15228 replies to this topic

[Blackraven]

Lovely stuff Golden with Thaxxy (I concur with Epsil0 on how you handled the crash issue), and with the Shade Lord. The latter btw is also quite vulnerable to Insect Plagues, something you might want to remember for subsequent playthroughs in case you hadn't thought of it yourself.
Sorry about the wasted XP. I thought you had only planned to get the Umar XP to get your low level party to level 9 and then dual.

[Golden28]

@ Blackraven

 

-Thanks again

 

-I had considered insect plagues because in fact you mentioned it once somewhere, but because Jaheira was gone that was out of the question.

 

-I didnt know fallen ranger could dual I thought I had to redeem myself before being able to dual, thats why I did these dangerous quests .. I only lost about 20.000 xp so its not a big deal

 

Cheers!

[Blackraven]

Scintilla, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist (seventh BG2 update)

Scintilla dispatched a band of wizard hunters in her own Planar Sphere,

Spoiler

but decided not to confront their leader who was staying at the Crooked Crane, because she couldn't find the imprisonment rune she was supposed to use on him. (Minor bug.)

Instead she traveled to the d'Arnise Hold, where she was forced to clear the ground floor of Trolls as they had all come for her.

Spoiler

Upstairs, she left the Trolls be. (SCS Trolls are quite hard to kill, they often require a few doses of fire or acid damage when they're at Near Death status. Scintilla with her Blackblood at 1 APR hadn't the patience for that.)

Sancatuary allowed Scintilla to obtain a key that opened all the doors on that floor, and to obtain some loot in a treasury guarded by Golems. An Aerial Servant slew some of the smaller Golems, and Scintilla contributed with her SotM.
Doom, Greater Malison and Charm brought Glaicus back to his senses. He rewarded her with a flail head, which she, together with two other heads, would forge into the Flail of Ages +3.

Spoiler

When she wanted to leave the room in which she had met Glaicus, she found various Trolls waiting for her. A Monster Summoning I, followed by SotM-invisibility created the space she needed.

Spoiler

In the basement, Scintilla spirited the Troll leader, TorGal, away from his minions,

Spoiler

and challenged him to a duel. I'm aware that at this stage of her advanture Scintilla with the right AoE spells such as Death Fog and Storm of Vengeance could have made short work of the others, but she didn't have those spells memorized, so Scintilla, still True Neutral, decided not to bother. (In fact Scintilla thought she had a Death Fog memorized, for dispatching enemy summons, but it was a Summon Nishruu   Blackraven: "Hmm yes, the icon with the clouds that must be Death Fog duh..")

TorGal proved to be highly magic resistant, but Scintilla had the divine spell Magic Resistance memorized (the casting of which she flunked by moving just before she was done), and two Lower Resistances (which she did cast successfully). With Holy Smites and a Suntone bullet she slew her opponent.

Spoiler

She looted some treasure in front of a throne, next to Lord d'Arnise's corpse, and reported back to Nalia, who was pleased with Scintilla's effort in spite of the latter's slack, half-hearted performance.

The Gnome returned to Athkatla, where she sold loot and did some shopping for potions at Roger's and at the Thieves Guild, and finally informed Aran Linvail of the Shadow Thieves of her successful campaign agaist the Vampires (even if Bodhi had eluded her). The Guild leader was most pleased and brought her to a ship he had chartered for her to journey to the asylum that held Imoen and Irenicus.

She arrived to find herself betrayed by captain Saemon Havarian. Three Vampires had traveled with them all the way from Athkatla and remained hidden until they reached their destination, Brynnlaw. Scintilla had a Deva made short deal with the Vampires and their summons.

Spoiler

In order for a wizard named Sanik to inform Scintilla of ways to get into heavily warded Spellhold, she rescued the man's girlfriend from an abusive brothelkeeper, Madam Galvena. Kitty did the actual work.

Spoiler

Sanik then told Scintilla of Perth the Adept, a Cowled Wizard who had a wardstone with which Spellhold could be entered. Unbuffed, she entered his home. She discovered that Perth wasn't willing to give her the stone, in fact he had had instruction to kill her on sight. The wizard had a tremendous amount of insta-buffs,

Spoiler

so SotM-invisible Scintilla needed some time to think of a strategy. Her summons were dispatched with Death Spells or even an ADHW.

Spoiler

He cast True Sight, but Scintilla managed that by unequipping and re-equipping the SotM. When he became vulnerable to her Staff she dispelled his protections, and discovered that his new buffs weren't as plentiful or potent as his previous ones.

Spoiler

But he also showed her he hadn't spent his best spells yet, as he a cast a Dragon's Breath.

Spoiler

Hasty donning of the Dragon Helm, Dragon Scale Shield, and Ring of Fire Resistance for 90 Fire Resistance, and a Save vs Breath mitigated almost all the damage.

Spoiler

Another SotM-Dispel was followed by an ineffective Holy Smite; the spell's ineffectiveness meant that Perth's Necromantic incantation wasn't disrupted. It caused Scintilla to go outside. There, Scintilla prevailed with a Death Fog, followed by a Melf's Acid Arrow and a well-placed sling bullet right before Perth could renew his Stoneskin.

Spoiler

Scintilla rested at the Vulgar Monkey Inn, in preparation of her visit to Spellhold.

