16394 replies to this topic

[Grond0]

Introducing Geisho, the kensai.

I thought I would have another go at getting a kensai to thief dual going in BG2.  So far Geisho has made it safely to the bandit camp, relying almost entirely on throwing axes and staff (just one use of fireball to clean out Mulahey's supporters).  Points of interest as follows:

• the only dangerous moment he's had so far was actually in Candlekeep after ransacking the chests upstairs in the inn.  A mis-click meant the guard come to investigate his stealing got an attack in, which damaged him significantly and then followed him downstairs.  Going back up generated a copy of the guard and there was then the need for some fancy shuffling before he found space to get out.
• the only potion used so far was the potion of clarity from Candlekeep against Mutamin.  The fight with him was complicated by some enemies spawning next to Korax that allowed Mutamin to get a horror spell off.
• with most of the external areas done Geisho had just enough funds to buy cloak, ring, amulet and staff at UIgoth's Beard.  With that done there was no reason to let Dushai keep his ring.
• I think his best shot so far was against Nimbul.  No kai, so that's not his maximum damage (would have been 23 before critical), but Nimbul still paid severely for having a throwing weapon equipped.

Here are his current record and inventory.

[Grond0]

Sigh. I was just squeezing in a few minutes before work and obviously not concentrating properly. Going up Ramazith's tower I thought I had the ring of free action on - but the ghasts realised otherwise! I'll restart him.

[Shadow_Leech07]

I'm also playing as 'kensai' type character, essentially a fighter but with kensai restrictions(eventually I'm going to get her to be a kensai). Anyways, I'm taking it slowly at a time. I've never done the bassilisk area without some form of projectile, can they be smacked to death safely with a kensai or is it not worth it?

(I usually don't use algernon's cloak)

Edited by Shadow_Leech07, 23 July 2012 - 08:42 AM.

[Grond0]

Basilisks are fine with a kensai (so long as you are using the green scroll as protection). They will start off using their gaze weapon, so will do you no damage in melee, allowing you to hit them freely. I always pull them away one at a time to avoid having to battle more than one at once.

Keep a close eye on their attack animation to see if/when they switch to melee attack. At that stage attack with something with a very low weapon speed allowing you to attack and then retreat before any retaliation - move away for a few seconds (to reset your round counter) and then attack again.

If you don't want to bother with that sort of micro-management then the amulet of shielding can be used to give you a decent AC. You will still need to make sure you keep HPs up though as kensai susceptability to criticals mean you need a decent buffer to keep safe.

[Shadow_Leech07]

That's great to know. Thanks.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Update of BlackStrider (Priest of Helm) & Co (Durlag's Tower):

Well, that was a trip! I'm really enjoyed  it. Upper levels were mostly uneventful but the Ghost fight was fun. He had loads of prebuffs, protected with Globe of Invulnerability (which I haven't means to remove). Dynaheir tried Dispel Magic but in vain. He also constantly went invisible and hit us with AoE spells (Cone of Cold, Fireball, Stinking Clouds etc.). Finally he fell to Jaheira's melee and Khalid arrows:

  

  

In underground levels we took very careful approach checking every our step. Avarice and Fear succumbed to Wand of Paralyzation and Jaheira's staff mace. Pride fell soon after. Love, noticed Jaheira's great combat abilities, tried to Dire Charm her twice (first she saved but second connected and I was far away to give her Greenstone Amulet). Luckily Love was near death so Imoen quickly finished him but got few hits from Jaheira and run for her life until Charm wore off. On the Chess Board we buffed hard and opened with volley of fireballs which finished most of opponents (Queen included). King followed her soon after. 

  

  

  

  

  

  

Vs Demonknight we buffed and summoned some help spreading them all around for Demonknight wouldn't kill'em all at once. Imoen (wearing Robe of Fire Resistance, some Potions and Minor Spell Deflection) attracted his attention and soaked both Fireballs, Symbol Fear and Symbol Pain whilst Khalid pelted him with Acid Arrows.

  

 

Well, 'twas the first time in my no-reload career when I finished Durlag's Tower without anyone being killed (or chunked) even once. I'm really glad here.

At the moment we give ourselves a well-deserved rest in the Joviar Juggler Inn

Current state:

BlackStrider - Priest of Helm (8), 322 kills (Seniyad);
Imoen - Thief (6) / Mage (9) , 247 kills (Invisible Stalker); 1 death (Shoal's kiss);
Jaheira - Fighter (7) / Druid (8), 841 kills (Greater Wolfwere);
Khalid - Fighter (8), 708 kills (Demonknight);
Dynaheir - Invoker (9), 143 kills (Queen); 1 death (Delgod);
Viconia - Cleric (8), 82 kills (Doomsayer)

to be continued...

Edited by Serg BlackStrider, 26 July 2012 - 12:52 PM.

[BelgarathMTH]

Awesome work, Blackstrider. Great screenshots, too.

