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[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 Multiplayer attempt 18 - (update 6)
Quash, dwarf barbarian (Grond0) & Berud, dwarf barbarian (Gate70)

When last seen the (mini) barbarian horde was at the gates to the Guarded Compound.  They rested and went in, only to hit a MP glitch when Grond0's screen didn't clear properly following Berud's conversation with Sion.  This was resolved by reloading and Grond0 taking control of Berud for the conversation, but the result was that the duo had not actually rested after killing the downstairs group and moving on up.

Berud's not having rage available may have handicapped him slightly, but a potion of stone form helped protect him against the spells being slung around and the fight was pretty simple.  Berud took most of the early attacks and left Quash to finish off Sion while he took some others for a wander.  Quash then joined him in double-teaming anyone that got slightly separated.  Ketta's repeated backstabs from invisible were simply ignored in the best barbarian tradition, until he was the only one left.


Next it was off to Spellhold.  On arrival in Brynnlaw a vampire welcomng party were kind enough to teach Quash his first HLA (hardiness).  The rest of the town didn't seem of much interest so the duo just helped Ginia and then got Perth to reveal the secret of how to access Spellhold.

Inside the Asylum they were quietly captured by Irenicus, but have been noisily (and rapidly) making their way out.  No real problems so far.  The lich (or his companions rather) did quite a lot of damage without really threatening (though Berud got a bit of revenge on Quash for his antics with beholders by being very reluctant to take healing potions).  The word had clearly spread that standing and fighting would be hopeless against the barbarians as the last two yuan-ti mages chose to commit suicide by skull-trap.

Nearly all the next level has been completed, with only a few clay golems to go before the duo move on.  Berud has already been outfitted with a new pair of boots, so won't be lagging behind Quash any more.

Stats
Quash, barbarian L21, 136 HPs (including 5 from Helm), 844 kills
Berud, barbarian L20, 161 HPs (including 14 from ioun stone), 651 kills

[Grond0]

Thanks all for the encouragement for Nil. Incidentally, my pessimism about his chances in my previous update was principally associated with my uncertainty about how to deal with Mel's timestop. My spy in her camp (aka Gate70) assures me that I won't have to, so I'm feeling rather more hopeful now.

[Alesia_BH]

corey_russell wrote...
At this point, I'd be happy if ANYONE succeeded. Been far too long since Melissan had a lesson.

There has been a bit of a dry spell. I think we're on the verge of having a bunch of successes though. Gate and Grond0 both seem to be getting BG2 down now. I like the odds on Nil and the barbarian duo. Karix sems to have potential as well, but I get the sense that Gate is a little ambivalent about him- he seemed to have connected more with Engor and Kronk.

As for me, my preference these days is to futz around with goofy characters, but I understand my install well enough to crank out a string of successes. I've been considering setting aside the gimps for a while and running some of my more powerful core characters (Alesia, Alanis, Alessandra, and Alia in particular). I'm likely to turn my attention to that after Alisa's run. 

Anyhoo. I think Mel is in for some hurt in the near future- even if she has had it easy for a while.


Best,

A.

(EDIT: Wow! I just checked: Pendal and Thimble was six months ago, Alyssa seven. I didn't realize it was that long- it didn't feel like it since I had been away for a good portion of that.)  

(Btw: That implies we should flip the order of Pendal/Thimble and Alyssa on the list: Mea culpa.)

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 25 avril 2013 - 05:51 .

[Alesia_BH]

Grond0 wrote...

Thanks all for the encouragement for Nil. Incidentally, my pessimism about his chances in my previous update was principally associated with my uncertainty about how to deal with Mel's timestop. My spy in her camp (aka Gate70) assures me that I won't have to, so I'm feeling rather more hopeful now.

Glad to hear you are feeling more confident: now is certainly not the time to despair. 

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 25 avril 2013 - 05:52 .

[Grond0]

Nil Desperandum - dwarf berserker (update 10)

Rumours (now proved to be correct) have already circulated that Nil found a merchant in the North Forest with 3 more potions of speed and picked up another couple of them from Lazarus.  The latter also had a good selection of spell scrolls - allowing Cespenar to upgrade a cloak that provides Nil with a long-lasting improved haste spell.

Nothing fancy was needed for the third pocket plane challenge.  This time, Nil had hardiness and rage pre-cast and simply attacked the Slayer with FoA GWWs.  That quickly slowed him and the 5th GWW finished him off with Nil having taken minimal damage.