[Alesia_BH]

Alesia, it's a rare day when I have a piece of BG2 knowledge that you don't, but I suppose this is due to playing parties rather than solo. You weren't exactly in a catch-22 there, since you can bribe the mages that are with Ployer by visiting the Government district, asking the Cowled wizard representatives inside the council building; they'll answer they know nothing about it. Outside the door, then, one of the three mages will stop you and allow to be hired away from Ployer for 1k or 500 gold, if your charisma is high enough. You still get 19k experience from doing it this way, if I remember correctly, though no scrolls are dropped, obviously. Ployer is then by himself, and he's a wimp. 

 

Awesome. I'll probably do the quest again around 2025. Be sure to remind me.

 

(Seriously: thanks. That's good to know)

 

Cheers,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

@Blackraven. Scintilla looks promising. Keep it up!

 

@Golden28. Congrats on defeating Thaxxy!

 

I'm not sure how the Enhanced Edition handles the interaction between fallen status and dual classing, but in the original game there were some problematic anomalies. If a ranger duals to a cleric, and then falls, the game can change the dual class ranger cleric into a multiclass ranger cleric, which suddenly has too many levels. For example, a 7->14 dual class ranger cleric could, upon fallling, instantly become a mult-class 14/14 fallen ranger/cleric. I'm not sure whether this issue exists in EE. And I'm also not sure whether the converse occurs (ie- whether a 7->14 fallen ranger cleric dual class would become a 14/14 multiclass ranger/cleric upon regaining ranger status). That's something to keep in mind though. It would be a bummer to have a bug break your character, although it may be possible to remedy the situation with NI if that occurs.

[Golden28]

Thanks Alesia, actually all is fine now. I regained my levels and redeemed myself, I am now a Stalker9/Cleric11 without any issues. Read all about it in my next episode tomorrow

 

Cheers!

[Alesia_BH]

Thanks Alesia, actually all is fine now. I regained my levels and redeemed myself, I am now a Stalker9/Cleric11 without any issues. Read all about it in my next episode tomorrow

 

I'm glad to hear it. Telll Eren to be good from now on.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Aria, Half-Elven R/C: Mencar and Co.

 

After picking up some trollified exp at Watcher's Keep...

 

and in the Druid Grove...

 

Aria paid Mencar a visit. The XP hunting had granted Aria two L6 slots, allowing her to run the Holy Triumvirate along with Blade Barrier, Ironskins, Chaotic Commands, and True Sight, which is an excellent combo against Mencar's crew and similarly levelled parties. Aria's full buff list for this fight was Ironskins, Chaotic Commands, Death Ward, Free Action, Protection fron Evil, Resist Fire/Cold, Holy Power, Righteous Magic, Draw on Holy Might, Blade Barrier, True Sight and RoAC II. She also layered in a Potion of Absorption for Mencar's hammer, and, later, a post Holy Power Potion of Stone Giant Strength.

 

An opening Greater Command neutralized Pooky, but no one else. True Sight kept Brennan in check; Iron Skins handled Mencar and Orcslicer. Blade Barrier damaged the trio while Aria finished Amon.

 

Once Amon fell, Aria sent Brennan packing. She then finished the sleepy Pooky and rebuffed under Sanctuary before going toe-to-toe with Mencar and Orcslicer. Armor of Faith and Chant were chosen to cushion damage. Potion of Stone Giant Strength->DUHM covered the offensive side. Mencar landed a critical, and Orcslicer a few blows, but before long their morale broke. They were finished with Seeking.

 

The Mae'Var quest is next.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Btw. As some of you may have guessed from the lack of Dooms and Ironskins recasts, I've left both spells with their Fixpack v10 casting time. There's still a significant chance that I'll revert though. Since I've nerfed insect spells and Nature's Beauty, I feel Aria at least deserves vanilla Doom and Iron Skins.

[Alesia_BH]

Aria, Half-Elven R/C: Mae'Var's Guild Hall

 

I love doing the Guild Hall quest with a divine caster. It's fun to beat thieves at their own game. Thanks to Sanctuary, Find Traps, and the Holy Triumvirate, divine casters make excellent sneak-thiefs. They can bash most locks, evade most traps, and pick up the goods witout being seen. They also make great assasins. Baskstabs are great, but Harm can be like a backstab that goes through Stoneskins. Rayic and Mae'Var both got a taste of divine assassination.

 

The last time I ran a divine caster, I used SCS's Harm tweak, which causes Harm to do 150HP of magic damage rather than bringing targets down to 1 HP. I didn't like it. It felt too much like a backstab. The fact that magic damage resistance foiled it was unappealling as well. In this install I've kept vanilla Harm. Vanilla Harm is more powerful in some contexts, but less powerful in others. Against enemies with less than 150HP, like Rayic and Mae'Var, it's less powerful.

 

Since the Rayic quest is an assassination, I let Aria execute a stealth Harm. This worked, but at the time I didn't know it had.

 

Do you see that weapon unusable message? I thought that meant that Rayic had somehow been immune to Harm. And since he was blue circled, at the time, I had no way of checking. Not wanting to risk wasting a follow up Potion of Firebreath, I had Aria withdraw only to later discover that Rayic had, in fact, been Harmed. He quaffed a pair of extra healers, and then landed a Breach.

 

Aria countered with RoAC II. She then checked Rayic's buffs. Running Mantle -and without Pro Fire- he was still vulnerable to Harm->Potion of Firebreath. Down he went.

 

I probably shouldn't be wasting Potions of Firebreaths now, but Aria lacked an alternate means of doing instant damage simultaneously with a landed Harm and I do enjoy executing divine assassination in this quest.

 

You can probably guess what happened to Mae'Var. Sure: it's a cheap trick to stealth attack him. But he's a thief who is double crossing thieves. If any one deserves a divine assassination, it's him. Harm->Potion of Firebreath instakill.

