15237 réponses à ce sujet

[Grond0]

Beeblbrox wrote...
Last attempt abandoned since could have sworn I could bleed some extra XP by helping Hendak kill Letinan but apparently this actually really pisses Hendak off - he goes hostile and bang goes all the rewards for the slaver quest.

Hendak seems to get annoyed if you attack before he does.  If you let him get an attack in first you can then help him safely (to make sure Lehtinan doesn't kill him).

Avoiding mage battles as much as possible so far, haven't been able to get mages kitted out with decent anti-mage spells yet. Clueless about mage spells since the AoE ones seem to be very useful if I can keep my own party out of the A which nearly always seems impractical so I just don't bother, am having sneaky suspicion that a lot of the AoE spells don't actually affect party members even when the descriptions say 'everybody within...' which I could use some pointers on since my mages would suddenly become a lot more useful if this is the case.

You can always do some experimentation if you're unsure about the effect of spells, but you may find this reference useful - the area spell chart shows whether each spell affects the party as well as enemies.
http://www.sorcerers...erence/Main.htm  

Oh and I don't go for thief backstabbing skills at all, it just seems like a waste of time with Jan at any rate and I've never worked out the benefit - he'd still have to make a succesful melee hit right?

True, he would.  However, with the big bonus to hit from the backstab that's not so hard.  A backstab also helps deal with mages before they can get their protections up.

[Humanoid_Taifun]

Grond0 wrote...

Beeblbrox wrote...
Last attempt abandoned since could have sworn I could bleed some extra XP by helping Hendak kill Letinan but apparently this actually really pisses Hendak off - he goes hostile and bang goes all the rewards for the slaver quest.

Hendak seems to get annoyed if you attack before he does.  If you let him get an attack in first you can then help him safely (to make sure Lehtinan doesn't kill him).

I always kill the guy before Hendak even arrives at the scene (so he can't even give his speech). No problems that way...

[Beeblbrox]

Thanks for the encouragement guys, and Easymask for the tips. Fantastic to hear so many have done the whole thing on a no reload all I can do is *bow down* Never going to go for that myself - took long enough to do BG1 no reload to my satisfaction, and I'm not passing up that character for a fresh BG2 roll.

Anonymous - 'conversion rate'?

[Beeblbrox]

Grond0 & Humanoid - thanks for the advice r.e. Lehtinan, and Grond0 that link for AoE spells has really helped a hell of a lot, knowing that Slow/Confusion/Hold Person etc. only affects enemies is f*cking invaluable, I've never bothered with them much before even though they are obviously bl00dy useful.

[AnonymousHero]

Beeblbrox wrote...
Anonymous - 'conversion rate'?

Oh, I just mean the number of characters I think (as in: I'm 99.9% sure) I could have gone all the way with versus the number I actually have (one).

[Easymask]

Well that ended in a way I have never experienced before.

The journey of Aurellian ended in an ambush, after the party had naught but the Windspear Hills left to explore before heading to the Spellhold.

The journey took 12 hours, so the Stoneskins Aerie and Aurellian where wearing had wore off - but the auto-pause allowed me to cast new Stoneskins. This never happened though, as the second I unpaused - this happened:



There was nothing I could have done, other than changing the positions of Aerie and Aurellian prior to the ambush. Aurellian had a Contingency active to apply Stoneskin at 50% as well.

You guys can imagine my suprise when a Robe of Vecna wearing Mage couldn't even cast Stoneskin(you can see Aerie is still casting hers) before he was dead. I guess it was just how it was ment to end, as I was completely powerless to stop it.

Edit: I'd also like to mention that this was a great party and very powerful party. Aurellian was using my new favorite spells Spell Shield & Wyvern Call every battle. I was protecting my buffs well - and read up on the spells I eventually picked for my characters. I learned a lot about Mages from Aurellian, and I feel really bad about his death. I was truly hoping that this character would at least make it to the next Chapter. At least I'll remember his travels fondly!

My mages will probably be traveling with both invisibility and stoneskin next time around, or a contingency that casts stoneskin when enemies are spotted.

Modifié par Easymask, 04 décembre 2011 - 09:08 .

[AnonymousHero]

@Easymask: That sounds pretty odd. Are you sure it wasn't some sort of save-or-else contingency fired by the enemy mage?

