15228 replies to this topic

[ussnorway]

Hay Alesia_BH good to see you are still keeping one eye on us.

[Enuhal]

Nice to see you again, Alesia! Happy new year!

 

Sahal, gnomish cleric/illusionist, update 8

 

I wanted to update Sahal two days ago, but didn't find the time. So this will be a larger update instead.

 

The party entered Suldanessellar, fighting their first couple of golems and other foes. Near the temple, Sahal ran into trouble: He underestimated the big group of rakshasa, who managed to badly hurt the party. I had to drink many potions and eventually, retreat seemed like the only option. However, some hostile golems joined the fight, and I didn't notice that Valygar was trying to run the wrong way - instead of returning to safety with the rest of the party, he was killed by the golems. A stupid oversight - I was tired when playing this part of the game, and it showed. Luckily, it was easy to heal, rebuff, kill the rakshasa and golems and resurrect Valygar.

 

After some further battles, it was time for Nizidramanii'yt. Sahal used some protection from acid spells, improved haste on all fighter-type characters, and improved invisibilty in addition to the usual buffs. Keldorn also summoned a deva. The battle was over quickly, with the dragon not even being able to cast his modified entangle before dying. Still buffed, the party also entered the temple and killed the enemies in there.

 

I didn't even rest before entering the tree of life and fighting Jon. With death ward added to the buffs and Carsomyr doing what it does, Irenicus quickly fell.

 

I completed all of the trials the good way. Not much to tell here, the additional wisdom is certainly nice for Sahal. Preparing for the final battle, I used the available potions you can find in hell (invulnerability and fire giant strength), a deva, fire elementals, Imoen's traps, and buffs like bless, chant, pfe 3' radius, mass invisibilty, resist fear, cc, death ward and improved haste.

 

First, the party quickly killed the demons still remaining after the traps dealt their damage. Irenicus wasted his time with a death spell while he was already isolated. Breach, Carsomyr and true sight stripped him of his defenses, and the battle was over before he managed to teleport away.

 

Continuing with ToB, Sahal defeated Illasera and completed the first pocket plane challenge. He took care of the various sidequests in Saradush, buying all of the missing spellscrolls to learn for himself in the proccess. Also upgraded the first couple of items via Cespenar.

 

Eventually, the group entered the prison. Valygar used a protection from undead scroll to kill the vampires. The party procceeded to find its way to Gromnir - I forgot to make screenshots here, though improved invisibility invalidated his mages, because they died while still casting true sight, and Gromnir himself didn't stand a chance against the remaining party.

 

After fighting his way through the north forest, Sahal encountered a master wraith, who was taken out by three sunrays and some summons. To the marching mountains! There, I had to use protection from fire spells, improved haste and some fighter HLA's to deal with the fire giants. In the dungeon, mass invisibilty allowed the party to separate the first group, making this batte much simpler. For the second big group, Mordenkainen's swords served as a distraction. The party fought their way to Berenn and Imix, who's allies dealt quite a bit of damage to the party (mainly because I was out of protection from fire spells at this point). With both hearts combined, Nyalee attacked, but was quickly defeated.

 

Now, Yaga-Shura himself: After wounding him, the party killed some of his men before the fire giant reappeared. His most powerful allies were slain as fast as possible, and the isolated bhaalspawn didn't stand a chance.

 

That's it for now. If everything goes well, Amkethran and Sendai are next.

 

Enuhal

 

 

 

 

[Blackraven]

Happy New Year to you too Alesia, already wished the others the same Hope you're having a great time hiking and 'yogaing'.

Bardin, LN Cleric/Thief, in SoA (Part 3)

Lots of progress, and more eagerness to play than to write, so this time a more matter-of-factly update from my part.

Trademeet
Bardin buffed with what Alesia_BH aptly calls the Holy Triumvirate (HP+DUHM+RM) to defeat a number of Skeletal Warriors in the vault that held the Mantle of Waukeen. The Skellies gave him a good beating, but the Gnome prevailed:

Spoiler

The mantle went to Logan Coprith.

MaeVar's Betrayal (1)
Bardin was 100% fire resistant when he fought Rayic Gethras' Mephits. The resistances (from the level 2 and 3 priest spells) wore off at some point, but too late to put the Gnome in danger.

Spoiler

The wizards' Stone Golems succumbed to sneak attacks and snares (one) and fisticuffs with buffed Bardin.

Spoiler

Bardin, Lawful Neutral, accepted to bring Edwin before Rayic Gethras (a member of the established order), rather than killing the Cowled Wizard.

Spoiler

The Gnome completed the remaining quests for MaeVar and kept his word to Rayic Gethras. When the latter announced that he would kill Edwin, Bardin questioned the lawfulness of that decision. The Gnome didn't mourn Rayic's death after the clumsy, repeated melee attacks against Fireshielded Edwin.

Spoiler

Bardin reported MaeVar's plans to Renal Bloodscalp but waited with fighting MaeVar and his assassins.

Alliance with Aran Linvail (1)
Bardin paid Gaelan Bayle, earning himself a nice Amulet of Power, a Ring of Protection +2, and (indirectly) a Ring of Lockpicks. Kitty Webbed Lassal so he couldn't get away (as he usually does).

Umar Hills
The Umar Hills gave Bardin a couple of good scares. First there was Greater Mummies' Gaze of Despair that I wasn't aware of,

Spoiler

a QuestPack ability that stuns the target for four rounds on a failed save. 
Secondly the Temple Ruins housed two Liches. Bardin, level 11/13 at the time, didn't feel ready to fight Liches without any protections, so he bought two PfUndead scrolls. Even protected, the Liches were a challenge. Bardin had Fiends and Dark Planetars coming after him,

Spoiler

Remove Magics to elude, and here we can see him ducking from an incoming Comet.

Spoiler

The first Lich was defeated in melee after it had used up its non-offensive spells,

Spoiler

but the second Lich actually managed to remove Bardin's PfUndead (and other buffs). A game of hide and seek ensued, in which Bardin used his summons (Skeleton Warriors, Efreeti, Aerial Servant, in that order) to soak up as many spells as possible. Bardin still had to quaff a potion of clarity magic shielding when the Lich cast an Emotion: Hopelessness at the Gnome. It was the Aerial Servant who finished the Lich when it had run out of spells.

Spoiler

Buffing at Thaxxy's lair caused the Dragon to go hostile,

Spoiler

but Bardin made sure not to make himself seen, as he proceeded to confront the Shade Lord. A Sol's Searing Orb (one of my favorite ways of debilitating the Shade Lord) struck true; the Shade Lord failed his save, so he got Blinded for 12 rounds in addition to suffering some decent fire damage.

Spoiler

A sunstone bullet destroyed the Shadow Altar, and Bardin defeated Shadow Patrick with Everard's Sling after Kitty had softened him up.

Spoiler

Bardin felled the Shade Lord with backstabs that he timed so that the Shade Lord would be vulnerable upon receiving them.

Spoiler

(The Shade Lord seemed to be able renew his buffs - MI, Darkling Aura, PfMW, Blade Barrier etc - endlessly.)

Looking for Valygar
Valygar didn't show up in his Umar Hills cabin, so Bardin went looking for the murderer in his Athkatla home. The rogue priest found not Valygar but a Gnome Fighter/Illusionist with two Familiars (Tactics mod) in the house, apparently a bounty hunter that was working for the Cowled Wizards. He injured Bardin with a Spell Triggered Chain Lightning / Cone of Cold / Lightning Bolt combo, an unexpected move that forced Bardin to quaff an extra healing potion, and to retreat.

