15228 replies to this topic

[Alesia_BH]

Alas, a bit of foolhardiness has ended Delta's run.  A group of Kuo-tou surrounded him, dispelled him and stunned him with one of their bolts; my casters were unable to react in time. I think my next character's going to be a mage or a shorty: being able to get low, more or less undispellable saves sounds like a prime idea.

 

Condolences, Epsil0. I hate kuo-toans. Hate'em! Those stunning bolts are one reason.

 

Running a shorty definitely makes life easier, as does having SI:A. Those are both good ideas.

 

In the case of stunning bolts, the Reflection Shield can be helpful. That's one of the reasons why I don't really like the kensai duals in no reload play. I value the Reflection Shield, the Shield of Harmony, and Arrows of Dispelling too much to sacrifice them for extra damage. This isn't to say that the kensai duals aren't powerful: they are. I'm just unfond of the tradeoffs, given my playing style.

 

Regardless of how it ended, Delta's run was excellent. I'd like to commend you on a job well done, even if the journey ended too soon. I'm looking forward to your next character! 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Aasim]

Auch, Epsil0. I'm afraid yours is not the only run that ends today.

 

Shaleen, final BG2 update

 

Well, we searched hard to find the lacking 300K exp. So much we forgot to use some protections. I wanted Bodhi first, she gives huge XP ammounts. The battle on top floor Diviner barely survived. I noticed she was getting drained by an invisible vamp who slipped through at the stage where she was 2nd level.

 

*ALL* my "allies" died vs Tanova. Drizzt, thieves, paladins, she killed all. She almost killed us as well!

 

F*ckin CON drain.

 

Aynhow, I didn't go downstairs just yet, but decided to finish Planar Prison. Given our abduance of spell removals, we had no problems there. Warden used his TS in vain, got debuffed, rebuffed with a trigger which lacked ProMW, and got blasted with a vorpal. This were looking fairly nice now. Still 200K to go before Planetar is availabe.

 

Finally, we return to Graveyard. Buff up immensly. Summon Kittix and Golem. Don't use *any* level drain protection on protagonist or Haste since I'm an idiot.

Barbarian rushes in, purges the blood pool and takes the bats onto himself.  Diviner has one ADHW memorized, and throws it in. Our summons die to vampires. 

 

Use what you got to get Bodhi down..

 

Notice that protagonist is getting level drained...

 

 

..which causes her to loose Restoration she had...(Bodhi is now a bat. She'll rise soon.)

 

Bodhi is back. We take an ADHW from vamp mages as well. She's not in the mood for chit-chat. Drink Blood, drink blood.

2 down.

 

Drink blood, done.

 

And that's it folks! Less-than-epic ending of Shaleen's no-potion-other-than-healing-run. 

[Blackraven]

Nooo! This is not what I logged in for

I'm very sorry Epsil0 and Aasim... 
@Epsil0, stun is a major risk in SoA not only because of stun bolts, but also because of PW:Stun which will affect characters with lowish HP.
@Aasim, you returned to SCS Vampires it seems? Ch. 6 Bodhi & Co. are very hard...

Hope to see the both of you in action again soon
 

[Epsil0]

 

In the case of stunning bolts, the Reflection Shield can be helpful. That's one of the reasons why I don't really like the kensai duals in no reload play. I value the Reflection Shield, the Shield of Harmony, and Arrows of Dispelling too much to sacrifice them for extra damage. This isn't to say that the kensai duals aren't powerful: they are. I'm just unfond of the tradeoffs, given my playing style.

 

Regardless of how it ended, Delta's run was excellent. I'd like to commend you on a job well done, even if the journey ended too soon. I'm looking forward to your next character! 

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Heh, well... The entire reason I went Kensai was for the possibly hilarious value of Kai + Earth Elemental transformations, plus finally using the 2nd level Druid spells for something useful. The midgame was going to be my weak point with that setup, and I didn't exactly pick my companions for their midgame strength: maybe next time I'll wait much longer to get Imoen, if I get her at all. A new character is getting rolled right now for BG1, with what is almost certainly going to be a Gnome Berserker. I saw an immunity to Stun. 

[Aasim]

@Aasim, you returned to SCS Vampires it seems? Ch. 6 Bodhi & Co. are very hard...

Yeah.

I know them well enough; never lost to them here however. There's a first time for everything!    

The problem is, there's no way (apart PfMW) to protect yourself from dying to few hits. When two mages come to join Bodhi, 50 or so HP will no longer stop ADHWs or similar. 

