16394 replies to this topic

[Aasim]

@ Supernovice,

 

You have a great voice.

Seconded. 

[The Fred]

I've playtested that mod when it got EE compatible for Echon. It's a great mod if you're into PnP - but it's virtually incompatible with everything else. I'd definetely reccomend it, at least for one run. 

It's (afaik) the only mod which makes basilisks, winter wolves and spiders really, really dangerous as their PnP incarnations.

And yes, if you haven't played it before, it's probably not really doable as a No-Reload. When you get to know the creatures (like Death Dogs abilities and similar stuff) it's probably a tad easier than SCS.

Oh I didn't know it had been updated for EE. That's cool.

 

Yeah, I like it, and it's a bit of a step up from vanilla, but there are things like poison doing all its damage at once (so Ettercaps are basically one-hit kills) which I'm not so keen on. I appreciate the PnP-like-ness of it, but PnP 2nd Ed was pretty brutal and not great for no-reloading, from what little I know of it.

 

It's worth trying, and I'm slightly tempted to go find it again and try a no-reload on it, though I think I'd die atrociously. It's more of a stand-alone thing, though, being that very little else will work with it.

 

Basilisks are weird. I think their gaze is just a wand-like attack; I would have expect some kind of instant-use spell-like ability thing. Thus, being invisible should block them (whereas really, them being invisible is what should block it...) I'm not sure in fact if things like Mirror Image don't, too.

[Aasim]

 

Basilisks are weird. I think their gaze is just a wand-like attack; I would have expect some kind of instant-use spell-like ability thing. Thus, being invisible should block them (whereas really, them being invisible is what should block it...) I'm not sure in fact if things like Mirror Image don't, too.

Actually, their Gaze is easy to avoid with spells/potions. They kill you just by being near you with their breath in FotD, like in PnP.

[Aasim]

Lasstha, final BG1 update

 

I'll skip right to the good part (rest was done with Skull Traps, backstabs and Ice Storms)- Sarevok battle. As noted previously, I have the "non-SCS-improved" version of this. I haven't really fought it in ages. And - I completely forgot that in vanilla version there are traps there. This was costly.

 

 

Some poor melee skills my protagonist had proved to be no match for Angelo in melee  - he whacked three times, hit all and it was done.

 

[Dyara]

Sarya, elven Jester, NoReload take 20 (final update - part 1)

It had been a while since the last update and reason is that (besides the usual 'not enough time because of RL...) I wasn't really happy anymore both with char and with playthrough... the main purpose of this playthrough had been the Coran romance and since I screwed that up completely I was about to abandon Sarya. But then I decided to continue at least till Sarya reaches level 9 to see if the Jester song becomes at least slightly useful then. There isn't much roleplaying anymore... just the important battles...

In the previous update Sarya and her party had escaped through the catacombs of Candlekeep and had made it to Beregost planning to finish Durlag's Tower next.

Some weeks ago the party had explored the upper levels of Durlag's Tower and also the first level of the labyrinth below the tower. To gain access to the lower levels they just had to battle some dwarven warders. The party waited in the corridor between sitting room and servant's quarters when Coran (wearing the boots of speed) delivered the bottle of wine to Love and fled then with only Fear following but losing Coran somewhere between the wine press and engine room. While the companions still discussed how to proceed Avarice stabbed Sarja in the back but didn't live to tell about it...

Spoiler

Fear became party's next victim...

Spoiler

Battling Pride became much more difficult as none of the front-liners (Jaheira, Dorn, Khalid) stood a chance against him. Fortunately Coran was able to lure Pride away from the heavily injured party members and finished him with lots of backstabs...

Spoiler

As backstabbing had worked that great Coran did the same with the final warder...

Spoiler

Taking the ward stone from Love's dead body opened the next level where all the doppelgangers were killed more or less easily. Then Dorn died fighting the Dwarven Doom Guards and Khalid became killed by a Greater Wyvern. As Jaheira had used the only Raise Dead scroll on Dorn the party had to go back to Nashkell to raise Khalid.

