16394 replies to this topic

[Gate70]

Klonk / Yeslick / Imoen / Kivan / Shar Teel / Viconia
The ghost of Islanne takes one look at Yeslick and sends us topside, where we race to the nearest temple. He is raised before we return to Ulgoth’s Beard. We think we are well prepared for an ambush but Yeslick struggles to stay alive (only realising he’s been meleeing with his sling when his attacker is killed and he fails to melee the next one).

A second group of cultists aren’t so lucky and the third group may have badly wounded Shar Teel, Imoen and Klonk but they are dead now.  After resting and selling loot we tell Hurgan Stoneblade about the stolen dagger and he asks us to retrieve it.

Kivan and Imoen scout around reporting that Tracea Carol is in some sort of trance and her six cult guards have 100 or so arrows +1 in their corpses. Klonk tells everybody to buff, including a few potions. Then some more potions. A few more potions. Maybe another one or two. Tracea Carol barely lives to see the party spread out and Klonk reach his (BG1) peak.

Aec’letec (for it is he) death gazes Viconia several times but all the ranged party members have glugged potions of mirror eyes. Klonk and Yeslick have glugged potions of invulnerability (saving throws vs death are 1 and negative respectively). A few vampiric drains extend the fight but there is only going to be one winner today. Viconia is repeatedly gazed but her potion holds up and nobody needs to target her with arrows of dispelling.

Hurgan mutters something about a job well done. Klonk opens his journal to remind himself where he got to in the city.

[Blind_Visionary]

Job well done indeed, Gate!

Klooonk is king! Long live Klonk!

[corey_russell]

@Gate70 - nice work with Aeclec (or however you spell the demon's name) - always a tough customer.
@Grond0 - sorry to hear the end of your wrecking crew, I would have liked to see a crew of fighters get far (and why not? It appears a crew of paladins could).
@everyone else - thanks for the kudos. Coretrue is only alive as he planned ahead for the basilisk waylays - been a long time I got two of them the same game, so glad I was prepared.

[Gate70]

Klonk / Yeslick / Imoen / Kivan / Shar Teel / Viconia
Duke Eltan  sends us to Candlekeep, where Imoen clears every trap without being seen (take note Grub) but he is indisposed on our return and Tamoko presents us with some options.

Slythe is steam-rollered, not even managing to nick Klonk. Liia fails to survive the coronation but Belt is able to read the evidence and declare Sarevok a traitor. Winski arrives to teleport Sarevok away and Belt sends Klonk after him.

[Grond0]

corey_russell wrote...
Huge problem leaving the area though - basilisk waylay! We had auto-pause enemy sighted - the basilisk is very close. Grond0 says you can just run south away from it but I don't see how that can work here, it will get at least one attack for sure.

Just to clarify, a solo character can run away from it.  That's not necessarily true for parties as the positions you arrive on the ambush map are different (they may also vary depending on the party formation you've chosen).

[Grimwald the Wise]

The Fred wrote...

Ah yeah, I think I amalgamated them in my head.

Dark Horizons was indeed the crazy one with the crazy assassins and overpowered loot.

Dark Side, however, also lacked polish a bit, IMO. IIRC, when you get her, Jet'Laya is a significantly higher level than the group (or is likely to be) and all her spells are screwed up until you level her up.

The Shadows also permanently halve your XP. What's up with that? I thought there was a newer version which didn't do that, but it's not the version I have. The thing is, TotSC has Level Drain I believe (Kirinhale in Durlag's uses it) so they should probably have used that. Although, I though Shadows did Str drain anyway?

The dragon was also ridiculous, and the dragonslayer dude you meet has overpowered gear just to be able to deal with it. I think the only way I beat it was because it glitched out and stopped attacking me.

So yeah, two different mods, but a similar theme (getting carried away with bad guys and loot, and a lack of "polish"). I mean, I enjoyed trying them both, but have since removed both of them. SCS is probably enough for me (though I still have the Grey Clan, which was pretty good).

I agree with your assessment of the mods. Good to try out, but not in the permanent set-up.

I think that because I only met up with Jet AFTER Candlekeep, she is not too high a level. One level higher than the party. I suspect that it would have been better to get them to join even later, after the Duchal palace and perhaps Durlag's Tower too. That's what I do with the Drizzt Saga which is also OTT with regard to strength of enemies and also the loot you get. Belhifet's Sword in that mod is ridiculously powerful. +5 and also poisons.

It's as well the equipment doesn't carry over into Amn!!!