[Blackmalkin]

BALANCE AND BLOODSHED: A DRUID’S TALE

Chapter V
in which there are no mutant squirrels and Ashoka wants to die

Journey to Cloakwood didn’t go as quickly as planned. Following the directions provided by a commoner in Beregost our druids traveled west until they reached the sea. Cloakwood was nowhere to be seen, so they decided to return and find a more reliable source of information. On their way back they met a few agressive sirines. Encounter could have ended tragically as Ashoka was charmed and could have been struck by one of his friends’ lightnings. Luckily, they managed to counter the charm with one of their own. The sirines were unnaturally agressive, so party decided to investigate and bring balance to the coast. A few lightnings later the coast was peaceful again. They also looted a treasure from a caostal cave. They could sense that the cave was trapped, so they sent Druma alone (since she perforemed so well with the traps in the mines). Somehow she managed to recover the treasure and retreat without triggering the trap. Later, when Thalantyr examined the loot it turned out that it included a grimoir that helped Ashoka increase his constitution (to 19) and a cloak that allows its wearer to transform into a wolf. Vrk was overjoyed. His friends had a hard time convincing him that a wolf form is hopeless in battle.

Finally they managed to reach Cloakwood. Once there they helped fellow druids in erdicating a human parasite. Then they reached a spider-infested part of the forest. The spiders probaly regretted not checking the weather forecast before going out. Fighting the spiders inside their lair was challenging, but a few Entangle spells solved the problem.



Moving deeper into the forest, brave druids were ambushed by a pair of wyverns, but again they emerged triumphant due to bad weather conditions.



Later they met more druids, who gave them direction to the Iron Throne installation and even offered help, but our heroes were confident in their own abilities and politely refused. The Iron Throne base turned out to be an iron mine. A group of mercenaries tried to prevent the druids from entering, but they were soon struck by ligtnings. Ashoka found one of the mercenary mages rather scary and his friends had to calm him.



Inside the mine they found out that Iron Throne was actually mining ore, instead of breeding squirrels. It even made sense, though not in Raudra’s opinion. Second level was trapped, but druids found a secret corridor which allowed them to avoid the traps and attack a party of guards from behind. The enemies largely outnumbered our heroes but a few charm spells changed the odds. Enemies had a mage support, but the she didn’t manage to actually cast anything.



Some prisoners were held at that level. They told the druids about a way of flooding the mines. Cuta was a little concerned about the effect that would have on the local economy, but others were quite sure that the local economy will have to take care of itself. Then they fought their way inside the third level. All that fighting was rather tiring and Atavrksha commanded a rest (which also allowed the druids to meditate on newly learned 4th level spells). Turned out that it wasn’t a good place for a nap. Vrk and Raudra were sleeping so soundly that when they woke up they were surrounded by enemies.



They were bleeding from numerous wounds before all of the guards were hopelesly trying to free themselves from entanglement. Druids tried resting again, fought the guards again and finally decided to retreat and sleep upstairs. Once rested they returned and fought their way down to the last level where Davaeorn, mines supervisor, was located. Druids couldn’t do anything about the traps which protected him and had to fight two battle horrors in a spectacular Flame Blade battle.



Davaeorn was a skilled mage but his lightnings did more hurt to himself then to the druids, who were all protected from it. He tried avoiding combat by teleporting but was finally balanced by Druma’s flaming sword. On his body They found the key to the floodgate that the prisoners were talking about. They also found some letters from Rieltar, one of the Iron Throne leaders from Baldur’s Gate. Party decided to follow this lead after flooding the mine.

Arriving at Baldur’s Gate druids were greeted by Scar, commander of the Flaming Fist. He was interested in party’s activities and druids decided to work with him against the Iron Throne. But first he wanted them to investigate the Seven Suns trade coster whose recent actions where considered as really strange (meaning improfitable), which worried some of the city officials. Atavrksha agreed quickly to prevent Cuta from starting her ravings about economic stabillity and such. But first the party went sightseeing and shopping. They bought a +1 sling and lots of ammunition at the Shop of Silence. Then they stopped by at Sorcerous Sundries and traded with a mage named Halbazzer Drin. He offered the party a device he called “wand of heavens”. It was supposed to summon a pillar of fire to scorch the unsuspecting enemy. Atavrksha liked the idea but was worried that it won’t work indoors. The mage however ensured that wand works in any conditions, so she decided to buy one for every party member, leaving the price negotiations to Vrk.

Outside party was aproached by a man with a proposition. They followed him into what turned out to be a thieves’ guild. Druids had no intention to be part of the thieves’ schemes. The guildmaster wasn’t happy about that and reffused to let them walk away. The guild was soon wiped out by the angry servants of nature. A tome found inside the guild building helped Ashoka increase his dexterity (to 18).

