15195 replies to this topic

[corey_russell]

Here is the Baldur's Gate II no-reload thread for 2010. Link to original thread on the old Bioware Forums site:

forums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html

IMPORTANT NOTE! If you have successfully done the trilogy no-reload (Started in Candlekeep, defeated Melissan for good, following reloading rules mentioned below) and have posted your travels in the Bioware Forums but you don't see you name here put a post in BG 2 no-reload forum with details, character name, class, race, important mods, difficulty and who entered the character.

And here are the rules:

Rules --

1. No reloading, this one
should be obvious. If dies that is it for this
challenge. Feel free to enter the Minimal-Reloads Challenge (some-times called a campfire - you may need to make a new topic) and continue
posting your character’s exploits. If a bug or glitch in your game
should cause you to have to reload that is acceptable. If, however, an
NPC dies (chunked), you have to live with the death and are not allowed
to reload.

NOTE: If a hardware failure should occur (such as dead hard drive) it's acceptable to continue from an old save that was on removable media or another computer. Once you do, however, then the previous rules take effect. Also note that if you liked your character and he/she dies, an acceptable restart is to reload from a save made immediately made after character creation or import from character file if made at the same time. Otherwise, you would need to re-roll a character.
 

NOTE this too: People have sometimes forgot to make a save, ended the session and when reloading, realized their mistake. Load from the most recent save available, which-ever that is.

 
2. Be informative of what changes you make, so that those so inclined can judge the merits of your run. Multi-player NPCs or PCs are allowed.

3. Play on "Core Rules" (or higher); this may make spell
memorization and gaining HPs somewhat interesting. Optional: if you so
choose you can put the slider back during level-up to get maximum HPs
and/or 100% spell memorization. But don't forget to change it back to
core rules!

4. If you want to use the console to add in a bag of
holding, feel free. Not many people like playing the “inventory
management game.”

5. If you want to skip the opening dungeon, you
can use the Dungeon-Be-Gone mod.

6. Post your mods and character
stats (abilities) on your initial post and any changes you might have made with Shadow Keeper.

7. Post intermittent
progress reports about your progress through Shadows of Amn (BG 2) and Throne of Bhaal (ToB), if applicable.

8. Clearly post
when your PC has died.
 

9. Siege of Dragonspear is an OPTIONAL expansion - if you want to play it that's fine, or if you not playing Enhanced Edition BG you can't play it anyways. Either way counts for doing the Trilogy.

 

10. Have fun!


Guidelines:

1. No "required" subquests - those who want the additional challenge and
reward can take on subquests as they wish.

2. Players may take
advantage of ToB functionality (tab key, wild mage kit, extended XP
cap, etc).

3. If you decide to withdraw from the competition,
could you please make a post indicating such?

4. Note that there are 4 different kinds of no-reloads:
a) Trilogy no-reload - runs started in BG 1 and exported to BG 2 and also ToB
b ) BG 2 or BG 2 and ToB no-reload runs

c) ToB no-reload runs

d) Enhanced Edition runs

 

This thread is currently for BG2 and ToB portions of any of the no-reloads above (thought not EE BG 1).


Have fun, and
keep us posted of your progress!

*** Hall of Heroes ***
*** The Trilogy No Reloaders

     Listed by date of completion

source link: http://social.biowar...ndex/3120942/21

Character Name: Ogg
Race: Half-Orc
class: Fighter/Cleric
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Frabjous

Character Name: Alanis
Race: Elf
class: Sorcerer
Notable Mods: Questpack, Tactics (Parts), Ascension
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Alesia_BH

Character Name: Hugh
Race: Human
class: Inquisitor
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Wizworm

Character Name: Urmgi
Race: Half-Orc
class: Cleric/Thief
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Frabjous

Character Name: Saros
Race: Half-Elf
class: F/M/T
Notable Mods: SCS, IA 5.0 with Recommended Ease of Use Components
Difficulty: Insane
Entered by Saros Shadow Follower

Character Name: Alia
Race: Half-Elf
class: Blade
Notable Mods: SCS, IA 5.0 with Recommended Ease of Use Components
Difficulty: Insane
Entered by Saros Shadow Follower

Character Name: Kalis
Race: Human
class: Druid
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Enuhal

Character Name: Naji the Unspeakable
Race: Human
class: Monk
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Enuhal****

Character Name: Numa Stoneguard
Race: Dwarf.
class: Cleric 23 – Illusionist 19.
Notable Mods: Keto-SOAv3 + Sarahtob-beta2
Difficulty: Core
Entered by UssNorway

Character Name: Candar
Race: Dwarf
class: Berserker
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Corey_Russell
BG1 Start: http://social.biowar...4065/14#5606675
BG1 Fin: http://social.biowar...4065/17#5794527
SoA Start: http://social.biowar...0942/35#5804114
Mel: http://social.biowar...0942/60#7750216