[Grond0]

Wrecking Crew II (update 1)

By popular demand (oh all right then I couldn't sleep) I restarted the wrecking crew this morning.  They've made good progress and have cleared the majority of areas, completed the bandit camp and got reputation up to 20.  They've just finished killing a bunch of ankhegs and are en route to Ulgoth's Beard to make use of some of the funds earned to date.

Maximising reputation was made a bit more difficult than it should have been thanks to Neira.  She died quickly, but not before she had confused Katana.  Hammer was placed next to Katana as a target, but she ignored him and decided to chunk the innkeeper instead!

After completing the Nashkel mines the party took on the Amazons on their way back to Nashkel.  The screenshot suggests it was a difficult battle, but it wasn't really.  Hammer's hits are low because I was seeing if he could shrug off a couple of darts of wounding rather than take an antidote - in the end he did use the potion (the only potion of any sort used to date).  Katana was held and took several fire arrows from Telka, but I could have killed her quicker if necessary.

While doing reputation quests I decided to take on the doomsayer (Gate70's rather got me out of the habit of this recently).  The party were level 4 at the time and only 2 characters were using proficient weapons, which meant the others needed a critical to hit.  It was thus no surprise that the doomsayer managed to do a fair amount of damage before going down. 

There was a basilisk problem in this run as well.  Boss used the green scroll and always stayed in the lead to be targeted.  There was no obvious problem with the line of sight between him and this basilisk, but the monster decided to target Hammer instead anyway.

However, this time Boss had a scroll of stone to flesh handy and the Crew were soon all back together.

Stats (no deaths to date)
Boss, fighter 5, 59 HPs, 122 kills
Katana, fighter 5, 58 HPs, 64 kills
Hammer, fighter 5, 61 HPs, 38 kills
2-H, fighter 5, 51 HPs, 119 kills
Axe, fighter 5, 62 HPs, 104 kills
Flail, fighter 5, 58 HPs, 98 kills
Kills are rather more level in this run than the first Crew version.  That's the result of everyone except Hammer having some proficiency with a missile weapon (Hammer will wait for the dwarven throwing hammer in BG2).  Katana acts as the target for enemies, so is often in melee with a non-proficient sword.

Edited by Grond0, 09 May 2013 - 07:08 AM.

[The Fred]

Grimwald the Wise wrote...
That's what I do with the Drizzt Saga which is also OTT with regard to strength of enemies and also the loot you get.

Oh yeah, Drizzt was a lot of fun for a while, but I made the mistake of starting at L2 or something. Also, you seem only to be able to take yourself, as there are 5 party members to add.

Anyway, I am tempted to carry on with Daakaris as a minimal reload. Eh, once you've died it's not quite the same, though if he could complete it with only this one dodgy death I'd be fairly happy. I just can't really be bothered to start again with him, but maybe I could try a new character.

[Grond0]

Wrecking Crew II (update 2)

The Crew have now completed all the non-TotSC areas prior to the Cloakwood.  The only bit of significant content not explored was the Firewine Ruins, though they did pop in the back door there to kill the ogre mage and Lendarn.  There were no particularly difficult encounters or points of note during that lot.

Stats (no deaths to date)
Boss, fighter 6, 67 HPs, 173 kills
Katana, fighter 6, 78 HPs, 84 kills
Hammer, fighter 6, 73 HPs, 58 kills
2-H, fighter 6, 58 HPs, 175 kills
Axe, fighter 6, 74HPs, 130 kills
Flail, fighter 6, 64 HPs, 123 kills

Edited by Grond0, 09 May 2013 - 02:07 PM.

[Gate70]

Klonk / Yeslick / Imoen / Kivan / Shar Teel / Viconia
The lazy route leads right through the thieves maze (Klonk and Yeslick melee with the rest joining in against the doom guards and skeleton warriors).

Rahvin is overthrown by his mercenaries as he detonates a dire wolf. A war dog fails to do much then three skeletons get the better of Haseo and are helped to defeat Carston by a trio of arrows from Kivan. He hides as the skeletons attack Shaldrissa and more in-fighting sees everybody killed apart from Gorf who takes heavy cloudkill damage. Kivan stands his ground, killing the ogre with a third arrow just as Gorf reaches him.

The plan, such as it is, is for Klonk to use the Worlds Edge 2HS and Yeslick the Ashideena war hammer +2. Imoen has the Eagle bow, Kivan a composite longbow +1, Viconia the Arla’s Dragonsbane sling +3 and Shar Teel the longbow of Marksmanship. Missiles include bullets +1 and arrows of ice, piercing, acid and biting.

