15253 réponses à ce sujet

[amanasleep]

Jeff W wrote...

Anyone have tips for SCS II Liches? I have max pre buffing turned on and all the AI enhancements. All the spell revisions, etc. Core Rules. Here is my party:

Hero L14 Elf Sorcerer
Aerie L11/L12 Cleric/Mage
Jan Jansen L11 Illusionist/L13 Thief
Edwin L14 Conjurer

I just beat Nezeviah the Nether Scroll Lich, but it was a little too epic for a no reload game, lol. My plan was to send Edwin ahead in Mustard Jelly form with maxed out spell/combat protections including prot. from fire. After draining all the lich's spells on the Mustard Jelly and Summons(for the Death Spells), I'd start hammering him with Death Fog and Mordenkainen's Swords.

Unfortunately, it turns out that liches have a lot of staying power. Nezeviah eventually summoned a Mordy Sword of his own and Edwin had to slither away. I used my Sorcerer's project image to go ahead take out the Sword and start dropping death fogs on Nez, but Nez was immune to acid damage. I guess this is included in the pre buffs and it takes forever to run out.

Eventually, I had to resort to cheesing him with doorhopping+melf's meteors. I'm not sure what the right way to approach these lich battles are. The max pre buffs+breach immunity make things difficult.

SCS2 Liches are not immune to Breach in the latest versions.

[ussnorway]

I assume he is talking about 'Spell Immunity' (Abjuration).

[amanasleep]

ussnorway wrote...

I assume he is talking about 'Spell Immunity' (Abjuration).

If that's the case, then he can soak up spells early, and then cast Warding Whip->True Seeing->Breach.

But I doubt he's talking about SI:A, since by that definition any SCS2 spellcaster is "immune" to Breach.

[Jeff W]

amanasleep wrote...

SCS2 Liches are not immune to Breach in the latest versions.

Ah, this is the missing piece to the puzzle. Thanks.

[Thailog]

Hey guys, I'm entering Tyrus, a Chaotic Good human Berserker into the challenge.





He just finished BG1 (via EasyTutu), hence the boosted stats and the slightly higher starting XP. Sadly, he didn't quite make it through the first game without dying. Well, let's hope he fares better in BG2. Here are the mods that I'm using:

BG2 Fixpack
Item Revisions
Spell Revisions
1PP
Banter Pack
Unfinished Business
Quest Pack
Rogue Rebalancing
BG2 Tweaks
P&P Free Action
SCSII
aTweaks
NPC Kitpack
Level 1 NPCs
Widescreen Mod


By the way, I'm playing on core rules, but with the BG2 Tweaks component which gives max HP on level up along with some other convenience stuff. Also, my SCSII settings are fairly low key. For example, I've skipped over most "tougher/improved X" components and chose the "no prebuff" option for enemy mages and priests. Finally, I'm using the Level 1 NPC mod, so my party will eventually look like this: Imoen/Yoshimo (Bounty Hunter), Keldorn (Inquisitor), Anomen (Fighter/Priest of Helm), Nalia (Skald) and Aerie (Illusionist).


Chronicles of Tyrus the Berserker, part 1


Tyrus awakens in a cage with a terrible headache. The last thing he remembers is celebrating the victory over Sarevok in the Friendly Arm inn with his companions. He has no memory of how he got here or why he was captured. The only thing he faintly recalls are blurry images of a powerful mage torturing him over and over again. Imoen, Tyrus' childhood friend is also here, as are two other people that seem vaguely familiar. Apparently, one of them is Jaheira, the druid whom he briefly met some time after leaving Candlekeep and the other one is Minsc, a huge warrior who used to hang around Nashkel. Even though they don't know these two very well, Tyrus and Imoen are willing to help them out so they decide to join forces and find an exit from this horrible place.

Escaping from the dungeon proves harder than expected. In particular, the fights against against the Ogre Mage, Illych & co. and the Shadow Thief mage who was battling a vampire were much tougher than usual.





On the way out, the party picked up Yoshimo and Tyrus got his hands on Sarevok's sword after freeing an enslaved genie. Outside, the mage from Tyrus' nightmares is causing a ruckus which gains the attention of the Cowled Wizards. In the heat of battle, Imoen carelessly casts a spell at the mage and the enforcers take both of them away for violating the city's "no magic in public" policy.