 

The Priest of Cyric was next. He fell to Blade Barrier + Ages.

 

Aria's nymph, who was hanging back by the cells, helped with the finish.

 

Aria, who had stealthed down to Mae'var, then finished the rest of the guild. Disappointingly, most of the thieves were immune to Holy Smite. Zyntris was not. He fell to Smites. The rest fell to ages.

 

On her way to the Guild Hall, Aria was flagged down by Delon. She is now in the Umar Hills preparing for the ogron assault.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

Nice progress Alesia! And good to be reminded of Harm. I've been fairly experimental with Scintilla in easier fights, but Harm somehow hasn't been part of the mix yet. Quite an oversight, because I've always wanted to experiment with that spell. So many options... Maybe something to use on a dragon

[Alesia_BH]

Nice progress Alesia! And good to be reminded of Harm. I've been fairly experimental with Scintilla in easier fights, but Harm somehow hasn't been part of the mix yet. Quite an oversight, because I've always wanted to experiment with that spell. So many options... Maybe something to use on a dragon

 

As Nalia says, glad to be of assistance.

 

Harm is great for C/Ms. Time Stop->Harm is especially awesome since you can't miss. Critical Strike->Harm is similarly good for F/Cs, F/Ds, and R/Cs. Holy Triumvirate->Harm isn't quite as reliable, but it's an underutilized move for single class clerics. And although Armor Piercing Strike (via Spectral Brand +5)-> Harm is arguably cheesy, it can be effective for single-class druids.

 

When using Harm against dragons with a C/M, just be sure to tag your wyrms with a LR x3 Trigger first. Harm is foiled by magic resistance.

 

(Speaking of Nalia, she volunteered to test this for Scintilla)

 

Aria probably won't use Harm against dragons, since I don't permit the divine spell Magic Resistance to be cast on enemies.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

Thanks Alesia for the info re: Harm and magic resistance. 

I respect your prohibiting the use of the divine spell Magic Resistance on foes in that it makes the game slightly more challenging than one in which such a tactic would be allowed. From a realism or role-playing POV I have no real qualms about it though. It's easy to assume that the priest's deity doesn't decide in advance who the cleric can cast the spell on. All the deity cares about is whether the priest acts in accordance with the tenets of the applicable faith.

Scintilla used the spell plus two LRs on Kangaxx. I think that if she hadn't, she would have had to retreat, rest, memorize four LRs and return to fight Kangaxx again and finish the job with fire or, for that matter, Harm and one or two SotM-hits. As you may have read, my laziness prevailed. 

[Alesia_BH]

 

I respect your prohibiting the use of the divine spell Magic Resistance on foes in that it makes the game slightly more challenging than one in which such a tactic would be allowed. From a realism or role-playing POV I have no real qualms about it though. It's easy to assume that the priest's deity doesn't decide in advance who the cleric can cast the spell on. All the deity cares about is whether the priest acts in accordance with the tenets of the applicable faith.

 

Makes sense. As I see it, it's a blue spell intended for use as a friendly buff. I prefer not to use it offensively as I see that as outside the spell's intended use. Reasonable people can disagree on this. I respect other people's choices.

 

Best,

 

A. 

[corey_russell]

Ruzzel the gnomish level 12 illusionist update - Maevar's Quest

Traveling with: Tank(level 11 half-orc berserker), Stealer (half-elf level 11 thief/level 11 mage), Disabler (human level 12 mage), Blaster(human level 12 mage), Exploder(human level 12 mage)

 

Ruzzel and gang agree to do Maevar's 1st quest. Since it was daytime, Stealer gulped 4 thieving potions and pick-pocketed the amulet - we reported to Maevar and he was pleased.

 

Next up Edwin needed us to kill a Cowled Wizard - what's this, still one left? I thought we got all of them. Ok then - buff with haste and attack the mephits 1st floor - was okay but Stealer took lots of damage. We then cast MMM's and moved upstairs - we were able to take down the Stone Golems without too much trouble (good thing, as we had very little in terms of +2 weapons or ammo).

 

Rayic Gethras, on the other hand, didn't go quite as planned. We had intended Blaster to go into jelly form and use wand of frost on him (we got this idea from observing Alesia_BH's runs). But I wasn't sure the jelly form could go up the stairs - so Blaster moved upstairs and cast Polymorph Self. Rayic was not idle however. Blaster was just about to switch to jelly form, when she got hit with Symbol: Fear and was running for her life!

 

Hmm - change of plans! Exploder moved upstairs and tried to cast resist fear on Blaster, so then she could do jelly form and Exploder would run away - but no, right at that moment, Rayic did a sunfire and interrupted her spell! Hmm, does anyone else have resist fear memorized? Ah, nope.

 

Okay time for plan C - despite the party being unbuffed, we charged upstairs to assist and save Blaster (who was now held as well). Most of the party attacked Rayic, with Ruzzel casting MSD (to foil a potential FoD from Rayic) - turns out with simple melee/ ranged fire, Rayic by this point fell pretty quick - success and no deaths.

 

Stealer did the de-trapping duties, looted the place and reported our success to Edwin. He needed us to get some documents from Marcus - a simple threat was all that was needed to get the documents. Next, we needed to kill a "traitor" - we didn't bother and just took Barl's dagger and gave that to Maevar, who was quite pleased with himself.

