15226 réponses à ce sujet

[Gate70]

Day 127 hour 11
I thought I was having a bad day. Lassal gets a pair of bonus criticals.


My observation of Raxik has turned up another weakness in his abilities; he survives one golem but has to run around a room to cast two minor heals before finishing the second. Improved invisibility means Rayic Gethras doesn't see what's coming.


Mae'Var is dealt with in an offhand manner.

[Alesia_BH]

 Ashanti, Elven Beastmater: Back in the Saddle 

With the recent spate of deaths in the thread, now seems like a good time to get Ashanti back into the action. Because who better than a beastmaster to avenge the fallen? And what better beastmaster could there be than Ashanti?

(Actually, I can think of a lot of builds better than a beasmaster...And Ashanti is a litttle on the scrawny side...)

(Oww! I think Ashanti just clubbed me over the back of the head! I can't see her though...)

(Feeling a little woozy now...Give me a moment...)

gggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

(Sorry: just had to take a little nappy-nap there...)

Ok. So where was I? Yes: the adventures of the ever dynamic, ever unstoppable, ever heroic Ashanti continue.

(Moondog howls approvingly.)

And so we go: to the De'Arnise Keep.

The De'Arnise Keep

I mentioned earlier that my photobucket account has reached its bandwith limit. If you are wondering why -if you are wondering how that it possible with the 10GB ceiling- I'll give you a clue.



Right: because I insist on doing damn fool things like showing the first dead troll in the De'Arnise Keep- not too mention documenting the demise of Rex, Rover, Sparky and Spot in excrutiating detail.

And what of Nalia's pooches this time? They yet live: slaughtering puppies to evade a few umberhulks doesn't do much for your credibility as a beastmaster. Rather than laying in her pack filleted, they gleefully cheered Ashanti on as she liberated the couryard.  

"Death to the human scum" the Great Yuan Ti declared. But there were no humans to be found: just lions and tigers and elves (Oh my!)


The first meaningful encounter in the Keep was with the yuan-ti mage. Ashanti and her animal brigade handled it deftly. 

After summoning her companions, Ashanti hit the shadows, loaded Tuigan with Arrows of Biting, and prepared to snipe the unwary yuan-ti mage. She suceeded, poisoning him, and then sent her animals on the march.


Shutdown and overwhelmed, he ultimately fell to Cerebus.


And that -even as simple as it was- was the most dramatic fight of the quest. You may be wondering about Torgal: he -like Nalia's pooches- still lives. Ashanti undoubtedly could have taken him down via seperation, but I chose instead to leave him for later ala Firkraag: She'll return when she's ready to take on Torgal and his cronies fair and square.

So: Onto the last few encounters. Glaicus was overwhelmed by lions and tigers and bears after being tagged with Doom-> Dart of Stunning. (Ashanti often stands back and flicks tactical ammo while the animals go to work).


Unwilling to invest a Potion of Absorption in felling the golems, Ashanti went with a cheap Potion of Invisibility instead. 


And then it was off to Athkatla. Ashanti will just have to avoid making eye contact with Nalia untill Torgal is dead.


Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 10 août 2013 - 05:53 .

[Alesia_BH]

 Ashanti, Elven Beastmaster: Mencar and Co.

Having not quite completed the De'Arinse Keep quest -and not feeling ready to show her face in the Nalia inhabited Copper Coronet- Ashanti decided to take on Renal Bloodscalp's charge. Intuiting that the task would entail encounters with mages and thieves, our heroine cleverly concluded that the Cloak of Non-Detection might come in handy. Mencar, consequently, soon had cause to regret letting Amon shop at Irenicus's yard sale.

After buffing with a Potion of Strengh, Draw on Holy Might, and RoAC II, Ashanti equipped her Darts of Stunning and then approached her target- along with her animal companions. The battle began.


Amon -who doesn't use ProMW- was quickly stunned and then dropped, munched by a lion.


A few animals had been positioned between Ashanti and Brennan, but he had no eye for the beasts: he wanted the master herself. Ashanti cast Armor of Faith and readied her Potions of Extra Healing in anticipation of a stab, but a miss by Brennan followed by a landed Dart of Stunning turned the tables: instead it was a thump for Ashanti rather than a jab for Brennan.


