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

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  • BroninBronin Member Posts: 29
    edited March 2018
    Anyway,
    Bronin developed into what I called "the Ultimate Tank Fighter" with heaps of HP and excellent saves. I used him mainly as a ranged throwing axe guy when I got suitable returning throwing axes.

    There were 134 days on the game clock by the time I finished bg1 (with Ajantis, Yeslick, Kivan, Imoen and Quayle). Coran got chunked by Slythe. Unfortunately, Khalid and Jaheira left permanently during chapter four when I removed them from the party at the Friendly Arm Inn. Imoen got killed twice and Khalid once before this time but at least I could resurrect these NPCs.

    I was more efficient in bg2, finishing the saga with the game clock at about 79 or 80 days I think. I haven't checked the save game. I had Keldorn, Anomen, Nalia, Imoen and Jaheira in my party. From memory, the only one who died in Bg2 was Nalia (once, by a Lavok Horrid Wilting). I reckon Keldorn was the MVP of bg2. He was using Foebane +5 and had an AC of -12 with Shuruppak's Plate Armor, Darksteel Shield and Gauntlets of Dexterity. Items such as the Amulet of Spell Warding also meant he had saves vs spell at 1 with Foebane before quaffing any potions. Life draining Greater Whirlwinds with him were awesome. His Dispel and True Sight was probably life saving too (e.g. in the Portal Maze vs the Alufiends/Seccubi).


    If there was anymore interest I could add stuff or answer questions. By the way, I got lucky with Siege of Dragonspear (which I am still in the middle of my first playthrough for having played the rest of the saga before I picked up siege). Refer to my previous comment if interested.


    Post edited by Bronin on
    EnuhalStummvonBordwehr
  • ussnorwayussnorway Member Posts: 341
    edited March 2018
    Death is only the beginning!
    Ormaline (halfelf Cleric-Ranger) made it as far as the FAI where a magic missile volley cut her down!

    Introducing Puk Candlekeep (elf Stalker)... started by backstabbing a mage at the FAI and is currently killing bandits
    EnuhalStummvonBordwehrFlashburn
  • aldainaldain Member Posts: 303
    Bronin said:

    @Mantis37

    If you are talking about Shoal the Nereid, Ajantis talked to her since he was party leader. I guess I didn't make it clear that it wasn't a solo playthrough.


    @aldain
    My character got webbed too in a similar encounter, but he had over 100 HP and survived even the Huge Spider or Phase Spider poison (not sure which one) when webbed. I was unlucky in failing that poison save though with saves vs poison at 1 (the save is made at a -2 penalty). There were no or only one Sword Spiders. I know how critical avoiding status effects is and normally play accordingly. I was surprised by that Gargantuan Spide ability and usually I am not as surprised by monsters (having the AD&D 2nd Edition Monster Manual and D&D 3.5 experience). My party was Corwin, Glint, Minsc, Dynaheir and charname but it has since changed.
    If it was Phase Spider poison and you bore the full brunt of it, you're very lucky: It deals a total of 100 damage ( 5 hp/second for 20 seconds, https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/390697/#Comment_390697 ). I am very careful about protagonist movement so Lazramar was in no real danger from the Huge Spider: At most it would've had time to kill a few of the NPC's, unless it for some reason decided to ignore the closest webbed enemy. But the Phase Spiders have a tendency to teleport in from across the map when you're caught in a web, often straight to your weakest party member (i.e. Lazramar), and their poison would make very short work of a disabled Lazramar.

    If Lazramar makes it as far as SoD, I'll exercise more care against anything that has a status effect on hit. Probably bombing it to bits before it gets close enough to become a threat... we'll have Skull Trap and Cloudkill available by the bucketload by then.
    StummvonBordwehr
  • BroninBronin Member Posts: 29
    edited March 2018
    @aldain
    I know it was doing 5hp/second but I quaffed antidote after escaping web. I don't remember if Huge Spiders also do 5hp/second but I suspect they do. Not sure how long the web effect could have lasted here, but charname also had good saves vs spell (but someone else had the Ring of Free Action!). Yeah, I think of D&D as a game where if your main character is not allowed to die, I should have a fighter type :) I also tend to play as the pre-generated characters. Good luck with your Lazramar run though :) You like Khalid too, I like him.
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847

    Nukesalot the Chaos Sorcerer

    BG1: 1, 2, 3

    For SoD's intro dungeon, I use my first Protection from Undead scroll. I weave fire elementals to help, but they get destroyed by the Shadowed Souls' HP transfer power. Mordy's Sword is not an option because of that, so I rely upon woven Incendiary Clouds instead. They are super effective, but my Flaming Fist backup gets incinerated because they wander into it while the cloud was still lingering. Korlasz and her group are defeated this way.

    I weave more Incendiary Clouds in the Coldhearth dungeon, but I suffer a wild surge casting one of them, causing a cow to land on a pair of Mutated Crawlers sneaking up behind me, but a cow also slams into Brother Deepvein who was more than 100 feet away! This brings back painful memories of Spaz the Warlock's run but I resolve not to suffer the same fate!

    I weave Spell Turning on myself and then cast Mislead to deal with the dwarves of Dumathoin. Greater Malison, Slow, and a scroll of Chaos incapacitate them. A wand of lightning finishes off Brother Deepvein. I venture further into the crypt and a Greater Shadow dies immediately upon my transition for some reason, giving me 3000 free XP and a level up.