Character: Lotan
Race: Human
class: Fighter/Druid (dual from level 9 fighter)
Difficulty: Core
Entered by Corey_Russell
BG1 Start: http://social.biowar...4065/90#7894578
BG1 Fin: http://social.biowar...4065/93#7958273
SoA Start: http://social.biowar...0942/79#7958710
Mel: http://social.biowar...0942/82#8059615  

Character: Weirdo
Race: Gnome
class: Thief/Illusionist
Difficulty: Core
Notable Mods: BG1- aTweaks, SCS; BG2- aTweaks, Ascension, Randomiser, SCS II, Weimer Item Upgrades
Entered by Weirdo
Start BG 1: http://social.biowar...4065/17#5820267
Finish BG 1: http://social.biowar...4065/43#7076949
Begin BG 2: http://social.biowar...0942/40#7111414
Melissan: http://social.biowar...942/134#8803115

Character Name: Anatole
Race: Human
class: Assassin
Difficulty: Insane
Entered by BBMorti

Start BG 1: http://social.biowar...065/149#8688503
Finish BG 1: http://social.biowar...065/152#8704165
Begin BG 2: http://social.biowar...942/120#8706461
Melissan: http://social.biowar...942/136#8815327
 

Character: Vessen

Race:  Halfling

Class: Priest of Lathander

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Corey Russell

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...enge/?p=7004411

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...enge/?p=7041015

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...enge/?p=7041455

Melissan: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=7476436

 

 

Character: (Multi-player): Pendal

Race: gnome

Class: Fighter/Illlusionist

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Gate70 - assisted by Thimble (Grond0)

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=11429443

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=11659947

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=11692592

Melissan: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=12775234

 

 

Character: Alyssa

Race: Elf

Class: Mage/Thief

Difficulty: Core

Notable mods: SCS for both BG 1 and BG 2, Ascension

Entered by: Alesia_BH

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=11381587

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=11405196

Begin BG2: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=11436501

Melissan: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=12412328

 

Character: Klonk
Race: Half-Orc
class: Berserker
Difficulty: Core
Entered by: Gate70
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14896009
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14916519
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14916605
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14964643

 

Character: Alisa
Race: Half-Elf
class: Jester
Difficulty: Core
Notable mods: SCS for both BG 1 and BG 2, Ascension
Entered by: Alesia_BH
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14826902
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14837088
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14837284
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15093147

 

Character: Blackstrider
Race: Half-Elf
Class: Blade
Special: played as The Avatars:-
Alesia_BH as Alesia (elven Mage/Thief)
Grond0 as Grond (human Archer)
Gate70 as Krimlor (dwarven Fighter/Cleric)
The Potty 1 as Pot (human Mage)
USSnorway as Cassia (gnomish Shapeshifter)
Corey_Russell as Corey Russell (human Undead Hunter)
Difficulty: Core
Notable Mods: SCS 21 for both BG 1 and BG 2, Ascension
Entered by: Serg Blackstrider
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=13947138
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14770438
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=14793104
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15856728

 

Character: Corbeast
Race: Human
Class: Beastmaster
Difficulty: Core
Entered by: Corey Russell
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15799875
Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15805769

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...ge/?p=15818343 
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=15995154

 

Character: Russell V (Russell the fifth)
Race: Human
Class: FALLEN Inquisitor
Diffficulty: Core
Entered by: Corey_Russell
Unusual Group: 5 paladins and cleric/thief for entire trilogy, no arcane
Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16002207
Finish BG1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16092275
Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16092286
Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16104299

 

Character: Krak

Race: Dwarf

Class: Barbarian

Difficulty: Core

Special: Solo, no healing potions, antidotes (except 1 in BG 1), or RoR heals used in entire run.

Entered by: Grond0

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16139435

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16142008

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16143225

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16196263

 

Character: Rifft

Race: Dwarf

Class: Swashbuckler

Difficulty: Core

Special: Solo, no healing potions used in entire run nor mage scrolls.

Entered by: Grond0

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16197557

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16201324

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16201484

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16222069

 

Character: Augur

Race: Dwarf

Class: Wizard Slayer, solo (!)

Difficulty: Core

Special: No heal potions used in entire run

Entered by Grond0

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16302541

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16303353

Begin BG 2:http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16303609

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=16340984

 

Character: Hale

Race: Elf

Class: Wild Mage, solo(!)