Proceeding to Sendai's enclave a woodcutter sent him to view a disturbance in a forest clearing.  A Hive Mother saw through his invisibility and an anti-magic ray revealed him to the others.  However, they were far too weak to cause problems and the Hive Mother was smacked down with a couple of FoA GWWs under rage.

Returning to the Woodcutter Nil already had hardiness and rage active before speaking to him and was happy to deal with a group of drow that attacked.  Most went down quite quickly, although the drow wizard's buffs and contingencies kept him going long enough for rage to expire.  However, Nil was already using Gesen to get past his fireshield and PfMW, and the current GWW was enough to finish the wizard off.

Before leaving the Woodcutter's cabin Nil had a clear out of things in his backpack that didn't seem necessary.  That included leaving behind a cache of 115 potions of extra-healing for some lucky alchemist!

With the entrance to Sendai's enclave now visible he rested invisibly and went there (ignoring the drow and gauth that appeared by the graves).  A quick bit of scouting showed lots of enemies, but nothing too dangerous, so he proceeded to clear the tunnel in case he needed to retreat along it in future.  To start with I avoided getting encircled, but against relatively weak enemies and with GWWs available that's not too much of a problem anyway, so I just let Nil slug away.  GWWs allowed Blackrazor healing to roughly balance out the critical hits he took.

With the tunnel clear Nil rested before checking a couple of locked doors and then going on to a room full of drow.  After looking that over invisibly he returned to the entrance and opened hostilities with Gesen.  Only some of the opposition responded and Nil quickly dealt with them before applying fresh hardiness and rage and engaging Thelynn'ss.  There was a brief hiatus when Nil kindly asked the drow to hold on a moment while he got his reference book from his backpack to check that slay living offered a saving throw and then the action resumed - though not for long under the GWW onslaught.  Searching the bodies Nil was pleased to find an amulet of cheetah speed - the movement rate bonus and another improved haste are both very welcome.

I was then baffled at what to do as there seemed to be nowhere else to go.  I tried resting to get an ambush and used Blackrazor to get strength to 25, but couldn't open either of the locked doors.  Eventually I rechecked the room with the drow and found that one of the guards had a key.

Moving into more tunnels Nil met lots more dwarf berserkers, but these seemed to have no family feeling.  There were also continual replacements arriving for those killed and I thought they might be unlimited so went invisible and moved up the corrider until the slavemaster indicated he was going to take a stand.  A GWW killed him and Nil ran before he could be surrounded.  He then started chunking the slaves and this time there didn't appear to be replacements arriving.  By the time he'd used all his GWWs (mainly with Blackrazor) there were only a dozen or so enemies remaining and they were swiftly accounted for by the FoA using amulet improved haste.  After resting he moved on to clear the south tunnels (nearly all done on a single rage with improved haste), before brushing aside another group of drow.

Nil ventured into a lich's hideout.  His initial attack was foiled by buffs and Odamaron just survived 2 sunrays (using Helm of Brilliance for the first time), so he had to wait a few seconds before his weapons started to bite.  A brief trip to the pocket plane to see what Cespenar could offer (nothing useful) and Nil ventured further into the stronghold.  His improved haste was dispelled (I think by a trap) when facing Ogremoch, but a couple of old reliable GWWs soon finished off the slowed elemental prince.  The other side of the stairs a varied set of enemies waited.  Those seeing through invisibility attacked immediately - the abishai was flailed before the demon knight caught a Gesen GWW (in case it had a chance of a no-save vorpal effect).  The vampire was also shot down before Nil waited out Diaytha's creeping doom in the other room.  Returning with fresh buffs he finished off the Hive Mother and, despite another creeping doom, Diaytha followed shortly after.

Nil Desperandum, berserker L40, 214 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 1,812 kills

Author's note:
I'm trying hard to stay focused now and overcome my innate tendency to just swing a weapon and see what happens.  My difficulty in overcoming ingrained responses may be illustrated by the fact that I don't think I have yet started the game in ToB without first trying to start it in SoA - though at least now I instantly go back to the previous screen without wondering what happened to my save game!

[BBMorti]

Grond0 your run is looking amazing! Great progress

[Alesia_BH]

Grond0 wrote...
Author's note:
I'm trying hard to stay focused now and overcome my innate tendency to just swing a weapon and see what happens.

Do continue to fight that tendency. It's really the thought before combat, the consideration of alternatives, and the willingness to adjust on the fly that has led me to believe that you've turned the corner in BG2. 

In the past you seemed to play BG1 in BG2 at times- charging with minimal buffs and expecting to prevail. The variety of threats in BG2 is too great for that to work long term, however: eventually it gets you killed.