 

Finally, we report to Edwin who happens to have the key we need to get the evidence Renal Bloodscalp wants - we do so and get to an inn (by this point, everyone in the party has leveled) and rest, as we are also fatigued. We do a few buffs and take down the pirates hiding in Thumb's tavern, and there were of no problem. We report to Renal and he says we have to take down Maevar for him.

 

So we buff up for melee/ranged fighting and enter Maevar's Guild - the thieves we met couldn't do too much and our stoneskins/spirit armor/mirror images kept us pretty safe. For Maevar himself, we did have a few snares down, but they weren't very effective (I think because the enemies didn't all go hostile at once). The Efreeti tried to stop Maevar, but Maevar's team were too much for it. Maevar and pals charge the party - the party is hasted and attacks - a few magic missiles were used as well as two skull traps, which hurt Tank, but that's okay because that's why we have him wear the BoIB. Success!

 

Renal of course was quite happy with our success. We were happy with finally getting access to level 6 spells, not to mention a few more spell slots, can't have too many of that. 

[Alesia_BH]

I'm glad to see that you got a session in today Corey!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Epsil0]

After rechecking my mods, I realized I'm running SCS-lite this run; no prebuffing and very few of the tactical challenges, but all the AI enhancements are in place. Even Vampires now, though I have my misgivings.

 

Delta, human Kensai/Druid, update 1

 

One day between BG1 and BG2 it is, then! I hadn't checked my experience total up until I uploaded the character, and I'm very pleased at what I find:

My plan was to dual him at 9 anyways, so it looks as though he'll hit it before we leave the dungeon! With Minsc and Jaheira joining the escape-squad, we fight every encounter on the first floor: we took quite a bit of damage throughout this, including using nearly all of Imoen's direct damage spells against the Ogre mage as I foolishly pressed the button. Most of the minor healers had to be used on the first floor. The Calls for Help didn't really help the Duergar as they ran straight into Imoen's Web. But eventually, as we swung north to take out Ilyich and the Cambion...Tada! Level 9. A fifth pip is put into Daggers... and then he immediately looses proficiencies with them as I hit the ominous Dual Class button. New weapon proficiencies are one in Scimitar, one in Single Weapon Style. Jaheira and Minsc now have to carry the fighting for awhile. On another note, I got this weird level-up hit points:

I was really confused by the 16 HP, since I only have 19 CON and should be rolling for 1d10 + 5. I just realized as I typed this up that I had DuHM running against the Cambion, so the CON bonus must've stacked here. Checking the next couple screenshots, he indeed only has 105 HP instead of 106 now that DuHM has worn off.

 

We, for the first time in three runs, do NOT accidentally turn all the dryads aggressive and promise to return their acorns to Windspear. The weapon the genie's holding is the Gravebinder +2, a dagger that does 1d6 damage rather than 1d4. I'm OK with this. BG2EE's latest update changed this, by the way: the Cambion now wields the Sword of Chaos, and the Genie holds a weapon that the Bhaalspawn can use proficiently. Delta's already a level 5 or level 6 druid by this point; I lost track. But we finish the level by having Jaheira whack away at the Prison keeper Golem. It never turns aggressive no matter how many times you attack it, and it's worth 5k exp, so why not? It even makes a bit of RP-sense, as you definitely would want to kill the guardian that could tell your captor of your whereabouts. Jaheira levels to level 9 Druid, and the first 5th level slot goes to True Seeing. I'd rather not die to a possible Critical Backstab from those assassins, thank you very much! The first and only rest is taken after killing the escaped clone.

 

Minsc seals the deal vs Uvaryl with the Sword of Chaos, and the rest of the dungeon is cleared out by overwhelming melee. True Seeing foils the backstabs (eventually) though the assassins drank four potions of invisibility trying to kill me. Exiting the dungeon is enough for Delta to level twice to... level 9, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe it was only level 8, and the circus took him to 9. Anyways. Yoshimo marks the first death of the run, as we book it up the stairs only for him to get utterly surrounded by Werewolves and a Shadow. Again, these Werewolves deal damage despite not being supposed to in vanilla; I guess SCS changes this? Whatever. It's only the Circus. Aerie joins us, hopefully permanently.

 

The first major quest line we complete is the Slaver's at the Copper Coronet and the Slaver Stockade. The first was almost an utter fiasco as the Beastmaster's minions proved surprisingly damaging: our best AC at this point is a measly -3 when in Wolf form, which both Jaheira and Delta are almost continually in to close distances and provide APR. We avoid having to drink any Invisibility or otherwise important potions, though a couple more of the lesser potions were drunk to stay safe. One minor thing of interest: the Slaver guards drop random scrolls from time to time, right? I nearly choked as one of them drops nothing less than a PW:S, and another one dropping what I think was Summon Nishruu. Hendak takes control of the Copper Coronet, though, and Delta's quite close to level 10 Druid now... So into the sewers we go.

 

And while we're down there:

Tada! Delta finishes his dual-class upon finding Lilarcor. I like to think that this crazed sword's advice helped him remember how to fight. Now, ironically, Delta's AC is the best of the squadron at -5 (effectively -7 with PfE up) when his Barkskin's running. His second 5th level spell went to Iron Skins, negating his lack of ioun stone completely (well, for 5 hits anyways.) He's also easily dealing the most damage, at 18-23 damage, 3 APR, and 1 THAC0. This becomes painfully evident to the Slavers as Delta and company massacre their way through the boat. The Priest of Cyric fails to get a spell off after Delta rushes him under Wolf form to pop up with his dagger moments after transitioning. Haegan tries his best to stay alive by transitioning to the sewers, but we follow him and kill him for his key. There was a bit of a derp moment as I checked my prepared spells: I have only a single Melf's memorized by Aerie, and there's two trolls. Solution? Knock both unconscious and step back as she casts a Fireball from scroll. The rest of the boat was systematic slaughter.

