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

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  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    My Scythia run is so buggy that I am going to re-install the SoA part and start it again. I had only just left the dungeon when the conversations became unintelligable. :(
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    edited August 2016
    I renamed my old installation and re-installed BG2 EE thinking that would give me a clean installation. It didn't. Jasper St. Clair from Dungeon be gone is still there though all his speech is "invalid". Obviously some of the game has been left behind. What else needs to be done. I am using Windows 10 so some parts of the game are in "documents." Presumably something there needed to be deleted also?

    EDIT
    For the benefit of those who don't know, the override folder also needs to be cleared to get a clean install. That could have been the reason why my last install didn't work.
    Post edited by Wise_Grimwald on
    AerakarYgramul
  • Corey_RussellCorey_Russell Member Posts: 996

    I renamed my old installation and re-installed BG2 EE thinking that would give me a clean installation. It didn't. Jasper St. Clair from Dungeon be gone is still there though all his speech is "invalid". Obviously some of the game has been left behind. What else needs to be done. I am using Windows 10 so some parts of the game are in "documents." Presumably something there needed to be deleted also?

    EDIT
    For the benefit of those who don't know, the override folder also needs to be cleared to get a clean install. That could have been the reason why my last install didn't work.

    @Wise_Grimwald - I wouldn't think renaming the folder would work for a program like EE. That only works with vanilla BG 2 because it's an old game. EE puts stuff in many places, and as such the only real way to get it clean is to uninstall the game, delete the folder if it still exists, then re-install.
    Wise_GrimwaldlolienJuliusBorisov
  • Corey_RussellCorey_Russell Member Posts: 996
    Sounds rough, semiticgod.
    semiticgoddessJuliusBorisov
  • ussnorwayussnorway Member Posts: 341
    imo Chara should have more charisma but I expect it will go up once she learns to trust more.
    semiticgoddessWise_GrimwaldJuliusBorisov
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @ussnorway: I actually considered cranking Chara's Charisma up to 18 and making them our sorcerer instead of Frisk. It was only when I re-read a theory article that pointed out Chara's interest in gardening that I made them our druid.

    I mostly chose their stats based on powergaming priorities. I would have gone further, but dropping their INT below 8 seemed like too much.

    I'm not sure where Chara's CHA would be. Based on the True Lab backstory, Chara is probably very charismatic, or at least persuasive enough to get Asriel to follow along. The buttercup plan was Chara's idea, after all.

    But the Chara-as-narrator theory, which I feel is the most accurate assessment of who Chara is, suggests something very different:

    Chara is always inside Frisk; not just in the No Mercy route. Confused at the failure of their plan to free the monsters, Chara is not sure what to believe in anymore and decides to follow Frisk's lead. Frisk's choices mold Chara. When Frisk is friendly, Chara as the narrator is optimistic and playful. But when Frisk starts hurting people, this convinces Chara that it really is "kill or be killed."

    If this is true, then Asriel follows Chara, and Chara follows Frisk, which suggests that Chara's CHA should be higher than Asriel's but lower than Frisk's.

    Except Asriel should have a very high CHA score, since he was universally loved when he was alive, much like Asgore. Which would mean all three of them would have very high CHA scores.
    Wise_GrimwaldJuliusBorisov
  • YgramulYgramul Member Posts: 1,059

    OK, my friends, with the help of my other friend (who is far more skilled with internet technologies/stuff - building/maintaining sites, programming etc.) we've managed to make an archives of both Bioware BG1/BG2 no-reload threads and The Adventurer's Lounge. We made "lite" and "full" versions of no-reload threads. "Lite" are "html only" and occupy 213Mb/198Mb respectively. "Full" are far more fat but have most pictures/screenshots stored locally as well as CSS and JS files (~5.6/5.7Gb respectively). At the moment I've uploaded "lite" versions on my site and they are available online via this links:
    ..... 

    Awesome!

    Thanks a lot for this, @Serg_BlackStrider
    BelgarathMTHDOGDANCINGWise_GrimwaldJuliusBorisov
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    edited August 2016
    Underdale: Frisk, Chara, and Asriel in IWD2

    We leave Targos for Shaengarne Ford. The next few fights, against bands of orcs, can be very intense. The road to Shaengarne Bridge is seeded with Kegs of Blasting, which Orc Firestarters can detonate with a single Arrow of Flame +1, producing a fireball strong enough to kill basically anything at this stage of the game. Even if you stay out of range, it kills enemy orcs and costs you a lot of XP.