A few potions are taken (not enough really) and Klonk forgets to enrage. Kivan has hit Sarevok with an arrow of dispelling while Imoen has cleared two traps. Sarevok takes a double-doom but survives a double-command and Klonk enters the danger zone (25hp) only for Sarevok to blink first.

“Sorry about that” says Klonk. “She hates men”.

Day 155, hour 14: The tally as Klonk remembers (think this is right)

Klonk, berserker 8 144842xp. 380 kills, greater basilisk.
Yeslick, fighter 7 cleric 7 2x67360xp. 38 kills, battle horror. 1 death, 1 petrification.
Imoen, thief 9 142938xp. 66 kills, Shoal the Nereid.
Kivan, ranger 7 135572xp. 90 kills, Demon Knight. 1 death.
Viconia, cleric 8 145398xp. 30 kills, Battle Horror.
Shar Teel, fighter 7 73820xp. 22 kills, greater doppelganger. 1 death.

& Coran (chunked by Klonk).

Klonk decides to check out the Flaming Fist HQ, having to knock a guard out. There is no sign of Duke Eltan.

Belt asks Klonk to do a task and as he casts the slo-mo teleport there is just time for him to tell Klonk that he’s accidentally tagged on an incantation discovered by Semaj d’Nob the 700th (hey, spell that guys name backwards). This will blight Klonk for the rest of his days; he can expect to suffer moments of cut-scene weakness and be captured by various arch-nemesis figures...waking up to a slow and lingering death with no way out other than one lucky break each time.

[Grond0]

Well done with Klonk Gate.

Just for the record I do expect Klonk to talk, but I don't expect him to die.

[Gate70]

(& with the above in mind Goldfinger nabbed the golden pantaloons before aiming the laserbeam towards the crotch area)

[corey_russell]

Grats Gate70! Best of luck in Amn...Klonk 'em dead!

[Blind_Visionary]

King Klonk! Congratulations on your well-deserved victory! Good luck with Irenicus (and Viccy) in Amn!

[The Fred]

Now, I tend towards spellcasters myself, but there's something refreshing about playing a 3-Int Cavalier with a huge sword. Enter Ariadne, the World's Ditsiest Paladin (yeah I dumped Int, but Paladins are hard to get scores for).

Ariadne, Human Female Cavalier 1
Str 18/98, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 17
Proficiencies: Large Swords xx, Axes x, Two-Handed Sword Style x
(Cavaliers can't use bows, which is sad, but throwing axes will have to do)

Ariadne's first ever blow was a 28-damage death-chunk crit against Carbos. Yeah, there's something refreshing about that.

Edited by The Fred, 09 May 2013 - 09:21 PM.

[The Fred]

Ariadne got off to a bad start, being killed by a wolf she tried to fight (after critting one most impressively, I got overconfident). Oops. I might run her again, though, since she was just out the door when it happened.

[Blind_Visionary]

Welcome to Ariadne, grand-daughter of the Sun Titan. Make sure to spool out your ball of thread as you walk into the labyrinth, so you can find your way out when you are done killing the Melissan-o-taur....

Ok, references Greek mythology aside, good luck! (Or perhaps I should be wishing luck to the hapless fools like Carbos who dare to stand in the way of her sword...)

Edit: Ooops, looks like I got this one off too late. RIP Ariadne. Those SCS wolves are mean when they don't run away. Edit: like nature's wrecking crew. But taller.

Edited by Blind_Visionary, 09 May 2013 - 10:19 PM.

[Easymask]

Hi everyone, Easymask here again. Not sure you guys remember me, but I recall stating not too long ago that I would return to this thread with a new party for BG:EE. Well, exams have taken their toll on me, but now I have decided to do a new run with a character I'm working on for personal reasons. Anyhow, this will be a No-Reload run with all the rules that follow. I am playing BG:EE for those wondering. I will pick up what NPCs I deem attractive for my party when I encounter them. No mods are currently installed.

I am not planning too much ahead, as I would rather roleplay my way through slowly - make some calculated and intelligent choices as I go along and enjoy the game without too much cheese.

Allow me to introduce my character: Rimecloak



His backstory (note that I am not taking Imoen with me) is from the first person to join my characters party's journal; after they have traveled together for a few days beyond the Friendly Arm Inn:

1368 - Midday, 3rd entry.

When I asked about his past, RIMECLOAK told me that "it is hard to explain". Wether the man covered in black garments from head to heel does or does not remember his past, eludes me. His face seems to be constantly shadowed by his hood, making it difficult to determine his mood and his standing on most matters.