The only other thing I can think of would be an extremely well-timed backstab.

Sigh... if only it were possible to look at the combat log post-death. In the past I've had several of these kinds of things where you're not really sure what happened.

[Easymask]

I'm pretty sure it was the two Rogues you can see standing around Aurellian there(they where not there when it auto-paused, so they where already in stealth and probably standing next to him). I'm guessing they both hit at the same time, in addition to the sword and shield wearing fighter hitting. It went *quite* fast so I didn't even realize he died at first, trying to pause as the movie started.

Modifié par Easymask, 04 décembre 2011 - 09:19 .

[Alesia_BH]

Quick Note on Alessandra's Game:

I have found a little time to play Alessandra recently. She's through the Spellhold Maze and is about to face Irenicus. I'll post on Spellhold when she is done.

Best,

A.

@Easymask- I'm sorry to hear about Aurellian as well. And I concur that it was likely backstabs from the Rogues based on the picture. They start out invisibile. Given that they appear in the picture, they must have taken swings.

Invisibility 10' Radius has a duration of 24 Hours which makes it very handy when travelling with a party.

[polytope]

Easymask wrote...
There was nothing I could have done, other than changing the positions of Aerie and Aurellian prior to the ambush. Aurellian had a Contingency active to apply Stoneskin at 50% as well.

I tend to re-arrange my party so that warriors are at the back, spellcasters at the front when travelling (the improved AI will target spellcasters anyway, but it'll take them a couple of seconds longer to reach them in melee) - also, I don't rely on contingency for defensive spells because it can take an entire round to trigger (though I do sometimes put a self targetted crowd control spell like emotion or slow in a contingency, or a buff like haste).

Also, it's possible to avoid having invisibility wear off if you travel with less than 1 day per leg of journey - i.e. De'Arnise then Windspear, rather than straight from Windspear to Athkatla.

[Alesia_BH]

 Alessandra in Spellhold

Alessandra has defeated Spellhold Irenicus and is ready to continue her journey. I expect to find time to play in the upcoming days.

Alessandra spent little time in Brynnlaw. She purchased some green scrolls at the Temple of Umberlee and then punked Perth the Not-So-Adept with Carsomyr. That was it.


The tome creatures were killed with Foebane Whirlwinds. The Deva helped out.


The Yuan-Ti Mage was not at all pleased to see his summoned Nabassu fall- it was the only thing standing between him and a pair of dispelling weapons.


The Lich felt the same way when his Demons kicked it. It's hard to say what he felt at this moment...


Moving right along...


If there is a mod I would happily pay for, it would be No Kolbolds Anywhere, Ever. I really don't enjoy fighting them...


On to Jon. The strategy here was simple. Alessandra nixed her clone, and then darted around assisting the Inmates while Jon was running Absolute Immunity (it protects against all weapons of all enchantments in my install). Invisibility was used whevever Jon acquired Alessandra as a casting target. He never got a chance to cast at her. When the last Absolute Immunity ended, Alessandra brought her Deva into play and Jon was quickly overwhelmed with the assistance of the remaining inmates. Here are some shots.

I was very pleased to see that Alessandra's clone inherited her love of Critical Misses...


Draw on Holy Might-> Greater Whirlwind finished the clone.



Jon used his second Time Stop to Remove and Summon Efreetis.


This Demon, summoned by someone, was giving the inmates hell. Alessandra took it down.


Wanev took care of the Efreetis with Wiltings while Jon looked on still Absolutely Immune.


The Deva was about to toss Wanev a little healing, when Jon PW:Stunned him. Alessandra shifted Wanev into the lost cause category, and fought on.


Jon acquired Alessandra as a casting target once again. That "gulp" isn't from anxiety: its a Potion of invisibility.


Alessandra's Acid Arrow may have only done one hitpoint of damage, but it signalled the end for Jon. He's out of Abjuration school weapons defenses now and there are way to many foes remaining on the field. 



Jon tried to use a little Invisibility himself. The Deva wasn't fooled though and Dragonslayer allowed everyone else to join in on the fun.



This was the end. Slight misstep her: that Potion of Invisibility should have been consummed just after Jon's Divination cast to ward off the Murderers. Quaffing a round segment too soon led to waste.


