16394 replies to this topic

[Borco]

Nippy - melee sorcerer {4} (2nd and final update)
 
Before I could react to pause the game he was close enough for a magic missile minor sequencer and all Nippy's hard work had proved in vain.

Sorry to hear that Grond0 after such outstanding and dedicated effort.

I've had my own issues with Nimbul's sequencers lately during Anomandra's run (on which I should hopefully be able to post soon).

Good luck with your re-play - it is pleasure to follow.

B.

[Grond0]

Thanks Borco - the current incarnation has had a couple of dodgy moments, but is still pushing on ...

 

Nippy - melee sorcerer {5} (update 2)

 

In Beregost Tranzig was slowed, then attacked with chill touch followed by immediate invisibility.  After his mirrors subsided Nippy tried slowing him again - but without success - and cast blind at him to get him to come to the stairs.  A few trips up and down then drained Tranzig of spells and Nippy bashed him to death with his staff.

Spoiler

 

At the Bandit Camp fighting everything in melee seemed too much like hard work so Nippy just used the Boots of Grounding to reduce damage from the trap in the main tent while a potion of invisibility allowed him to disappear before any attacks were launched.

Spoiler

 

Before going to the Cloakwood Nippy took a trip to Durlag's Tower.  Blindness, slow, shield and chill touch allowed him to melee the battle horrors - the first of those getting him to level 7.  

Spoiler

That provided mirror images to make meleeing the other battle horrors even safer.  On the roof he used 2 PfP mage scrolls along with lots of slows, chill touches and mirror images.  To reduce hassle during that fighting he wasn't retreating after every attack and that resulted in him taking a critical hit through his mirrors.  After partially healing with CLW he took another critical from the last greater basilisk

Spoiler

and used a potion of regeneration to be able to finish it off before the scroll ran out - he took out the lesser one on the lower roof for good measure.

Spoiler

 

After using MSD to get the tome he travelled back to the lighthouse area.  He pulled one of the sirines away there, but again I was careless with the battle and got confused by its attack - luckily Nippy was able to finish it off without getting poisoned (it would have needed a critical to hit with an arrow).  That took him to level 8.

Spoiler

The remaining sirines were all blinded and attacked more carefully, though that did mean Nippy only collected 8 arrows of biting from the lot of them.  With mirrors and stoneskins the golems were then no threat.

Spoiler

 

Up the coast he pulled the ogre clan away from a couple of blinded wandering sirines

Spoiler

to be able to finish those off without interference.  He then did the same to Shoal - she was blinded and slowed to give her no chance to open a conversation after each of Nippy's invisible attacks.

Spoiler

 

Finally going to the Cloakwood he quickly travelled through invisible to arrive at the mine.  There he blinded Genthore and Kysus before being chased by Drasus to the edge of the map.  He would have been happy to have a running melee contest with him, but when Rezdan turned up as well he went invisible and returned to the mine to beat up Genthore.  He then attacked Kysus who responded by going invisible and, despite activating various buffs, he refused to show himself to Nippy again.  After resting for a day Nippy went to find Kysus and was once more successful in blinding him.  His MSD ran out while attacking, but his chill touch elemental damage managed to disrupt a couple of spells and Kysus failed to successfully cast anything before falling.  

Spoiler

Going to find the others Nippy had to act quickly to replace invisibility when Rezdan detected it.  Drasus was then successfully pulled away and slowed, blinded and crunched.  

Spoiler

Going back to Rezdan, he was also slowed and blinded and though shadow door, invisibility and mirrors held things up a bit, Nippy was able to tempt him out of hiding.  However, he had used up all his MSDs during the fights and was lucky when a spook sent him running, but not into any more enemies - and he was finally victorious.

Spoiler

 

Before going into the mine he went back to the FAI to sell his loot.  He took on a couple of ambushes in the process in order to get up to level 9 (his final level in BG1)

Spoiler

and after travelling back to the mine has made his way invisibly down to Davaeorn's level.  I'm not quite sure how he's going to do that fight, but he has brought along a few scrolls in case he wants to use a PfM scroll.

 

Sorcerer L9, 55 HPs (incl. 12 from familiar), 190 kills

 

Level 2 spells

Invisibility

Allows both safe travel and free hits on most opponents.