Entered by Grond0

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17192212

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17197841

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17204023

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17282162

 

Character: Coremonk III

Race: Human

Class: Monk

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Corey_Russell

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17287810

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17320922

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17323179

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17707671

 

Character: Delilah

Race: Human

Class: Cavalier (solo)

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Grond0

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18319102

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18320754

Begin BG 2:http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18328562

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18401887

 

Character: Corarcher

Race: Elf

Class: Archer

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Corey_Russell

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17989819

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18155910

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18159133

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18750103

 

Character: Sage

Race: Elf

Class: Mage

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Grond0

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18791102

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18815158

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18815373

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18901745

No potions used during this run.

 

Character: Arcadia

Race: Half-Elf

Class: Fighter/Mage

Difficulty: Core

Notable mods: SCS, Ascension

Entered by Alesia_BH

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18721189

Finish BG 1:http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18747979

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18749185

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18922231

 

Character: Eren, Last Child

Race: Human 

Class: level 9 fighter/level 39 thief

Difficulty: Core

Notable mods: Enhanced Edition) SCS, Ascension, Rogue Rebalancing, Tweaks. 

Entered by Golden28

Start BG 1: [url=http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19114876[/url]

Finish BG 1:  [url=http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19114876[/url]

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19125318

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19259093

 

Character: Arkona

Race: Halfling

Class: Barbarian

Difficulty: Core

Notable mods: SCS, Ascension, ATweaks

Special: First solo no-reload SCS Watcher's Keep

Entered by Alesia_BH

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19542961

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19544761

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19545045

Melissan: http://forum.bioware.com/topic/124277-baldurs-gate-2-no-reload-challenge/?p=19596228

 

Character: Kaxir

Race: Dwarf

Class: Kensai (solo)

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Gate70

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19672705

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19672705

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19683619

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19716619

 

Character: Sir Gawain

Race: Human

Class: Fighter

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Charlestonian Knight Templar

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=17190325

Finish BG 1:http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18839075

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=18839075

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19887351

 

Character: Russell VI

Race: Human

Class: Inquisitor

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Corey_Russell

Special: Only paladins from Candlekeep to Melissan, except Mazzy allowed as a paladin of Avoreen

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19945421

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19947817

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19948265

Finish BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19966456

 

Character: Sahal

Race: Gnome

Class: Cleric/Illusionist

Difficulty: Core

Entered by Enuhal

Start BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19974486

Finish BG 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19989633

Begin BG 2: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19991808

Melissan: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=20029643

 

 

Note from Corey_Russell: Remember this is trilogy no-reload only -- but if you have done so, post in this thread the details I need (character/race/class/difficulty/notable mods)

Edited by corey_russell, 31 May 2016 - 03:10 PM.

[corey_russell]

Dennen the dwarven fighter update 2: D'Arnise Keep

In case anyone doesn't know, I don't use any mods. Just BG2 + Throne of Bhaal + official throne of Bhaal patch.

Dennen's party agrees to help Nalia save her keep. For the first big troll, decided to make full use of Yoshimo. Yoshimo set as many traps as he could opened the door and had the troll chase him. The big troll took the trap damage, lived but not for very long. Party took no damage so liked the strategy.

Overall made much better use of Yoshimo than I used to, he would hide in shadows and backstab whenever we thought it was practical to do so.

The first major battle was the room with the keep key and the Yuan-ti mage. Our summons are pathetic at our current level, nevertheless we summoned what we could and threw them into the room with the trolls and shut the door. After waiting a while the party charged, though Dennen made sure to berserk before entering the room. As expected the Yuan-ti mage opened with confusion, affecting 1/2 the party. The confusion icon was over Dennen but still had control, so had him charge the mage with his +2 axe. He tanked great, the investment in the +2 medium shield has really seemed to pay off for him: Click Here The party won the battle with minimum damage.

The next major battle was the room with all the golems. You can pull them one at a time, so all the golems except the iron golem is pretty easy this way. The real challenge is the Iron Golem since we don't have any +3 weapons yet. However, if you have Nalia in the group and using her default spell set the golem is no problem. Have her cast her strength spell on herself. Then use the Shapeshift spell into a Flind. The flind has innate haste and just as important has a weapon that can damage the Iron Golem. Pull the iron golem and position Nalia like this: Click Here   She will kill the golem without taking any damage this way. Keep AI off naturally so your characters don't attack or waste ammo pointlessly. it will take a while though, so get a drink and enjoy the easy experience!

I used the dog meat so wouldn't have to deal with the umber hulks. Now for Torgal himself. We just barely entered the room where he is, and then we cast the following: Minsc - entangle, Aerie - web, holy smite, stinking cloud - Nalia - cloudkill, web, and Anomen - holy smite. You can see the results here: Click Here Torgal died instantaly to the cloudkill, but his buddies are much more resilient to it. Minsc used his long bow since his weapon had the range to hit them without himself entering the mess. Party took no damage this way.

