The reason I'm thinking of picking this option is that with full party o six I have way too little lvl 9 slots for both HLAs and normal lvl 9 spells. I agree this might not be an issue for solo/small parties.
I can understand that. It would give party mages a boost.
Best,
A.
Guest_GrimJim_*
I figured out the bug with Irenicus at the Throne. His script was using the wrong version of Mislead in his opening chain which was screwing up his script. To fix this, open up finiren.bcs and replace line 33 with
ForceSpellRES("dw#0w607",Myself)
He doesn't come fully buffed even if you have full prebuffs installed, so that's an issue, but at least he'll actually fight.
EDIT: To be clear, the line you're replacing should originally be ReallyForceSpell(Myself,WIZARD_MISLEAD),
I figured out the bug with Irenicus at the Throne. His script was using the wrong version of Mislead in his opening chain which was screwing up his script.
Noted. I'll give that a try.
Thanks!
A.
@Grim Jim. Nice work! He's better now.
If you figure out how to fix his pre-buffs let me know.
Best,
A.
@Jabberwock.
If you're running SCS v30 Ascension, I'd encourage you to install the fixes developed and or shared in this thread:
As a reminder, the fixes for the Abazigal, Tamah, and Marilith issues can be found here:
http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19526458
A partial fix for Ascension Irenicus is, of course, on this page, four posts above mine.
They're pretty important: they fix two critical fights that are broken in SCS v30/Ascesnion. If you're playing on insane, they fix three fights, including the all important final battle.
Thanks again to Grim Jim, Aasim, and those on the G3 forum who developed the Abazigal/Tamah fix!
Best,
A.
I did the Abazigal fixes but I don't seem to have a finiren.bcs. Not sure what the implications of that are.
I'm not sure why you're having trouble finding finiren.bcs. I hope that doesn't mean something failed to install. Perhaps someone can advise.
If you don't fix Jon's script, the opening battle at the Throne will be very strange. He will not cast high level spells. Instead he'll run around at hyper speed tossing mid level AoE stuff that -incredibly- won't do any damage. It's easy to miss in the chaos of the battle, especially with the mariliths present, but he's seriously broken.
As for the mariliths, I can't say for certain that David W didn't intend for them to be present. I can say for certain that David G didn't intend for them to be there. With the mariliths it's a different fight. I've grown to like them in some ways, but here's how I see it.
Good hunting, Jabberwock!
Best,
A.
Arkona, Halfling Barbarian: Never Mind the Bollocks- Early Adventures in Athkatla
My testing is done. The install is solid. Arkona is still alive, and I only experimented a touch. Her run is valid. She's a great character in a great install. Why not post? I'm all about contradicting myself.
Enter Arkona- seen here after her escape from the Chateau
Spoiler
Arkona's HP rolls were excellent. I granted her one max roll early in BG after she had had a near min roll, but aside from that her rolls were straight. Going forward, I intend to install the Icewind Dale Style HP Rolls mods
Proficiencies: Dart, Short Bows, Axes x 2, Two Weapon Fighting x 2
Mods: Fixpack v10, Import Helm and Claw, SCS v15 (full pre-buffs, all tactical challenges, all creature improvements), ATweaks (all creature improvements, no gating), Ascension (full)
Since the above screenshot, the girl has made, like, progress: she's styling in her Ring of Gaxx and Shadow Dragon Armor, ready to face Jonicus. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, right? To the Chateau.
Hey! Ho! Let's Go!
I never, ever feel tempted to linger in the Chateau. Even with the SCS improvements, it bores me to tears. I sympathize with those who use Dungeon Begone- even if that, for me, would break immersion. I'll tell you what though: the ATweaks mephits add a most welcome touch.
The Chateau mephits were my first exposure to ATweaks content. I was immediately charmed. They're beautiful, they're smart, they're endowed with interesting abilities. They're the clever, dangerous and devilish tricksters of PnP lore. They're also well documented, so they needn't increase risk in no reload play, assuming you're a reader. They're just right. I highly recommend them.
Here we see one of Arkona's first encounters with an ATweaks mephits. He was a mineral mephit, fashioning a Glitterdust breath weapon, a 1d4 slashing weapon, and some interesting resistances. He tried to open an interplanar gate, as you can see. ATweaks mephits have a 25% chance of gating in allies. They get one attempt, per hour. This is reasonably balanced for no reload play, in my opinion, and it fits with the naughty cooperative trickster idea of the mephits. It can be disabled if you don't like it.