An Oil of Speed and the Crimson Dart finished the fray.


With cloak in hand -not to mention coin for potions- Ashanti headed to the Docks.

I'll post on the Mae'Var quest soon.

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 10 août 2013 - 06:27 .

[Gate70]

Day 133 hour 2
My warning to Bodhi that Raxik is after Gracen has come too late, but Lassal assures us the dwarf will be captured in the vampire nest and I should expect imminent delivery. My heart starts beating faster as I watch Raxik head into the nearby lair of Pai'Na, knowing it won't be long before my experiments can pick up again.

Raxik kills Pai'Na and her spiders easily, too easily for my comfort. I quickly send Bodhi a message but she is unable to get hold of Lassal. Then I realise why Raxik seems so unperturbed as he uses a scroll to protect himself from undead. A few greater ghouls are destroyed and two vampires staked after a Daystar / Mace of Disruption combo.

Tanova is next then I see Lassal refusing to move, talk or die. Raxik moves away and rests, returning without the protection scroll and Lassal retreats downstairs. I breathe a sigh of relief as the dwarf can now be drained and captured. Then I see him take another scroll out of his container, but breathe again as he puts it back and leaves the lair. I pass the message on to Bodhi and contemplate how to entrap the dwarf now.

Neb! He'll sort it out. Nope. I think harder as Raxik goes to the docks to get his weapons engraved with who-knows-what as my dwarven runescript is somewhat rudimentary. I think it says "Whampyre duster". No need for me to devise another devious scheme, the dwarf is heading back to Lassal. I make the vampires aware once more so they have time to sharpen their claws and teeth.

Raxik seems curiously unaffected by their attacks and I frantically issue a series of divinations. The mace. It is neutralising the worst of the vampire attacks and just as I discover this secret Lassal is bopped on the head. Down he goes, Raxik using the mace to hammer a stake into his remains.

Bodhi finally receives my message and after tangling with Raxik for a few brief moments decides to leave. I'm too cross to write any more tonight and turn my mind to new levels of deviousness to heap upon the dwarf.

[Gate70]

Day 142 hour 22
Raxik has cleared the first level of Watchers Keep, although a group of statues almost killed him (twice). He then headed downstairs and a group of mists almost killed him a third time. No doubt he's pretending to give up because of a lack of fire/acid (for the sand trolls) but I know he's decided the Keep is too risky at present.

Instead he returned to the city and dealt with a slavery problem for Hendak. A pair of trolls required a flame sword but I noted he was swearing a lot while fighting them.

Off to the de'Arnise Keep next where a group of trolls in the main living area almost had him. He tried to run but thought he was blocked in so fought some more. Eventually he realised he was rooted to the spot with the strength of a child (5) and used a ring of invisibility > DUHM to slope away. On his return he was properly buffed and killed them easily but another group of trolls upstairs also caused him great difficulty. How can I get some trolls into this facility - has to be a good contingency for me. Raxik hates trolls.

I shan't bother with umber hulks, they proved to be 2 hit wonders after feeding and once the first two were dead Raxik melee'd the last three together. Tor'Gal was no match for full item buffs although his two companions again proved troublesome before finally collapsing when told to. Nalia gifted the Hold to Raxik so once I have dealt with him I shall take charge of it.

Modifié par Gate70, 10 août 2013 - 11:20 .

[ussnorway]

Update 2.10; Trust Noone!
@Alesia_BH, welcome back to the gang m8... hope there is some icecream still in the fridge.

Stumbling in the dark;
We released the prisoners from that strange machine and said yes to help a Wizard kill lots of elementals but then the ungrateful bugger tried to cheat us so we feed him to Cassia. The serf villagers needed our help to smite something they dug up by mistake and more than one group warned us about the Drow propensity for ambushing people at their bridge so Daemonique put away her spells and shimmied into her DPS form…





… the silly Drow should have retreated but for some reason people keep underestimating my Druids.