The man handles himself in a way that instantly attracts both wanted and unwanted attention. He carries himself with grace, though not the kind one would associate with a nobleman. Women seem to find him mysterious (and in a way attractive), though most are suspicious. Even though he hardly ever mutters so much as a single word, he radiates some form of authority that honest men find wanting in a leader. Many find his apperance and posture daunting, earning him his nickname "RIMECLOAK", as many swear the blood in their veins freezes when he enters a room.

In battle RIMECLOAK favors the Longsword, wielding it with a calm, calculated form uncommon to most warriors native to the sword coast. I have even seen some men frozen in awe of his skill with the blade, though most are unaware of his presence untill his longsword jutting from their chest is the last thing they ever see. He seems to be an excellent tracker and forester, able to find and track game without much difficulty. His proficiency with the shortbow reveals him to bear more the traits of the Ranger than the Fighter.

Who RIMECLOAK really is, and where he comes from is a mystery, but his untold story and fate intrigues me, and I realize now that I will follow him untill either his demise or my own..

Who he is, why he does not talk about his past and what happens next will be interesting to find out, I am determined to allow myself to make everything up as I go along and as events unfold.

I hope you will all enjoy his adventure, as much as I am hoping I will.

Edited by Easymask, 09 May 2013 - 10:23 PM.

[Blind_Visionary]

Easymask! Welcome. I'm excited to see what happens during your run, and to learn who Rimecloak is. Loved your first post. Good luck!

[Easymask]

 1368 - Evening, 23rd entry.

My legs are weary, so weary - but my cause is true. My cause is true, though I question the halfling's agenda. Even though he acts suspiciously and I do not trust his words, it is the mad wizard's ramblings that make my bones shiver in the night. Rimecloak does not seem to mind, or at least I think he does not mind.

We have been traveling together for some time now, about a fortnight if my memory serves me proper, and the bickering between the two elves and the halfling is tearing on our morale. Rimecloak does not seem affected, he strides ever onward - fiercly determined to find out what is causing trouble at the Nashkel Mines. Sometimes I wish I was more like him, though perhaps not as gloomy..

Khalid managed to get the fire going good tonight and as his reward I get the first watch. I guess I can't complain, he's had a rougher day than I. As we crossed the hills on our march south of town, we where ambushed by a group of brigands. Senjak I think the rowdy one was named, though I'm not sure. I drove my blade through his neck as he cut my poor companion's face open, leaving an ugly wound wide across his face. I will never forget Jaheira's crazed shriek as she thought her husband dead. In all honesty I thought him dead as well, as more blood gushed from his face than one would hope for. In some way I find comfort in how well she patched him back up, though the nasty scar will never heal proper. Am I wicked for such thoughts?

Due sunrise we are descending down into the mines, who knows what horrors await us in the dark. May The Watcher guide our way.

Edited by Easymask, 10 May 2013 - 12:41 AM.

[Grond0]

Good to see you back again Easymask.

Wrecking Crew II (update 3)

A short, but eventful session saw the Crew arrive in the City, though not safely.

The only problem initially was that the Crew found themselves in possession of a surplus body.  The Cloakwood druids all got shot before they could cast anything.  The party at the mine only just had time to say hello before exploding into actionpieces.

Once again I tried to drag the lightning trap near Hareishan into the room with the guards - and once again failed.  Initially it looked like the bouncing lightning bolt could be evaded and its first pass along the corridor missed 2-H where he was cowering against the wall.  However, the second time he breathed out at the wrong moment and became the party's first death.

After returning from a trip to the temple another mage and an ogre mage were swiftly dealt with on the way down to Daveorn.  The battle horrors were ganged up on before Katana used a magic blocking potion to confront Daveorn.  His lightning bolt took a nasty bounce initially and headed up the corridor towards the rest of the Crew.  I had visions of further deaths there, but fortunately the bolt took another strange bounce and headed away again.

Daveorn's large collection of mirror images proved resistant to attack and his final spell got past the dissipating magic blocking potion to hold Katana.  It was then a race against time to see who would die first - Daveorn eventually proving a narrow winner. 

There was just time for a mite more excitement on arrival at the City.  A group of mages in Sorcerous Sundries didn't appreciate being interrupted and their spells horrified the entire Crew.  They tried ganging up on Hammer with acid arrows, but couldn't finish him off before everyone came to the senses.

Stats
Boss, fighter 6, 67 HPs, 210 kills
Katana, fighter 6, 78 HPs, 97 kills
Hammer, fighter 6, 73 HPs, 75 kills
2-H, fighter 6, 58 HPs, 204 kills, 1 death (lightning trap)
Axe, fighter 6, 74HPs, 163 kills
Flail, fighter 6, 64 HPs, 150 kills

Edited by Grond0, 10 May 2013 - 05:19 AM.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Hard luck Fred.