I'll probably take that CON drain ability away from SCS vamps - it lasts too long, and is basically preventing anything other than running in circles around Bodhi or relying on PfMW/Alacrity bombardment (even if I doubt there'd be enough spells to kill her). 

What's next?

Probably something I haven't tried in a *long* time....

[Alesia_BH]

Ariel, Halfling F/T: BG2 Update 3- The Hero of Trademeet

 

 

Trademeet now has two halflings to celebrate: the home town hero Mazzy Fentan, and the out of towner Ariel. Trademeet's master sculptor is eminently pleased. He gets the same rate regardless of a statue's size. He's making a killing by saving on marble. Waukeen would be impressed.

 

Heading the advice of a predecessor with a similar name, Ariel completed the Trademeet quests cleanly and efficiently. She traversed the grove under cover of shadows, recovered Belm, and then rendezvoused with Cernd. But before that could happen, there was some thieving to be done.

 

Spoiler

 

After joining Cernd, Ariel summoned Mr. Efreeti to cast invisibility. This unexpectedly drew the attention of a phase spider. Lacking antidotes, Ariel and Cernd immediately quaffed Potions of Invisibility and then watched Mr. Efreeti take on the spider and a neighboring shambling mound. He prevailed, surprisingly.

 

Then it was time for a druidic pit fight. Though Cernd was Ariel's ally, Ariel's money would have been on Faldorn were it not for on thing: RoAC II. Cernd and Faldorn had similar buffs -and they presumably had a similar battle strategy- but RoAC was the difference maker. It insured that Cernd would be the one to land an insect plague and summon critters.

 

Spoiler

 

Melee swipes from wolfwere paws brought Faldorn's reign of terror to an end. The grove was restored, the animals were pleased, and the Waukeeners were one step closer to resuming their lives of capitalist excess and reverence of dead gods.

 

Fortunately for Ariel, that last step was a baby step. An opening backstab and a trio of traps meant there would be no wrath of Khan.

 

Now with a pair of magical scimitars, an APR of 4, a solid base AC (thanks to the newly acquired Bracers of AC 3), and an excellent missle AC from Cloak of Displacement + Claw of the Kazgaroth + Boots of Avoidance, Ariel is maturing into a true SoA warrior. Her next test awaits in the Umar Hills.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Heh, well... The entire reason I went Kensai was for the possibly hilarious value of Kai + Earth Elemental transformations, plus finally using the 2nd level Druid spells for something useful.

 

Makes sense. That sounds fun.

 

A new character is getting rolled right now for BG1, with what is almost certainly going to be a Gnome Berserker. I saw an immunity to Stun. 

 

Sounds awesome! I don't think I've ever seen a Gnome berserker. Good luck with that!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Golden28]

@ Aasim, too bad your excellent run ended there..

 

 

Cheers!

[Alesia_BH]

Nooo! This is not what I logged in for

I'm very sorry Epsil0 and Aasim...

 

I know. It's a sad day. I feel like we should have a memorial service for the fallen.

 

In memory of Shaleen and Delta.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

Good thing we still have Ariel, who's looking pretty good, and there's Impish Face, Corey's crew, and doesn't Grond0 have a role-played Berserker somewhere in Amn?
I'm going to try and squeeze in a few hours for Gerry, but I don't expect him to reach Amn before the weekend.

[Alesia_BH]

Good thing we still have Ariel, who's looking pretty good, and there's Impish Face, Corey's crew, and doesn't Grond0 have a role-played Berserker somewhere in Amn?

 

Yes. And then there's Sir Gawain, of course.

 

Good point about Grond0's role-played berserker run. It would be cool to see that resumed.

 

I have mixed thoughts on that. I really want to see Grond0 play SCS, but I also like the RP run. Either would be great.

 

 

I'm going to try and squeeze in a few hours for Gerry, but I don't expect him to reach Amn before the weekend.

 

I hope to see him soon!

 

Best,

 

A.

[corey_russell]

I'll try to get to Ruzzel's run tonight - sometimes it seems like I need 40 hours in a day instead of 24.

[Grond0]

Carnage on the Forums - and I wasn't even playing today .  I'm looking forward to seeing Aasim and Epsil0 demonstrate their bouncebackability!

[corey_russell]

Ruzzel the gnomish illusionist update

Traveling with a berserker, a thief/mage and 3 other mages

 

The party goes to the Temple Sewers and pays a visit to Mekrath's place. His mephits were no problem. I put protection from electricity on Tank, he enraged and he had the shield of harmony - what could go wrong? Well I forgot Mekrath had FoD in his script - oops! Tank dies...We then sent summons, 1 at a time to drain his spells - our flesh golem got the kill shot. Fortunately a RoR was nearby to put Tank back together. In the right side of the area, we had some salamanders and a single Yuan-Ti Mage - Tank was able to finish off these guys.