Nalia asked Dennen to be Lord of the Keep and he accepted. The party reports they are much more capable after this: Click Here

And the adventure continues....

Edited by corey_russell, 14 July 2010 - 05:23 PM.

[G_Admiral_Thrawn]

corey_russell wrote...

Here is the Baldur's Gate II no-reload thread for 2010. Link to original thread on the old Bioware Forums site:

forums.bioware.com/myviewtopic.html

And here is the original post rules:

From the original post:

Rules --

1. No reloading, this one
should be obvious. If dies that is it for this
challenge. Feel free to enter the Minimal-Reloads Challenge and continue
posting your character’s exploits. If a bug or glitch in your game
should cause you to have to reload that is acceptable. If, however, an
NPC dies (chunked), you have to live with the death and are not allowed
to reload.

2. No hacked classes, i.e. no illegal class
combinations or alterations using Shadow Keeper.

Several questions about the no reload challence:

First, can you use reloading to get wish to work right, because even with a 25 wisdom, wish is still totally random, which makes it useless.

Second, can you use SK to make a multi-class character kit (like say a fighter/mage/assassin)? I mean, it's not fair that you can have a dual class kit, but not a multiclass, although the answer will probably be no (boo)...

Third, can you add kits (and/or increase levels) to NPC characters? I like Imoen, but thing is, she's total crap as a thief. I prefer to make her an assassin and boosting her thief level so she gets the 7x backstab.

Fourth, can you cheat? I mean, nothing really major (outsude of using ctrl+8 to set all stats to 18)? I'm talking about adding components for blacksmithing once you get them (like an extra Eye of Tyr so you don't have to choose between an Unholy Ravager for Sarevok or a Holy Avenger +6 for Keldorn really isn't fair. And Illithium is used for atleast 2 recipies I have, PLUS as a quest reward. I'm just wondering if you can use the CreateItem cheat to give it to you once you have it. And, no, you have to have the other part (i.e., you have to have had BOTH the Holy Avenger AND the Eye of Tyr before using the cheat, and you can use it to get only one, so you can't use a Holy Avenger for both an Unholy Ravager AND a Holy Avenger +6).

[Dante2377]

1. No, you can't reload at all unless your game hits a bug that crashes/freezes it. Reloading to get a "good" wish is definitely against the spirit of the no-reload challenge.



2. most people probably feel that's against the spirit of the challenge - it's supposed to make the game HARDER, not easier.



3. most people don't have a problem with minor shifting around of classes or kits (e.g. changing Keldorn from Inquisitor to another Paladin kit, Minsc to Berserker, Edwin to Sorcerer) if it fits within the concept of that NPC. Same with using a mod that gets NPCs closer to your party level when they join UNLESS you've hacked your character to something like the level 50 FMC from your other thread.



4. No you can't cheat in multiple copies of unique items.



The whole purpose of the No-Reload challenge is to make it HARD (e.g. a challenge) for veterans who can beat the vanilla game relatively easily and need outside constraints to keep it interesting.

[corey_russell]

Exactly, as the title of the topic mentions this is meant to be a challenge. I just want to point out that if you don't like the NPCs, you CAN use multi-player to create your own characters/siblings etc. whatever story you want and use them instead. But the catch is though, if they get chunked (killed permanently) they are gone for good. As the rules state though, whatever characters still have to be legal (like you can't dual from a kit to a kit for example).



No reload is a great challenge, and easy to implement. Out of my 3 dozen or so attempts at no-reload, only one of my characters made it to the end of ToB to Melissan after starting in BG 1 in Candlekeep.

[G_Admiral_Thrawn]

Here's mine. Started with a Neutral Good kensai fighter (planning to dualclass over to thief soon) with 18/00 strength (got it on the first roll, but the rest sucked), 18 Dexterits, and 18 Constitution, 12 Intelligence (for fighting Illithids), 3 wisdom (he won't be a cleric anytime soon), and 6 Charisma. 5 points in Katanas and one point in Single Weapon style.

My mods are G3Tweaks and Fixpack, Item Upgrade, Dungeons Be Gone (but I'm not gonna use it, because that would be against the spirit of the challenge, imho, even though it's not).
 
**********

Actually, I've changed my mind. Rather starting with BG2, I'm gonna start it in BG Tutu.

My original BG stats are 18/00 Strength (took a while to get it), 18 Dexterity, 18 Constitution, 18 Intelligence, 5 Wisdom, and 3 Charisma. 2 points in Katanas and 2 points in single weapon style.

Not sure I'm gonna dual him to a mage or thief. Probably thief, since there aren't any good thieves in BG2...

Edited by G_Admiral_Thrawn, 14 July 2010 - 06:24 AM.

