouted warnings of how Angelo would be vapourised if he approached without the planar prison cell key, but these prophecies were false: although having the planar prison cell key in his inventory made both the otherwise unremovable, repeating traps blocking the entrance disappear, protection from petrification was sufficient to stop either from affecting him... and he could even have talked to Raelis Shai to complete the dungeon without having killed the warden! But there was no harm in being thorough and Angelo had gotten some nice rewards for his efforts.
Whether the cambion was dead or not, Raelis granted 44,000 XP and teleported everyone out of the planar prison. Angelo refused Haer'Dalis' offer to join his cause, but allowed the blade to linger at the Five Flagons should he change his mind. He wouldn't, of course, but Haer'Dalis seemed like an eager beaver and Angelo hated being the bearer of bad news.
"I know that this was relatively painless with HLA support," Felicity said as they left the Five Flagons, "but this is the third time you've been careless this episode. If you'd have sprinted, you could have completed the planar prison without fighting anything, so it's technically a pacifist quest."
"If I'd have done that, I wouldn't have acquired this," Angelo said, turning the Wave shaft over in his hand. "Now I can take this to Cromwell and forge the mighty halberd. And there's someone else who lives in the Docks... Valygar Corthala!"
I had the same idea, but Harpagornis wasn't keen - that's why the curse specifically refers to a target being made hostile through dialogue.
@alice_ashpool: Tyr says loud and clear that you may attack and kill innocents only if you can hostile them through dialoogue first. Failed Pickpocketing would made this far too cheap - sorry! ;o)
@histamiini The problem I experienced with this is that the Erinyes seems to see through and dispel invisibility. Once that happens there is little chance of refreshing both Fireshield blue and ORS before being ganked since there's a large all surrounding welcoming party waiting when ORS expires. Any thoughts?
Shoving yourself in a corner makes for some funny stuff since they all teleport on top of each other, shifting and shunting each other around - where's my telefrag?
Have you tried adding Cat's Grace? A ferret familiar has 18 DEX, Cat's Grace can make that 20. Combined with Luck, could that make the difference?
Wow, thanks. It worked.... kinda, when you abuse pausing to get in lots of pickpockets before they go hostile with the inevitable failures. Also I cast all 3 luck scrolls but am unsure if the first has expired with its pitiful 3 round duration (is there a tiny window when all 3 scrolls are active?)
The caveat is that she will go hostile, the upside is that you have a 80% chance of snagging the ring of free action.
Attempts at pickpocketing for Ring of Free Action:
1: Yes
2: Yes
3: No
4: Yes (back to back success, did not go hostile)
5: Yes
6: Yes
7: No
8: Yes
9: Yes
10: Yes
After retiring Mkungu twice at level 7 due to relatively poor HP rolls, I decided to lift Tymora's curse. As a single-class warrior, one gets hit a lot, so this should add to her survivability while also allowing her to learn spells with INT potions once dual-classed to Mage.
Summary of events:
- Candlekeep (305 XP)
- Ambush: neutral wild dogs
- Ring of the Princes +1
- Evermemory, rest outside FAI
- Beregost: Marl (900 XP), Dudley family quarrel (500 XP), start but do not complete slime quest to save +1 rep reward for later (Karlat follows Mkungu outside, gets parked in house south of Feldepost's Inn), get caught stealing in house left of Burning Wizard for -1 rep.
- Pick up Colquetle amulet, survive Hobgoblin ambush thanks to only taking 4 dmg from one crit and landing one herself too,
- Nashkel: rest for Drain innate, chat with Noober (400 XP) for level 2, sell Evermemory, temple donations up to rep 12, Oublek (+1 rep), manor house for invis potion, babysitting quest (+300 XP, +1 rep)
- Cloudpeaks: Albert (1k XP), Drienne (200 XP, +1 rep), loot xvart village cave for flail +1 (avoiding damage), Brage (1k XP, +1 rep). Level 3.
- Samuel (500 XP, +1 rep), one ambush on way to FAI (hobgoblins).
- North of FAI: Frightened widow (300 XP), Tenya (2,5k XP),
- Beregost: complete Slime quest (500 XP, +1 rep), Firebead (300 XP +1 rep).
- Nashkel area: Revenant (900 XP), Warm Place for Noober (150 XP).
- East of Temple of the Morning: depetrify Corianna (100 XP, potion of mirrored eyes).