 

We then returned Haer'Dalis gem to his troupe but they got captured so we had to follow them to some sort of planar prison. We were invisible, so fired massive volleys of magic missiles at a Yuan-Ti mage (including some MM from minor sequencers(2)) - it slew him - the others didn't stand a chance after that. A few more trash mobs to clear - then Tank soloed the Githyanki in a cell. Then some thralls and a Wyvern, OK so far. Time for the Master of Thralls himself - we were getting a bit low on spells but pressed forward anyways - was a pretty long battle, and Stealer got held so we had to use a RoR to keep her together, but finally the Master of Thrall and his pets fall.

 

We were fatigued so had to rest - we destroyed the gem to free the thralls then went after the Warden. For the 1st time in all my runs (really) I had Blaster use mustard jelly and attack the warden by herself. Am glad I did that she soaked a HUGE number of game-ending spells (disintegrate, flesh to stone, FoD, chaos, etc.) However, she could NOT kill the Warden, in fact once he summoned some skeletons Blaster had to retreat. 

 

The party moved up to assist - but we rapidly realized we had a huge problem - we mostly had MMM equipped - but they were being sent back at us by the Warden's spell turning! We had lots of ways to dispel that BUT the Warden was also under improved invisibility - I checked my spell book - not a single spell can dispel that! Oops!

 

Tank swings his sword furiosly - we summon what little summons we have to assist, with most of the party unable to do anything except stand around uselessly. The battle was more than 1/2 over, and then I remembered - Stealer was working on Detect Illusions! So had her do that and yes it got rid of the Warden's Improved Invisibility! Good, Disabler casts a pierce magic - but it gets mistargeted due to the many targets close together an enemy phase spider gets hit with hit instead...by this point, however, the summons and Tank finally killed the Warden,and the remaining spiders were cleared up without any more hassle.

 

We freed Haer'Dalis and his troupe, rested and sold our junk and contemplated our next move...

 

NOTE: There's a merchant who only shows up at night near Neb's place - we bought ALL his spells, which were all things the party were missing - including 3 Protection from Magic weapons! So here's where they all are...and for the first time, I actually cast PfMW in combat on my main character! Just before attacking the Master of Thralls, Ruzzel tried to summon a lesser earth elemental to help but it went hostile - so Ruzzel did PfMW to give the party time to kill it.

[Blackraven]

Yes. And then there's Sir Gawain, of course.

 

Oops, how could I forget to mention him, after I complimented him yesterday on his work in the Umar Hills.
 

The party moved up to assist - but we rapidly realized we had a huge problem - we mostly had MMM equipped - but they were being sent back at us by the Warden's spell turning! We had lots of ways to dispel that BUT the Warden was also under improved invisibility - I checked my spell book - not a single spell can dispel that! Oops!

How many points does your Thief/Mage have in Detect Illusions? I find it a very effective skill, even with only 40-50 points in it. (I always max it though, for even better results.)

[Alesia_BH]

Ariel, Halfling F/T: BG2 Update 4- Umar Hills

 

 

Ariel has brought light back to the Umar Hills. Property values have sky rocketed. Ariel considered scooping up real estate on the cheap at the end of the Shade Lords reign, but she's not that kind of thief: she just steals stuff.

 

Before venturing to the Umar Hills, Ariel visited Mencar and Co. at the Den of Seven Vales. Despite one scary moment -which was a consequence or Ariel's preference for toe-to-toe melee fighting- it went reasonably well.

 

An opening backstab took out Sorcerous Amon, and reunited Ariel with her favorite cloak.

 

Spoiler

 

The cost of the battle skyrocketed almost immediately when Pooky dispelled Ariel's RoAC II, Potion of Hill Giant Strength, and Draw on Holy Might. With the loss of II, Ariel saw her save v spell move up to 2 and her effective AC increase by 4. The loss of her strength, dexterity, and constitution buffs made her far more vulnerable in melee. Ariel immediately quaffed a Potion of Invulnerability to partially restore her defenses.

 

Spoiler

 

While rebuilding her buffs, Ariel demonstrated why I hate toe-to-toe melee with non-arcane characters who lack exceptional resistances: things can go so wrong so fast. Smaeluv, Mencar, and Brennan each got excellent rolls simultaneously and Ariel saw herself go from fully healed to the danger zone in an instant. An immediate Potion of Invisibility quaff saved the day.