Spoiler
Here we see Arkona in the mephit portal room. I recruited Yoshi because I wanted to observe the mephit's behavior without incurring risk. Not all the mephits were observed: one portal was chunk-stabbed.
Spoiler
Enraged, Arkona took down the rest.
Spoiler
As for the colors, I love them, but some might find them out of place. It's possible to get the ATweaks Mephits without the distinctive colors.
Onward, ever onward. Yoshi did not relish his tester status when facing the salt mephit- especially since he had already been doomed.
Spoiler
The salt mephit Salt Crystal breath weapon has a range of 15 feet. It stuns for one round with a save v death to avoid. Salt mephits also have a stun on hit effect, with a save v death to avoid: duration 1 round. They'll try to stun you with the breath weapon and then stun you again with their on hit effects. Since you'll have to roll multiple time per round, this could be dangerous for solo characters who, unlike Arkona, lack stun immunity. You don't want to be wearing the Claw here. Soloist who lack stun immunity should stealth by if possible. Others should try to stay 15 feet away for as long as possible. The ATweaks mephits are fast though, and they have huge call for help ranges, so the salt mephit here will race into the shadow thief encounter. Getting a kill at range, before the mephit could close to 15 feet, would be difficult for many characters.
All that remained was the shadow thief ambush. In this install thieves are extremely dangerous since they all get huge stacks of invisibility potions. Named thieves get up to ten. Nameless ambushers get around 5. That's a lot of backstabs. Being a barbarian rocks in this setup (no screenshot of the ambush).
Oh Bondage! Up Yours!
Upon exiting the Chateau, Arkona unchained Aerie, and then took down Kalah. I was semi-expecting some interesting behavior from the shadows here, on account of ATweaks undead, but that didn't happen.
Spoiler
It felt really weird to just leave Aerie after all she and Aphril had been through together.
Spoiler
Pump, Pump, Pump, Pump, Pump It Up!
Onto the Slums. Arkona is punk, not hip hop. But when she buffs her strength for battle, I think of this one sample from a hip hop song- I think it originally came from a Public Enemy song Pump it up!
Spoiler
Half-orc barbarian: strength of 19, lousy saves, unremarkable dex: No. Halfling barbarian: buffed strength of 25, max save bonus, remarkable dex: Yes. That's how I see it, anyways.
EDIT: Yes. The sample I was thinking of is from a Public Enemy song. It's right here at second 41. It ends at second 43.
https://youtu.be/CB8wTs7xA_U?t=41s
In contrast, when I buffed Aphril, I usually thought of Soft as Chalk by Joanna Newsom. Soft as chalk is 6 minutes and 29 seconds long. They're, like, different- just as Aphril and Arkona are.
It was nice to be able to just walk over and punk Corvhale for once. He and Bregg get a decent number of potions in this install.
Spoiler
Smash It Up
On to the Slaver Quest. This was some straight up punk-chunkage.
Arkona juked the CC guard to avoid the mages. This is stupid and lame: I'm not doing it anymore.
A pair of axes and pumped up strength let Arkona take the beast master down with ease. SCS bears were priority targets.
Spoiler
Same MO on the flip side. A fortuitous opening critical mitigated risk from the cleric.
Spoiler
Since Arkona was wearing chain in this fight, crushers were priority targets after that.
Spoiler
I hate chain, but it's not a terrible choice for general purpose use in the early game. Arkona moved on to Bracers of AC 3/RoP + 2/Studded Leather ASAP. She keeps splint around for crushers. I find magical armor very nearly useless in solo play. The exceptions are Enkidu's, Shadow Dragon Armor, Adventurewear, and Corthala Family. Shadow Dragon Armor is the only one Arkona can use. She'll use it.
Arkona collected Namarra next. Note that she is wielding Azuredge now.