Here I had thought about abandoning this playthrough as both deaths were just lack of concentration, lack of interest in this playthrough. As I've said I had decided to continue and so the party went via Gullykin, Firewine, Ulcaster (where the Wolf of Ulcaster was slain), Spiderwood back to Ulgoth's Beard where the party agreed to help the wizard Shandalar. At the Ice Island an invisible Coran dispelled any mirror images while an invisible Sarya used her song to distract/confuse the mages...

Spoiler

Khalid (protected by 70% magic resistance) fought Andris, Beyn and Marcellus while Dorn, Jaheira and Edwin waited at the entrance (but went outside when Andris closed in on them)...

Spoiler

Andris' attempt to escape was futile...

Spoiler

The other mages met the same fate...

Spoiler

... allowing the party to return to Ulgoth's Beard. At Baldur's Gate Sarya learned about what had happened in the meantime... Scar assassinated, Duke Entar killed, Duke Eltan diseased and Sarevok becoming the new Grand Duke. On their way to save Duke Eltan the party was recognized by a flaming fist mercenary but thankfully Jaheira was able to charm him...

Spoiler

... and Duke Eltan was saved from the false priest. Also at the Iron Throne Tower Cythandria and her bodyguards were silenced (with Jaheira killing both Ungh and Argh) ...

Spoiler

At the undercellars Sarya seduced Slythe and Krystin (or was it the other way round) and lured them in one of the small chambers...

Spoiler

... where a distracted and confused Krystin started to attack her husband...

Spoiler

... who then in search for more pleasant company (Sarya had turned invisible) was killed by the bard's companions...

Spoiler

and Krystin was eager to join him...

Spoiler

When they left the Undercellars Sarya remembered Mendas and as there was some time till the inauguration of the new Grand Duke the party went to Ulgoth's Beard again.

At the Isle of Balduran the (greater) wolfweres were dispatched easily (despite a dagger and a bastard sword being the party's only weapon that could harm the greater wolfwere - and no-one was proficient in using these weapons)...

Spoiler

... only Daese proved to be a small problem...

Spoiler

On their return to the village the party was betrayed, the sea charts were stolen and the party had to fight their way through lots of werewolves...

Spoiler

... until they made it to the ship where they were attacked by Kaishas Gan (and lots of werewolves as it took quite a while to kill her as the party had some problems to attack her - despite having now three weapons that could harm her - of course still no-one was proficient in using them) ...

Spoiler

Back at Ulgoth's Beard Mendas wasn't pleased when he heard what had happened at the island but agreed immediately to join his wife...

Spoiler

To be continued...

[Dyara]

Sarya, elven Jester, NoReload take 20 (final update - part 2)

Instead of returning to Baldur's Gate however, the party decided to go to Durlag's Tower first. The remaining Greater Wyverns were killed (the party didn't bother fighting the skeletons or the ghasts/ashirukurus in the maze garden), also the challenges of Ice, Fire, Earth were done easily. After resting the party did the final challenge of air. Again (as in my first SCS playthrough) the party wasn't teleported to the chess board so some bug fixing was in order.

Apparently the opponent had the white pieces as he attacked first (without waiting for the speaker to explain the rules - no surprise he didn't obey them)...

Spoiler

... but Sarya and Edwin answered with web and grease spells, followed by some fireballs, bringing the white advance to a temporary halt...

Spoiler

... forcing the opponent to sacrifice his queen...

Spoiler

... and after some more fighting...

Spoiler

... it was just king vs party ...

Spoiler

... checkmate ...

Spoiler

No problems on the next level then and also the Demon Knight wasn't much of a challenge...

Spoiler

Next stop was the Duchal Palace in Baldur's Gate. Both Liia (went invisible in the doppelganger fight) and Belt survived (went invisible when attacked by Sarevok)...

Spoiler

Instead of going after Sarevok Sarya and her companions went to Ulgoth's Beard where they were attacked by lots of cultists...

Spoiler

... and ...

Spoiler

... and finally...

Spoiler

And so the Tanari was next. The idea was to immediately kill the mage while Coran (the only one immune to the gaze attack) keeps Aec'Letec busy. But as usual things don't go exactly as planned. However the mage died quickly...