 

Spoiler

 

After healing and buffing invisible, Ariel chose to continue the battle downstairs so that she'd have more room to maneuver and could more easily keep Brennan out of the shadows. Fortunately, this did not seperate any of her foes. Downstairs, Brennan was the first to fall.

 

Spoiler

 

He was followed by Pooky and Smaeluv.

 

Spoiler

 

Opening the door to Patricia's kitchen created shadows. Ariel used them to finish Mencar.

 

In the opening battle at the Umar Hills, Ariel wore Mencar's full plate. A backstab and full plate allowed Ariel to take down the skeleton warriors with minimal injuries. Mazzy donated the Sword of Arvoreen to the cause. Stun immunity never came so cheaply.

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

The two skeleton warrior/shadow fiend crews were felled with the Shield of Harmony in the off-hand. Despite having three pips in two weapon style, Ariel will use shields often. Equipping Harmony, for example, grants Ariel a 3 point AC bonus and some helpful immunities at the cost of only one attack per round. That's often a good deal.

 

Spoiler

 

The bone golem was killed with three traps and Tuigan.

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Lacking level drain protection, Ariel went with a Protection from Undead scroll against the Shade Lord. For added safety, she stayed at least 30ft from the Shade Lord, just in case he triggered a Remove on himself. A Sunstone Bullet insta-killed the Shadow Altar. Tuigan finished the Shade Lord. It's no longer a buyers market in the Umar Hills.

 

Ariel will head to the de'Arnise Keep tomorrow.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

A Sunstone Bullet insta-killed the Shadow Altar.

That's nice!

As to melee and buff-dispels, that should soon cease to be a big deal with damage resistance options, and perhaps GWW-Foebane heals?

[Alesia_BH]

As to melee and buff-dispels, that should soon cease to be a big deal with damage resistance options, and perhaps GWW-Foebane heals?

 

Yuppers: that's the plan. But "soon" isn't the word I would use: it's a long road from here to ToB.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

Yuppers: that's the plan. But "soon" isn't the word I would use: it's a long road from here to ToB.

 

Best,

 

A.

Hm yes, Foebane +5 will have to wait till early ToB. But DoE, UAI-facilitated Adventurer Wear, and Hardiness won't  

[Alesia_BH]

Hm yes, Foebane +5 will have to wait till early ToB. But DoE, UAI-facilitated Adventurer Wear, and Hardiness won't

 

True. But it's also a long road to Hardiness and UAI!

 

Hopefully Ariel will get there. I'll just have to careful with her until then.

 

Best,

 

A.

[corey_russell]

Oops, how could I forget to mention him, after I complimented him yesterday on his work in the Umar Hills.
 

How many points does your Thief/Mage have in Detect Illusions? I find it a very effective skill, even with only 40-50 points in it. (I always max it though, for even better results.)

Stealer has 50 points - her next level will put more points into that.

[Grond0]

The party moved up to assist - but we rapidly realized we had a huge problem - we mostly had MMM equipped - but they were being sent back at us by the Warden's spell turning! We had lots of ways to dispel that BUT the Warden was also under improved invisibility - I checked my spell book - not a single spell can dispel that! Oops!

In vanilla MMMs eat their way through spell turning.  Typically I would just continue to target them on a protected enemy even with a solo character.  With a number all attacking you would be able to take it down without too much damage yourselves (particularly if mage's all routinely have stoneskins on to absorb the impact damage).

[Grond0]

Good point about Grond0's role-played berserker run. It would be cool to see that resumed.

 

I have mixed thoughts on that. I really want to see Grond0 play SCS, but I also like the RP run. Either would be great.

I've just started another SCS swashbuckler, although I am still intending to get back to the RP run in due course.  I'm also definitely now aiming to have another go on Saturday at my one-day challenge to complete the trilogy ...

[Alesia_BH]

I've just started another SCS swashbuckler...I'm also definitely now aiming to have another go on Saturday at my one-day challenge to complete the trilogy ...

 

Understood. Sounds exciting. Best of luck!

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

In vanilla MMMs eat their way through spell turning.  Typically I would just continue to target them on a protected enemy even with a solo character.

 

Agreed. In vanilla, MMMs are an excellent ways to take down spell protections- especially against enemies running II pre Wands of Spell Striking.

 

The fire damage is reflected, but Protection from Fire will take care of that.

 

Best,

 

A.