My suspicion is that the no healing potion restriction is what caused the change. The absence of healing made you contemplate ways of minimizing damage. That, in turn, led to a change in your mental procedures both before and during combat. Putting it simply: the healing restriction made you think; Now you're thinking: I don't think you'll stop.

Finish strong Grond0!

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 25 avril 2013 - 08:15 .

[Gate70]

Grond0 wrote...
My difficulty in overcoming ingrained responses may be illustrated by the fact that I don't think I have yet started the game in ToB without first trying to start it in SoA - though at least now I instantly go back to the previous screen without wondering what happened to my save game!

I still go into SoA 90% of the time when I should be loading ToB.

Alesia_BH wrote...to Grond0
In the past you seemed to play BG1 in BG2 at times- charging with minimal buffs and expecting to prevail.

I agree, see much less of this in multiplayer now (exception to this is the calculated gamble against beholders which still remains).

Alesia_BH wrote...
Karix sems to have potential as well, but I get the sense that Gate is a little ambivalent about him- he seemed to have connected more with Engor and Kronk.

If I ever complete a trilogy Kronk will make a re-rolled appearance and start his Viconia romance in BG1 alongside any other runs (although romance means party and party means no berserking sword). I really enjoyed the run and maybe my BG2 write-up reflected that.

Engor showed how much my solo runs have progressed recently after a couple of years with slower progress, but the challenge there was how to BG2 a kensai. Karix got a second chance as the lower HP will force better preparation.

Karix, male dwarf kensai.
The docks at night are a dangerous place, Karix running from Tanova despite a Daystar Suray on her (drained to level 6). After a restoration he is back and manages to kill her and a second vampire but the third runs off, but Karix is forced to use another restoration (level 4, so 1 hit from dead). An efreeti and Kitthix help scare Lassal off, Karix having given up with Azuredge and switched to Daystar.

Karix hocks anything he can sell to purchase an oil of speed instead of relying on improved haste against vampires - when that wears off it leaves him as easy prey. Gracen offers up a potion of invulnerability (had defence but +5 to saves will be safer) and Karix tops this up with Mirror Image > DUHM > Improved Haste as he enters the vampire lair. Durst and Gellal are staked and Karix departs with a mace of disruption.

On his way out he realises the invulnerability and speed are still active, much to the chagrin of the Crypt King, three mummies, three skeleton warriors, two shadow fiends and Uncle Lester.

A trip to Watchers Keep sees the rarer items (pantaloons, pommel jewel, etc) stashed safely away and then Sir Sarles glares at an improved mace of disruption gleaming brighter than his alloy sculpture. At least the Helmite priests are happy with the tarnished results.

Nalia waits impatiently as Karix works through the de’Arnise Keep. As he heads into the hidden cellar his inventory is overflowing and his rant in the golem temple is answered with a consoled bag of holding (getting to be too many essential items to carry anything else and would soon have to start dropping things).

A shield amulet is grabbed (42 charges), something Karix briefly experimented with in the Sword Coast and which he plans to use at suitable times. There is stew enough for 6 umber hulks but only 5 are present (OK, who had seconds?)

Shield > DUHM > Mirror Image > Improved Invisibility > Improved Haste. 3 umber hulks are down before the haste expires and the other 2 a few moments later.

A second DUHM > Improved Haste is used against TorGal (his two giant trolls arrive as combat starts) and Karix is just able to finish them off with a 3rd Improved Haste (35/126hp with DUHM still active).

Encouraged by his de-trollification Karix heads to the druid grove and apart from one extra healing potion in the mound all goes well. Cernd joins briefly to kill Faldorn in his improved greater form and then heads outside.

Modifié par Gate70, 25 avril 2013 - 05:20 .

[Blind_Visionary]

Alesia_BH wrote...

Grond0 wrote...
Author's note:
I'm trying hard to stay focused now and overcome my innate tendency to just swing a weapon and see what happens.

... Putting it simply: the healing restriction made you think; Now you're thinking: I don't think you'll stop.

Finish strong Grond0!

Yes!   Think..... prepare ....  then rage and engage! (and disengage if necessary).   Grond0, your progress is amazing!  To your continued success!

[Blind_Visionary]

Gate70 wrote...

... (level 4, so 1 hit from dead).

After that, Karix showed some real bravery to head into the vampire lair...  Keep those swords sharp, Gate!

[Gate70]

Blind_Visionary wrote...After that, Karix showed some real bravery to head into the vampire lair...  Keep those swords sharp, Gate!