[G_Admiral_Thrawn]

Jeez, I haven't even started this game, and I made my first mistake. I was doing some research, and found out there are NO (or almost no) katanas in BGTutu. So, I either use Shadowkeeper (and not only cheating, but loading/reloading) or take a major thac0 penalty until I get a couple of more levels...

and I'm gonna start it once I finish my old BG2 game. Which will be a while I just started ToB...

Edited by G_Admiral_Thrawn, 14 July 2010 - 06:47 AM.

[Argent77]

@corey: Please fix the link in your first post. It links to your personal topic list in the old forum.



@G_Admiral_Thrawn: I think you should open a separate no-reload thread in the BG1 forum and post there until you reach BG2. Your run might contain spoilers and there are still people who don’t have played BG1 yet (although that is hard to imagine ).

[G_Admiral_Thrawn]

Argent77 wrote...

@G_Admiral_Thrawn: I think you should open a separate no-reload thread in the BG1 forum and post there until you reach BG2. Your run might contain spoilers and there are still people who don’t have played BG1 yet (although that is hard to imagine ).

Isn't BG2 a complete spoiler for BG anyway? But if it makes you feel better, sure, I'll post my Tutu game in the original BG forum...

[corey_russell]

Argent77 wrote...

@corey: Please fix the link in your first post. It links to your personal topic list in the old forum.

@G_Admiral_Thrawn: I think you should open a separate no-reload thread in the BG1 forum and post there until you reach BG2. Your run might contain spoilers and there are still people who don’t have played BG1 yet (although that is hard to imagine ).

@Argent: I believe I have fixed the link. It was much harder to fix than you might imagine. I would browse to the topic, yet when clicking the link would take me to my topics. What finally fixed the link was browsing to the no-reload topic on a DIFFERENT browser that wasn't logged in.

And you are correct Argent, BG 1 no-reload is supposed to be put in the BG 1 campaign forum, this thread is for  BG 2/ToB.

[Argent77]

The link works fine now.



PS: Looks like long URLs aren't changed to a 'Click Here' message.

[Argent77]

You can read my previous updates in the old bioware forum.

New update on Argent’s adventures...

Session 37

After finishing the planar sphere quest we enter the sphere again and offer our help to the stranded knights. Click Here Dealing with interplanar transportation is a specialty of mages, so we visit Corneil in the government district first, Click Here who in turn sends us to Ribald. Click Here We soon have a deal (which costs us a lot of money, btw) and can expect a specialist mage at the sphere in the next day(s).

This matter has been settled for now, so we look for a way to kill some time. First we visit Cromwell again who updates several of our items. Click Here and Click Here

Being in the docks, we enter one building we haven’t thoroughly searched yet. In the basement we find a strange sarcophagus. Driven by curiosity Argent opens the lid which activates some kind of undead creature. He tells us a sad story about his imprisonment and how he was unjustly punished, and so on. Click Here

Being on a mission to free the enslaved and release the imprisoned, Argent doesn’t have to think twice. He agrees to find his missing parts and begins his search immediately. At one of his former quests he already saw a sarcophagus like this. So we visit the sewers of the temple district once again.

After buffing up and summoning a couple of creatures, we carefully open the lid and free the first lich. Its speech is short Click Here and soon we enter the battle. Anomen is already at level 25, so his Turn Unded might affect this lich (although it looks very powerful). He is successful and scares the lich which stops to cast spells. All we have to do is hacking and slashing until it goes down. After several Pierce Shields and Spellstrikes from Nalia, Click Here his protections are down and the lich is history a short while later. Click Here We collect a couple of golden bones and move on to the next.

The second lich also gives a short speech before it starts to fight. Click Here Being encouraged by our last battle, we use the same tactic. A couple of summons and Argent hack and slash while Anomen attempts to turn the lich. It works again and after removing its combat protections the battle is over even quicker. Click Here

Again Argent collects some bones and we leave the building. There is another door which leads to the same building… maybe a secret entrance? We decide to enter and are suddenly teleported into a strange room. Click Here This doesn’t look right, so we prepare our buffs and summon a lot of creatures.

Anomen scouts careful ahead and triggers the arrival of our host. Click Here This looks like the lich-version of a classic pitfight… Well, we have no choice anyway, so we enter the battle. The fight starts very badly though. Anomen is paralyzed (probably by the rays of the beholder) and is easy meat for a vampire and a fighter.

Soon after most of our summons are killed by a death spell and to make matters worse, the mage casts a meteor swarm which affects our poor stunned Anomen (which had only 28 HP at that time). Click Here He survived the meteor swarm (because of his high fire resistance) but went down by the continuous attacks of the fighter and vampire. Click Here Luckily he hasn’t been chunked.