Spoiler

But then Dorn became paralyzed (and Edwin wasn't able to dispel it quickly enough - some time was lost as I had overlooked that Edwin was silenced, also I hadn't thought about using arrows of dispelling) and killed while the party had some troubles to kill the cultist quickly...

Spoiler

... and then Coran shared the half-orc's fate. At least the party now could use fireballs to kill the remaining cultists quickly...

Spoiler

... and while distracted by some wolves the Tanari went down as well (not before paralyzing Sarya) ...

Spoiler

The party returned to Baldur's Gate and in the Undercity the mercenaries were killed using arrows of detonation...

Spoiler

After a well-deserved rest in front of the temple of Bhaal the party went inside (invisible and all but Khalid and Jaheira protected by non-detection). At first I had some problems to get a grip on the battle because the five always stayed together. Sarya then tried her jester song and while she successfully confused Diarmid (quite often), Semaj (sometimes) and Angelo (sometimes) it hadn't any real consequences (Sarevok just ignored their attacks on him)...

Spoiler

But finally with the help of some summons Angelo got separated and was killed quickly...

Spoiler

Then I made a mistake unfortunately. Coran tried to poison Semaj but got poisoned himself and also heavily injured (should have used an immunity to poison scrolls on him first). Instead of quaffing a potion of invisibility right away he tried to get away (he was wearing the boots of speed and also had used an oil of speed) and use an antidote then. Unfortunately that didn't worked, he got hit some more, moral failure followed and then the party could just watch him getting killed (he would have died from the poison anyway). Damn... but then I saw that Semaj was somehow close to death (perhaps Coran had hit him, perhaps confused Diarmid had). So Edwin summoned some wolves for distraction and then Khalid (protected by immunity to poison) shot arrows of acid at the mage killing him quickly...

Spoiler

... and went invisible right away. Now with the two spellcasters gone the fight was pretty much won. The (invisible) party buffed up (immunity to undead, potions of strength, oil of speeds,...), Edwin again summoned some wolves for distraction, Dorn, Khalid and Jaheira surrounded Diarmid and when Sarevok and Tazok went after the wolves they whacked Diarmid to death...

Spoiler

... and while there they did the same to Tazok...

Spoiler

Now it was just Sarevok and in a fight one vs. five he stood no chance (as the party had lots of potions of extra healing / potions of invisibility) and went down quickly...

Spoiler

Sarya: Jester(9); HP 77/86; XP 167,702; Kills 290; Kills XP 115,845; Greater Basilisk (7,000); Items (i.a.): Deep Red Ioun Stone, Elven Chain Mail, Legacy of the Master, The Amplifier, Whistling Sword+2, Protector of the Dryads+2, Ring of the Princes+1, Algernon's Cloak, Greagan's Harp (Domination 3x/day)
Dorn: Blackguard(7); HP 66/80; XP 167,701; Kills 447; Kills XP 292,104; Greater Basilisk (7,000); Items (i.a.): Helmet of Charm Protection, Full Plate Mail, Legacy of the Master, The World's Edge+3, Army Scythe+1, The Guards Ring+2, Cloak of Balduran
Jaheira: Fighter(7)/Druid(8); HP 77+5/89+5; XP 167,700; Kills 258; Kills XP 155,445; Ungh (8,000); Items (i.a.): Helm of Balduran, Ankheg Plate Mail; Shield of the Falling Stars+1; Brawling Hands; Honorary Ring of Sune; Amulet of Spell Warding; Root of the Problem+1; Sling of Unerring Accuray, The Spirit's Shield+2
Khalid: Fighter(8); HP 82/104; XP 167,700; Kills 444; Kills XP 238,040; Aec'Letec (16,000); Items: Gift of Peace, Full Plate Mail, Hands of Takkok, Ring of Princes+1, Varscona+2, Composite Longbow+1, Cloak of Displacement
Edwin: Conjurer(9); HP 49/54; XP 167,699; Kills 118; Kills XP 32,551; Andarthe (4,000); Items: Ioun Stone (INT+2), Robe of the Evil Archmagi, Xarmous's Second Sword Arm, Quarterstaff+1, Sling of Unerring Accuray, Evermemory, Cloak of Protection+1
Coran: Fighter(7)/Thief(8); HP 53/59; XP 163,299; Kills 238; Kills XP 174,553; Demon Knight (15,000); Items: Cowl of Acuity, Shadow Armor+3, Dale's Protector, Masterbelt, Shadow's Blade+3 or Harrower+1, Dead Shot+2, Whispers of Silence, Worn Whispers
 

Somewhat funny to see the XP in EEkeeper. In BGEE the XP are really capped (but not at 161,000) while in the original game there was no cap (you just couldn't level past 161,000 XP).