Spoiler
I fear the details of the early game item acquisitions have been lost, but the early game choices were my standards: RoAC, the Reflex, Azuredge, Sling of Seeking, Bracers of AC 3. Barbarans have less need for a defensive potion collection than other builds, but it's still good to have on. Roger has a Potion Case in this install. Arkona didn't hesitate to fill it up. The potions purchased and or otherwise acquired were as follows: Potion of Firebreath, Oil of Speed, Potion of Invisibility, Potion of Clarity, Potion of Freedom, Potion of Magic Shielding, Potion of Insulation, Potion of Fire Resistance, Potion of Cold Resistance, Potion of Absorption, Potion of Invulnerability, Potion of Defense, Potion of Hill Giant Strength. The el cheapo strength potions may seem out of place, but they're an effective counter to Ray of Enfeeblement. They're good to have around.
Suna Seni is (Not) a Punk Rocker
But her friends sure are drinkers. I forgot how heavy the potion quaffing is in this install. Given that I use breakage, I don't benefit from this much. I just get punished
Spoiler
Sometimes you end up wailing on these blokes forever. Superior Healing? From Suna Seni's cleric.
Spoiler
RoAC II + The Reflex + Rage handled the defense. DUHM provided an extra boost. I tend to use Potions of Firebreath here but Arkona didn't need to.
Spoiler
With a clear aura and no threats, why not use Namarra? Everybody likes to watch a mage cast Vocalize.
Spoiler
Finally Eldarin
Spoiler
Next stop: MaeVar's. Because backstab immunity.
Best,
A.
NW. Given that Aphril's run was on Insane, I thought I should note that Arkona is playing on Core.
Going forward, that's part of how I intend to maintain balance between classes: arcane characters will play on Insane, everyone else will play on Core. As a reminder, Insane is not just double damage in Ascension: it seriously complicates the final battle by adding dangerous creatures.
That makes sense, I think. Core is too easy for my arcane characters. Insane is better suited for them. Other classes, in contrast, can get a good fight on Core.
Arkona, Halfling Barbarian: Never Mind the Bollocks- Embarrassing Chapter 2 Quest that I'm Ashamed Of
Since this was a test run, I wanted to see a lot of content fast. I cut corners to make that happen. I cut some corners, that I normally wouldn't and some corners that I frequently do. I noticed something: the differences were slight, arbitrary and of little significance. That realization had led me to re-conceptualize some of the early game choices I frequently make. I intend to cut fewer corners going forward. Some may recall my earlier post on this.
In the interest of documenting this run, I'll cover these quests as they happened. Nothing cheaty was done here: I just interacted with the game world in such a way as to subvert the logic of the quest designs. That ok, I guess, if you enjoy it, but it's also dangerous. The greatest danger is that it can destroy the illusion of the game world. Subverting the logic of encounters and quests can turn a rich vibrant, four dimensional world into a two dimensional puzzle. And once the adventure becomes a puzzle -once it is fully treated like a puzzle- the challenge and joy of play can be lost. Subverting the logic of quests is kind of like replaying battles to workout strategies, in that sense. Once you replay a fight over and over again, it's no longer a conflict in the context of a narrative: it becomes a puzzle that you've already solved. That's less fun, less cool, to me, at least. Puzzle thinking is one of the keys to successful no reload play, but suppressing puzzle thinking is equally important: without an shred of puzzle thinking, battles become unwinnable, with too much puzzle thinking, challenge is lost and the game world dies. Balance must be struck.
Anyhoo. Let's cover those quest.
Mae'Var
Proposition: You're not suppose to kill Edwin for the key. You're suppose to deal with Rayic. You're not suppose to know about the key. You're not even suppose to know about the lock box.
I think that's clear. Do I think less of those who do kill Edwin? No. Am I disinclined to do it, personally? Yes. For me, its like chipping away one of the bricks that the game world is founded on. Chip away too many, and the edifice falls.
Might I ever do it? I might. I could very easily see a punk barbarian like Arkona thinking: "What a jerk! Axe to the face! Ha! Hmm...What's this? A key? A key to what? I should look around." If the move fit the character, if it flowed from her personality, that would be fine: it would enhance rather than destroy immersion. In Arkona's case, it was ok, I think. I may let her do it again, but I don't think I'll let any other character do it.
As for Mae'Var himself, this was a lot harder than I expected. I used to fear Mae'Var in my old install. Now I remember why. He and his allies get so, so many potions. It's a backstab fest. Even with barbarian backstab immunity, this was punishing: Arkona was a pin cushion. She quickly had to retreat. She even had to use a Potion of Firebreath. Cleric down.