Our mages and Argent concentrate on Shangalar while our remaining summons try to keep the beholder and company busy. Meanwhile the mage had enough time to summon a pit fiend. It first concentrates its effort on our elementals while we take the chance and kill the lich. Click Here Suddenly the demon cloaks out and teleports to Argent (must be a component of one of my mods), luckily he knows how to defend himself and defeats the beast soon after. Click Here At the same time our summons defeat the vampire and fighter and we concentrate our resources on the remaining mage. After a couple of Pierce Shields and Spellstrikes she goes finally down. Click Here

This battle was almost more than we could cope with. After Anomen’s resurrection we start to loot the place which turns up those powerful items. Click Here Looks like the battle was worth it after all. The Robe of Vecna goes to Nalia immediately while the most famous katana of Faerûn will be equipped by Argent for a while.

We rest up and tend our wounds before we finish our original quest - the release of Kangaxx. After entering the catacombs again, Jan set a trap (as a precaution) while our party buffs up and summons a deva and Improved Kitthix the spider. As expected, Kangaxx doesn’t care for our deal anymore and tries to kill us. Click Here He manages to cast a few spells (including a Timestop) but we are prepared and take only minimal damage. Click Here

After a while he admits defeat… only to proclaim his resurrection as a demi-lich! Click Here We expect the worst. Argent activates his Protection From Undead scroll while Anomen goes berserk. His Flail of the Ages is useless, so we remember he still has the Mace of Disruption. Anomen quickly changes his weapon and is actual hitting him. We expected a grand battle, but it ends rather anticlimactically. At Anomen’s first hit Kangaxx fails his save and is destroyed. Click Here I almost considered to reload and fight him again. But unfortunately this is a no-reload run, so I have to accept the outcome. We grab his ring and a couple of scrolls before we leave the tomb. Click Here

To be continued...

Party Stats:
Argent: Spellsword 22
Jan: Illusionist 14 / Thief 17
Anomen: Fighter 7 / Cleric 25
Nalia: Sorceress 19
Haer’Dalis: Blade 24

[corey_russell]

OK Argent spill the beans. Why is it when I make a link via the interface it has all this gobbly-****** while your links say the nice "click here"? What's the secret?

[Argent77]

I was forewarned by your first post, so I manually added the 'Click Here' for each link.

Because I write everything in a text editor first, most of it could be automated by a couple of Find&Replace.

[corey_russell]

Ok I figured it out. If I click BBCode (whatever the heck that means) I can see the html. Then I just removed the default ALT text with click here. Now if you see my post it looks a bit better. : )

[corey_russell]

Dennen the dwarven fighter FINAL Update:

So we do the Harper quest. Xzar got assassinated. His bracer will help Aerie though. Next we work on the Bloodscalp's quest, which is initially doing tasks for Maevar.

The first quest, which should be the easiest, goes south. Despite having a thieving potion active, Yoshimo still bungles the pick pocket and gets himself killed, and worse gets Dennen held and taking a beating: Click here We are running out of heal spells, takes a while to beat down these Talos Guards down apparently. We cast an arcane spell and got warned by the cowlies. Oops, most of our defense is arcane. Running out of ideas, Dennen still dieing. Anomen decided to try a Command (die) a level 1 spell and it works! This allows Dennen to survive: Click Here Can't let Yoshimo die in vain, now that Dennen is unheld he uses his berserker rage and eveyone charges the temple succeeds in their mission and makes Anomen more capable: Click Here

Next we need to take out Rayic Getheras. Dennen solos the mephits with the help of two fire resist potions. The stone golems went down pretty easily.

The battle with Rayic himself was another matter. Almost right from get go this happens: http://i550.photobuc...nkedbyRayic.jpg Yep he chunks Aerie. We keep at it, but then Rayic casted a single target death spell, presumably finger of death at Dennen and this happened: Click Here Despite being a dwarf, a fighter, a ring of protection, and helm of balduran, all of which improve his saves, he managed to fail his save. Probably a bad roll. The End.

Lessons learned: For any enemy where single target death spells are part of the script, the PC fighter needs death ward active.

I will re-roll a new character for BG 1.

Edited by corey_russell, 15 July 2010 - 01:49 AM.

[Irrbloss]

corey_russell wrote...
Despite being a dwarf, a fighter, a ring of protection, and helm of balduran, all of which improve his saves, he managed to fail his save. Probably a bad roll. The End.

Sorry to hear it. Rayic's mean.

Good luck in BG1.

[Irrbloss]

I am entering Arimanes the Wild Mage*, who will live a long and happy life (he's already been directly responsible for the deaths of party members). He successfully made his way though BG1 without reloads together with Imoen, Minsc, Edwin, Dynaheir and Xan.