Spoiler

One of the Familiars followed Bardin downstairs, where the priest would backstab it to death. Bardin then set three snares and returned upstairs to treat his fellow Gnome and the remaining Familiar to a Holy Smite.

Spoiler

The Gnome cast Improved Haste, and went straight after Bardin, triggering the latter's traps in the process. (He recovered well enough thanks to potions and a ring of regeneration.) The two took their fight outside, where Bardin found a good place for summoning some assistence while waiting a bit for his foe's Improved Haste to expire. The wizard impressively defeated Bardin's Aerial Servant, but an Efreeti, two Skeletons, and buffed Bardin eventually proved to much for him to handle. The XP and the spoils were significant.

Spoiler

The second Familiar, already injured by Bardin's revious Holy Smite fell to a single backstab.

Fallen Paladins
Normally a pretty straightforward if tough battle. Bardin relied on his summons to help him out. I had to use the console (twice: once to spawn Anarg, and once to give myself the cup) to ensure the quest would come to its completion. QuestPack, which extends this quest, seems to be the culprit.

Harpers
Using the Earth Elemental ring outside Prebek's Home earned Bardin a warning from the Cowled Wizards. He went to pay for a license right after that.
Bardin went in with pretty much all his buffs up (the only red spells he consistently memorizes are Silence, Animate Dead, Holy Smite, and Aerial Servant). Since they didn't get dispelled, Bardin had no reason to retreat. He did keep a potion of magic shielding at hand, should Prebek or Sanasha cast Emotion: Helplessness at him. I think Sleep and Imprisonment are the only game-ending status effects that Clerics can't protect themselves against. He ended up clubbing down the summons and Sanasha.

Spoiler

Kitty jumped in when Prebek kept walking away from Bardin, so that the Gnome couldn't kill him.

MaeVar's Betrayal (2)
Bardin was very weary of MaeVar's assassins, relying on traps and summons while keeping a low profile himself. He avoided one or two of MaeVar's detection spells, went invisible, and started Detecting Illusions. It greatly facilitated things for his Skeletons and Aerial Servant. The summons (especially the Aerial Servant) defeated the assassins, and Bardin's backstabs took care of a Priest of Cyric and MaevVar himself.

Spoiler

Bardin accepted the Thief Stronghold (only to lose it a week later due to not paying Renal's due on time).

The Guild Contact
and two traiterous Shadow Thieves were dispensed with in straightforward melee combat.

Sarles
received the authentic illithium ore from Bardin to work with. This was a role-playing decision. I tried to come up with a role-playing reason to justify using the fake ore, but found none. Bardin thought the artist was an overrated coxcomb, but trying to deceive him would be dishonest. The consequence of this is that Bardin will forgo proficiency in Maces and try to defeat Vampires with his magic.
Speaking of Vampires, Bardin decided to wait with taking on their lair, considering himself unprepared for that task.

Slaver Stockade
Instead, he decided to fulfil his promise to Hendak to deal the slavers a fatal blow. Even fully buffed Bardin needed a follow-up attack to his opening backstab at the Priest of Cyric. The other guards suffered Bardin's Divine Wrath before they were clubbed - and in the case of Captain Haegan slung - down.

Spoiler

More guards were bottlenecked in the doorway, but Bardin briefly retreated for a few rebuffs before he finished the mages.
BP adds several Yuan-Ti, a few Trolls, an Ettin, and Orogs and Orcs (including two Mages) to the Slaver Stockade, Bardin discovered. The Gnome dealt with them with the help of his summons and traps

Spoiler

before he reported his success to Hendak.

Sewer Beholders
Bardin decided to test his Skeletons against a Beholders and two Gauths in the sewers. The undead prevailed,

Spoiler

albeit barely with all three of them severely injured.

Hidden Refuge
As a favor for Neera, whom he had failed to save from the Red Wizards in Beregost, Bardin helped the Half-Elf reach a hidden refuge for Wild Mages in the forests of Tethir. The Gnome sympathized with Neera, an outcast both for being a Half-Elf and for being a Wild Mage, and he liked the settlement. It was not unlike how he imagined good, loyal Gnomes to live together. Bardin also knew however, that wild magic was dangerous and unreliable. He could not travel with her. He stayed for a day or two to help out the Wild Mages with a few small tasks. Finding a lost boy and advising his mother against allowing him to practise wild magic even earned him a nice shield,

Spoiler

as a goodbye present.

Southern Tombs
Bardin tested his Turn Undead ability in the Athkatla's southern tombs. He found that (at Cleric level 13) only a Vampyre (sic) resisted the Gnome's explosive skill. 

Druid Grove
A return to the Druid Grove to buy potions saw Bardin take advantage of the presence of many Trolls and Spiders, using Holy Triumvirate buffs, traps, Divine Wraths, summons and Holy Smites to cleanse the area and reach levels 14/16. 

More Sewers Encounters
Bardin backstabbed the Rakshasa and immediately swigged an invisibility potion. The Rakshasa seemed upset, calling for healing, but then the Gnome put the creature out of its mysery. 
Tarnor's gang was approached peacefully, but when they insisted on receiving 1k GP, Bardin showed a darker side of himself.

Spoiler

He used the occasion to test a new (level 7) spell his deity Gaerdal Ironhand had recently granted the priest: Fire Storm. Bardin found it to be a potent direct damage spell. The Fire Storm slew two of Tarnor's men before they could get out of its AoE, Rengaard and Gaius, and severly wounded the others.

Spoiler

When the Fire Storm was over, Zorl, who is dangerous because he tends to summon an Aerial Servant, was disrupted twice with wand Flamestrikes before Bardin finished him off.

Spoiler

Warriors Tarnor, Gallchobhair and Draug Fea were no match for Bardin in melee combat,

Spoiler

thanks to the Gnome's buffs.

Borinall
paid with his life for stealing Lathandrite property.

Unseeing Eye (1)
Some mod, I believe QuestPack again though I found no reference in the readme, really beefed up the Hell Hounds. I never took them (or their flamebreath) very seriously despite their capacity to see through invisibility. Bardin discovered he had to take them very seriously:

Spoiler

He had to retreat several times, to fight the creatures one ata a time. He also made sure he was 100% fire resistant.

Spoiler

The Old Tunnels housed two groups of Yuan-Tis (with one Mage each). The first group was treated to a Firestorm. It left all the Yuan-Ti warriors at neat death status, before Bardin's backstabs chunked them. The Mage fared a bit better, but not good enough to withstand Bardin's Flamestrikes and backstabs.

Spoiler

The second group, including the Mage, ran into the Gnome's traps (he had four per day now).

Spoiler

In front of the bridge, Bardin summoned three Skeletal Warriors, an Aerial Servant and Kitty (whom he rendered Improved Invisible with the Air Elemental ring), and Protected them from Evil. Bardin stayed away, at a safe distance, fearful and not completely sure of what the Eye Tyrants were capable of. Kitty and the Aerial Servant did a great job. They were responsible for the deaths of one Gauth and one Beholder, despite the intervention of Shadows, Shadow Fiends, and Wraiths. Another Beholder was badly injured by the time the summons were gone. (Screenshots are uninteresting since they don't show more than the combat log). The Skeletons served mainly as tanks, to soak up the different rays. A Fire Storm killed another Beholder,

Spoiler

leaving one Beholder at near death status and badly injured Gauth. Bardin summoned his Efreeti and had it cast invisibility on itself while Bardin cast Farsight in order to be able to instruct the Efreeti from afar. The Beholder was moving around a lot, but a well-timed Fireball from the Efreeti killed the Beholder and further injured the Gauth. The Efreeti retreated and attacked with a Flame Arrow, killing the Gauth as well.

