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[Alesia_BH]

Abigail in Trademeet (Or a Quiet Afternoon in the Grove)

There was a lot standing in between Abigail and the Shield of Harmony. A lot or, in the alternative, virtually nothing.

Under my direction Abigail aggressively pursued the path of least resistance in Tradement. Don't blame Abgiail: her decision reflects my weakness of character- not my character's character.

So, here it is: Abigail's quiet afternoon in the Druid Grove.

Abgail woke up late and then acquired something shiny. Some might call it tacky -or even Taquee- but she was pleased with her new friend in a bottle.

A little help from her friend, and then a nap.


Followed by a walk in the park.

Over to the petting zoo next (Abigail loves cows. Moo! Moo! Hooray!)


Checking out the architecture.


And then meeting up with a friend.


Her quiet afternoon ended as all quiet afternoons should: with popcorn, cotton candy, and orange soda- that and a pit fight to the death. Hooray! Hooray! Moo!


Then a Righteous beatdown before going to sleep.


Abigail will rid the grove of it's evil in due time. For the moment though, she is too busy polishing her Shield and burping orange soda. A hero's work is never done.


With deepest apologies...

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 septembre 2012 - 11:19 .

[Jianson]

Haha, that was a fun write-up.
I do not understand how she got hold of the efreeti bottle. She can't pickpocket, and wouldn't killing Taquee anger Khan Zahraa and friend?

[Alesia_BH]

Jianson wrote...
Haha, that was a fun write-up.

Thanks. Goofy is good sometimes.

I do not understand how she got hold of the efreeti bottle. She can't pickpocket, and wouldn't killing Taquee anger Khan Zahraa and friend?

No: it doesn't anger Khan.

In fact, you can kill Taquee, walk in, and have Khan identify the Efreeti Bottle and he won't say a word...

I wouldn't be opposed to a mod which tweaks the way that sequence works.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 septembre 2012 - 11:19 .

[Alesia_BH]

Abigail in the Love Boat (Or Why You Should Never Throw a Dwarf Who Throws the Dwarven Thrower)

So you ask: Why should you never throw a Dwarf who throws the Dwarven Thrower? Because said Dwarf will use the space created by said throw to throw the Dwarven Thrower at you. And that thing hurts! 2d4+3 plus Strength damage. With Cleric strength buffs it's a dangerous weapon.

Abigail put it to use for the first time in the Love Boat.

First, a free pass courtesy of Mr. Efreeti.


Then the fight. As per usual, Abigail buffed heavily out of sight (buffs can be read off the portrait, ask if you have questions). She broke with a Hammer smack to the Cleric followed quickly by a Holy Smite.


At Near Death as his pre-buffs fire.


Finished.


Then the rest. Another Smite softened them.


But thanks to healing potions much of the work had to be done in melee.


Which is fine -fine untill the buffs run out that is. The sad truth is that Abigail's fight involve a lot of missing. Once the buffs run out, it's a long slow slog at 1 APR with a middling THAC0. Sure enemies have trouble hitting her, but she's not exactly a whirlwind of destruction unbufed and spell-less.

Case in point: Haegan. Abigail had a few buffs available for the begining of this fight, but once they ran out progress was painfully slow.  With his 4 Potions of Extra Healing, it took Abigail 12 minutes of realtime to kill this 580 Exp foe.


I'll warn everyone now: as much as I like my spunky little Cleric, she may end up abandoned in the Underdark. I can see that being incredibly tedious. This shot was taken ~9 minutes into the fight after Haegan had been Near Death, running scared 3 times already.


Abigail had to rest and load up on Flame Blades before taking down the Trolls. Buffed, she hits hard and doesn't miss.



Abigail isn't sure what's next for her, but she may have a chat with that mage who keeps bugging her in the Copper.


Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 septembre 2012 - 11:18 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

Alesia wrote...
Case in point: Haegan. Abigail had a few buffs available for the begining of this fight, but once they ran out progress was painfully slow.  With his 4 Potions of Extra Healing, it took Abigail 12 minutes of realtime to kill this 580 Exp foe.

How about Doom->Hold Person on him? In my experience he is quite sceptible to this combo. And even without Doom... I don't remember whether he had a Free Action in my current (SCS) run but I think he was held as well. 

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 24 septembre 2012 - 12:26 .

[Alesia_BH]

That's a good idea. However, Haegan opened with a Potion of Freedom.

In addition, Abigail was plum out of spells by the time she fought him...

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 septembre 2012 - 02:06 .

[Alesia_BH]

Abigail at the de'Arnise Keep (Minus Torgal)

Abigail has routed Torgal's minions and is currently considering her options outside his inner sanctum.

I'm confident Abigail can drop Torgal using seperation tactics, but I'm not convinced I want to go that route: I may prefer to wait till she can take on him and his compadres together.

In any event, here's coverage of The Keep up to -but not including- Torgal.

Abigail had tested her Troll killng tactics in the Love Boat, but she was nonethless pleased to see them work in The Keep. Against the standard trolls, she used Pro Evil->Holy Power->DUHM->Flame Blade.


Then onto Daleson, followed by the forge and the courtyard. For me hearing the dramatic de'Arnise Keep music, entering the coutryard -and then immediately slaughtering Nalia's pooches- is one of the high points of SoA...


Remind me why I let these clowns in when they can't even kill a single solitary Troll?


Then the Keep Key. Still afraid of Remove Magic. Doo-ta-doo-ta-doo...


And Glaicas. Abigail was buffed and ready to throw down with Glaicas. But when he quaffed his Oil of Speed, raced forward, and lifted his Two-Hander, she -or more precisely I- had a change of heart.


No sense in putting a Potion of Invisibility or an Oil of Speed at risk here. Let's try a different approach.



At this point, Abigail noticed the Golems. And when her sixth sense told her that those Improved Iron Golem Gas Clouds are no joke, she decided to head back to Athkatla and pick up a Protection from Poison Scroll.

Ran into some Spirit Trolls along the way. Their use of Improved Invisibility makes them a nuisance unless Abigail uses Holy Smite. Interestingly, some could be finished with the Flame Blade, others couldn't be (weapon ineffective).


Abigail took the Golem groups down in turn. Holy Power->DUHM->Thrower was enough for the little guys.


Took the full triumvirate along with Pro Poison and Potion of Absorption against the second group. I had no reason to believe that Blade Barrier would work, but nothing else to do with the 6.


Abigail was not at all pleased to see this Iron Golem hiting on an 18 with a base AC of -10 and an additional -10 from Potion of Absorption.


Doored him.


Abigail made her save against Golem slow in the last fight- granting her the luxury of finishing at range.


Not sure what's next: either Torgal via seperation or a trip to Umar Hills.

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 septembre 2012 - 03:05 .

[Alesia_BH]

Abigail v. Torgal

Well, I just couldn't leave it undone.

And the fact of the matter is that Improved Torgal's full crew is a bit much for Abigail to handle now. Seperation was her only option. I'm already wishing I had left the battle for later, but oh well...


The buffs here were Remove Fear, Oil of Speed, Pro Evil, Chant, Armor of Faith, Chaotic Commands, Triumvirate, Blade Barrier, RoAC II.

Abigail approached, and then seperated Torgal using his invisibility detection.


His buddies actually did a nice job of following him this time -and Abigail was very close to aborting the mission- but ultimately she did suceed in seperating Torgal.


Damage came from Ages, Blade Barrier, and Holy Smite. Ages finished.


After Torgal fell, Abigail retrieved Nalia to show her the deed was done. Invisibility from Mr. Efreeti allowed them to evade an ambush.


Current Character Record and Inventory



Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 septembre 2012 - 04:03 .

[Grond0]

Alesia_BH wrote...