"Bravery, stupidity, whatever gets the job done". An oil of speed meant there was little risk as he could always run away.

Karix, male dwarf kensai
After reporting back to Trademeet Karix can afford the dwarven thrower, so bags it. Back to the Bridge district where Reynald de’Chatillon is helped and the Rune Assassins are swiftly blended in with two ghasts and a bone golem.

To Trademeet again, returning the contents of a tomb to the mayor, scaring Viekang off and killing Rejiek Hidesman. Then back to the vampire nest, where Kitthix is stunned and electrocuted but so is one of Tanova and her simulacrum. The efreeti moves in next and is mazed, and Karix considers attacking but instead summons Ras to dance. In the few moments that the sword exists Tanova casts stun, fear and sunfire. She then casts mislead as the efreeti returns, but it hits her for 27 before unsummoning.

Karix decides to move in under DUHM > Mirror Image > Improved Invisibility > Improved Haste. One mace hit removes the misled image and a second destroys Tanova before he heads downstairs. A room of vampires and grimwarders are no match for buffs, and improved haste is too much for Lassal to resist being chunked. Karix rests, buffs and summons Kitthix before Bodhi arrives. Karix scares Bodhi away just as she finishes her spider supper.

***** long sword
* quarterstaff (oops, should have taken mace or flail or hammer).
* mace
** two weapon style

Karix, kenasi 15. 768 kills, Kangaxx the demi-lich.

[Alesia_BH]

Alisa, Half-Elven Jester: The Umar Hills

Alisa's run continues a pace: she has completed the Umar Hills quest and, more recently, the De'Arnise Keep. I'll cover each in turn.

Alisa took as simple, low risk approach in the Umar Hills- there's not much to report her from a tactical standpoint.

Ilbratha was collected with the aid of Arbane and a Protection from Acid scroll.


And in the temple, everything was taken down at range under Stoneskins, Strengh, Haste, and DuHM.

Azuredge for the undead.


Crimson Dart for the Bone Golems.


A Sunstone Bullet, Azuredge, and a Pro Undead scroll finished off the quest.


If anyone would like to chide me for using Pro Undead against the Shade Lord again, please do feel free: I'm getting lazy and could use the encouragement. 

Anyhoo: I'll post on the De'Arnise Keep in a moment.


Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 26 avril 2013 - 01:38 .

[Alesia_BH]

Alisa, Half-Elven Jester: The De'Arnise Keep

Alisa has rid the De'Arnise Keep of its troll infestation. But while the quest went smoothly on balance, its defining battle didn't quite go as planned- I can't help but feel a bit disappointed.

A report  on the De'Arnise keep quest just wouldn't be complete without a shot of the first dead troll.

Nothing earth shattering here: just something to share with the grandkids.... 


Then it was the all important battle with Rex, Rover, Spot and Sparky.

As many of you know by now, it's important to me to get the battle with Nalia's pooches right. In Alisa's case, the most logical thing to do was to turn them into squirrels and make them fight each other in a grease pit. That much was obvious. Execution proved challenging however and I can't say I'm entirely pleased with the outcome.

Clearing the arena was the first step: Alisa needed space to work.


The next step was to hit them with Malison followed by Polymorph Other. 


The squirrelfication step went fine but with one complication: Alisa didn't have enough level 4's to morph them all in one go so she had to rest in between- hence the onset of darkness before the first squirrelly-pooch was Dominated.


Next the Grease.


It was all working splendidly at that point.

Fight! Fight!


Unfortunately, the squirrelly-pooches refused to remain Dominated- they'd revert to hostile within 2 rounds making it diffiicult to keep them engaged. Alisa tried her Jester's Song, but between the Grease and the song based Slow effect which had by now kicked in, the action was way to slow: this would have taken eons.


With the original plan thwarted, Alisa thought she'd try Strength draining them to death with Contagion. If Contagion stacks -or if squierrels have an innate strength of 1 or 2- this could work. But no: Rex was stricken with a foul disease, but remained alive.


By this point, Rex was furious and I can't say I blame him.

(I've never seen the pooches actually attack before)


It was time to put them out of their misery: Vampiric Touch.


(Which for some reason gave Alisa an oddly high HP total.)


Moving on, Alisa cleared the courtyard invaders with a pair of Hasted Skeleton Warriors. Slow from the Jester's Song made the Skellies all the more effective.


The Yuan-TI Mage was felled with Elemental Arrows and Fleshie- Alisa's newest friend proferred from Watcher's Keep.



Torgal himself was seperated using invisibility and then taken down with Azuredge at range. Hasted Skeleton Warriors kept him at bay- granting Alisa the space she needed to toss in safety.