Spoiler

So it was with difficulty that the five Eye Tyrants were overcome. Things could have been worse, if Kitty and the Aerial Servant had fallen earlier. All in all, Bardin isn't really confident about descending into the Unseeing Eye's lair. He's circa a bit less than 200k shy from his next level up as a Cleric (level 15), and thus from the strongest possible Skeleton Warriors and from his second HLA (probably the Deva). I think Bardin would do well to try and get that XP before seeking to destroy the Unseeing Eye, even though I'd like him to get the Cleric stronghols asap since I've never completed it and since I've been role-playing Bardin more as a Cleric than as a rogue.

[Enuhal]

Sahal, gnomish cleric/illusionist, update 9

 

Sahal fought his way through the Oasis and entered Amkethran. Some sidequests were completed - though only Vongoethe was noteworthy: I forgot the Lich's access to HLAs - until I saw the animation for Dragon's Breath. I quickly equipped Sahal with my fire resistance gear, but Imoen was killed instantly. Luckily, the lich was defeated after that.

 

The party also completed the second pocket plane challenge. Now it was time to enter Sendai's enclave. First, some drow ambushes and the death of the drow captain. After fighting their way through masses of monsters, the wounded party obtained the key to the tunnels. Both slaves and spiders were defeated. Keldorn summoned a deva to deal with Odamaron, but she didn't really get the job done, so the party helped - or tried to! The lich managed to petrify Valygar - the second petrification in this run, and this time, there was even more danger: Even after the lich died, his summoned efreet was still around, and it was entirely possible that after his first "death", the efreet would return again, fireball and permanently kill Valygar. To make things worse, Valygar was the one wearing the ring of earth control, and I generally don't carry stone to flesh scrolls, so Sahal had to return to the pocket plane, learn the spell and rest. I was lucky: The efreet wandered off to the southern part of the room, and Valygar rejoined the party.

 

The reunited party fought their way to Ogremoch and killed the prince of earth. Diaytha and her allies were next.

 

Time for Sahal to fight in a duel - I used the staff of the magi after each true sight-trigger and summoned some creatures to win. Only the illithids blocked my way to Sendai, and they were quickly defeated.

 

Finally, the bhaalspawn herself remained. After some extensive buffing (and learning more high level summoning spells), Sahal entered her room. The fighters always quickly dealt with respawning drow, and with breach and Carsomyr removing the statue's protections, soon, only Sendai herself was left. The drow stood no chance and was killed with ease.

 

Since I'm always scared of Draconis, I will attempt to clear the remaining levels of Watcher's Keep next.

 

Enuhal

[corey_russell]

Hey there, hi there! I'm just stopping by to wish everyone a happy new year. Good hunting in 2016! Enjoy everyone.

Best,

A.


Btw. Congrats on your recent success, Corey!

Thanks Alesia! I was happy to get a 6 paladin success without the crutch of a cleric/thief who had access to spike traps and a mass of summons (which is what Russell V had) - I was a little surprised I succeeded 1st try, was expecting a few tries like Grond0.

[Enuhal]

Sahal, gnomish cleric/illusionist, update 10

 

Sahal started making his way through the teleporter maze. Noteworthy fights included fighting a demon and his team without prebuffs and the succubi, were I used my stored helms of charm protection. Eventually, the party made their way to the demon wraith and defeated him thanks to Carsomyr. Sahal won both the spectral brand and the wish scroll.

 

Next level: First, Sahal started clearing the illithid base. In the southern room, Jaheira ran into trouble and died to int drain when two illithids hit her at exactly the same time, so she didn't have a chance to retreat after the first hit. Keldorn used his bracers to resurrect her. The githyanki didn't have the same success in slowing the party down and quickly died. Keldorn used the second protection from magic scroll to defeat the demi-lich, and Jaheira and Sahal protected the party from fire in preparation for Saladrex. The dragon died before using his breath weapon or wing buffet even once. Only Rock and Garock stood in the way of Sahal claiming the machine's attribute bonuses. At this point, though, none of them make a significant difference.

 

In the next level, the challenges to the north-west and north-east were easily completed. Down to the south, another dragon battle awaited, and Sahal's protection from acid spells proved to be unnecessary, because this dragon didn't survive long enough to unleash his breath weapon either.

 

With their buffs still active, the party activated the first seal - I thought I'd summon the Aurumach Rilmani. Well.. turns out I didn't remember which seal summons which group correctly, so Instead, I had to fight the succubus, hive mother etc. - However, despite my misstep, the fight went rather well (though I forgot to take a screenshot) - I managed to kill the succubus before she used her insect plague spell, and the hive mother quickly followed, thanks to extensive use of fighter HLAs. The rest of the party turned out to be no problem.

 

Now, I had to rest and buff again, this time for the intended group. I protected my party from cold damage because of all the cone of cold spells used by the enemies here, and the Aurumach quickly died. His fighters stood no chance without their leader. Finally, Azamantes and his burning skulls were summoned, and the lich was slain.

 

Sahal read the scroll of Helm and returned to the pocket plane, hopefully ready to face Draconis.

 

Enuhal

 

 

 

 

[ussnorway]

S2-e-9, 

 

Stumbling in the dark pt1;

 

Hear text as mp3,

 

We are in the underdark, I could have freaked out without my friends and Hexxat is quick to point out that she doesn't need her cloak down here. I love that she wants to reassure me but WE ARE IN THE UNDERDARK.

 

Ok panic attack over with so we get to work clearing the immediate area of its elementals… a small drow raiding is overwhelmed with superior tactics and proves profitable (gearwise) so I set about freeing prisoners from a prism for a nice sword and some tips about ambush spots to watch for.

 

We entered the smurf village to rest/ collect rewards and dispatch their squatter then I decided to clear a path back to the surface exit before going deeper towards Ust Natha… just in case?

 

Spoiler

 

We found a lair guarded by four mighty undead demon knights and countered their impressive combat abilities by closing the door… Obviously these demon knights have always relied on serfs for such mundane tasks? Viconia finds the belt from their horde to be very slimming and the remaining fish boss gets barbequed with little effort, thus ensuring a somewhat safer exit should the need arise.

[Golden28]

Dear Blackraven,

 

Since of late I've been checking this forum again, and I had to log in and comment. Why?

 

Because I've not in a while read such excellent play and coverage... You've been handling even new challenges en surprises (like the fighter/illusionist in Valygar's home) on SCS with extra mods with such skill, you seem to be a master of the game whilst still keeping it fresh and rewarding (as opposed to buffing till the game gets boring). And solo no less. Please, please keep posting new updates, I hope this will be the game of games for you.

Had to say it. Cheers!

 

Golden

[Blackraven]

Heey Golden! Long time no see, good to know you're still around (even if less actively). Thank you for your praise and support, I really appreciate it. 