 

To be continued in Amn (maybe) ...

[Dyara]

@Aasim: Sorry to hear about Lasstha' demise  .

[Grond0]

Shame to see Lasstha fall at the final hurdle, but well done with Sarya, Dyara.

[Alesia_BH]

Condolences Aasim.

 

Excellent work Dyara! You have BG1 down.

 

It would be wonderful to see you continue on to Amn this time. Will you?

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 81 - (update 2)

Drizzl, human blackguard (Grond0) & Mhae, human cavalier (Gate70)

 

The pals made some decent progress yesterday to finish their initial preparations.

 

They started by heading for the sirines to test out Mhae's immunity to charm.  She could have been confused by the sirines' touch, but they were dying rapidly of poison and none of them managed to hit her.  

Spoiler

The golems did rather better, with Mhae being forced to take a potion to survive 3 hits from the second golem attacked, but all ended well there as well.

Spoiler

 

On the way back to civilisation Drizzl was tempted to have a go at the Doomsayer, but ultimately left it alone.  Instead, after selling loot, the duo took a trip through the Cloudpeaks on their way to pick up another tome.  With that safely bagged it felt like time to get on with the main quest.  The kobolds were no great trouble, although Mhae did require a little bit of healing after triggering the magic missile trap on the way to Mulahey's cave.  The cleric himself was scared by a couple of poisoned arrows and failed to start a conversation.

Spoiler

 

Moving swiftly on now towards the Bandit Camp, the amazons proved to be amateurs.  Nimbul was not nimble enough.  

Spoiler

Tranzig's appearance was transient.  Tarnesh's reputation (and his body) was tarnished.

Spoiler

 

At the Camp a few arrows hit Mhae, but nothing dangerous and Taugosz swiftly died of poison.  

Spoiler

Inside the main tent Venkt also turned green - and not from envy - leaving his friends helpless.

Spoiler

 

After selling goods at High Hedge, Melicamp received a helping hand before the duo travelled back north.  Saving Farmer Brun's son got reputation to 20 and allowed some cheap shopping at Ulgoth's Beard.  The duo are about to start their crossing of the Cloakwood.

 

Stats:

Drizzl, blackguard 6, 67 HPs, 144 kills

Mhae, cavalier 6, 65 HPs, 83 kills, 1 death

[Dyara]

@Alesia: Thank you . And yes, I will. I've bg2 installed for 4 or 5 weeks now (and haven't played yet ... besides some testing... char creation, import of a save,...).

[Aasim]

Gratz Dyara!!! GL further. (PS: love the screen with Angelo's death  )

[Gate70]

Quad multiplayer attempt 4
Session 5.
 
Lothander is reluctant to hand his Boots of Speed over to a better cause. Like he had a choice.

Spoiler

Larze may not have followed what was going on, insects were distracting him terribly. Attacks were coming in from all directions and the party emerge unscathed.

Spoiler

Marek didn't last too long, some lag enabling two stalker backstabs before he reacts, and two party members gaining xp before he died!

Spoiler

Durlags Tower Battle Horrors took a brief pasting.

Spoiler

 

Some ghasts inside almost got a free lunch (note to self, don't answer the phone while "safe" without telling the other players I am AFK).
 
Back to the city to sort out a cadre of doppelgangers.

Spoiler

An Ogre Mage found he was up to his neck in it.

Spoiler

The Iron Throne exploration briefly stalled when Corheal remembering he hadn't rested, this on the 4th floor. Strofe suggested a rooftop nap before battle, Brazil using a potion of invisibility with the others using Sanctuary and stealth. Multiplayer stealth played a dirty trick and Wewa became visible as soon as she moved upstairs. Zhalimar Cloudewulfe ignored the fact that she went downstairs to shoot three arrows after her, a second multiplayer glitch. The party tried to recover but one of the four adventurers stood their ground and bit the marble 5th floor.

