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The Adventurer's Lounge: Guidance and Support for No Reload Challengers- Newbie or Veteran

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  • ArctodusArctodus Member Posts: 992
    edited November 2017
    Arctodus said:


    With Spell Revisions installed, things would be radically different. Aside from SR nerfing some spells that spellcasters, especially sorcerers, would lean heavily on, SR would change Enchanted Weapon so that it could create a +3 weapon of any kind except for +3 darts (though a future release might change that) for 24 hours. That would make fighter levels much, much more practical than they currently are, and therefore reduce the need for both summons and especially spell damage. Clerics of Lathander would also be a viable replacement for Clerics of Helm if they had access to a +3 mace or staff, and Totemic Druids might not be necessary because there are so many viable summons in SR, even at level 1. It might also be worth temporarily recruiting Jan so he could generate a bunch of flashers for a sorcerer-generated +3 crossbow.

    Not only that, but in SR druid spells like Shillelagh and Flame Blade gets up to +3 enchantment at level 9. Seems like a fighter/druid with Stoneskin, Spirit Armor and Barskin (which adds to AC instead of setting it in SR) could actually be an awesome tank and damage dealer. Perhaps even better : cleric's Spiritual Hammer gets +1 to its enchantment every 5 level until it gets all the way up to +5 enchantment at level 20. And in SR it can attack at range. A cleric of Lathander in SR would be a LOT better than a priest of Helm : he could attack Big B at 3.5 APR (Boon of Lathander, Divine Power, and Haste) at 25 Strength (Divine Power, DUHM, Champion's Strength and Strength of One) - and all of that at range. I think a team with a Totemic druid, a fighter/druid and a priest of Lathander could litteraly thrash Big B in a poverty run with SR. Add in Sorcerers who can lower his resistance to deal magical and acid damage and I think he'd go down fast enough...
    Well, it seems I forgot quite a big nugget of info in that post... Spiritual Hammer doesn't add strength to its thac0 and damage, making it much worse than Seeking Sword. Seems like a Priest of Lathander would need SR version of Enchanted Weapon to be relevant in a poverty run. Oh well...

    And, by the way @semiticgod, what is your plan to deal with the Ravager or Amelyssan, both requiring +4 weapons to be hurt ? Are you going to rely on your Priest of Helm for these fights ?
    Wise_Grimwald
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Arctodus: I hadn't thought about it, but in both cases, our other options include Holy Power+Harm, Energy Blades, the Earth Elemental Token, and Pierce Shield to lower the enemy's MR.
    ArctodusWise_Grimwald
  • NeverusedNeverused Member Posts: 803
    Question, is there a process for getting stuff added to the hall of fame list? Baroque hasn't been added as far as I can see.
  • ArctodusArctodus Member Posts: 992
    @Neverused Well, @Ygramul is managing the no-reload thread, so he's the one who can enter people in the Hall. And, as far as I know, he's beem missing in action for quite a while (he hasn't change the title in long time).
    lolien
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Neverused: As a moderator I can put it in the first post if @Ygramul isn't available. I should have clearance from @Ygramul, though, if I'm going to edit the thread when he's not online.
    Wise_GrimwaldlolienJuliusBorisov
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Hey, somebody moved my posts over from the no-reload thread! Thank you, mysterious moderator!
    Grond0Wise_Grimwaldlolien
  • ArctodusArctodus Member Posts: 992
    edited December 2017
    Ok, quick questions...

    Now that I muffed my attempt at the eggs in Ust Natha :

    1. Is the way out cleared anyway ? If not, what do I have to do ?
    2. Can I go talk to Adalon without fighting her ? (I doubt it, but I'd like the confirmation.)
    3. If I fight her, will any teammates leave me out of anger, even if she's the one attacking us ? (In the event that she actually attacks us.)

    Edit : I wanna know, because, in the past, I always either got the eggs or killed Adalon outright. Now, I need to know if there's a third way out of that situation. And :

    4. Silver dragons breathe ice, am I right ?
    5. If I fight her, is there anything else I should worry about ?
    Blackraven
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    I have just done a fresh installation and have discovered that the burial of Gorion is missing. Presumably this means that I have at least one mod missing from my installation. Does anybody know which it is?
  • NeverusedNeverused Member Posts: 803
    That’s BG1NPC.
    BlackravenJuliusBorisov
  • Mantis37Mantis37 Member Posts: 1,173
    Arctodus said:

    Ok, quick questions...