 

As usual, I try to play more or less 'realistically', acting on the knowledge of the character, Bardin, and not on my knowledge as the player. This means no pre-buffing until Bardin knows or has reason to suspect battle is imminent, making scouting very important. I also work with a somewhat flexible, fairly defensive spellbook, which as a rule doesn't undergo any changes other than additions of spells after leveling up as a Cleric. Only if Bardin knows or has reason to suspect he's going to need certain situational spells not normally memorized, will he adapt his spellbook.

 

To be honest, you may have missed this from one of my previous posts, for this run I uninstalled full pre-buffs for enemy wizards (not for priests), and went for the option that allowed for short duration enemy pre-buffs only when created in sight of the party, i.e. in ambush-like situations. (Mages are still dangerous this way, with triggers, sequencers and contingencies enabling instant buffs/attacks.) The thing is that I got a bit bored with my unbuffed Charnames seeing each and every decent enemy mage insta-activate a string of eight to fifteen buffs upon becoming hostile. It pretty much forces the player to either metagame with lots of pre-buffs as well or, as I used to do, retreat a lot because the enemy is immediately ready to attack while Charname & co aren't.

 

I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I find my current set-up more satisfactory for my style of play.
 

Anyway, I hope to post another update later today or Thursday

[Enuhal]

Sahal, gnomish cleric/illusionist, update 11

 

In Sahal's scrollcase, there were many scrolls of protection from acid waiting for Draconis (I've been storing them in SoA). He also learned the corresponding spell and prepared a scroll of timestop - since he isn't able to cast 9th level spells yet. Without IA, it isn't really nearly as powerful, but should help softening up the dragon.

 

After buffing, the party engaged Draconis' human form and quickly made him change. Sahal used his timestop and managed to cast a number of abjuration spells to breach the dragon's magical and physical defenses plus his magic resistance, though he didn't have time to use any damage spells. While the fighters used their offensive HLAs, Sahal started casting magic missles. Draconis died well before I expected - usually he goes invisible, heals himself up to full health etc. - but this time, he didn't even get to use his breath weapon or wing buffet. This is actually only the second time in a no-reload game in which fighting Draconis straight up didn't result in a disaster for me (my previous successful attempts either included luring him into spike traps or using timestop/IA to instantly kill him - the one exception was my solo totemic druid, where, after many tries with many different tactics, just attacking with an elemental prince, a deva, charname and a simmy using energy blades did the trick).

 

Well, with the toughest enemy out of the way, fighting through Abazigal's lair was easy. Had to use some healing potions, but that was all. The bhaalspawn himself faced a lightning-protected party and was quickly forced to change his form. While he held out longer than his son, he didn't manage to do significant damage before being defeated.

 

Before returning to Amkethran, I returned to the pocket plane to have Cespenar forge a final couple of items and complete the third and fourth pocket plane challenge. Back in the desert city, Saemon lead the party to a group of guards. Inside, after buffing and summoning some allies, the party quickly killed the other monks before turning their attention to Balthazar himself. Alone, the bhaalspawn didn't stand a chance.

 

Back at the pocket plane, the fight against the Ravager was much harder. The demon didn't pull any punches. I was dispelling his blade barrier, using potions everywhere, activating fighter HLAs, even had to resurrect Imoen, Jaheira and Valygar throughout the fight using the RoR. Eventually, the mighty foeswas near death, and a final round of fighter HLAs brought him down.

 

We shall see if I can defeat Amelyssan tomorrow. Oh, and I should mention that Sahal has finally learned level 9 mage spells - just in time.

 

Enuhal

[corey_russell]

Best of luck Enuhal for the final confrontation!

[Golden28]

Blackraven:

To be honest, you may have missed this from one of my previous posts, for this run I uninstalled full pre-buffs for enemy wizards (not for priests), and went for the option that allowed for short duration enemy pre-buffs only when created in sight of the party, i.e. in ambush-like situations. (Mages are still dangerous this way, with triggers, sequencers and contingencies enabling instant buffs/attacks.) The thing is that I got a bit bored with my unbuffed Charnames seeing each and every decent enemy mage insta-activate a string of eight to fifteen buffs upon becoming hostile. It pretty much forces the player to either metagame with lots of pre-buffs as well or, as I used to do, retreat a lot because the enemy is immediately ready to attack while Charname & co aren't.

 

 

Completely understand, the prebuffing can be redic.

 

[Golden28]

Heey Golden! Long time no see, good to know you're still around (even if less actively). Thank you for your praise and support, I really appreciate it. 

 

As usual, I try to play more or less 'realistically', acting on the knowledge of the character, Bardin, and not on my knowledge as the player. This means no pre-buffing until Bardin knows or has reason to suspect battle is imminent, making scouting very important. I also work with a somewhat flexible, fairly defensive spellbook, which as a rule doesn't undergo any changes other than additions of spells after leveling up as a Cleric. Only if Bardin knows or has reason to suspect he's going to need certain situational spells not normally memorized, will he adapt his spellbook.

 

To be honest, you may have missed this from one of my previous posts, for this run I uninstalled full pre-buffs for enemy wizards (not for priests), and went for the option that allowed for short duration enemy pre-buffs only when created in sight of the party, i.e. in ambush-like situations. (Mages are still dangerous this way, with triggers, sequencers and contingencies enabling instant buffs/attacks.) The thing is that I got a bit bored with my unbuffed Charnames seeing each and every decent enemy mage insta-activate a string of eight to fifteen buffs upon becoming hostile. It pretty much forces the player to either metagame with lots of pre-buffs as well or, as I used to do, retreat a lot because the enemy is immediately ready to attack while Charname & co aren't.

 

I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I find my current set-up more satisfactory for my style of play.
 

Anyway, I hope to post another update later today or Thursday

 

I understand completely, as I said love the setup and play, just ideal!

 

Cheers!

[Blackraven]

Rooting for you Enuhal, best of luck!

Thanks once more, Golden. Could the forums entice you into trying your hand at another no-reload adventure?

 

Bardin, LN Cleric/Thief, in SoA (Part 4)
 

Watcher's Keep (first level)

 

Bardin left the sewers, considering himself or rather his summons not ready to descend into a Beholder lair. While rummaging through his Wolfskin bag (an Unfinished Business addition), he found a cask of ale that he'd bought in Trademeet for Mironda, a Dwarven Wild Mage at the Hidden Refuge. He had al but forgotten about this errand. He trekked to the camp, handed the Dwarf the cask, got a magical healing tankard with his name on it as a reward and, being in the vicinity, traveled to Watcher's Keep.
Inside the Keep, two Vampiric Wraiths taught Bardin that he needed to properly buff if he was to defeat them,

Spoiler

so he retreated and indeed returned fully buffed (hasted even with an oil of speed) to deal with the creatures.

Spoiler

He proceeded to vanquish several Trolls (melee), and found himself rewarded with his first HLA. He picked UAI, and traveled to Athkatla for shopping. He made two purchases: the Robe of Vecna for its increased casting speed, and the Scarlet Ninja-To as his go-to off-hand weapon.
Upon his return to Watcher's Keep, five weird, poisonous creatures waylaid him. Luckily for Bardin, they were so noble as to only warn him of a future battle; they didn't attack, yet.

Spoiler

Back inside the Keep, Bardin slew about seven or eight Mustard Jellies (Fire Storm) as well as Shadow Fiend summoning Devil Shades. The Shadow Fiends Bardin simply exploded with his Turn Undead ability,

Spoiler

while the Devil Shades fell in melee combat (at the expense of another oil of speed). Finally the Gnome dispatched a number of Golems, including two Guardian Golems in the room of an undead priest, with the help of Kitty and an Aerial Servant.