Spoiler

Go on then, get a few free hits in - you cheat.
 
Strofe and Brazil have followed Wewa downstairs and set about two enemies but they follow her down a second flight of stairs. Corheal looks to be settled in upstairs.

 
Gardush focuses on Brazil, so Wewa gets her bow working and Strofe runs a series of shadowy strikes. Corheal takes 1-2 rounds of 'one stands alone against overwhelming odds' and is down before the rest of the party can think about racing up two sets of stairs.

 
Gardush switches to Strofe regularly, injuring him but each time the stalker hides Gardush returns to Brazil.

After a quick temple visit, the party returned for round two without resting. Strofe retrieved a pile of equipment first so everybody could go up prepared. He stood waiting while the others debated tactics then rashly backstabbed Diyab before running for the back room and hiding. He gulps a potion or two and finds mayhem has ensued as the rest of the party have tried to mount a rescue.

Spoiler

 
Wewa has been caught by a horror spell but Strofe and his speedy boots are able to convince Zhalimar Cloudewulfe to switch targets.

 
Aasim gets a blade in the back, meaning Zhalimar gets his own taste of 5th floor 'one stands alone'.

 
There's no way out for the mercenary leader, but Corheal adds insult to injury and successfully holds him.

Hey, nobody died that time. On to Candlekeep, Wewa clearing all the traps without springing any. Nice job.

Back to Candlekeep, grabbing a ring from Koveras and reporting in for arrest so Tethtoril can send the party down into the cellars and catacombs.

Strofe ran to the wrong place to hide here and some spiders decided to help Prat and his gang, but too late.

Spoiler

Corheal uses a Protection from Petrification scroll (4th floor, Ducal Palace) to help his skeletons down two more Greater Basilisks then as Strofe lines Diarmid up for a backstab he finds he is not quite quick enough as another party member has come into sight.
 
Slythe had a bone to pick with Corheal, finding out the hard way that the priest of Lathander had brought four spair sets. Slythe tried his best/worst to turn them into a neat pile but ran out of energy and life force. The skeletons moved on to Krystin, Wewa shooting flamer arrows in her direction too.
 
With an invite to the Ducal Palace and the impending Coronation the party could barely contain themselves, just finding time to rest twice so Brazil wasn't tempted to bring some nymphs to the party. After speaking to Bill and the guard inside the party congregate by the eastern stairwell and decide to loiter for a week or so. They've got a Tome of Strength to read if things get too dull.
 
Gate70: Strofe, Elven Stalker 7. 260 kills (+24). Davaeorn.
Corey Russell: Corheal, Halfling Priest of Lathander 7. 82 kills (+24), 1 death. Tazok.
Grond0: Brazil, Half-Elf Fighter 6 / Druid 7. 184 kills (+20), 1 death. Greater Basilisk.
Dogdancing: Wewa, Elven Thief 8. 41 kills (+4), 1 death. Greater Basilisk.

[Golden28]

@Aasim, too bad Lasstha bit the dust, forgetting the traps there is totally something id do .. Hope to see another run from you, especially the demon summoning themed- run I re-read like 4 times, absolutely loved it!

 

Cheers

[Aasim]

@Aasim, too bad Lasstha bit the dust, forgetting the traps there is totally something id do .. Hope to see another run from you, especially the demon summoning themed- run I re-read like 4 times, absolutely loved it!

 

Cheers

Meh, I'm not that much into arcane casters actually.

I'm so used to playing "improved" Sarevok which removes the traps from there, so I figured it would be the same - fwiw; the only notable difference (between "improved" and "normal") is that Diramid doesn't spawn and you don't need to kill everyone before Sarevok is vulnerable. 

I actually think "improved Sarevok" is easier, as crazy it may sound.  

I might do something similar with Spell Revisions now, great idea. The demonic summons work differently there - it's irrelevant if you have Pro Evil or not- the moment you gate those to the battlefield they have a 15% chance to turn against you.

Makes it kind of a lottery in No-Reloads, especially if you're gating Pit Fiends....