Knock

This is not needed for the game and just reflects my desire to leave no stone unturned / chest unopened!

Mirror image

In addition to making larger scale battles safer, this will help against area damage effects.

Blur

The AC bonus is nice, but the adjustment to saving throws will be equally important in BG2.

Web

I was originally intending to take PW: sleep for Nippy as that would have complemented his original tactics of wearing things down at range.  Now restricted to melee attacks, web should be more useful in future to help him control congested battlefields.

[Grond0]

Nippy - melee sorcerer {5} (update 3)

 

Back at the Cloakwood Mine Nippy tried dragging Davaeorn upstairs without initial success, but he did manage to take one of the battle horrors up and kill that - though getting hit a couple of times in the process.  A couple more transitions and the other battle horror followed - being blinded and killed without further use of resources.

 

Back downstairs things were getting pretty crowded with all the guards arriving, but Nippy was still able to get back upstairs - and this time Davaeorn followed him to check out where his battle horrors had got to.  Nippy used a potion of invisibility to ensure he wasn't immediately killed by a spell and then a potion of regeneration to get back to full HPs.  He then made Davaeorn more vulnerable with a malison and followed that up with 4 attacks from the wand of paralysation (being used for the first time) - they failed, but a 5th appeared to succeed!  

Spoiler

However, after staying in place for just a round Davaeorn started moving again anyway.  I'm not sure whether that meant he actually had free action in place and just happened not to move for a while, or if there was something else going on.  

 

Nippy dodged one sunfire

Spoiler

and interrupted a second with a chill touch before a 3rd attempt at blinding him worked.  

Spoiler

He then tried nipping in to attack, while Davaeorn was running round - using shield to protect against magic missiles and invisibility to get past groups of guards (also dodging another sunfire).  Eventually Davaeorn seemed to be out of spells and tried to melee Nippy - a contest that fortunately could only have one winner (Nippy ensured he finished him off with staff rather than chill touch to avoid losing his items).  

Spoiler

He stashed most of his equipment in a container, in case he can be bothered to come back again, before going downstairs to loot that.  He then left the mine (not flooding it).

 

In the City he just targeted the 3 tomes, starting with dexterity and moving on to the poison quest and then Ramazith's tower.

- Jalantha was blinded at the first attempt, which I thought would make her easy, but she still chased Nippy and ignored damage to cast hold person at him - looking back at her earlier actions explained how she had done that.  

Spoiler

Nippy responded with an emergency potion of magic blocking before blinding her again - this time though she just disappeared (using thief stealth).  MSD protected against a command and a mental domination and stoneskins against backstabs before Nippy was finally triumphant.

Spoiler

- he killed Larze (with a bit of help from a feisty serving wench )

Spoiler

on the way to Marek.  He was also blinded at the first attempt and, unlike Jalantha, had no means to cure that.  The wand of paralysation then got him - this time successfully holding him in place to take his medicine.

Spoiler

- Ramazith saved against a first blinding attempt, but after his MGoI expired was tagged the next time and finished off with a nice critical.

Spoiler

 

With XP already well above the cap Nippy just sneaked into the Iron Throne to investigate that and get sent to Candlekeep.  Similarly he didn't bother killing the ogre magi there, but just went invisibly past into the library.  In the catacombs stoneskin, mirrors and MSD allowed him to pick up the tomes without injury. He killed the phase spiders guarding those, but left the dopplegangers alone.  

 

For a bit of fun he attacked Prat's party.  An initial blindness on Bor was successful and, when the others didn't react, Sakul and Tam went the same way.  To complete a successful opening Prat was then paralysed by wand.  

Spoiler

That's where dual-wielding would have come in handy though as Nippy was not quite able to finish him off before he recovered and went invisible (an oil of speed would have worked as well, but he was trying to save those for later encounters).  While waiting for him to reappear, Nippy had a difficult battle with a number of spiders.  The wraith spider was immune to paralysation and had magic resistance that made blinding difficult and, after dodging several times Nippy was finally caught by a web tangle.  His stoneskin lasted long enough to prevent major damage though and he eventually won through.  