Spoiler

Bardin reached his next level-up, as a Cleric, and picked Summon Deva as his first Quest Spell. Unfortunately, as I've mentioned before in this thread, SCS Caster HLAs as Innates didn't appear behind Bardin's special abilities button, so I uninstalled that component, and Bardin picked Assassination as his second HLA instead of Summon Deva. The reason for this different pick was that he only had one level 7 spell slot in his spellbook so far. The Gnome understood he'd better wait with Cleric HLAs until he had more level 7 spell slots. 
My single class rogues have never got great mileage out of Assassination, but for a Cleric/Thief this should be an interesting HLA when properly used: Chant/Bless/Holy Power/DUHM to improve Thac0 and damage, Righteous Magic for maximum damage each hit, Improved Haste from an item such as the Improved Cloak of Protection +2 or Bracers of Blinding Strike, followed by Assassination. When dual-wielding with a speed weapon (Belm or Kundane) in the off-hand, Bardin would land six maximum damage x5 backstabs - seven with the Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization - in a single round provided there are no (critical) misses. (Another option would be to use the Short Sword of Backstabbing for a x6 backstab modifier.) Setting up such an attack may not always be easy, though I could see it work in combination with time traps. It's one of several possible Cleric/Thief synergies that I'm eager to ascertain in this run. The Cleric/Thief is occasionally maligned for lacking synergies or at least seen as inferior to the Fighter/Thief and Mage/Thief. In this run I intend to find out ways to make the most of a Cleric/Thief, especially at higher levels.

 

Planar Sphere

 

Bardin revisited Valygar's cabin, and was glad to find his quarry there this time. When Valygar told Bardin his side of the story, the two traveled to Athkatla, not to turn the Stalker in with the Cowled Wizards, but to enter the Planar Sphere. Valygar's presence opened the Sphere and Bardin told his companion to wait at the entrance. The Gnome killed a Golem and found a key which caused the Sphere to initiate planar travel as soon as he used it to open a door. Bardin slew several Sahuagin with a Fire Storm and then rested.

 

Wild Halflings
He battled his way past a couple of Wild Halfling warriors, but halted while under the cover of stealth before two casters of their kin. The Gnome retreated and sent an Aerial Servant to clean them up, but the wizard Kayardi Dimension Doored right to Bardin. Protected by Spell Deflection, PfMW and Spell Shield, Kayardi was nigh invulnerable for a few rounds at least. While the Aerial Servant occupied itself with Kayardi's companions, Bardin retreated further. He was too slow though to prevent his opponent from casting an ADHW at him. Fortunately the Belt of the Inertial Barrier and stellar Gnomish saves prevented the spell from doing much harm.

Spoiler

The rogue priest then summoned three Skeleton Warriors, and sent them to deal with Kayardi one after the other so that a Death Spell wouldn't remove them all at once. Kayardi wasted several potentially lethal spells (think Finger of Death, though Bardin could of course always rely on Death Ward) on the Skeletons but failed to cast Death Spell or, less probable, Death Fog. The Halfling's (unenchanted) weapon was ineffective, so it was only a matter of time before Bardin's Skeletons finished him. Kayardi's own Skeleton Warriors couldn't prevent that.

Spoiler

Bardin instructed his Skeleton Warriors to occupy themselves with Kayardi's summons, and then moved on to face the other Halflings. The Aerial Servant had slain two more warriors, but Entu and Mogadish made short work of Bardin's injured Skeleton Warriors. Bardin Holy Smote the two twice, and retreated when they came after him. He finished Entu with a backstab, and Mogadish with a Flamestrike after the Gnome's backstab dealt insufficient damage.

Spoiler

(Generally Bardin's regular, unbuffed backstabs have been a bit underwhelming, but I expected that when I decided I'd have him wield clubs and shields.) Finally Togan fell to a backstab from Bardin and a damaging attack from the Gnome's trusty Aerial Servant.
Necre was unlike Kayardi in that he Death Spelled Bardin's Aerial Servant, before he Dimension Doored to Bardin. The Gnome was hidden in shadows, so there was little Necre could do other than trying to detect Bardin's exact whereabouts. The Gnome retreated and had his Efreeti burn Necre to death.

Spoiler

Kitty, rendered Improved Invisible by Bardin's Air Elemental Ring, then killed Taibela with poison, and helped dispatching two more warriors and three Fire Elementals.

 

Lavok
Three hostile Golems (2x Stone, 1x Juggernaut) were too much for Kitty, but not for buffed up Bardin.

Spoiler

A non-hostile Guardian Golem slew an Elder Orb, paving the way for Bardin to Lavok. Hidden in shadows Bardin approached the Necromancer, observed him and thought the wizard looked almost like a Lich, not like a very nice person. The Gnome buffed himself extensively, including protections against fire (should a Comet or Dragon's Breath come his way) and electricity. Lavok proved an unfriendly type indeed, greeting Bardin with an ADHW as soon as the Gnome had made himself seen.

Spoiler

For some reason Lavok was Protected from Cold (cast previously) but not from Fire, ideal for a Fire Storm, thought Bardin. The Gnome was not mistaken:

Spoiler

However, Lavok managed to get away from the Fire Storm's AoE (and from Bardin), and cast another ADHW, on himself. With several protections activated (Improved Mantle, Absolute Immunity, Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Shield) Lavok left Bardin little chance of getting a quick kill. The Gnome retreated into the corridor and managed to summon a Skeleton Warrior. Lavok removed it with a Death Spell. When Lavok failed to rid Bardin of his buffs with a Remove Magic, the Gnome, confident that Death Ward, Chaotic Commands, and Remove Fear would keep him safe from immediate life-enders, applied an oil of speed and engaged the wizard in melee. With his club Blackblood Bardin struck several acidic blows through his opponent's Stoneskins before an Improved Mantle prompted the Gnome to retreat again.

Spoiler

A second round of brawling saw Lavok yield.
 

Tolgerias
Bardin rested and saw himself facing another wizard, shortly after he got up: his original employer Tolgerias. Tolgerias was not at all pleased with Bardin's decision to enter the Sphere with Valygar. The mage was protected by SI: Abjuration and had a Chain Contigency with a Simulacrum and a Mordy's Sword, and a Contigency with PfMW trigger when he laid eyes on Bardin. What Tolgerias didn't know was that Bardin had a clone of himself as well (Vhailor's Helm).

Spoiler

It treated the enemy to two Divine Wraths,

Spoiler

and soaked up a couple of spells from Tolgerias and a second mage.

Spoiler

Tolgerias and his simmy then proceeded to gate in no less than three fiends (Cornugons and Bone Fiends), and one of them summoned an Efreeti as well. Thus the area became a bit too crowded for Bardin's taste. Tolgerias thought Bardin was still around but undetectable; the wizard and his assistant cast several AoE Enchantment spells (Emotion, Chaos), but Bardin was in the corridor waiting for at least some of the summons and for faux Tolgerias to disappear.

Spoiler

The Gnome reappeared, hidden in shadows, only to retreat once more when a Bone Fiend struck him with lightning that killed Tolgerias' assistant.

Spoiler

In the corridor the Gnome activated several defensive buffs (Death Ward, Chaotic Commands, PfE, Remove Fear, PfFire, PfLightning) and returned to submit Tolgerias to a Fire Storm.

