Wild Mage has been utterly fun to play in SoA. It's the most powerful of mages, gets all the spells and only one 9th lv slot less than Sorcerer. Just need to be aware where you cast. I've had only one mishap, casting Invisibility in Government District to summon Cowled Wizards, it cast Fireball and all in the area went red circle.
Area effect Fallen Planetars is quite nice surge breaking the summon limit. Although they quickly went against each other because of their Globe of Blades and Vorpalled each others.
The EE doesn't allow stacking of chaos shields through sequencers, so it's no longer possible to guarantee NRD will cast without a surge. However, the ability to cast NRD without pause greatly reduces the risks associated with spells not casting as a result of surges and using limited wish to get NRD spells back is much preferable to using wish to refresh spells (with the slight risk involved in that of imprisoning yourself ).
The EE doesn't allow stacking of chaos shields through sequencers, so it's no longer possible to guarantee NRD will cast without a surge. However, the ability to cast NRD without pause greatly reduces the risks associated with spells not casting as a result of surges and using limited wish to get NRD spells back is much preferable to using wish to refresh spells (with the slight risk involved in that of imprisoning yourself ).
I've not actually used NRD in this run once, so I've probably missed a lot of fun. That's because I wanted to minize permanently turning to squirrel in BG1 as lv1 mage, which probably is avoidable with Adoys Belt. But I realized this only after killing Neera. And in BG2 leveling normally you get so many spells so I haven't really even thought about using it.
I didn't actually realize the risk of casting 9th lv spells before you said it. So casting something like Spell Turning before is advisable, before getting the Thayan Circlet.
The EE doesn't allow stacking of chaos shields through sequencers, so it's no longer possible to guarantee NRD will cast without a surge. However, the ability to cast NRD without pause greatly reduces the risks associated with spells not casting as a result of surges and using limited wish to get NRD spells back is much preferable to using wish to refresh spells (with the slight risk involved in that of imprisoning yourself ).
I've not actually used NRD in this run once, so I've probably missed a lot of fun. That's because I wanted to minize permanently turning to squirrel in BG1 as lv1 mage, which probably is avoidable with Adoys Belt. But I realized this only after killing Neera. And in BG2 leveling normally you get so many spells so I haven't really even thought about using it.
I didn't actually realize the risk of casting 9th lv spells before you said it. So casting something like Spell Turning before is advisable, before getting the Thayan Circlet.
The same applies with level 8 spells (maze), which is why being able to refresh spells using limited wish is helpful. I'm not sure if spell turning would work to protect you - I think spell protections and magic resistance don't help against your own spells in the EE.
The same applies with level 8 spells (maze), which is why being able to refresh spells using limited wish is helpful. I'm not sure if spell turning would work to protect you - I think spell protections and magic resistance don't help against your own spells in the EE.
I was afraid of that, tested and nothing protects against casting it to yourself, at least from scrolls. Casting from clone to main char can be protected. Of course the chance of it is very low 1/20000 casting normally. Are you sure about Maze, as the spell code SPWI813 is not between the 0-10 pool of spells the wiki talks about?
The same applies with level 8 spells (maze), which is why being able to refresh spells using limited wish is helpful. I'm not sure if spell turning would work to protect you - I think spell protections and magic resistance don't help against your own spells in the EE.
I was afraid of that, tested and nothing protects against casting it to yourself, at least from scrolls. Casting from clone to main char can be protected. Of course the chance of it is very low 1/20000 casting normally. Are you sure about Maze, as the spell code SPWI813 is not between the 0-10 pool of spells the wiki talks about?
There's very little I'm sure about these days . I seem to remember it happening to me, but I might be wrong about that. Could also have been pre-EE ...
Jezebel at Throne of Bhaal. Balty cast Lunar Stance to avoid Time Stop, and Jezebel started Whirdwinding Solars with Ravager +6. The other Solar was Vorpalled almost immediatelly, but the other one disappeared. Tried fighting Bodhi a little, but she drank too much of my blood and had to retreat to avoid death by zero CON. I watched Imoen and Balty duel, and surprisingly they were evenly matched, and Imoen left right after she killed Balty. The other Solar appeared and we again Vorpalled it after a while. Baited Irenicus spells out before killing him. Didn't want to approach Bodhi so we stoned her with WoW. That was pretty easy first blood.
Started the first pool with Deva and retreated quickly, but was suprised that the main enemies now Teleported without Error on me, just like in the Abyss battle. And so started the battle royale, I had to kite them out because if I stopped they would quickly box me in. First order was to stone the Balor with WoW, because it would gate the most enemies in. Mariliths also summon unlimited Skelis eventually, so it was going to be stoned next. But then I was trapped by the enemies, because my larger BMU circle. I was quickly Thac0 nerfed by Cambions so really the only way of getting out of here was the WoW. Used probably 20 potions to stay alive. We first stoned the Cambions, then the Marilith because it's very hard to kill with infinite casting PfMW's. After that it was easy mobbing job of the lesser enemies. It was good that we bothered to pick up the second WoW from Thay, because I used the first one in this first pool alone. We turned to Ravager for the last two pools because I wanted to make them little bit easier. Being Ravager we could tank them without healing and casually stone them in order, Balor, Cambions and Marilith. It took 76 hits from WoW to complete the pools. At one point my Thac0 was pretty bad +151.
Jezebel v Big 6. Turned back to human form, and starting the battle we teleported on to one the pools so they couldn't touch us directly. Put we still had to kite their two Planetars and Deva out. With Reflection Shield on Illasera couldn't range us, although Sendai still used her Sling hitting herself. Cloak of Mirroring stops Yaga's Lava Bomb affecting ourselves, but staying close of the tether hurt all others of the Big 6. Started hitting Yaga with Sling of Erinne and +4 bullets. It took 200 bullets to get Yaga to near death with his 65 DR. Abazigal took 80 bullets, and after using 410 bullets all were near death. Sendai needs some attention because she could kill herself with her own bullets, but she healed herself once to full health and managed to stay alive. But then it happened, I was retreating to cast our last Improved Haste from the Cloak, and Sendai freaking killed herself spawning Melissan. And I still hadn't got them all to near 10 hp.
Jezebel v Melissan. As soon as Sendai was dead we cast AoF, which was slight mistake as we only managed then cast Focus against Time Stop like one second before Melissan cast it. Melissan teleported to our pool and started attacking us. And Jezebel started slinging the Big 6 with Critical Strikes, every death stunning Melissan for a round. We managed to kill them all, and then Teleported to other side of the closed tether, so that Melissan saw us but the two Solars didn't. This way Melissan doesn't Teleport without Error and can't attack us. Hit her with Rift Device getting her to 40% of Health, and started slinging her. She gated some enemies, and Marilith summoned some Skelis, but nothing major was attacking us. My +4 bullets ended Melissan near death, and we started using Frag Grenades on Cambion, which also hurt Melissan. And after a while Melissan was defeated.
So Blackguard beats Melissan and I finally managed to nR a solo Paladin. With closed pools and teleport tactic it's pretty straightforward battle now. Although Teleporting pool enemies and homing Big 6 makes it harder on their part than it was originally. Blackguard is probably stronger than Cavalier in this challenge. Poison/Charm immunity is better than Level Drain Immunity, but Blackguard gets easier Crusader Attacks with Detonators, great innate abilities and not falling in the Hell Trials is the biggest plus I think. With Cavalier it's always a gamble getting 25 STR and -4 AC.
I recently did a Priest of Talos insane NR over at TavernRPG. I noticed the cut off pools and decided to use them. Afterwards I didn't feel good about it. I ended up voluntarily withholding her from our Hall of Heroes because of it (that and my use of Mirroring at the very end).
I personally think the original behavior should be restored. That's exploitable, too, in its own way but it's not as egregious. I suppose playing with the cutoff pools and restricting use of them is a reasonable option but that makes the battlefield too uniform and uninteresting.
Do you know if anyone has raised this over at G3? I'd do it myself but I don't have an account there.
Cheers!
A.
NW: To be clear, no judgements on your use of the pools. You're playing on a different difficulty setting and in a different challenge. We're just operating with a different ruleset at TavernRPG. It's not better or worse, just different.
I recently did a Priest of Talos insane NR over at TavernRPG. I noticed the cut off pools and decided to use them. Afterwards I didn't feel good about it. I ended up voluntarily withholding her from our Hall of Heroes because of it (that and my use of Mirroring at the very end).