You also don't get to choose which demon you want, you've got three things to summon:

1)Death Knight replacing Cacofiend at level 7 (this one is actually Undead, not a Demon);

2)Glabrezu at level 8 (this guy in SR has 190HP!!!)

3) the uber powerful Pit Fiend at level 9 (230HP, and a crapload of special abilities). Only mages can Gate, unlike in non-SR game; clerics can "only" summon Death Knights. 

So, you cannot get vorpalizing Balors, Yugoloths, or any other kind of demon. 

 

Anyhow, I like the idea, and I've always been relcutant to use demons with SR in No-Reloads. Sold.  I just need to figure out what party I want, roll them, and in 7 days or so I'm back. 

[Alesia_BH]

 

I actually think "improved Sarevok" is easier, as crazy it may sound.  

 

With full knowledge of the improved version and limited knowledge of the vanilla version, including ignorance of the traps, the vanilla version probably is more difficult.

 

With full knowledge of both, I'd suggest that the improved version is more difficult in the majority of cases. Diarmid's presence adds an important tactical dimension to the fight: it grants Sarevok's crew the ability to deal ranged physical damage. His presence reintroduces risk for players employing a movement based, comprehensive energy attack defense based approach. Importantly, Diarmid is a comparatively difficult asset to remove from the battlefield on account of his Protection from Magic Scroll and multiple healing potions.

 

The need to kill all of Sarevok's acolytes forces the player to contend with each of them. There are also the Skeleton Warriors, some of which, wield dispelling arrows.

 

When I find myself threatened in the Sarevok fight, it is almost invariably on account of Diarmid or the bow wielding Skeleton Warriors.

 

With knowledge of the traps they can be evaded, removed, or turned to the players advantage.

 

At the same time, I acknowledge that the comparative difficulty of the fights may differ from player to player, install to install, and party composition to party composition.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

@Aasim, too bad Lasstha bit the dust, forgetting the traps there is totally something id do .. Hope to see another run from you, especially the demon summoning themed- run I re-read like 4 times, absolutely loved it!

 

Do feel free to bring back the demon wars, Aasim. I found it a little goofy, but goofy can be good. If you enjoyed it, and if others enjoyed it, have at it!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Aasim]

Do feel free to bring back the demon wars, Aasim. I found it a little goofy, but goofy can be good. If you enjoyed it, and if others enjoyed it, have at it!

hahahhaa...it's just not the same w/o aTweaks gating (you only might see 3 vs 3 demons or similar, at least prior to Ascension).

I don't have aTweaks installed now.

I'm considering a party led by an evil Blackguard (I'd make the kit myself; I don't really like EE version of it). I just need to devise a solid party to back him up.

 

 

Diarmid's presence adds an important tactical dimension to the fight: it grants Sarevok's crew the ability to deal ranged physical damage. 

Odd, I've rarely had much trouble with him. Decent AC+Boots of Avoidance; alternatively some melee summons from wand shut him down very quickly.

Poison arrows can also work.

[Alesia_BH]

Odd, I've rarely had much trouble with him. Decent AC+Boots of Avoidance; alternatively some melee summons from wand shut him down very quickly.

Poison arrows can also work.

 

I use the same method, basically, although I don't monster spam. I rarely have trouble with him either. But I virtually never have trouble with the others. At the very least, he introduces a critical attack vector to the fight.

 

Melee attacks can be stopped cold with a movement rate advantage, magical attacks can be stopped cold with buffs. Physical ranged attack risk can be mitigated via missile weapon AC bonus granting items, including the Boots of Avoidance, the Girdle of Piercing, the Cloak of Displacement, the Claw of the Kazgaroth, and the Shield Amulet, but you still have to worry about criticals. Critical arrows are often the most dangerous threat in BG1. Diarmid and the Skeleton Warriors bring them to bear. Without them in play, there is less to worry about. Often there is nothing to worry about.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

hahahhaa...it's just not the same w/o aTweaks gating (you only might see 3 vs 3 demons or similar, at least prior to Ascension).

I don't have aTweaks installed now.

 

 

I'm aware. I meant that you should feel free to revert to your older install, if you like.

