16394 replies to this topic

[Blackraven]

This morning I made some progress before duty called, but I forgot to start FRAPS (the software I need to make screenshots because for some reason Windows 8 doesn't allow me to take normal screenshots using prt scr). It's a bit of shame, because there were some interesting moments for Elaim.

Edit: added screenshots I thought I didn't have...

 

***

At nearly 20k XP from lvl 8, Elaim traveled up north to the Ankheg-infested area, and with a scroll of PfAcid (bought at the High Hedge), an oil of speed and a couple of healing potions, he slew most of the bugs in their nest, meleeing both those that attacked in ranged mode and the melee attacking Ankhegs (with charge and retreat tactics). Traps helped as well. He must have killed about ten of them in the nest and above ground.

Spoiler

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...de9c18f8f4.jpg"/>

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...de9c18f8f4.jpg"/>

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...d6f98b1e93.jpg"/>

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...7019ff436b.jpg"/>

Elaim brought Brun’s son's body to the heartbroken farmer, and he accepted to kill allegedly wicked Tenya for the vindictive fishermen but changed his mind when he heard Tenya’s side of the story. Tenya's bowl was retrieved and Sonner was slain for his crimes (and for the Flail +1) after he had gone hostile.

Elaim tracked Bassilus down, carefully scouted the area, observed the priest and placed seven traps just outside his stone circle. He preventively quaffed a potion of freedom, which must have inspired the priest to not start with a Hold Person but with a Flamestrike. It fried Elaim almost completely, leaving him with 2 puny HP.

Spoiler

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...2b156447c0.jpg"/>

The Dwarf retreated, hid in shadows, and brought his health back to a reasonable level with a few potions and with his innate Bhaal-heal. Bassilus followed only for a bit, triggered some but not all of Elaim's traps, and healed himself. His health status remained at 'Injured' though. Elaim showed himself again and backstabbed for a lousy 11 damage. It caused the priest to follow him further, trigger the Dwarf's traps and die.

Spoiler

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...d91751d5ea.jpg"/>

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...7d0adf8d53.jpg"/>

Zargal and Malkax were also dealt with before Elaim traveled to Beregost to claim the 5k GP bounty. The reward and the sale of loot allowed him to purchase the Claw of Kazgaroth. This isn’t a great item for a Thief, even a 20 CON Dwarf, but the AC bonus, especially that against missiles, was more than welcome what with the Kobolds and the Bandits that awaited Elaim. His XP had increased to almost 70k, and killing a Baby Wyvern in Nashkel and Zordral, using traps at different spots, at the Nashkel Carnival made the Dwarf reach the much desired level 8. With the +1 DEX from his ioun stone, Elaim's Find Traps skill was now at 50, his Set Traps at 80, his Move Silently at 125 (145 with Boots of Stealth). He hasn't invested in other skills yet, though his 15 HiS is improved by 30 thanks to Boots of Stealth and Shadow Armor.

Elaim then went to the Nashkel Mines. The number of Kobolds there dazzled him. He snuck past them when possible; but had to dispatch one group with a well placed special trap.

Spoiler

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...5c0ec85baa.jpg"/>

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...e0e4fc5fe6.jpg"/>

When he entered Mulahey's lair, he decided to proactively place a few traps, but he had barely set his second successful trap (one attempt had failed) when Mulahey appeared out of nowhere. Immediate stealth before the dialogue triggered allowed him to place one more trap. 

Spoiler

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...168558fa4b.jpg"/>

When the traps went off they killed a number of Kobolds, and injured Mulahey up to the point where his morale failed him. He fled outside. Elaim followed him, and found him no longer panicked. He quaffed a potion of freedom to make sure he wouldn't get held (and Mulahey did indeed cast Hold Person twice). With his bow and arrows he felled the Half-Orc.

Spoiler

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...1506414854.jpg"/>

Back in Nashkel Elaim relied on the guards to kill Nimbul, and he killed Neira himself. He received Berrun Ghastkill's reward and sold most of the spoils of his latest adventures. In Beregost, he bought the Amulet of Protection +1. (It stacks with his Shadow Armor in my setup. In my last playthrough, with Urval, I allowed myself this stacking because the other, charged amulets such as the Greenstone Amulet and the Necklace of Missiles are all superexpensive and come with almost no charges, so they aren't really worth spending the gold on).