Fin.

I'm not sure which route Alessandra is going to take into the Underdark. I'd like The Wave and the Cloak of Protection (I don't allow Mirroring use) but it's hard to imagine Alessandra trusting Saemon. On top of that, the upgraded Sahugain were time consuming when Alana fought them and I'm not sure I want to bother with them. We'll see.

Best,

A.

Btw. A link to a video covering Alessandra's time in Spellhold appears below. It is meant to be played with an L7 song dedicated to Saemon, Bodhi, and Irenicus but alas, the audio is disabled. That's a shame because the videos are much more interesting with the music.

The song is here:
The video is here:

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 05 décembre 2011 - 05:03 .

[Alesia_BH]

polytope wrote...
Also, it's possible to avoid having invisibility wear off if you travel with less than 1 day per leg of journey - i.e. De'Arnise then Windspear, rather than straight from Windspear to Athkatla.

Just wanted to highlight this. 

[Alesia_BH]

Beeblbrox wrote...
Curious to know if anybody has actually done the whole trilogy on no-reload (i.e. go right back to Candlekeep if you die at say the Underdark). Not that I'll ever be going near a challenge like that...

The challenge has a history dating back to the old bioware forums. It's been running for about 7 years now and has been contantly activity throughout that times.

Despite that, we've only had about a dozen completed Trilogy No Reloads. BG1 only happens very, very often. SoA only is pretty common as well. The entire Trilogy, far less so. Here are the ones that were recorded in the old forums:

Alesia_BH wrote...

 The Trilogy No Reloaders

     Listed by date of completion

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

 

The rest can be found earlier in this thread.

I'd still like to find a permanent home for our list of successful Trilogy No Reloads...

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 05 décembre 2011 - 04:56 .

[BBMorti]

Hope all had a great weekend

I have another Anatole update to bring.

Ok so Anatole found herself in a secret grove with talking heads and after they had shared a bit with her some uneasy feeling let her know that someone might be coming for her, so she buffed up with some potions and spell absorption and spell trap from staff of magi and put down a time trap. A baalspawn mage/thief arrived and after a short talk she turned hostile.., trap sprung.
Two shots of dispelling arrows was fired, then poison weapon was used on staff of striking and stealth was entered as time started tic toc'ing again.
The arrows removed her protections and I tried to backstab, she was apparently immune, but the poison stuck to her and I hit and ran her a few more times hitting her from stealth before she went down.

The first test in the pocketplane I went in with staff of cloudkill, Gate spell and x2 incendiary cloud scrolls in quick slots, robe of vecna + staff of magi as gear.
When the fight started I used simmy from helmet and cast gate.. the pit fiend almost did the rest of the battle from there
Was hilarious to see it go on a rampage.. I did cast the two incendiary clouds before the simmy unsummoned and then I placed a time stop trap in the entrance corner of the room. just in case.. the last summons managed to kill the pit fiend and came for me, trap triggered, backstabs took care of the rest.

I skipped most things in saradush, but I did sell all valuables I could and helped a mage find his spell book, then proceeded to spend almost every coin I had on his high level spells, any kind of breach/RRR/pierce etc. scrolls and all his potions of invisibility and speed.

Sneaked into the barracks and started a huge fight, killed most with cloud kill stacking and then turning invis.. they do not have weapons greater than +1 in there so I was unhitable by them.. alas I am already max level (8.000000 xp) so after I got the sewer key I sneaked into the palace only picking up Fflar's scabbard on the way. cleared the room before the stairs up to him by quickly backstabbing the mage and rest was cake.

Buffed up with stoneskin scroll and immunity to necro spells + spell shield, spell deflection, mirror, oil of speed, str and magic resist items (including Carsomyr) just to be sure..
The last spell I cast was improved invis from ring of air then went up the stairs.

Battle went easy, the two mages started to cast true sight immediately, I had backstabbed one of them before casts was finished.., cloak of none detection made the other mages cast useless, ran to corner and drank potion of invis, then one backstab killed the other mage.
The rest of the battle was easy, I killed one at a time and instantly went invisible.. gromnir was taken down last with one backstab and then I ran around shooting arrows of biting + poison weapon skill on the bow which makes it absolutely rediculous, he could not move from stopping to take +1 poison damage constantly.