[Gate70]

Day 147 hour 19
I can't get any more trolls, having seen Raxik clear the druid grove out I can understand why. I'm having to refine my plans too as he purchased a stupid amount of potions from Adratha. I observed him observing Cernd beat Faldorn, then watched as he cleared up Rejiek Hidesman and the mantle of Waukeen before stashing various items in Watchers Keep.

I'm practicing ranged maze spells - that should give him something to worry about.

(Kensai 18, 874 kills : Kangaxx. Will try & save the amulet for the end portion of the game)

Modifié par Gate70, 11 août 2013 - 09:33 .

[Alesia_BH]

ussnorway wrote...
@Alesia_BH, welcome back to the gang m8... hope there is some icecream still in the fridge.

Thanks! 

(I'm not so much an ice cream fan though: lemon poppy seed cake is my indulgence. )

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 11 août 2013 - 09:46 .

[Gate70]

Day 152 hour 16
I cross Tarnor the Hatchetman off my emergency contact list as Kitthix webs him. With Gauis, Zorl and Rengaard already chunked the web outlasts the shorty contents then Gallchobhair and Draug Fea join their companions.

I'm going to need a special sort of undead if the improved Mace of Disruption and Belm are anything to go by. Raxik doesn't even buff to drop skeleton warriors, ghasts, mummies, greater mummies and a lich so I should see if Bodhi can suggest something deadlier.

Beholders and gauth look promising and despite full buffs one group  (3+3) sees a pair of gauth survive long enough for Raxik to resort to a ring of invisibility to avoid death by cause serious wounds. There are no other large groups and the Unseeing Eye gets rodded and prodded.

Roger the Fence has made brisk trade today and picked up a ton of loot in exchange for numerous potions. There were a few magic resistance potions purchased so I'm getting as worried about Maze as Raxik is.

[Alesia_BH]

Ashanti, Elven Beastmaster: Mae'Var's Guildhall

Now with cloak in tow, Ashanti sauntered off to the docks and rendezvoused with Renal. Assigned to infiltrate, subtlety seemed advisable. But tell me: How exactly can you be subtle when you are accompanied by three lions and a pair of mountain bears?

Rayic Gethras was the first to get a heaping plateful of beastlie subtlety. 

Running Pro Fire and Resist Fire/Cold -and with Call of the Wild, Shield of Harmony, and the Belt of Inertial Barrier equipped- Ashanti engaged her foe.
 

Rayic's ProMW, Stoneskins, and loaded spellbook made attacking unwise in the early going: instead she used her cloak.


The expiration of ProMW created an opening for Ashanti to put her arrows into play, but Gethras's Spell Trigger counter kept him in the game. Ashanti vanished again.


A second Ashanti ranged assault was countered with a Stoneskins, Fire Shield: Red, Fireshield: Blue sequencer. That left him vulnerable to acid arrows. Gethras's Symbol Fear was foiled by Ashanti's personal item Call of the Wild (basically Kiel's helmet with a +1 save bonue).


The finish came soon after.


On to the Mae'Var fight. With a protective layer of animals between her and Mae'Var's blade, Ashanti gingerly and discretely bashed the Priest of Cyric over the head while her lions shreaded his remains.


Moondog let out a cry: Mae'Var is on the move. But he wasn't a whole lot more subtle than Ashanti what with the big shiny disc at his feet. That thing would rock on a dance floor: When trying to backstab, not so much. Animals closed off Mae'Var's approaches while Ashanti finished his assasins. 


Mae'Var managed to put the fear in Ashanti's beasts, but he had by that time given up on attacking Ashanti- instead pursuing her pets.


In the end, Ashanti finished Mae'Var with acid arrows while Cave Bear and Cerebus gnawed on his shins. All in all, not a good day for Mae'Var.


Not a bad one for Ashanti, however. I'll cover the Windspear HIlls quest next.


Best,

A.


Btw. Ashanti has since completed the Planer Sphere and Planar Prison quests. She has also finished off Torgal. I'll try to post on all four this evening.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 12 août 2013 - 02:07 .

[Gate70]

Day 158 hour 5
Bodhi tells me about a Shade Lord and his Shadow Dragon, they sound almost perfect. Almost.