Then party went to the southwestern part of the city where the Seven Suns building was located. The merchants inside did not want discuss their actions with the druids, but Cuta was rather insistent. Before anyone could protest she started a lecture about the “basic principles of free market”. Merchants’ tolerance for the economic science must have been completely non-existant as they all hissed as one: “Sssilence fool!”.
Their features started to change and moments later they were attacking the party in their true doppelanger forms. Druids quickly balanced them and searched the building. In the basement they found the Seven Suns leader, Jhasso. He wasn’t happy to see Vrk.
“Get away from me, shapeshifter scum.” He barked angrily.
Vrk wondered: “What gave me away? Was it my ears? Eyes? Or maybe the grey fur and a tail?”
But even in animal form he was a very charismatic man and managed to convince Jhasso that they came on behalf of commander Scar. Jhasso calmed down and told the druids what they already new – that Seven Suns was infiltrated by doppelgangers. They returned to Scar and informed him of this. He was thankful for the help but had another quest – people started to disappear on the city streets and wanted to find out who or what’s responsible. Druids agreed to help and went off to search the city. Ashoka suggested to start from a tavern. They didn’t learn anything of interest there, but the visit made Ashoka much happier. Aside from the wine he must have drunk some strenght potion as well, because he didn’t have any problems with forcing the door to a house that he found suspicious. Inside he was attacked by doomguards and invisible stalkers. It made him sober enough to run outside and call for help. His friends gulped oils of speed, summoned Flame Blades and ran inside. After a hard battle the guardians were defeated. Ashoka moved to search the house and found it’s owner, apparently a mage. He was already starting to sober up, so when faced with a tricky question he answered truthfully: “We want to die”. Mage summoned additional guardians and attacked. The wands of heavens did work indoors and saved the party from this dangerous situation.



Then party went to rest at the nearby inn. Inside their room they found a magical helmet. Ashoka found it quite comfortable. On the next day party wanderred through the city helping some of it’s inahbitants and balancing a few mages. Finally they checked the sewers and run into an ogre mage with an army of carrion crawlers. After balancing them they discovered dozens of human bodies, so they returned to Scar to report they findings. He rewarded the druids and told that duke Eltan wants to talk to them. The duke seemed very interested in the actions of the Iron Throne and asked the druids to investigate their base of oparations in the city. They agreed, eager to finally bring balance to that organization. They stormed the Iron Throne buidling and balanced everyone that got in their way. They didn’t meet with any serious resistance until the top floor. There they decided to soften the enemies with a few fireballs (exploding potions and Necklace of Missiles), use Miscast Magic on the spellcasters and summon some animal support. Vrk took a few arrows and had to retreat downstairs. One of enemy casters remained unaffectad by Miscast Magic and confused Atavrksha and Cuta, who soon turned their Flame Blades against each other. Raudra cast Defensive Harmony to make it harder for them to hit each other and then started casting healing spells. Vrk joined him in this after healing his own wounds a bit. Meanwhile Druma was badly wounded by enemy fighters and had to retreat but Ashoka was free to take her position. Since the fight wasn’t going too well, druids resorted to their wands and scorched remaining enemies.



Then they searched the area and found letters which stated that Throne leaders have gone to some sort of meeting held in Candlekeep’s library. When they returned to duke Eltan he provided them with a tome which would allow them entrance inside their former home. And so they returned to Candlekeep.

Party status:
Atavrksha – druid 8, 67 HP, fav. spell: Entangle, 88 kills (battle horror)
Ashoka – fighter 6/druid 6, 74 HP (with Helm of Balduran), fav. spell: Flame Blade, 283 kills (greater basilisk)
Druma – fighter 3/druid 8, 67 HP, fav. spell: Flame Blade, 270 kills (greater basilisk)
Cuta – druid 8, 65 HP, fav. spell: Entangle, 97 kills (greater basilisk)
Vrk – druid 8, 49 HP, fav. spell: Entangle, 67 kills (sirine)
Raudra – druid 8, 54 HP, fav. spell: Entangle, 145 kills (battle squirrel)

Edited by Blackmalkin, 26 July 2012 - 09:06 PM.

[Francoprima]

@ Black,

On what console are u playing this ? Doesn't look like PC to me ...

[Gate70]

Pendal (Gate70) and Thimble (Grond0), gnome fighter illusionists.

Once more we are accused of being up to no good at Candlekeep. After being freed by Tethtoril we use two knocks, a scroll of protection from magic, a third knock then Thimble creeps through the lightning trap followed much later by Pendal (risky as instant death if the trap is triggered). Then we sneak past some obvious imposters. Prat and his gang are caught in a cluster of webs so we try to help them with fire, fire and oh how about some fire.

Thimble suddenly realises she is a central part to the basilisk plan. On our return to Baldur's Gate we deal with Larze then Slythe (die Slythe) and Krystin.

Thimble's view of the coronation is broadly similar to that of Pendal and both dukes survive to see Sarevok off.

The thieves maze is a dangerous place, as a skeleton warrior finds out. Thimble soon learns this trick and the next few traps are harmless.