Spoiler

That battle took quite a long time though and Bor recovered from blindness just before being finished off - Nippy having to use a potion of invisibility when about to be hit by a stunning dart.

Spoiler

 

One more attack dealt with Bor before lots of running round and a few area transitions allowed him to kill Tam and Sakul - though a magic missile sequencer from the latter was only partially deflected by mirrors after his penultimate MSD wore off.  Nippy responded by using one of his 5 scrolls of PfM along with a potion of regeneration.  He went exploring for Prat, but he refused to appear.  Nippy had already used his green PfP scroll (to save inventory space) prior to using the PfM, so the obvious approach for the basilisks was unavailable.  I considered the use of the wand of fear, but was concerned that the basilisks would still use their gaze attack even when scared and eventually just left.

 

Nippy is now back in Baldur's Gate and has prepared for the fight with Slythe by going to buy the Dagger of Venom and pick up a dagger +2 from Hentold.

 

Sorcerer L9, 55 HPs (incl. 12 from familiar), 239 kills

 

Level 3 spells

Slow

Makes it much easier to attack blinded creatures running away, gives a better chance to hit them and normally guarantees that they won't be able to attack back.  Also tends to slow down spell responses, though I don't think you can rely on that against things like triggers and sequencers.

Minor spell deflection

Protects against single target spells (and similar traps such as FoD).

Remove magic

Will be the main means to remove buffs.

Protection from fire + cold

Long-lasting elemental protections.

[Grond0]

Nippy - melee sorcerer {5} (4th and final update)

 

Slythe proved far easier than expected after he failed against an initial paralysation attack without even managing to talk.  Using dual-wielded daggers he was then killed before Krystin could finish buffing and he outran a spook fired at him as he left.

Spoiler

 

At the palace he opened proceedings by making Liia invisible.  

Spoiler

A malison (from scroll) and fear (from wand) sent 2 dopplegangers running, but Belt died almost immediately after that.

Spoiler

More fear attempts were interspersed with running up and down stairs until the assassin followed him - to its cost.  

Spoiler

With the mage and shaman out of area spells and the standard doppleganger AI now confused by not being able to find Liia, Nippy took advantage of that mercilessly.  The shaman still had a good go at him and he used a potion of regeneration before hunting down the mage.  

Spoiler

With that dead he quickly retreated out of sight of Sarevok before Liia came to talk to him and waited for Sarevok to decide it was time to make a run for it.

Spoiler

 

Stoneskins let him melee his way through the maze without any problem - surprisingly succeeding in blinding one of the skeleton warriors on the way when he was only trying to get it to chase him.  He got the XP for level 10 on the way, but didn't take the level.

 

He took on the Undercity party - essentially relying on movement, invisibility and blindness there.  Wudei used 3 cure disease spells there, but eventually was blinded once too often and never got the chance to attack with the harm she cast.  

Spoiler

Shaldrissa had disappeared, but after resting for a day and exploring the whole map he eventually found her in the last place he looked. I was getting a bit late for work by then so rather than rely on his own abilities Nippy used a potion of magic shielding against her spells and then paralysed her and beat her up with chill touch.

Spoiler

 

With the route to the temple clear Nippy prepared for the final battle.  I was unsure about his ability to defeat all the opponents without using artificial assistance and decided to leave a cache of equipment in the temple while Nippy went back to the City to get some more.

 

Back at the temple he showed himself to Sarevok and stuck him in a corner using a scroll of invisibility.

Spoiler

He then showed himself to Angelo, but used a couple of potions of magic protection to protect against his spells.  His buffs survived a remove magic and a 4th attempt with the wand of paralysation succeeded.  

Spoiler

Dual-wielding using chill touch and a potion of speed allowed 3 APR, which ensured Angelo did not recover.

Spoiler

 

Nippy used his greater mobility and higher weapon speed to just run the skeleton warrior round before throwing a remove magic, malison and a couple of slows into the corner.  Looking in invisibly he saw Tazok was visible and both he and Semaj had been slowed.  Three paralysation attempts on Semaj were tried before he disappeared and 3 more then used while he and Semaj swapped spells - the last of which was successful.  Another invisibility potion was immediately used to put Sarevok in the other corner

Spoiler

while Nippy used remove magic on Semaj.  That was based on the vanilla behaviour where an unsuccessful dispel still gets rid of mirrors - but instead the remove worked the other way around, dispelling the paralysis, but leaving mirrors!  