The dragon had a fair chance no chance despite Raxik talking before combat began. Stoneskin > PFMW saw only 2 of the initial whirlwind ability hit so Raxik moved around the room until a whooshing sound (PFMW expired) allowed an improved haste. There was no need to follow up with a GWW though as Thaxyssill'yia was pushing down daisies just as the mirror images expired (although looking at screenshot maybe I had a GWW active too? If so, oops as that only takes a Mace / Belm / Improved Haste combo up from 8apr to 10apr)


Bodhi grimaces, her countenance souring further as I describe how the Shadow Altar survived a few mace blows, then Shadow Patrick takes two as the improved haste expires. The Shade Lord takes a single blow straight through his many mirrors and is destroyed. I hand Bodhi some illithium and tell her to build up immunity pronto.


Maybe the key to this is Valygar - the stalker joining Raxik to guide the way back from Umar.

(Kensai 23 : 1045 kills : Kangaxx)
***** long sword
** two weapon style
* mace, war hammer, flail, bastard sword. Belm, improved haste and WW/GWW mean 1 kensai pip works fine.

Modifié par Gate70, 11 août 2013 - 10:16 .

[Gate70]

That sounds like a lot of progress Alesia. Good luck.

Day 159 hour 19
I swear Raxik is trying to do everything possible before rescuing Imoen. He's just freed Haer'Dalis from Mekrath, albeit saying the wrong thing to Mekrath and killing him plus his pet yuan-ti pack. Having part accepting the job then deciding not to proceed Raxik wasn't expecting an imp or lesser earth elemental to be near Roger, but soon notched their numbers up on Daystar.

Two can play at his game, I'm working on a number of allegiances to ensure Raxik falls into my hands. Tolgerias is the obvious candidate while Sion and Ketta are also worth pursuing as is the Planar Prison Warden and Firkraag. Anarg and his fallen paladins are long-shots but better than my acorn dryads or the spirit of Wellyn. I'm not sure if the Ships Bounty pirates will ever venture out of their hideaway despite the offer I've made to them.

I'll see him soon, either under his own steam or trussed like Tiax.

Modifié par Gate70, 11 août 2013 - 10:49 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

Nice going as always, Alesia, keep it up! 

And Raxik is shining as his Daystar!


Meanwhile the Avatars made their first steps in ToB. And first obstacle was the Ascension version of Tougher Illasera. Rumors told that she is quite deadly with her bow and dispel-on-hit ammunition so we had prepared properly: aside of our usual buffs Alesia laid some traps all over the Stonehenge. That was enough to kill the Black Reaver Mage instantly and damage Illasera severely so she went etherial/invisible and retreated allowing us to eliminate her goons in safety. Then Alesia  (with Reflection Shield equipped) scouted her location: *Ah, there you are! At full health and snipping our Planetar at point blank*. Illasera won the duel vs Planetar but was wounded severely as well so our Skelly Warrior cleavered her on two halves right in the next round.

Then, with our buffs still active, we passed our first Pocket Plane Challenge. At first it was nothing unusual - kobold commandos, dopplegangers, sahuagins, drow. Then appeared several Ogre Mages (I can't remember I've faced something like that ever before so I began to suspect even more surprises...). And my misgivings did not failed me - Jon appeared! Again!! As if I didn't killed him twice already!!! Looks like Jon started to adopt Sarevok's bad habit to rise again and again... That was rather unexpected... (I had made that challenge in my current install with my previous char and there were no any signs of Jon back then. As it seems my current Blade' high level make a difference here...).  And this time he wasn't alone - he has a Simmy at his side. And right at the moment our buffs began to fade ... Krimlor called his Deva for some help while we retreated to the entrance' side to rebuff filling the space behind with Cloudkills. Jon managed to launch a Remove Magic followed by Comet hitting Alesia and Krimlor badly but we had a Superior Healing potions from Illasera fight so that wasn't a big deal. Our Cloudkills kept Jon at bay while Deva distracted Simmy Jon and two Effreti draining Jon's best spells. With Simmy Jon gone and Effreti eliminated Pot stripped real Jon of his protections and finished with ADHW.

  

  

Onto Saradush.

to be continued...

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 12 août 2013 - 12:07 .