Swordwielder finished the Duchal Palace and the Top levels of Durlag's Tower with no problems.

Just wondering if the dragon is now do-able.

My thief has gone up a level, but feel that more experience might be required before going there.

Fred was certainly right about Jet's spells not working properly. Tried to cast raise dead on Minsc and couldn't. had to go to a temple.

Edited by Grimwald the Wise, 10 May 2013 - 10:11 AM.

[Grond0]

Wrecking Crew II (update 4)

The Crew have finished their work in the city and are about to be sent back to Candlekeep.

Most of the equipment desired was acquired easily.  The exception was the gauntlets of ogre power, which were another victim of sloppy clicking.  For the Maulers only Gretek again did any real damage before passing his axe on to err Axe.  The initial fight with Degrodel's minions was surprisingly easy, with Katana barely being hurt.  After the mage had been incautious enough to accept the Helm of Balduran while surrounded the fight was rather harder - Katana taking a healing potion at one point (because I forgot to pick up her Helm from Degrodel's body and she got hit twice with criticals).

The Iron Throne party got the old 3-2-1 trick (3 exploding arrows, 2 necklace of fireballs and 1 potion of explosion).  That took the heart out of them and they failed to get any spells off and only scored 1 hit.

After that the Crew returned to Ulgoth's Beard where they were invited to take a quick jaunt to Ice Island.  The ability to rest between traps made that pretty easy and they decided to undertake a more stretching mission to werewolf island.  The only time in the run so far where Boss has been in danger resulted from that decision when picking up the maps from the Merchant League.  Coming up the stairs a couple of guards attacked him, but I assumed they would be quickly mown down.  However, the stair way seemed to offer them some cover and they not only survived, but both hit him simultaneously to take him down to 9 HPs.  An area transition downstairs and back up saw them try to attack someone else, but be cut down as quickly as I originally expected.

At Balduran's ship the Crew rested between levels (mainly to repair trap damage).  Coming up to the top deck Katana led the way and prevented Daese from casting before acting as the focal point for attacks while the others piled in behind.  Boss did the greatest amount of damage on Karoug with arrows of biting, though Hammer finished him off.  Only Katana was significantly wounded in that encounter, but several others took damage from the traps (one unnecessarily as I had forgotten the flame strike trap in the adjacent room was a repeating one).


Back in Ulgoth's Beard Selaad was unhappy, though not for too long.  It did take a little while to kill him as only 2 characters had +4 weapons (both non-proficient), but it was easy enough.

Stats
Boss, fighter 7, 80 HPs, 266 kills
Katana, fighter 7, 95 HPs (incl. 5 from Helm), 135 kills
Hammer, fighter 7, 82 HPs, 110 kills
2-H, fighter 7, 73 HPs, 249 kills, 1 death (lightning trap)
Axe, fighter 7, 82 HPs, 210 kills
Flail, fighter 7, 70 HPs, 185 kills
Boss has pretty much wrapped up victory in the kills contest now.  With both Meilum's bracers and the Eagle bow he has a big advantage in damage dealing over the others, which should allow him to comfortably hold on to his lead.

Edited by Grond0, 10 May 2013 - 10:20 AM.

[The Fred]

Awesome.

Blind_Visionary wrote...
RIP Ariadne. Those SCS wolves are mean when they don't run away.

Yeah, I don't have the "Realistic Wolves" installed. It's more realistic, but seems a bit too easy, as wolves are a big threat at that stage. The thing was, with her scary damage output, I kinda forgot her AC was lame; 17 Dex and only Leather leaves a bit to be desired, but Full Plate and Packing Steel is going to make me have to think about armour anyway (heavier armour makes you go slower, which is really bad in the early game).

[The Fred]

Ariadne was killed by bandits. She can fair mince through Gibberlings, but Bandits can do enough damage to be a threat, it seems.

Ariadne tried once more, this time reaching L2 thanks to the Slime Quest (and killing Karlat in melee, which was dodgy, but worked). However, Tarnesh got her. I was remembering vanilla, where he uses Horror (against which she would be immune) but he used Sleep instead, then killed her with staff and Magic Missiles. Again, I should have known better, but I've been taking more risks than usual in the interests of testing the limits of the Cavalier. The problem is that with throwing daggers and axes so expensive, she really can't use ranged weapons, so she can either take something in melee or has to flee.