Web and fireball allow us to clear the final group of mercenaries (meaning Pendal reaches his full BG1 potential, while Thimble must wait until the first of Sarevok's gang to catch up). Surely this won't work against Sarevok? Maybe if he is malisoned. He's stuck so we target him then kills Angelo while Pendal drags Sarevok away. After killing Angelo Thimble moves on to Semaj (Pendal keeping an eye out in case Semaj teleports and a potion of invisibility is needed).

As Thimble kills Semaj she is hit by Tazok. She toughs it out against the half-ogre but Pendal breaks from shooting Sarevok to finish Tazok. Sarevok can only play piggy-in-the-middle, taking a huge amount of damage before finally realising his wounds are too great to continue. If you look really closely you'll be able to not see Sarevok as his essence has dissipated through the edges of the temples!

Pendal and Thimble are pleased with their teamwork and decide to read a bit more about the Ten Towns before returning to Belt.

Tropp (gnome fighter / thief, Gate70) and Grouch (dwarf fighter, Grond0)

The Severed Hand. Pendal and Thimble quickly realise the author must have been mixing beer & wine before writing up the session(!) They eventually deduce it went without incident (apart from Tropp and Grouch being held at the same time against a cleric and 2 swordsmen - whittled away for reload 5). There is also a footnote about Grouch fighting for his life on a tower wall while Tropp is dominated again. The chapter ends after fixing some broken equipment and speaking to the remnants of Larrel.

Tropp Fighter 9 / Thief 11. 517 kills (+179 in last 2 sessions), Presio.
Grouch Fighter 10. 727 kills (+301 in last 2 sessions), Yxunomei.

Pendal - F7/I7. 212 (+16) kills, Davaeorn.
Thimble - F7/I7. 196 (+41) kills, Angelo.

Edited by Gate70, 26 July 2012 - 11:49 PM.

[Francoprima]

@ Gate

I play the PC-game.
How can I get the rolled dices in the ingame text-scroll-area ?

[Grond0]

In the options screen (click on the disc) select "gameplay" and then "feedback". Then choose which types of messages you want to see.

[Serg BlackStrider]

@Francoprima

I play PC. And besides what Grond0 said you can also go into baldur.ini and add under
[Game Options] the following string:
Extra Combat Info=1

[Blackmalkin]

BALANCE AND BLOODSHED: A DRUID’S TALE

Chapter VII
in which there is a twist

Atavrksha and her friends were happy to see home again. They weren’t so happy when they discovered that it had been infiltrated by doppelgangers. After balancing two of them they met with an old acquaintance who told Atavrksha that Gorion have left a letter for her. The letter contained shocking revelations. It said that Atavrksha was a child of Bhaal, a god of murder. Gorion also mentioned some “others”, especially warning against one named Sarevok.
“At least now we know where all this ‘kill them all to restore the balance’ came from.” Cheerfully pointed Ashoka. Atavrksha didn’t even try to defend herself.
“Is it possible”? She wondered. “Can it be that my convictions are merely the pretext for bloodshed? Am I just a tool for some omnipresent entity that takes perverse pleasure in killing?”
She was certainly getting somewhere, but, luckily, Cuta interrupted her thoughts:
“However we might feel about you being child of Bhaal, we have some people to kill.” No one questioned that. They all went to the meeting and confronted Rieltar. Soon they left, leaving charred corpses behind. On their way out, however, they were approached by Candlekeep’s guards, intent on arresting them for murder. The druids surrendered hoping to explain their reasons. Unfortunately, everyone around seemed obsessed with conspiracy theories and thought them to be Amnish spies. Except for Tethoril, at least, who arranged for their escape – he teleported them inside Candlekeep’s catacombs.

There they had to deal with doppelgangers, undead, spiders and, worst of all, traps. Most of the most dangerous ones were survived thanks to protective spells, others hit Druma or Ashoka. They were also attacked by a strange bug, which multiplied one of their strength potions:



Leaving the catacombs behind they had to move through caves, where a hostile party attacked them. When the attackers were balanced, druids searched their bodies and found a letter signed with the name “Sarevok”. Apparently he was the one that orchestrated the recent events. It looked as if his goal was rising into power in Baldur’s Gate by becoming a Grand Duke. Of course the druids had no intention of letting that happen. They reached the surface and went back to Baldur’s Gate.

The city have much changed since their last visit. The rumors talked about the iminent war with Amn and Flaming Fist was scouring the streets, searching for our heroes. Commander Scar was said to be murdered, duke Eltan ill. Druids decided to stay out of sight. The fact that now they all possessed the power to shapeshift into wolves made it relatively easy to move through the city without being caught by the guards.



Staying in animal form made it slightly harder to interact with other people but Silence quickly figured that one long howl means “missiles” and two short barks mean “+2”. Growling clearly meant “lots of and be quick about it”. Halbazzer understood them without words (or howls) and supplied them with more wands of heavens and various potions. He also identified the tomes they found inside the catacombs. One helped Ashoka in increasing his strength (to 19) the other was read by Raudra – wisdom increased to 19 (Atavrksha already swallowed 2 similiar volumes and had a wisdom of 20).