    We use Command to knock out the Firestarters--not because we want to keep the Kegs of Blasting from detonating, necessarily, but because their Arrows of Flame +1 are extremely valuable. Selling them will be very profitable, so it's in our best interest to keep the orcs from firing any. Asriel uses Sunscorch to detonate the kegs instead.

    The other major threat in this run is Hold Person from Orc Shamans. The save DC isn't too bad--enemy spellcasters aren't so min-maxed and don't come with lots of Spell Focus feat--but IWD2 has critical failures on saves, which means it's always possible to fail a save, no matter how weak the spell or how sturdy the target. Vghotan's Band blocks Hold Person outright, however, and therefore goes to Asriel, since he can cast Remove Paralysis on the others.

    Asriel isn't high enough level to cast it just yet, since he's an aasimar with 1 paladin level and a -1 level adjustment, and also missed out on the XP from defeating Caballus. But with the Orc Firestarter dead, the enemies are stuck behind the keg, so Chara and Frisk remain safe while they're held.

    We defeat the orcs and rescue a hot druid lady from their clutches. Frisk tries to make a move on her, even though she's a married woman.

    Frisk has a history of looking for love in all the wrong places.

    With Command to take down Orc Firestarters, Vghotan's Band to ward off shamans, and Sleep to knock out orc archers and grunts, we have an answer for everything the enemy throws at us.




    Chara hits level 5, gaining early access to Call Lightning. My mods boost the save DC for Call Lightning and Static Charge, making druids even more deadly. Chara's 18 WIS and double Spell Focus in Transmutation mean enemies have to roll a 25 to make their save (10 base +4 from CHA +4 from Spell Focus +3 from spell level +4 from mods). That doesn't happen very often.

    The next area has a troublesome fight, with a small horde of melee grunts and three Orc Archers flanking us. Frisk knocks out the archers, who have a habit of slaying party spellcasters in the first couple rounds.

    Chara's Entangle holds off the hatchetmen long enough for us to pick them off with ranged weapons. Entangle has a DC of 19, enough to snare almost anything at Shaengarne Ford.

    Dealing with Torak, the grousy head honcho of Broken Tusk clan, requires some stealth if we want to save the villagers from getting incinerated by a Keg of Blasting. Since I'm not sure our party members have strong enough stealth skills, I use Caballus' Whispering Staff to cast Invisibility Sphere.

    Now we have to fight our way to the villagers. Chara is instrumental in this, but not because of their powerful Call Lightning or Entangle spells.

    My mods tweak druid shapeshifting and give them some stronger abilities, making shapeshifting more worthwhile. In fact, the level 5 wild shape is now a Verbeeg, which gets 3 attacks per round (!) at 25 Strength (!) and 7- resistance to physical damage (!) at the cost of 8 Dexterity (!) and the cancellation of all AC bonuses (!) from both armor and Chara's own spells.

    The net result? Chara will basically never make a Reflex save in Verbeeg form and is incredibly easy to hit, but they are very resistant to damage and can kill orcs in a single blow without landing a critical hit.




    These orcs weren't really a threat to us anyway--not with Frisk's 19 DC Sleep spell--but it's cool that Chara can handle them on their own. Torak is stronger than his fellow orcs and could hurt Chara, but he doesn't have the Dexterity to handle Frisk's new Chromatic Orb spell, which stuns for 3 rounds with a DC of 17 (Frisk still lacks the second rank in Spell Focus: Enchantment.

    Another cool thing about the Verbeeg form is that its spear has a triple critical hit multiplier, which means Chara especially benefits from the Rabbit's Foot amulet.

    Chara is so strong their Spear of Justice can overwhelm enemy damage resistances. Curiously, Slime Zombies can bypass Chara's own resistances, which shouldn't be possible. Maybe they're dealing nonlethal damage; I don't know.


    Unlike BG2, where attacks per round is more important than damage per hit due to mages' Stoneskin, it's more important in IWD2 to hit hard than to hit often. Lots of enemies have troublesome damage resistances; these critters are just the first.

    Isn't this going to trivialize the fight at Shaengarne Bridge? Actually, no. Even the Verbeeg form isn't going to be enough to handle that fight. Not with Tactics installed, and all the deadly nonsense that comes with it. Shaengarne Bridge is still going to be horrific.