Invisibility->Heal was always available so there was no real risk, but this was a surprisingly tough fight. I don't have many good screen shots here. At this point, I wasn't planning to post on Arkona much, if at all. You see Mae'Var? Well imagine him dead and that's pretty much what the end of this fight looked like
Umar Hills
Proposition: This is supposed to be hard- not epically hard, but challenging.
In my next play through, I'm not going to complete the Umar Hills quest. Instead, I'm going to give Delon a Pro Undead scroll, a magical weapon, and a few Potions of Invisibility. He can do it himself. Or at least, he could.
The point I'm making here is that Pro Undead is totally lame, at least to me- especially in a major undead quest. What I usually do is skip Pro Undead against the lackeys, and use it for the Shade Lord. That's pretty lame, too, I now acknowledge.
Once again, if you enjoy it, feel free. This is play: it's all about joy. But if you have lingering doubts, join the non-judgemental anti-Pro Undead revolution.
Lame
Still lame.
Some of the SCS players are probably thinking: But Con drain!
I'm with you on that. I'm now in the anti-Con drain camp for that exact reason. At the very least, there should be a tweak available to remove it: No Con drain, no Pro Undead scrolls- that makes sense to me. @Aasim. Thoughts on that? Do you see a way to implement?
Trademeet
Proposition: This, again, is suppose to be hard- not epically hard, but challenging.
In most installs, this quest can be completed with ease. Nix the djinni's, stealth to Cernd, let Cernd kill Faldorn. Done. In installs were Cernd can kill Faldorn out of the party, it's especially easy. Should I really get a statue for that?
The creatures in the grove should be fought. Klling Faldorn should take some planning, some effort. The djinn's should be challenged in open combat, not ambushed.
Lame.
Lame again.
We did at least, face the creature in the grove.
The ATweaks Elder Earth Elemental is worthy of special note here. He wasn't dangerous: he can't disable and he's slow. Arkona equipped her splint, Girdle of Bluntness, and Fortress Shied. She quaffed a Potion of Absorption, buffed her strength up to 25, and kicked his butt. The Potion of Absorption was over-kill. He posed no threat, but he was cool- way cooler than his vanilla counterpart. ATweaks Elementals have an Elemental Concealement ability, which allows them to vanish at will. Divination spells will reveal them. The Elder Earth Elemental also enjoyed immunity to weapons up to +2, while having decent saves, 50% magic resistance, and a respectable AC. He never landed a hit, but if he had it would have hurt: Elder Earth Elemental have 6d8 weapons and a strength of 23.
One of the primary purposes of this run was to test ATweaks. And as I think I've made clear already, it's great. I, personally, prefer the SCS fiends, but I'll take all the other ATweaks creature you can offer. Give me more. I'll take 'em. They're great fun.
Anyhoo. By this point, Arkona had completed four major quests and had barely broken a sweat. She was a hero's hero in the eyes of the game world -and she is a hero's hero to me. I, on the other hand, am a coward's coward or, more precisely, a rusher's rusher, who cut too many corners. You'll see less of that going forward. None of it in Akona's upcoming v30 run.
Torgal is next. And that quest will merit a full post on its own: that one was done right.
Best,
A.
No Pro Undead/no Con drain.
heh.
You know how this scroll works in PnP? It makes you "sanctuaried" vs Undead. You're immune to them for as long as you take no offensive action. Once you do, the invulnerability is broken. (This would actually be balanced imo. If you want fragile characters to be protected, there you go.)
Unfortunately, this cannot be done in a reasonable way sans patching Pro Undead with a custom sec type and then patching all weapons and offensive spells to remove that very sec type. Too much work for too little gain...
As per CON drain, yeah, it's very removable.
I'll make a mini mod for that tonight, I'm busy with some IR/SR stuff now.
Arkona, Halfling Barbarian: Never Mind the Bollocks- Not Torgal
What Do I Get?
Ok. I was wrong. Torgal was not next. This all happened a few days ago so the details are on the fuzz. It looks like we went to Watcher's Keep- probably for the Crimson Dart since we knew we'd be facing mages soon.