[Aasim]

Melee attacks can be stopped cold with a movement rate advantage, magical attacks can be stopped cold with buffs. Physical ranged attack risk can be mitigated via missile weapon AC bonus granting items, including the Boots of Avoidance, the Girdle of Piercing, the Cloak of Displacement, the Claw of the Kazgaroth, and the Shield Amulet, but you still have to worry about criticals. Critical arrows are often the most dangerous threat in BG1. Diarmid and the Skeleton Warriors bring them to bear. Without them in play, there is less to worry about. Often there is nothing to worry about.

My game (IR/SR) works bit differently.

- can't gain MS advantage (Sarevok is too fast for example, even if hasted my PCs can't move as quick - this is due to SR Haste no longer "hasting".)

- criticals no longer exist in a sense they do double damage on unprotected targets OR automatically hit you (this is my own tweak, nothing to do with IR). Weapons have other effects instead.

- hence, if I stack enough AC Diramid can't hit, ever. Even 20 can miss.

 

. I meant that you should feel free to revert to your older install, if you like.

1x/year is enough I think. While I believe aTweaks is probably the most technically advanced mod there is  + some stuff there is really great, there are less than stellar parts of it (Earth Elementals & Aerial Servents; to name a few which are (imo, at least) completely broken when it comes to game balance). BG2 isn't a PnP game; which includes severe limitations to who, what and how can summon. 

[Alesia_BH]

Aphril, Elven Sorcerer: The Dukes

 

 

Three cheers! Aphril and friends have rescued the Dukes and thwarted Sarevoks plans. Three more cheers: No one was dope-slapped into chunky oblivion. Since I had no intention of pulling punches in the endgame, I would have bet on the former. I wouldn't have bet on the latter. In fact, it seems like a miracle. A secular, probabilistic, game world miracle, but a miracle nonetheless. Someone was going to die: I was sure of that.

 

After escaping the Candlekeep Catacombs, Aphril and friends sought to pad their paltry XP totals. They made limited progress. The sirines fell (Coran, Potion of Clarity) and Bassilus fell (Imoen: backstab + Coran: backstab + Branwen: Wand of the Heavens-> Coran: arrow), but little else was accomplished.

 

 

I lost my nerve after seeing Narcillus's mustard jellies deal savage damage to Branwen and Coran. One of the jellies struck Coran for 34 damage. He was wearing a helmet. Had he not been wearing a helmet, he could have taken 68 damage. 68 damage. In one hit. From a mustard jelly. Think about that. Or don't. Whatever. I can say this: I thought about it and it scared me silly. Imoen, Adara, and Aphril all lack helmets. None of them could survive a hit like that: guaranteed chunk-age. From a mustard jelly.

 

 

Since Aphril had just south of 50K experience, I had been considering additional adventuring, including some spelunking in Durlag's Tower. But the tower, I suspect, would be a meet grinder for this party. Aphril chose to do her duty and return to the Gate.

 

Slythe and Krystin

 

I was utterly terrified of the Slythe and Krystin fight. None of my characters have the HP max to survive a backstab from Slythe on core, let alone insane. A hit would be a chunk: pure and simple. In the interest of keeping her friends safe, Aphril went with a no risk battle plan.

 

Coran was given the Boots of Speed, along with a Potion of Fortitude, a Potion of Defense, a Potion of Heroism, a Potion of Cloud Giant Strength and a Potion of Magic Blocking, the latter of which was to be reserved for emergency use only. His task was to open with a backstab and then retreat to a stack of traps set by Imoen. Near the traps, Adara and Aphril were to wait in mustard jelly form, with Wands of Frost at the ready. So poised, they'd enjoy immunity to Krytsin's spells and Slythe's blades, leaving them positioned to pummel Slythe with impunity.

 

Behind Aphril and Adara, Branwen awaited with a Wand of the Heavens. Further back still, Imoen lingered, ready to launch dispelling arrows and arrows of biting as needed.

 

As it turned out, the arrows weren't needed. Nor was the Wand of the Heavens, nor the sorcerers Wands of Frost: Slythe was ended by Coran's backstab and Imoen's traps. Krystin was left to mourn in peace.