    Now that I muffed my attempt at the eggs in Ust Natha :

    1. Is the way out cleared anyway ? If not, what do I have to do ?
    2. Can I go talk to Adalon without fighting her ? (I doubt it, but I'd like the confirmation.)
    3. If I fight her, will any teammates leave me out of anger, even if she's the one attacking us ? (In the event that she actually attacks us.)

    Edit : I wanna know, because, in the past, I always either got the eggs or killed Adalon outright. Now, I need to know if there's a third way out of that situation. And :

    4. Silver dragons breathe ice, am I right ?
    5. If I fight her, is there anything else I should worry about ?


    Under some circumstances you can bribe the gate guards to let you out of the Underdark while you are still a drow, have they turned hostile now?
  • ArctodusArctodus Member Posts: 992
    Since I muffed my attempt at the eggs, I was automatically revealed as an outsider. So, no bribery for me...

    And, @semiticgod, the city is not accessible anymore once you're revealed and you go out. I just tried it.
  • Wise_GrimwaldWise_Grimwald Member Posts: 3,848
    Neverused said:

    That’s BG1NPC.

    I thought that might be it. I'll have to do a fresh install as I would hate to play without that mod. :(
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    Never noticed this thread. I guess I can pose my question here as well as the no-reload challenge thread.

    Half-orc thief, which kit is best? For solo I'm thinking swashbuckler or bounty hunter. For non-solo I think maybe assassin is best. Thoughts?
    AerakarJuliusBorisov
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    Hmmm... Never really considered Shadowdancer. Maybe I'll give that a try!
    AerakarJuliusBorisovlolien
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,508
    Hint. Buy poisonous darts and daggers and you have half the utility of the assassin.
    AerakarWise_Grimwald
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    I'm testing out a Spell Revisions+Item Revisions poverty run and the beginning is rough. Command is no longer a guaranteed knockout for critters below level 4, and while Sleep scales with levels, it starts out only affecting level 1 critters. Plus, there's no level 1 Blindness spell, so we have very poor options for disabling enemies. No Protection from Petrification, either, so basilisks won't be safe until we get Break Enchantment.

    I'm running four Dragon Disciples, a Cleric of Lathander, and a Shaman. We'll be in excellent shape by late BG1 for various reasons, but the early levels are a mess. The best we can do against ankhegs is Obscuring Fog to effectively blind them (it reduces visual range without a saving throw) while they're busy murdering our summoned gibberlings, then hit them with Magic Stone and maybe throw some spirit critters at them if they survive the process.

    @Grond0, what sort of quests would you go for at early levels if basilisks, ankhegs, and sirines were ruled out?
    ArctodusStummvonBordwehr
  • ArctodusArctodus Member Posts: 992
    @semiticgod For an IR/SR install, think about a ranger/cleric. They'll have fighter's level and also have access to two +3 weapons at level 9 through druid's spells : Shillelagh and Flame Blade. You also have two different types of melee damage (blunt and slashing) and a weapon that can go through Stoneskin with Flame Blade. Buff him up with cleric and arcane spells and he might be the only pure meleer you can need in a poverty run. With HLAs, he will be a ton better than a cleric of Lathander at dealing damage.
    StummvonBordwehrlolien
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    @semiticgod are ankhegs not too unintelligent to target vulnerable creatures? If that's the case you should be able to use shamanic summons produced by a shaman from outside visual range to distract them while you nip in briefly to attack.

    Assuming you're making one of your dragon disciples the PC I would have thought it would be worth a spell slot for a familiar for them. Are any of those immune to the basilisk gaze in Revisions?

    Other good targets are those who have no range capability - like Shoal, Greywolf, Caldo & Krumm, Mirianne's ogrillons, Bjornin's half-ogres, belt ogre, Joia's hobgoblins etc.

    If you lure Vax away from Zal and then attack him he doesn't have his conversation and that leaves Zal still neutral - ready to be toasted by synchronised breathing. On a similar theme I usually lure Brage over to the edge of the map before talking to him - leaving Laryssa behind as a future victim.

    Layered breath weapons should also deal with Gnarl and Hairtooth before they could reach you across the bridge.

    There are a fair number of potential targets that start neutral. You'd need to practise it as I remember the cone for the breath weapon as being pretty extensive, but I would have thought it should be possible to target multiple breath weapons simultaneously on someone like Silke to give her no realistic chance of survival.

    Re your earlier post I'm running under rather different poverty rules to yours - so no possibility of using NPCs (for me the interesting challenge of a party poverty run is about what a party can do using their own capabilities rather than what additional resources they can generate from items or NPCs).
    StummvonBordwehr
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @Grond0: Who are Vax and Zal?