Check out the pretty colors on the Stone Golem and the trolls. That's ATweaks. The colors make it easier to discern between related creatures. See the red ones? They're giant trolls. It works and its pretty. On ATweaks cosmetic options: distinctive colors, yes; distinctive sounds, no. That's my call anyways.
Spoiler
As an FYI, the Crimson Dart is one of my favorite weapons for peeling Stoneskins. On days when Arrows of Dispelling aren't called for, its Everard for Mantles, unenchanted darts for ProMW, Crimson Dart for everything else. Tuigan, you say? With elemental arrows, you say? I'm down with that, to, but only when Flame Arrows aren't a risk. With Flame Arrows in play, I'll take the Reflex, thank you very much. As for melee weapons, with a Raged barbarian, maybe, since Maze is less of a risk. I still see very little reason to peel skins with melee weapons. You won't get your APR up to that of darts unless you dual-wield and dual-wielding a mage at close range is a great way to get a Flame Arrow Trigger in the face. Plus, SCS mages move so you lose attacks if you attempt to use melee weapons. It doesn't make sense. Step back. Widen the counter window. Observe every action. Keep the Reflex at your side. Keep your potions at the ready. Use darts. Stun'em if you got 'em.
Thus far, I've seen an under abundance of cool from the ATweaks undead. The mephits and elementals have made their presence felt. The undead, less so. This is partially my fault, since I used Pro Undead in the Umar Hills. The skeleton warriors, shadows, and wraiths just aren't that different. This is no fault of ATweaks, rather the original game stuck semi-close to PnP in these cases. This was basically a vanilla fight.
Spoiler
Not much else happened in Watcher's Keep. We got the Crimson Dart. Shiny.
Like a Bad Girl Should
After that, I guess we did Bodhi (again, based on the screenshots). In this version of SCS, vampires have Cloud of Bats, cagey scripts, formidable stats and speedy regeneration rates. They're interesting. They're dangerous. But they don't force Pro Undead. That's good. That's right. I like the puppies, the rats, and the bat, but Con drain is a provocation that forces the Pro Undead nuclear option. I'd like to see it go.
Spoiler
Swung by Nebs.
Spoiler
And then we nixed Gravy. It makes me happy to call Gravy Gravy. This screen shot reminds me: I underuse Ilbratha. I think most warriors do. Same goes for the Staff of Fire Fire Shield: Red. I guess we just don't want to look like mages, huh?
Spoiler
With Azureedge, 2 pips in axes, and Rage, Arkona was well positioned to deal with Gravy's compatriots.
Spoiler
Which reminds me, why do people say "gravy on eggos" when they mean good? Gravy on eggos would be disgusting: totally disgusting. Or am I misreading eggos? Is this kind of like mayonnaise on french fries which sounds gross, but is actually yumilicious? Would Gravy know the answer? Or maybe his wife, Eggos would?
Has anyone wondered about the plumbing on this? How they make it work? Is there, like, a vampire with a clipboard and a hard hat somewhere who makes this happen? There has to be, right?
Spoiler
Another merciless vamp beating. Tanny was skipped.
Spoiler
Ok. Time for Bodhi herself. She took a beating. Arkona took Ilbratha MI, RoAC II, DUHM, Rage, Potion of Defense, Oil of Speed, and a Potion of Absorption. Mind you, this was sub optimal. We could have switched to splint, but I figured an effective AC of -26 would suffice for Bodhi.
Spoiler
I don't have any screenshot of the Bodhi finish, but do the math. She doesn't have Critical Strike. She's already done.
Spoiler
Ok. This time Torgal really is next.
Best,
A.
You know how this scroll works in PnP? It makes you "sanctuaried" vs Undead. You're immune to them for as long as you take no offensive action. Once you do, the invulnerability is broken. (This would actually be balanced imo. If you want fragile characters to be protected, there you go.)
That makes sense. That would be ideal, I think.
I may treat Pro Undead Scrolls that way going forward: I may let characters use them, but not let them attack while under it. In the end, it would be an invisibility for stealthing by or away from liches and other detect undead. Less than perfect, but passable.
As per CON drain, yeah, it's very removable.
Good. I'd like to try that. I think others may like it as well.
Thanks!
Best,
A.
