@Blackraven: You can design an auto-buffing spell with Near Infinity. I can attach a default one to a post for you to download, and you can replace the spells listed in NI with the ones you like. It'll cast the whole lot of them as if under the effects of Improved Alacrity, although without the casting speed bonuses of Scintilla's Robe of Vecna. It won't trigger auto-pauses on spell cast, either, which might speed things up for you. You can get a whole suite of buffs active in a few seconds, maybe less than a round if you tweak the casting time of your buffing spells in Near Infinity.
Or I could post a pair of bracers that give aura cleansing and a +9 boost to casting time, and you could equip them before battles and pick your buffs manually. Both options have saved lots of time buffing for me, without which many of my runs would have been unbearable. Also speeds up casting of sequencers, though you'd have to take them off if you don't want the casting bonuses in the actual fights.
Tenser's won't add APR. For that you'll have to use Polymorph Self, Shapechange, or dual-wielding. Otherwise the melee damage problem is an essential part of the Cleric/Illusionist class. They're just not equipped to deal much damage unless you're using sequencers, contingencies, and/or spider form. Polymorph Self, Holy Power, DUHM, Righteous Magic, Shocking Grasp, and the Flail of Ages will turn Scintilla into a proper fighter, albeit only for about a turn. Bear in mind that spider form dispels Improved Haste, since the spider attack has a haste effect while equipped. You'd have to cast IH after switching to spider form, probably with a contingency since Spell Trigger is so hard to find. You could also design a separate custom buffing spell to cast your combat buffs. Or I could do it for you. It'd only take 5 minutes.
Otherwise, Scintilla isn't going to be doing much clobbering on her own. But once you've got your Deva, I'm sure things will seem a lot faster, and you won't feel like you're on the defensive all the time.
I have started a new run with an all-human dual-class party. I've included all the dual-classable classes, dual-classed in both directions. That means a Thief/Mage, Mage/Thief, Ranger/Cleric, Cleric/Ranger, Druid/Fighter, and Fighter/Druid. We got kits, too, because all human dual-classes have kits. All of them. Forever.
Our Charname is a somber young Bounty Hunter scarred by the constant attacks by other bounty hunters after leaving Candlekeep. Her name is Varen.
I added in the BG1 tome bonuses to everyone in the group, hence her 19 DEX and INT. I might add in the Cloak of Balduran, too... or whatever items you're supposed to get when you import from BG1.
Her counterpart is Ivinhale, a stoic Conjurer who helped her cope with the attacks. As Varen is a Thief dualing to a Mage, Ivinhale is a Mage dualing to a thief.
Also very min-maxy.
Our star character is Maeruo, an eccentric Shapeshifter that Ivinhale dragged out of the Cloakwood. He will be the last to dual, at level 13, for Greater Werewolf form. In SCS2, that means big MR and regeneration.
Dem stats. I don't know why I put so much into STR, though, since he won't be attacking in normal form. DEX would have been a better option, for the few times he'll be in his normal form. He got all the WIS tomes so he could cast an extra Stoneskin spell. Having 21 WIS gives an extra 5th level spell slot. It was a better deal than spreading the WIS bonuses across the other characters.
Maeruo's counterpart and life partner is Horun Fallows, a studly Berserker with an affection for spears. And no, his nickname isn't Horny Fellow. It's Hoey-Foey. But only when Mae-mae is teasing him.
Berserker because immunities. And because some like it rough.
Then we have Varen's second partner, after Imoen. Kolem Tao, our Beastmaster, is a very serious hunter of demons, and ran into Varen in the Nashkel mines while he was searching for the demons who supposedly inhabited the lower reaches. Kolem is the solitary type, but Varen managed to get him to agree to come along on her travels, knowing he would be able to protect her. Killing Mulahey by stabbing him through the face, into his brains, with a wooden stick, was a pretty solid demonstration of his prowess... albeit a rather grim spectacle. Varen threw up a lot after that.
Beastmaster kit because everybody else had a kit, and the Archer and Stalker kits can't dual-class.
Kolem Tao's counterpart is a Cleric of Lathander who joined the party in Baldur's Gate, inspired by a message from Lathander. It was a hard decision to leave her temple and try to make friends with known criminals, but the sign was unambiguous, and it soon became clear Varen was in dire need of assistance.
Ekayne will dual at level 11, for an extra casting of Boon of Lathander. Note her 19 STR: she had the most to gain from the strength tome, since she couldn't start with 18/xx STR like the fighters could, and because she'll have better APR than Ivinhale, who is stuck at 18 STR.
In Chateau Irenicus, Maeruo tanked the Duergar populating the halls. With -4 AC in werewolf form, he's awfully hard to hit. Since I wanted to abide by the SCS2 rule of only one rest period in Chateau Irenicus, I had Maeruo stock up on SR's druid-style healing spells, which grant slow regeneration over many rounds. They heal more than cleric spells, but take much more time. This allows me to maximize the amount of healing we can have over the course of the battles.
Another important source of healing is our one rest period, which I delay to maximize our total HP gains. I use Varen's Slow Poison spells to survive a couple of traps, then have Horun Fallows suffer through a third poison trap, which deals 30 poison damage, plus a little over 10 initial damage. He toughs it out.
He ends up with 4 HP left by the time we rest. But the rest period will bring him back to max HP.
But why didn't I just disarm the traps? Well, Ivinhale is going to dual into a thief, and she's supposed to be our trap disarmer and lock picker and so forth. Varen, as a Bounty Hunter who duals to mage at level 11, will not have enough skill points to max out Set Traps as well as Open Locks and Detect Traps. She could only max out two, but it would be a bit of a waste to have her learn how to open locks but not disarm traps, or vice versa, because I want Ivinhale doing both of those things for convenience's sake. Instead. Varen will just put her points into Set Traps and stealth, to help her stay out of trouble in the early game.
Before we rest, I want to take out one last pack of Duergar. Somehow I forget to keep Horun Fallows at a safe distance.
I didn't have him drink any potions because I thought he'd be back to max HP right after we rested, and didn't want to lose the 6 gold that Potions of Healing sell for in Item Revisions. Now I'll have to spend 800 gold raising him when we get out.
After resting, Maeruo sends his dogs after the Duergar in the library. We get lucky with some disabling spells.
Even without exceeding the summoning cap, the summons make a big difference, soaking up a lot of damage and buying us enough time to make a big dent in the enemies' numbers. Right after the mage fell, Ilyich ran out of Berserker juice, and we descended upon him. It's a peculiar quirk of the SCS2 Ilyich: he runs in to greet you in the library, called in by the Duergar you meet there, and activates his Berserker rage only to run back into his own room and await your arrival. By the time you get to him, his immunities and bonuses are gone. You'd think a Berserker would rush right into battle rather than running away.
Anyway, with Ilyich left we could free the djinni. You know those two groups of Mephits in the Air Elemental Plane? Well, if you're having trouble sneaking past them, there's a safe spot in between them.
If your scout has a poor sneak score and you aren't sure if he or she will turn visible in view of the Mephits, you can wait in this spot until they succeed or fail the next hiding check. It feels a little safer than just hurrying to the djinni bottle.
On the second level, we distracted the Mephits with some summoned wolves long enough for us to tear apart the Mephit Portals. The wolves also helped us bring down Ellesime's clone. With Maeruo's regeneration spells and summons, we had enough steam to plow through the whole dungeon without needing to drink any potions. We only skipped one fight, the Assassin before the exit, because I was afraid Varen might get backstabbed and slain. We snuck past under the effects of Ivinhale's Invisibility Sphere.
Freedom! Imoen is kidnapped again, and the next chapter begins.
Forgetting that I can probably raise Horun Fallows at the Temple of Ilmater in the Promenade, I decide to wait until reaching another district before I bring him back. First, we take a trip to the circus.
Item Revisions has an option to let thieves and Stalkers backstab with any weapon in the game, even ranged weapons. But non-standard weapons impose a backstab penalty, reducing the multiplier for stuff like crossbows. Varen tests it out on one of the orc Peasants in the circus.
The second time she tries it, she does over 20 damage, so it's still quite useful. Light crossbows and darts only impose a -1 backstab penalty in IR, while heavy crossbows and shortbows have a -2 penalty, and longbows have a penalty of -3, for whatever reason. Either way, being able to backstab from a distance significantly reduces the downtime in hit-and-fade tactics, since you only need to take a few steps to get out of sight and hide again. I've thought about this benefit if one were to bring the Phantom Staff +5 from IWD2 into BG2, and backstab from a distance, and IR offers the same possibilities, albeit with a decreased backstab multiplier.
I do the Lilarcor quest, Ekayne nearly steps over the petrification trap by accident (thankfully, she only stepped on the northeastern plank), and I stop before going on to the slavers, feeling I will need Horun Fallows to succeed. But the temple of Ilmater above the Copper Coronet can't cast Raise Dead. Losers.
Instead, I raise Horun at the Temple District, but not before fully buffing the party, knowing we might get ambushed. We rest so Ivinhale can conjure him a +3 Spear with SR's expanded Enchanted Weapon options, then restore our buffs and head to the De'Arnise Hold, to trigger the Suna Seni ambush.
Unfortunately, our buffs all run out when the fight begins. Only our enchanted weapons remain. Ivinhale, who has no Stoneskin left, is right next to the enemy, as is Varen. The enemy has pre-buffs, and we have none. And we didn't bother getting Horun Fallows a proper set of armor, since we thought our buffs would be enough, so he's got studded leather on, and Kolem Tao has nothing.
I have Ivinhale cast a Sleep spell. In IR, the Amulet of Metaspell Influence improves casting time by 1, so the spell comes out instantly--a big plus for a mage without Stoneskin or Mirror Image. And in SR, Sleep affects anyone of lower level than the caster. Since Ivinhale is at level 9, she manages to knock out both Suna Seni and also the Slaver Wizard. Meanwhile, Varen drinks an Oil of Speed and runs away to avoid getting targeted. Maeruo summons an Insect Plague, shutting down the enemy cleric's spells. We slay the Slaver Wizard while she sleeps, Varen throws a Special Snare from the southeast, and the tide of battle quickly turns.
Suna Seni dies soon, followed by an enemy thief who nearly killed Ivinhale with a backstab. Then the enemy cleric goes down, and finally we close in on Eldarin. Maeruo splatters him against a wall.
Horun Fallows now has a suit of Plate Mail +1, and Ekayne has a magical mace.
We continue on to the Umar Hills, seeking easy XP. Free Action protects us from the Mimic, and Remove Paralysis frees the one character who was glued, Ivinhale, allowing us to take on Valygar's overzealous bodyguards without resting first.
Apparently one of the Rangers uses a non-SR version of Blade Barrier. Which means he can deal tens of damage in a single blow, while protected by Sanctuary.
Horun Fallows just can't catch a break.
Once the Ranger turns visible, we end his spellcasting with a Flame Arrow, and his life with Call Lightning. On to the Temple Ruins!
In SR, False Dawn, a druid spell, deals 2d6 damage per round for 10 rounds to undead critters, which is of marginal use against the Shadows. The Skeleton Warriors resist it; Maeruo's False Dawn cannot bypass MR. Mostly we just whomp on the monsters until they die. Varen gets in a nice backstab with Ilbratha after throwing a trap over to an incoming Shadow.
I knew the Shadow was coming because the rest of the party was holding off some Shadows to the south, and one of them turned and fled in order to approach us from the other hallway.
We clear the dungeon with only one rest--I usually rest obsessively in my no-reload runs--but stop short of attacking the Shade Lord. I'm not confident we can take him on.
By now, Kolem Tao is at cleric level 7, a late-game BG1 character before we even finish a single major BG2 quest. Varen has dual-classed to mage, and though she failed to scribe the Project Image spell, she did scribe a Spell Sequencer and Spell Trap scroll we found on the Skeleton Warriors, along with a bunch of other lower-level spells we'd accumulated since Chateau Irenicus.
Ivinhale has just dual-classed to thief, so we will be returning to Athkatla to start disarming traps and opening locks.
@bengoshi: Thank you! Horun Fallows' portrait comes from a separate thread about portraits. I forget which one. Some people were gushing about his handsomeness, so I decided to put him in. I swear, as a straight man, I just don't get why some men look blazing hot. Horun looks like a normal guy to me. What are you people going on about? Men aren't attractive!
The other portaits, if they're not from the same thread, are probably from deviantart, by artists who were mentioned in the thread. I mine those threads a lot.
@dockaboomski: I think I've only succeeded in two or three no-reload runs of SoA, out of maybe six to eight tries. And one of those was a vanilla run. Bengoshi is right. No-reload runs are usually not successes. Even @Alesia_BH has died in some of hers.
@semiticgod, thank you for your offers. I will consider them. There is some "cheating" involved in both your solutions. IA means that earlier cast buffs will last longer than they strictly should, and a multi-buff spell takes away part of the responsibility of the player to ensure completeness when buffing. Nevertheless I like the idea of a multi-buff spell.
The Cowled Wizards allowed Scintilla to exploit Lavok's Sphere. Her first activities there were sending three Solamnic Knights home and setting three apprentices to work. (They would create a dagger for the Gnome, fail at the production of a Mislead scroll, and forge a Ring of Wizardry. Sadly, the latter feat cost the lives of two of the apprentices, but on the flipside, Cromwell would merge the ring with a Ring of Acuity, Metaspell Influence Amulet, and Ring of Protection +1 into the Sorcerian Ring, which gives one extra spell for levels 1-7, +1 AC, +1 Saves). Scintilla retrieved a dawn ring from Talassasan Thieves for the Temple of Lathander,
and went vampire hunting after that. Her Deva, equipped with Mace of Disruption +2, and her trusty Aerials plus Kitthix helped Scintilla breeze through Bodhi's lair.
Tanova fell to a Dispel Magic followed by a vorpal(?) hit from the Deva.
The only problem was Bodhi herself. I'm not very well-informed of her SCS abilities, as my rogues simply shut her up with traps, but this time I learnt she had a Touch of Death that removed Scintilla's Skeletons and Aerials. She also paralyzed the Deva.