 

Elaim is now going to have a word with Tranzig.

[Aasim]

 Windows 8 doesn't allow me to take normal screenshots using prt scr

Have you tried alt+prt scr? 

[Grimwald the Wise]

With my computer it is shift/prtScrn also windows 8.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Sad to see that Grond0, that's two deaths in quite a short time....

Grimwald, I agree with your view on mods such as Dark Horizons: ultimately one can manage the balance issues stemming from OP items by not using those items. Btw did you remove the level cap? Or did you mod your Assassin? x5 backstab in BG1 is not vanilla.
Btw did you get an error message when your game crashed? If so, maybe you copy the details of that message and google for a possible solution. Hope you can resolve this, your Assassin was doing very well, and I would liked to seem him in SoA.
 

 

I play Tutu and my assassin is an introduced mod. Error message was "Your game has ceased to run" or similar. That usually happens when you have a corrupted area file or miss-named area file. I did uninstall a mod. That could have led to the second scenario.

[Blackraven]

@Aasim abd Grimwald, I've tried the alt, alt gr, shift and ctrl in combination with prt scr, but I only get a screenshot from the screen "behind" the game (e.g. desktop). I've kind of accepted it, as FRAPS works very well. All I need to do is not forget to start it

@Grimwald, ok without a specific error code it's going to be difficult to identify the cause of your game crashes. If you're going to reinstall, you could copy your current save file into your new save map (but I'd only do that if you're going to install the same assassin mod as the one you're currently using).
Also, in order to reduce the probability of bugs and crashes, and I'm speaking from experience because I've had my share of those, you might consider imposing a maxmium number of mods. It's just so sad to have to give up a playtrough you're enjoying, just because the game crashes.

[Grimwald the Wise]

@Aasim abd Grimwald, I've tried the alt, alt gr, shift and ctrl in combination with prt scr, but I only get a screenshot from the screen "behind" the game (e.g. desktop). I've kind of accepted it, as FRAPS works very well. All I need to do is not forget to start it

 

I presume that you know to find it in a folder called ScrnShot in your game folder?

[Blackraven]

Thank you Grimwald, thanks to your above comment I just discovered a vast folder with well over a 1,000 screenshots in it LOL. 
Has the game always automatically created a ScrnShot map, in earlier Windows versions as well? Either way I feel a bit foolish now...   
But honestly, thanks my friend. Maybe I'll upload some of the screenshots that I had wanted to include in my previous post. Edit: just uploaded screenshots.

[Grond0]

Thank you Grimwald, thanks to your above comment I just discovered a vast folder with well over a 1,000 screenshots in it LOL. 

Treasure trove indeed!  Perhaps one thing worth adding is that the screenshot automatically taken by the game is not identical to the actual picture on the screen - for instance it doesn't show any text / icons highlighted by hovering the mouse.  There may be occasions where you want this sort of information - and you can get it.  After using the prtscr button the computer has an image in memory.  If you open up paint or an equivalent programme and press ctrl-v it will appear.

[Blackraven]

Thanks Grond0! The treasure trove has been emptied already
Pasting in paint and saving in jpg is how I used to work.... I'll remember your tip though, because sometimes I do want to highlight something with the mouse.

Meanwhile a final update on Elaim:

Elaim dealt with the bandits (killing only Hakt for his bow) and made it into Cloakwood. He had pretty much cleared the Spiders area, protected by Free Action and PfPoison.
Hidden in shadows, he had just entered Centeol's den, but after emptying the stash with Chelak's body and Spiders' Bane, a RL distraction interfered with my gameplay. Amongst the many messages in the action window notifying me of attacking foes, I missed the message that Elaim was encumbered (which I could have known, as Chelak's body is heavy). Thus it happened that I was too busy wondering about possible pathfinding issues or even bugs to have Elaim quaff a potion of invisibility or something, and before I realized the problem, it was too late.