Third level of watchers keep is next :happy:

Modifié par BBMorti, 05 décembre 2011 - 12:58 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

Great progress, BBMorty! Be careful on the demon's level of WK, could be tricky if you don't want to skip things (via Succubus kiss) and clean it up... Good luck with both demons and gambling cambion (he stripped me down completely!)

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 05 décembre 2011 - 12:48 .

[BBMorti]

Thanks Serg Blackstrider! I had planned my run-through of level 3 pretty well, I thought, but I had made an error in my planning that almost cost me my life.. so I am just sitting and recovering from that sweat.

[Serg BlackStrider]

BBMorti wrote...
.. so I am just sitting and recovering from that sweat.

Yeah, I understand you pretty well - I had the very same feelings there and not once..

[Ecoris]

@ Alesia
Where does the Deva come from?

[AnonymousHero]

Ecoris wrote...

@ Alesia
Where does the Deva come from?

Paladins get them as HLAs, I believe.

[Easymask]

@Alesia, quick question concerning the list - are all those soloers?

[Alesia_BH]

Easymask wrote...

@Alesia, quick question concerning the list - are all those soloers?

No. Most were in parties.

As an example, my character, Alanis, was escorted by a player created Archer named Alia through BG1 and BGII-SoA. Bioware NPCs were used during portions of BG1 and SoA as well.  Throughout the Tougher Battle Series and Final Ascension fights, the party was Alanis, Imoen, Nalia, and Aerie. The four of them would all take full arcane buffs and fight together in dense Telefields. They didn't take any meaningful damage in ToB-Ascension once they got HLAs (the party was role-played to get to Imoen as soon as possible, they didn't get HLAs untill after Gromnir). 

I had a couple completed Questpack, Tactics (parts), Ascension solos that weren't posted on. I'm sure there were others like that.

Saros's runs were documented solos. In general, his method entailed accumulating excess gold and experience relatively early in the adventure- at times using rouses he openly call "exploits." For the later tougher fights balanced for high levelled parties, he'd rely on detailed battle plans that had been worked out through experimental replay.

All of this may sound "cheaty" but Improved Anvil is a whole different ballgame and I view the tactics he employed as being commensurate with the challenge faced. On other forums, some have questioned his credibility. But having known him for years, observed his tactical development from a relatively modest starting point, and experimented with an over-levelled multi-class solo character in IA 4.0, I don't doubt him. I see his runs as well earned victories in unusually difficult circumstances. 

I can't comment on the others runs in full measure. But back then, we had a seperate thread entitled the Ascension Solo Challenge. We usually did our soloing in that thread.

NW: Once again, I would like to find a home for our full list (including the ones from this forum). I would appreciate suggestions on placement.

Best,

A.

Btw. Just adding to the history lesson, the original BG-II No Reload Challenge was started by a poster named Retet who is no longer with us. I started the Trilogy No Reload Challenge and the Ascension Solo Challenge a year or so later.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 05 décembre 2011 - 09:28 .

[Alesia_BH]

AnonymousHero wrote...
Paladins get them as HLAs, I believe.

Yuppers. 

[Alesia_BH]

Alessandra in The City of Caverns

Alessandra just visited the seafood buffet. Her reservations about trusting Saemon were ultimately overcome by my desire for goodies. This was not a win role-playing wise, but Alessandra is pleased to have a new cloak and a pair of intriguing blades. Here's an over-view.

I've observed all manner of bugginess on Saemon's ship over the years, so I wasn't at all surprised when this voyage turned out funky...


In addition to Saemon's Dimmension Door flutter, the ship was unusually well buil this time and refused to break apart. Alessandra was forced to fiddle around with the Smarter Githyanki for quite a while. Alessandra was relieved when the ship finally sank.


Over-buffed for the Ettin.


The over-buffing perhaps explains Alessandra's confrontational stance when conversing with the King.



Unlike most of my characters, Alessandra goes toe-to-toe and relies on a low AC and resistances to keep her safe. With the Defender equipped and Armor of Faith + Hardiness active, the few hits that get through do little damage. And that damage can be healed by Whirlwinds with The Drinker. Later, those will be Foebane Whirlwinds. 