Scintilla summoned Kitthix, and got pissed off at Bodhi when the Vampire ignored her Sanctuary, which caused the Gnome to retreat. Apparently Bodhi was too lazy to follow Scintilla; she had learned enough from the encounter.
I'm thinking of manipulating Sanctuary (if I can) in NearInfinity. I strongly disagree with its dispellability through detection spells and with certain enemies simply ignoring it and attacking. Sanctuary isn't an illusion; it's a temporary safeguard from the Cleric's God, during which the priest can heal, buff etc. unmolested. Kind of like a Resilient Sphere within which non-hostile actions (except conversation) can be carried out.
In the sewers a Beholder and two Gauths were no match for Scintilla's Deva and Aerials,
but in Ghoul town Scintilla had a much harder time. This was a technical issue, resulting in a reload. Scintilla entered the undead lair to create space on the bridges outside the lair that led to the Unseeing Eye den. In the undead lair the continuous lagging was unbearable presumably due to a Lich's spells, a spellcasting Skeleton Warrior, and Scintilla herself with her spells and summons. At first Scintilla engaged the opposition, but I soon found that that only mad ethings worse. I had her flee toward the Unseeing Eye den, and she actually made it there, but several undead, including the lich, followed her. The lagging continued there. The screen would freeze for seconds in which spellcasting or following Scintilla's enemies' movements was pretty much impossible, until Scintilla was killed by Beholders (her Invisibility was probably removed at some point by the Lich or a summoned Glabrezu). Although I considered throwing my laptop out of the window and accepting the end of this run, I decided not to. As I said, this was purely a technical problem, and there was nothing I, as a player, had done wrong. The second time the game was still laggy, but Scintilla made it through with minimal buffs (MSD, Haste, Spell Shield) and no other spells, no summons etc, to minimize lagging. Some of the Undead followed her again into the Beholders' lair, but Invisibility and (continued) Haste allowed Scintilla to leave them behind without being followed.
The lagging worries me though. I hope this is not what the game has in store for me further down the road, in battles with many enemies, some casters.
Inside the Unseeing Eye lair, Scintilla's summons dealt convincingly with the Unseeing Eye, its Death Tyrants, and a few more Gauths and Beholders.
Interestingly the Gnome and her entourage didn't find a group of Beholders and Gauths they would have gladly killed as well.
On her way back to the Temple of Helm, Scintilla ran into Tarnor the Hatchetman and his friends. (I had forgotten to take the southern path). A rest that was followed by summoning her Skeletons, Aerials and Deva, made sure these enemies wouldn't present much trouble. The summons dispatched all the warriors and priests; Gaius the Mage lastest longer but fell eventually to Scintilla's Blackblood after she repeatedy removed the wizard's protections.
Scintilla was rewarded with no less than 8k GP by the Temple of Helm, and made a cohort of the church, even though she didn't worship Helm.
At the Den of the Seven Vales, Scintilla had a dust-up with a group of brigands. A Spell Triggered Holy Smite and summons showed them they had picked on the wrong Gnome.
A far more interesting encounter took place in the Bridge District, at least that's where it started.
The home she thought she entered proved to be a portal to a secret Twisted Rune council. Buffed with nothing but a Potion of Stone form, she was greeted by a Lich, retreated to cast PfUndead on herself, and Stoneskin when a Mordy's Sword came after her (I forget Stoneskin way too often before resting).
The Mordy's Sword was dispatched with five Magic Missiles, one of which from scroll. A fiend, another courtesy of the Lich, was felled after Scintilla buffed with the holy triumvirate of HP, RM and DUHM.
From a distance Scintilla observed two other enemies besides the Lich, a warrior and a Hive Mother (judging by the fact that it targeted invisible Scintilla). The warrior followed Scintilla as she retreated to the entrance. Heavy blows were exchanged, including some Holy Smite damage that Scintilla inflicted. The Hasted fighter panicked and threatened to get back to his buddies, but Scintilla prevented that with her Sloing of Seeking.
The Gnome then summoned her Deva that was later joined by an Aerial and by a Skeleton Warrior. Much to Scintilla's satisfaction, the Deva soaked up a number of Fingers of Death from the Lich during a Time Stop, before it proceeded to slay the Hive Mother.
Farsight revealed to Scintilla that her Aerial Servant went after a Vampire, even when the summon got dominated, but eventually it fell to a Death Spell cast by a female wizard.
The female approached and dispelled Scintilla's Invisibility with an Oracle (thankfully not a True Sight), which the Gnome remedied with a potion of invisibility, while a second Aerial Servant occupied the Lich.
The Lich's Fireshields eventually killed the Aerial, but it had nevertheless provoked its opponent into wasting varioius spells, which was a good thing because Scintilla was no longer PfUndead at this point. Invisibly she snuck past the female wizard to the Vampire. Kitthix made short work of it,
and went straight after Shangalar. In order for Kitthix not to burn herself on the Lich's fireshields, Scintilla removed the latter's spell protections, allowing the Spider to poison and kill the Lich.
Scintilla summoned a second Skeleton Warrior and had it approach the female wizard. The woman targeted it with various spells, but none of them affected the highly magic resistant Skeleton Warrior.
Khelben's Warding Whip followed by Breach then effectively removed the female's protection, leaving her defenseless against the Skeleton Warrior and Kitthix' attacks.
On the wizard's corpse Scintilla found a very nice staff. She kept it as her main weapon (as she had just become proficient in Staves).
@Blackraven: Agreed on the Sanctuary thing and the reload thing. No-reloads are supposed to be a test of the player, not a test of the computer. And Sanctuary should be treated as an Abjuration spell rather than an Illusion spell.
It takes a lot of courage to take on the Twisted Rune in a solo no-reload run. Kudos.
Thanks @semiticgod and Ygramul for the congrats Twisted Rune was a lot of fun, and quite exciting even with PfUndead at the beginning of the battle. I knew the enemies' spawning points but I didn't (and still don't) know how they would exactly behave. I expected Layane for example to summon Fiends and Efreetis, and I thought Vaxhall was an Elder Orb, not a Hive Mother. It was only the second or third time I beat it in no-reload, I've often not bothered.
@Ygramul@bengoshi@semiticgod Thanks for the support. I was more disappointed by the sudden destruction of the rogues than the two-post run. But I appreciate the advice and stuff.
So, the rogues will come back after this run, the Short Bus Shorties (I couldn't resist). As is to be taken from the god-awful nickname, this group is comprised of one halfling, two dwarves, and three gnomes.
This here is Oken Thorinshield (ah ha ha ha) who is a Bhaalspawn and a stereotypical dwarf. Not much to say, except he would be a Paladin (probably an Undead Hunter) if he could. But I haven't stooped that low yet.
This is Rhinn. She is a Fighter/Cleric. She is pretty stoic, very, very lawful neutral, somewhere on the scale between Dak'kon and Vhailor, if you understand that (hopefully you do).
This is Ayla. She's my rogue and will be DPS-full. She will also be our solution for being broke, as she will steal the hell out of everything that the party can't afford. Rhinn hates her with a passion.
This is Rocky. Since I had a free slot, he is going to be our ranged beast, and will also move into two-handed weapons. To keep me from using him as more of a melee tanker, I made him a Wizard Slayer. (On a side note, my first playthrough ended with a Wizard Slayer, and let me tell you, it could have been worse. Don't hate, appreciate). Also, if Ayla starts to under-perform, I can swap her for Rocky.
Fayda here is our backup spellcaster in both regards. She will be a defensive character, with buffs and buff removers as her main spells.
Bart here has been resurrected and became an Illusionist. Same old, happy-go-lucky Bart.
It will be much easier than all rogues, I hope. It will be.
I got caught up in playing Dungeon of the Endless (somebody should definitely buy it) so I may be a little slow with updates. They're in the starting dungeon still.
Now that Ivinhale has dual-classed to Thief, we need to get her up a few levels so we can start disarming traps and unlocking locks. We pick out some minor quests to add on a few thief levels:
Skinner quest Wellyn's bear Pai'Na and the lower crypts Tirdir quest Renfeld and the Harpers Mae'Var's questline The Crypt King
I don't know which order I chose, but I left some parts of them unfinished until Ivinhale was able to do all the thief stuff involved in the quests. The Harper quests had to be delayed, for one, since you can't enter the building again once it's over, and come back for the locked chests. We also still have yet to fight Rayic Gethras, since he's pretty dangerous in SCS2.
An interesting thing with Pai'Na: it turns out her spiders are, ironically enough, very easy to kill with insects.
At the end of it all, Varen reached level 9, and therefore gained access to Dispelling Screen, a major boost to her survivability, though she's still going to be buffed with Free Action just in case. She also managed to scribe Stoneskin and Invisibility Sphere. The latter has received a stupendous buff in Spell Revisions: it now has a casting time of 1, and therefore is a fantastic escape option with no risk of disruption.
Kolem Tao also hit cleric level 9, recovering his Beastmaster levels. To my surprise, he has all the druid spells on top of his cleric spells. I'd have assumed SCS2 or SR would have prevented that.
I've only played a Ranger/Cleric once before, so this is very new to me. It's going to be hard to decide which spells to use. A surprising drawback of using Spell Revisions is that there are so many useful spells that you have to think a lot more about which ones you want. Playing a sorcerer in SR is particularly painful, since you know how much you're losing out on when you decide on your spell picks.
It won't be too long before Ivinhale, Varen, and Horun Fallows recover their Bounty Hunter, Conjurer, and Berserker levels, respectively, and it won't be much longer before Maeruo duals to fighter and Ekayne duals to ranger. They're already a pretty effective team, but once they're done with their dualing, they will have lots of options at their disposal.
She also managed to scribe Stoneskin and Invisibility Sphere. The latter has received a stupendous buff in Spell Revisions: it now has a casting time of 1, and therefore is a fantastic escape option with no risk of disruption.
@semiticgod, is Invisibility Sphere a fast-cast Invisibility 10' Radius? If so, then I'd agree that it's a major upgrade. I like the many duals in your party, and the fact that it requires quite a bit of planning.
@Blackraven: It is indeed. Invisibility Sphere is one of the new names for spells (same name as in IWD2). SR speeds up a lot of spells with a casting time of 9 or 10, though summoning spells are slower overall, usually a round apiece. Healing spells, notably, are much faster to cast, and also heal more with each casting, making them useful in combat--though I still have none memorized, since there are so many other nice spells to memorize instead.
@bengoshi: Thank you! Horun Fallows' portrait comes from a separate thread about portraits. I forget which one. Some people were gushing about his handsomeness, so I decided to put him in. I swear, as a straight man, I just don't get why some men look blazing hot. Horun looks like a normal guy to me. What are you people going on about? Men aren't attractive!
Hmm, that portrait is VERY attractive to me! I am sure there are also others who think that ruggedly handsome, bearded men are the epitome of beauty. But different tastes and colors, I guess.
Whoa, this thread is a wonderful read! Good luck to everybody! I will read every new entry when I have more time. I especially love reading about spell revisions mod, because I can't have it on my Ipad. I enjoyed no reload with scs, as well, but after months of failing, I now continue my game as a minimal reload. (only reload on character death)
I'm thinking of manipulating Sanctuary (if I can) in NearInfinity. I strongly disagree with its dispellability through detection spells and with certain enemies simply ignoring it and attacking. Sanctuary isn't an illusion; it's a temporary safeguard from the Cleric's God, during which the priest can heal, buff etc. unmolested.
@Blackraven I fully agree. SR's Sanctuary should work as you say (at least I coded it to work like that, I hope @semiticgod can confirm it work as intended), albeit I also tweaked it a bit more to hopefully make it better perform its role (e.g. casting time from 5 to 1, very short duration, unable to use cheesy stuff like Sanctuary+Blade Barrier, etc.).
To my surprise, he has all the druid spells on top of his cleric spells. I'd have assumed SCS2 or SR would have prevented that.
Kit Revisions does that (in exchange it gives rangers a semi-unique spellbook with a few dedicated spells), but such tweak is more complicated than you might think and out of scope for SR imo (it involves heavy changes to the class clab files).
A surprising drawback of using Spell Revisions is that there are so many useful spells that you have to think a lot more about which ones you want. Playing a sorcerer in SR is particularly painful, since you know how much you're losing out on when you decide on your spell picks.
Thanks man, that's the best possible compliment to my job on SR.
A quick update here, but I'm starting to be behind my playthrough and I want to play more today so I'm going to catch up really fast.
The death squad went back to the FAI, they fought another group of mercenaries they dispatched easily.
Then they headed to High Hedge to visit Thalantyr. They bought every important items he had, including all of his Acid Arrows (1000 arrows for 90,000 gold), then betrayed him and kill him and Melicamp. A quick fight due to poison preventing his spellcasting.
They wandered on the coast, killing everyone at sight, Shoal, the Surgeon, dozens of Ogres Berserker, a huge encounter with many casters, sirens and a golem.
They traveled to Cloakwood, they killed a Dragon.
Killed spiders with heavy fire (Arrows of Detonation).
Entered the mines.
And ended Davaeorn's life by using a Scroll of Protection from Magic on Kagain.
They bought many Arrows of Dispelling and of Detonation then walked to Baldur's Gate. They attacked a group of elven mercenaries and a Fighter/Mage, the firsts were dealt with Poison Weapon + Arrows of Detonation while the last was dealt with some Arrows of Dispelling.
Afterward they completed Dorn's quest, they kicked him out of the party and replaced him with Baeloth.
@Arnaeus Roleplay wise, I wanted Dorn to travel to Amn, this way he would be able to join Anselm again in BG2EE. Gameplay wise, Vynd now has Poison Weapon three times per day, Anselm twice, so it became a bit redundant indeed. Plus Viconia now has access to level 4 spells, like Holy Power which makes her a powerful melee fighter. On the other hand, Mages are starting to get pretty powerful at this level, so another one is quite good. I bought a Greater Malison scroll for Edwin, so I'll be able to throw down some pretty powerful GM + Webx2 (save at -6) (Minor Sequencer) followed by some Chaos/Slow (save at -8!) combos.