Arkona, Halfling Barbarian: Never Mind the Bollocks- Torgal
Bam!
I Wanna Be Your Dog
If anyone needed confirmation that I was cutting corners in the early game, they needn't look further than the battle with Rex, Rover, Sparky, and Spot. I make a point of doing this in an interesting way. Always. Arkona just nixed them with Seeking. Next time, she'll have to do it better. But then again, maybe simple, straight forward fits her better than anything else could? She's a punk, after all. And concision is the essence of punk.
Incidentally, why do Nalia's pooches turn into meat tokens as soon as they die? And what part of a filleted dog looks like that? Never made sense to me.
Spoiler
Safe European Home
The Mr. Reading Rainbow fight was basically about Arkona's save v death. The only hope Mr. RR has was to get Arkona to fail against Stinking Cloud post Malison with Rage down. That never happened. The opening Malison was countered with RoAC II. Arkona's RoAC II was countered with Oracle. Meanwhile, Mr. RR wasn't on offense, and Arkona was peeling skins.
Spoiler
Though the skins: Darts of Wounding
Spoiler
Ever Fallen in Love? (With the Wrong Person)
Happily, Glaicus failed his save to an early Dart of Stunning. He was them quickly killed. A Potion of Insulation and the Boots of Grounding handled trap damage.
Spoiler
Why no Potion of Absoption, you might ask. Well, I certainly wouldn't use one for electrical resistance: they're best saved for crushers. With the golems coming up, a PoA is a sensible call here, assuming you'd prefer not to use the doorway. But having spent one Potion of Absoption on the elder earth elemental, and another on Bodhi, Arkona didn't have one to spare.
Linoleum
Golems! And pretty ATweaks colors! Yay!
Spoiler
Let's kill'em.
Since Arkona lacked a Potion of Absorption, the Iron Golem was destined for doorage. The first batch of the golems was taken down under DUHM while wearing splint and the Girdle of Bluntness.
Spoiler
Arkona did rest and try RoAC II, MI, splint, Girdle of Bluntness, Potion of Defense, DUHM, Pro Poison, but she was ultimately unable to stand toe-to-toe with the iron golem. More precisely: I chickened out. Arkona could have done it, I'm sure.
Spoiler
Nervous Breakdown
I really like the SCS Torgal fight. It just scares me. I tend to encounter Torgal when I'm on the cusp of over-poweredness, but clearly not there. And Torgal is formidable. He asks for overpowered: he demands it. You can separate him, sure. But that's lame. I'm done with being lame. Of am I?
Arkona was buffed.
Spoiler
She was ready.
Spoiler
But when a divination cast took out the illusion buffs, I lost my nerve. Retreat!
Spoiler
Fortunately, everyone followed, so Arkona fought the whole crew, if in waves. Torgal went down first.
Spoiler
Followed by the umber hulk elder. Arkona was dual wielding Ages and Belm here, I believe.
Spoiler
In come the spirit trolls, giant trolls and yuan-ti mages. Arkona barely had time to catch her breath. We used a strength potion and DUHM rather than DUHM and Rage in the interest of maintaining a respectable AC. The Girdle of Piercing was worn, since trolls pierce. A Potion of Heroism, a Potion of Invulnerability, and an Oil of Speed were also used. Of course, none of that lasted very long once the yuan-ti mages came to town.
Spoiler
It lasted long enough though. The buffs are still active here. Arkona has the Reflex in the offhand to catch Flame Arrows.
Spoiler
And done!
Spoiler
The Windspear Hills are next.
Best,
A.
Arkona, Halfling Barbarian: Never Mind the Bollocks- Windspear Hills
Wow. When I look at all these screenshots it makes me cry. There is just so much of Arkona's run to cover, and I just don't have the time to cover everything in sufficient detail. In Arkona's EE v30 run, that won't happen. In that run, I'll play with the intent of posting. Sessions will be brief. Updates will be frequent and detailed. That's better. For now, though, I'm just going to have to speed through. Forgive.
I'm also going to skip the punk song subtitles going forward. I'll do that right next time.
Anyhoo. Windspear Hills
The pallies were nixed with the Defender and Belm under DUHM RoAC II and Ilbratha MI.
Spoiler
Note that Arkona is using Rage less often in melee combat now that she'd dual-wielding. The AC penalty is an issue. DUHM suffices.