 

We're currently in the Promenade again, selling items and considering the next step and planning party members. Jaheira's definitely going to be dropped at some point, though roleplaying it out I'd like to finish her quests and then set her up as the Harper in charge in Athkatla. Minsc will probably stay, and Aerie is a definite keeper this time through. Yoshimo into Imoen as usual... So two slots left. My Arcane coverage is nowhere near where it needs to be, so Neera might be a possibility again as long as I don't cast near plot-critical NPCs this time.  . The 6th slot... I actually want to go to Sarevok, now that I think about it, since I've never run him before. So rotating 6th in SoA for quests.

 

Edit: Forgot stats.

Delta: Level 9/10 Kensai/Druid. 107 HP. 41 kills. Most powerful vanquished: Cambion. Favorite weapon: Dagger. Favorite spell: Barkskin (I never thought I'd EVER have to write that...)

Jaheira: Level 8/10 Fighter/Druid. 83 HP (5 from helm). 28 kills. 0 deaths. Most powerful vanquished: Jailkeep Golem. Favorite weapon: Wolf Shapeshift Token. Favorite spell: Cure Light Wounds.

Minsc: Level 9 Ranger. 93 HP. 65 kills. 0 deaths. Most powerful vanquished: Ulvaryl. Favorite weapon: Sword of Chaos +2. Favorite spell: Cure Light Wounds.

Yoshimo: Level 11 Bounty Hunter. 78 HP. 13 kills. 1 death. Most powerful vanquished: Mephit portal. Favorite weapon: Bow and arrow.

Aerie: Level 8/8 Cleric/Mage. 38 HP. 5 kills. 0 deaths. Most powerful vanquished: Troll. Favorite weapon: sling and bullet. Favorite spell: Cure Light Wounds.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

1727 Mirtul 1369:  Having finished up destroying Torgal, I left the remainder of the clean-up to Captain Arat & my Guards @ De’Arnise. As we were leaving, we were approached by a runner from Athkatla who informed him that his sister had been murdered. The runner said that Anomen was requested by his father Cor, to return to the family estate in the Government District of Athkatla. We made haste w/o stopping to rest & headed straight for the estate. We had hardly set foot in Athkatla when were attacked by four slavers, one a Mage & one a Cleric type.  We defeated them & then continued to the Government District but were approached by a woman named Valen who tried to convince me to meet her mistress @ night in the Graveyard District. She said that Gaelen couldn’t be trusted & that her mistress could offer more. If I was interested, she said to be in the Graveyard District @ night.  No sooner had she left than we were approached by Gaelen’s nephew again, Brus, I think it is.  He said Gaelen was ready to sweeten the deal & that I should talk to Gaelen before I spoke to Valen’s mistress. I’m torn between trying to figure this out & save Imoen & supporting Anomen in his grief. 

 

Before we could get to the Delryn Estate, we were approached a third time, this time by a boy named Delon, who was from a place called Imnesvale in the Umar Hills.  People there are disappearing & the town is desperate, he insisted.  Minsc was ready to head there straight away but we still needed to get to @ the Delryn Estate. We ran into our first Vampiress w/four Shadow Thieves but they told her they would ‘take care of us,’ so she disappeared. These Thieves not your granfathers thieves…they are a handful equipped w/Potions of Invisibility & Healing.  We killed ‘em but they’re not for toying with.

 

When we arrived @ the Delryn Estate, Anomen’s father was inebriated & demanded that Anomen revenge his sisters’ death by killing a merchant named Saerk, who was & is his father’s greatest rival.  Anomen was torn but deep inside he knew that revenge in this case was murder, & I knew he knew it.  I talked w/him & he chose the right course. When he told his father, his father disowned him but Anomen stood his ground & said he was taking the case to the magistrate.  He took the case to the Magistrate, Brylanna, who was obviously a noble & fair magistrate. Despite Anomen’s insistence that she arrest Saerk, the Magistrate said there was not enough evidence & urged Anomen not to seek revenge. He is bitter & sad but reluctantly left the issue behind & was ready to move on. 

 

My next action was to take Gaelen the 15000gp & find out where I could find Imoen.  Instead he told me I needed to meet a Shadow Thief named Aran Linvail. Now, more than a little irritated I found no choice but to go thru w/his directions & so straight away, I did so.  At this point I am reminded that this was to be the second trip to the Thieves Guildhall b/c Yoshimo paid homage to the Master Thief of the Athkatla Shadow Thieves, Renal Bloodscalp.  Actually Renal wanted me to get involved in some conflict w/another guild but I declined. Now, I was being directed to the Master Thief over all Shadow Thieves, Arin Linvail.  

 

When we emerged, a runner met Nalia & informed her that her father had passed. The funeral, he said, was in the Graveyard District & she needed to be there soon. We headed there immediately. There was a small turnout but all in all a nice service save for the appearance of Isaea Roenall who threatened Nalia over her decision to name me Lord of De’Arnise Castle. It was humorous to see Isaea’s father agree w/Nalia’s argument that tradition held that the heir could indeed name the ‘Weapons Master’ who liberated her castle as Lord. Isaea wasn’t amused but I was.