 

****

So, back to the Priest of Talos. A few days back I gave about 4.5 million XP to Urval, to see what kind od spells and abilities he would get at epic levels. I ran into an issue with the elemental shapeshift paws (they weren't equippable, but that's something I've solved using NI).One possible future issue remains: one of the HLAs is blanked out and not selectable at leveling up. I don't know what HLA that's supposed to be (pursuant to Divine Remix). I hope to be able to solve it and if I'm not, I might assign another fitting and balanced HLA to my Stormlord. Anyway, this is all very tentative, let's first see if my new character is able to even make it into HLA territory...

 

Here's Valar:

Spoiler

<img src="http://cd8ba0b44a15c...98915208ea.jpg"/>

 

I'm even going to roleplay him a bit, thanks in large part to Vhailor's soundset (from PS:T) that I've recently downloaded. I assigned it to Valar so that he has a number of amazing lines in a mean voice, like: "Mercy is a shield used by the weak," and "Justice is the blade by which the planes shall be cleansed." In order to align Valar's Chaotic Evilness with Vhailor's more Lawful Neutral comments and with the latter's references to his axe, I'll roleplay my Cleric as a highly aggressive crusader type who considers himself the righteous enforcer of the realms' one true God's will, and I'll allow him to use axes. I don't think I'll be very extensive in my journaling (it's still a no-reload run), but I might include nice RP aspects every once in a while. Will hopefully post about some good progress soon.

[Aasim]

 

I'm even going to roleplay him a bit, thanks in large part to Vhailor's soundset (from PS:T) that I've recently downloaded

Where is that download link?!

[Grond0]

Meanwhile a final update on Elaim:

a RL distraction interfered with my gameplay. 

I know the feeling .  Better luck with Valar - I'm expecting to see him achieve ascension to join his fellow valar (minor gods in Tolkien's universe).

[Grimwald the Wise]

Well I haven't been able to solve my issue with getting in to the thieves' lair, but I HAVE completed the Dark Horizons Mod. I thought that if I am going to install without it, then I should at least try to finish it. The first time I died!

 

So that would have been the end of my run anyway.

 

The second time I succeeded.

 

That was VERY satisfying. Now I know why they give you all the good equipment!! You need it!!

 

I won't spoil it for any of you who haven't tried the mod. I thoroughly recommend that you try it, particularly if you are of a masochistic bent!

 

I was wondering whether to import my character as he was into BG II but since he died I won't. The final battle in Dark Horizons is just as hard if not harder than the one against Sarevok!!

 

It does overpower you for the rest of the game so after completing it I would recommend that you stash the equipment somewhere. Who needs forty-four sets of full plate mail anyway?

 

I am wondering if the outcome would have been different if I had been True Neutral. The conversation implied that it could have been, but I think that the outcome would still have been the same.

 

The error message that I got was: Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and will notify you if a solution is available.

 

I took the precaution of using the CLUA command to get to that area before doing any more modding. It worked, so it wasn't a problem with the are file. I will probably never know.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Blackraven you were right about the experience cap. The Drizzt Saga raises it for very good reasons.

[Blackraven]

@Aasim: here's the link: http://www.sorcerers..._soundsets4.php

@Grond0: thanks for your sympathies. I had to think of you when Elaim died, because I remembered similar things had happened to you. I didn't know about Valar as Tolkien's deities. In D&D Dwarvish, Val- is a prefix that's supposed to mean Dragon / Magic / Magical, and the suffix -ar Guard /Guardian. I used the name not because it describes Valar's character but because it somewhat sounded like Vhailor and it reminded me of GRR Martins' Valar Morghulis (All men must die). Indeed Valar wouldn't mind ascending

@Grimwald: sorry your Assassin died in the end... will you try your hand at another rogue?
As to the mods you mentioned, I might try Dark Horizons some time for the challenges it poses though atm I don't feel like messing with my current install..

[Aasim]

Thanks man. Appreciated.

[corey_russell]

Corarcher the Archer entering Trilogy No-Reload Challenge...