I personally think the original behavior should be restored. That's exploitable, too, in its own way but it's not as egregious. I suppose playing with the cutoff pools and restricting use of them is a reasonable option but that makes the battlefield too uniform and uninteresting.
Do you know if anyone has raised this over at G3? I'd do it myself but I don't have an account there.
Cheers!
A.
NW: To be clear, no judgements on your use of the pools. You're playing on a different difficulty setting and in a different challenge. We're just operating with a different ruleset at TavernRPG. It's not better or worse, just different.
I agree with you, it's kind of shoehorny mechanic currently, as it makes it so much easier especially in LoB nR. But at the same time I think it kind of balances the homing beacon mechanic, that Ascension added about the same time to the bosses. Where they'll will home on to you even if you lose them in the fog of war. And I think it could possibly be impossible to beat it currently in this challenge without the closed pools. Honestly I think the original Ascension end battle was better and more fair, with open pools, and without homing bosses. I would also make it so that every pool refreshed your char completely.
Honestly I think the original Ascension end battle was better and more fair, with open pools, and without homing bosses.
Agreed. I'd been looking forward to v2. It ended up being semi-disappointing because of those mechanics, especially the cut off polls. I'd love to see someone implement a tweak to restore the original behavior? @jmerry ?
I would also make it so that every pool refreshed your char completely.
Don't tempt me, lol. I have a personal rule against introducing modifications that advantage the player but that sounds more fun, ngl. That would definitely be a suitable difficulty fine tuning option.
Anyhoo, I hope I haven't derailed this thread from the subject of your accomplishment. Once again, congrats! If we'd like to continue this we can pick it up in another thread, maybe the Adventurer's Lounge
About 2 years since this thread sadly died and I am back to do the challenge again on 2.7.3.0. with updated SCS and Ascension but in known terrain, so still as an Gnome F/I. Goal this time however is a bit different: I will be doing as much extra content as possible. Not necessarily all side quests but at least beating as much challenging optional fights as possible. You can call it, as per page 1 of this thread, as ''afflicted by Bhaal's Curse'' but on juice as I included a few extra fights especially in SoD. I also used the damage based on difficulty option, so 2x received in this case.
SCS setting includes all AI Enhancement and Tactical Challenged but no Gameplay, Item or Spell tweaks this time as I didn't feel like tweaking out the ini. I only skipped ''items taken from Spellhold'' as I had a few bugs with that one in the past like some items being duped or being depleted of their charges. I'll probably still do it without gear as if it was enabled though.
On top of this, I gave this mod a shot to fix LoB saving throws: https://www.gibberlings3.net/forums/topic/38985-legacyofbhaalfix-fixing-saving-throws-bug-for-lecgacy-of-bhaal-difficulty/ . In general, it worked really well but for some reasons, it wouldn't put all creatures to -5 but sometime some random values from -4 to +2 for those that would normally get the Integr Underflow bug. So this includes ''Mystra'' divine curse from page 1 as well. That might be the SCS mix with the install but overall it felt way better than not having it at all and more ''intended''. I also used some NR strat when possible but actually played it like a test run, looking for the META for each encounter, including the EE companions (made them join but did not make them gain any XP from kills or quests at all, only chain slept before defeating Sarevok to trigger their personal quests. Dorn was especially tricky for this). So no companion killing this time only to do their quests.
Aim is to avoid so reload + charm/poly strat at 5% chance unless absolutely necessary. I would charm reload to save time only if out of sight web was possible so it could be done safely (wait for the foe to get stuck in web before trying,. If it fails run away, turn invisible and rest. Repeat).
Belhifet with the LoB ST Fix:
No more guaranteed wand of polymorph from casters.
So here we are for BG1.
Rolling Custos the Gnomist Fighter/Illusionist (Neutral Good) with an auto-rolled 97 base stat and 18/90 for strength, 2 pips in Axe and Flails:
I exported this little guy as that's the best roll I've ever had for this class as I recall.
Prologue: Not much to say but did all the side quests, including the rats. It's pretty quick to deal with them with the Pseudo Dragon and dual wielding a throwing axe in melee with a club in the offhand so it doesn't break even if it's 1-2 damage per hit, they just don't hit you at all. You can even get 3.5 APR if using the Oil of Speed from the combat tutorial. Shank and Carbos blinded and killed with Pseudo Dragon and throwing axes hoping for crits.
Pretty straightforward and not much to say until Chapter 7. Algernon & Nymph cloak, WoPara, WoMS, Hold Person, Web, Emotion:Hopelessness, WoPoly can clear all encounters with no issues. I was at no risk of death after getting Invisibility as well.
Chapter 1
Gave the book the Firebeard and headed to Captain Brage right away to unlock our first power so we can heal some HP on rest. Sold Ankheg Plate for some gold.
Chapter 2
XP run to get access to Invisibility which is 100% chance to be copied thanks to our mage kit: Killed Sonner to give the Bowl to Tenya but left the two other fishermen alive for max XP. Pseudo Dragon killed Shoel the Nereid, then went to calm Marl, travelled invisible from then and luckily no archer waylaid at all. Used Pseudo Dragon to kill Algernon for his cloak and Dushai, who was lured at the top of the map, for Web and Edventar's Gift. Bought reputation back to 13 then completed some quests to get it back to 20 getting Charisma tome, Constitution tome, WoMS and WoPara on the way: Farmer Brun son (invisiblity), not Greywolf, Joia Flamedance ring (charm), A Child in the Lighthouse (Blind + charm + Pseudo Dragon), Prism the Sculptor (WoPara Greywolf), Driad of the Cloud Peaks (WoPara/Charm), Melicamp (Blind + Dragon), Samuel & Lena (Invisibility), Drienne's Cat (PfU reward with Friend spell). Used the Red potion after getting enough gold to buy spells from Ulgoth Beard (+ greenstone amulet) and High Hedge and learned everything with 25 int. Did it in Beregost Inn to sleep the debuff off.
Completed Bassilus with charm and using his Animate Dead to clear the area, got Legacy of the Master and used charmed Meilum to defeat Khark. Did all Beregost encounters (Neera, spider house, Silke, Karlat) with the help of Charm (one spider), WoMS, Hold Person and Blind. Completed Nashkel Mine completely invisible, returned Kylee's dagger and got Joseph ring to return it, WoPara on Mulahey. Dual wielding Beruel's Retort and Flail +1 from the fisherman at the moment.
I'm considering trying to charm Mad Arcan next time with the Dire Charm scroll from the Ankheg Cave as I read that he has 2x Animate Dead, which could make us able to complete her quest and defeat the Ogre Mage as well instead. Not sure how well it would work.
Chapter 3
Turned in the quest and charmed a guard to waste Nimbul spells and used WoMS invisible. WoPara to finish him. Neira beaten with 2x Web + Hold Person. WoMS Tranzig. Completed Half-Ogres near Beregost and used invisible familiar to let Drizzt die to gnolls, sold gear and recharged the wands. Travelled invisible to target the dwarf and amazon ambuses and dispatched them with WoMS while invisible, then Blind and Hold Person. Did Zhurlong Boots, Mirianne letter and Perdue's Short Sword quests. Went to Mutamin's Garden and charmed a Lesser Basilisk, who I also protected from petrification for XP and cleared the entire map with it before finishing it of with WoPara. Went to Durlag's Tower, killed the Horrors with 1x Blind then maximum Magic Missile casts with Evermemory + 2x Web (+1x Invis for level 2 spells to hide afterwards) + Ghost Armor & Fire Protection. Got the Wisdom tome at the top, then dealt with the lesser basilisk and 3x greater ones outside (charmed, then WoPara). Got 2x +1 Morning star (2d4 +1 damage, so amazing) from Molkar ambush and Peter in Mutamin's Garden.
Headed to the Bandit Camp, charmed Taurgosz to let hit die to skeletons, then charmed everyone in Bandit tent to let them kill each other. Britik and Hakt can easily take care of Raemon who won't aggro if you're invisible like the other ''blue circle'' NPCs, then you don't need invisibility to charm the rest. You do need invisibility to not have the whole tent turn hostile though and dispatch them one by one. 1x Potion of Insulation + Talos Gift for the chest. I only had one level of fighter left to gain at this point.