Spoiler

It injured the wizard, but the area was too spacious for Tolgerias to be forced to stay in the spell's AoE and suffer repeated damage. Either way, the storm gave Bardin the time to quaff an oil of speed, to cast Holy Power, Righteous Magic, DUHM, and Harm (in that order). He hid in shadows, rushed to Tolgerias, and 'backslapped' the wizard to see the latter's HPs reduced to one.

Spoiler

His next attack, off-hand with Scarlet Ninja-To, failed to pierce the wizard's Stoneskins and the subsequent main-hand attack with Blackblood was a critical miss. It allowed Tolgerias to cast Invisibility on himself. Bardin's response was to drop a Fireball on himself from his Necklace of Missiles (didn't hurt as he was fully protected from fire). Tolgerias found himself in the Fireball's AoE and did not survive its impact.

Spoiler

 

Demons
Bardin, still buffed and hyped up from his triumph over this powerful foe, headed straight for the exit of the Sphere. As he got out of the Sphere he found himself in what looked to be a layer of the Abyss. The Gnome clubbed down Imps, Quasits, Fire Salamanders and, with some difficulty, a number of Maurehzis.

Spoiler

Injured, he took some time to heal himself, summon Kitty and an Aerial Servant to his side, and re-buff. The trio defeated a Lea'liyl and two Maurehzis in melee,

Spoiler

and two Tanar'ri, with the Aerial Servant finishing the second Tanar'ri with a fine critical.

Spoiler

Bardin re-entered the Sphere with three demon hearts, snuck through a frosty room and reached the power core. He slew a Clay Golem and disarmed a trap on a treasure stash to reach another level (Thief 18), earning a Time Trap as a new HLA. The Gnome then threw one of the demon hearts into the Sphere's power core to get it moving again, and he trapped his way past two more Golems.

Spoiler

A third Golem was softened up with a Time Trap and finished off with Bardin's first hit after time had continued. Bardin leveled up once more (Cleric 16), and added a Spike Trap to his arsenal of snares, as he had still no more than one level 7 spell. He also got to pick a new weapon proficiency. I hesitated for some time between picking Flails (for FoA) or Quarterstaves as his next proficiency. Roleplaying made me go with Staves because Bardin owned three nice Staves of Power already.) 

 

Ice and Fire Rooms
Buffed up Bardin had little difficulty with the creatures in the ice room. He might have done well enough even without buffing. The fire room was more dangerous, with Hell Hounds that Bardin had had bad experiences with, a Fire Elemental summoning Salamander Noble, and a Noble Efreeti as the main threats. Bardin made sure he was well-buffed again, especially against fire, and went straight for the Noble Efreeti with a Harm. The attack connected, but his target was so fast in transforming into a cloud of gas that the Gnome could not kill his foe in time.

Spoiler

Bardin switched his focus to the Salamander Noble, two Fire Elementals (including a Greater variant), and the Hell Hounds. Hasted, protected from fire, and empowered by his deity, Bardin was simply too much for these creatures to handle.

Spoiler

Hidden in shadows, the Gnome sought out the Noble Efreeti again, but he made sure to place a number of traps about the room before he attacked. However, a decent backstab made those preventive measures unnecessary.

Spoiler

 

Bardin took Lavok outside to die under the sky of Athkatla, had Cromwell combine Gloves of Pick Pocketing, Bracers of Defense AC 4, a Ring of Danger Sense, a Ring of Lock Picks and two Rings of Protection +1 into the Gloves of the Master Thief,

Spoiler

and finally got rid of the stalking Rune Assassins in the Bridge District, using his traps.

Spoiler

and he paid Ribald Barterman 9k GP to send three Solamnic Knights he had met in the Sphere back to their home plane.

[corey_russell]

Wow Blackraven, with so many screenshots and an explanation of each, must have taken you quite a bit to make that last post. How long did it take, an hour?

[Blackraven]

Wow Blackraven, with so many screenshots and an explanation of each, must have taken you quite a bit to make that last post. How long did it take, an hour?

More like two hours. I tend to take a lot of screenshots as memory aids. This means I need to carefully select the ones I post, and finally I need to write up the information that exlains the screenshots as well as things that can't be seen in or deduced from the screenshots.

Sometimes I work faster or I cover more activity in an hour or two, but that depends on the quests at hand. The SCS Wild Halflings, Lavok, and Tolgerias are all powerful enemies. They're also unpredictable as to what they will do, what spells they will cast since SCS randomizes this. The latter two have level 9 spells, and access to HLAs in my setup (though they don't necessarily memorize them due to aforementioned SCS randomization). In my view this justifies a more detailed account of events than a report of say d'Arnise Hold.

 

Edit: another thing is that playing with a solo Cleric/Thief, I find there are many different ways of dealing with enemies such as those found in the Planar Sphere (traps, backstabs, damage spells, summons, buffing + fighting, tricks like attacking from the shadows with Harm, etc), so to me it made sense to be precise in describing how Bardin exactly overcame the challenges the Sphere posed.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Bardin reached his next level-up, as a Cleric, and picked Summon Deva as his first Quest Spell. Unfortunately, as I've mentioned before in this thread, SCS Caster HLAs as Innates didn't appear behind Bardin's special abilities button, so I uninstalled that component, and Bardin picked Assassination as his second HLA instead of Summon Deva. The reason for this different pick was that he only had one level 7 spell slot in his spellbook so far. The Gnome understood he'd better wait with Cleric HLAs until he had more level 7 spell slots. 

Did you tried to look for Quest Spells under *Cast Spell* button rather than behind *Special Abilities* button with *SCS Caster HLAs as Innates* installed? AFAIK they should be there, last on the list of available spells.

 

Anyway, splendid progress! Keep focus and stay safe!

[Blackraven]

@Serg:

 

Ouch!! No, I didn't Gotural at the Beamdog Forums showed me the same in a screenshot of his character. I must have misremembered from a couple of years ago, or BGT with SCS v21 simply handles this differently. Knowing myself, it's probably the former.

I might reinstall the mod then...

[Enuhal]

Sahal, gnomish cleric/illusionist, final update

 

Sahal entered the Throne of Bhaal almost fully buffed, though with only Mazzy getting improved haste right now (since my access to the spell is limited, depending on how Sahal does with his two wish spells and his one wish scroll). Before resting, Sahal had prepared a chain contingency with some offensive spells and a sequencer with lower resistance spells. After those went off, Amelyssan was breached and attacked. Using critical strike for the dual wielders and gww for Keldorn, her hitpoints quickly dropped and she had to retreat - but not before dispelling all of the party's buffs.

 

Sahal and Jaheira used some minor summing spells (fire elementals and skeleton warriors) to help with the prince of air. For the second battle with Amelyssan, Sahal and Jaheira renewed at least cc for everyone. A Deva, 3 magical swords and an elemental prince were summoned before triggering the fight. Again, Mazzy got the improved haste spell, and everyone used their HLAs to take down the enemy.

 

So far, so good, but again, when leaving, Melissan dispelled all of the buffs - Sahal still had many spells left, but not enough for his taste, and he used his wishes - but got really unlucky. Not only didn't he get the rest option during the three possible attempts - for two of the spells, the best option had practically zero effect on the battlefield, and overall, the only relevant positive one he got was improving everyone's stats to 25 for a very short time - though that was enough to quickly kill the prince of ice and attack Melissan a third time with the help of a deva and some magical swords to distract the slayer shadows. This time, the party chased her to the north and defeating her there - but as you can see from the rare sight of Sahal in his natural colors, she dispelled all buffs again, and not a whole lot were left (though Sahal has multiple wondrous recalls). Still had some high level summoning spells though, and most importantly, enough spike traps to instantly kill Melissans final incarnation - so the fallen solar battle was all I had to worry about.