Jianson wrote...
I do not understand how she got hold of the efreeti bottle. She can't pickpocket, and wouldn't killing Taquee anger Khan Zahraa and friend?

No: it doesn't anger Khan.

In fact, you can kill Taquee, walk in, and have Khan identify the Efreeti Bottle and he won't say a word...

I wouldn't be opposed to a mod which tweaks the way that sequence works.

I think this is one of the encounters that depends on your installation - in my BGT based ones the Khan will be hostile.

[Alesia_BH]

Interesting. I like that better.

Best,

A.


Btw. Abigail has completed the Trademeet quests, paid Gaelen, and reached Level 13. 

I'll probably send her to the Umar Hills next. She could breeze through the Mae'Var quest, but I'd prefer not to use the tactics that would entail.
EDIT: She's clearing the Druid Grove now actually. The troll mound was fun.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 septembre 2012 - 05:23 .

[Alesia_BH]

 Abigail, Cleric: Assorted Quests and Beatdowns

Ok. I'm about to go to sleep, but I thought I'd cover Abigail's recent adventures first.

Shortly after leaving the de'Arnise Hold, Abigail returned to Trademeet and completed the quests there.

I'll note that she tried Repulse Undead in the Trademeet Crypts. This was less than ideal since it prevented the Blade Barrier from working and also caused her to do Missle instead of Crushing damage to the Skeletons. I can defintely see how this could come in handy though. A pity Abigail can't wield Azuredge.


After paying Gaelen, Abigail ran into Corvhale and Bregg. They had no idea what they were getting into...


Bregg tried to run, but the Thrower caught him.



Then back to the Druid Grove to clean up the mess. The Spiders actually sent Abigail running since she arrived half buffed after the first Troll encounter. Mr. Efreeti ran distraction while Abigail, rebuffed.


Her Blade Barrier did excellent work here.


The Troll Mound was next. Abigail wasn't trying to Blade Barrier+Sanctuary these blokes: she was just buffing when they rushed her...


This was a nice troll fight. 3 Giants, lots of Spirit Trolls and then  a smattering of the little guys. Once again, Abigail got a lot of mileage out of her Blade Barrier. That APR of 1 isn't so bad when you have a Blade Barrier running against foes with poor saves.


Finishing Trolls is a problem for Abigail since she only gets 1 APR with Ages. Mr. Effreeti was called in to do some finishing.



Winding down now, light buffing.


After clearing the Troll Mound, Abigail went back to Athkatla and completed the first 2 tasks to gain Aran's aid.

Abigail observed something interesting against Gravy.



So apparently Magic Damage resistance is going to nerf damage from Harm. That's a bummer: I'm not sure I like that...

Anyhoo. It's sleepy time for Abigail: she needs her beauty rest. She has a big day of undead slaying ahead of her tomorrow.


Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 septembre 2012 - 07:21 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

@Alesia: Why not using Holy Smite vs Spiders in the Grove to smite'em all at once, I wonder?  They are Chaotic Evil...
In any case, pleasant dreams for Abigail!  :happy:

[amanasleep]

@Alesia: I notice you are using Harm quite a bit, which is an excellent tactic for a solo cleric. Have you considered using Slay Living? It's cheap at level 5, and works well in the early game despite the save. Doom->Sanctuary->Slay Living is my preferred tactic in tough battles. Works great on Haegan and Glacias.

I like to save my C6 slots for Aerial Servant when I can.

I would also suggest throwing out Domination when you get the chance, particularly against non-humanoid opponents. Can be very effective when you feel you are reduced to another melee slog.

[Jianson]

@Alesia: Great progress this far!

A couple of questions:
- Why did you regret battling Tor'Gal?
- What the heck is RoAC II?
- Why is Harm doing 150 damage and can kill the vitcim. Isn't the spell supposed to NOT be able to kill the victim, but bring it to 'death's door' (leaving a few HPs, no matter how much the enemy had to begin with)?