After resting up at the local inn, Minsc convinces Tyrus to help a young boy whose mother disappeared inside an enchanted circus tent. The party enters the tent and faces several shadows and werevolves before encountering a suspiciously soft spoken Ogre. It turns out that the creature's monstrous appearance is merely an illusion which Tyrus breaks revealing an elven maiden named Aerie. She joins the group as they venture deeper into the tent and face a crazed gnome who is responsible for these events. His name is Kalah and he apparently wanted to rule over others in the form of an Ogre Mage. A few sword swipes from Tyrus quickly bring him down to earth which breaks the illusion and restores everything to normal.

As it turns out, Tyrus' former companion Quayle works in this circus. He seems unwilling to rejoin the party at this time, though he urges Tyrus to take Aerie along. In the City Slums, the group encounters a rogue named Gaelan Bayle who claims that his associates can provide a way to rescue Imoen for a paltry sum of 20,000 gp. Seeing no other alternative, Tyrus considers his options on the way to the local inn. He recently heard that a noblewoman named Nalia is seeking assistance with clearing her keep of a monster infestation and that she is willing to pay well for it. It turns out that she is a capable bard as well, so Tyrus lets her join up and releases Minsc and Jaheira from his service.

Having overheard Tyrus' and Nalia's conversation, a young knight named Anomen chats up the party. Apparently, he is looking for an opportunity to prove himself so that he can become worthy of joining the Order of the Radiant Heart. Tyrus chuckles as the situation reminds him of Ajantis, one of his former companions, so he lets the knight join up too. At Anomen's request, the party visits the Order's headquarters in the Temple District to see if they have any work for them. Once there, they are tasked with investigating a cult whose followers gather in the sewers below the city and are also given instructions to check on some paladins who have fallen from grace.

Down in the sewers, the group finds Keldorn, a paladin who is also investigating the secret cult. Tyrus decides that it would be wise if they looked into the matter together, so the old warrior joins the party's ranks. He immediately proves his worth by helping the group take down a Rakshasa and a band of kobolds who had taken residence in the sewers' central area.





The kobolds fall to a well placed Fireball from Aerie but the Rakshasa is unscathed and quickly pulls up some spells of his own. He uses Shadow Door in order to buy himself enough time to put up Protection from Magic Weapons and Stoneskin. Fortunately, being an Inquisitor, Keldorn is specialized in dealing with evil spellcasters. He brings down the creature's defenses with a Dispel Magic after which Tyrus and Yoshimo hack it to pieces. From the Rakshasa corpse the group recovers an old, magic cloak which Keldorn is unwilling to wear, leaving it to Tyrus instead. Exhausted from the effort, the party returns to the Copper Coronet to get some rest.



Party overview:

Tyrus - Berserker(9)
Keldorn - Inquisitor(9)
Anomen - Fighter(7)/Cleric(11)
Yoshimo - Bounty Hunter(11)
Aerie - Illusionist(9)
Nalia - Skald(10)

Modifié par Thailog, 05 avril 2011 - 06:35 .

[Thailog]

Chronicles of Tyrus the Berserker, part 2


After getting some rest at the Copper Coronet, the party discovers that the inn is merely a front for a company of slavers. Tyrus and Keldorn won't stand for this and the rest of the party is more than willing to back them up. They dispose of a beastmaster and use his key to liberate Hendak, the leader of the slaves, from his cell. The barbarian promptly takes his revenge on the inn's former owner and appoints himself as the new proprietor. He suggests that the slavers might have a base of operations nearby so the party heads underground to investigate.

In the sewers, the group discovers the entrance to the slavers' den after dealing with some hobgoblins and kobolds. These critters are a bit tougher than Tyrus remembers from his adventures in Baldur's Gate. They are now accompanied by shamans who have several nasty spells at their disposal. Fortunately, Holy Smite still works well against them. Upon securing the area, Tyrus discovers a more or less, intelligent sword after solving a magical riddle. Afterwards, the party prepares to face the slavers in their lair.





The battle against the first group of enemies goes pretty smoothly and their leader falls soon after. Going deeper into the slavers' den, the party frees some children and deals with a couple of Trolls and some Yuan-Ti before encountering the second enemy group. This bunch is much better prepared, and their two mages would have been a serious problem, were it not for Keldorn's special abilities. BTW, I really like what Item Revisions did with his sword. It now silences opponents on hit and deals extra damage to evil creatures, which I find much more fitting than the version from the original game.