 

Key Event: Arin wanted me to complete a task for him & once again, I see no choice.  He’s asked me to watch the docks @ night for a shipment of his that he fears might be compromised. He’s asked me to meet one of his Thieves, Mook, down @ the docks & go from there.  I’d already learned that walking the streets of Athkatla @ night, even w/my powerful retinue, is just not smart unless absolutely necessary.  In this case, since I had to work @ night near the docks, I had us go to the Sea Bounty Tavern & wait out nightfall.  When it got dark, we headed toward the docks & were quickly attacked by a Vampiress & three of four Shadow Thieves. This lethal battle led to the loss of the woman who’d just entrusted me w/her family’s home.  She was brutally backstabbed by a Shadow Thief (88hps) & there was no raising her back to me. It’s hard enough fighting these Vampiress’ but w/skilled Shadow Thieves quaffing Potions of Invisibility & backstabbing the weaker or weakened members of my retinue it is nearly impossible. I didn’t realize it the first time we fought a Vampiress but this one was impervious to all but Minsc’s weapon but it became clear in this battle.  We killed the Vampiress & then the Shadow Thieves but I’ve lost this wonderful woman who’s trusted me w/so much...one I expected to be part of my life henceforth.  

DESTROYING A VAMPIRESS

This city is lawless & brutal. In the time we’ve been here, we’ve been attacked by A Slaver Mage & Cleric w/six Orog’s; another Mage & Cleric w/Bandits  (one of the spellcasters got off a Confusion Spell that effected both Auren & Yoshimo; a Mad Cleric of Cyric & I already mentioned the first Vampiress & four Shadow Thieves. It’s almost every time we go out, especially @ night, we’re assaulted or ambushed by Ruffians, Bandits, Shadow Thieves, oh, & Vampiress’. It’s been never ending.    

 

I retired to my Castle to deliver the news of Nalia’s passing & prepare for her funeral.  Even though her father rests in Athkatla, I believe she would want to be in the family’s cemetery near the castle & that’s where I had her laid.  Afterward, I had some issues to resolve, one in particular, involving a merchant who used my land as a caravan route. Recently, his caravans have been harassed by Bandits but, more recently, a caravan was destroyed & pillaged outright. The merchant was very angry. He estimated his loss @ 1000gp. I reimbursed him for his loss & assured him the Bandits were dealt with. I want this land to be safe for farming & commerce.  I directed my Regent, Major Domo, to spend 500gp to hire mercenaries to hunt down & destroy the Bandit’s. My new Captain of the De’Arnise Guard (I will not change the name of this castle) is Captain Cernick. Captain Arat resigned because he believed he’d failed his master when the Trolls invaded.  My Guard is too small to handle the Bandits right now, thinned out by the battles w/the Trolls, & they’re only able to conduct patrols in the immediate vicinity of the walls.  Until I can replenish the ranks, I’ll have to rely on Mercenaries for extra security.

 

Treasure of Note: (Purse = 3,643 gold) Armor/Weapons: Warhammer +2 (purchased for Ajantis); Studded Leather +2 (purchased for Auren); Jewelry/Gold: Potions: Scrolls: Wands:

 

Current Disposition:  Resting @ my castle w/o the wonderful woman who made me it’s Lord.  I feel strange that this place is mine & I didn’t protect her so that she could help me make decisions here & help me.  There are protocols & w/the nuances I just don’t know.    

 

Next Steps:   I’m heading to Umar Hills to look into the situation that the young boy Delon approached us about. The two Vampiress’ we’ve met have been more than we could handle &, like I said earlier, I didn’t notice the first time but the second one was obviously impervious all of our weapons except Minsc’s.  We need stronger weapons but couldn’t afford but one Warhammer for Anomen after paying the 15000gp to Gaelen. 

 

Level Up: 

·         Gawain: Along w/my Lordship my skill are now those of a Lord/10^th Level (Fighter/10)

·         Auren Continues to be more & more deadly w/her Long sword.  As her Lord, I’ve promoted her to Lord/10^th Level (Fighter (Apprentice/10) also.  She is second in command.

·         I promoted Anomen to Lord (Fighter/9).  In addition to his recent elevation by Helm to High Priest of the Watchers of Helm, he is extremely valuable to me. He serves as my personal priest & @ Castle De’Arnise

·         Minsc continues to become more lethal & brutal in combat & is now a War Chief (Barbarian/Level 10)

·         Yoshimo None of my retinue any longer receive advancement thru their guilds, Yoshimo long since having passed the need for training in a Guild setting.  He is now what he calls a Raikage 12^th Level (Ninja/12)

 

Current Party: (Reputation: 12 Average:)

·         Gawain: Ftr/10, (HP108); Plate Mail w/Large Shield, Helm of Balduran, Ring of Protection +1 & Girdle of Bluntness; Bastard Sword*****, Flail of the Ages Acid (Mephit Portal)

·         Auren: Ftr (Apprentice//10), (HP71)Studded Leather +1 w/Long Sword +1***** (SWS**); (Cohrvale)(SCS Ease of Use, Setting 1)

·         Anomen: Ftr/Watcher of Helm//9/9, (HP55); Plate Mail +1 w/Delryn Family Shield & Mace +1***,(Warhammer*, SSS**); (Greater Yuan-Ti)(Cleric Aggressive)

·         Minsc: Fighter (Barbarian/10), HP85; Mail of the Dead +2 w/Two-Handed Sword of Chaos +2***, Mace +1**, THWS**); (Urlaryl)(SCS Ease of Use, Setting 1)

·         Yoshimo: Thief (Ninja/12), HP68; Studded Leather +1 w/Katana +1***, Darts +1*;(Assassin)(Thief Aggressive)