Chapter 4
Sided with Aldeth against the druids who I defeated with GM + Hold Person/Blind/WoPara. Got Gurze Cloak using GM + Emotion:Hopelessness, Web and Hold Person. Recovered the body invisible (WoMS for distraction) for Spider in Cloakwood quest, dealt with Drasus Party by charming them one by one on the east side while hidden from Drasus and fed them to the two guards near the bridge. WoMS + GM + Blind + Hold Person for Drasus. Cleared the Wyverns with a WoF because why not, got Coran in the party just for the journal entry to turn in the Wyvern head as he's the only one except for EE companions with an actual ''quest''. I made sure that the big Wyvern would block the way for the babies to not reach me as I wasn't sure if they could.
Once inside, charmed the mage holding the Haste scroll for fun while completely pointless, then defeated the Ogre Mage holding the Magi Katana +2 with WoPara. Charmed the guard while distracting the horror into the top room to beat Davaeorn. Defeated the Mustard Jelly using WoMS Ogres, used Knock on the chest with gems, flooded the mines and left.
Chapter 5
Did Laerta and Louise ASAP to get the WoPoly from Voltine (WoPara). Did the Captive Nymph (GM + WoPara) and got the intelligence tome. Potion of Genius to learn all new spells from Sorcerous Sundries without fail, got Thresher +2 and charmed the upstairs party for Spider Spawn. Did the Seven Sun (WoMS + Para) and Ogre Mage quest by charming it's crawlers with Nymph Cloak by using GM to paralyze him to death. Did the Merchant League quest and defeated the party of Doppelgangers running around with WoF scorcher buffed with oil of speed + paws of the cheetah. Got the Helm & Cloak of Balduran but didn't turn it in, I charmed Degrogel instead and fed him to his monsters so the quest never closed. Got to -1 saves to stand in my own web hasted and avoid almost everything, and greenstone amulet + antidote would take care of death saves.
Couldn't wait to get 19 strength so went to Candlekeep afterwards.
Gear at this point for max ST (wand and spell at -1 or lower which is the most important): Guard Ring, Claw of Kazgaroth, Amplifier amulet, Helm of Balduran, Robe of the Good Archmagi, Golden Girdle of Urnst, didn't need Cloak of Balduran yet so I left it in the Beregost spider house and used Algernon/Nymph instead, Thresher +2 and Morning Star +1.
Chapter 6
WoMS + GM + WoPoly the 5 Ogre Mage ambush.
Looted the top floor with Knock, charm killed Rieltar's party before web killing the last one standing. Went to the catacomb, Shield + Protection from Fire + Mirror Image + Minor globe of Invulnerability/Polymorph Jelly form for traps, got the 2 tomes and extra loot to sell, then charm killed Prat party (charmed Bor out of sight). Got the Throwing Axe +2 which will be our main weapon for the rest of the game and IMO, the best weapon of BG1. Great to support WoMS and range blinded enemies.
Chapter 7 - A ton of side quests done here (31), so it will be broken into a few parts and will only list the most important.
Ducal Palace
Forgot to do the Thieve Guild mage quest for Fireshield Blue, which is inaccessible after chapter 5 but carried on as it's available in SoD anyway. Saved the Duke and travelled invisible to avoid turning the Flaming Fists hostile. Did a bit of extra and cleared the Iron Throne building by charming Cythandria and feeding her to the golems. Then buffed a bit and dealt with Argh and Ughh. With potion of absorption to max out crushing AC, a cloud giant strength potion + DUHM power, invulnerability and oil of speed, they stood no chance at all. -10 base AC, 22-27 damage with Axe +2 and Thresher +2, 4 APR, 2/6 Thac0. Easy to never get damaged with Mirror Image and Stoneskin (didn't have it yet).
Then time for the Throne. Charmed Larze dealt with Slythe and Kristin with WoMS support. Kristin was especially tough and almost killed him but we made it as she finally ran out of spells.
Went to South BG and charmed the Greater Basilisk. Cleared the sewers to lure it to the throne (top exit, for some reasons the lower one just aside of the palace make it disappear). To lure the basilisk, have it attack you just before leaving the area and cancel the attack once it appears on the next area. Travelled invisible on the surface to avoid guard petrification and started the fight. Turned invisible at the start to avoid getting backstabbed, used WoMS to support then GM for the basilisk. Needless to say, it totally pulverized everything.
We then went back to para + finish the Basilisk after getting teleported, looted the palace and left for some side quests.
Did a lot of side quests and optional encounters like WoPoly on the wolf of Ulcaster and charming the Gullikin Ogre Mage, nothing could stand in our way now. TLDR: All crushed by the same tactics of Algernon & Nymph cloak, WoPara, WoMS, Hold Person, Web, Emotion:Hopelessness, now with WoPoly except that we can also range with Throwing Axe +2 and have 19 strength for more damage. Got the last wisdom tome as well so our character is complete with 2 pips into Two Weapon Style as well, leaving 1 for Single Weapon Style during SoD. Killed Shandalar daughters with charm (the one in the room alone) before going to the winter island for Stoneskin so he didn't really give me a choice, then everything was charm killed with my last one standing being paralyzed or polymorphed. They don't turn hostile if they save when charmed so it's very convenient.
Worth noting that you can return Elves' Bane belt then use Charm to get the Unshey killed by Hobgoblins without a reputation loss.
Durlag's Tower
Floor 1
Everything but the 2 mustard jellies fed to the top double fireball trap, which is very convenient for the Greater Doppelganger as WoPoly isn't a guaranteed win each cast anymore, GM + WoPara is now the way outside of infinite traps. Used the trap to heal from fire as well. Jellies were dealt with using WoMS ogres with Mirror Image, Stoneskin and Haste. Ranged the Skeletons with Strength potions + DUHM using WoMS as bait and it worked really well, better than buffing Jelly form actually and less potion reliant so I stayed with that. I killed one skeleton with the fire trap as well. It's reliable and free but it takes a while, I almost ran out of my Protection from Fire cast doing it.
Managed to lure 3 of the 4 wardens to the top trap to dispatch them invisible but the lower right one wouldn't cooperate so I used the very top of the bottom trap, the one just to the lower left of the wardens, to finish him off after luring him with WoMS. Cleared the entire floor because I could.
Floor 2
WoPara + WoMS for the Greater Doppelganger near the Goblet then fed the rest of the level to the left side fire trap and lightning trap while using a potion of absorption/Protection from fire. Mainly used Kiel's Helmet from now on to heal when damaged and not forget about it by accident. WoMS is great when enemies still follow and gang around you when invisible. It makes it easy to loot stuff and turn back invisible. Rhis was intensely used during SoD.
Floor 3
Greater Wyverns fed to the fireball trap at the entry of the level, minor sequencer with 2x web, GM + WoPara just in case, Edventar's Gift, Protection from Cold for the Bear, lured the Air Aspect and Fission Slime to the infinite fire trap near the Ghouls, WoPara the two Phoenix Guard starting with web on the archer until they blew up for good.
Floor 4
King isn't mandatory and can be skipped but I have 2 ways to deal with him: Reload one is to just charm him with Algernon's Cloak and drink an Invisibility potion/Sandthief, the ''reliable'' one is to lure his army to the other level and come back invisible to polymorph him.
Spider statue reached invisible, polymorphed the two helmet horrors, Grael polymorphed and the rest of his friend died in the pool of acid and I totally forgot the OGL there (still had 4 finishing BG1 so more than enough). Went to sell some loot before the Demon Knight, who was a total let down this time. Buffed with PfM, Storm Giant and Oil of Speed. Broke the mirror right away and his mirror fiend did 99% of the work, to finally die by a ranged crit using Throwing Axe +2 instantly after.
Time for Aec' Letec
Aec' Letec
Charm + GM + WoPoly all cultists even if optional in Ulgoth Beard. I turned the last one inside the house hostile to reveal the thief. Then for Aec' Letec himself, the great thing is that even with the ST Fix, you still have a slim chance to paralyze him (bigger if you buy some GM scrolls from SSundries and spam until you land one, or get lucky with your 2 casts). He becomes immune as soon as the last cultist dies however, so the easiest, more efficient way that I found:
Charm the 3 bottom cultists with Nymph Cloak, the mage won't aggro as it's out of sight. Clear all the other cultists while invisible and leave the mage to Near Death. Turn the 3 cultist against each other until you have one left, either badly injured or near death and make it defeat the mage to spawn Aec' Letec. He won't try to kill the cultist and will only focused on you so it's possible just to run around until it land. I buffed with Stoneskin prior, Oil of Speed and Cloud strength. Spam GM until it lands, then WoPara Aec' Letec, then your last charmed cultist as well right after, DUHM, finish the cultist and beat up Aec' Letec with 4 APR, 25 STR.