Largely thanks to our resident Inquisitor's Dispel Magic and True Seeing, the enemy mages are quickly overpowered. The remaining slavers scatter in disarray, making them easy targets for the rest of the party. After clearing out the slaver hideout, Tyrus reports back to Hendak and receives some gold and a magical sword for his trouble. Anomen reminds the group that they had promised to look for the fallen paladins, so everyone heads towards the Bridge District. After feigning interest in joining the ex-paladins, Tyrus lures out the group's leader into the open and deals with him personally. It helps that both he and his companions failed to notice several snares which Yoshimo had placed in the vicinity before the battle. They trigger and the enemies take heavy damage, allowing Tyrus and Keldorn to finish them off with ease.

On their way back to the Temple District, the party is ambushed by some muggers whose untimely demise provides Yoshimo with several invisibility potions. He also sneaks into one of the houses and recovers a Horn of Valhalla, an item which can be used to summon forth the spirit of a legendary Norse warrior. After returning Anarg's cup to the Order, Tyrus remembers his promise to Nalia and takes the group towards her castle. On the way there, the party is ambushed by a another bunch of bandits who provide Nalia with a new sword and Tyrus with a shiny plate mail. In the evening, the group arrives at the de'Arnise keep, where Nalia explains the full extent of the situation with the invaders.


Party overview:

Tyrus - Berserker(9)
Keldorn - Inquisitor(9)
Anomen - Fighter(7)/Cleric(12)
Yoshimo - Bounty Hunter(11)
Aerie - Illusionist(10)
Nalia - Skald(11)

Modifié par Thailog, 06 avril 2011 - 08:02 .

[Jeff W]

Have a nice run going:

Hero is Elf Sorcerer L16
Aerie L12 cleric/L12 mage
Jan Jansen L12 illusionist/L14 thief

I'm trying to do Watcher's Keep Level 1-2 so I can get the Wand of Spellstriking on L2 for my Sorcerer, who is foregoing breach.

The Watcher's Keep female Cleric statue is insane with SCS II(although admittedly I've never done TOB content before this game). She has unlimited chain contingencies that renew any time you leave her sight. This wouldn't be so bad except one of the spells is regenerate, so it is impossible to wear her down. She shrugs off sunfires, abi dhalsim's horrid wilting and mordenkainen's swords like nothing. I tried everything before using Summon Fiend. The Glabrezu managed to take her out, but it took almost the entire 15 round summon duration.

Edit: It was easier to kill all of the other statues combined than that one Cleric. Bizarre. On to WK 2.

Modifié par Jeff W, 07 avril 2011 - 12:24 .

[amanasleep]

Jeff W wrote...

Have a nice run going:

Hero is Elf Sorcerer L16
Aerie L12 cleric/L12 mage
Jan Jansen L12 illusionist/L14 thief

I'm trying to do Watcher's Keep Level 1-2 so I can get the Wand of Spellstriking on L2 for my Sorcerer, who is foregoing breach.

The Watcher's Keep female Cleric statue is insane with SCS II(although admittedly I've never done TOB content before this game). She has unlimited chain contingencies that renew any time you leave her sight. This wouldn't be so bad except one of the spells is regenerate, so it is impossible to wear her down. She shrugs off sunfires, abi dhalsim's horrid wilting and mordenkainen's swords like nothing. I tried everything before using Summon Fiend. The Glabrezu managed to take her out, but it took almost the entire 15 round summon duration.

Edit: It was easier to kill all of the other statues combined than that one Cleric. Bizarre. On to WK 2.

Did you try Slow?  That and gang Mordy Swords should also have done the trick without resulting to the forces of darkness.

[Jeff W]

amanasleep wrote...

Jeff W wrote...

The Watcher's Keep female Cleric statue is insane with SCS II(although admittedly I've never done TOB content before this game). She has unlimited chain contingencies that renew any time you leave her sight. This wouldn't be so bad except one of the spells is regenerate, so it is impossible to wear her down. She shrugs off sunfires, abi dhalsim's horrid wilting and mordenkainen's swords like nothing. I tried everything before using Summon Fiend. The Glabrezu managed to take her out, but it took almost the entire 15 round summon duration.

Did you try Slow?  That and gang Mordy Swords should also have done the trick without resulting to the forces of darkness.