(If someone whould like to chide me for seperating Torgal again, feel free: I'm getting lazy and could use the encouragement...)

All that remained were the Golems and Glaicus.



I'm not sure what's next for Alisa- either Mae'Var's Guild Hall or the Windspear Hills.

Best,

A.

Btw. Current Character Record and Inventory

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 26 avril 2013 - 04:44 .

[corey_russell]

@Alesia: I don't see why I need to chide you for using pro-undead scroll against undead Alesia - opponents get many protections from the player: stoneskins, PfMW, invisibilities, immunities to level 3 weapons or lower, etc. - it's only realistic the player can use in-world elements against the enemies.

This is a rough analogy but take it as such - if an enemy used machine guns on your house, would you really feel it was "cheesy" to use your tank in the backyard to take out the machine guns, knowing your armor would make you immune to their bullets? Rather than charge with your own automatic weapons?

In any war, you use weapons and defenses that best counter your opponents weapons. If an enemy wants to use the advantages of being undead, (regeneration, cold/poison resists etc.) I see nothing wrong in using a scroll to penalize the enemy for their choice.

Taking another example, from the real world there would HAVE to be defenses to the undead, otherwise the undead would rule the entire Sword Coast. There must be other ways to deal with undead than using legendary armor and weapons and spells, just like a government with tanks doesn't automatically rule the world because there are defenses, land mines, other tanks, air power, etc.

[Alesia_BH]

corey_russell wrote...

@Alesia: I don't see why I need to chide you for using pro-undead scroll against undead 

In any war, you use weapons and defenses that best counter your opponents weapons.

If zombies were to take over my neighborhood in real life, I would totally use my pro-undead scrolls. 

But in the BG world, it can often be more fun and sporting to go without.

As with many things it's a matter of personal preference. In the past I restricted their use and I did find that more satisfying. I've become sort of lazily addicted to them recently, but I think I'd enjoy myself more if I set them aside again. 


Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 25 avril 2013 - 07:55 .

[Gate70]

Guns, tanks, greasy squirrel-dogs (is the grease to stop them climbing the trees that aren't there); it's all happening here. ps, glad I don't live in your neighbourhood Corey 

Karix, male dwarf kensai.
Karix arrives in Brynnlaw only to see a trio of familiar faces. After killing them he hands Perth the Adept the dwarven thrower (game crashes so has to step off the ship again - this time Perth dies but the book of infinite spells only turns one page to burning hands and will go no further). No sign of Sime either so headed in to Spellhold and lost Bhaalspawn powers before being dumped in a maze.

After killing a clay golem Karix finds a doppelganger bag of holding, so leaves it. Then he heads east (see later point).

Two groups of umber hulks and one group of yuan-ti are eliminated before a lich and some undead are encountered. Karix stays away from the lich and maces the others into oblivion then continues with the dwarven thrower. After a little while the lich succumbs and Karix kills Dace the vampire before staking him. A wandering horror is next then various summons from a pulpit or altar.

(Then I exit the game without thinking/saving - doh. Will have to go back to earlier point when I resume)

[Grond0]

Nil Desperandum - dwarf berserker (update 11)

I thought Nil might be due to meet Sendai herself, but instead Captain Egeissag was waiting.  I didn't even have the vaguest memory of this from MP, but decided to accept the Spectator's offer to make this a loser-loses-all contest.  Nil was pre-buffed and the Captain was hopelessly overmatched.  Some illithids and umber hulks were no more prepared as Nil pushed still deeper into the enclave until finally he found Sendai and Sendai and Sendai and ...

No. 1 fell immediately to basic hasted attacks.
No. 2 had PfMW up so lasted longer.  Nil switched to Gesen and used 3 GWW on her.
No. 3 was a bit of a shock.  I assumed she was a thief, but that she would be relatively harmless without being able to backstab - unfortunately in a mental aberration I was thinking of my MP barbarian and took a nasty blade in the side!  At the time she attacked I didn't want to try and finish her as no rage was available and a drow mage was nearby, but a couple of seconds later rage was back on the menu and Nil was able to close with Sendai and finish her off quickly before she disappeared again.  He stayed over by the stairs and successfully avoided the next Sendai appearing while he finished off the drow stacking up there.  He then waited for a time while regenerating.
No. 4 was facing fresh buffs and fell to a single GWW.
No. 5 I hoped to do with the same buffs, but got into trouble as a result.  Two lots of rebuffing via contingencies and sequencers allowed her to survive long enough for rage to expire and a drow had meanwhile come and blocked his exit route - leaving Nil vulnerable to maze or imprisonment.  He responded immediately by taking a potion of invisibility; Sendai riposted with a true seeing - but that gave Nil a window of opportunity to kill the mislead and escape out of touch range.  He then ran round for a while using Gesen, before raging and finishing the job with the FoA.
No. 6 didn't dimension door very far away and another single GWW accounted for her.
No. 7 was similarly overwhelmed by a few GWW flail attacks