For some reasons, his saves are not all at -5 with the mod, but -2, +1, +1, -2, +1 from his base of 2/4/3/3/5 for 0/5/4/1/6. Not sure what causes this with the mod. Better than +20 everywhere though and just polymorph with no fail.
Balduran Isle, Karoug and Loup-Garou (with ST Bug)
Did all the quests there which I really enjoyed. I've got Nymph Cloak to work a few times like on Pallin the archer that drag you into a Wolfwere ambush, and Jondal's Wife but it was extremely low odds and very tedious so I just ran around invisible instead. I could have ranged them with WoMS as well but aimed at conserving charge. Once everything was done for everyone to like me: baby returned, dolly, lost brother, lost cloak, Belladona flowers, it was time for Karoug (+ infant son and spell book quest).
The only semi-reliable way that I found was to drag everyone to the bottom of the boat to throw an out of sight Greater Malison then charm Karoug with Algernon's Cloak at 20% chance to work, luckily he has no MR. So no reliable NR strat here. Once charmed Kagoug will clear the entire floor by himself as nothing can damage him but sadly I couldn't find a way to lure him to the other floors to clear the rest of the outside map. I brought Kondar +1 as an offhand weapon, which was gifted from helping Aldeth Sashenstar in the Merchant's League Investigation quest and used the sword of Balduran in the main hand. Used WoPara until it landed, which turned Karoug hostile, then another GM to turn him into a squirrel with WoPoly. Then haste + dual wielding silver weapons took care of him right away. His saves are too good to go straight with polymorphing.
Charmed Karoug swept the floor.
As everyone on the village loved us, Kaishas Gan just let us go without a fight. I believe that she cures you before going back to BG with SCS allowing you to rest more while doing the quests on the island but I could be wrong. A dialogue with Mendas seems to say so, else only having 3 days to sail back is very limiting, I assumed that 3 days was the limit still. Now the Mendas fight, one of the issue that I had was that their saves before changing into Loup-Garous got a massive -25 bonus so no way to debilitate them in any way:
However this didn't stop us thanks to potion buffs (Invulnerability, Stoneskin, Cloud Giant + DUHM, Oil of Speed, Mind Focus for ranged THAC0), Durlag's Goblet, Stoneskin, Mirror Image, WoMS for aggro and focusing on Mendas after debuffing him with an Arrow of Dispel. Once his HP was low enough, both transformed into Loup-Garous with more manageable saves (5/7/6/7/8) and luckily no magic resistance, so GM + WoPoly did the trick for both as we still needed the Sword of Balduran + Kondar +1 to finish them:
Overall, this went surprisingly well.
EE companion quests (No quest/kill XP)
Neera
This one is pretty simple. You just have to recruit her and sleep for about a week to get the location on your map then remove her. After that it's a matter of reaching Adoy and she just spawns during the dialogue even if not in the party. I had 2 bugs though: I never received the belt for completing the quest and Neera permanently disappeared from the game even if she was not killed during the encounter, she remained polymorphed into a squirrel the entire time and wasn't harmed:
Rasaad
Easy but not as much. Sleep a bunch for the essential banter to happen. Then get ambushed in south BG. Once it happens, get to another area and dismiss him, then deal with the Dark Moon Monks (super easy for the entire quest as they have poor saves and AC). Then make him join again to talk with Sorrem, else he won't spawn, then dismiss him before going inside for the ambush. Then you can go to Cloud Peak and Rasaad will just spawn during dialogues even if not in the party. I had to reload 2-3 times as some of them glitched out but it wasn't so bad overall. Had some fun clearing the entire temple and getting the Big-Fisted Belt:
Sadly however, Lv1 Rasaad died pretty much instantly on the Summit. Thinking of it now, maybe using Otiluke's Resilient Sphere could have kept him alive, I don't think that he would have turned hostile as he had a green circle like a summoned creature. The quest still completed.
Dorn
Now this one was something especially for my 20 rep character as he wouldn't rejoin once dismissed. He's immortal during the Senjjak and Dorotea encounter so no issues there and WoMS can clear it on a single cast but you could still use Otiluke to prevent him getting a kill I think. Sleep again for some banter and talk with Taris. Issue here is that Dorn has to remain in the party so to not get XP, Kryll must be charmed and killed by hostile skeletons on the map. He'll then talk to you and you can report to Taris.
Then you need him with you so he can talk to you in Wyrm's Crossing and to encounter Simmeon. Once Simmeon spawns, then you can remove Dorn to deal with him. He couldn't be charmed as his mage ally would only dispel the effect but GM + Polymorph did the job against his party. Now the issue is that you need Dorn in the party to close the quest but he won't join back due to 20 rep. Luckily, Viconia is just aside and can be recruited no matter what and lower our rep to 18, so we can get her in the party just to get Dorn back then kick her out. Go back to Wyrm's Crossing, then Dorn will talk to you and close the quest.
Sarevok
Final inventory before the kill. Got Sunin Evermemory (lured him outside, WoMS, he has spell protection for the first para but a second cast did the trick), got The Victor using OGL out of sight, sold everything not needed. Bought detonators and a few more arrows of dispel, useful scrolls, all high value jewellery that I previously sold and some WoF for some extra SoD gold which I ended up not needing at all. Not forgetting the sacred pantaloons of course that I skipped on all my other runs so far.
For some reason,I got this ring with a single charge that cannot be used and with no particular function dropped during the Sarevok encounter. Maybe I wasn't paying attention on my previous runs but I don't recall ever seeing that. I couldn't find any use to it but still kept it during SoD.
Undercity mercenary party and Tamoko slain to sell their gear by charming Haseo then made my way inside. Used WoMS while invisible to group everyone together on top of the skull and waited all buffs out, most importantly Diarmid PfM so 5 mins at 60 FPS, or just CTRL + T it out if you're waiting anyway with no risk. Then used OGL out of sight which took 38 charges for all of them (used GM first but they saved almost all the time still), dragged the skeleton warriors away from Sarevok with WoMS while invisible, surrounded Sarevok with WoMS, GM + WoPara until it worked while refreshing WoMS between casts (4 charges), haste, massive DPS then victory.
So, BG1 entirely crushed by the mighty F/I with no significant difficulties. Only enemy that I had to rely on luck for was Karoug.
SoD is done as well but the write-up will probably be as long as this one as I did a LOT of optional stuff and was focused on the harder options, mostly to confirm that a solo F/I can clear all content on LoB SCS. For example, I defeated Coldhearth, saved the dwarves and Semahl, collected all hidden stuff I could find like for Neera's potion, found a reliable way to defend the Fort, cleared the dead magic waylaid (surprisingly tough), defeated everyone inside the ruined temple of Bhaal including a way to completely crush the Shadow Aspect without PfU, killed Kherriun to save the ghost dragon Halatathlaer which is probably one of the most challenging fight of the run, killed Zhadroth and the Endless watcher, did not duel Ashatiel but killed all the crusaders including the elites guarding the rear of Dragonspear Castle (Thorough achievement). I reached a new personal milestone of 692 HP for the final battle, which was totally unnecessary in the end even with double damage received.
It's surprising how little you need to do to get through SoD, yet how much content there actually is with different ways to approach most situations. It was definitely one of my favourite part of the run. We'll see how BG2 goes as I'm pretty rusty on it but it should be smooth sailing after the first few steps.
On another note, I was looking at what actually make the ''Flying Solo'' achievement unlock if anyone is ever interested (unlocked it already a long time ago but never figured out the actual mechanics of it). I took a look in depth of what would lock a character out of it. Long story short, recruiting any character past the starting area will make you unable to unlock the achievement. However this does not mean that you cannot recruit anyone. The most common myth is that recruited companions must only not gain XP while in the party but it isn't true. It's all about the "BD_ACH_PARTY","GLOBAL" and !NumInPartyGT(1) values.
You can see the value using the C:GetGlobal("BD_ACH_PARTY","GLOBAL") command. A value of 1 means the achievement will unlock and -1 means that it won't. However, the line will not be created at all before leaving the starting area in both games and it only check if !NumInPartyGT(1) has ever been greater than 1 after being created, which is the amount of characters in your party at the moment.