Spoiler

More paralysis was attempted, but with Semaj under the influence of shadow door an attempt failed even with the minimum saving throw of -3 and Nippy had to let him wander back to Sarevok.  

Spoiler

 

Another Malison was followed by a few charges from the wand of fear - and Diarmid immediately started running round as his scroll of PfM expired.  Nippy took advantage by also blinding him before hunting him down and following up with the skeleton warrior at the expense of one hit on his stoneskins.  

Spoiler

 

Another malison and a last few charges of his fear wand saw Semaj scared, but unable to move with others hemming him in

Spoiler

- causing Nippy to once more make Sarevok switch sides.  Regrettably Semaj also followed - his script partially over-riding the fear - but Nippy managed to blind him as well before using the last few of his own blindness spells in failing to affect Tazok.  His last malison scroll was followed by 2 failures with blindness scrolls on Tazok before a success with the paralysation wand.  Another lot of dual-wielding and another skeleton warrior later and Nippy went back to look for Semaj.

Spoiler

He was sticking close to Sarevok - so guess which corner the big man was returned to ...

 

With Semaj down and the skeleton warrior out Sarevok was reduced to rely on himself.

Spoiler

Would that be enough against a potioned up Nippy using stoneskins and mirrors?  Well, in short, no.

 

It wasn't a total mismatch. Sarevok was attacking about once for every 2 attacks by Nippy, though I could have improved on that ratio with a bit more care.  That meant actual hits were comfortably in Sarevok's favour and Nippy had just cast his last stoneskin when Sarevok decided he'd had enough.

Spoiler

 

Nippy went to pick up the Claw and Horn of Kazgaroth, along with the pantaloons and Koveras' ring before reporting back to the palace for duty in Athkatla (finding Belt had now been raised by the local temple).  

Spoiler

Here's his record on arrival in the dungeon - having taken the 10th level earned in BG1.  

 

Incidentally, I don't think I've ever noticed before that the choice of 5th level spells for a sorcerer includes a spell titled "Symbol Slow".  

Spoiler

There's no description shown for that spell - does anyone know whether it is actually functional?

 

Sorcerer L9, 55 HPs (incl. 12 from familiar), 284 kills

 

Level 4 spells

Stoneskin

Removes the threat of the big critical in BG1.

Spirit armour & improved invisibility

Provide both an AC improvement and better save vs spells.

Greater malison

Improves prospects for disabling opponents outside combat.

Teleport field

Means to avoid being trapped by multiple opponents.

[Dyara]

Incidentally, I don't think I've ever noticed before that the choice of 5th level spells for a sorcerer includes a spell titled "Symbol Slow".  

There's no description shown for that spell - does anyone know whether it is actually functional?

 

At least in NI it looks functional: SPWI545... slow for 2 rounds, save bonus -4.

 

[edit]Melissan should cast it at least in my installation (Ascension)[/edit]

 

[edit2]And congratulations of course [/edit2]

[biowherewolf]

Prelude

Since Tony died from a horror spell, I decided that my next attempt should be a Cavalier, since they are immune to fear. Charlie, the Cavalier made it all the way to 3rd level before dropping. Turns out that the lack of missile weapons is a bigger deal than I'd expected. 

 

Then came Gruff, the 1/2 Orc, Cleric/Thief. With his 19 strength and killer stats, he was a sinch to sail through... until he fell @ 2nd level. 

 

Then I tried an Undead-Hunter (simply know as "C"), who also dropped @ 2nd. 

 

Then a thief who -- I swear, I'm not making this up -- got waylaid and had to defend himself after leaving the *first map square*. Generally, I pick up Monty & X just to safeguard against such a thing, but decided not to this time. They were only gibberlings, but... 2 thieves? with leather armor? and no real weapons? at 1st level?... *ack*

 

Then, I was inspired by Alesia and decided that what made me want to take the no-reload run back up was the purchase of BG Enhanced Edition. So why not run an EE class. So, I grabbed a Dragon Disciple ("Draconus"), but my heart wasn't in it. The class just seems a bit too overpowered for my tastes. 