[Grond0]

@Jianson
- RoAC II is the improved invisibility offered by the ring of air control sold by Ribald.
- SCS offers a component that changes Harm from taking all but 1 HP into a straight 150 damage. Depending on the situation that can make things either easier or harder. Like many cleric spells Harm ignores magic resistance. However, it is affected (as described in Alesia's post) by magic damage resistance.
- Alesia will no doubt comment on Tor'Gal, but I assume she would have aesthetically preferred to take on the full challenge offered by SCS rather than breaking it up into bite-sized chunks.

[Gate70]

Interesting reading. I'm going to guess at some answers.

Slay Living has a save element. Character is also Neutral Good so spell not available anyway?

RoAC II is Ring of Air Control Improved Invisibility.
SCS Spell Tweaks : Modify the Harm spell so it does damage rather than reducing target to 1 hp.

& the regret is probably at having to separate Torgal out from the other two trolls instead of being able to deal with them all together.

edit, & beaten by Grond0. Ah well.

Modifié par Gate70, 24 septembre 2012 - 10:17 .

[Alesia_BH]

Thanks for your comments everyone! I'll respond to them in turn.

Serg BlackStrider wrote...
@Alesia: Why not using Holy Smite vs Spiders in the Grove to smite'em all at once, I wonder?  They are Chaotic Evil...:happy:

That would have worked splendidly. Unfortunately, the Smites had been used against the Trolls.

amanasleep wrote...
@Alesia: I notice you are using Harm quite a bit, which is an excellent tactic for a solo cleric. Have you considered using Slay Living?

Yes, I've considered Slay Living. The problem is that it gets crowded out by Righteous Magic and Chaotic Commands. Now that Abigail has 3 L5s, she may give it a try against suitably leveled enemies.

I like to save my C6 slots for Aerial Servant when I can.

The Aeriel Servants are nice. But again, they get crowded out- this time by Blade Barrier and Harm. I'll try to make room for them.

I would also suggest throwing out Domination when you get the chance, particularly against non-humanoid opponents. Can be very effective when you feel you are reduced to another melee slog.

That I can try: she has room at 4. I'm wary of in combat spells with non-trivial casting times but, Domination is a 3 now with the AoP. That's not so bad.

Grond0 wrote...
@Jianson
- RoAC II is the improved invisibility offered by the ring of air control sold by Ribald.

Yup.

- SCS offers a component that changes Harm from taking all but 1 HP into a straight 150 damage. Depending on the situation that can make things either easier or harder. Like many cleric spells Harm ignores magic resistance. However, it is affected (as described in Alesia's post) by magic damage resistance.

Yup. (But Harm is affected by Magic Resistance as well in my install).

I'll note that I'm not really sold on the Harm tweak. In fact, I'm considering reverting. The tweak version feels too much like a backstab.  I prefer the old, Cleric specific dynamic. 

- Alesia will no doubt comment on Tor'Gal, but I assume she would have aesthetically preferred to take on the full challenge offered by SCS rather than breaking it up into bite-sized chunks.

Yup. With Improved Torgal installed, he is flanked by Giant Trolls, Spirit Trolls, Umber Hulks Elders, and 2 Yuan-Ti Mages. The Yuan-Ti Mages make that a no go for Abigail at this point, but I'm unfound of using seperation to win battles. I probably should have just left it.

& beaten by Grond0. Ah well.

Yup...

Best,

A.

[amanasleep]

Alesia_BH wrote...

Yes, I've considered Slay Living. The problem is that it gets crowded out by Righteous Magic and Chaotic Commands. Now that Abigail has 3 L5s, she may give it a try against suitably leveled enemies.

If you can replace Harm with Slay Living, that clears L6 slots for Wonderous Recall, which frees up more L5 slots...