What this means is that in BG1, you can recruit Imoen, Xzar and Montaron and the achievement will still work as long as they're removed before leaving Lion's Way, and doing the combat tutorial in Candlekeep will not affect it in any way either. In BG2, this applies to Irenicus Dungeon first floor, so you're safe as long as you dismiss everyone before leaving to the next zone.
So if the achievement if the only thing that you're looking for, you can just set the value to 1 using C:SetGlobal("BD_ACH_PARTY","GLOBAL", 1) in the console while being solo and finishing the game even if you had characters join you before. As soon as you recruit anyone at any given time after leaving the first zone, the "BD_ACH_PARTY","GLOBAL" gets created and put to 1. Recruiting anyone for any amount of time after that, even those that you previously dismissed in the starting zone, will void the achievement.
Invisibility and PFU up to Korlaz, then used The Victor until she surrendered (only 3 times as I recall) and using an invisibility potion in between casts. Did everything in the tomb for maximum xp rewards.
Once in BG, we sold all our jewellery at Sorcerous Sundries and saw that the extra wands of fire for gold was totally unnecessary.
Bought all Det arrows that we could and the learned the new spells available. Bought extras of useful scrolls like Haste and Web. Left at 1 level from the cap so 8/9. Got Lon's Amulet and the Spectacles.
Chapter 8 - Coldhearth
Did the Menhir and the 3 items side quest to get the mirror of identification. WoMS was still very useful, as well as GM + WoPoly for quick kills. Forgot about Stone Ally but it wasn't a big deal at all in the end. Went to the mines to help the dwarves and manage to save all of them, then Semahl as well using WoMS + GM + Poly again. Did the whole crypt with one PFU. Polymorphed the bronze sentry, did the 3 scepter quest and rushed straight to Coldhearth and opened his secret door with Knock. Threw his Phylactery right in the fire and polymorphed the elementals that spawned. Coldhearth then spawned in the fire room and PFU was still active, so WoPara + GM worked. We did not even bother with Secret Revealed at all.
Got the green dragon and Hill Giant Waylaid and helped it with WoMS and ranging with Throwing Axe +2. I couldn't do anything magical as they had bugged -21 save bonus everywhere. Then headed to Morentherene to one shot it, grabbing all the stuff from Neera's quest on the way, like charming the 7 legged spider. Looting was pretty smooth due to WoMS not breaking invisibility so it was a matter of moving the enemies to the right spot before looting/charming and going back invisible after, ideally hasted to run around until the round ends.
Burned Zialtar and his friends with OGL, WoMS + GM + WoPoly on Neothelid until it worked, then charmed Akanna to have her die to her own aerial servants.
Found an amazing, very safe way to defeat the shadow aspect using potions of invulnerability to get negative saves vs death to avoid Strength drain, Polymorph Self-Jelly Form to be immune to piercing weapons, Fire Shield Red + Blue before activating the chest then switch to jelly form right after. I needed 2x extra Red and 1x extra blue for the kill. A very important step here is to make sure to be close to the Mislead so it gets damaged as well, else it seems that the shadow aspect doesn't receive damage from the fire shields at all.
Cleared the room to Darskhelin by luring the humanoids out with WoMS to blind them and range them to death, then charmed the Umber Hulks to finish him before turning then against each other. Very smooth segment overall.
Went to the Crusader siege to loot it and though about a great idea: Nymph Cloak. Jegg Hillcarver can be used to recharge it at will and it's dirt cheap, so I used charm to clear the east of the map, then charmed the whole camp for the siege. Bought Rhythe's Last Arrow as my new main weapon, which was honestly amazing.
We're not surrendering the fort this time. Did all the quests inside first and made my ''minions'' attack. Hasted them and peeled back outside of the camp to see the Flaming Fist supporting from the south, then they stood no chance. I did no notice that the fort came to help as well so poor Khalid with no plot armor got slain in the process, which I was sad about because I couldn't give him the spider web later on. That's when I actually noticed. Maybe a fast Otiluke could work for next time.
Then used The Victor for the bridge mage. It turns out that Jelly Form makes you completely immune to everything here, so it was super easy. I could have used Cloudkill and Ice Storm scrolls but simply decided to lure the rest of the party to the camp just below. I'll try buffing with Fireshields as well next time.
Chapter 10 - Near impossible Waylaid (dead magic)
Used the spectacles for Nazmaru, who is the only merchant that allows you to sell stuff for more than the buy price at 20 rep / 20 charisma. Not really useful this point as I was still over 100k but it's nice to just be able to get whatever you want and recharge wands at will (only had 2 recharges for BG + SoD though). Got the dead magic waylaid leaving the camp, that I was determined to win. No NR strat here, no spells work at all and result failures, no potions, paralyzation or similar as even if it lands, the effect gets cancelled on the next turn... BUT, you still have about half a second for an attack. I managed to win the fight spamming WoMS and detonators with as much AC vs Missile as I could get (not sure that it helped really) but it was costly and didn't manage to kill the Shadowy Figure as it just runs away once his friends are dead. So I used Power Word:Reload (only time in the playthrough except Karoug to be fair) to get a 5% polymorph on it at the start, then immediately range it with a Det Arrow before the end of the round.
Rest of the party was way easier afterwards. Tanked them with WoMS, used 6 dets and ranged with Rhythe's.
Underground River - Zhadroth, Endless Watcher and saving Halatathlaer
Did all the side quests that I could and looter a Lesser Fire Elemental scroll from the vampire crypts in Dead Man's Pass. Didn't use it much except 1-2 times in Irenicus Dungeon, I was a bit disappointed. Carried on to Underground River and did all the side quests. WoMS + Axe was amazing. 15% crit with Archer's Eye, which lowers THAC0 by 5 afterwards. Saved the crusaders, found the 2 drows, then went to Kanaglym.
I didn't use PFU as I though that maybe I would need them later but I should off, I didn't really need it though. Zhadroth got paralyzed after a second WoPara and the Watcher got ranged with axe + WoMS.
Now the real challenge was saving the ghost dragon and killing Kherrium. Long story short, the best way that I found was to charm/rest repeat all dark magicians that could be charmed then for the few that couldn't I would GM + WoMS and throw axes hasted, throwing WoPoly there and there but they saved crazy often. Ideally you want to Remove Fear your summons so they don't run around and trigger the northern undead horde, or just buff and run around with no summons at all. Still, it was time consuming but it worked. It was the hardest battle to win so far with the Dead Magic one.
Carried on to go poison the water, loot the 2 chests close to Hephernaan and left after placing the explosive barrel, all quests done (wyverns, ghost ettin...).
Camp attack
Not much to say. Buffed with everything but stacked Heroism, healed with Durlag Goblet when needed, spammed WoMS and stacked a ton of web both from slots, sequencer and all scrolls I could buy through BG1 & Sod. Had 26 dets at the end. If I would redo it, I would probably try with Protection from Magic but I had no issues at all. Stacking missile AC is important, it's the only thing that managed to hit me.
Chapter 11
Defeated Ashatiel in 1V1 using WoMS and Axe and reloaded to see if it was possible to defeat all names NPCs instead by declining her offer. I managed to do it but it took a long time, so not really worth it in the end. Main thing was spamming Slow and Haste to support the reinforcing flaming fist until they retreat. One great thing though is that I got a about 10 extra potions of Heroism doing it. Chose to defeat the elite mercenaries at the top of the map and one of the easiest way is just to lure them to Torsin de Lancie and spam wands (MS + Para).
Belhifet
Freed the Planetar and opened the gates.
Final stats before the battle, an insane 692 HP with Martyr's Morning Star using Violet potion, scrolls for all elements, 3x invul, oil of speed, clarity, Strength + Strength minor sequencer for Bel and Fire shield Blue + Blur + Improved Invisibility Sequencer. Cast Enchanted Weapon and Spell Immunity:Abjuration before the cutscene.
Minor Sequencer on Bel while he throws a pointless remove magic, then started hacking. Only 3 Goblet charges and Bel was already at Near Death, 4th one he was dead. An absolute slaughter. Finished Caelar afterwards supported by Water Elementals, using an extra charge.
Once again, F/I is being unstoppable. SoA is going very well so far. Now finishing Chapter 3, the game was almost already won as soon as spell level 6 were unlocked, well except for Mindflayers but we'll get there.
Comments
Area effect Fallen Planetars is quite nice surge breaking the summon limit.