 

Sooooo, I tried a Sun Monk (called Bear). I think that may be a good compliment to Alesia's Dark Moon Monk. But I think the Sun Monk class may be a bit over powered at higher levels, so I abandoned Bear for now. 

 

Which brings me to..... Duno (I pronounce that "Dune`-Oh") 

Spoiler

 

I actually managed some pretty awesome stats:

Spoiler

 

For those not BG-EE enabled, here is the skinny on the Shadowdancer class:

Spoiler

 

In short, the class is exceptionally good at hiding in shadows, but not so great at back stabs (basically 1/2 as good as a regular thief). I think it is a fair balance. The ability to hide as well as he can is awesome... but, frankly, not as good as a potion of invisibility or a cleric/thief with sanctuary, since his is not guaranteed and can dissipate at any time. And loosing back stab abilities really hurts. So... we will see, but it seems reasonable. 

 

For now, he will have to contend with Candlekeep, where his own father makes him pay the innkeeper to rent a room each night. 

--BW

[Blackraven]

Congrats Grond0, Nippy's looking good. Best of luck Biowherewolf with your Shadowdancer.

 

I've nothing to report other than four more or less failed solo Wizard Slayer attempts. One Charname underestimated the dangers of the lightning trap in Tazok's tent, two fell to the Charms of Nimbul and Tranzig respectively, and the last one - whom I don't consider a failure - managed to kill all the Doppelgangers at the Ducal Palace only for Belt to be slain by a Skeleton Warrior (out of sight of Blinded Charname) and Liia by Sarevok.

I replayed the Ducal Palace fight a number of times using different strategies, and each time the Dukes fell before all the Doppelgangers had been slain. The odds of beating the SCS 30 version of it with a solo Wizard Slayer seem very slim (maybe 10%), too slim for my taste to consider another solo attempt with the kit any time soon.

 

I'm not sure what's next, or when. There's a limited number of classes and kits I really care about (Wizard Slayer, Ranger and Beast Master, everything Thief, Skald, and the Gnome multis).

[Grond0]

Congrats Grond0, Nippy's looking good.

 

I've nothing to report other than four more or less failed solo Wizard Slayer attempts. One Charname underestimated the dangers of the lightning trap in Tazok's tent, two fell to the Charms of Nimbul and Tranzig respectively, and the last one - whom I don't consider a failure - managed to kill all the Doppelgangers at the Ducal Palace only for Belt to be slain by a Skeleton Warrior (out of sight of Blinded Charname) and Liia by Sarevok.

I replayed the Ducal Palace fight a number of times using different strategies, and each time the Dukes fell before all the Doppelgangers had been slain. The odds of beating the SCS 30 version of it with a solo Wizard Slayer seem very slim (maybe 10%), too slim for my taste to consider another solo attempt with the kit any time soon.

Thanks Blackraven - I was pleased to get through BG1 using that setup.

 

Have you tried using horror at the palace with a Wizard Slayer?  That could easily send a couple of dopplegangers running - which might well sway the battle your way while your character occupies the others (using green scroll protection).

 

@biowherewolf.  Nice summary  - I hope you've found something to your taste with Duno.  In relation to cavaliers, don't forget that they can use throwing daggers and axes - they make a perfectly acceptable alternative to standard missile weapons.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Congrats, Grond0! Impressive stuff with melee sorc! Looking forward to see how he'll fare in Amn.

 

And safe dancing on the edge for Duno, biowerewolf!

[Epsil0]

I suppose I should actually update the play that I've actually done...

 

Benoni(7), 2nd update

I left off last time in the Sirine area. A potion of Clarity pretty much negates all threats from the Sirines, though the added Single Weapon Proficiencies from SCS were irritating as nothing else since it effectively doubled the damage I took from melee attacks. A flesh golem is left alive for the first time in forever since my potion of clarity wore off and my trap finding's too low to find the Charm trap. Ankhegs are finished off by wand and dart, which is finally upgraded into the Returning Frost Dart.