The real Sendai was initially protected by her mirrors and hit Nil hard with an implosion.  However, he shrugged it off and went after her with Blackrazor to get his HPs back up.  When her stoneskins were finally exhausted Nil switched to FoA and almost had her, but she teleported away just in time leaving Nil trapped by a horde of drow.  With only a couple of GWWs left Nil made a first use of the improved haste from his cloak and flailed his way through the horde.  He didn't advance immediately after that though, but waited until he could rage again and this time there was no escape for Sendai.


Checking the bodies Nil found that one of the Sendais had 5 potions of speed.  He didn't use any himself in that encounter, so is now lavishly supplied with those again.  He also picked up Wong Fei's ioun stone, which seems to increase the regeneration rate offered by the Ring of Gaxx alone.

On leaving the enclave Elminster appeared and told him to see to Balthazar.  First though he went for a rest in the pocket plane and embarked on his fourth challenge.  Although I've used mirror image pretty sparingly in this run I did put it on for this challenge and that proved to be helpful against a trio of backstabbers.  They hit a number of times, but failed to actually damage Nil as he responded vigourously to their assaults in the short periods they remained visible.  With them dead I expected some sort of announcement or message, but there was nothing except the awarding of quest XP - I hope that doesn't mean there was a glitch.

Nil Desperandum, berserker L40, 224 HPs (incl. 15 from ioun stone), 1,853 kills

[corey_russell]

@Grond0 - Good work with Sendai. Your 4th challenge description sounds OK - you just have live and kill the attackers and you did.

Remember +4 weapons/ammo vs. Ravager only (e.g. a +3 FoA won't cut it) (5th challenge).

Best of luck.

[Blind_Visionary]

Grond0 wrote...

... this time there was no escape for Sendai.

Yeah!!!  Well fought, Nil! Stay focused, stay sharp!

[Alesia_BH]

 I agree, see much less of this in multiplayer now

Interesting.

If I ever complete a trilogy Kronk will make a re-rolled appearance and start his Viconia romance in BG1 alongside any other runs (although romance means party and party means no berserking sword). I really enjoyed the run and maybe my BG2 write-up reflected that.

Yeah. I could see you were enjoying that one. Perhaps Kronk will end up being your Alesia: the character you connect with above all others.

Engor showed how much my solo runs have progressed

Agreed. You seemed to make a break-through with him. 

Karix got a second chance as the lower HP will force better preparation.

Well perhaps Karix will end up being your Nil then: the character that elevates your play by forcing you to work around a constraint.

Anyhoo: Glad to see Karix making progress!

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 26 avril 2013 - 04:04 .

[Alesia_BH]

Grond0 wrote...
With them dead I expected some sort of announcement or message, but there was nothing except the awarding of quest XP - I hope that doesn't mean there was a glitch.

That was all? Are you sure? 

It will probably be ok but here's the thing. Each time you complete a Pocket Plane challenge an effect is supposed to be applied to your character file. If one of those is missing when your PC attempts to exit the Pocket Plane for the last time, he or she is insta-killed.

It's hard to think of anything that would have blocked it in Nil's case. I know SI:Alt can (sort of like how SI:D foils some of the character file modifications that are supposed to occur in the Hell Trials) but I'm not aware of anything a Berseker could have running that would cause the same problem.

Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done about it at this point since the encounter can't be re-triggered. Just cross your fingers when you exit the Pocket Plane for the last time I guess....

Anyhoo: I hope everything works out ok. 

Best,

A.


EDIT: JUST SO IT'S CLEAR TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT READ THIS AT A LATER DATE, THIS POST WAS A BAD JOKE- NOTHING OF THE SORT HAPPENS.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 26 avril 2013 - 03:18 .

[Blind_Visionary]

Alesia_BH wrote...
Just cross your fingers....

I've got my fingers crossed for Nil!! 

(and Karix, and Coretrue/Wewa, and the mini Barbarian Horde, and Alisa, and Serg's Avatars, for that matter.)