A few quick notes, because I don't have much time.
Scintilla took up Lord Firkraag's offer to clear his lands in the Windspear Hills of bandits only to discover that he was the bandit. With the SotM now in her possession the Gnome's strategy against hostile casters was to dispel their protections with the staff, leaving them vulnerable to her summons (still the Aerials, more than anything). The Ruhk Transmuter and Kaol could attest to this, had they still been alive.
Scintilla's summons also worked well against the Elder and Ancient Vampires (with Scintilla's True Seeing), and the Guardian Genies (who remained blue-circled while attacked). Improved Kitthix poisoned and killed the Director. And to deal with nearly unkillable Greater Wolfweres, Scintilla allowed herself various rests. Spell Sequencered Holy Smites were the recipe there.
Combat buffs (PfMW, Stoneskins, Blur, MI, Cleric buffs) allowed Scintilla to take on the treacherous adventuring party, except above-mentioned Kaol, who had walked off after Scintilla went invisible.
The various Golems were left to the trusty summons again, but she dispatched Tazok herself (with Energy Blades, Magic Missiles and a Holy Smite after a Limited Wish saw some of her spells restored.
She buffed extensively for her confrontation with Conster, then proceeded to dispel his protections and have the Deva finish him off.
She decided to leave Firkraag be, at least for the time being.
In Athkatla there wasn't a lot left for Scintilla to do. Planar Prison, d'Arnise Hold (a few hours from Athkatla), Illithids, and Kangaxx. The Gnome opted for the latter quest. PfUndead she had little to fear from the Elemental Lich and the Shade Lich, except their pre-cast ADHWs and their summoned Demons. But those didn't measure up to her own summons' firepower,
although the Elemental Lich cruelly imprisoned her Deva.
Haste allowed Scintilla to avoid the Liches' Remove Magics cast on self, whenever she was close to them to dispel their protections with her staff. She slew the two Liches with her SotM and her upgraded Mace of Disruption repsectively.
Divine buffs + Haste (still active from her dealings with the Elemental Lich) facilitated the slaying of three Battle Horrors,
before Scintilla took a rest for her confrontation with Kangaxx.
The Lich got the same treatment as the previous two Liches, i.e. Scintilla finished off a gated Gelugon with the helo of a Mordy Sword, and then the Lich by herself.
Kangaxx the Demi-Lich is another story in my setup: it happily pelted Scintilla with MMMs, and it various ADHWs, Flame Arrows, Emotions, Cloudkills, Breaches, and other dispellers at her, some of which during a Time Stop.
(In fact, Kangaxx cast I think three Time Stops,but only cast offensive spells at Scintilla, during a Time Stop in which she had been within her opponent's visual range.) Protective magics (PfME, Spell Deflection, Spell Shield etc) and a few area transitions enabled Scintilla to exhaust Kangaxx spell repertoire. At that point she hoped to finish the creature with the help of her summons, but apart from a few expected Death Spells, Kangaxx had its 'Trap the Soul' ability which it could use at will. This meant that Scintilla had to deal with her foe all by herself. With his good saves, 100 MR, and 90 physical resistances, that looked to be an impossible task, until she found a Wand of Fire in her pack. She cast clerical Magic Resistance on the Demi-Lich, to set its MR at 34, and then finished the creature off with Aganazzar's Scorchers cast from her wand.
Scintilla made it to lvl 18/16 Cleric/Illusionist there, earning her access to lvl 8 spells (of which she had but one: Simulacrum).
I'm thinking of taking Scintilla to Spellhold, though I might have her try and pick up the FoA first, as a possible dualwield weapon (with Blackblood under IH and clerical buffs).
Varen and her friends have reached a certain level of viability. I decide we are ready for some bigger tasks. Horun Fallows eventually convinces the team to travel to the Windspear Hills to fight the marauders and orogs that Lord Jierdan mentioned. Horun has a certain thing about wrestling with tall, burly humanoids, so naturally the concept appealed to him (he told Maeruo he just wanted to earn the reward, but Maeruo knew better than that).
To Horun's delight, we got ambushed by some ogres soon after reaching the area, though it turns out they were actually knights. Now we're in trouble for murdering paladins. Go figure. Garren Windspear offered to explain the matter to the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart, but some bad guys kidnapped his son for some reason while he was gone. A good deed never goes unpunished. Then a very loud woman appeared and started talking about vengeance and stuff. Seconds after the fight began, we were in bad shape.
A party full of unbuffed humans does not have great saves. Our average save vs. spell is 11, and Greater Command has a nasty save penalty of -4 in Spell Revisions. Varen, thankfully, knew enough to cast Stoneskin shortly before the fight. But now, 2/3 of the party is unconscious. I panic and consider our options.
Kolem Tao hurries over to Varen to cast Break Enchantment. He could wake up Ekayne instead, and Ekayne could wake up Varen right afterward, but I feel it's too risky. For one thing, it would mean the enemy orcs would have one more round to try and break through Varen's Stoneskin. For another, Kolem Tao has Stoneskin active, while Ekayne does not, which means her Break Enchantment spell would have a pretty good chance of being disrupted. So Kolem has to wake up Varen first. He's grown very protective of her since they met in the Nashkel mines.
But Kolem Tao gets distracted (I had party AI on, so Kolem tried to attack somebody instead of casting the spell), delaying his spellcasting. Varen and Horun Fallows both wake up before Kolem can finish his spell. Maeruo's nymph, meanwhile, has hit Plath Rededge with Insect Swarm. Soon, Varen slays an orc archer with a Flame Arrow spell, and Maeruo, going toe to toe with a bandit in full armor, finally splatters the dwarf over the floorboards.
Maeruo is the gentle type, but he has very little sympathy for bandits.
The next day, after freeing the nymphs, we knock out some wolfweres outside with Greater Command and Sleep (which in SR affects all critters below the caster's level). Since we disabled the enemy before they could act, we can pick up all of their potions, including the rare ones that SCS2 enemies normally drink first.
Potions of Magic Shielding in Item Revisions only last 1 turn, but they're also undispellable. It's one of the many little changes that together make IR and SR really overturn most of the gameplay.
We also manage to knock out a Ruhk Transmuter inside Firkraag's lair.
Unfortunately for us, it did not last long. In fact, the Ruhk woke up the very next round. We spent many rounds afterward trying to break through the Rakshasa's many Stoneskins, getting hit by two Fire Shields every time. By the time the Rakshasa falls, we have lost many potions, Maeruo is dead, and I am very, very unhappy.
Based on how many potions we drank, and how much HP we lost, I calculate that we took over FIVE HUNDRED DAMAGE over the course of the fight, and the vast majority of that would have come from the Fire Shields. Problem is, Varen didn't have Breach memorized.
Don't ignore Fire Shields. That damage might not seem like much for each hit, but it adds up over time, and it makes it that much easier for the mage to push your fighters over the edge with a damage spell.
Ruhk thhe transmuter is a beast! In my installation, at least. He has many pro from magic weapons, the usual web+stink cloud combo, seemingly at will remove magic, plenty chaos, and 3 pw:stuns which he used to stun my mages. Plus he has wilting. Plus he is very capable in melee, cutting up anyone with his plain longsword. Fire elemental summons and air elemental from the staff of air stalled him quite for some time, since he can not hurt them in melee, but still he gave me a lot of trouble! (And ended up carving up a stunned Jaheira)
In bg:ee, greater command's sleep effect wears off when a sleeping target takes any damage, they wake up immediately. Isn't it the same in spell revisions? Whenever a party member falls asleep I throw a basic, unenchanted dart for 1-3 damage to his butt to wake him/her up. Funny image in my mind aside, it works. And is a valid strategy because scs enemies are smart to never attack asleep foes, as long as there are active foes remaining. Thus, my wild mage, who usually makes his save vs spells because he is magical and stuff, can wake up to 3 party members a round with his darts. (If the asleep party member has stoneskins/ironskins up, an ice arrow from my archer or Minsc may work for a cold shock. Or wand of magic missile also does minimal damage throughout stoneskins, and every other party member has one for this purpose only!)
Your gal is a bounty hunter, right? I defeated Conster by laying multiple traps by Yoshimo infront of the prisoner cells, when we returned from big F Conster spawned there and died instantly. Cheesy? Yes, but it is perfectly sensible to trap the area after battling Tazok, and one less high lvl mage battle is good, no?
Deeper in Firkraag's lair, we get caught off-guard by some golems. Varen didn't pick the right weapon for her Enchanted Weapon spell, so we end up fighting a Clay Golem with only one magical blunt weapon. We end up in such bad shape that we have to rest before fighting the Iron Golem in the hall.
We slip past the trigger that spawns in the critters in the vampire room. Item Revisions might nerf Protection from Undead, but honestly I have no intention of ever fighting SCS2 vampires in Chapter 2. In fact, if I had my way, I'd never fight SCS2 vampires at all. I'm still not sure why I don't just uninstall that part of SCS2.
I think a little bit before taking on Samia. I don't have any traps, since Ivinhale has been focusing on Detect Illusions lately and Varen still hasn't gotten her thief levels back, and the party as a whole is several levels below Samia and the gang. Eventually I decide we're ready. The fight starts out with a pair of Greater Command spells: one from Ekayne, the other apparently from Legdoril.
Only 1/3 of our party falls unconscious this time, but our summons don't do so well. Only the Fire Elemental remains awake. I decide to concentrate on Legdoril, the one enemy caster who doesn't have Stoneskin.
The whole enemy party fails their saves against Maeruo's Insect Plague. So far, so good. Legdoril wakes up and casts Sanctuary, despite the insects nibbling away at him, so he's safe from our attacks. We focus instead on Samia. Soon, the enemies have all woken up--in SR, Greater Command lets you save each round to wake up--but we're able to bring down Samia by clustering around her. This time, Kolem Tao does the chunking.
Notice Kolem is silenced. This is from a PW: Silence spell from Kaol, who apparently is also still casting spells, despite the Insect Plague that's supposed to cause 100% spell failure. I've heard Wizard Slayer spell failure is sometimes ineffective against SCS2 mages because of spell scripts that bypass spell failure chances, so perhaps the same thing is happening here. That would also explain the Breach spell that robbed Maeruo of his Stoneskin.
Either way, Samia is gone, and Chak follows her soon after. Then we pull down Akae, and finally Ferric Ironblade. Kaol and Legdoril remain. Kaol is at full HP and fully protected, while Legdoril is at Near Death, but hidden by Sanctuary.
Kaol flees to the southeastern corridor, destroying most of our summons with Banishment, while Legdoril lingers next to Ivinhale. Maeruo and Horun Fallows cast a couple of Fire Traps in Legdoril's direction, the low-level SR druid spell that mimics a party-friendly Glyph of Warding, but with fire damage and a lower casting time. But the Fire Traps are useless against Legdoril: he's already dead, zapped to death by some bolts from the previous round, when Maeruo and Horun Fallows targeted the unconscious Ferric Ironblade with their Call Lightning spells. SR Call Lightning strikes multiple times over several rounds, and can therefore hit invisible targets, just like Flame Arrow (though Flame Arrow tends to hit just one target, multiple times).
We approach Kaol, the one remaining enemy, who to our surprise gets a Chaos spell off the ground. We're not high enough level to have Chaotic Commands active, but we manage to minimize the danger by pulling back the party while sending Kolem Tao--Kaol's target--forward. Only Kolem and our Fire Elemental get fuddled by the spell.
Note the Call Lightning spell, blocked by Kaol's MGOI. Also note that Horun Fallows cannot move--he's pinned by Kaol's Ray of Enfeeblement spell, dropping his STR to 7. It's impossible for him to drop enough equipment to move, unless he relinquishes his weapon, so he's stuck for the time being.
I have Horun Fallows switch to darts, but it doesn't do much good. He gets hit by a Confusion spell, and then is targeted by our Fire Elemental.
We don't have the healing spells to keep him afloat. We've been entirely reliant on potions for healing. Horun gets killed yet again.
But Kaol is not done just yet. Ivinhale has managed to dispel his invisibility and Mirror Image spells, but we still can't break through his Stoneskin spells. He charms Kitty, who poisons Ivinhale and chases her down the hall. Ivinhale only barely survives, drinking two potions to overcome the poison.
Why not drink an Elixir of Health? Well, those are in Ekayne's inventory. And Ekayne failed a save against Dire Charm. Maeruo tries to fix the situation with Dispel Magic, but only dispels our buffs. Kaol's disablers remain in effect, as do his defenses.
Horun is dead. Ivinhale is hiding from Kitty, unavailable, and still fighting off Kitty's poison. Maeruo has lost his buffs, along with Kolem Tao, who is also confused and charmed. Varen has lost her Dispelling Screen. Ekayne is hostile. And Kaol still has Stoneskins.
Maeruo, running out options, casts Charm Person or Mammal on Ekayne. She fails her save! She rejoins the party, freed from Kaol's control, and starts casting Mental Domination on Kolem Tao, hoping to keep our summons from targeting him. Meanwhile, Kitty has started attacking one of our Skeletons, giving Ivinhale enough space to slip out of her room and start firing at Kaol with her shortbow. She hits him.
Kaol's Stoneskins are gone! Kolem Tao makes his save, so he's still charmed, but Kaol is the more important factor. We pin him to the wall and tear him apart.
Now the only two enemies left are Kitty and Kolem Tao. We struggle to keep our summons from attacking Kolem--Maeruo has to use Dispel Magic to keep a nymph's Insect Swarm off of Kolem--and try to subdue Kitty. We are out of charm spells, as well as Dispel Magic, so all we can do is try to kill Kitty and distract our summons from Kolem Tao. In the chaos, Ivinhale gets too close, and dies to Kitty's poison. Kolem Tao recovers from Kaol's charm spell, only to get poisoned by Kitty as well.
Finally Kitty collapses, and Kolem Tao drinks cheap potions to stave off death.
Luckily for us, Ekayne has Raise Dead. Soon, everyone is back on their feet. We suffer a net loss to our potion count--we don't even have 5 for every part member anymore--but we do collect a lot of loot for our trouble, including a magical katana named Malakar.