I found myself going back and forth on Arkona's dual wield weaponry in this stage of the game. Maximizing damage, one would prefer Ages + Belm, maximizing defense, Ages + Defender. Defender + Ages is kind of a tradeoff, maybe? It's hard to say exactly, give the impact of Ages slow. Ultimately, Arkona settled on Ages + Defender. The key metric, to my mind, isn't damage dealt: it's damage dealt relative to damage taken. Ages + Defender seems to work best.
Ruhk. I don't really remember how Ruhk died. This screenshot makes little sense to me. It looks like Arkona charged Ruhk invisible and death an opening critical. Then the Kamikaze kobolds kamikazed. But why it's Arkona's strength buffed, given that I took the time to buff her otherwise? Was I expecting Stoneskins? Drunk? Sleep deprived? Emotionally compromised? I don't know.
Spoiler
Love the ATweaks colors
Spoiler
The plan had been to fight the vamps without Pro Undead, but I lost my nerve when accidentally triggered the encounter early and saw all those bats. Not the first time.
Spoiler
Next up were the greater cheese dogs.
Spoiler
That nickname dates back to my first play through, when I encountered the vanilla regen rate stack bug. I found the greater wolfweres impossible to kill and so renamed them greater cheese dog. I can kill them now. But they're still greater cheese dogs to me.
Spoiler
More pretty ATweaks colors
Spoiler
This was my first encounter with a ATweaks air elemental. My advice is to not fight this one first. He spawns in too close to you and so you don't get to see something really cool about him. Let your first experience with an ATweaks air elemental be the ones in the Planar Prison approach slowly, deliberately. Let them see you from far away. See what they do. It's cool.
Spoiler
Conster opened with a Malison. That was countered with a Potion of Invulnerability.
Spoiler
Once Improved Mantle expired, it was Dart of Stunning time.
Spoiler
Conster shows off his dance moves. Get down with your bad self Conster!
Spoiler
It looks like we were still rolling with the Defender + Belm in the Samia fight. Samia and her friends got that.
Spoiler
Dart of Stunning for Kaol. I love Darts of Stunning. I use them a lot, and I'm pretty sure I use them too little. They're like free Power Attack HLAs., and they don't require aura to activate. They're great. And speaking of under utilized: Kuo Toan bolts. Does anyone uses them? Save v spells or stun for 4 rounds is pretty rockin'. The Kuo Toans drop a ton of them. They drop them late: I get that. But still. Underutilized.
Spoiler
Next up, we have a pair of party fights, followed by the Planar Sphere. ATweaks fiends will make their first appearance.
Best,
A.
Heroic stuff, Alesia! Nice to see you handle a warrior, and good musical references too (Replacements, Stooges...).
Arkona rocks!
Heroic stuff, Alesia! Nice to see you handle a warrior, and good musical references too (Replacements, Stooges...).
Arkona rocks!
Thanks. In her EE v30 playthrough, I'm thinking I may pick punk songs to go along with each of the quests and make videos, like I did with Alessandra.
Blitzkreig Bop for the Chateau, definitely.
Oh Bondage! Up Yours! for the liberation of Aerie (and the subsequent Slaver Quest)
You get the idea. I think it could be fun.
Best,
A.
Stooges 1st album was the first CD I ever bought in a music store; and the 2nd ever - first was KISS "Greatest Kiss" compilation. I was 15 at the time and refused to buy lunch in school since I saved money for music CDs. 
Anyhow, here's something to help vs CON drain.
How it (should) work(s) - removes CON drain from vamp weapons. Bodhi included. They will still display string "drinks blood" and heal themselves (provided they hit you) - this is intended; can be removed if there is demand; but CON won't go down anymore nor will you see portrait icon "ability score drain".
Install as any Weidu mod. I didn't add a check for SCS; if you install it w/o SCS vamps installer will cause your computer to implode.
Thanks, Aasim! I look forward to trying that!
Warriors can stand against Bodhi again.
I like the fact that you left the heal ability. That way they still gain something when switching to their secondary weapon.
They'll prefer the level drain weapon if the target is not NPP, correct?
Best,
A.