 

 

 

The Duchal Palace

 

After recruiting Kivan to bring an additional bow into play, Aphril and friends visited the palace. Pre-battle preparations included two Imoen traps, three Branwen skeleton warriors, one Adara Teleport Field (scroll), and assorted buffs, which I totally don't feel like listing right now. The plan was to bombard the doppelgängers with ranged attacks, including wand blasts, while they swirled around the Teleport Field. Disablers were added to the mix to further reduce risk. Both Liia and Belt survived, although Imoen, who was backstabbing, did take a nasty hit, forcing her to quaff a Potion of Invisibility.

 

 

 

Aphril and her friends will face Sarevok tonight or tomorrow. I'll be very pleased if Aphril, Adara, and Imoen all survive.

 

Best,

 

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

My game (IR/SR) works bit differently.

 

I'm aware. I'll remind you that I acknowledged that "the comparative difficulty of the fights may differ from player to player, install to install, and party composition to party composition."

 

And that my point was that: "with knowledge of both (fights), I'd suggest that the improved version is more difficult in the majority of cases."

 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Gate70]

A couple of aborted runs early today. Wiven the assassin got out of Candlekeep and instead of making it to Beregost she was ambushed. May not have been a problem if I hadn't tabbed across to start writing her adventures up...

Next, Kaxir the kensai made his n'th appearance. 3 low rolls (1, 1, 3 plus the 5 con bonus' meant he was at 35hp) and the ring of archer bandits didn't seem too much of a concern as he ran away, pausing to look over his shoulder several times. At 11hp I decided to use a healing potion as he might not make it, right decision but not enough as two arrows hit and down he went.

I'd finally got round to pregenning Kaxir (along with Blaggerd), so gave him a second go. A lot of squeaky moments.

Spoiler

At the bandit camp he ran into one group of attackers who scared him off without him being able to close in on them.

Spoiler

They weren't so lucky second time around, and neither were their masters.

Spoiler

The guards of Cloakwood Mine evidently have little experience of hard-drinking dwarves (he was tee-total for the first pair).

Spoiler

The Iron Throne preparations looked reasonable.

Spoiler

Shortly after this though, Kaxir was running with only Zhalimar Cloudewulfe dead. A regeneration potion was used together with a couple of healing potions.Gardush caught several throwing daggers after Kaxir had killed the others. One of the casters hit a couple of times too.

Prat and Sakul were no trouble at all, but their two fighter buddies had a good go and almost won out. They would have done so if Kaxir didn't have Boots of Speed and narrow corridors to run around.

Spoiler

Slythe lost the big-hitter showdown.

Spoiler

The Coronation went very smoothly, other than Sarevok attacking both Dukes after the doppelgangers had gone. Both survived as Kaxir feinted several times to try and avoid taking hits himself.

Spoiler

The Thieves Maze was safely traversed although one Doom Guard got a couple of good hits in. Rahvin and his gang were drawn out one at a time and throwing daggers made a mess of them.

There was a no-show at the Temple of Bhaal (think this was because I went outside to rest after entering as Kaxir was a few HP down).
 
He cleared out Semaj, Angelo and Tazok but lots of wandering produced nothing.
Come on Sarevok, you're all mouth and no pantaloons...

Spoiler

I tried a second time but the only save I had was the auto-save for second entry.
I decided to console Sarevok in and get the others active.
Once the four of them were chasing I parked Sarevok and killed the rest of them before returning for him.

Spoiler

 So far as I'm concerned, that's close enough to legitimate but if anyone disagrees please shout. Edit, I'll probably look at the area and see if I can redo it properly - may only need one or two console commands.

[Alesia_BH]

 

1x/year is enough I think. While I believe aTweaks is probably the most technically advanced mod there is  + some stuff there is really great, there are less than stellar parts of it (Earth Elementals & Aerial Servents; to name a few which are (imo, at least) completely broken when it comes to game balance). BG2 isn't a PnP game; which includes severe limitations to who, what and how can summon. 

 

Makes sense.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Nice work, Gate! Best of luck in Amn. It's about time we got a Kaxir in the Hall!

 

Good hunting!

 

A.

 

Btw. The console use seems ok to me, under the circumstances.