Once properly equipped, party run to the Flaming Fist headquarters to check on Eltan. Unsurprisingly, his healer turned out to be a doppelganger. Once druids scorched him with their wands, Eltan told them that Sarevok plans to murder other Grand Dukes. Druids took him to his friend in the docks (keeping the guards at save distance with Charm and Entangle spells. Then they paid a visit to the Iron Throne building. There they burned Sarevok’s consort and found his journal. It allowed the druids to learn his plans – he wanted to provoke a war which would serve as a bloody sacrifice to resurrect Bhaal. Atavrksha was horrified. Horrified by the over-complexity of the plan, that is. “Why not simply kill them all?” She wondered. But what really got her attention was the paragraph about killing Gorion. It seemed that they had more then enough reasons to hunt Sarevok down.

They rushed to the undercellars to find the assassins. Slythe have fallen to the druid’s Flame Blades while Krystin was paralyzed by Atavrksha’s dart of stunning and torn apart by a pack of dogs and wolves.



On Slythe's body they found an invitation to the Sarevok’s coronation. They reached the palace just in time to interrupt the ceremony. Sarevok appeared to have a plan B, as some of the guests turned out to be doppelgangers. The doppelgangers were soon outnumbered by wild animals, entangled and dead soon after.



Sarevok escaped, but one of the Grand Dukes managed to teleport the party after him. The druids found themselves in the thieves guild where a helpful thief informed them that their pray went into an underground maze.

Party status:
Atavrksha – druid 8, 67 HP, fav. spell: Entangle, 93 kills (battle horror)
Ashoka – fighter 6/druid 7, 77 HP (with Helm of Balduran), fav. spell: Flame Blade, 325 kills (greater basilisk)
Druma – fighter 3/druid 8, 67 HP, fav. spell: Flame Blade, 296 kills (greater basilisk)
Cuta – druid 8, 65 HP, fav. spell: Entangle, 102 kills (greater basilisk)
Vrk – druid 8, 49 HP, fav. spell: Entangle, 70 kills (sirine)
Raudra – druid 8, 54 HP, fav. spell: Entangle, 153 kills (battle squirrel)

Edited by Blackmalkin, 02 August 2012 - 08:19 AM.

[BelgarathMTH]

@Blackmalkin, what a fascinating story to read! I love it when people novelize their runs. I've never seen a custom party of six druids done before. That screenshot of a pack of six wolves running the streets of Baldur's Gate is priceless. LOL, it looks like a scene from True Blood or something. Hey - if you take them into BG2, you'll have a traditional wolves vs. vamps thematic going on there. (Twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood. Film is saturated with them currently. Why not a Shadows of Amn variation?)

I also loved the shot of fighting battle horrors with six flaming blades - that looked like a Star Wars scene of Jedi versus Sith. And your druids' euphemism for killing people is to "balance" them. Really funny, and your whole story idea is about the most creative I've seen.

@Gate and Grond0, gratz on your progress in your multiplayer run.

[Blackmalkin]

BelgarathMTH wrote...
@Blackmalkin, what a fascinating story to read!

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy it.

As for the flaming sword battles I'm disappointed that I didn't catch any good screenshot with doomguards – they have those dark flaming swords. I only got this, from the fight in Degrodel's home:

[ussnorway]

Blackmalkin wrote...

Raudra – druid 8, 54 HP, fav. spell: Entangle, 153 kills (battle squirrel)

What is a battle squirrel?

[Blackmalkin]

ussnorway wrote...
What is a battle squirrel?

A squirrel with a full plate mail, plumed helmet and a flaming sword. Much more ferocious then an average one. Yields better experience as well.

[Gate70]

Kaiens the kensai (> thief). I thought I'd give this a go.

The jobs in Candlekeep are quickly completed. Carbos and Shank are both dead (as is Gorion).

Imoen, Xzar and Montaron lend me some gear, then I grab a ring (protection), 2nd ring (wizardry) and a third (for Joia). The hobgoblins around the inn seem mesmerised by my appearance, offten allowing me to attack and retreat before they react.

The folks at Ulgoth's Beard weren't expecting a (level 1) visitor, finding it hard to believe I could have made it through the nearby ankhegs. I can't afford their shop prices though so leave empty handed. Instead I help Marl, Firebead, Noober, Brage, Oublek, Joseph, Hafiz, Joia, Samuel, the Dryad of the Cloudpeaks (Caldo and Krumm) followed by a careful melee with a slow ogre.

The last two battles convince me that I can (level 3, 33hp) fight back. A winter wolf, Gnarl and Hairtooth are among the few that fall before I am clutching a magical tome (wisdom charisma) covered with the remains of Melicamp. He never stood a chance.