 

I wasn't sure if I would be swarmed if I initiated the Bandit Camp fight in the actual tent, so I needed some sort of defensive potion. Unfortunately, I had none, but if my memory was correct Silke's fight ends up giving both a Potion of Defense and a Potion of Invulnerability. I had to visit the temple at one point, but other than that the fights went smoothly. So plan: potion of some sort of Giant Strength, Potion of Defense, and attempt to kill the mage.

 

Fairness schmairness.

Second crit in a row. The fight's now completely trivialized. I kill off Taugosz via Backstab as well, and I manage to find a secluded spot to hide afterwords and Benoni simply saunters off.

He sold the excess gear, as well as purchasing a couple new darts of Stunning and Wounding.

 

Cloakwood didn't go so well. Somehow, upon entering the Spider area, you get swarmed by all four Phase Spiders immediately.

I quaffed the Potion of Freedom, but had to run to avoid getting cornered... Which I then realized was an awful mistake since that was my last potion of Freedom. I had enough in Find Traps to get rid of the Webs, but I couldn't risk a Web Tangle from the higher level Spiders anymore. In Ankheg armor, I returned to fight the Phase Spiders and all the Ettercaps that had been pulled. I had to quaff a potion of Regeneration and the scroll of Pro. Poison, but Varscona eventually took the lives of four Phase Spiders and five Ettercaps in melee.

 

Time to get the Boots of Speed. They're possibly the most important piece of equipment for a thief that's specializing in backstabs. Again, fairness schmairness, and they get bombarded from the One Gift Lost. The two mages die, and I move in for the final backstab on Drasus... Only to get a 2, 1, and 2 for rolls. I zoned a few times in the Guardhouse to get my Hide in Shadows back online. Finally Benoni decides he can roll higher than a 1 or 2, and Drasus dies. Genthore survives another 40 damage backstab from Badly Wounded before he too is defeated.

 

Hareishan is skipped to preserve my Pro. Magic scroll's duration, so it's straight to Davaeorn. Battle Horrors are backstabbed to death, using the movement speed advantage to get hidden.

 

Sigh. Eventually his Skins fall and the Frost Dart's enough to finish him off. Fortunately, the archers are zoning out their melee fighters so I don't have to worry about kiting at all. While finishing up the area I found something I didn't expect:

 

Mustard Jellies, apparently, aren't immune to backstab as I thought. Huh.

[Epsil0]

I think I'm going to call a loss; while I'm not 100% positive that Benoni would've died, I feel at least 80% sure that he wouldn't have survived. And the fact that I quit before waiting to see the death-screen, and anything else that I do is technically a reload.

 

I wasn't prepared for SCS sequencers, and an instant Chromatic Orb from Marek caught me off-guard. It had the Stun effect, and rather than wait to see if I would survive I quit the program. I see now on the wiki that it would only last 3 rounds, but Benoni had already taken damage and had only 68 HP max, including the Helm of Balduran. Marek was hasted, firing from a +2 short bow, so 3-8 damage per shot, 3 shots per round, 3 rounds. Average of 49.5 damage... I could've made it. Now I'm kicking myself for quitting, but it's too late now. I'll see what I decide to roll up next.

[corey_russell]

I think I'm going to call a loss; while I'm not 100% positive that Benoni would've died, I feel at least 80% sure that he wouldn't have survived. And the fact that I quit before waiting to see the death-screen, and anything else that I do is technically a reload.

 

I wasn't prepared for SCS sequencers, and an instant Chromatic Orb from Marek caught me off-guard. It had the Stun effect, and rather than wait to see if I would survive I quit the program. I see now on the wiki that it would only last 3 rounds, but Benoni had already taken damage and had only 68 HP max, including the Helm of Balduran. Marek was hasted, firing from a +2 short bow, so 3-8 damage per shot, 3 shots per round, 3 rounds. Average of 49.5 damage... I could've made it. Now I'm kicking myself for quitting, but it's too late now. I'll see what I decide to roll up next.

Sorry to hear it. Your odds are worse than you wrote though, as Marek's bow is quite special - it includes strength bonus in the damage, so you need to adjust your figures.

[biowherewolf]

Duno

Act 1 Scene 1

[curtain opens to the Shadowdancer Duno at an inn talking to the innkeeper, Winthrop]

 

DUNO: ...and so my father is so cheap, not only does he make me pay to stay here each night, now he says we have to leave, but he makes me buy my own equipment.