 

Corarcher has MP friends - most of his friends are class/race combos I don't use. For example, I always use dwarven/gnomish fighters, so this time it's a halfling fighter. I always use paladins/warriors, so this time the other tank is a ranger. I never use totemic druids, swashbucklers, or jesters, so they are part of the party as well. We've made it to about level 4. Without meaning to, I noticed if I give the INT tome to Hanna she can dual to mage - I doubt I will do that, would like her spike traps, but it's an option in any case. Oh wait a minute, I think the jester gets spike trap HLAs, maybe I should give the idea more thought, will have to think about it.

 

 

[Aasim]

 I think the jester gets spike trap HLAs

He does.

Undocumented in kit description, his song get better with levels.

Levels 1-14: Enemies must Save vs. Spell with a +2 bonus each round or be Confused for that round
Levels 15-19: Same chance of Confusion as above, plus enemies must Save vs. Spell each round or be Slowed for that round
Levels 20+: Same chances of Confusion & Slow, must also Save vs. Spells with a +2 bonus each round or be knocked Unconscious for that round

 

P.S.

If you pick "Enhanced song" HLA it "overwrites" his own song, thus he becomes essentialy same as any other bard.

[Grond0]

Sounds like an interesting combination Corey - best of luck.

 

Toxic{2} - dwarf kensai (update 1)

 

This doubly toxic character made a start this morning before breakfast.  I was playing him pretty sedately and genuinely risk-free.  As a result he's had no trouble - never being exposed to harmful spells or more than scratched, so there's not a lot to describe

 

He's done quite a bit of my normal non-TotSC encounters, though not yet the sirines at the lighthouse or the ankhegs.  Mulahey failed to get past the whirling axes in order to talk, but Tranzig is still waiting in Beregost for his nemesis to come calling.

 

I took very few screenshots, but this one (on the way to retrieve the tome at Durlag's Tower) was nicely timed.

 

I took this one as I don't usually bother with the Revenant.  However, as I was being careful with Toxic he had been to Ulgoth's Beard much earlier than my solo characters normally make it.  As a result he had the ring of free action to guard against the possibility of being held and the Revenant found his prediction turning on himself.

 

Once again Toxic has good HPs at this stage, which will I dare say prove useful at some point.

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 62 - (3rd and final update)

Vary, human transmuter (Grond0) & Loryl, half-elf transmuter (Gate70)

 

Most of my gaming time today was spent in the attempt to get this pair of mages past Sarevok.  To cut to the chase - they failed .

 

Up to Sarevok himself things had gone reasonably well.  Loryl was enjoying himself with a few risky strategies and paid the price with a couple of deaths, but Vary hadn't seemed to be in too much trouble.  In the temple Sarevok was pulled out with a couple of sling shots, while some summons were provided with the aim of distracting Semaj.  That failed when his tattoo of power was released at Vary, despite him being the furthest away - but Lady Luck shone on him when the 5% MR from his robe kicked in.

 

Sarevok was briefly held in a web at that point (Vary had cast malison on him, which gave him a decent chance of getting stuck), which provided the opportunity to damage him a bit.  However, he then broke free and chased after Vary.  The latter had the brain wave of dragging Sarevok away a bit with the intention of then using a potion of invisibility to keep him out of the way while Semaj was being dealt with.  Regrettably he didn't properly communicate his intentions and, while he was fishing around in his potion case, Loryl unpaused and attacked Sarevok.  The big man gleefully accepted the opportunity to pummel his victim and a few seconds later Vary's career of transmutations ended with one final change.

[corey_russell]

@Gate70/Grond0: Sorry to hear that guys - would have been very interested to see this duo in BG 2/ToB. Try again?

[Grond0]

Afraid not Corey - after the end of the previous run we rolled up a new random pairing ready for next time.

 

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 63 - (update 1)

Stalwart, dwarven defender (Grond0) & Dasha, elf mage/thief (Gate70)

 

This is a well-balanced mini-party, with a quality tank supported by both thieving and arcane skills.  That should provide the opportunity for quicker progress than the all arcane previous run - and hopefully go rather further.

 

 

Stats:

Stalwart, dwarven defender 1, 17 HPs, 0 kills

Dasha, mage 1 / thief 1, 7 HPs, 0 kills, 0 deaths

[Grimwald the Wise]

@Grimwald: sorry your Assassin died in the end... will you try your hand at another rogue?