·         Nalia:  Mage/Thief//10/11, (HP57); Studded Leather +1 w/Short Bow +1* & Arban’s Sword +2* (Dgr*, Crossbow*); (Torgal)(Thief Adventurer)

 

Mods Used: BG2 FixPack _v10; Amber_v4; Auren Aseph_v9; Sarah_v4; Haldimir_v2; : Tyris Flare_v6; Gavin_v20 & Hotfix;  scs-v30 (- Tactical Challenges); MegaModKits v1.01L (Anti-Paladin, Charming Rogue, Priest of Sylvanus, Bladesinger, Amazon, Apprentice, Ninja, Samurai); Divine Remix_v8 (Nightcloak of Shar, Holy Strategist of the Red Knight, Batleguard of Tempus, Strifeleader of Cyric, Bowslinger, Forest Runner, Wilderness Runner) ; Rogue Rebalancing; bg2_tweaks-v16; Item Randomizer-v6.8; level1npcs-v1.9

 

Blue Font: New information;

Red Font: Monster encounters (first use)

(Best kill)(Current AI)

* Name Levels are ancient, AD&D titles that used to represent each new level in a class

[corey_russell]

I'm glad to see that you got a session in today Corey!

 

Best,

 

A.

Thanks! I'll try to get to them a bit more often now.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Update of Impish Face & Co or Returning of the lascivious son...

 

Well, it took some time for me to realize that with my gaming approach (to stick my nose into each and every nook) it will take forever to complete my other *sidetrips* and as Alesia rightly noted that //fallow games have a way of vanishing.// I decided to put those sidetrips into background and wake up Impish Face from his deep slumber. He was last seen in Adalon's lair just being disguised as some Drow war party and ready to visit Ust Natha. Before going there however we decided to lightly knead stiff limbs and refresh our fighting skills in Kuo-Toa's Dungeon. I can understand Alesia's hatred of them - they could be a nuisance for soloist but vs party they are pretty much a pushovers (even though their mages spamming Chaos and Domination here and there). Greater Command, Chaos and Emotion made short work of them. Placing the Tainted Tadpoles in the pools weakened their Prince and he was swiftly eliminated (he dropped the Gauntlets of Crushing - this is the first time I ever got them!)

 

  

 

  

 

Seems that aTweaks have brought some more meat shield in Death Knight's fight (some Skelly Warriors and Dancing Swords) but overall I felt it a lot easier then before even though my own Skelly Warrior went hostile almost immediately (again! ). Viconia softened them with Fire Storm and all they could offer is some low level Remove Magic on Mazzy twice (it removed nothing) and Power Word, Blind / Symbol, Fear.

 

 

 

The loot however was splendid: Girdle of Frost Giant Strength, Shield of Balduran and polytweak-ed Mace of Disruption +1. The latter is nerfed considerably in a way and Viconia is no longer a valid user of it.

 

  

 

Holding Prince's royal blood we are in no rush to visit Beholders or Mind Flayers for now so Ust Natha is next.

 

Current state:

 

Impish Face: Fighter (13) / Illusionist (13), 721 kills (Lea'liyl);

Jaheira: Fighter (12) / Druid (13), 212 kills (Bone Golem); 4 revival

Nalia: Swashbuckler (5) / Mage (16), 133 kills (Unseeing Eye);

Viconia: Cleric (19), 41 kills (Mogadish); 1 revival

Mazzy: Fighter (18), 219 kills (Adamantite Golem); 1 revival

Imoen: Thief (7) / Mage (15), 13 kills (Earth Elemental); 1 revival.

 

to be continued...

[Alesia_BH]

I'm happy to see Impish Face back in action, Serg!

 

These are exciting time in no reload land. We have a lot of interesting runs active, and a nice mix of veterans and newcomers.

 

Good hunting everyone!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Aasim]

 

Seems that aTweaks have brought some more meat shield in Death Knight's fight (some Skelly Warriors and Dancing Swords) but overall I felt it a lot easier then before even though my own Skelly Warrior went hostile almost immediately (again! ). Viconia softened them with Fire Storm and all they could offer is some low level Remove Magic on Mazzy twice (it removed nothing) and Power Word: Fear/Blind.

I agree, this battle is more difficult with SCS than aTweaks Undead. I wouldn't agree on weak dispel - it's cast at levl 20 I think (in my games, it's virtually always succesfull). 

[Serg BlackStrider]

I'm happy to see Impish Face back in action, Serg!

Thanks, Alesia! I'm happy to be back home.   And these are exciting times indeed!

 

 

I agree, this battle is more difficult with SCS than aTweaks Undead. I wouldn't agree on weak dispel - it's cast at levl 20 I think (in my games, it's virtually always succesfull). 

Just checked a readme and yes, Death Knights cast at lvl 20. They hit Mazzy twice in a row and all in vain though. She was buffed by lvl 19 Viconia with Chaotic Commands and Pro Evil 10' and Invoke Courage/Champions Strength by lvl 18 herself so her odds were not that bad, I think. 

[Aasim]

Just checked a readme and yes, Death Knights cast at lvl 20. They hit Mazzy twice in a row and all in vain though. She was buffed by lvl 19 Viconia with Chaotic Commands and Pro Evil 10' and Invoke Courage/Champions Strength by lvl 18 herself so her odds were not that bad, I think. 

Yeah, it's not so overpowering vs level 19 buff, I agree.