[Alesia_BH]

amanasleep wrote...
If you can replace Harm with Slay Living, that clears L6 slots for Wonderous Recall, which frees up more L5 slots...

Understood. The thing is I don't really see the two as interchangeable. Holy Power->Righteous Magic->DUHM->Harm out of Invisibility is a high success probability attack against meaningful foes. Slay Living is something different.

At this point, enemies that are likely to fall to Slay Living will be taken out by the Blade Barrier anyways within a couple rounds.

I do intend to try it nonetheless.

Best,

A.  

[Grond0]

Hal had a short period of mourning after completing BG1 (to respect the memory of his brother, Hal2), but has now made a start on BG2. 

Still grieving for his twin he took a number of risks in the dungeon, but successfully cleared everything and survived.  He started off quite promisingly with his speed making it easier to deal with the golems than my last thief character.  However, some careless movement around an acid blob trap was a bad sign. 

The riskiest moment was in the elemental plane when he took on the mephits.  His first stunning attack on the steam mephit failed and he had to save against a boiling rain storm before succeeding the second time.  Against the mephit portals he killed the first 2 easily and then indulged in a long range duel with the magma mephit.  Hal's relatively poor THAC0 made this surprisingly difficult and he had taken a lot of damage when the radiant mephit put in an appearance.  Hal quickly dodged back, hid and proceeded to finish off the last 2 portals at his leisure.

Hal can't use magic staves so had to wait until he got to level 9 to be able to pummel the jail golem with his fists.  Stunning attacks were generally quite successful in the dungeon and Ulvaryl was another victim.  As I've seen her go gaseous even when incapacitated Hal finished her off with a firebreath potion rather than trying  fists.  The final obstacle were the assassins; their leader saved against the first stun attack, but failed the second time (and also died) before he could complete his spell.

No risks since the dungeon.  Hal's stealth is still pretty poor, but was quite good enough to deal with the circus before he moved on to the Copper Coronet.  A guard at the back rooms shouted a warning just before being stunned, but Hal moved away until mirror images had died down and then used a single stunning attack to deal with both casters.  The animals were mainly dealt with using speed and stealth, although one bear was used for target practice (this took a long time - fortunately an upgraded sling is now available from Bernard).  Hal did indulge in a melee duel with the Beastmaster - who failed to get his sought revenge.

Hal helped Hendak out against Lehtinan, getting to level 10 as a result.

[amanasleep]

Alesia_BH wrote...

amanasleep wrote...
If you can replace Harm with Slay Living, that clears L6 slots for Wonderous Recall, which frees up more L5 slots...

Understood. The thing is I don't really see the two as interchangeable. Holy Power->Righteous Magic->DUHM->Harm out of Invisibility is a high success probability attack against meaningful foes. Slay Living is something different.

At this point, enemies that are likely to fall to Slay Living will be taken out by the Blade Barrier anyways within a couple rounds.

I do intend to try it nonetheless.

Best,

A.  

You're right of course, Harm is superior. You are actually past the point of maximum Slay Living utility, as it works best in early SoA where enemy saves are low and C6 slots are rare. Slay Living does work through Stoneskins, however, whereas Blade Barrier will remove one skin per hit.

[Grond0]

Hal's luck eventually ran out after clearing the slaver stronghold.  Ironically, having taken quite a few risks with eyes open, it was a forgotten problem which caused his demise.

He had started exploring the temple sewers and activated a few ettercaps at the start of the Unseeing Eye quest. Hal started dragging them back taking potshots with sling of seeking, only to run into an ooze mephit (despite scouting this area while stealthed a few seconds earlier).  He failed his save against the stinking cloud and was already taking significant damage from the mephit when a couple of ettercaps appeared to make the result certain. 

[Serg BlackStrider]

@Grond0. Oh well... at least the twins are together again...

[Jianson]

Yup. With Improved Torgal installed, he is flanked by Giant Trolls, Spirit Trolls, Umber Hulks Elders, and 2 Yuan-Ti Mages.