A greenstone amulet, robe of displacement and quarterstaff +3 are now at my disposal, so I venture into Nashkel mine. Mulahey summons skeletons & kobolds and I kill them a few at a time before using a greenstone amulet charge to kill him (video'd this in a 2 minute clip then failed to save it , grumble).

Berrun Ghastkill is pleased to see me return, as is Nimbul. I hit his first mirror image then run. I'm out of sight by the time he casts horror and I keep running so should be safe. Better still, I save against the spell. I stroll back the other way to catch him around a corner but I'm too fast and his images are still in place. I try a kai hit anyway and he crumples to the ground. Tranzig manages two Melf's Acid Arrows before I connect hard enough to chunk him.

I require several rests during my visit to the bandit camp, encountering Ardenor Crush at the second and earning another level (5). The fourth rest sees Taugosz Khosann fall thanks to a hit and run approach. Rest five has everywhere cleared except the main tent so a sixth and final rest before buffing to enter.

In contrast to the perfectly executed removal of Mulahey the main bandit tent episode is a mess (click here to watch, failed to move to Venkt quickly enough) as Raemon gets two quick hits in and several healing potions plus a regeneration potion are glugged after taking the fight outside. I must remember to pack a potion of stone form or invulnerability. Not a great no-reload battle, other than surviving.

A scroll of protection from poison plus a potion of freedom means I can play with some spiders and ettercaps. Or so I think, being forced to heal twice.

Back to various stores for potions, then deal with a pair of guards. I still have no decent potion (stone form, absorbtion - carelessly used one in bandit tent instead of other buffs, invulnerability) so think hard and backtrack to Laskal who has one of the latter. What a nice druid.

Rezdan, Kysus, Drasus, Genthore video. Finding it challenging to select the first target after conversations without pausing, meaning Rezdan gets buffed and takes time to kill.

I switch boots (speed) and girdle (piercing) before continuing. A few guards are killed but I have to glug a potion of regeneration when Faber raises the alarm. A charge of the greenstone amulet (6 left) is used against two ghasts then Yeslick and Rill are freed (spent ages trying to find a hidden door while potion buffs ticked away). I kill a few guards on the next level and grab some potions from the temple area before reaching the final area and chunking the guard.

Davaeorn video with earlier buffs still active and another greenstone charge (5 left). Almost paid the price for a lack of the absorbtion potion, and the speed/invulnerability buffs wore out between the two battle horrors - not ideal timing.

Edited by Gate70, 29 July 2012 - 09:27 AM.

[Grond0]

Gate70 wrote...

Kaiens the kensai (> thief). I thought I'd give this a go..

I would say you stole my character, but on reflection that doesn't look like my taste in humans.

A winter wolf, Gnarl and Hairtooth are among the few that fall before I am clutching a magical tome (wisdom) covered with the remains of Melicamp. He never stood a chance..

As the only tome of wisdom accessible to you so far would be at Durlags Tower you probably wouldn't expect much to be left of him by the battle horrors.

Davaeorn video  Almost paid the price for a lack of the absorbtion potion

I think lightning vulnerability has been a bit of an Achilles heel for both of us.  A brief swap to Mulahey's boots might also have been an option here (if you could be bothered lugging them around for so long, which I don't normally).


Good going to get this far, particularly with not using missile weapons or pausing much.  Best of luck with your continuing adventures.

Edited by Grond0, 29 July 2012 - 07:07 AM.

[Gate70]

Good spot re tome, post corrected. Portrait is part Bhaalspawn (ish)?

I'm pausing more when not recording the desktop. Had stored the boots and 3 potions of insulation, also not purchased a protection scroll all because of inventory. Bad decision & lucky to get away with it. Will post a few more video clips here then cut down in future.

Kaiens the kensai (> thief).

I have a "spare" potion of clarity so head west. Zargal and his clowns are no joke, almost killing me. I run away while swigging an elixir of health, leaving the three of them still alive. The potion of clarity sees three sirines levelled (I reach level 7 too), then a pair of hobgoblins, Sil and two remaining sirines (where two handed style allows a critical hit on 19).

The first flesh golem goes fairly easily, then I switch girdles expecting the next two to be easier, not the case. I had to rest outside after each of the three.

Into Baldur's Gate where Halbazzer Drin identifies tomes to aid my dexterity and constitution. He rubs his hands in glee when I explain I need some potions for the Iron Throne HQ and Candlekeep.

I warm up with a lap of the city, working out where everything is so I can get around quickly in future (including the fist 4 floors of the Iron Throne HQ). I tell Scar it is too risky to do his dirty work and insist on an audience with Duke Eltan instead. Halbazzer Drin accepts even more gold to identify a scroll of protection from petrification (better than mirrored eyes which gets stashed away). I doubt I will need 6 or 12 hours. A final rest, then up to the 4th floor for some serious drinking. 100% electrical resistance but only 90% fire resistance though.