*The CHA is due to a DoMT-like potion introduced by the Aurora mod that happened to increase Arimanes' CHA by 6 and make him immune to enchantment spells (you may think of that as immunity to Chaotic Commands). The extra point of DEX is due to a lesser, similar potion. In both cases he was very lucky to not have something bad happen to him.

Mods with bearing on the game:

G3 Fixpack. With a few additional fixes by myself. Probably nothing terribly significant.
Taisha. Sorceress. I'll tweak her spell book to be to my liking.
Unfinished Business. Restored Xzar's Creations and Restored ToB Bhaal powers.
gMinion.
Rogue Rebalancing. Revised thievery has been revised to not disallow theft from fences.
Sword Coast Stratagems II. Mages prebuff some times. Select mages get HLAs. Bard, Fighter and Thief strongholds are available to all classes. Etc etc really.
BG2 Tweaks. No XP cap. No trap cap. No delay for magical traps. Max HP and 100% spell learning. Altered spell progression tables. Bottomless bags etc.
D0Tweaks. No summoning cap and BG1-style summoning.
aTweaks. Revised Fiends and Bhaal Powers. Mages can scribe scrolls and Globes and Nishruus are dispellable. Skeletons are immune to brain drain.
Aurora. Just main component and revised kobold commandos.
Infinity Animations. Crazy stuff, no doubt.
Level 1 NPCs. Imoen's a thief (to be dualled at level 6). Aerie's a Cleric/Diviner. Nalia's a single-classed Abjurer. Minsc's a Berserker.
Item Randomiser. I'm using a beta of version 5. Main difference between that and the publicly available version is that v5 can randomise scrolls.

I also have a few additional home-brewed tweaks: Minor Globe, GoI and Spell Immunities protect against spells you've cast yourself. Edwina will likely remain female throughout the game and she's using the portrait from the Edwin Romance mod. The rest are mainly cosmetic. I will also match Edwin's a Imoen's spell books with that they knew in BG1. Edwin will retain any additional spells he knows in BG2 but Imoen will lose what she didn't know in BG1.

I'll be playing on Core and may edit the HP of my party members to be less than max.

Edited by Irrbloss, 17 July 2010 - 08:03 PM.

[Argent77]

Update on Argent’s adventures...

Session 38

Kangaxx is no more, so we plan what to do next. Argent faintly remembers a messenger, who asked us to visit Chief Inspector Brega a very long time ago.

The chief inspector still has a job for us which we accept. Click Here A city guard contingent is already awaiting us in front of the shadow thieves’ building. Click Here

After preparing our buffs we enter the building and the fight. Click Here Looks like all thieves know how to use stoneskin, but that doesn’t protect them long from our frenzied (and improved hasted) fighters. After a while this floor is cleaned out Click Here and we are ready to enter the next.

The fight on the upper floor is almost as easy than the last. We first take care of the mages before we tackle the common thieves. Click Here Renal falls last Click Here and we find another pair of speed boots in his possession. Click Here

Now that we have a key for Aran’s sanctum, we enter after reapplying our buffs. The first wave of shadow thieves is easily beaten Click Here and we start to explore the rest of this complex.

In the catwalk area we are ambushed by another bunch of thieves which are backed up by a pair of clerics. They cast a couple of flame strikes on Argent which doesn’t do much damage though. Click Here

The training area looks like the perfect place for an ambush. Click Here So we cloak out and Jan scouts ahead very carefully to remove all the traps. We were right, a lot of thieves appear and gloat over our supposed carelessness. Click Here But they laughed too soon. Jan doesn’t care for the thieves and disarms all the traps before we start our attack. Click Here

The first group of thieves falls to our blades Click Here while the second group suffers a lot from one of Nalia’s AoE spells. Click Here

For the next encounter Anomen summons a couple of skellies. We sneak ahead and prepare our surprise attack. Argent start by slaying the priest of Cyric. Click Here At the same time our skellies and Anomen attack the thugs in the dining room. Click Here The mages fall first Click Here and the remaining thieves are easily defeated soon after. Click Here

Now that we have all nessessary keys we can finally release the prisoners Click Here and start to assault Aran’s sanctum directly. Before opening the secret passage, Jan sets a couple of traps. The thieves behind the wall fall immediately Click Here and the remaining mage is beaten before she could finish her true sight spell. Click Here

We reach Aran’s private chamber and start the attack immediately. Click Here Their mages are really strong and kill our summons within seconds by a death spell. Click Here But Nalia’s ADHW takes care of one of the mages and a couple of thugs. After exchanging a lot of spells and blows Aran and his strongest pet mage finally go down. Click Here We loot the place and are surprised what we find on Aran’s body. Click Here We already have a Gesen’s bowstring and a dragon helm in our possession. (This might be a bug or oversight of Irrbloss’ randomizer in combination with the questpack mod.)