 

WINTHROP: Well, it's good for business. 

 

DUNO: Gee... thanks... ole' buddy. But where am I going to get the money to.... [in stage whisper] waiiiit a minute... i'm a thief... and, and this is an inn with rich people... hmmm 

DUNO [regular voice] : Hey, Winny ole' pal, I'll be right back. I need to go upstairs and retrieve someon-er- *my* wallet.

Spoiler

 

DUNO: And so the life of a hero begins with appropriate nobility.

 

[Curtain closes quickly]

 

--BW

[biowherewolf]

Thanks Blackraven - I was pleased to get through BG1 using that setup.

 

Have you tried using horror at the palace with a Wizard Slayer?  That could easily send a couple of dopplegangers running - which might well sway the battle your way while your character occupies the others (using green scroll protection).

 

@biowherewolf.  Nice summary  - I hope you've found something to your taste with Duno.  In relation to cavaliers, don't forget that they can use throwing daggers and axes - they make a perfectly acceptable alternative to standard missile weapons.

 

I've had a lot of problems with the Wizard Slayer. I always think it should be easier than it is. The magic restrictions really change my approach to the game and I always get into trouble with that. It's like I have to rewire my brain... and frankly, its wires are pretty bare as it is. 

--BW

[Grond0]

Sorry to hear it. Your odds are worse than you wrote though, as Marek's bow is quite special - it includes strength bonus in the damage, so you need to adjust your figures.

His bow is special indeed, but his strength is not - only 10 .

[corey_russell]

His bow is special indeed, but his strength is not - only 10 .

In my experience, it's common for SCS enemies to use strength potions - is that no longer the case?

[realmuzzy]

Meet Aliah everyone!

 

Spoiler

 

Aliah is an invoker whose personality oscillates from bubbly and charming to plain crazy. Sometimes this girl just wants to see things burn. Here's her starting spell selection

 

Spoiler

 

I'll try to make her spell choices reflect her fiery personality as much as possible.

[biowherewolf]

Good luck realmuzzy. Interesting spell choices. I always wimp out and take sleep. 

--BW

[realmuzzy]

She's an invoker, so she had to settle

 

Aliah 1 is dead, Karlat took out all of her 24 hit points one swing. On to Aliah 2.

[Grond0]

In my experience, it's common for SCS enemies to use strength potions - is that no longer the case?

It's not uncommon to see giant strength potions being used by fighters, but I don't remember standard strength potions getting used much in v30.

[Grimwald the Wise]

I haven't had a lot of feedback concerning going on to Amn after killing Sarevok in the Duchal Palace.

 

Is everyone happy with that?

 

If anyone is unhappy about it, it is better to know now when I can do something about it, than to wait until the end of the game.

[ussnorway]

@Wise, I'm fine with it

[biowherewolf]

She's an invoker, so she had to settle

 

Aliah 1 is dead, Karlat took out all of her 24 hit points one swing. On to Aliah 2.

Sorry to hear that, realmuzzy. 

I typically favor conjurers ... I'm not sure I could survive a mage class without sleep. 

 

Good luck on A2.

--BW

[Dyara]

I haven't had a lot of feedback concerning going on to Amn after killing Sarevok in the Duchal Palace.

 

Is everyone happy with that?

 

If anyone is unhappy about it, it is better to know now when I can do something about it, than to wait until the end of the game.

 

Most likely I would try to fix the game or reload and repeat the fight but that's just me. And that would be not because I think it's wrong to go to Amn but because I would feel that something is missing. But as I've said, it's just me and if you're happy then I'm happy too .

[Blackraven]

@Wise: I agree with Dyara. I would personally feel the journey would be incomplete without defeating Sarevok, but it's up to you of course and I wouldn't hold it against you party if they skipped Sarevok.

 

@Epsil0, sorry about your loss. Benoni might well have survived Marek

 

@RealMuzzy, condolences with your recent losses. I hope you keep at it. Bruin, a single class Cleric no less, especially showed you're on the right track.

 

@Grond0: Horror was not option for my last Wizard Slayer as I play with aTweaks Bhaalpowers, but I did discover that Belt could still be healed with Healing Touch even with a PfMagic sphere active.