Cleansing the Iron Throne HQ (video link). I hold onto a ring (free action) but everything else is stuffed into a container ready for collection later, together with my ring of protection +1. Then I rush to see Duke Eltan, collect a book of value and he teleports me to Candlekeep. I take a ring from Koveras and head to the top of the library to be falsely accused of killing Rieltar. Ulraunt won't listen but Tethtoril releases me into the catacombs.

Messy looting of the tombs, bad spider/web day. (video link). Missed the invisibility potion and had to leave the cloak +2 due to inventory being full. Could have equipped the ring of free action but would have lost the haste.

After killing "Dreppin" I glug a potion of invisibility to bypass the remaining doppelgangers, pause (wait for previous video to encode), and then use my invisibility to zero in on Prat (video link), or more specifically Bor with his darts of stunning. The speed and invulnerability potions have worn off so I've added the ring of freedom and another use of the greenstone amulet. Once the dwarf is down I switch rings back and glug an oil of speed.

I grab the throwing axe, cast two cure light wounds, run past a gap before spiders notice and use the scroll of protection from petrification. The two basilisks don't have much chance against my buffs, and I'm out into fresh air before Diarmid is. Two rests see me add a pair of DUHM's to my special abilities, then it is time to head back to Baldur's Gate.

Edited by Gate70, 29 July 2012 - 11:57 AM.

[Gate70]

Kaiens the kensai (> thief).

Ramazith fails to escape from the base of his tower, I keep his ring but sell his robe and amulet. Another amulet charge (3 left) prevents Tarnesh scaring me away from the golden pantaloons (Big Metal Unit is kensai friendly). Khalid and Jaheira hand over a potion of invisibility on my way out too. I store various items outside the weapon shop of Maltz then go look for Slythe.

Larze first though. DUHM and kai only manage to wound him before I am forced to switch to axes (Sarevok will be fun then but I can over-buff for him). I'm slow at throwing the axes and it is a few minutes before the ogre is dead. A rest is in order before Slythe.

Mr Blade Fodder is up against potions of mind focusing, cloud giant strength, defence, heroism and speed. This is the entire battle.

To the coronation where I add DUHM and kai to the potion buffs. Fate has allowed auto-pause:enemy destroyed for the Coronation (video link) but it is not enough and my final thought is that I should have abandoned Liia and tried to help Belt instead.

Edited by Gate70, 29 July 2012 - 01:31 PM.

[Grond0]

Reintroducing Geisho the kensai

After the first incarnation died stupidly to a ghast in BG2 last week I said I would have another go at trying to get a dual to thief going with him, but hadn't got around to it.  However, seeing Gate70s progress inspired me to try it this morning.  This time Geisho has also avoided missile weapons and is only pausing very occasionally.  To compensate for that the game is only running at 30 rather than my normal 60. 

Without missile weapons the easy XP from Shoal is not on offer so Geisho had to work hard just to get to level 2 without exposing himself to any of the 99% of enemies that could one-shot him with a critical.  Eventually a few hobgoblins (helpless due to their slow weapon speed) helped him over the line and he became able to worry rather less about things like gibberlings.

The next level was much easier - thanks to a successful revival of Melicamp and level 4 also came quite quickly courtesy of Tenya.  At that point Geisho was on his way up to Ulgoth's Beard to get an improved weapon as well as an matching cloak and amulet.

At this point I no longer really feared bandit ambushes as they needed a 20 to hit Geisho through the cloak and belt.  However, on this occasion they came close to doing it thanks to his vulnerability to criticals.  Moving on with a few more encounters Geisho got to level 5 by escorting Brage home and then to level 6 by clearing out a basilisk infestation.  Korax joined in the fun with Mutamin, but died assaulting Lindin's party.  A fireball at his body softened things up a bit and Geisho soon cleaned up though he did have to save against entangle to finish Peter off.

Thinking a couple of potions would not go amiss, Geisho took on Silke (which is an encounter I rarely do) before moving on to Bassilus.  Annoyingly his undead supporters refused to die, but the man himself went down quickly enough for Geisho to run round and pick off the remainder at leisure.  Turning his holy symbol in got Geisho to level 7.

Moving over to the coast Geisho practiced his hit & run & hit again tactics on an ogre tribe before taking on the greater challenge of a group of sirenes.  An interloper here complicated things and Geisho's amulet charge ran out at exactly the same moment as a carrion crawler exploded.  With a bit of cash in hand now Geisho went back to Ulgoth's Beard and bought the ring of invisibility as well as acquiring an alternative method to avoid being held.  Back on the coast Sil and the sirenes were no problem, but the flesh golems put up a hard fight and Geisho had to use all his 8 or 9 healing potions before just emerging triumphant.

Finally at the mine a single charge from amulet of shielding protected him on the way down to Mulahey.  I was pleased there to be able to target properly a fireball without resorting to any pausing and Mulahey lasted only a couple of swipes.  Nimbul and Tranzig didn't do much better as Geisho quickly moved on to the bandit camp. 