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 Multiplayer attempt 18 - (update 7)
Quash, dwarf barbarian (Grond0) & Berud, dwarf barbarian (Gate70)

A brief update on last night's short session.  That saw the Babars complete their escape from Spellhold.  The only real obstable remaining there had been Irenicus, but he was quickly brushed aside.  His buffs were dispelled by one of the arrows found in the Asylum and he didn't manage any real offense.

The duo escaped by ship before being dumped in the Sahuagins' city.  Quash got a bit blase on the way to getting the lich tooth and was mazed by one of the traps.  He also noted that he had dropped his bow when receiving an item from one of the characters in the imps game - going back to pick it up got him mazed again.  However, duration is only very short with his intelligence so it wasn't long before a series of fighting groups were eliminated and Quash became the proud possessor of a Cloak of Mirroring.

After agreeing to help the Prince, Quash & Berud duly went to kill the king.  Unfortunately Berud suffered some sort of glitch at this point and got frozen.  Quash didn't need the help anyway, but the result was that when Gate70 dropped his connection to let Berud move again the poor old dwarf lost out on some more XP - he's now more than a level behind Quash.  In addition, by the time both characters were under control again, the Prince had disappeared - taking the Wave halberd with him.

After shinning down a rope the duo are about to dare the terrors of the Underdark.

Stats
Quash, barbarian L22, 139 HPs (including 5 from Helm), 910 kills
Berud, barbarian L21, 165 HPs (including 15 from ioun stone), 659 kills
In checking the stats to put in I could see that Berud had lost 20 HPs as well as XP as a result of the glitch referred to above.  While Gate70 seemed relaxed about the latter, it doesn't seem reasonable to penalise HPs for the bug so those have been added back with Shadowkeeper.

Modifié par Grond0, 26 avril 2013 - 07:37 .

[Grond0]

Nil Desperandum - dwarf berserker (update 12)

Nil returned to Amkethran looking for Saemon.  Knowing his fondness for inns he dropped into the tavern on the way.  It appeared there that word was already out that Nil had his eyes set on taking down Balthazar.  The innkeeper there suggested Nil talk to Faheed if he wanted to get inside the monastery.  Looking for his house proved troublesome thanks to the hordes of mercenaries in the way.  Thankfully they didn't all perform like this one, that got 3 critical hits in on Nil before he could blink, and standard attacks with Blackrazor + Gaxx regeneration had no problem keeping HPs up.

Nil couldn't find Faheed, but Saemon was waiting inside the smuggler's hideout.  Nil agreed to let Saemon come with him inside the monastery (probably an opportunity for one last betrayal, but what the hell).  Once inside it appeared Saemon had cheated both sides - surprise, surprise).  The only potential concern about this ambush was that both mages used timestop - running out Nil's rage in the process.  However, his exposure to a touch spell was only momentary before he made space for himself.  A bit of running round allowed him to come back to finish the mages off with raged attacks / Gesen.

Exploring a door Nil found himself in an area that felt suspiciously like a palace intended for Balthazar, though there was no one immediately visible.  Going with his instincts he started to put buffs on only to discover he had put his cloak away too soon after use last time and it had no charges.  He had also used his amulet improved haste for the day outside so had no long-lasting hastes left.  Oh well, he still had a full complement of GWWs, which should be quite capable of doing the job.  In fact they would have to do (Nil tried leaving the building, but was not astonished to find the way barred).

I think for the first time he used a collection of potions to help his buffing along with mirror image, hardiness and rage before moving forward.  From MP I remembered that Balthazar had some sort of special stunning blow; I hoped that rage would combat that, but Balthazar was targeted at the start of the combat to try and finish him off quickly.  Nil started off with Blackrazor to get strength up to 25 and then switched to FoA.  I noted a problem here in that his attacks with GWW had been set to 6 - presumably the effect of using the potion of speed, although the GWW should set attacks at 10 rather than provide a base of 10.

Balthazar was quickly in trouble anyway and when a follow-up GWW correctly gave 10 attacks, they proved too much for him.  With him dead the other monks ran away and Nil was free to return to the pocket plane for his final challenge there.

As potion buffs were still running Nil just refreshed hardiness and rage and went into the attack.  He initially wielded the Ice-star flail, but I didn't like the look of the Ravager's blade barrier so switched to Gesen.  Rather counter-intuitively I saw that the Ravager was using missile attacks, so dug out the reflection shield and just ran round for a while seeing what would happen.  Nil killed a few of the bone blades, but I suspected there were an inexhaustible supply of those, so just kept running while the Ravager gently killed itself.  I had expected that it would regenerate, but if it did that was at a lower rate than the damage it was doing to itself.  With the Ravager at badly wounded its blade barrier finally fell and Nil raged and came in seeking a quick kill.  Another barrier went up, but I thought the Ravager must be almost dead and stayed attacking and indeed he fell within a few seconds.