 

So five of my Wizard Slayers either fell, were Charmed or retired within a week or two. Stubborn as a donkey, I went on to roll Wizard Slayer number six, and soon hit the jackpot: a 96 roll with 18/63 STR. Ironically, for a solo Wizard Slayer this is arguably an inferior roll to say a 78 roll with 18/00 STR, due to the unavailability of the STR tome below Candlekeep. I felt it would be a shame to just ignore the 96 roll, so I decided to go for a role-played party run, more like some of the runs I posted last year, and switch from no-reload to minimal reload if necessary.

Nurim Stonefist of Candlekeep

Spoiler

is generally a good sort, accomodating, hard-working, fairly sociable for a Dwarf, and with a fine - if raunchy - sense of humor that in Candlekeep is matched only by Winthrop's. But his good spirits tend to vanish with the mere mention of the topic of arcane magic. Nurim distrusts and disapproves of 'sorcery' (he calls all arcane magic 'sorcery', usually pronounced with contempt or concern in his voice, irrespective of who practices it). This aversion stems from his belief, shaped first and foremost by the abusive nature of Ulraunt who governs the citadel like a dictator but also by his history studies, that arcane magic does more harm than good and that it makes the more talented practitioners more powerful than is healthy for them, inevitably vitiating them.

Nurim has a special Know Alignment ability (2x/day), given to him by his matron deity Berronar Truesilver, It helps him detect the nature of wizards and other folk he has dealings with. Nurim won't act against good-aligned wizards he has no proof of abuse against, but wizards he identifies as evil with his Know Alignment ability, or wizards whose actions are overtly evil should not expect him to remain passive. 

 

In Candlekeep Nurim always keeps his distance from anything arcane magic-related, preferring to read with the Monks and train with the Watchers. Thanks to the former he's quite the scholar (16 INT, 15 WIS), while the latter helped him become as strong as an ox and an able wielder of his weapon of choice: axes and throwing axes (two pips in Axes, two in dual-wielding).

 

Nurim won't accept the company of wizards in his party or even folk that sympathize with magic. But, to be clear, Nurim's misgivings about magic are strictly limited to the arcane. They do not concern the powers of priests bestowed upon them by their Gods or by nature, so priests will be welcome to associate themselves with him. I considered rolling a custom party but I think it's more interesting for Nurim to look for allies amongst the available NPCs and to try and build the best possible anti-arcane party with them.

 

I find the Wizard Slayer's inability to use enchanted bracers, jewelry or cloaks a bit arbitrary, especially considering the fact that armor or weapons with the exact same enchantments are prefectly usable. I'll roleplay that Nurim's fine with magical enchantments on weapons and armor that make the wielder/bearer a more formidable combatant (Dwarven smiths he cannot but respect excel at making those) but that it's a decision of his to refuse to use other magical trinkets rather than not being able to. Companions may use such items, at their own peril. 
I'll also roleplay that Nurim doesn't know right away that he's a Wizard Slayer. He's never been part of an order that could give him any specific training towards combating magic, and none of the warriors in Candlekeep seems a Wizard Slayer. I'm not sure yet if/how his stance toward arcane magic will evolve.

 

There's not much to tell about Nurim's journey yet, except the following.

 

Yesterday Nurim left Candlekeep with his foster father, the sage Gorion, after an assassin poisoned the Dwarf. Nurim had to use Dreppin's antidote or die.

Spoiler

He chose to quaff the antidote that was not his.

 

On his way with Gorion another attack followed, mere hours from Candlekeep. A party led by a tall human warrior had demanded Gorion to hand Nurim over. Gorion refused and battle followed. Nurim took an arrow in the shoulder (reminding him he wanted better armor than his splint mail) and was told by Gorion to retreat. But his foster father's magics alone were not enough to subdue the warrior. The Dwarf witnessed from afar how Gorion was slain by the fighter. There was little he could do but hide and tend to his injury. With difficulty he removed the arrow, and when he drank a healing potion, his wound soon mended.

The next morning Imoen, a rogue and his childhood friend from Candlekeep, joined him. She told him she had followed Gorion and him. Nurim liked the lass, and was therefore glad to have her company.