[Gate70]

Serg, the blue ovals around your characters e.g. when talking to Illasera. Are they amended versions of the cloak of mirroring etc - if so I'll need to check your modlist out in more detail.

& the Irenicus I recall from mods (Ascension + SCS iirc) usually turned up with Bodhi and someone else (mr glowy eyes I believe but can't be certain).

[Alesia_BH]

Ashanti, Elven Beastmaster: Windspear Hills

"Can I ask a question? Just one single, solitary question?"

"Yes? I can? Ok then. Here it is: Who let the bears out?"


After collecting her praises and prizes from Renal, Ashanti made a trip to the Coronet, seeking for further work. Spying her former employer, Nalia, out of the corner of her eye, Ashanti hit the shadows- only revealing herself when she spied a fashionable gent dressed in red who appeared to be in need of assistance. A quick convo confirmed Ashanti's suspicions and before long she was on her way to the Windspear Hills.   

Her destination proved to be poorly named. "Windspear Hills" calls up visions of winsome meadows and rolling fields sprinkled with plump pheasants and cheeky lagomorphs. What Ashanti found instead was a barren wasteland- home to orcs and goblins, werewovles and ankhegs: steel to be kept at hand (or in Ashanti's case, faithful wood).

The Winspear Hills proved also to be inhabited by intrigue: a sudden turn of events found Ashanti hunting her supposed benefactor rather the monsters that had been her purported charge. With club in hand -and spell in head- Ashanti ventured forth to an abandoned palace, unsure of what she might find.

A rhakshasa, Ruhk Transmuter, was the first worthy foe to impede Ashanti's progress.


But the clever use of her bow and the bravery of her beasts brought her would be impediment to foot. Cerebus crooned gleefully when the battle came to an end: this rhakshasa had been a force of no small evil in his estimation.


Inward, ever inward- towards darker and darker evils. A scroll held a cadre of undead at bay, but the mere sight of them was enough to shake Ashanti to the core.


Then a familiar face- though in a not so familiar guise. It was Tazok: right hand of Sarevok- born and bred a brute. Cerebus and the cave bears worked on him, while Ashanti and the panthers felled his ally. Tazok himself succumbed soon after.


All worthy quests must end in climax. Or anticlimax. Ashanti chose the latter- evading a confrontation with her opponent true and fighting his lieutenant instead. Bows and bears won the day again.


I'll post on Torgal next.

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 12 août 2013 - 06:02 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

@Gate: those are from Spell Immunity (and Spell Trap has the same animation as well). Alesia is wearing the Cloak of Mirroring with //Remove animation from the Cloak of Mirroring (leave it for other spells and effects that use the same graphic)// SCSII component installed and that removes her SI blue oval as well (if I unequip the Cloak the blue oval is back). IIRC it is base component of 1PP mod that change the hideous huge shining ball into that pleasant blue oval. And MGoI/GoI both has just blue ball animation in that case.

As for Irenicus, it looks like that Bodhi & Sarevok will appear if PC is even more high level. Alesia is playing solo mostly and I think she has both of them at that challenge on the battlefield.

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 12 août 2013 - 06:00 .

[Alesia_BH]

Gate70 wrote...
& the Irenicus I recall from mods (Ascension + SCS iirc) usually turned up with Bodhi and someone else (mr glowy eyes I believe but can't be certain).

Yes: It's level sensitive though. With solo characters and Signiifcantly Increased Spawn Difficulty installed, I always get all three. There are other possibilities, however.

As a soloist, I generally find that to be one of the tougher ToB battles.

Anyhoo. Excellent work Serg! Best  of luck with Gromnir!


A.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Thanks, Alesia! And I just wonder why you choose a Staff Mace over the Blackblood Club when fighting vampires? Only because of speed factor and a longer reach (those improved vampires are indeed speedy and evasive) or there were something else you had in mind? Even Crimson Dart would spare you troubles of chasing them all over the place.

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 12 août 2013 - 06:37 .

[Gate70]

OK, will try 1pp at some point. Thanks.