 

This is were I made a terrible mistake. I didn't realize the fallen solar's party has a better AI compared to most enemies: They realize that, if attacked by summoned creatures, there must be a summoner nearby, and they search for him and try to kill him. So when I sent in my deva from the previous battle just to soften up the final group (I could resummon one anyway, and she might have been about to expire), I had no idea this would provoke what is essentially my final battle (because of Imoen's spike traps) while the party was completely unbuffed (and I do mean completely! Zero buffs at this point - just defeated Amelyssan, instantly sent the deva to the pool, was looking through Sahal's remaining spells - and suddenly, the fallen solar shot at him!).

 

So, how did it go? Let's see: First thing I did was cast death ward on Sahal (because the solar has an instant death attack) and have him run away. Imoen ran as well, since she's incredibly squishy as a single class thief. For now, Mazzy tanked the enemies, while my summoned magical swords from the previous Melissan fight were too far away to reach the battle. The mariliths and the fallen solar dealt incredible damage to my melee fighters - drinking potions didn't heal them fast enough, and with Sahal busy renewing essential buffs for survival, the lack of offensive buffs and remaining HLAs crippled their offensive capabilites. Valygar was quickly killed, but Sahal used the RoR to resurrect him - but then, the mariliths focused Mazzy, and she was chunked - Down to five.

 

As you can see, my magical swords just about reached the battle at this point, and they were capable of tanking for a while. Meanwhile, I placed my hopes on Keldorn, buffing him with one of the remaining cc's (no time to wondrous recall for more) - I chose him because he still had some gww's left, my best chance at taking out some of the enemies quickly. Sahal, still having various spells ready (since, you know, a high level cleric/illusionist has a gigantic spellbook), summoned powerful distractions - a deva at first - she bought Keldorn enough time to gww the fallen solar to death, while the marilith's killed her in return. Meanwhile, the alu-fiend joined the fight and charmed the unprotected Valygar. He would've been fully capable of wrecking the party, so I had Keldorn use his dispel magic (thus also removing his own cc, making Sahal's death ward the only active buff in the party). Luckily, it only took Keldorn one round to kill the alu-fiend with his last gww. Jaheira, meanwhile, summoned another elemental prince. With only the mariliths left, Sahal's remaining breach spells and the fighting capabilites of Keldorn, Valygar and Jaheira plus summons were enough to win.

 

Just in case the spike traps wouldn't be enough, some final summons (a deva, skeleton warriors), the remaining buffs (mostly returned via wondrous recall) and many healing potions were used to prepare the party for an eventual fight - but Imoen didn't disappoint, and her traps allowed Sahal to finish this game! For a minute, I thought I had thrown away victory. Instant death for Sahal was actually unlikely (he has a death save of -2, though I don't know if there are any modifications applied to the fallen solar's instant death arrows), but the fight could have been lost - if Keldorn had died as well, the group might not have had enough fighting power left to win - in the end, Keldorn (who really impressed me during this run) and the tanking capabilites of the previously summoned magical swords saved the day.

 

Here are some final stats, taken right before fighting Melissan for the last time (they are in German, though):

Imoen

Jaheira

Keldorn

Valygar

Sahal.

 

So, that's it! My first successful triology no-reload run since 2009! I'm happy

 

Enuhal

[Blackraven]

Congratulations Enuhal! I'm impressed that you made things work with such a melee-heavy party and with very limited buffing. Chapeau!

 

[Grond0]

So, that's it! My first successful triology no-reload run since 2009! I'm happy

And deservedly so!

[Serg BlackStrider]

Congratulations, Enuhal!

[corey_russell]

Congratulations, Enuhal! Sahal has been entered into the Hall of Heroes!

[Blackraven]

Corey, I was wondering: didn't Dyara complete a no-reload saga run? I noticed she isn't present in the Hall of Heroes.

 

Bardin, LN Cleric/Thief, in SoA (Part 5)

I reinstalled the SCS component that turns caster HLAs into innate abilities. It works fine after all, with the quest spells appearing behind the cast spell button rather than the innate ability button.
Since then, Bardin has made some more progress in his crusade against sin and corruption in Amn. His first undertaking was to confront the Cult of the Unseeing Eye, a task for the Temple of Helm that he took very seriously.

Unseeing Eye

He had already prcured one part of a rod that he would need to defeat the Unseeing Eye. For the second part he had to descend into a pit that led via a Ghoul Town to the Beholder's lair. In the undead village, the Gnome blew up several Ghasts, Ghoul Lords, and Mummies with his Turn Undead ability.

Spoiler

and he looted their den under Sanctuary, before the local Lich could attack him (or summons allies to attack him).
In the lair of the Unseeing Eye, Bardin summoned five Skeleton Warriors to get rid of the Gauths and Beholders that inhabited it. The Gnome had three more Animate Dead spells memorized, but the five summons were enough to clear the place and get another Thief level. He picked his first clerical HLA, Energy Blades, which he intended to use against the Unseeing Eye. 
When he found the second half of the rift device, both parts merged into one, and the Unseeing Eye appeared in a corridor near the exit, an area containing a number of snares from Bardin: 1x time, 1x spike, 4x normal. The Unseeing Eye triggered Bardin's time trap, allowing the Gnome to use the rift device against the Beholder.

Spoiler

His plan was then to get away from the Unseeing Eye, leaving the killing blow to one of his summons (Skeleton Warriors, Aerial Servant). However, the Gnome found himself stuck between the Unseeing Eye and two Death Tyrants. Fortunately, the continuation of time saw a number of Bardin's regular snares kill the Unseeing Eye and injure at least one Death Tyrant.

Spoiler

One of the Death Tyrants then removed all of Bardin's protections with an anti-magic ray, but the Gnome went invisibility potion and managed to get away from his two enemies. Bardin's summons took care of the two remaining Eye Tyrants.

Spoiler

In the center of the area, a number of blind priests, servants of the Unseeing Eye were gathered. Bardin showed them no mercy. He cast a Fire Storm on them, and backstabbed or ensnared the survivors.

Spoiler

Another level-up allowed Bardin to pick a second priestly HLA, the ability to Summon a Deva.
Bardin returned the rift device to the avatar of Amaunator, and then visited the cult's quarters once more, where he gated in an Ultroloth. My (altered) setup contains SCS Improved Demons with aTweaks' Fiends scripts as well as aTweaks' Further Revised Fiend Summoning, which allows a lawful character, like Bardin, who casts Gate to choose between a lawful evil Baatezu and a neutral evil Yugoloth. Bardin opted for the help of a Yugoloth, an Ultroloth to be precise. We can see the very humanoid-looking fiend attack an Elite Guard here:

Spoiler

It cast a Meteor Swarm on the guards and was perfectly fine with joining a Movanic Deva (conform the P&P Celestials mod) in battle against Gaal & Co.

Spoiler

Bardin and his summons dispatched the enemy without difficulty, and the Gnome was granted quarters and a position in the Temple, quite an honor for a Gnome even if the Helmite doctrine closely resembles the tenets of his own faith in Gaerdal Ironhand.