Guest_GrimJim_*
After thinking about it some more, I've decided that I won't be continuing Jim's run. It was fun for a while, but the added stress and time it takes to play aren't worth it anymore. Being a regular participant in this thread just isn't for me.
Thank you to everyone who read and commented on Jim's run.
After thinking about it some more, I've decided that I won't be continuing Jim's run. It was fun for a while, but the added stress and time it takes to play aren't worth it anymore. Being a regular participant in this thread just isn't for me.
Thank you to everyone who read and commented on Jim's run.
Sorry to hear that Jim - you've made a solid contribution to this thread. If you ever change your mind, you'll certainly be welcomed back.
They'll prefer the level drain weapon if the target is not NPP, correct?
I honestly don't know. Probably.
Anyhow; we should probably make a seperate thread for stuff like this. (i.e. SCS bugs/fixes/tweaks/differences or similar) to discuss on topics like that.
Arkona, Halfling Barbarian: Never Mind the Bollocks- Mencar and Tarnor
With the Planar Sphere on the horizon, Arkona was itching to buy some Dispelling Arrows. That meant raising gold. That, in turn, meant killing people.
It sounds pretty evil when you put it that way, but, let's face it, that's how it is in Athkatla.
I wouldn't say that Arkona went out looking for a fight, but she wasn't about to back down.
Oh, no: You didn't just go there...
Spoiler
Just straight up DUHM + Rage here.
Spoiler
By this point, Arkona had two HLAs. Typically, my first warrior HLA would be Hardiness. And with a barbarian, Hardiness is an even more obvious choice. But since I was interested in trying Greater Deathblow against the ATweaks fiends, Arkona's first two HLAs were DB and GDB. Since I haven't done much CRE file peeking over the years, I've enjoyed seeing who can be DBed, and who can GDBed. Pooky and Orcslicer can both be DBed, FYI
Onto Tarnor. It's been a long, long time since I've fought this fight properly in v15. I pretty much always insta-kill Gaius. There's a reason for that: Gaius summons demons. In this case, however, a demon summoner was exactly what Arkona was looking for. Since I knew Arkona was headed into the Planar Sphere, I wanted a chance to see some ATweaks fiends before submitting to the lock in. Gaius obliged.
Draug Fea died fast: a Belmified dual wielder with a buffed strength was too much for him.
Spoiler
Arkona turns her attenion to Zorl as the first gate opens.
Spoiler
Tarnor falls. And here's the demon. A Gelugon. He looks really cool!
Spoiler
Let's see how he fights...
Spoiler
Chunkage. Nothing doing. That shouldn't be taken to mean these guys are harmless. They have APRs of 4. They dual wield with their spears and tails. They crush and pierce, with +1d6 and +1d4 cold damage respectively. They're strong: 18/76. They have slow and paralyzation on hit effects (save v death to avoid), aura of fear (save v wand at -3 to avoid), Detect Invisibility, Charm Person, Wall of Ice, Teleport Without Error. They've got a lot going for them. But with 11HD, and 88HP, they won't always get to show it. ATweaks fiends are best treated like beholders or mind flayers: they should be met with concentrated overwhelming force. Shut'em down: get 'em off the field. Do it quick. Wait and they'll make you pay.
Cleaned up the rest of the warriors.
Spoiler
And then nixed the second demon: a cornugon. The ATweaks cornugons have some excellent abilities, but they can't detect the invisible via script and they're level 10, meaning Death Blow will take them down.
Spoiler
The SCS cornugons have a similar palate of abilities (bleed, stun, lightning bolts, etc) but they detect the invisible via script and they're a lot tougher. While I love the other ATweaks creature improvements, I'm still on the fence regarding the fiends. Thus far, I prefer the SCS ones- even if my curiosity regarding ATweaks fiends remains.
Oh. And by the way: darts for Gaius. Gaius is a mage. They always get darts.
Spoiler
Onto the Planar Sphere.
Best,
A.
I honestly don't know. Probably.
Noted. That's an issue. We'll have to test.
Anyhow; we should probably make a seperate thread for stuff like this. (i.e. SCS bugs/fixes/tweaks/differences or similar) to discuss on topics like that.
That's a great idea! We should have a dedicated No Reload Challenge technical support thread, where participants can go when they need help with issues.
Does that make sense to everyone else?
Best,
A.
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