Day 164 hour 22
(majority of time spent resting so nothing unidentified goes into the bag of holding)

Anarg and his paladins have just fallen a bit further so they are of no use to me. Raxik has carefully ventured into the Planar Prison but elects not to explore any of the cells after grabbing the boots of speed. The Master of Thralls is well and truly Daystar'd, one hefty blow taking him from full health to chunked.


Raxik buffs; Hardiness > DUHM > Mirror > Improved Invisibility > Improved Haste. Then he thrusts the mastery orb into the burning brazier and races west and north. 3 hits kill the Warden before his buffing concludes.


A series of whirlwinds killed various yuan-ti despite 3 casters having stoneskins. I cross a few more options off my master plan which is looking more and more like being debuff > maze.

Modifié par Gate70, 12 août 2013 - 06:44 .

[Alesia_BH]

Serg BlackStrider wrote...
Only because of speed factor and a longer reach (those improved vampires are indeed speedy and evasive)

Yes: the Staff Mace is a 2,2 whereas Blackblood is a 4,1.

Even Crimson Dart would spare you troubles of chasing them all over the place.

Not exactly. Crimson Darting them to death takes fracking forever and they still run out of range all the time.

It's sort of a toss up.

(I had a long conversation with Ashanti about the whole metallurgy thing after that fight- pointedly mentioning Azuredge. She still won't budge.)


Best,

A.

 

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 12 août 2013 - 07:01 .

[Gate70]

Day 164 hour 23
No no no! The Jon-cam snapshots below show the anti-clockwise destruction of the Twisted Rune.


It's as if Raxik is honing his skills in preparation for me and everything I plan is meticulously inspected until a flaw can be exploited.

[Gate70]

Day 170 hour 4
Raxik applies his usual buffs for a lesson, and after briefly being held by an acid blob attack he sets to work. Sion > Koshi > Stalman > Olaf > Maferan > Ketta. He has hardly moved and is barely injured.

I have pinned my hopes on Tolgerias for too long, and Raxik is far beyond his capability. I don't fancy cutting a deal with a demon and it turns out that I won't have to, at least not yet.


Raxik seems calm and it is I who is full of despair, until I realise why his preparations seem so complete. He is having dreams while asleep and this is entirely my fault as the Jon-cam is introducing feedback in his slumberous state. There is nothing I can do to prevent it so I must introduce false leads into my thought process.

The dwarven tosser bashes six golems to pieces (with his dwarven thrower ) then returns the Planar Sphere back to the Slums so Lavok can get one last smog-tan.

(Kensai 28, 1200 kills : Kangaxx : 2 x Hardiness, 1 x Whirlwind, 6 x Greater Whirlwind)

Modifié par Gate70, 12 août 2013 - 08:30 .

[Gate70]

Day 178, hour 22
I'm going to be picking up the dregs from various taverns. Chieftain Digdag was cut down at the main entrance so Tazok had to fight alone and Conster was sliced apart without incident. Firkraag had a brief reprieve as Raxik had filled his bags and boots so needed a quick store run. Once back he settled for 40% of ringly fire resistance to save potions and the Dragonslayer long sword made a first appearance.

His standard buffs were followed by a chat so Firkraag had a "fair" fight. The typical dragon Stoneskin > Wing buffet was followed by a fiery explosion (39 damage) but Raxik had returned and added a lesser whirlwind (again looks as though improved haste was still active, thought it had gone). Big red crashes to the ground 3 hits later.


(Kensai 31, 1332 kills : Kangaxx > Firkraag)

A good point to stop for the evening as this run has perhaps been my smoothest yet. I can only think of a couple of moments where Raxik was within 1 hit of death (de'Arnise trolls, 3 beholder / 3 gauth in the Unseeing Eye and maybe the Rayic golems)

[Grond0]

Some good quality runs going here - Iooks like Melissan is in for a world of hurt!

[Alesia_BH]

Gate70 wrote...
A good point to stop for the evening as this run has perhaps been my smoothest yet. I can only think of a couple of moments where Raxik was within 1 hit of death (de'Arnise trolls, 3 beholder / 3 gauth in the Unseeing Eye and maybe the Rayic golems)

Excellent work Gate! Ashanti is glad she won't have to face Raxik anytime soon!

Best,

A.