    My Dragon Disciples won't get their breath weapon until level 3. It's getting to that point that's giving me trouble. Shoal is a no-go; I might need her for the resurrection thing.

    I'd need to scout out the enemy in order to put my Shaman in the right position to let summons kill ankhegs, but I have no source of invisibility due to the lack of a familiar (Charname is Chaotic Good anyway and for some reason Fairy Dragons don't get Invisibility Sphere in my install like they're supposed to) or any thief in the party (I don't want another Bounty Hunter like last time). I have to use gibberlings to distract the ankhegs instead, and cast Obscuring Mist to keep the ankheg blind for 6 rounds if things go poorly.

    @Arctodus: A Ranger/Cleric would be extremely easy to kill in a poverty run with SR installed. I'd need to get all the way to level 6 just to cast Ghost Armor on it for a total AC of -4 with 18 DEX and Barkskin. Before then, its AC would be 4 or 6. Soon after that, my sorcerers get Stoneskin and I'll have better choices for tanks.

    Flame Blade deals no slashing damage in my install, so no STR bonuses, and Shillelagh does no more damage than a +3 flail created by Enchanted Weapon. Due to the APR bonuses from Holy Power and Boon of Lathander (which stacks), a ranger/cleric would not actually have better damage output until 3 million XP, and that's only for a single round per casting of GWW. It's not worth the sluggish spell slot growth.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • ArctodusArctodus Member Posts: 992
    edited December 2017
    @semiticgod To be honest, with a little bit of power leveling, I don't think the first few levels would be all that bad. Actually, at first, you even could rely on Magical Stone to get decent range damage (for the beginning of the game, at least) at 3 APR. Once you get Spirit Armor, you could drop the c/r AC low enough to be acceptable. After that, you could still tank with Sorcerers, but have c/r not tank, but deal good melee damage. It's quite easy to get to 25 strength with cleric's buff in SR. The Entangle effect from the Shillelagh in SR is also something that can be useful throughout the game. And, even if Flame Blade doesn't do slashing damage (you were right, my bad), it still is gonna deal 2D6+3 fire damage on hit - through Stoneskin - at a decent thac0. It has its use.

    But you're right on another point : APR. That's where c/r doesn't cut it. It will take ages to get beyond 2 APR with a melee weapon. It would be an ok damage dealer that would only really shine in ToB, sadly.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Guys, isn't Tiax supposed to be in Beregost with SCS installed? I've seen him in previous EET installs but not this one. I was hoping to recruit him so we could use his ghast, since his ghast isn't so incredibly weak in my current install (my previous one cruelly nerfed it).
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited December 2017

    @Grond0: Who are Vax and Zal?

    My Dragon Disciples won't get their breath weapon until level 3. It's getting to that point that's giving me trouble. Shoal is a no-go; I might need her for the resurrection thing.

    I'd need to scout out the enemy in order to put my Shaman in the right position to let summons kill ankhegs, but I have no source of invisibility due to the lack of a familiar (Charname is Chaotic Good anyway and for some reason Fairy Dragons don't get Invisibility Sphere in my install like they're supposed to) or any thief in the party (I don't want another Bounty Hunter like last time). I have to use gibberlings to distract the ankhegs instead, and cast Obscuring Mist to keep the ankheg blind for 6 rounds if things go poorly.

    @semiticgod Vax and Zal are the duo that have the bracers of archery (same area as Rufie).

    I assume from what you've said about ankhegs that clerics no longer have access to sanctuary at 1st level. Even without that though the shaman tactic is still possible. I imagine you've got at least an idea of where ankhegs are in their nest. You can avoid alerting the first one for instance by sending characters down there individually and, immediately on transition, moving them north. They can then circle slightly counter-clockwise so that the big rock is hiding them from the ankheg guarding the entrance. If you double-tap the space bar as you inch around that rock you can determine exactly where the ankheg is without alerting it. The shaman can then position itself where it is out of sight, but at least one of its arriving summons will see the ankheg and attack. Obscuring Mist sounds like a pretty useful spell anyway though.

    The EE nerfed familiars so that they get a progression in powers from BGEE to ToB. The fairy dragon would I guess get invisibility sphere in SoA (I'm not sure about SoD), although by then that's probably not much use and a different familiar might be better for your purposes (perhaps the cat to give you a stealthy scout?).
    lolien
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