I didn't actually realize the risk of casting 9th lv spells before you said it. So casting something like Spell Turning before is advisable, before getting the Thayan Circlet.
The same applies with level 8 spells (maze), which is why being able to refresh spells using limited wish is helpful. I'm not sure if spell turning would work to protect you - I think spell protections and magic resistance don't help against your own spells in the EE.
Started the first pool with Deva and retreated quickly, but was suprised that the main enemies now Teleported without Error on me, just like in the Abyss battle. And so started the battle royale, I had to kite them out because if I stopped they would quickly box me in. First order was to stone the Balor with WoW, because it would gate the most enemies in. Mariliths also summon unlimited Skelis eventually, so it was going to be stoned next. But then I was trapped by the enemies, because my larger BMU circle. I was quickly Thac0 nerfed by Cambions so really the only way of getting out of here was the WoW. Used probably 20 potions to stay alive. We first stoned the Cambions, then the Marilith because it's very hard to kill with infinite casting PfMW's. After that it was easy mobbing job of the lesser enemies. It was good that we bothered to pick up the second WoW from Thay, because I used the first one in this first pool alone. We turned to Ravager for the last two pools because I wanted to make them little bit easier. Being Ravager we could tank them without healing and casually stone them in order, Balor, Cambions and Marilith. It took 76 hits from WoW to complete the pools. At one point my Thac0 was pretty bad +151.
Jezebel v Big 6. Turned back to human form, and starting the battle we teleported on to one the pools so they couldn't touch us directly. Put we still had to kite their two Planetars and Deva out. With Reflection Shield on Illasera couldn't range us, although Sendai still used her Sling hitting herself. Cloak of Mirroring stops Yaga's Lava Bomb affecting ourselves, but staying close of the tether hurt all others of the Big 6. Started hitting Yaga with Sling of Erinne and +4 bullets. It took 200 bullets to get Yaga to near death with his 65 DR. Abazigal took 80 bullets, and after using 410 bullets all were near death. Sendai needs some attention because she could kill herself with her own bullets, but she healed herself once to full health and managed to stay alive. But then it happened, I was retreating to cast our last Improved Haste from the Cloak, and Sendai freaking killed herself spawning Melissan. And I still hadn't got them all to near 10 hp.
Jezebel v Melissan. As soon as Sendai was dead we cast AoF, which was slight mistake as we only managed then cast Focus against Time Stop like one second before Melissan cast it. Melissan teleported to our pool and started attacking us. And Jezebel started slinging the Big 6 with Critical Strikes, every death stunning Melissan for a round. We managed to kill them all, and then Teleported to other side of the closed tether, so that Melissan saw us but the two Solars didn't. This way Melissan doesn't Teleport without Error and can't attack us. Hit her with Rift Device getting her to 40% of Health, and started slinging her. She gated some enemies, and Marilith summoned some Skelis, but nothing major was attacking us. My +4 bullets ended Melissan near death, and we started using Frag Grenades on Cambion, which also hurt Melissan. And after a while Melissan was defeated.
So Blackguard beats Melissan and I finally managed to nR a solo Paladin. With closed pools and teleport tactic it's pretty straightforward battle now. Although Teleporting pool enemies and homing Big 6 makes it harder on their part than it was originally. Blackguard is probably stronger than Cavalier in this challenge. Poison/Charm immunity is better than Level Drain Immunity, but Blackguard gets easier Crusader Attacks with Detonators, great innate abilities and not falling in the Hell Trials is the biggest plus I think. With Cavalier it's always a gamble getting 25 STR and -4 AC.
What are your thoughts on the cut off pools?
I recently did a Priest of Talos insane NR over at TavernRPG. I noticed the cut off pools and decided to use them. Afterwards I didn't feel good about it. I ended up voluntarily withholding her from our Hall of Heroes because of it (that and my use of Mirroring at the very end).
I personally think the original behavior should be restored. That's exploitable, too, in its own way but it's not as egregious. I suppose playing with the cutoff pools and restricting use of them is a reasonable option but that makes the battlefield too uniform and uninteresting.
Do you know if anyone has raised this over at G3? I'd do it myself but I don't have an account there.
Cheers!
A.
NW: To be clear, no judgements on your use of the pools. You're playing on a different difficulty setting and in a different challenge. We're just operating with a different ruleset at TavernRPG. It's not better or worse, just different.
I agree with you, it's kind of shoehorny mechanic currently, as it makes it so much easier especially in LoB nR. But at the same time I think it kind of balances the homing beacon mechanic, that Ascension added about the same time to the bosses. Where they'll will home on to you even if you lose them in the fog of war. And I think it could possibly be impossible to beat it currently in this challenge without the closed pools. Honestly I think the original Ascension end battle was better and more fair, with open pools, and without homing bosses. I would also make it so that every pool refreshed your char completely.
Agreed. I'd been looking forward to v2. It ended up being semi-disappointing because of those mechanics, especially the cut off polls. I'd love to see someone implement a tweak to restore the original behavior? @jmerry ?
Don't tempt me, lol. I have a personal rule against introducing modifications that advantage the player but that sounds more fun, ngl. That would definitely be a suitable difficulty fine tuning option.
Anyhoo, I hope I haven't derailed this thread from the subject of your accomplishment. Once again, congrats! If we'd like to continue this we can pick it up in another thread, maybe the Adventurer's Lounge
SCS setting includes all AI Enhancement and Tactical Challenged but no Gameplay, Item or Spell tweaks this time as I didn't feel like tweaking out the ini. I only skipped ''items taken from Spellhold'' as I had a few bugs with that one in the past like some items being duped or being depleted of their charges. I'll probably still do it without gear as if it was enabled though.
On top of this, I gave this mod a shot to fix LoB saving throws: https://www.gibberlings3.net/forums/topic/38985-legacyofbhaalfix-fixing-saving-throws-bug-for-lecgacy-of-bhaal-difficulty/ . In general, it worked really well but for some reasons, it wouldn't put all creatures to -5 but sometime some random values from -4 to +2 for those that would normally get the Integr Underflow bug. So this includes ''Mystra'' divine curse from page 1 as well. That might be the SCS mix with the install but overall it felt way better than not having it at all and more ''intended''. I also used some NR strat when possible but actually played it like a test run, looking for the META for each encounter, including the EE companions (made them join but did not make them gain any XP from kills or quests at all, only chain slept before defeating Sarevok to trigger their personal quests. Dorn was especially tricky for this). So no companion killing this time only to do their quests.
Aim is to avoid so reload + charm/poly strat at 5% chance unless absolutely necessary. I would charm reload to save time only if out of sight web was possible so it could be done safely (wait for the foe to get stuck in web before trying,. If it fails run away, turn invisible and rest. Repeat).
Belhifet with the LoB ST Fix:
So here we are for BG1.
Rolling Custos the Gnomist Fighter/Illusionist (Neutral Good) with an auto-rolled 97 base stat and 18/90 for strength, 2 pips in Axe and Flails:
Prologue: Not much to say but did all the side quests, including the rats. It's pretty quick to deal with them with the Pseudo Dragon and dual wielding a throwing axe in melee with a club in the offhand so it doesn't break even if it's 1-2 damage per hit, they just don't hit you at all. You can even get 3.5 APR if using the Oil of Speed from the combat tutorial. Shank and Carbos blinded and killed with Pseudo Dragon and throwing axes hoping for crits.
Pretty straightforward and not much to say until Chapter 7. Algernon & Nymph cloak, WoPara, WoMS, Hold Person, Web, Emotion:Hopelessness, WoPoly can clear all encounters with no issues. I was at no risk of death after getting Invisibility as well.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Completed Bassilus with charm and using his Animate Dead to clear the area, got Legacy of the Master and used charmed Meilum to defeat Khark. Did all Beregost encounters (Neera, spider house, Silke, Karlat) with the help of Charm (one spider), WoMS, Hold Person and Blind. Completed Nashkel Mine completely invisible, returned Kylee's dagger and got Joseph ring to return it, WoPara on Mulahey. Dual wielding Beruel's Retort and Flail +1 from the fisherman at the moment.
I'm considering trying to charm Mad Arcan next time with the Dire Charm scroll from the Ankheg Cave as I read that he has 2x Animate Dead, which could make us able to complete her quest and defeat the Ogre Mage as well instead. Not sure how well it would work.