No, her "chain contingency" (it's really just a pre buffing script) includes free action and lots of other stuff like Physical Mirror, too. Plus she magic resistance.

5 hasted mordy swords with Sunfire support couldn't get her past injured before being unsummoned and she was always to uninjured again in an instant. Summon Fiend was truly my last resort. 

[Thailog]

Jeff W wrote...

The Watcher's Keep female Cleric statue is insane with SCS II(although admittedly I've never done TOB content before this game). She has unlimited chain contingencies that renew any time you leave her sight.

Sounds like a bug.

You should probably report that to the author of the mod. Here's the link to his forum: click me.

Modifié par Thailog, 07 avril 2011 - 06:52 .

[Thailog]

Chronicles of Tyrus the Berserker, part 3


It soon becomes apparent that Nalia's keep is under attack by all manners of nasty critters, including but not limited to Trolls, Yuan-Ti and Umber Hulks. At the palisade, the guard captain warns the party that trolls can only be killed with fire or acid, so Tyrus has the group's casters stock up on the appropriate spells. Nalia leads the party into the castle through a back door where they rescue one of her servants. Nearby, Yoshimo discovers a secret chamber where Tyrus re-forges a magical flail. Though formidable, the weapon is incomplete at the moment as two of its pieces are missing.

After clearing out the ground floor of trolls, the party enters the courtyard where Tyrus lowers the drawbridge to let some of the keep's guards back in. Upstairs, the party rescues Nalia's aunt after slaying a few more trolls and a Yuan-Ti mage. The ungrateful old hag is getting on Tyrus' nerves so he decides to "rescue" a few of the keep's treasures from a nearby chapel for compensation. The place is guarded by a bunch of golems, but the party is able to handle them, largely thanks to Anomen's Mass Cures and Aerie's Stoneskin/Mirror Image combo.

In the alcoves, the group discovers several magic items, including another piece of the flail. After securing the last part from a mind-controlled guard, Tyrus restores the weapon to its original form and hands it over to Anomen. The re-forged Flail of Ages comes in handy when the group enters the basement and runs into more trolls and a pack of Umber Hulks. The latter have a nasty confusing gaze but Nalia manages to counter it with her battlesong. Finally, the party faces off against the leader of the monsters, a giant troll named Torgal, who implies that he is merely a tool for "someone stronger".





The group is well prepared for the battle and after a few Holy Smites from Anomen and some swordplay from Tyrus and Keldorn, Aerie burns Torgal and his minions to a crisp. Unfortunately, Tyrus is too late to save Nalia's father who died valiantly while defending his home. Nalia is very distraught by this as her father's death left in the center of a political intrigue. She suggests that Tyrus could claim the castle as his own for the time being, until the situation stabilizes and proper order can be restored. He accepts and is promptly named Lord of the Keep. With Nalia's reward money in his pocket, Tyrus now has enough gold to pay off the Shadow Thieves so the party heads back to Athkhatla.

Back in the city, the group is intercepted by a hooded figure who introduces herself as Valen, claiming that her mistress can offer Tyrus a better deal for finding Imoen. However, Keldorn distrusts this woman, sensing great evil within her soul. Tyrus heeds the paladin's warning and opts to play it safe and stick with the Shadow Thieves. He pays Gaelan off which gets him an audience with Aran Linvail, the man in charge of all Shadow Thief operations in Athkhatla. He agrees to help the party with finding Imoen, but he wants them to take care of a few things for him first. For starters, he needs someone to watch over a special shippment which will arrive at the docks during the night.

Since the party has some time to kill before nightfall, Yoshimo suggests that they pay a visit to the local guildmaster, Renal Bloodscalp, to whom he seemingly owes a favor. The rogue enlists the party's help in exposing a Shadow Thief traitor named Mae'Var. I order to do that, they pretend to join his guild and are soon tasked with stealing a necklace from a priestess at the Temple of Talos. Yoshimo accomplishes this task easily, but on the way back, the party is runs into a bunch of bandits who are about to finish off a wounded man. Tyrus interferes and the party rescues the victim who appears to have been poisoned. The party takes him back to his friends at the docks but Tyrus decides not to follow the mater further for now.

Mae'Var's next task is much more daunting. At the insistence of Edwin, a Red Wizard of Thay whom Tyrus had briefly met in Nashkel, the group must dispose of a powerful member of the Cowled Wizards. The mage's home is well guarded and the party has to clear out two floors of his minions before finally facing him.





