The Dwarf's unfinished business she wanted to attend to before leaving for Spellhold was her promise to the Helmites to deal with the Unseeing Eye cult. From the area where she had met with Gaal and where ex-cultist Sassar had encouraged her to assemble the control rod, Glorydd entered the old tunnels. They were inhabited by Yuan-Ti, including a Nabassu summoning Mage, but they were no match for Glorydd.
Neither were the Mummies and Ghasts that roamed about. But what was most striking was the ease with which she dealt with a group of three Beholders and two Gauths. The creatures barraged her with their rays, but none of them affected the Dwarf. She needed no summons, healing or hit and fade tactics. She simply beat them down one oafter the other.
The reasons for her success were 100 Magic Damage Resistance (Belt of Inertial Barrier + Corthala armor, upgraded by Cromwell), her 95 Electricity Resistance (Boots of Grounding + Helmet of Defense + Dragon Scale Shield).
Glorydd met a spectre, which later proved to be a fading avatar of the extinct diety Amaunator, from whom she received one half of the control rod. The other half she would have to obtain in a Beholder lair below the sewers. To get there she needed to battle her way past undead creatures (Mummies and Ghasts). [Note Blackraven: no visit was paid to Ghoul Town.] In the Beholder lair, Glorydd's dealings with the Eye Tyrants went just like they had in the old tunnels.
She simply had nothing to fear from the creatures.
Glorydd didn't take long in finding the second half of the control rod. The two parts magically assembled, allowing Glorydd to use the rod against the Unseeing Eye once it showed up.
The rod injured the creature but did not kill it. Glorydd was too slow in her follow-up attacks to prevent the Unseeing Eye from summoning two Death Tyrants.
With two (Greater) Whirlwinds she demolished first the Unseeing Eye, and then the Death Tyrants.
Glorydd left the control rod with the Amanautor avatar, reported to the Helmites for a generous reward, sent the Knights of Solamnia home with the help of a Mage she had contacted via Ribald Barterman,
and then returned to Aran Linvail. The latter introduced her to Captain Saemon Havarian.
With Havarian and a guild colleague named Sime she set sail to Spellhold. The journey was uneventful in terms of the weather conditions and pirates, but still dizzying to Glorydd. She was glad to arrive, but her humor changed when Havarian proved a betrayer. Three Vampires had traveled with them, and attacked the Dwarf when she got off the ship.
As soon as they got a taste of Glorydd's flails the Vampires fled into a brothel. The Dwarf decided to seek them out there later. But she decided to first go looking for a tavern or inn to get some rest and an ale.
I don't think it's ever possible to prevent the SCS Unseeing Eye from spawning the Death Tyrants. Even killing it with star drain, without dealing much damage, can result in that Chain Contingency firing.
Yesterday Glorydd was battling her clone in Spellhold while the inmates were occupying Irenicus. Everything was looking fine. Glorydd was injured but having the upper hand against Fake Glorydd, when a real life intervention (other people) caused Blackraven to direct his attention elsewhere. When he returned, the game told him that his main character had died, and asked him whether he wanted to load or quit.
Obviously something must have gone wrong with pausing the game. I have the game auto-pause each time a member of the party gets badly injured. Perhaps an auto-pause for Glorydd reaching badly injured status and my pressing the space bar coincided without distracted me noticing it.
I've considered allowing myself a reload because this had nothing to do with my gameplay. But I also understand that no-reload is no-reload. I know it's happened to others, and they seem to accept the consequences, so I guess so should I. Besides, if I continued, any no-reload trilogy 'success' with Glorydd would be tarnished by this event.
It's not common for me to get far into SoA (I think Glorydd has only been my third character since I started posting here), so I'm quite disappointed. Hopefully some fun with a Cleric/Mage or with a Skald will cheer me up.
I say it's like a situation your computer has shut down or the power has been switched off. It would be not a reload at all. And nothing would be tarnished:)
I agree with you @JoshBG. Eventually I wouldn't feel comfortable if I continued. Another thing is that I also post on the Bioware forums, where stricter no-reload rules apply.
For me, a no-reload run is a test of competence in battle, rather than simply a game beaten without reloading. So long as you can win each fight without fail, I consider it a success. Factors beyond your control, like an interruption, shouldn't impact the outcome. But if you feel Glorydd's future progress would be tainted by a reload, then I suppose a new run would feel better.
I agree with those who think that such “technical difficulties” should not cause an end to your adventure. However, you must of course, follow your own conscious. Poor Glorydd, through no fault of her own she falls. The gods do seem to have an unfortunate sense of humor.
Thanks everyone for giving your views. I appreciate them, and they help me contemplate the no-reload concept.