Chapter 3
Headed to the Bandit Camp, charmed Taurgosz to let hit die to skeletons, then charmed everyone in Bandit tent to let them kill each other. Britik and Hakt can easily take care of Raemon who won't aggro if you're invisible like the other ''blue circle'' NPCs, then you don't need invisibility to charm the rest. You do need invisibility to not have the whole tent turn hostile though and dispatch them one by one. 1x Potion of Insulation + Talos Gift for the chest. I only had one level of fighter left to gain at this point.
Chapter 4
Once inside, charmed the mage holding the Haste scroll for fun while completely pointless, then defeated the Ogre Mage holding the Magi Katana +2 with WoPara. Charmed the guard while distracting the horror into the top room to beat Davaeorn. Defeated the Mustard Jelly using WoMS Ogres, used Knock on the chest with gems, flooded the mines and left.
Chapter 5
Couldn't wait to get 19 strength so went to Candlekeep afterwards.
Gear at this point for max ST (wand and spell at -1 or lower which is the most important): Guard Ring, Claw of Kazgaroth, Amplifier amulet, Helm of Balduran, Robe of the Good Archmagi, Golden Girdle of Urnst, didn't need Cloak of Balduran yet so I left it in the Beregost spider house and used Algernon/Nymph instead, Thresher +2 and Morning Star +1.
Chapter 6
Looted the top floor with Knock, charm killed Rieltar's party before web killing the last one standing. Went to the catacomb, Shield + Protection from Fire + Mirror Image + Minor globe of Invulnerability/Polymorph Jelly form for traps, got the 2 tomes and extra loot to sell, then charm killed Prat party (charmed Bor out of sight). Got the Throwing Axe +2 which will be our main weapon for the rest of the game and IMO, the best weapon of BG1. Great to support WoMS and range blinded enemies.
Chapter 7 - A ton of side quests done here (31), so it will be broken into a few parts and will only list the most important.
Ducal Palace
Then time for the Throne. Charmed Larze dealt with Slythe and Kristin with WoMS support. Kristin was especially tough and almost killed him but we made it as she finally ran out of spells.
Went to South BG and charmed the Greater Basilisk. Cleared the sewers to lure it to the throne (top exit, for some reasons the lower one just aside of the palace make it disappear). To lure the basilisk, have it attack you just before leaving the area and cancel the attack once it appears on the next area. Travelled invisible on the surface to avoid guard petrification and started the fight. Turned invisible at the start to avoid getting backstabbed, used WoMS to support then GM for the basilisk. Needless to say, it totally pulverized everything.
We then went back to para + finish the Basilisk after getting teleported, looted the palace and left for some side quests.
Did a lot of side quests and optional encounters like WoPoly on the wolf of Ulcaster and charming the Gullikin Ogre Mage, nothing could stand in our way now. TLDR: All crushed by the same tactics of Algernon & Nymph cloak, WoPara, WoMS, Hold Person, Web, Emotion:Hopelessness, now with WoPoly except that we can also range with Throwing Axe +2 and have 19 strength for more damage. Got the last wisdom tome as well so our character is complete with 2 pips into Two Weapon Style as well, leaving 1 for Single Weapon Style during SoD. Killed Shandalar daughters with charm (the one in the room alone) before going to the winter island for Stoneskin so he didn't really give me a choice, then everything was charm killed with my last one standing being paralyzed or polymorphed. They don't turn hostile if they save when charmed so it's very convenient.
Worth noting that you can return Elves' Bane belt then use Charm to get the Unshey killed by Hobgoblins without a reputation loss.
Durlag's Tower
Everything but the 2 mustard jellies fed to the top double fireball trap, which is very convenient for the Greater Doppelganger as WoPoly isn't a guaranteed win each cast anymore, GM + WoPara is now the way outside of infinite traps. Used the trap to heal from fire as well. Jellies were dealt with using WoMS ogres with Mirror Image, Stoneskin and Haste. Ranged the Skeletons with Strength potions + DUHM using WoMS as bait and it worked really well, better than buffing Jelly form actually and less potion reliant so I stayed with that. I killed one skeleton with the fire trap as well. It's reliable and free but it takes a while, I almost ran out of my Protection from Fire cast doing it.
Managed to lure 3 of the 4 wardens to the top trap to dispatch them invisible but the lower right one wouldn't cooperate so I used the very top of the bottom trap, the one just to the lower left of the wardens, to finish him off after luring him with WoMS. Cleared the entire floor because I could.
Floor 2
WoPara + WoMS for the Greater Doppelganger near the Goblet then fed the rest of the level to the left side fire trap and lightning trap while using a potion of absorption/Protection from fire. Mainly used Kiel's Helmet from now on to heal when damaged and not forget about it by accident. WoMS is great when enemies still follow and gang around you when invisible. It makes it easy to loot stuff and turn back invisible. Rhis was intensely used during SoD.
Floor 3
Greater Wyverns fed to the fireball trap at the entry of the level, minor sequencer with 2x web, GM + WoPara just in case, Edventar's Gift, Protection from Cold for the Bear, lured the Air Aspect and Fission Slime to the infinite fire trap near the Ghouls, WoPara the two Phoenix Guard starting with web on the archer until they blew up for good.
Floor 4
King isn't mandatory and can be skipped but I have 2 ways to deal with him: Reload one is to just charm him with Algernon's Cloak and drink an Invisibility potion/Sandthief, the ''reliable'' one is to lure his army to the other level and come back invisible to polymorph him.
Spider statue reached invisible, polymorphed the two helmet horrors, Grael polymorphed and the rest of his friend died in the pool of acid and I totally forgot the OGL there (still had 4 finishing BG1 so more than enough). Went to sell some loot before the Demon Knight, who was a total let down this time. Buffed with PfM, Storm Giant and Oil of Speed. Broke the mirror right away and his mirror fiend did 99% of the work, to finally die by a ranged crit using Throwing Axe +2 instantly after.
Time for Aec' Letec
Aec' Letec
Charm the 3 bottom cultists with Nymph Cloak, the mage won't aggro as it's out of sight. Clear all the other cultists while invisible and leave the mage to Near Death. Turn the 3 cultist against each other until you have one left, either badly injured or near death and make it defeat the mage to spawn Aec' Letec. He won't try to kill the cultist and will only focused on you so it's possible just to run around until it land. I buffed with Stoneskin prior, Oil of Speed and Cloud strength. Spam GM until it lands, then WoPara Aec' Letec, then your last charmed cultist as well right after, DUHM, finish the cultist and beat up Aec' Letec with 4 APR, 25 STR.
For some reasons, his saves are not all at -5 with the mod, but -2, +1, +1, -2, +1 from his base of 2/4/3/3/5 for 0/5/4/1/6. Not sure what causes this with the mod. Better than +20 everywhere though and just polymorph with no fail.
Balduran Isle, Karoug and Loup-Garou (with ST Bug)
The only semi-reliable way that I found was to drag everyone to the bottom of the boat to throw an out of sight Greater Malison then charm Karoug with Algernon's Cloak at 20% chance to work, luckily he has no MR. So no reliable NR strat here. Once charmed Kagoug will clear the entire floor by himself as nothing can damage him but sadly I couldn't find a way to lure him to the other floors to clear the rest of the outside map. I brought Kondar +1 as an offhand weapon, which was gifted from helping Aldeth Sashenstar in the Merchant's League Investigation quest and used the sword of Balduran in the main hand. Used WoPara until it landed, which turned Karoug hostile, then another GM to turn him into a squirrel with WoPoly. Then haste + dual wielding silver weapons took care of him right away. His saves are too good to go straight with polymorphing.
Charmed Karoug swept the floor.
As everyone on the village loved us, Kaishas Gan just let us go without a fight. I believe that she cures you before going back to BG with SCS allowing you to rest more while doing the quests on the island but I could be wrong. A dialogue with Mendas seems to say so, else only having 3 days to sail back is very limiting, I assumed that 3 days was the limit still. Now the Mendas fight, one of the issue that I had was that their saves before changing into Loup-Garous got a massive -25 bonus so no way to debilitate them in any way:
However this didn't stop us thanks to potion buffs (Invulnerability, Stoneskin, Cloud Giant + DUHM, Oil of Speed, Mind Focus for ranged THAC0), Durlag's Goblet, Stoneskin, Mirror Image, WoMS for aggro and focusing on Mendas after debuffing him with an Arrow of Dispel. Once his HP was low enough, both transformed into Loup-Garous with more manageable saves (5/7/6/7/8) and luckily no magic resistance, so GM + WoPoly did the trick for both as we still needed the Sword of Balduran + Kondar +1 to finish them:
Overall, this went surprisingly well.