Maeruo says the sword feels like bad luck. We stuff it in a chest.
Haha lots of excitement at the Windspear Hills. Scintilla went there yesterday, but what a difference between doing that with a low-level party and with a solo character with HLAs. Very entertaining stuff! Glad to see you pull through.
With their new spellcaster, Anselm's party decided to go back to the Arcane Sanctum. The strategy was simple, Kagain drank two Potions of Magic Resistance to reach 100% and mostly soloed through the dungeon, eating traps and foes along his way. Vynd followed him in the shadows to open the various chests. It worked perfectly and the area was cleared in about 10 minutes.
Afterward they went to Baldur's Gate, destroyed the Seven Suns building, investigated the sewers, then headed for the Iron Throne headquarters.
They murdered everyone. No one would escape this place alive.
On the last level, their strategy was to sent Kagain first for a few rounds to draw the attention and soak up most spells, then Anselm went in and poisoned his foes from range. Vynd joined the fight too when it was nearly over.
They informed the Duke Eltan of their little operation and he send them to Candlekeep. Anselm took great pleasure in destroying the place he called "home" a long time ago, killing everyone on his path. Winthrop, Hull, Parda, Karan, all the priests of Oghma, the readers, the cows. Everyone fell before him while he was entering the library.
Even ... Even Sarevok died this night. He tried to approach the group, unarmored, to trick them but he was VERY surprised when they openly fired at him.
His complete physical and magical immunity couldn't save him from Poison Weapon.
Then they encountered Rieltar and co, and brutally slaughtered them. Rieltar said something very amusing about the monks who wouldn't let them murder everyone in the keep. If only he knew !
Afterward, they continued their rampage and finally they escaped the library with some Dimension Doors spells (roleplay wise, there is no way Tethtoril would save us, even Ulraunt would try to kill on sight) thanks to Baeloth and Edwin. But the keep is protected from these types of spell, so they had to go in the catacombs. They dispatched everything on their path to leave Candlekeep.
Even the Keeper of the Portal.
Like Sarevok, this one is 100% immune to physical and magical damage. But like Sarevok, he isn't immune to poison. The problem is that he has hundreds and hundreds of health points. Anselm literally bombarded him with dozens of poisoned Arrows of Detonation but it wasn't enough. In the end, the Phase Spiders did the trick.
When they left the place, they could see the burning library of Candlekeep collapsing on itself from afar. They had become the most wanted criminals of the entire Sword Coast.
And this is why Poison Weapon is in my top 3 most overpowered abilities of all time.
Scintilla dispatched a band of wizard hunters in her own Planar Sphere,
but decided not to confront their leader who was staying at the Crooked Crane, because she couldn't find the imprisonment rune she was supposed to use on him. (Minor bug.)
Instead she traveled to the d'Arnise Hold, where she was forced to clear the ground floor of Trolls as they had all come for her.
Upstairs, she left the Trolls be. (SCS Trolls are quite hard to kill, they often require a few doses of fire or acid damage when they're at Near Death status. Scintilla with her Blackblood at 1 APR hadn't the patience for that.) Sancatuary allowed Scintilla to obtain a key that opened all the doors on that floor, and to obtain some loot in a treasury guarded by Golems. An Aerial Servant slew some of the smaller Golems, and Scintilla contributed with her SotM. Doom, Greater Malison and Charm brought Glaicus back to his senses. He rewarded her with a flail head, which she, together with two other heads, would forge into the Flail of Ages +3.
When she wanted to leave the room in which she had met Glaicus, she found various Trolls waiting for her. A Monster Summoning I, followed by SotM-invisibility created the space she needed.
In the basement, Scintilla spirited the Troll leader, TorGal, away from his minions,
and challenged him to a duel. I'm aware that at this stage of her advanture Scintilla with the right AoE spells such as Death Fog and Storm of Vengeance could have made short work of the others, but she didn't have those spells memorized, so Scintilla, still True Neutral, decided not to bother. (In fact Scintilla thought she had a Death Fog memorized, for dispatching enemy summons, but it was a Summon Nishruu Blackraven: "Hmm yes, the icon with the clouds that must be Death Fog duh.." TorGal proved to be highly magic resistant, but Scintilla had the divine spell Magic Resistance memorized (the casting of which she flunked by moving just before she was done), and two Lower Resistances (which she did cast successfully). With Holy Smites and a Suntone bullet she slew her opponent.
She looted some treasure in front of a throne, next to Lord d'Arnise's corpse, and reported back to Nalia, who was pleased with Scintilla's effort in spite of the latter's slack, half-hearted performance.
The Gnome returned to Athkatla, where she sold loot and did some shopping for potions at Roger's and at the Thieves Guild, and finally informed Aran Linvail of the Shadow Thieves of her successful campaign agaist the Vampires (even if Bodhi had eluded her). The Guild leader was most pleased and brought her to a ship he had chartered for her to journey to the asylum that held Imoen and Irenicus.
She arrived to find herself betrayed by captain Saemon Havarian. Three Vampires had traveled with them all the way from Athkatla and remained hidden until they reached their destination, Brynnlaw. Scintilla had a Deva made short deal with the Vampires and their summons.
In order for a wizard named Sanik to inform Scintilla of ways to get into heavily warded Spellhold, she rescued the man's girlfriend from an abusive brothelkeeper, Madam Galvena. Kitty did the actual work.
Sanik then told Scintilla of Perth the Adept, a Cowled Wizard who had a wardstone with which Spellhold could be entered. Unbuffed, she entered his home. She discovered that Perth wasn't willing to give her the stone, in fact he had had instruction to kill her on sight. The wizard had a tremendous amount of insta-buffs,
so SotM-invisible Scintilla needed some time to think of a strategy. Her summons were dispatched with Death Spells or even an ADHW.
He cast True Sight, but Scintilla managed that by unequipping and re-equipping the SotM. When he became vulnerable to her Staff she dispelled his protections, and discovered that his new buffs weren't as plentiful or potent as his previous ones.
But he also showed her he hadn't spent his best spells yet, as he a cast a Dragon's Breath.
Hasty donning of the Dragon Helm, Dragon Sclae Shield, and Ring of Fire Resistance for 90 Fire Resistance, and a Save vs Breath mitigated almost all the damage.
Another SotM-Dispel was followed by an ineffective Holy Smite; the spell's ineffectiveness meant that Perth's Necromantic incantation wasn't disrupted. It caused Scintilla to go outside. There, Scintilla prevailed with a Death Fog, followed by a Melf's Acid Arrow and a well-placed sling bullet right before Perth could renew his Stoneskin.
Scintilla rested at the Vulgar Monkey Inn, in preparation of her visit to Spellhold.
With Samia gone, we still have several more major challenges left. The Guardians prove fairly easy, since we managed to disrupt their spells with early attacks. We come across a lovely weapon for killing dragons.
Fun fact: Firkraag has 3 Wisdom.
The Greater Wolfweres are a problem, though. Their regeneration is crazy and it makes them nearly invincible. But both Ekayne and Kolem Tao have Slay Living, which in SR bypasses magic resistance.
The Greater Wolfweres make their saves. But Slay Living still does a ton of damage, and the extra boost lets us bring them down.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have worried about the Greater Wolfweres. I normally play magic-heavy parties with few fighters, and so the regeneration is really difficult to overcome. But here, I have several competent fighters on the team.
On the way to Tazok I notice Horun Fallows' spellcasting icon is grayed out. He can still cast spells via his quick spell icons, but he can't use the normal method.
Shadowkeeper shows the effect is from the Berserker's innate effects. Apparently one of my mods added a tweak to try to prevent Berserkers from casting spells after dualing, but it didn't work due to the availability of quick spell slots. I remove the effect for convenience's sake.
Conster is a problem. He has lots of high-level mage spells, and some pretty excellent defenses. I've also seen him multiple Cornugons, who have a constant fear aura, and Conster can likely remove our buffs with a Remove Magic spell, including Resist Fear. I let him deal with some petty summons rather than confronting him directly. Maeruo stands by to keep watch over the situation. But Conster targets Maeruo with a very nasty spell, and Maeruo fails his save.
I send in Horun Fallows next, protected by Enrage, and start attacking Conster with nonmagical darts. But just as he does so, Conster replaces PFMW with a better defense, ruining our plans.
Varen gets hit by Khelben's Warding Whip, and her Dispelling Screen is gone. She no longer has any buffs to defend herself against Conster's spells.
We rush our characters over to the hallway leading outside, hoping to escape Conster's range. This requires us to run through the same Sphere of Chaos spell that just killed Ekayne. Varen drinks a Potion of Invisibility as she goes, prompting a divination spell from Conster. This gives us enough time to make our escape.
But it requires that we run through Conster's Sphere of Chaos spell. And for some reason, that spell doesn't operate like the normal SR version. In SR, it only disables the targets, with a penalty to the save. In vanilla, it has healing, hasting, and instant death effects as well.
Ekayne gets hit by the instant death effect, and fails her save.
Two of our characters are down, and Conster still has weapon immunities and spell protections. And Varen doesn't have enough spells to take down his spell defenses.
Notice the Horrid Wilting spell in the above screenshot. I drank a Potion of Invisibility during Conster's casting to try to interrupt his spell, but BG2 enemies don't get their spells canceled when their targets go invisible, like your own characters do. Luckily, Varen could heal the damage with a simple potion.
Conster, protected by Stoneskin and the Sphere of Chaos spell, starts conjuring Wraiths. Bad news. SR Wraiths, like the vanilla version, have level drain on hit. And Conster summons lots of them. And Ivinhale fails a save on the way out of the Sphere of Chaos, paralyzing her.
She's helpless to the Wraiths, but thankfully they're busy fighting off Kolem Tao's Leopards.
But not for long. Soon, the Wraiths turn to Ivinhale, and she gets level-drained, then charmed by Conster. Only half our party remains in our control.
Then the Sphere of Chaos dissipates, as does Conster's Globe of Invulnerability. We fail to hit him with Fire Trap, since he's moving around too fast, and we can't use single-target spells on him, or his Spell Deflection spell will absorb them. But now we can attack him with ranged weapons. Varen and Horun Fallows target Conster with Darts of Stunning and Darts of Wounding, while Kolem Tao switches to a sling and Sunfire Bullets. The darts do nothing--Conster makes all his saves against the Darts of Stunning, and his Stoneskin I believe blocks the poison effect of the Darts of Wounding--but Kolem Tao's fire damage breaks through Conster's defenses.
Our summons keep holding off the Wraiths--Ivinhale only occupied their attention for so long--but Conster is still a threat, using damage spells on Varen and her friends. We keep wearing him down, forcing him to re-cast Stoneskin a couple of times. Finally, he runs out of Stoneskins, and he's already low on health.
Conster tries to run away, frustrating our targeting by hiding in the hallway. But finally we get in the right position to hit him. Varen gets the final blow.
Kolem Tao casts Break Enchantment on Ivinhale, which somehow hadn't occurred to me before, and we finish off the Wraiths with damage spell. We've run low on Darts of Stunning, with less than 10 left, and we also lost some Darts of Wounding and some potions, but Conster is dead.
After freeing Garren's child, we head over to the last enemies in the dungeon, the golems guarding Heartseeker and the Beljuril gemstone. Ekayne absolutely slaughters the Adamantite Golem.
Cause Serious Wounds does 3d8+40 damage at level 10, and this bypasses MR. Golems have no defense against this.
A long time has passed since the idea of soloing as a wizard slayer first came to my mind. One of the most difficult challenges ever. Following Blackraven's Thani and reading that @CrevsDaak once finished ToB with a wizard slayer added to my determination to try this kit fully as well. After beating SoA with a totemic druid I want to have a change of scenery and see a wizard slayer as a fine option.
I gave several thoughts about this character's race and weapon set up. In the end I still decided that dwarven saving throws were simply unmatched, especially taking into account huge item restrictions for this kit. As for the weapons, the concept of a ranged warrior was my favourite. Maybe it's not the most effective build for the late game, but I would still try it.
The next thing for me to decide was what particular weapon types to choose. In the end I couldn't make up my mind on a bows/crossbows battle and went instead for daggers and axes. These proficiencies provide both missile and melee options so choosing them could be a safer way in the context of the ranged fight becoming ineffective later in the game.
Below is my WEIDU log, a special attention goes to the full SCS install, the Dark Horizons mod and the Item Randomiser component from the BG2 Tweaks. I went for the max HP tweak (both for PC and enemies) and added different containers to the game.
// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods // The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod // ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version] ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1000 // Initialise mod (all other components require this): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1910 // Protection from Normal Missiles also blocks Arrows of Fire/Cold/Acid and similar projectiles without pluses: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2010 // More consistent Breach spell (always affects liches and rakshasas; doesn't penetrate Spell Turning): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Antimagic attacks penetrate improved invisibility: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Iron Skins behaves like Stoneskin (can be brought down by Breach): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2120 // Slightly weaken insect plague spells, and let fire shields block them: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Make spell sequencers, spell triggers, and contingencies learnable by all mages: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Faster Bears: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Grant large, flying, non-solid or similar creatures protection from Web and Entangle: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // More realistic wolves and wild dogs: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4030 // Improved shapeshifting: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4040 // Make party members less likely to die irreversibly: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4051 // Decrease the rate at which reputation improves -> Reputation increases at about 1/2 the normal rate: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4110 // Allow NPC pairs to separate: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4130 // Move NPCs to more convenient locations: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4140 // Allow Yeslick to use axes: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5050 // Stackable ankheg shells, winterwolf pelts and wyvern heads: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5060 // Ensure Shar-Teel doesn't die in the original challenge: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages -> Mages cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests -> Priests cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs -> All of the potions dropped by slain enemies are recoverable: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6300 // Smarter sirines and dryads: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6310 // Slightly harder carrion crawlers: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6320 // Smarter basilisks: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7000 // Improved doppelgangers: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7010 // Tougher Black Talons and Iron Throne guards: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7020 // Improved deployment for parties of assassins: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Dark Side-based kobold upgrade: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7040 // Relocated bounty hunters: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7050 // Improved Ulcaster: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7060 // Improved Balduran's Isle: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7070 // Improved Durlag's Tower: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7080 // Improved Demon Cultists: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7090 // Improved Cloakwood Druids: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7100 // Improved Bassilus: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7110 // Improved Drasus party: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7130 // Improved Red Wizards: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7140 // Improved Undercity party: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7200 // Tougher chapter-two end battle: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7210 // Tougher chapter-three end battle: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7220 // Tougher chapter-four end battle: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7230 // Tougher chapter-five end battle: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7250 // Improved final battle: v30 ~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7900 // Improved minor encounters: v30 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1010 // Ajantis Ilvarstarr: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1020 // Alora: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1030 // Garrick: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1040 // Khalid: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1050 // Shar-Teel Dosan: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1060 // Xan: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1070 // Xzar: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1080 // Yeslick Orothair: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Annah-of-the-Shadows: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3020 // Dak'kon: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3030 // Fall-From-Grace: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Ignus: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3050 // Morte: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3060 // The Nameless One: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3080 // Vhailor: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // Murray: 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #5010 // Alyx Vance (from Half Life 2 and Episodes): 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #5020 // Jane Doe "The Soldier" (from Team Fortress 2): 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #5030 // Heavy Weapons Guy (from Team Fortress 2): 1.00 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #100 // FThief1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #110 // FThief2: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #120 // F_Barb: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #130 // F_Bard: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #140 // F_Drow: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #150 // F_Fgt01: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #160 // F_Fgt02: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #170 // F_Fgt03: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #180 // F_Fgt04: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #190 // F_Fgt05: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #200 // F_HOrc1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #210 // F_HoW1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #220 // F_HoW2: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #230 // F_HoW3: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #240 // F_Mage1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #250 // F_Mage2: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #260 // F_Mage3: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #270 // F_Mage4: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #280 // F_Mage5: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #290 // F_Monk1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #300 // F_Sorc1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #310 // MThief1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #320 // MThief2: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #330 // M_Barb: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #340 // M_Bard: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #350 // M_Drow: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #360 // M_Fgt01: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #370 // M_Fgt02: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #380 // M_Fgt03: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #390 // M_Fgt04: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #400 // M_Fgt05: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #410 // M_HOrc1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #420 // M_HoW1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #430 // M_HoW2: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #440 // M_HoW3: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #450 // M_Mage1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #460 // M_Mage2: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #470 // M_Mage3: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #480 // M_Mage4: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #490 // M_Mage5: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #500 // M_Monk1: 1.01 ~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #510 // M_Sorc1: 1.01 ~SETUP-DARKHORIZONSBGEE.TP2~ #0 #0 // "Dark Horizons" Mod for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition: BG:EE v212 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project: Required Modifications: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #1 // The BG1 NPC Project: Banters, Quests, and Interjections: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #7 // The BG1 NPC Project: Kivan's "Kivan and Deheriana Companions" portrait: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #8 // The BG1 NPC Project: Add Non-Joinable NPC portraits to quests and dialogues: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #9 // The BG1 NPC Project: Ajantis Romance Core (teen content): v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #10 // The BG1 NPC Project: Branwen's Romance Core (teen content): v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #11 // The BG1 NPC Project: Coran's Romance Core (adult content): v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #12 // The BG1 NPC Project: Dynaheir's Romance Core (teen content): v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #13 // The BG1 NPC Project: Shar-Teel Relationship Core (adult content): v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #14 // The BG1 NPC Project: Xan's Romance Core (teen content): v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #15 // The BG1 NPC Project: Female Romance Challenges, Ajantis vs Xan vs Coran: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #16 // The BG1 NPC Project: NPCs can be sent to wait in an inn: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #18 // The BG1 NPC Project: Alora's Starting Location -> Alora Starts in Gullykin: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #20 // The BG1 NPC Project: Eldoth's Starting Location -> Eldoth Starts on the Coast Way: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #22 // The BG1 NPC Project: Quayle's Starting Location -> Quayle Starts at the Nashkel Carnival: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #24 // The BG1 NPC Project: Tiax's Starting Location -> Tiax Starts in Beregost: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #26 // BGEE Banter Timing Tweak: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #28 // The BG1 NPC Project: Bardic Reputation Adjustment: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #31 // The BG1 NPC Project: Sarevok's Diary Adjustments -> SixofSpades Extended Sarevok's Diary: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #200 // The BG1 NPC Project: Player-Initiated Dialogues: v21_20150210 ~BG1NPCMUSIC/SETUP-BG1NPCMUSIC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project Music Pack -> Install All Audio: v6 ~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #10 // Icewind Dale Casting Graphics (Andyr): Beta 2 ~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #20 // Commoners Use Drab Colors: Beta 2 ~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #30 // IWD Arcane Spell Pack: Beta 2 ~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #40 // IWD Divine Spell Pack: Beta 2 ~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #50 // IWD Bard Song: Beta 2 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #40 // Change Viconia's Skin Color to Dark Blue: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1060 // Breakable Iron Nonmagical Shields, Helms, and Armor: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1080 // Add Bags of Holding: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1090 // Exotic Item Pack: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // Change Experience Point Cap -> Remove Experience Cap: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Expanded Dual-Class Options: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2352 // Alter Multiclass Restrictions -> Install both of the above options: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2360 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Single Classes: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2372 // Alter Dual-class Restrictions -> Install both of the above options: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2380 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Kits: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Higher HP on Level Up -> Maximum: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Maximum HP for NPCs (the bigg) -> For All Creatures in Game: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Make Bags of Holding Bottomless: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3080 // Unlimited Ammo Stacking: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3090 // Unlimited Gem and Jewelry Stacking: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3100 // Unlimited Potion Stacking: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Unlimited Scroll Stacking: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3121 // Happy Patch (Party NPCs do not complain about reputation) -> NPCs Can Be Angry About Reputation but Never Leave (Salk): v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3125 // Neutral Characters Make Happy Comments at Mid-Range Reputation: v16 ~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // ToB-Style NPCs: v16 ~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #530 // Randomise scrolls: v6.8 ~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #1300 // Randomise items -> Mode 2: Randomise with WeiDU. No items are lost: v6.8
So, meet Hachiman Jin, a dwarven wizard slayer:
I went for the first roll with 18/00 STR - it turned out to be a 79-points roll.
Hachiman is called so after the syncretic divinity of archery and war in old Japan. Being identified with military prowess, Hachiman was adopted as the patron deity of the Minamoto family and subsequent other warrior clans. It was a popular Shintō deity who protected warriors and generally looked after the well-being of the community.
The portrait is one of my most favourite from IWD and his voice is Male HOW 3 from that game.
P.S. It's wonderful that every participant in this thread has his own, different from others, party and characters. It's especially funny to write about a wizard slayer after the semiticgod's tale, heavily magical as usual.
Comments
@Blackraven: You can design an auto-buffing spell with Near Infinity. I can attach a default one to a post for you to download, and you can replace the spells listed in NI with the ones you like. It'll cast the whole lot of them as if under the effects of Improved Alacrity, although without the casting speed bonuses of Scintilla's Robe of Vecna. It won't trigger auto-pauses on spell cast, either, which might speed things up for you. You can get a whole suite of buffs active in a few seconds, maybe less than a round if you tweak the casting time of your buffing spells in Near Infinity.
Or I could post a pair of bracers that give aura cleansing and a +9 boost to casting time, and you could equip them before battles and pick your buffs manually. Both options have saved lots of time buffing for me, without which many of my runs would have been unbearable. Also speeds up casting of sequencers, though you'd have to take them off if you don't want the casting bonuses in the actual fights.
Tenser's won't add APR. For that you'll have to use Polymorph Self, Shapechange, or dual-wielding. Otherwise the melee damage problem is an essential part of the Cleric/Illusionist class. They're just not equipped to deal much damage unless you're using sequencers, contingencies, and/or spider form. Polymorph Self, Holy Power, DUHM, Righteous Magic, Shocking Grasp, and the Flail of Ages will turn Scintilla into a proper fighter, albeit only for about a turn. Bear in mind that spider form dispels Improved Haste, since the spider attack has a haste effect while equipped. You'd have to cast IH after switching to spider form, probably with a contingency since Spell Trigger is so hard to find. You could also design a separate custom buffing spell to cast your combat buffs. Or I could do it for you. It'd only take 5 minutes.
Otherwise, Scintilla isn't going to be doing much clobbering on her own. But once you've got your Deva, I'm sure things will seem a lot faster, and you won't feel like you're on the defensive all the time.
Our Charname is a somber young Bounty Hunter scarred by the constant attacks by other bounty hunters after leaving Candlekeep. Her name is Varen.
I added in the BG1 tome bonuses to everyone in the group, hence her 19 DEX and INT. I might add in the Cloak of Balduran, too... or whatever items you're supposed to get when you import from BG1.
Her counterpart is Ivinhale, a stoic Conjurer who helped her cope with the attacks. As Varen is a Thief dualing to a Mage, Ivinhale is a Mage dualing to a thief.
Also very min-maxy.
Our star character is Maeruo, an eccentric Shapeshifter that Ivinhale dragged out of the Cloakwood. He will be the last to dual, at level 13, for Greater Werewolf form. In SCS2, that means big MR and regeneration.
Dem stats. I don't know why I put so much into STR, though, since he won't be attacking in normal form. DEX would have been a better option, for the few times he'll be in his normal form. He got all the WIS tomes so he could cast an extra Stoneskin spell. Having 21 WIS gives an extra 5th level spell slot. It was a better deal than spreading the WIS bonuses across the other characters.
Maeruo's counterpart and life partner is Horun Fallows, a studly Berserker with an affection for spears. And no, his nickname isn't Horny Fellow. It's Hoey-Foey. But only when Mae-mae is teasing him.
Berserker because immunities. And because some like it rough.
Then we have Varen's second partner, after Imoen. Kolem Tao, our Beastmaster, is a very serious hunter of demons, and ran into Varen in the Nashkel mines while he was searching for the demons who supposedly inhabited the lower reaches. Kolem is the solitary type, but Varen managed to get him to agree to come along on her travels, knowing he would be able to protect her. Killing Mulahey by stabbing him through the face, into his brains, with a wooden stick, was a pretty solid demonstration of his prowess... albeit a rather grim spectacle. Varen threw up a lot after that.
Beastmaster kit because everybody else had a kit, and the Archer and Stalker kits can't dual-class.
Kolem Tao's counterpart is a Cleric of Lathander who joined the party in Baldur's Gate, inspired by a message from Lathander. It was a hard decision to leave her temple and try to make friends with known criminals, but the sign was unambiguous, and it soon became clear Varen was in dire need of assistance.
Ekayne will dual at level 11, for an extra casting of Boon of Lathander. Note her 19 STR: she had the most to gain from the strength tome, since she couldn't start with 18/xx STR like the fighters could, and because she'll have better APR than Ivinhale, who is stuck at 18 STR.
In Chateau Irenicus, Maeruo tanked the Duergar populating the halls. With -4 AC in werewolf form, he's awfully hard to hit. Since I wanted to abide by the SCS2 rule of only one rest period in Chateau Irenicus, I had Maeruo stock up on SR's druid-style healing spells, which grant slow regeneration over many rounds. They heal more than cleric spells, but take much more time. This allows me to maximize the amount of healing we can have over the course of the battles.
Another important source of healing is our one rest period, which I delay to maximize our total HP gains. I use Varen's Slow Poison spells to survive a couple of traps, then have Horun Fallows suffer through a third poison trap, which deals 30 poison damage, plus a little over 10 initial damage. He toughs it out.
He ends up with 4 HP left by the time we rest. But the rest period will bring him back to max HP.
But why didn't I just disarm the traps? Well, Ivinhale is going to dual into a thief, and she's supposed to be our trap disarmer and lock picker and so forth. Varen, as a Bounty Hunter who duals to mage at level 11, will not have enough skill points to max out Set Traps as well as Open Locks and Detect Traps. She could only max out two, but it would be a bit of a waste to have her learn how to open locks but not disarm traps, or vice versa, because I want Ivinhale doing both of those things for convenience's sake. Instead. Varen will just put her points into Set Traps and stealth, to help her stay out of trouble in the early game.
Before we rest, I want to take out one last pack of Duergar. Somehow I forget to keep Horun Fallows at a safe distance.
I didn't have him drink any potions because I thought he'd be back to max HP right after we rested, and didn't want to lose the 6 gold that Potions of Healing sell for in Item Revisions. Now I'll have to spend 800 gold raising him when we get out.
After resting, Maeruo sends his dogs after the Duergar in the library. We get lucky with some disabling spells.
Even without exceeding the summoning cap, the summons make a big difference, soaking up a lot of damage and buying us enough time to make a big dent in the enemies' numbers. Right after the mage fell, Ilyich ran out of Berserker juice, and we descended upon him. It's a peculiar quirk of the SCS2 Ilyich: he runs in to greet you in the library, called in by the Duergar you meet there, and activates his Berserker rage only to run back into his own room and await your arrival. By the time you get to him, his immunities and bonuses are gone. You'd think a Berserker would rush right into battle rather than running away.
Anyway, with Ilyich left we could free the djinni. You know those two groups of Mephits in the Air Elemental Plane? Well, if you're having trouble sneaking past them, there's a safe spot in between them.
If your scout has a poor sneak score and you aren't sure if he or she will turn visible in view of the Mephits, you can wait in this spot until they succeed or fail the next hiding check. It feels a little safer than just hurrying to the djinni bottle.
On the second level, we distracted the Mephits with some summoned wolves long enough for us to tear apart the Mephit Portals. The wolves also helped us bring down Ellesime's clone. With Maeruo's regeneration spells and summons, we had enough steam to plow through the whole dungeon without needing to drink any potions. We only skipped one fight, the Assassin before the exit, because I was afraid Varen might get backstabbed and slain. We snuck past under the effects of Ivinhale's Invisibility Sphere.
Freedom! Imoen is kidnapped again, and the next chapter begins.