The task is done and we report back to Chief Inspector Brega. He is very pleased by the results and rewards us with a reputation point and some money. We also donate the head of Neb which nets another reputation point and some XP. Click Here

This was the last open quest marked in my journal. It is time to follow the main quest now. We return to the slums and take a rest before we enter the graveyards.

But before doing that we remember to visit the stranded Solamnic Knights again who should already be very impatient to leave this plane. Click Here They give us this belt in return Click Here and we are finally ready to visit Bodhi.

To be continued...

Party Stats:
Argent: Spellsword 22
Jan: Illusionist 14 / Thief 17
Anomen: Fighter 7 / Cleric 25
Nalia: Sorceress 19
Haer’Dalis: Blade 24

Edited by Argent77, 18 July 2010 - 02:11 PM.

[Irrbloss]

Argent77 wrote...
(This might be a bug or oversight of Irrbloss’ randomizer in combination with the questpack mod.)

I suspect QP lets you fight Aran by using the same set up as when you work for Bodhi, which would cause a problem like this. I'll look into it.
Thanks for the report (2 hours later).

Edited by Irrbloss, 18 July 2010 - 10:05 PM.

[wise grimwald]

Due to not knowing about this forum earlier, the story of Radiant (SoA) was put on the no reloads social site.

A brief update.
Diary of Radiant

I Have helped the circus, Kalah, Korgan, Yoshimo, Keldhorn, Trademeet, Baron Windspear, Solved the Skinner murders, saved Mazzy's sister, dealt with the fallen paladins, etc.

I also killed a dragon in the Umar Hills.

Anomen is now a knight and Mazzy a Paladin. Jahiera is at the Harper's hold and I intend to rescue her. I have upgraded the mace of disruption using some ilithium bought in Sigil.
I foolishly bought the short sword of the mask, foolish because I now have insufficient funds to upgrade several items.

I have some ilithium found on Neb and am wondering whether to use it to upgrade Daystar or give it to Sir Sarles.

I still have two dragons to kill before I go in search of Imoen.

I also have to find a hidden ranger in the Umar Hills and a bard imprisoned in the sewers.

I am in love with Saerileth, but all the other ladies, Mazzy, jaheira and Nalia all seem attracted to me also.
I will try and do a full update later.

Edited by wise grimwald, 21 July 2010 - 10:04 AM.

[wise grimwald]

Diary of Radiant
Day 53 Hour 6
I killed the Dragon in the temple ruins.
At first it was OK, but then Saerileth lost 3 levels due to level drain.
I didn't know dragons did that. The first time in my experience.
We made a sharp exit and Anomen restored the levels.
Returned and battle was doing Ok but I was getting hurt and Anomen couldn't cast heal on me.
Couldn't escape because Saerileth was confused.
Her confusion was Ok as far as the battle was concerned as she was still attacking the dragon, but we couldn't escape.
Just in time Anomen cast greater restoration and shortly afterwards the battle was won.

Could somebody advise whether or not to use Illithium to upgrade Azuredge. Mace of disruption already upgraded with another supply of Ilithium.

Reputation currently 20 if that makes any difference. Item upgrade mod installed.  

Edited by wise grimwald, 21 July 2010 - 10:01 PM.

[Guilebrush]

wise grimwald wrote...
I didn't know dragons did that. The first time in my experience.
[/i]

They don't. It's a unique component of Thax's breath attack so it's pretty much isolated to him. You know, being a Shadow Dragon and all does have some benefit.

[Argent77]

wise grimwald wrote...
Could somebody advise whether or not to use Illithium to upgrade Azuredge. Mace of disruption already upgraded with another supply of Ilithium.

Reputation currently 20 if that makes any difference. Item upgrade mod installed.  

There is no reputation hit when you give the fake illithium to Sir Sarles instead of the real one. But some of your party members might object. Don’t know about Saerileth, but Keldorn won’t allow you to lie to Sir Sarles (but he tolerates your decision if you give him the fake material). You even get a reward when you return to the temple.

I don’t see a cleric in your party, so another undead-destroying weapon is always helpful.

[wise grimwald]

I have Anomen in the party. A fighter/cleric. Keldorn is no longer in my party as he was needed at home.
Currently, I have Radiant, Jahiera, Anomen, Saerileth, Mazzy and Nalia. It seems reasonably balanced.
I suspect tht Saerileth might object to lies. She has VERY high moral standards.

Perhaps of more note is the fact that Radiant is an undead hunter (no level drain) and he is the only one other than Mazzy who can use Azuredge. (Saerileth cannot use ranged weapons) Mazzy has NO proficiency points in axes.

Edited by wise grimwald, 22 July 2010 - 12:38 AM.