EE companion quests (No quest/kill XP)
Neera
Rasaad
Sadly however, Lv1 Rasaad died pretty much instantly on the Summit. Thinking of it now, maybe using Otiluke's Resilient Sphere could have kept him alive, I don't think that he would have turned hostile as he had a green circle like a summoned creature. The quest still completed.
Dorn
Then you need him with you so he can talk to you in Wyrm's Crossing and to encounter Simmeon. Once Simmeon spawns, then you can remove Dorn to deal with him. He couldn't be charmed as his mage ally would only dispel the effect but GM + Polymorph did the job against his party. Now the issue is that you need Dorn in the party to close the quest but he won't join back due to 20 rep. Luckily, Viconia is just aside and can be recruited no matter what and lower our rep to 18, so we can get her in the party just to get Dorn back then kick her out. Go back to Wyrm's Crossing, then Dorn will talk to you and close the quest.
Sarevok
For some reason,I got this ring with a single charge that cannot be used and with no particular function dropped during the Sarevok encounter. Maybe I wasn't paying attention on my previous runs but I don't recall ever seeing that. I couldn't find any use to it but still kept it during SoD.
Undercity mercenary party and Tamoko slain to sell their gear by charming Haseo then made my way inside. Used WoMS while invisible to group everyone together on top of the skull and waited all buffs out, most importantly Diarmid PfM so 5 mins at 60 FPS, or just CTRL + T it out if you're waiting anyway with no risk. Then used OGL out of sight which took 38 charges for all of them (used GM first but they saved almost all the time still), dragged the skeleton warriors away from Sarevok with WoMS while invisible, surrounded Sarevok with WoMS, GM + WoPara until it worked while refreshing WoMS between casts (4 charges), haste, massive DPS then victory.
So, BG1 entirely crushed by the mighty F/I with no significant difficulties. Only enemy that I had to rely on luck for was Karoug.
SoD is done as well but the write-up will probably be as long as this one as I did a LOT of optional stuff and was focused on the harder options, mostly to confirm that a solo F/I can clear all content on LoB SCS. For example, I defeated Coldhearth, saved the dwarves and Semahl, collected all hidden stuff I could find like for Neera's potion, found a reliable way to defend the Fort, cleared the dead magic waylaid (surprisingly tough), defeated everyone inside the ruined temple of Bhaal including a way to completely crush the Shadow Aspect without PfU, killed Kherriun to save the ghost dragon Halatathlaer which is probably one of the most challenging fight of the run, killed Zhadroth and the Endless watcher, did not duel Ashatiel but killed all the crusaders including the elites guarding the rear of Dragonspear Castle (Thorough achievement). I reached a new personal milestone of 692 HP for the final battle, which was totally unnecessary in the end even with double damage received.
It's surprising how little you need to do to get through SoD, yet how much content there actually is with different ways to approach most situations. It was definitely one of my favourite part of the run. We'll see how BG2 goes as I'm pretty rusty on it but it should be smooth sailing after the first few steps.
You can see the value using the C:GetGlobal("BD_ACH_PARTY","GLOBAL") command. A value of 1 means the achievement will unlock and -1 means that it won't. However, the line will not be created at all before leaving the starting area in both games and it only check if !NumInPartyGT(1) has ever been greater than 1 after being created, which is the amount of characters in your party at the moment.
What this means is that in BG1, you can recruit Imoen, Xzar and Montaron and the achievement will still work as long as they're removed before leaving Lion's Way, and doing the combat tutorial in Candlekeep will not affect it in any way either. In BG2, this applies to Irenicus Dungeon first floor, so you're safe as long as you dismiss everyone before leaving to the next zone.
So if the achievement if the only thing that you're looking for, you can just set the value to 1 using C:SetGlobal("BD_ACH_PARTY","GLOBAL", 1) in the console while being solo and finishing the game even if you had characters join you before. As soon as you recruit anyone at any given time after leaving the first zone, the "BD_ACH_PARTY","GLOBAL" gets created and put to 1. Recruiting anyone for any amount of time after that, even those that you previously dismissed in the starting zone, will void the achievement.
Chapter 7
Once in BG, we sold all our jewellery at Sorcerous Sundries and saw that the extra wands of fire for gold was totally unnecessary.
Bought all Det arrows that we could and the learned the new spells available. Bought extras of useful scrolls like Haste and Web. Left at 1 level from the cap so 8/9. Got Lon's Amulet and the Spectacles.
Chapter 8 - Coldhearth
Chapter 9 - Zialtar, Neothelid, Shadow Aspect, Darskhelin
Burned Zialtar and his friends with OGL, WoMS + GM + WoPoly on Neothelid until it worked, then charmed Akanna to have her die to her own aerial servants.
Found an amazing, very safe way to defeat the shadow aspect using potions of invulnerability to get negative saves vs death to avoid Strength drain, Polymorph Self-Jelly Form to be immune to piercing weapons, Fire Shield Red + Blue before activating the chest then switch to jelly form right after. I needed 2x extra Red and 1x extra blue for the kill. A very important step here is to make sure to be close to the Mislead so it gets damaged as well, else it seems that the shadow aspect doesn't receive damage from the fire shields at all.
Cleared the room to Darskhelin by luring the humanoids out with WoMS to blind them and range them to death, then charmed the Umber Hulks to finish him before turning then against each other. Very smooth segment overall.
Went to the Crusader siege to loot it and though about a great idea: Nymph Cloak. Jegg Hillcarver can be used to recharge it at will and it's dirt cheap, so I used charm to clear the east of the map, then charmed the whole camp for the siege. Bought Rhythe's Last Arrow as my new main weapon, which was honestly amazing.
We're not surrendering the fort this time. Did all the quests inside first and made my ''minions'' attack. Hasted them and peeled back outside of the camp to see the Flaming Fist supporting from the south, then they stood no chance. I did no notice that the fort came to help as well so poor Khalid with no plot armor got slain in the process, which I was sad about because I couldn't give him the spider web later on. That's when I actually noticed. Maybe a fast Otiluke could work for next time.
Then used The Victor for the bridge mage. It turns out that Jelly Form makes you completely immune to everything here, so it was super easy. I could have used Cloudkill and Ice Storm scrolls but simply decided to lure the rest of the party to the camp just below. I'll try buffing with Fireshields as well next time.
Chapter 10 - Near impossible Waylaid (dead magic)
Rest of the party was way easier afterwards. Tanked them with WoMS, used 6 dets and ranged with Rhythe's.
Underground River - Zhadroth, Endless Watcher and saving Halatathlaer
I didn't use PFU as I though that maybe I would need them later but I should off, I didn't really need it though. Zhadroth got paralyzed after a second WoPara and the Watcher got ranged with axe + WoMS.
Now the real challenge was saving the ghost dragon and killing Kherrium. Long story short, the best way that I found was to charm/rest repeat all dark magicians that could be charmed then for the few that couldn't I would GM + WoMS and throw axes hasted, throwing WoPoly there and there but they saved crazy often. Ideally you want to Remove Fear your summons so they don't run around and trigger the northern undead horde, or just buff and run around with no summons at all. Still, it was time consuming but it worked. It was the hardest battle to win so far with the Dead Magic one.
Carried on to go poison the water, loot the 2 chests close to Hephernaan and left after placing the explosive barrel, all quests done (wyverns, ghost ettin...).
Camp attack
Chapter 11
Belhifet
Final stats before the battle, an insane 692 HP with Martyr's Morning Star using Violet potion, scrolls for all elements, 3x invul, oil of speed, clarity, Strength + Strength minor sequencer for Bel and Fire shield Blue + Blur + Improved Invisibility Sequencer. Cast Enchanted Weapon and Spell Immunity:Abjuration before the cutscene.
Minor Sequencer on Bel while he throws a pointless remove magic, then started hacking. Only 3 Goblet charges and Bel was already at Near Death, 4th one he was dead. An absolute slaughter. Finished Caelar afterwards supported by Water Elementals, using an extra charge.
Once again, F/I is being unstoppable. SoA is going very well so far. Now finishing Chapter 3, the game was almost already won as soon as spell level 6 were unlocked, well except for Mindflayers but we'll get there.