Liches

While Bardin was done with the Unseeing Eye, he wasn't done with the sewers yet. A former follower of the Unseeing Eye who had helped him assemble the rift device, had warned the Gnome of a powerful evil presence in a sarcophagus in a chamber near the entrance to the Old Tunnels. It was Bardin's intention to purge that evil. Aware of probable danger, the Gnome buffed himself (Chaotic Commands, Death Ward, Remove Fear, Haste, Free Action, protections from fire and lightning), and placed a couple of (regular) snares near the sarcophagus. When the evil turned out to be a Lich, Bardin cast False Dawn. It seemed the Gnome was too far removed from the undead creature for the spell to be effective, but the traps did their job well enough.

Spoiler

Bardin picked up golden arms and legs from the sarcophagus, and received instruction from his Lord Gaerdal Ironhand to enter a derelict home in the Bridge District. The priest still had two snares: a time trap and a spike trap. He set both. Again a Lich appeared from the sarcophagus. Hasted and buffed with the holy triumvirate, Bardin slew the Lich during the time stop his time trap brought about.

Spoiler

Using snares to deal with both Liches felt a bit cheap, but then, Bardin is no fool. He knew that grave danger awaited him. Either way, an etertaining battle with Kangaxx the Demi-Lich will form a nice contrast to Bardin's clinical way of dealing with Shade Lich and the Elemental Lich.

The Gnome retrieved a golden torso from the sarcophagus, left the building and rested. He then went to the Docks District, where Kangaxx eagerly awaited the reception of his body parts. Bardin was as buffed as he could be, including even things like Barkskin and Chant for the saves bonuses. A spike trap and two regular snares quickly destroyed Kangaxx' Lich form.

Kangaxx the Demi-Lich cast Energy Blades, and so did Bardin as he had no +4 (or better) weapon to hurt his foe with except for his sling of Everard, which would be too slow a weapon to attack with given the Gnome's lack of APR and Kangaxx' regeneration thanks to its ring. The Gnome wouldn't have much use for his discs. First of all, and not surprisingly, the Demi-Lich was PfMW and secondly when Bardin left the chamber, Kangaxx followed Bardin and promptly Removed the Gnome's protections before the latter could dodge the spell with an area transition. (Area transitions can be considered a bit lame, but on the other hand Remove Magics from high level casters are superdifficult to counter with for a solo Cleric/Thief. Bardin did own a few Spell Immunity scrolls, but he was reluctant to use them.) Fortunately Bardin could retreat into Kangaxx' chamber again, and rebuff without the Demi-Lich, or a Glabrezu apparently summoned by it, following him.

Spoiler

When Bardin returned, he gated in a Baatezu for Kangaxx to play with, and while Kangaxx was refreshing his PfMW, a Movanic Deva as well. For some reason Kangaxx didn't summon a Fallen Planetar or cast something like Dragon's Breath or Comet, all spells that he does have (as innates, I checked this afterwards in EEKeeper). Instead, it went wth a Demi-Lich Howl, and it tried in vain to Trap the Soul of Bardin's Deva, while the Deva tried to Dispel Kangaxx' protections. Kangaxx then cast Greater Malison on the Gnome, an effect that Bardin countered by quaffing a potion of invulnerability, and ADHW on the Deva.

Spoiler

Bardin, unsure as to what protections Kangaxx had after the Deva's Dispel Magic discovered that his Wand of Fire did nothing to hurt the Demi-Lich. (I tried this because one of my characters once killed Kangaxx with the wand, and besides, Bardin had no +5 weapon to hurt Kangaxx with.)
Around this time a weird glitch occurred. Bardin got to cast Gate a second time, or to be more precisely in the action bar, the icons to select Baatezu or Yugoloth reappeared. Bardin made the mistake of picking the Yugoloth, which resulted in in-fighting between the already Pit Fiend and the Ultroloth. With the Movanic Deva close to being unsummoned and the fiends quarreling between themselves, Bardin decided to leave the premises. But Kangaxx was eager to follow the Gnome outside. It gated in no less than three Glabrezus in rapid succession. Bardin hoped to find refuge at Cromwell's, but the Glabrezus teleported to Bardin and surrounded the Gnome on the narrow stairs that led to Cromwell's smithy. Bardin had nowhere to go. Kangaxx arrived not much later and cast a Dargon's Breath on the Gnome. The Helmet of Defense and a potion of fire resistance did much to reduce the impact of that spell, but the Gnome's measures didn't prevent his HPs from going below 90.

Spoiler

With his HPs thus reduced, he became vulnerable to the Glabrezus PW:Stuns. Bardin was no longer protected by Free Action. (He had twice cast the spell on himself, but they were removed and expired respectively.) And his aura was turpid. Bardin had a Contingency (from scroll) that would see Free Action cast on self when helpless. (This is actually a bit of a gamble, but according to this reference that I've used a lot, Free action "[u]nlike Remove Paralysis, [...] also has preventative use." In my install Free Action also works against stun. Maybe I should just test whether this works as I'm hoping it does.) Either way the Contingency never triggered, for a first PW:Stun was blocked by Bardin's Magic Resistance, and a Potion of Freedom kept the Gnome safe from subsequent stun attempts.

Spoiler

The immediate risk of a premature ending to Bardin's journey was averted, but there was still the issue of two hard-hitting Glabrezus surrounding Bardin, and nearby Kangaxx wanting the Gnome's hide. Bardin escaped with a Teleport Field cast from scroll.

Spoiler

He ran off, back to Kangaxx' chamber, where he waited for the Glabrezus to return to their abyssal plane. When he wanted to leave the building, the Pit Fiend was still there, together with Kangaxx, and it was no longer on Bardin's side.

Spoiler

Bardin ran outside, but the Pit Fiend kept teleporting without error toward Bardin. The Gnome, running around hasted, managed to buff with HP and RM, and decided to take on the Pit Fiend. In front of the Shadow Thief HQ the priest and the demon battled until the former banished the latter with a number of devastating blows at the break of dawn.

Spoiler

Closer to the docks Kangaxx was happily engaged in the Trapping of innocent Souls, and in wasting its spells on them, when Bardin discovered that his Wand of Fire wasn't any good against the Demi-Lich.

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The priest used his Wand of Monster Summoning to further deplete the Demi-Lich of its spells,

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and then decided it was time for Cromwell to merge his clubs Blackblood and Gnasher into the Pitchwife +5.

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Kangaxx didn't appreciate the Dwarf helping Bardin, and tried to Trap the smith's Soul.

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Fortunately the hardy Dwarf saved vs death, but Bardin took this as a sign to leave Cromwell to his work. The Gnome and his undead foe continued their battle outside. Bardin buffed with the holy triumvirate and kept beating the Demi-Lich with his new club.

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Kangaxx responded with a Comet, but Bardin managed to limit that spell's impact with a potion of fire resistance (in addition to his Helmet of Defense protection).

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It would be the Demi-Lich's last feat.

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This was quite an exciting battle. Things looked to be going south a couple of times for Bardin. I'm very glad he pulled through. Curiously Kangaxx never summoned his Dark Planetar.

Bardin was disgusted with the number of corpses littered about the Docks District. It made the taste of victory a bittersweet one for the Gnome. Finding a powerful ring next to the fallen Demi-Lich's remains didn't change that.

[Enuhal]

Thanks everyone for the kind words! I'm already trying out a couple of new characters

 

Wow, Blackraven, that truly was an epic battle against Kangaxx. Glad Bardin made it!

 

Enuhal