- Mutamin's Garden (24,8k XP): 9 basilisks, including both greater basilisks as well as Mutamin, attacking with flails & non-proficient throwing daggers.
- Bandit ambush on way to Ulgoth's Beard, buy Sandthief's Ring and Cloak of Displacement.
- Durlag's Tower: evade attacking battle horrors, free Kirinhale (4k XP), slay Basilisks (22,4k XP).
- Wounded hobgoblin (200 XP), Drizzt's loot -> looking at my screen apparently Drizzt has been slain by one of the gnolls already (and Mkungu has been lucky to avoid getting struck by lightning).
Hah, nice finding about the Ferret and stealing @alice_ashpool. Its really lovely how new rules forces us to search for new ways. Cool stuff!
No time to play today and also no new curses on the horizon... for the moment... *G*
Amnesia Challenge
I've included a FAQ for discussions on my initial thoughts on rule interpretations.
Just so, and it's on your honour not to cheat. Lathander/Helm/Talos/Mother Nature is watching!
Nope. No XP bonuses for scribing beyond your allocated limit.
Yes, although this is subject to change if an egregious exploit is found.
Nope. You decide when you acquire it whether it is main or off-hand and this choice is permanent.
You can sell or exchange an old weapon for a new one, but this exchange is one-way and permanent.
Can a sorcerer or shaman do this? No? Then neither can you.
Shamans have a rough time anyway, so they deserve a break. If you want to play a sorcerer, kindly choose another challenge.
The details are, of course, up for negotiation. Hopefully they sound reasonable and I'd love to hear everyone's feedback. Feel free to combine with any of the other challenges for double the pain fun!
its the only one i'm hesitating about installing - the last time I remember something like this is was Tactics spawning a lich + squad in front of the Temple of Amaunator floorpuzzle, back in classic.
I agree that divine casters need a less versatile spell roster, but this will hopefully be counter-balanced by the weapon restrictions being more limiting. I also quite like that multi-classes, having grown fat on having the best of both worlds, must now contend with having each weakness debilitate them equally. Single-classed thieves get totally shafted, I reckon, but they weren't well-suited for LoB anyway.
Only the lich and the bone golems are immune to Protection from Undead (the lich can't attack you, but physically, but they can still bombard you with spells). But you can drain the lich's spells by hopping in and out of its sight while invisble, since it won't move to find you. Once it's dry, use the protection scroll and flee through them across the Temple of Amaunator puzzle. Angelo did this when he was tackling the temple and he was fine.
I always play with it, but according to Harpagornis's post on p1 this isn't a requirement. Improved AI settings, better calls for help, prebuffing, improved creatures & chapter-end-fights are the SCS components mentioned there. I've skipped some SCS components myself, such as Inquisitor Dispel nerfing, and powerful items' moving to ToB.
I'm currently messing around in Irenicus's dungeon with my imported Sophia v2 (sorry Bel but not today). Something has broken with my SCS install though, since the deurgar are all there, but there's no limit on resting - no ambushes occur, so every encounter is trivialised by 3-4x hasted Phase spiders + web, rest and repeat. Time to add in the arbitrary and punishing optional rules.
What´s the opinion on the nice idea of @AvidGamerFan? Shall we put this into Cataclysm as another curse or should it be a standalone challenge? Maybe both?
@Harpagornis I like the spell reduction, but I'm not too keen on the weapon reduction, on a difficulty where you need many weapons to succeed.
Would make for a much more interesting challenge. Is this a difference between party and solo?
I remember Weimar's Harder Illych you could rest but you would always be ambushed by duergar when you did, im not sure if SCS is ment to be the same or if it is just meant to prohibit resting.
In vanilla, that trigger gives you a lich if (Protagonist has 2M XP).
With the SCS component, that trigger gives you a lich if: (Spawn difficulty is LoB) or (Spawn difficulty is Insane+ and protagonist has 400K XP) or (Difficulty is Insane and protagonist has 1M XP). The lich will not spawn regardless of protagonist XP on Hardcore or below.
If you leave the spawn difficulty on "default" and let it float with game difficulty, the Insane difficulty version is the highest you can reach - but that component has two levels beyond Insane which can be forced if you really want it.
Karla the Mage3/Cleric has arrived in BG but with the Skels killing everything with ease i will park her for the moment maybe trying to test some more Druids. Totemic´s seem to be strong early on but what about the others? Lets see how the Avenger deals with Cataclysm...