Forgetting that I can probably raise Horun Fallows at the Temple of Ilmater in the Promenade, I decide to wait until reaching another district before I bring him back. First, we take a trip to the circus.
Item Revisions has an option to let thieves and Stalkers backstab with any weapon in the game, even ranged weapons. But non-standard weapons impose a backstab penalty, reducing the multiplier for stuff like crossbows. Varen tests it out on one of the orc Peasants in the circus.
The second time she tries it, she does over 20 damage, so it's still quite useful. Light crossbows and darts only impose a -1 backstab penalty in IR, while heavy crossbows and shortbows have a -2 penalty, and longbows have a penalty of -3, for whatever reason. Either way, being able to backstab from a distance significantly reduces the downtime in hit-and-fade tactics, since you only need to take a few steps to get out of sight and hide again. I've thought about this benefit if one were to bring the Phantom Staff +5 from IWD2 into BG2, and backstab from a distance, and IR offers the same possibilities, albeit with a decreased backstab multiplier.
I do the Lilarcor quest, Ekayne nearly steps over the petrification trap by accident (thankfully, she only stepped on the northeastern plank), and I stop before going on to the slavers, feeling I will need Horun Fallows to succeed. But the temple of Ilmater above the Copper Coronet can't cast Raise Dead. Losers.
Instead, I raise Horun at the Temple District, but not before fully buffing the party, knowing we might get ambushed. We rest so Ivinhale can conjure him a +3 Spear with SR's expanded Enchanted Weapon options, then restore our buffs and head to the De'Arnise Hold, to trigger the Suna Seni ambush.
Unfortunately, our buffs all run out when the fight begins. Only our enchanted weapons remain. Ivinhale, who has no Stoneskin left, is right next to the enemy, as is Varen. The enemy has pre-buffs, and we have none. And we didn't bother getting Horun Fallows a proper set of armor, since we thought our buffs would be enough, so he's got studded leather on, and Kolem Tao has nothing.
I have Ivinhale cast a Sleep spell. In IR, the Amulet of Metaspell Influence improves casting time by 1, so the spell comes out instantly--a big plus for a mage without Stoneskin or Mirror Image. And in SR, Sleep affects anyone of lower level than the caster. Since Ivinhale is at level 9, she manages to knock out both Suna Seni and also the Slaver Wizard. Meanwhile, Varen drinks an Oil of Speed and runs away to avoid getting targeted. Maeruo summons an Insect Plague, shutting down the enemy cleric's spells. We slay the Slaver Wizard while she sleeps, Varen throws a Special Snare from the southeast, and the tide of battle quickly turns.
Suna Seni dies soon, followed by an enemy thief who nearly killed Ivinhale with a backstab. Then the enemy cleric goes down, and finally we close in on Eldarin. Maeruo splatters him against a wall.
Horun Fallows now has a suit of Plate Mail +1, and Ekayne has a magical mace.
We continue on to the Umar Hills, seeking easy XP. Free Action protects us from the Mimic, and Remove Paralysis frees the one character who was glued, Ivinhale, allowing us to take on Valygar's overzealous bodyguards without resting first.
Apparently one of the Rangers uses a non-SR version of Blade Barrier. Which means he can deal tens of damage in a single blow, while protected by Sanctuary.
Horun Fallows just can't catch a break.
Once the Ranger turns visible, we end his spellcasting with a Flame Arrow, and his life with Call Lightning. On to the Temple Ruins!
In SR, False Dawn, a druid spell, deals 2d6 damage per round for 10 rounds to undead critters, which is of marginal use against the Shadows. The Skeleton Warriors resist it; Maeruo's False Dawn cannot bypass MR. Mostly we just whomp on the monsters until they die. Varen gets in a nice backstab with Ilbratha after throwing a trap over to an incoming Shadow.
I knew the Shadow was coming because the rest of the party was holding off some Shadows to the south, and one of them turned and fled in order to approach us from the other hallway.
We clear the dungeon with only one rest--I usually rest obsessively in my no-reload runs--but stop short of attacking the Shade Lord. I'm not confident we can take him on.
By now, Kolem Tao is at cleric level 7, a late-game BG1 character before we even finish a single major BG2 quest. Varen has dual-classed to mage, and though she failed to scribe the Project Image spell, she did scribe a Spell Sequencer and Spell Trap scroll we found on the Skeleton Warriors, along with a bunch of other lower-level spells we'd accumulated since Chateau Irenicus.
Ivinhale has just dual-classed to thief, so we will be returning to Athkatla to start disarming traps and opening locks.
Good luck to yours dual-class party, semiticgod!
@dockaboomski - One does not easily success on a no-reload run. Try again:)
The other portaits, if they're not from the same thread, are probably from deviantart, by artists who were mentioned in the thread. I mine those threads a lot.
@dockaboomski: I think I've only succeeded in two or three no-reload runs of SoA, out of maybe six to eight tries. And one of those was a vanilla run. Bengoshi is right. No-reload runs are usually not successes. Even @Alesia_BH has died in some of hers.
Scintilla, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist (fifth BG2 update)
The Cowled Wizards allowed Scintilla to exploit Lavok's Sphere. Her first activities there were sending three Solamnic Knights home and setting three apprentices to work. (They would create a dagger for the Gnome, fail at the production of a Mislead scroll, and forge a Ring of Wizardry. Sadly, the latter feat cost the lives of two of the apprentices, but on the flipside, Cromwell would merge the ring with a Ring of Acuity, Metaspell Influence Amulet, and Ring of Protection +1 into the Sorcerian Ring, which gives one extra spell for levels 1-7, +1 AC, +1 Saves).
Scintilla retrieved a dawn ring from Talassasan Thieves for the Temple of Lathander,
In the sewers a Beholder and two Gauths were no match for Scintilla's Deva and Aerials,
The second time the game was still laggy, but Scintilla made it through with minimal buffs (MSD, Haste, Spell Shield) and no other spells, no summons etc, to minimize lagging. Some of the Undead followed her again into the Beholders' lair, but Invisibility and (continued) Haste allowed Scintilla to leave them behind without being followed.
Inside the Unseeing Eye lair, Scintilla's summons dealt convincingly with the Unseeing Eye, its Death Tyrants, and a few more Gauths and Beholders.
On her way back to the Temple of Helm, Scintilla ran into Tarnor the Hatchetman and his friends. (I had forgotten to take the southern path). A rest that was followed by summoning her Skeletons, Aerials and Deva, made sure these enemies wouldn't present much trouble. The summons dispatched all the warriors and priests; Gaius the Mage lastest longer but fell eventually to Scintilla's Blackblood after she repeatedy removed the wizard's protections.
At the Den of the Seven Vales, Scintilla had a dust-up with a group of brigands. A Spell Triggered Holy Smite and summons showed them they had picked on the wrong Gnome.
The home she thought she entered proved to be a portal to a secret Twisted Rune council. Buffed with nothing but a Potion of Stone form, she was greeted by a Lich, retreated to cast PfUndead on herself, and Stoneskin when a Mordy's Sword came after her (I forget Stoneskin way too often before resting).
It takes a lot of courage to take on the Twisted Rune in a solo no-reload run. Kudos.
I have yet to beat the Twisted Rune even once in my no-reload runs, even with a party!
Twisted Rune was a lot of fun, and quite exciting even with PfUndead at the beginning of the battle. I knew the enemies' spawning points but I didn't (and still don't) know how they would exactly behave. I expected Layane for example to summon Fiends and Efreetis, and I thought Vaxhall was an Elder Orb, not a Hive Mother.
It was only the second or third time I beat it in no-reload, I've often not bothered. Well-said. This helps me forget about the affair. (I really hated the reloading.)
Re: the Sanctuary (nice that you agree). I'll mention it if/when I change the spell.
So, the rogues will come back after this run, the Short Bus Shorties (I couldn't resist). As is to be taken from the god-awful nickname, this group is comprised of one halfling, two dwarves, and three gnomes.
This here is Oken Thorinshield (ah ha ha ha) who is a Bhaalspawn and a stereotypical dwarf. Not much to say, except he would be a Paladin (probably an Undead Hunter) if he could. But I haven't stooped that low yet.
This is Rhinn. She is a Fighter/Cleric. She is pretty stoic, very, very lawful neutral, somewhere on the scale between Dak'kon and Vhailor, if you understand that (hopefully you do).
This is Ayla. She's my rogue and will be DPS-full. She will also be our solution for being broke, as she will steal the hell out of everything that the party can't afford. Rhinn hates her with a passion.
This is Rocky. Since I had a free slot, he is going to be our ranged beast, and will also move into two-handed weapons. To keep me from using him as more of a melee tanker, I made him a Wizard Slayer. (On a side note, my first playthrough ended with a Wizard Slayer, and let me tell you, it could have been worse. Don't hate, appreciate). Also, if Ayla starts to under-perform, I can swap her for Rocky.
Fayda here is our backup spellcaster in both regards. She will be a defensive character, with buffs and buff removers as her main spells.
Bart here has been resurrected and became an Illusionist. Same old, happy-go-lucky Bart.
It will be much easier than all rogues, I hope. It will be.
I got caught up in playing Dungeon of the Endless (somebody should definitely buy it) so I may be a little slow with updates. They're in the starting dungeon still.
Skinner quest
Wellyn's bear
Pai'Na and the lower crypts
Tirdir quest
Renfeld and the Harpers
Mae'Var's questline
The Crypt King
I don't know which order I chose, but I left some parts of them unfinished until Ivinhale was able to do all the thief stuff involved in the quests. The Harper quests had to be delayed, for one, since you can't enter the building again once it's over, and come back for the locked chests. We also still have yet to fight Rayic Gethras, since he's pretty dangerous in SCS2.
An interesting thing with Pai'Na: it turns out her spiders are, ironically enough, very easy to kill with insects.
At the end of it all, Varen reached level 9, and therefore gained access to Dispelling Screen, a major boost to her survivability, though she's still going to be buffed with Free Action just in case. She also managed to scribe Stoneskin and Invisibility Sphere. The latter has received a stupendous buff in Spell Revisions: it now has a casting time of 1, and therefore is a fantastic escape option with no risk of disruption.
Kolem Tao also hit cleric level 9, recovering his Beastmaster levels. To my surprise, he has all the druid spells on top of his cleric spells. I'd have assumed SCS2 or SR would have prevented that.
I've only played a Ranger/Cleric once before, so this is very new to me. It's going to be hard to decide which spells to use. A surprising drawback of using Spell Revisions is that there are so many useful spells that you have to think a lot more about which ones you want. Playing a sorcerer in SR is particularly painful, since you know how much you're losing out on when you decide on your spell picks.
It won't be too long before Ivinhale, Varen, and Horun Fallows recover their Bounty Hunter, Conjurer, and Berserker levels, respectively, and it won't be much longer before Maeruo duals to fighter and Ekayne duals to ranger. They're already a pretty effective team, but once they're done with their dualing, they will have lots of options at their disposal.
I like the many duals in your party, and the fact that it requires quite a bit of planning.
Whoa, this thread is a wonderful read! Good luck to everybody! I will read every new entry when I have more time.
I especially love reading about spell revisions mod, because I can't have it on my Ipad. I enjoyed no reload with scs, as well, but after months of failing, I now continue my game as a minimal reload. (only reload on character death)
A quick update here, but I'm starting to be behind my playthrough and I want to play more today so I'm going to catch up really fast.
The death squad went back to the FAI, they fought another group of mercenaries they dispatched easily.
Then they headed to High Hedge to visit Thalantyr. They bought every important items he had, including all of his Acid Arrows (1000 arrows for 90,000 gold), then betrayed him and kill him and Melicamp. A quick fight due to poison preventing his spellcasting.
They wandered on the coast, killing everyone at sight, Shoal, the Surgeon, dozens of Ogres Berserker, a huge encounter with many casters, sirens and a golem.
They traveled to Cloakwood, they killed a Dragon.
Killed spiders with heavy fire (Arrows of Detonation).
Entered the mines.
And ended Davaeorn's life by using a Scroll of Protection from Magic on Kagain.
They bought many Arrows of Dispelling and of Detonation then walked to Baldur's Gate. They attacked a group of elven mercenaries and a Fighter/Mage, the firsts were dealt with Poison Weapon + Arrows of Detonation while the last was dealt with some Arrows of Dispelling.
Afterward they completed Dorn's quest, they kicked him out of the party and replaced him with Baeloth.
On the other hand, Mages are starting to get pretty powerful at this level, so another one is quite good. I bought a Greater Malison scroll for Edwin, so I'll be able to throw down some pretty powerful GM + Webx2 (save at -6) (Minor Sequencer) followed by some Chaos/Slow (save at -8!) combos.
A few quick notes, because I don't have much time.
Scintilla took up Lord Firkraag's offer to clear his lands in the Windspear Hills of bandits only to discover that he was the bandit.
With the SotM now in her possession the Gnome's strategy against hostile casters was to dispel their protections with the staff, leaving them vulnerable to her summons (still the Aerials, more than anything). The Ruhk Transmuter and Kaol could attest to this, had they still been alive.
The various Golems were left to the trusty summons again, but she dispatched Tazok herself (with Energy Blades, Magic Missiles and a Holy Smite after a Limited Wish saw some of her spells restored.
In Athkatla there wasn't a lot left for Scintilla to do. Planar Prison, d'Arnise Hold (a few hours from Athkatla), Illithids, and Kangaxx. The Gnome opted for the latter quest. PfUndead she had little to fear from the Elemental Lich and the Shade Lich, except their pre-cast ADHWs and their summoned Demons. But those didn't measure up to her own summons' firepower,
The Lich got the same treatment as the previous two Liches, i.e. Scintilla finished off a gated Gelugon with the helo of a Mordy Sword, and then the Lich by herself.
Protective magics (PfME, Spell Deflection, Spell Shield etc) and a few area transitions enabled Scintilla to exhaust Kangaxx spell repertoire. At that point she hoped to finish the creature with the help of her summons, but apart from a few expected Death Spells, Kangaxx had its 'Trap the Soul' ability which it could use at will. This meant that Scintilla had to deal with her foe all by herself. With his good saves, 100 MR, and 90 physical resistances, that looked to be an impossible task, until she found a Wand of Fire in her pack. She cast clerical Magic Resistance on the Demi-Lich, to set its MR at 34, and then finished the creature off with Aganazzar's Scorchers cast from her wand.