[Golden28]

Eren the survivor Episode 2 BG2

 

Time to get some XP . Torgal falls and we get the 11k from Nalia. BTW watch that flesh to stone casting against my 99% magic resistance SKELETON without any flesh.. IQ much?

 

Faldorn falls to Cernd the improved shapeshifter monster..

 

After doing the first ranger quest for the spirit of the forest, the 2nd quest doesnt start or I miss it, its a known bug.. Luckely Crevsdaak has a spawn code as a solution so I can finish my stronghold to get redemption from Melikki!

 

I decide to do the temple quests and the haer dalis quest next. Nice backstab Jan! Hopefully Eren the stalker will take that job away from you soon.

 

And Gaius!

 

Yuanti mages are so powerful.. they are fast, brutal, dangerous.. my worst nightmare.. one gets Jan, but after what seems like eternity, he runs out of spells, so we get him. 

 

Cloudkills and skeletons do their thing.

 

The Eye falls quite easily because he fails to summon his tyrants. No idea why, I checked my install and improved Eye was installed..:S oh well..

 

Korgan keeps whining so i do his book quest and get the bag of holding from hexxat while at it. Vampire crashes the game when he transforms into a bat.. I have to uninstall improved vampires im afraid.

 

Anomen does not get promoted WUT?:S. We had a rep of nine and didnt kill his fathers foe.. guess 9 was too low?

 

We will do the bard quest next, the one with eight of my walking nightmares the yuan ti mage.. they ended a run once for me when they destroyed my party with web and chaos sequencers, while being hasted and throwing minute meteors.. read all about that next time. 

 

Cheers!

[Blackraven]

Lot of progress Golden, good job! Sorry about Anomen, though I actually prefer CN Anomen, character-wise.

CKT, watch out with backstabbers. I'm sorry you lost Nalia (who fitted the narrative so nicely...   I'd advise you to try and keep Stoneskins on Nalia's successor (Aerie?) at all times.
 

Scintilla, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist, eighth BG2 update

Scintilla dreamt about Candlekeep, a dream in which she fake-talked a Demon out of lowering one of her stats. She awoke soulless in a glass cage, courtesy of Irenicus. His sister Bodhi set her free however, in the Spellhold Maze below the actual asylum. It took her some puzzling, an unsollicited Slayer transformation, and the elimination of all manner of creatures, such Illithids, Eye Tyrants, Golems, Minotaurs, Yuan-Ti, and a Lich, to find her way out.

The latter creature caused Scintilla the most trouble. She survived its Time Stops by making sure to position herself without its visual range, distracted its Glabrezu with her Deva (even though the Glabrezu kept going after her rather than the Deva), and saw the Deva imprisoned by the Lich, while she in turn used her Turn Undead ability to blow up several Skeletons the Lich animated. Some buffing/de-buffing chess followed. The Gnome - well buffed with II, SI:D and SI:A, Spell Shield, Spell Deflection, Free Action (because of the Demon), and PfME - won that game. (Scintilla generally only has about 3-4 debuffing spells memorized, relying more on her SotM for debuffing work. It saves her spell slots that can be dedicated to other types of spells, and using the SotM is safer because Spell Turning can send any debuffers straight back to Scintilla.)

Spoiler

A Vampire, Trolls, and one of several groups of Yuan-Ti were slain with the help of an Aerial Servant (one of Scintilla's staple spells, the observant reader must have noticed by now).

 

She soon found her way back into the Asylum, where she convinced Lonk the warden to release the prisoners for an assault on Irenicus. Scintilla took a very conservative approach, relying heaviliy on her temporary allies. (I didn't know at all what to expect of Scintilla's clone. I mostly solo warriors and rogues, so I had no idea what spells the clone would cast. It was interesting to see that it cast some spells that the real Scintilla had memorized herself, such as Mislead, PfMW and Simulacrum, among others, but also an Oracle, a spell that the real Scintilla knew but never memorized, as she was used to working with clerical True Seeing.) Scintilla ran away from the point where a faux Scintilla spawned, leaving a Simulacrum for the clone to spar with. Irenicus dropped a Comet on a Mislead-version of Scintilla, and used two Time Stops, mostly to buff and to cast damage spells on the inmates (not on Scintilla because she wasn't really close to him). Scintilla summoned a Deva right in front of Irenicus. It ended up imprisoned, but not before it cast three Dispel Magics at Irenicus at different moments. The last Dispel Magic (cast when the prison was already closing around the Deva), was followed by the simultaneous casting of Breach by Wanev and Scintilla's summoning of Kitty who promptly webbed their foe. Very nice. It resulted in Irenicus' surrender for that battle.

Spoiler

Scintilla didn't bother with her clone and Holy Smote (3x in a Sequencer) her way through a door that was blocked by invisible Murderers,

Spoiler

in order to get out of the Asylum and away from the island, back to the mainland.

 

Saemon Havarian offered to make up for his previous treachery with a place for her on his ship, except that he didn't have a ship. The Gnome stole a horn for Saemon and the two took off on the local Pirate Lord's ship. Ambushes by Githyanki and later Sahuagin saw the ship sink and Scintilla end up in a Sahuagin City. She pillaged some loot from an abandoned Drow settlement,

Spoiler

promised the Sahuagin King to kill a Rebel Prince and the Rebel Prince to kill the King, but buffed with Haste, Holy Power, Righteous Magic, and DUHM, and dualwielding her FoA and Blackblood, she ended up callously slaughtering first the Prince, then the King, and finally a Priestess that dropped an enchanted cloak,

Spoiler

before she took off for her next destination: the Underdark.