    Further inside, we find an item that compensates for the Verbeeg's lousy Dexterity.

    Chara won't gain any armor bonuses from this, but they will get stealth bonuses, making them excellent scouts despite being the size of an elephant. They sneak up on Vrek Vileclaw, the normal weapon-resistant troll in charge of the cave, and absorb a Hold Person spell.

    Funny thing about getting disabled: when enemies get automatic attacks on helpless characters, they can't land critical hits, which means some of them would have an even harder time damaging Chara if Chara was disabled.

    Hold Person is still a threat to our own damage output, so I switch Vghotan's Band over to Asriel and give Chara the Rabbit's Foot. Frisk takes out the shaman before it can try another Hold Person spell.

    Even with nearly guaranteed attacks, the enemy can't do much against Chara. Chara gets a wicked blow on Vrek Vileclaw, whose supposed immunity to normal weapons only blocks 10% of the strike.


    Asriel torches the dying troll with Sunscorch, and the battle is won.

    Frisk asks if they can touch Chara's blood-soaked Spear of Justice. Chara says no.

    We pawn off all the Arrows of Fire +1 we collected, which yield a ludicrous 22,000 gold from only 101 arrows.

    We're almost at 40,000 gold now. But we still can't buy the items we really want, because Heart of Fury items often cost over 100,000. The item upgrade from HoF to normal mode is great, but it comes at a massive cost.

    As deadly as Chara is, her defenses aren't so strong against heavy-hitting enemies. When we face off with the wererats and werebadgers in the next area, Gaernat Sharptooth smashes right through Chara's resistances.

    IWD2 critical hit only deal double damage if they make a normal attack roll, but normal attack rolls are almost guaranteed hits when Chara is in Verbeeg form. And even without a critical hit, Chara can still take scratch damage from tough critters like Gaernat Sharptooth, which builds up over time. Frisk tries to stun Gary, but his Reflex save is spectacular.

    Chara is also completely vulnerable to elemental damage, which easily strikes the Verbeeg form's wide circle. Chara toughs it out and keeps fighting. The Spear of Justice cuts right through Gary's thick hide.

    Frisk hits Gary with Chromatic Orb on the second casting, only to find that Gary is immune to stun. Stranger still, he doesn't give the "Unaffected by the effects of whatever" message that normally plays when a critter is immune.

    Gary and Chara keep trading hits. Shapeshifting disables quick items, but you can still right-click potions to drink them from the inventory screen. It's an important ability considering druids can't heal themselves without returning to natural form.

    I don't know why we have those Fortitude saves whenever we drink potions. It doesn't do anything if we fail them.

    Chara finally puts down Gary Pointyface, just as another round of Call Lightning comes around to zap the opposition.
    Putting aside the power of the Call Lightning spell, it just plain looks cool.

    I make a point of looking out for weak points in strong tactics, so I can anticipate the next fatal attack. I find something new: the Verbeeg form's pitiful 9 AC also renders it vulnerable to on-hit effects.

    I have found that growing too reliant on certain tactics tends to create blind spots that prove fatal in the long run. Look for holes in your strategy, and patch them.

    Chara continues to dominate the scene with their Spear of Justice, taking down basically every enemy with little help from Asriel or Frisk.

    Another fun fact: the Verbeeg form is innately immune to Hold Person!

    Not the effect, but the spell. In IWD2, various spells have effects that automatically grant immunity to certain critter types. This is quite unlike BG2, where immunities are applied to critters via passive effects and unmovable items. This means that large targets like the Verbeeg form are naturally immune to stuff like Hold Person, simply because of the size of their circle.

    There's one thing on this map that Chara's resistances won't be able to handle. I think the Malarite High Priest here can cast Call Lightning, which could mean instant death for Chara or anyone else in range. I preempt the spell by sneaking Chara over and shapeshifting right in front of the priest, allowing Chara plenty of time to disrupt his first spell.



    There's only one thing left to do before the fight on Shaengarne Bridge.

    We all hit level 6. Normally a party of six would be at level 5 at this point (with Tactics installed, at least), and a party of three wouldn't be much different, but I've been level squatting to make sure we're at the highest level possible before this fight.