As to the mods you mentioned, I might try Dark Horizons some time for the challenges it poses though atm I don't feel like messing with my current install..

 

 

I was tossing up between a Heartwarder of Sune, A Blackguard and a Gentleman.

 

Since the Gentleman kit is so unlike any other, I decided to give it a try. The big danger is doing something evil accidentally and losing the advantages of the kit. It is even easier to do that that for a Paladin to fall. Only one evil action required.

Gentleman Jim, Tiefling Gentleman:

Str 18 Dex 19, Con 18, Int 6, Wis 5, Cha 16.

Having helped Sir Trun Jim was a hero even before leaving Candlekeep.

 

HE hasted using potion in the "Practice Room" The first assassin took so long to fall that I thought the potion was going to run out before dealing with the second. No Dark Horizons this time so no Mendas to fight.

 

Just got hold of Joia's ring. No problems with the mod so far.

[Grond0]

Toxic{2} - dwarf kensai (update 2)

 

Toxic easily butchered his way through the Bandit Camp thanks to his high protection against missiles.  His firebreath potion in the tent wasn't quite as effective as usual and he was tagged both by an acid arrow and poisoned by Hakt.  That took him down to about 50% of HPs which is easily the lowest % he's been so far.

 

Before going to the Cloakwood he went back to Ulgoth's Beard and bought the invisibility ring for a thumping 35k gold.  That makes the Cloakwood mine much safer though, so was worth it.  Toxic just ran through the Cloakwood - his ring of free action negating the web traps - to the mine.  A shield amulet charge and potion of absorption left Drasus needing criticals (which he didn't get), while the mages died in fireballs.

 

The invisibility ring was used for the first time to sneak down to Daveorn's quarters.  He burned his necklace in seeing off the battle horrors (not a problem as he has no real further use for it) before a couple of potions of magic blocking proved too much for Daveorn.  Toxic got his last level as a reward for flooding the mine.

 

He's about to do a quick tour of the realm to maximise his reputation. 

[Grond0]

Toxic{2} - dwarf kensai (update 3)

 

While doing mainly reputation quests, Toxic did stop off at the lighthouse area to use a potion of clarity on the sirines and a potion of absorption on the golems (allowing him to kill all 3 without being hit).  Similarly a charge of the shield amulet allowed him to smack down all the ankhegs in the nest without any damage.

 

With reputation up to 20 Toxic bought the Claw and Horn of Kazgaroth and moved on to the City.  The only things he wanted there at this stage were the tomes and they were collected without fuss - Ramazith, Jalantha and Marek all failing to cast a single spell.

 

After sneaking into the Iron Throne using his invisibility ring Toxic was sent back to Candlekeep.  After looting the tombs he dodged the dopplegangers, but attacked Prat's gang to get their throwing axe - a few well placed blows accounting for them.  He'd already taken a potion of invulnerability (giving him a death saving throw of -4) and he relied on that to make his way past the basilisks.

[Grond0]

Toxic{2} - dwarf kensai (4th and final update)

 

Back in Baldur's Gate Toxic tracked down the Cloak of Balduran and swapped that for the Cloak of Displacement.  He then buffed up prior to Slythe, who failed to get a hit through his defenses.  

 

He moved immediately on to the palace where 2 of the dopplegangers ran from his horror, while the others were quickly cut down - both dukes survived.

 

The inhabitants of the maze inflicted just a single scratch between them before Toxic bypassed the Undercity party and moved on to the temple.  Inside, Toxic pulled Sarevok out alone and ran him around for a while throwing axes.  Unfortunately Sarevok then appeared to slip down a crack in the floor and disappear.  Direct damage would have got him to move, but as I expected he ignored Bhaal horror.  Without any fireball availability of his own Toxic resorted to using a protection from magic scroll then buffing with potions before showing himself to the others.

 

Tazok came out first and was axed to death before Angelo appeared.  As soon as he did some damage to Sarevok Toxic took a potion of invisibility and waited for Sarevok to take his revenge.  Semaj was buffed, but hadn't moved from the dais, so Toxic threw a few more axes at Sarevok and then closed for the kill.

 

He reported back to Belt and has just arrived in Athkatla.