Nil has had a final rest (making sure to recharge his cloak this time) and is ready to venture forth from the pocket plane for the last time.

Nil Desperandum, berserker L40, 214 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 1,916 kills

[Grond0]

Nil Desperandum - dwarf berserker (update 13 - unlucky for ...)

Nil pre-buffed for his final trip with improved haste, hardiness and rage.  On arrival Melissan was waiting.  Nil attacked immediately with FoA hoping to slow her, but without success and turned his attention to the Death Tyrant that appeared.  A malison was countered with a potion of magic shielding as the Tyrant collapsed and Nil turned back to Melissan - this time managing to get a slow to bite on her.  Briefly switching to Blackrazor (still at 9 APR) he picked up a strength increase to 25 before switching again to the Ice Star. 

Mel used a remove magic, causing Nil to glug a potion of invulnerability and she repeated the dose, requiring another potion.  Meanwhile, a slayer shadow had appeared and Nil was beating it up with Daystar and the iMoD.  Two more bone fiends joined in and Mel started attacking Nil in earnest causing significant damage.  With the helpers gone for the moment Nil turned back to Mel with the FoA and managed to slow her again as 2 glabrezu appeared.

Breaking contact with Mel for a moment Nil killed the glabrezus with Blackrazor, picking up 1 lot of healing in the process to get back to 140+.  He then started casting his amulet improved haste, only to be a bit shocked as Mel used timestop and brought in 2 more bone fiends (I thought she didn't use timestop in vanilla).  The timestop saw the end of the rage he had entered combat with; Mel also sent in a remove magic during the timestop and triggered a whole lot of additional damage somehow (there was no attack roll prior to the first lot of damage).

The improved haste proved to be well-timed, completing after the remove magic hit, but with HPs down to 97 Nil ran away from the oncoming fiends.  With Mel still targeting him he tried using a potion of invisibility, but everything ignored that.  However, by staying on the far side of the arena from Mel Nil seemed to be able to avoid her ranged damage and a few sniping attacks with Blackrazor got him back up to maximum HPs.  A few more summons were killed, while Melissan set off a couple of earthquakes - they were helpful to Nil rather than the reverse by occupying her and damaging her summons.

However, at this stage things seemed to be roughly stalemated.  Nil couldn't clear the summons as fast as Mel was producing them (at least without draining resources) and I was concerned there were an infinite supply of those.  Therefore he chose to go on the attack.  Two GWWs cut through a couple of death tyrants and engaged Melissan.  Two more and her stoneskins were shredded and she took a bit of damage.  However, Nil was also suffering and dipped under 100 HPs.  At that stage, I let Nil retreat back around the arena again and play some more cat and mouse while he got his HPs back before returning to the attack.

As he engaged, before being able to work through the stoneskins (which couldn't be removed by dispelling arrows), Nil was slowed by a death tyrant.  Checking his record, his saves were shown as only 0 vs spells, so something had gone wrong there - possibly the penalty from the malison at the start of the fight was still being applied, even though the spell should have worn off.  Taking a potion of invulnerability reset saves correctly even after it was immediately dispelled.

Returning to the attack, Nil used 2 more GWWs on Mel.  She had reapplied stoneskin during those, but a third punched through again and a fourth started causing serious damage - taking her to near death.  However, Nil was back below 100 HPs himself and I tried to break contact again.  Unfortunately his position was hidden behind the pillar of energy and I couldn't see what was blocking him.  I tried attacking a couple of things, but I'm not sure that Nil was even reaching them and he was still taking damage.  If he'd continued attacking Mel originally I think he would have probably killed her before going down himself, but switching back to her now seemed a very risky proposition.  Therefore I decided this was a good moment to throw principles out of the window and use the rod of resurrection. 

I thought attacking her then would quickly finish the contest, but she soaked up a huge amount of damage while at near death.  Eventually, suspecting her death speech was not triggering because of being hit too frequently, Nil started trying to heal himself again, but before that action completed Mel made her speech.

... and I belatedly remembered that she had more than 1 life. 

With nearly all his GWWs gone and both main improved hastes Nil has not come out of that stage as well as I would have liked!  With hindsight he would have been far better off just ignoring everything else and pressing the attack on Mel right at the start.  Maybe next time.

Modifié par Grond0, 26 avril 2013 - 10:06 .