Whoa! Sounds like a component I am definitely NOT going to install. Unlike in BG1, I want SCS II pretty much for the 'smartness' side alone - not interested in making things harder in other ways. I have never beaten even vanilla SoA without reloads.

[Alesia_BH]

Abigail in the Umar Hills (Or Proof of Concept Elusive)

The sun rises once again in the Umar Hills. But while Abigail felled the Shade Lord and his minions with ease, she still has something to proove.

Abigail approached the temple Sanctuaried, hoping to test out her Turn Undead abilities.

Shade Wolves: Check. Shadows: Check. Shadow Fiends: Disco.


The welcoming committee got Turn Undead.


Followed by The Thrower.


The Shadows and Fiends by the Light Gem weren't quite so willing to Turn and Implode. Abigail went RoAC II, and was moderately disturbed for a moment when they surrounded her. Then she saw it as an opportunity.



Creeping, creeping up on the next crew. Turned the Wolves from Sanctuary.


And then to work on the Bone Golem.


Greater Mummies sketch me out though so Abigial pulled back quickly. The Thrower for the Golem.


Smites for Mummy dearest.


The next batch got the same treatment.



Engaged the last Skeleton Warrior at the edge of the lava pit.


Then the Symbol and a level up- a level up bringing an extra L5. An extra L5: You know what that means, don't you?


Abigail allocated her new L5, took a nappy-nap, and then buffed for the Shade Lord. (NW: This was not the Improved Shade Lord sadly. I intend to install him when I'm able).Anyhoo: The buffs. Oil of Speed, Remove Fear, Chaotic Commands, Death Ward, Pro Evil, Holy Power, Righteous Magic, Draw on Holy Might, Blade Barrier, Sanctuary, Harm.

Broke Sanctuary and shook Shadow Patrick's hand. Good to meet you Shadow Patrick...


Second attack of the round was an Altar instakill via Sunstone Bullet.


Used the Aura in round 1 on RoAC II.


Walked over, and let the Blade Barrier take care of that stray Shadow while waiting for the Aura to clear.


Then Sunray for the Shade Lord. This apparently Blinded him.


Helpless, Abigail pelted with him with The Thrower- untill he had less that 11 hitpoints left that is.


Then, just to prove to the world how super-smart and awesome Amanasleep is, Abigail went in for the kill using Slay Living. With less that 11 hitpoints left, even on a made save, the 2d6+9 would get him- Abigail wasn't taking any chances with Amanasleep's reputation here.


But then, not only did the Shade Lord make his save, Abigail somehow got jipped out of the 2d6+9.


This should not, of course, be taken to imply that Amanasleep is something other than super-smart and awesome- it just means that Abigail will have to find other ways of demonstrating this essential fact.

In the meantime, Abigail jacked the Shade Lord with The Thrower.


And flipped on the lights...


Fin!

A.

Btw. Current Character Record and Inventory



@Amanasleep- I assume you know I'm just goofing off here: I completely understand what you are saying about Slay Living and I do see its uses. For Abigail, allocating 5 to CC, RM, and an occasional GC early made sense, but Slay Living could have worked out at times as well. FYI: Since it casts quick -and Abigail does have L5s to spare now- I'll probably let her mix it in from time to time just for kicks.

@Grond0- Sorry for your loss. That's a lousy way to die...I hope you'll keep playing your character though: I'm curious.

@Jianson- I like what Improved Torgal does to the Keep. And if I had the restraint to save Torgal for later, I'd probably be happy with what it does to the final battle. The problem is that I always seem to want to do Torgal early, and the battle enhancements just end up nudging me into using seperation (which is lame...). Sigh. It would be cool if there were level dependence on Torgal's buddies...

In future playthroughs, I'm going to try to train myself to view Torgal like, say, Firkraag: something left untill later even if you have completed the rest of the quest.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 25 septembre 2012 - 07:58 .