Find Traps allowed Alessandra to negotiate the Drow Wizard's various surprises.


They are all avoidable, though it would be wise to step with care.


Alessandra stealthed through most of the city, but she stopped to watch this fight between some Rebels and Loyalists.



Turned Undead while insvisible when the battle had ended just to give the Rebels something to ponder...


Dot-taa-dot-taa-doo...


Prince Villan didn't last long of course.



Fin.

Current Character Record and Inventory



Best,

A.



 

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 05 décembre 2011 - 09:01 .

[BBMorti]

Wow Alesia_BH how can you stealth past those fishie fishies? My Anatole is pretty jelly to see that since they care little about any kind of stealth or invisibiliy with or without true-seeing in my install

Anatole the level 40 assassin, update from watchers keep third level;

Ok I thought I had this level planned out decently but mistakes was made.. I also had a crash during it so it ended up being a bit of a sweat..
I entered and followed the crazy elf, talked to him a bit and then used pocketplane, summoned Viconia and made a quick trip back and made her cast a heal spell on the elf.. felt bad for the guy.

She took the direct route through the "maze" going east from the North,East,South,West arrow pointing room. Placed a time stop trap and went down to place yet another time stop trap as the demons killed each others, when they went on me they triggered traps and was taken down.

My plan was to negotiate with both demons that wanted each others hearts making good use of them not turning hostile so I could place a few time stop traps and take down the demons without them seeing me coming. It started well enough with Tahazzar, we negotiated and I placed some traps with my simu, buffed it up with tensers and black blades read from scrolls and took him down and some of the demons, when time started again I quickly looted the heart and gem and left the room.

The pit fiend room dispelled my buffs, I paused and put on dragonslayer sword/arbanes to resist any random fear/stun effect as I darted past them.

Succubi room I paused --> put on helmet of charm protection and ran past those, too.

This is where I saw my mistake, as in reaching Ka'rashur, the other demon, he aparently cared very little that I brought the other guys heart.. he turned hostile right away with no negotiation and I with panic hit the pocket plane key... I lost a little over 30% of my hp before I was ported out.
That was a sweat, and I was quite frustrated since this ment no thief hood
Well I buffed up pretty well and wanted to port back into the room full of hostile demons when I then had a crash loading.. so I re-loaded the game and just wanted that demons Gem so I could get out of that place. The thiefs hood was a huge part of why I even went there, much for RP reasons, too, but having an item with tripple true seeing is useful.

As seen on the recording of the next go after my crash my frustration caused a bit of slobby play so I took a break after just to not end up making a silly mistake the end my run in a bittersweet way.
Video of solving the demon problem: www.youtube.com/watch
I forgot a good portion of the buffs I used before when I crashed, protection from magical weapons, immunities etc. Dangerous play..

The Wraith room I cast protection from undeath scroll before entering, none of them seemed to care about that so my plan B was to very quickly gather the scales and be on my way out of the room. I had minor buffs on, maybe most importantly protection against fear/stuns.
Tieflings I took down on the way else no fighting for the rest of the trip, just stealth/running.

The gambling Cambion I offered Experience twise for the first two gambles, lost the first one for the sword, got a curse that took me to 6 Con.
Second gamble for the wish scroll I won.
Third gamble for the way out I lost and got a curse that took my STR to 6, then I let *cough* the demon leave and he left me the scepter for the way out.

It didn't go fully as I had planned but at least Anatole got through the third level alive. She is hanging in there. x

Modifié par BBMorti, 05 décembre 2011 - 10:59 .

[Alesia_BH]

BBMorti wrote...

Wow Alesia_BH how can you stealth past those fishie fishies? My Anatole is pretty jelly to see that since they care little about any kind of stealth or invisibiliy with or without true-seeing in my install

You're thinking of the other fishy-fishies: the Kuo-Toans. Had Anatole gone to the City of Caverns, she wouldn't have had trouble there. The those fishies are Sahuagin. 

Best,

A.

Btw. The Kuo-Toans detect the invisible via script. Invisibility or stealth -whether coupled with Non-Detection or Spell Immnuity: D- will not fool those foes though they can still frustrate spell targetting attempts.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 06 décembre 2011 - 12:34 .