I'm thinking of taking Scintilla to Spellhold, though I might have her try and pick up the FoA first, as a possible dualwield weapon (with Blackblood under IH and clerical buffs).
To Horun's delight, we got ambushed by some ogres soon after reaching the area, though it turns out they were actually knights. Now we're in trouble for murdering paladins. Go figure. Garren Windspear offered to explain the matter to the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart, but some bad guys kidnapped his son for some reason while he was gone. A good deed never goes unpunished. Then a very loud woman appeared and started talking about vengeance and stuff. Seconds after the fight began, we were in bad shape.
A party full of unbuffed humans does not have great saves. Our average save vs. spell is 11, and Greater Command has a nasty save penalty of -4 in Spell Revisions. Varen, thankfully, knew enough to cast Stoneskin shortly before the fight. But now, 2/3 of the party is unconscious. I panic and consider our options.
Kolem Tao hurries over to Varen to cast Break Enchantment. He could wake up Ekayne instead, and Ekayne could wake up Varen right afterward, but I feel it's too risky. For one thing, it would mean the enemy orcs would have one more round to try and break through Varen's Stoneskin. For another, Kolem Tao has Stoneskin active, while Ekayne does not, which means her Break Enchantment spell would have a pretty good chance of being disrupted. So Kolem has to wake up Varen first. He's grown very protective of her since they met in the Nashkel mines.
But Kolem Tao gets distracted (I had party AI on, so Kolem tried to attack somebody instead of casting the spell), delaying his spellcasting. Varen and Horun Fallows both wake up before Kolem can finish his spell. Maeruo's nymph, meanwhile, has hit Plath Rededge with Insect Swarm. Soon, Varen slays an orc archer with a Flame Arrow spell, and Maeruo, going toe to toe with a bandit in full armor, finally splatters the dwarf over the floorboards.
Maeruo is the gentle type, but he has very little sympathy for bandits.
The next day, after freeing the nymphs, we knock out some wolfweres outside with Greater Command and Sleep (which in SR affects all critters below the caster's level). Since we disabled the enemy before they could act, we can pick up all of their potions, including the rare ones that SCS2 enemies normally drink first.
Potions of Magic Shielding in Item Revisions only last 1 turn, but they're also undispellable. It's one of the many little changes that together make IR and SR really overturn most of the gameplay.
We also manage to knock out a Ruhk Transmuter inside Firkraag's lair.
Unfortunately for us, it did not last long. In fact, the Ruhk woke up the very next round. We spent many rounds afterward trying to break through the Rakshasa's many Stoneskins, getting hit by two Fire Shields every time. By the time the Rakshasa falls, we have lost many potions, Maeruo is dead, and I am very, very unhappy.
Based on how many potions we drank, and how much HP we lost, I calculate that we took over FIVE HUNDRED DAMAGE over the course of the fight, and the vast majority of that would have come from the Fire Shields. Problem is, Varen didn't have Breach memorized.
Don't ignore Fire Shields. That damage might not seem like much for each hit, but it adds up over time, and it makes it that much easier for the mage to push your fighters over the edge with a damage spell.
In bg:ee, greater command's sleep effect wears off when a sleeping target takes any damage, they wake up immediately. Isn't it the same in spell revisions? Whenever a party member falls asleep I throw a basic, unenchanted dart for 1-3 damage to his butt to wake him/her up. Funny image in my mind aside, it works. And is a valid strategy because scs enemies are smart to never attack asleep foes, as long as there are active foes remaining. Thus, my wild mage, who usually makes his save vs spells because he is magical and stuff, can wake up to 3 party members a round with his darts. (If the asleep party member has stoneskins/ironskins up, an ice arrow from my archer or Minsc may work for a cold shock. Or wand of magic missile also does minimal damage throughout stoneskins, and every other party member has one for this purpose only!)
Your gal is a bounty hunter, right? I defeated Conster by laying multiple traps by Yoshimo infront of the prisoner cells, when we returned from big F Conster spawned there and died instantly. Cheesy? Yes, but it is perfectly sensible to trap the area after battling Tazok, and one less high lvl mage battle is good, no?
We slip past the trigger that spawns in the critters in the vampire room. Item Revisions might nerf Protection from Undead, but honestly I have no intention of ever fighting SCS2 vampires in Chapter 2. In fact, if I had my way, I'd never fight SCS2 vampires at all. I'm still not sure why I don't just uninstall that part of SCS2.
I think a little bit before taking on Samia. I don't have any traps, since Ivinhale has been focusing on Detect Illusions lately and Varen still hasn't gotten her thief levels back, and the party as a whole is several levels below Samia and the gang. Eventually I decide we're ready. The fight starts out with a pair of Greater Command spells: one from Ekayne, the other apparently from Legdoril.
Only 1/3 of our party falls unconscious this time, but our summons don't do so well. Only the Fire Elemental remains awake. I decide to concentrate on Legdoril, the one enemy caster who doesn't have Stoneskin.
The whole enemy party fails their saves against Maeruo's Insect Plague. So far, so good. Legdoril wakes up and casts Sanctuary, despite the insects nibbling away at him, so he's safe from our attacks. We focus instead on Samia. Soon, the enemies have all woken up--in SR, Greater Command lets you save each round to wake up--but we're able to bring down Samia by clustering around her. This time, Kolem Tao does the chunking.
Notice Kolem is silenced. This is from a PW: Silence spell from Kaol, who apparently is also still casting spells, despite the Insect Plague that's supposed to cause 100% spell failure. I've heard Wizard Slayer spell failure is sometimes ineffective against SCS2 mages because of spell scripts that bypass spell failure chances, so perhaps the same thing is happening here. That would also explain the Breach spell that robbed Maeruo of his Stoneskin.
Either way, Samia is gone, and Chak follows her soon after. Then we pull down Akae, and finally Ferric Ironblade. Kaol and Legdoril remain. Kaol is at full HP and fully protected, while Legdoril is at Near Death, but hidden by Sanctuary.
Kaol flees to the southeastern corridor, destroying most of our summons with Banishment, while Legdoril lingers next to Ivinhale. Maeruo and Horun Fallows cast a couple of Fire Traps in Legdoril's direction, the low-level SR druid spell that mimics a party-friendly Glyph of Warding, but with fire damage and a lower casting time. But the Fire Traps are useless against Legdoril: he's already dead, zapped to death by some bolts from the previous round, when Maeruo and Horun Fallows targeted the unconscious Ferric Ironblade with their Call Lightning spells. SR Call Lightning strikes multiple times over several rounds, and can therefore hit invisible targets, just like Flame Arrow (though Flame Arrow tends to hit just one target, multiple times).
We approach Kaol, the one remaining enemy, who to our surprise gets a Chaos spell off the ground. We're not high enough level to have Chaotic Commands active, but we manage to minimize the danger by pulling back the party while sending Kolem Tao--Kaol's target--forward. Only Kolem and our Fire Elemental get fuddled by the spell.
Note the Call Lightning spell, blocked by Kaol's MGOI. Also note that Horun Fallows cannot move--he's pinned by Kaol's Ray of Enfeeblement spell, dropping his STR to 7. It's impossible for him to drop enough equipment to move, unless he relinquishes his weapon, so he's stuck for the time being.
I have Horun Fallows switch to darts, but it doesn't do much good. He gets hit by a Confusion spell, and then is targeted by our Fire Elemental.
We don't have the healing spells to keep him afloat. We've been entirely reliant on potions for healing. Horun gets killed yet again.
But Kaol is not done just yet. Ivinhale has managed to dispel his invisibility and Mirror Image spells, but we still can't break through his Stoneskin spells. He charms Kitty, who poisons Ivinhale and chases her down the hall. Ivinhale only barely survives, drinking two potions to overcome the poison.
Why not drink an Elixir of Health? Well, those are in Ekayne's inventory. And Ekayne failed a save against Dire Charm. Maeruo tries to fix the situation with Dispel Magic, but only dispels our buffs. Kaol's disablers remain in effect, as do his defenses.
Horun is dead. Ivinhale is hiding from Kitty, unavailable, and still fighting off Kitty's poison. Maeruo has lost his buffs, along with Kolem Tao, who is also confused and charmed. Varen has lost her Dispelling Screen. Ekayne is hostile. And Kaol still has Stoneskins.
Maeruo, running out options, casts Charm Person or Mammal on Ekayne. She fails her save! She rejoins the party, freed from Kaol's control, and starts casting Mental Domination on Kolem Tao, hoping to keep our summons from targeting him. Meanwhile, Kitty has started attacking one of our Skeletons, giving Ivinhale enough space to slip out of her room and start firing at Kaol with her shortbow. She hits him.
Kaol's Stoneskins are gone! Kolem Tao makes his save, so he's still charmed, but Kaol is the more important factor. We pin him to the wall and tear him apart.
Now the only two enemies left are Kitty and Kolem Tao. We struggle to keep our summons from attacking Kolem--Maeruo has to use Dispel Magic to keep a nymph's Insect Swarm off of Kolem--and try to subdue Kitty. We are out of charm spells, as well as Dispel Magic, so all we can do is try to kill Kitty and distract our summons from Kolem Tao. In the chaos, Ivinhale gets too close, and dies to Kitty's poison. Kolem Tao recovers from Kaol's charm spell, only to get poisoned by Kitty as well.
Finally Kitty collapses, and Kolem Tao drinks cheap potions to stave off death.
Luckily for us, Ekayne has Raise Dead. Soon, everyone is back on their feet. We suffer a net loss to our potion count--we don't even have 5 for every part member anymore--but we do collect a lot of loot for our trouble, including a magical katana named Malakar.
Maeruo says the sword feels like bad luck. We stuff it in a chest.
With their new spellcaster, Anselm's party decided to go back to the Arcane Sanctum.
The strategy was simple, Kagain drank two Potions of Magic Resistance to reach 100% and mostly soloed through the dungeon, eating traps and foes along his way.
Vynd followed him in the shadows to open the various chests.
It worked perfectly and the area was cleared in about 10 minutes.
Afterward they went to Baldur's Gate, destroyed the Seven Suns building, investigated the sewers, then headed for the Iron Throne headquarters.
They murdered everyone. No one would escape this place alive.
On the last level, their strategy was to sent Kagain first for a few rounds to draw the attention and soak up most spells, then Anselm went in and poisoned his foes from range. Vynd joined the fight too when it was nearly over.
They informed the Duke Eltan of their little operation and he send them to Candlekeep.
Anselm took great pleasure in destroying the place he called "home" a long time ago, killing everyone on his path. Winthrop, Hull, Parda, Karan, all the priests of Oghma, the readers, the cows. Everyone fell before him while he was entering the library.
Even ... Even Sarevok died this night.
He tried to approach the group, unarmored, to trick them but he was VERY surprised when they openly fired at him.
His complete physical and magical immunity couldn't save him from Poison Weapon.
Then they encountered Rieltar and co, and brutally slaughtered them.
Rieltar said something very amusing about the monks who wouldn't let them murder everyone in the keep. If only he knew !
Afterward, they continued their rampage and finally they escaped the library with some Dimension Doors spells (roleplay wise, there is no way Tethtoril would save us, even Ulraunt would try to kill on sight) thanks to Baeloth and Edwin. But the keep is protected from these types of spell, so they had to go in the catacombs. They dispatched everything on their path to leave Candlekeep.
Even the Keeper of the Portal.
Like Sarevok, this one is 100% immune to physical and magical damage. But like Sarevok, he isn't immune to poison. The problem is that he has hundreds and hundreds of health points. Anselm literally bombarded him with dozens of poisoned Arrows of Detonation but it wasn't enough. In the end, the Phase Spiders did the trick.
When they left the place, they could see the burning library of Candlekeep collapsing on itself from afar.
They had become the most wanted criminals of the entire Sword Coast.
And this is why Poison Weapon is in my top 3 most overpowered abilities of all time.
Scintilla dispatched a band of wizard hunters in her own Planar Sphere,
Instead she traveled to the d'Arnise Hold, where she was forced to clear the ground floor of Trolls as they had all come for her.
Sancatuary allowed Scintilla to obtain a key that opened all the doors on that floor, and to obtain some loot in a treasury guarded by Golems. An Aerial Servant slew some of the smaller Golems, and Scintilla contributed with her SotM.
Doom, Greater Malison and Charm brought Glaicus back to his senses. He rewarded her with a flail head, which she, together with two other heads, would forge into the Flail of Ages +3.
TorGal proved to be highly magic resistant, but Scintilla had the divine spell Magic Resistance memorized (the casting of which she flunked by moving just before she was done), and two Lower Resistances (which she did cast successfully). With Holy Smites and a Suntone bullet she slew her opponent.
The Gnome returned to Athkatla, where she sold loot and did some shopping for potions at Roger's and at the Thieves Guild, and finally informed Aran Linvail of the Shadow Thieves of her successful campaign agaist the Vampires (even if Bodhi had eluded her). The Guild leader was most pleased and brought her to a ship he had chartered for her to journey to the asylum that held Imoen and Irenicus.
She arrived to find herself betrayed by captain Saemon Havarian. Three Vampires had traveled with them all the way from Athkatla and remained hidden until they reached their destination, Brynnlaw. Scintilla had a Deva made short deal with the Vampires and their summons.
Fun fact: Firkraag has 3 Wisdom.
The Greater Wolfweres are a problem, though. Their regeneration is crazy and it makes them nearly invincible. But both Ekayne and Kolem Tao have Slay Living, which in SR bypasses magic resistance.
The Greater Wolfweres make their saves. But Slay Living still does a ton of damage, and the extra boost lets us bring them down.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have worried about the Greater Wolfweres. I normally play magic-heavy parties with few fighters, and so the regeneration is really difficult to overcome. But here, I have several competent fighters on the team.