Most of the inhabitants there fell to assaults, though Taugosz was treated to hit & run tactics.  In the main tent a potion of firebreath from Taugosz killed all but Venkt.  I realised in this screenshot that Geisho had not used his amulet, but fortunately saved against horror (though with others dead he could well have won against just Venkt anyway).

The Cloakwood held no terrors, but Geisho took the time to decorate a few trees withbits of ettercap to revenge those of his comrades who have died around this spot.  At the mine Drasus was pulled away and quickly beaten up.  A green amulet charge was remembered this time to allow for an assault on the mages.  With the boots of speed on (and ring of free action off) I noticed that I hadn't picked up the ring of fire resistance, so took a detour to do that.  Handing in Samuel also got Geisho to level 8.

Back at the mine Geisho used his invisibility ring to sneak down to Daveorn and then lure the battle horrors out of the way.  A potion of magic blocking allowed him to charge Daveorn, but a succession of dimension doors kept Daveorn alive long enough for the 5 round duration of the potion to expire - no problem as a second potion was taken to protect against dire charm and Daveorn fell moments later.

[BelgarathMTH]

gratz on your progress, Gate and Grond0.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Update of BlackStrider (Priest of Helm) & Co (Final)

We returned to the Ulgoth's Beard and immediately were attacked by some cult worshippers. We went invisible, regrouped and eliminated them. 
Hurgan asked us to retrieve the dagger before the cult summons a demon so we went into the local storehouse and fought even more cult guards. With them disposed of Khalid went downstairs and killed the followers. Dynaheir followed him and Khalid revealed himself to Tracea Carol. When she summoned the demon Dynaheir cast two Cloudkills but demon paralyzed Khalid (ignoring Cloudkills altogether) and killed him. The only positive effect from cloudkills was that Tracea Carol carelessly step in them and died. Demon engaged Dynaheir (she was protected with Stoneskins, Mirror Image, MGoI) and paralysed her as well. Dynaheir's buffs allowed her to stay alive quite long so Imoen joined the fray (with last two scrolls of Cloudkill). The first cast somehow wasted (I don't know why) so she cast the second (and the very last one) and demon fell (uhh):

  

Back in the city we took Duke Eltan to the Harbor Master's building and confronted Cythandria, Krystin and Slythe:

  

  

Coronation ceremony: loads of summons to protect the Dukes, followed by Horror, Wand of Fear charges and Wands of Heavens shots. Both Dukes survived:

  

 

Jaheira mostly soloed  Thieves' Maze and Dynaheir eliminated Undercity ambush:

  

Final fight. That was ferocious to say at least!!! We prepared with buffs and summons, Imoen disarmed some traps and hit Sarevok with Dispell. Someone of my summons hit the trap so Web and Stinking Cloud are in place. Jaheira was webbed but Sarevok was *occupied* by my summons (webbed but all the same) so she was out of danger at the moment. Then Tazok, Semai and Angelo arrived all at once and jig began. Khalid was Chaosed and triggered Doom Guard's Trap...:

  

Then Semai hit with Confusion (or Chaos) and all (save Jaheira and Viconia) were out of fight... I was affected as well! *This is the End!!!* I thought... Loads of magic flew on the screen, loads of summons and all was really choppy. All that really complicated micro- (or rather nano-) management. Dynaheir was nearly killed - 1 (One!) HP left. But luckily Jaheira (I love this woman!!!) managed to survive long enough (and even managed to kill Tazok) untill we regained our senses:

  

All of us immediately used Invisibility Potions and took some time to heal and catch our (or rather *my*) breath:

 

Eventually Angello cast Detect Invisibility and revealed us but we were almost ready at the moment. First fell Semai (Arrows of Dispelling-> Acid Arrows) but in his agony Held Khalid:



Viconia cast Remove Paralysis on him whilst mighty Angello fell by Gibberling (what an irony...):

 

Only Sarevok remains. He isn't a mage (SCS mage, I mean) so doesn't last long:

 

No one (besides my nearby neighbours) can imagine the sound of my Wail of Victory and I don't have enough words to express my feelings! Such a fight, such a CHALLENGE! I want to thank all of those, who recommend me SCS, who created this spectacular mod. Thanks all of you! Even without Tactical components it's a huge step ahead. And there is definitely no way back for me.

Final BlackStrider & Co state (before final battle):

BlackStrider - Priest of Helm (8), 331 kills (Seniyad);
Imoen - Thief (6) / Mage (9) , 250 kills (Invisible Stalker); 1 death (Shoal's kiss);
Jaheira - Fighter (7) / Druid (8), 875 kills (Greater Wolfwere);
Khalid - Fighter (8), 728 kills (Demonknight); 1 death (Aec'Letec);
Dynaheir - Invoker (9), 161 kills (Queen); 2 death (Delgod, Aec'Letec);
Viconia - Cleric (8), 84 kills (Doomsayer)

Best of luck and safe travel to all of you, friends! See ya in Amn! 




 

Edited by Serg BlackStrider, 29 July 2012 - 06:51 PM.