    Using more PfU scrolls, I burn the undead hordes with more Incendiary Clouds. I reach Coldhearth and give him the 5 keepers' amulets.

    For the fight at the bridge across the Winding Water, I try my Spell Sequencer filled with Greater Malison + Slow + Grease, but it wild surges and causes Silence. I didn't even know that sequencers could wild surge...

    With that over with, I help kill the Tsolak and get Takos' 3 heirlooms, but I discover something in the "random" encounter with orcs fighting the trolls.

    I escape the trolls with a potion of invisibility, deciding to experiment with the two artifacts later, putting them in my bag of holding. Next is the temple of Bhaal taken over by Cyricists taken over by a Mind Flayer. I kill Morentherene with some throwing daggers.

    In the fight with Ziatar, I summon a Greater Chaos Elemental but one of the mages casts Spook on me after I was debuffed by Greater Malison and I get panicked. I run out of the room and regain my composure shortly after arriving at the cages at the temple's entrance.

    I return to the fight and strip the blue mage with a Spell Thrust then command the elemental to confuse the mage, which is successful. The elemental and I both concentrate on the mage and he falls, then we turn our attention to Ziatar. I cast Greater Malison on her and finish her off with a Wand of Lightning.

    For the Neothelid fight, I drink a potion of clarity and cast Mislead, leaving my clone outside the doors. I summon a Mordy Sword to distract the swords the Neothelid summons, then lower its magic resistance a couple times. I debuff it with Greater Malison and resolve to end the fight in one shot. With Mislead active, I don't have to worry about killing myself by accident as I try to weave Finger of Death. The first few fizzle, but this one works!

    Akanna and her Aerial Servants are dealt with. Taking on the Shadow Aspect solo on Insane is suicidal so I ignore it. Instead, I summon a Projected Image who casts Mislead and then Farsight so we can spy on Darskhelin's party. My image casts Dimension Door to teleport over there, then bombs them with a woven Incendiary Cloud, killing most of them. The only survivors are the katana-wielding fighter and a mage, plus the mind flayer himself.

    I summon a Mordy Sword to deal with them. The sword destroys the Mind Flayer and the fighter while I deal with the mage.

    With the way into Bridgefort secured, I pull my two artifacts out from my bag of holding. I combine the Circlet with the Cloak...

    Combining the artifacts together makes them stronger, and in the case of the circlet, it offers an additional immunity to confusion. Poison Mist is the second power available to the combined artifacts, which is an AoE poison damage cloud with the possibility to poison opponents on a failed save vs. death. The artifacts can still change their form even while combined! Transforming equipment is my jam!!

    Nukesalot - Chaos Sorcerer 15
    ussnorwayStummvonBordwehrEnuhalRVNS
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    I'm currently in the middle of another solo HoF run of IWD2 with Tactics installed. I haven't been posting on it, since I've lost these IWD2 runs so many times already and I keep thinking I'm going to give it up eventually.

    The single biggest threat is boredom over the lack of growth and the level crunch around Kuldahar and Dragon's Eye. The basic problem is that, to deal with early game hordes in a way that's not a soul-sucking chore, you really need at least 18 sorcerer levels to cast Wail of the Banshee. And once you hit sorcerer level 18, there's a very strong incentive to continue to level 20, which gives you maximum spell slots and an extra couple of level 9 spell picks. That's basically the peak of your power in terms of damage spells, summoning spells, and instant death options.

    But the damage spells and summons can't keep up with late-game critters, and being able to deal lots of melee damage becomes more and more important. Gameplay dramatically slows down, and it doesn't help that the game doesn't get interesting again until the Severed Hand.
    Flashburn
  • StummvonBordwehrStummvonBordwehr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,342

    Archy 93 - a new deadshot in town

    My LoB beastmaster is gone - alas. The no reload was taken a bit too far: I didnt make a save of the game and my autosave was overwritten by a test game... well given my eratic playing he would have been killed anyway.

    BTW: @Pantalion : in some of your plays you pick up a str manual at the library in Durlags Tower. I remember doing that in days of old in a BWS, but dont know from which mod it came - do you know?

    Time for a new guy. Mobile testing SoD had rekindled my love for the archers. I chalked up a new guy: a 19 dex elf with a longbow...


    He has 2 pips in longbow & pips in longsword and flails as well. He is going for GM in longbow and has demonic/fell as racial enemy (planning for Big B in SoD - alongside Corwin).

    The setup is insane with no extra damage and max HP at level up - no mods.

    The start was uneventfull. My facepalm moment was when I realised that my exceptionel str was too low to break open the chest with the potion of clarity...


    Dang it.

    The easy Beregost quests and Shoal gave me enough XP for level 3. Third pip in longbows, kit bonusses meant my thaco was really picking up B) - or in this case down.




    Buying a composite bow +1 and “finding” a pair of boots & bracers completed the outfit so far




    A quick basilisk hunt catapulted Archy to level 6, another pip and kit bonusses...



    Questing at the sword coast brought Archy to level 7 and 1/2 more attacks pr round. Next up the mine..





    Before the mine a funny thing happened. I was about to pick up Neeras gem bag. I stealthed shot her to avoid Ekandor showing up. Neera was killed, but Ekandor showed up - not hostile. He didnt resist when he was shot down either (nor his guards). Picking up a stoneskin scroll risk free was kind of meh


    Grond0RVNSEnuhalussnorway
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