The thing is, where do I draw the line? If I permit myself a reload in this case, then any misclick attributable to a distraction (be it something/someone real or perceived), could justify a reload.
The main issue for me though is the 'Your character has died' message. I can't ignore having seen that message. Had I been able to intervene before it (even with 1 HP left), I might have allowed myself a reload. (Justifying that reload with the fact that I could have quaffed an extra healing potion and found a way to survive.)
If I was you, I would keep playing because as you said, you had the upper hand against Fake Glorydd.
If you were losing, I could understand that it would feel like cheating, because you could reload a bad situation. But in this case, it's quite the opposite ! Everything was going fine, and now you need to do it again, which means you can potentially lose a fight you were winning previously.
Good job on beating SCS Tolgerias! The Carsomyr has helped here. It has such awesome attributes. Dispel on hit without any lvl check.
One has to take UAI at least in order to use Carsomyr and Staff of the Magi.
Just a little comment for the new players who may read this. Carsormyr does not always dispel on hit in a normal game. This feature comes from the item upgrade mod. In BG2EE and BG2 with the G3 fixpack, it dispels as if the spell is cast at lvl 30.
@Blackraven, This is sad. On the other hand I am sure you really enjoyed this character. Moreover I have always thought that the early phases are the most interesting, simply because the PC is not overpowered yet. Whatever you decide, this will be a good decision.
Comments
One has to take UAI at least in order to use Carsomyr and Staff of the Magi.
Glorydd met a spectre, which later proved to be a fading avatar of the extinct diety Amaunator, from whom she received one half of the control rod. The other half she would have to obtain in a Beholder lair below the sewers. To get there she needed to battle her way past undead creatures (Mummies and Ghasts). [Note Blackraven: no visit was paid to Ghoul Town.] In the Beholder lair, Glorydd's dealings with the Eye Tyrants went just like they had in the old tunnels.
Glorydd didn't take long in finding the second half of the control rod. The two parts magically assembled, allowing Glorydd to use the rod against the Unseeing Eye once it showed up.
With Havarian and a guild colleague named Sime she set sail to Spellhold. The journey was uneventful in terms of the weather conditions and pirates, but still dizzying to Glorydd. She was glad to arrive, but her humor changed when Havarian proved a betrayer. Three Vampires had traveled with them, and attacked the Dwarf when she got off the ship.
Obviously something must have gone wrong with pausing the game. I have the game auto-pause each time a member of the party gets badly injured. Perhaps an auto-pause for Glorydd reaching badly injured status and my pressing the space bar coincided without distracted me noticing it.
I've considered allowing myself a reload because this had nothing to do with my gameplay. But I also understand that no-reload is no-reload. I know it's happened to others, and they seem to accept the consequences, so I guess so should I. Besides, if I continued, any no-reload trilogy 'success' with Glorydd would be tarnished by this event.
It's not common for me to get far into SoA (I think Glorydd has only been my third character since I started posting here), so I'm quite disappointed. Hopefully some fun with a Cleric/Mage or with a Skald will cheer me up.
But I guess you don't agree with it.
For the record: I didn't reload. It was really painful, but I think it was the right choice, in retrospect.
Another thing is that I also post on the Bioware forums, where stricter no-reload rules apply.
Factors out of control shouldn't impact the no-reload. At least if you actually moved from the pc to another room that is.
But if you were maybe talking and you had your eyes looking for the monitor, well in that case, your character is doomed.
The thing is, where do I draw the line? If I permit myself a reload in this case, then any misclick attributable to a distraction (be it something/someone real or perceived), could justify a reload.
The main issue for me though is the 'Your character has died' message. I can't ignore having seen that message. Had I been able to intervene before it (even with 1 HP left), I might have allowed myself a reload. (Justifying that reload with the fact that I could have quaffed an extra healing potion and found a way to survive.)
If you were losing, I could understand that it would feel like cheating, because you could reload a bad situation. But in this case, it's quite the opposite ! Everything was going fine, and now you need to do it again, which means you can potentially lose a fight you were winning previously.
I think it's a fair trade off.
Edit:oops, accidently turned a sentence into nonsensical forum code
I'd probably reload but i really understand that feeling taht makes you want to start again.
Good job anyway
Carsormyr does not always dispel on hit in a normal game. This feature comes from the item upgrade mod.
In BG2EE and BG2 with the G3 fixpack, it dispels as if the spell is cast at lvl 30.
This is sad.
On the other hand I am sure you really enjoyed this character. Moreover I have always thought that the early phases are the most interesting, simply because the PC is not overpowered yet.
Whatever you decide, this will be a good decision.