On the way to Tazok I notice Horun Fallows' spellcasting icon is grayed out. He can still cast spells via his quick spell icons, but he can't use the normal method.
Shadowkeeper shows the effect is from the Berserker's innate effects. Apparently one of my mods added a tweak to try to prevent Berserkers from casting spells after dualing, but it didn't work due to the availability of quick spell slots. I remove the effect for convenience's sake.
Conster is a problem. He has lots of high-level mage spells, and some pretty excellent defenses. I've also seen him multiple Cornugons, who have a constant fear aura, and Conster can likely remove our buffs with a Remove Magic spell, including Resist Fear. I let him deal with some petty summons rather than confronting him directly. Maeruo stands by to keep watch over the situation. But Conster targets Maeruo with a very nasty spell, and Maeruo fails his save.
I send in Horun Fallows next, protected by Enrage, and start attacking Conster with nonmagical darts. But just as he does so, Conster replaces PFMW with a better defense, ruining our plans.
Varen gets hit by Khelben's Warding Whip, and her Dispelling Screen is gone. She no longer has any buffs to defend herself against Conster's spells.
We rush our characters over to the hallway leading outside, hoping to escape Conster's range. This requires us to run through the same Sphere of Chaos spell that just killed Ekayne. Varen drinks a Potion of Invisibility as she goes, prompting a divination spell from Conster. This gives us enough time to make our escape.
But it requires that we run through Conster's Sphere of Chaos spell. And for some reason, that spell doesn't operate like the normal SR version. In SR, it only disables the targets, with a penalty to the save. In vanilla, it has healing, hasting, and instant death effects as well.
Ekayne gets hit by the instant death effect, and fails her save.
Two of our characters are down, and Conster still has weapon immunities and spell protections. And Varen doesn't have enough spells to take down his spell defenses.
Notice the Horrid Wilting spell in the above screenshot. I drank a Potion of Invisibility during Conster's casting to try to interrupt his spell, but BG2 enemies don't get their spells canceled when their targets go invisible, like your own characters do. Luckily, Varen could heal the damage with a simple potion.
Conster, protected by Stoneskin and the Sphere of Chaos spell, starts conjuring Wraiths. Bad news. SR Wraiths, like the vanilla version, have level drain on hit. And Conster summons lots of them. And Ivinhale fails a save on the way out of the Sphere of Chaos, paralyzing her.
She's helpless to the Wraiths, but thankfully they're busy fighting off Kolem Tao's Leopards.
But not for long. Soon, the Wraiths turn to Ivinhale, and she gets level-drained, then charmed by Conster. Only half our party remains in our control.
Then the Sphere of Chaos dissipates, as does Conster's Globe of Invulnerability. We fail to hit him with Fire Trap, since he's moving around too fast, and we can't use single-target spells on him, or his Spell Deflection spell will absorb them. But now we can attack him with ranged weapons. Varen and Horun Fallows target Conster with Darts of Stunning and Darts of Wounding, while Kolem Tao switches to a sling and Sunfire Bullets. The darts do nothing--Conster makes all his saves against the Darts of Stunning, and his Stoneskin I believe blocks the poison effect of the Darts of Wounding--but Kolem Tao's fire damage breaks through Conster's defenses.
Our summons keep holding off the Wraiths--Ivinhale only occupied their attention for so long--but Conster is still a threat, using damage spells on Varen and her friends. We keep wearing him down, forcing him to re-cast Stoneskin a couple of times. Finally, he runs out of Stoneskins, and he's already low on health.
Conster tries to run away, frustrating our targeting by hiding in the hallway. But finally we get in the right position to hit him. Varen gets the final blow.
Kolem Tao casts Break Enchantment on Ivinhale, which somehow hadn't occurred to me before, and we finish off the Wraiths with damage spell. We've run low on Darts of Stunning, with less than 10 left, and we also lost some Darts of Wounding and some potions, but Conster is dead.
After freeing Garren's child, we head over to the last enemies in the dungeon, the golems guarding Heartseeker and the Beljuril gemstone. Ekayne absolutely slaughters the Adamantite Golem.
Cause Serious Wounds does 3d8+40 damage at level 10, and this bypasses MR. Golems have no defense against this.
A long time has passed since the idea of soloing as a wizard slayer first came to my mind. One of the most difficult challenges ever. Following Blackraven's Thani and reading that @CrevsDaak once finished ToB with a wizard slayer added to my determination to try this kit fully as well. After beating SoA with a totemic druid I want to have a change of scenery and see a wizard slayer as a fine option.
I gave several thoughts about this character's race and weapon set up. In the end I still decided that dwarven saving throws were simply unmatched, especially taking into account huge item restrictions for this kit. As for the weapons, the concept of a ranged warrior was my favourite. Maybe it's not the most effective build for the late game, but I would still try it.
The next thing for me to decide was what particular weapon types to choose. In the end I couldn't make up my mind on a bows/crossbows battle and went instead for daggers and axes. These proficiencies provide both missile and melee options so choosing them could be a safer way in the context of the ranged fight becoming ineffective later in the game.
Below is my WEIDU log, a special attention goes to the full SCS install, the Dark Horizons mod and the Item Randomiser component from the BG2 Tweaks. I went for the max HP tweak (both for PC and enemies) and added different containers to the game.
// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1000 // Initialise mod (all other components require this): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1910 // Protection from Normal Missiles also blocks Arrows of Fire/Cold/Acid and similar projectiles without pluses: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2010 // More consistent Breach spell (always affects liches and rakshasas; doesn't penetrate Spell Turning): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Antimagic attacks penetrate improved invisibility: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Iron Skins behaves like Stoneskin (can be brought down by Breach): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2120 // Slightly weaken insect plague spells, and let fire shields block them: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Make spell sequencers, spell triggers, and contingencies learnable by all mages: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Faster Bears: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Grant large, flying, non-solid or similar creatures protection from Web and Entangle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // More realistic wolves and wild dogs: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4030 // Improved shapeshifting: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4040 // Make party members less likely to die irreversibly: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4051 // Decrease the rate at which reputation improves -> Reputation increases at about 1/2 the normal rate: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4110 // Allow NPC pairs to separate: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4130 // Move NPCs to more convenient locations: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4140 // Allow Yeslick to use axes: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5050 // Stackable ankheg shells, winterwolf pelts and wyvern heads: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5060 // Ensure Shar-Teel doesn't die in the original challenge: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6030 // Smarter Mages -> Mages cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6040 // Smarter Priests -> Priests cast some short-duration spells instantly at start of combat, to simulate pre-battle casting: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6100 // Potions for NPCs -> All of the potions dropped by slain enemies are recoverable: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6300 // Smarter sirines and dryads: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6310 // Slightly harder carrion crawlers: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6320 // Smarter basilisks: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7000 // Improved doppelgangers: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7010 // Tougher Black Talons and Iron Throne guards: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7020 // Improved deployment for parties of assassins: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Dark Side-based kobold upgrade: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7040 // Relocated bounty hunters: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7050 // Improved Ulcaster: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7060 // Improved Balduran's Isle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7070 // Improved Durlag's Tower: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7080 // Improved Demon Cultists: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7090 // Improved Cloakwood Druids: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7100 // Improved Bassilus: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7110 // Improved Drasus party: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7130 // Improved Red Wizards: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7140 // Improved Undercity party: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7200 // Tougher chapter-two end battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7210 // Tougher chapter-three end battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7220 // Tougher chapter-four end battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7230 // Tougher chapter-five end battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7250 // Improved final battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7900 // Improved minor encounters: v30
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1010 // Ajantis Ilvarstarr: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1020 // Alora: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1030 // Garrick: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1040 // Khalid: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1050 // Shar-Teel Dosan: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1060 // Xan: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1070 // Xzar: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #1080 // Yeslick Orothair: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Annah-of-the-Shadows: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3020 // Dak'kon: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3030 // Fall-From-Grace: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Ignus: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3050 // Morte: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3060 // The Nameless One: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #3080 // Vhailor: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // Murray: 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #5010 // Alyx Vance (from Half Life 2 and Episodes): 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #5020 // Jane Doe "The Soldier" (from Team Fortress 2): 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETS/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETS.TP2~ #0 #5030 // Heavy Weapons Guy (from Team Fortress 2): 1.00
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #100 // FThief1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #110 // FThief2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #120 // F_Barb: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #130 // F_Bard: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #140 // F_Drow: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #150 // F_Fgt01: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #160 // F_Fgt02: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #170 // F_Fgt03: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #180 // F_Fgt04: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #190 // F_Fgt05: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #200 // F_HOrc1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #210 // F_HoW1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #220 // F_HoW2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #230 // F_HoW3: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #240 // F_Mage1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #250 // F_Mage2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #260 // F_Mage3: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #270 // F_Mage4: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #280 // F_Mage5: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #290 // F_Monk1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #300 // F_Sorc1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #310 // MThief1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #320 // MThief2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #330 // M_Barb: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #340 // M_Bard: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #350 // M_Drow: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #360 // M_Fgt01: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #370 // M_Fgt02: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #380 // M_Fgt03: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #390 // M_Fgt04: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #400 // M_Fgt05: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #410 // M_HOrc1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #420 // M_HoW1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #430 // M_HoW2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #440 // M_HoW3: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #450 // M_Mage1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #460 // M_Mage2: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #470 // M_Mage3: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #480 // M_Mage4: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #490 // M_Mage5: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #500 // M_Monk1: 1.01
~S9SOUNDSETSVOL2/SETUP-S9SOUNDSETSVOL2.TP2~ #0 #510 // M_Sorc1: 1.01
~SETUP-DARKHORIZONSBGEE.TP2~ #0 #0 // "Dark Horizons" Mod for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition: BG:EE v212
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project: Required Modifications: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #1 // The BG1 NPC Project: Banters, Quests, and Interjections: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #7 // The BG1 NPC Project: Kivan's "Kivan and Deheriana Companions" portrait: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #8 // The BG1 NPC Project: Add Non-Joinable NPC portraits to quests and dialogues: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #9 // The BG1 NPC Project: Ajantis Romance Core (teen content): v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #10 // The BG1 NPC Project: Branwen's Romance Core (teen content): v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #11 // The BG1 NPC Project: Coran's Romance Core (adult content): v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #12 // The BG1 NPC Project: Dynaheir's Romance Core (teen content): v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #13 // The BG1 NPC Project: Shar-Teel Relationship Core (adult content): v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #14 // The BG1 NPC Project: Xan's Romance Core (teen content): v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #15 // The BG1 NPC Project: Female Romance Challenges, Ajantis vs Xan vs Coran: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #16 // The BG1 NPC Project: NPCs can be sent to wait in an inn: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #18 // The BG1 NPC Project: Alora's Starting Location -> Alora Starts in Gullykin: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #20 // The BG1 NPC Project: Eldoth's Starting Location -> Eldoth Starts on the Coast Way: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #22 // The BG1 NPC Project: Quayle's Starting Location -> Quayle Starts at the Nashkel Carnival: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #24 // The BG1 NPC Project: Tiax's Starting Location -> Tiax Starts in Beregost: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #26 // BGEE Banter Timing Tweak: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #28 // The BG1 NPC Project: Bardic Reputation Adjustment: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #31 // The BG1 NPC Project: Sarevok's Diary Adjustments -> SixofSpades Extended Sarevok's Diary: v21_20150210
~BG1NPC/BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #200 // The BG1 NPC Project: Player-Initiated Dialogues: v21_20150210
~BG1NPCMUSIC/SETUP-BG1NPCMUSIC.TP2~ #0 #0 // The BG1 NPC Project Music Pack -> Install All Audio: v6
~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #10 // Icewind Dale Casting Graphics (Andyr): Beta 2
~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #20 // Commoners Use Drab Colors: Beta 2
~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #30 // IWD Arcane Spell Pack: Beta 2
~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #40 // IWD Divine Spell Pack: Beta 2
~IWDIFICATION/SETUP-IWDIFICATION.TP2~ #0 #50 // IWD Bard Song: Beta 2
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #40 // Change Viconia's Skin Color to Dark Blue: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1060 // Breakable Iron Nonmagical Shields, Helms, and Armor: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1080 // Add Bags of Holding: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1090 // Exotic Item Pack: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2090 // Change Experience Point Cap -> Remove Experience Cap: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2140 // Expanded Dual-Class Options: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2352 // Alter Multiclass Restrictions -> Install both of the above options: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2360 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Single Classes: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2372 // Alter Dual-class Restrictions -> Install both of the above options: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #2380 // Remove Racial Restrictions for Kits: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Higher HP on Level Up -> Maximum: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Maximum HP for NPCs (the bigg) -> For All Creatures in Game: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3040 // Make Bags of Holding Bottomless: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3080 // Unlimited Ammo Stacking: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3090 // Unlimited Gem and Jewelry Stacking: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3100 // Unlimited Potion Stacking: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3110 // Unlimited Scroll Stacking: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3121 // Happy Patch (Party NPCs do not complain about reputation) -> NPCs Can Be Angry About Reputation but Never Leave (Salk): v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3125 // Neutral Characters Make Happy Comments at Mid-Range Reputation: v16
~BG2_TWEAKS/SETUP-BG2_TWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // ToB-Style NPCs: v16
~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #530 // Randomise scrolls: v6.8
~RANDOMISER/RANDOMISER.TP2~ #0 #1300 // Randomise items -> Mode 2: Randomise with WeiDU. No items are lost: v6.8
So, meet Hachiman Jin, a dwarven wizard slayer:
I went for the first roll with 18/00 STR - it turned out to be a 79-points roll.
Hachiman is called so after the syncretic divinity of archery and war in old Japan. Being identified with military prowess, Hachiman was adopted as the patron deity of the Minamoto family and subsequent other warrior clans. It was a popular Shintō deity who protected warriors and generally looked after the well-being of the community.
The portrait is one of my most favourite from IWD and his voice is Male HOW 3 from that game.
P.S. It's wonderful that every participant in this thread has his own, different from others, party and characters. It's especially funny to write about a wizard slayer after the semiticgod's tale, heavily magical as usual.