    Level squatting is the masochistic practice of delaying level ups until right before certain key events of the game. It only works in IWD2. When your party is lower level, it gains more XP from kills, which means you can jump up an extra level or more depending on how long you delay a level up. Unfortunately, the level jump at the end means you get less XP right afterward, so in the long run, level squatting doesn't actually make you any stronger. There are precious few times when it's actually worth doing.

    But this is one of them. Definitely. This is Shaengarne Bridge, the second-hardest fight in the entire game.

    Frisk touches Chara's Spear of Justice when they're not looking. It fills us with determination.
    Serg_BlackStriderussnorwayWise_GrimwaldJuliusBorisov
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    edited August 2016
    I have reinstalled EE along with far fewer mods. These appear to be working OK so far, but I am missing some that I used to have in SoA. :( Tweaks is one that I have not installed. I intend to try that after testing my current installation which shouldn't have conflicts as there is no overlap between the mods.

    Weidu log below.

    // 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]
    ~SETUP-DUNGEONBEGONE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Dungeon Be Gone V1.6
    ~SAERILETH/SETUP-SAERILETH.TP2~ #0 #0 // Saerileth Romance Mod (BG2:SoA & TOB NPC) created by nethrin and Sillara: v18_charsets
    ~SETUP-BGEEAR.TP2~ #0 #0 // TeamBG's Armors for BG:EE, BGT and TuTu Version 1.05
    ~SETUP-BGEEW.TP2~ #0 #0 // TeamBG's Weapons Pack for BG:EE, BGT and TuTu Version 1.04
    ~SETUP-AMBER.TP2~ #0 #0 // Amber the NPC MOD for BGII:SoA: v4
    ~SETUP-AMBER.TP2~ #0 #1 // Multiplayer-friendly flirting for Amber: v4
    ~SETUP-WMART.TP2~ #0 #0 // Deidre and Joluv in BG:EE
    ~WWW.URSTUFF2ATHKATLA/WWW.URSTUFF2ATHKATLA.TP2~ #0 #0 // (Exploit) Don't nuke BG1 items at the start of BG2: v1.0
    ~TOD/SETUP-TOD.TP2~ #0 #0 // Tower Of Deception Mod (Requires Throne Of Bhaal)
    ~TOD/SETUP-TOD.TP2~ #0 #1 // Improved Astral Shard Guardian
    ~TOD/SETUP-TOD.TP2~ #0 #2 // Encounter with Ustrain
    ~SETUP-RECOLOREDBUTTONS.TP2~ #0 #2 // Recolored character's toolbar buttons (BG2:EE): v4.1
    ~DEARNISE/SETUP-DEARNISE.TP2~ #0 #0 // de'Arnise Romance for Baldur's Gate II: v5
    ~WANDCASE/WANDCASE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Wand Case: v1.3


    Diary of Scythia

    When I awoke in the dungeon I found that all my equipment and gold had gone. Imoen was with me and had learnt some magic. She was now a thief/conjurer and as such she was a big help. When we met an Otyugh she killed it with a lightning bolt. This hurt her too, but I was quickly able to heal her.

    We helped Rielev on his way to the afterlife, killed numerous monsters, duerger, and other bad guys, and eventually made our way to the surface along with Jaheira. At that point Imoen was abducted and I suggested that Jaheira leave me. She has gone to the harper stronghold.

    I helped in the circus before heading to the slum area where I killed Amalas before clearing out the slavers.


    I visited the first floor of Watcher’s Keep, but decided that was sufficient for the present.

    I took the bear to Wellyn and killed two of those involved in burying people alive. Unfortunately one escaped. I teamed up with someone who I thought was Hexxat but gained little. I could team up with her killer, (the genuine Hexxat) but have no desire to have someone like that in my party.


    I took a poisoned man to the harper stronghold and have agreed to help Nalia.

    EDIT


    At the D'Arnise stronghold, I got weakened to the point that I couldn't move or use my sword (By spectral troll or spirit troll). The result of this was that I had to use 16 potions of extra healing to survive. Eventually I got my strength back and was the victor, but at such a cost. :(

    The rest of the stronghold was straightforward. Dispell magic was enough to help Glacius. Just the final battle to go. :)


    The only problem is that I don't know whether EE has changed it. In my last game Tor Gal was not susceptible to Cloudkill. Whether he is or not, I have yet to discover.


    EDIT 2

    The battle against Tor Gal was straightforward and afterwards Scythia reached level 13. :)
    Post edited by Wise_Grimwald on
    YgramulSerg_BlackStriderussnorway
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