Surprisingly, the wizard falls with unexpected ease. After Keldorn dispels his protections, the cowled one is unable to withstand the combined onslaught of the party's frontliners. From his body, Tyrus recovers a signet ring which he returns to Edwin as proof that the deed is done. However, the Thayan is unsatisfied and hands out another bunch of menial tasks to the party. After all that is finished, Edwin admits that he knew that the group had been spying on Mae'Var all along and offers his assistance. Tyrus declines, but takes his key which opens the guild's strongbox where the party discovers some documents which implicate Mae'Var. Renal is happy to finally have some proof and allows the group to deal with the traitor as they see fit.

After a bit of preparation, the party enters the guild and faces off against the traitorous thieves. I should mention that SCS gives them a bunch of invisibility and speed potions which makes their backstabs more frequent and dangerous. Fortunately, Keldorn's True Sight is able to disrupt their "hide and seek" strategy long enough for Aerie to finish casting a Chaos spell. It confuses Mae'Var and two of his cronies making them easy pickings for Tyrus and Keldorn. Meanwhile, Anomen and a berserker summoned by the Horn of Valhalla dispose of the enemy cleric and dispatch the other stragglers.





Renal is extremely pleased and rewards the party with no less than 10,000 gp and even throws in a Short Sword +3 as a bonus. After selling off some surplus gear, Tyrus takes the group shopping. Yoshimo gets a Returning Frost Dart and a new buckler, Nalia buys a Fragment of Enlightenment which boosts her lore and a harp that removes confusion while Aerie receives a Deep Red Ioun stone which slightly raises her dexterity. Even after all this, the party still has some money left, so they head for the Government District in order to procure a spellcasting license. Upon arriving there, Keldorn invites everyone to stay at his home while he visits his family.


Party overview:

Tyrus - Berserker(10)
Keldorn - Inquisitor(10)
Anomen - Fighter(7)/Cleric(13)
Yoshimo - Bounty Hunter(12)
Aerie - Illusionist(11)
Nalia - Skald(12)

[Jeff W]

Meh, my game was going really well and then I decided to fight Firkraag pre-Spellhold. I "won" since hero survived, but Aerie got chunked, so I won't continue this game.

The battle didn't go anything like I thought it would(this is SCS II). I was expecting a tough fight, but he wrecked my party(Sorcerer,Aerie,Jan) in 2 rounds when fire protections ran out unexpectedly. He killed Jan in one hit with breath weapon and hero (72 hp) only survived via rod of resurrection heal despite Blur, Improved Invis, Belt of the Inertial Barrier *and* Cloak of Displacement to improve saves. Aerie was chunked. 

I finally managed to kill him after 3xLower Resistance+4 horrid wiltings on top of whatever damage the summons did. I hit him with 2xSpook sequencer, but he made his saves or is just immune. I am sure there is a lot I did wrong here, but I wasn't expecting such an insane fight.

Modifié par Jeff W, 08 avril 2011 - 01:14 .

[Thailog]

Jeff W wrote...

Meh, my game was going really well and then I decided to fight Firkraag pre-Spellhold. I "won" since hero survived, but Aerie got chunked, so I won't continue this game.

Just out of curiosity, did you install the SCSII component which is supposed to prevent party members from getting perma-killed?

[Jeff W]

Thailog wrote...

Jeff W wrote...

Meh, my game was going really well and then I decided to fight Firkraag pre-Spellhold. I "won" since hero survived, but Aerie got chunked, so I won't continue this game.

Just out of curiosity, did you install the SCSII component which is supposed to prevent party members from getting perma-killed?

Nope. I strongly considered it because I don't like to continue games when characters get chunked. I installed every max difficulty enhancing option except improved spiders and robe of vecna (my precious) removal. 

[Thailog]

Jeff W wrote...

Nope. I strongly considered it because I don't like to continue games when characters get chunked.

In my experience it works pretty well.

I've had several partymembers die during the BG1 part of my game and they never got chunked beyond resurrection.

[Thailog]

Chronicles of Tyrus the Berserker, part 4


On the way to Keldorn's house, Tyrus rescues Viconia from an angry mob who were about to torch her just for bring a drow. However, he doesn't let her join the party, due to Keldorn and Aerie's disapproval. The group then acquires a spellcasting license from the Cowled Wizards and proceeds to Keldorn's home. Apparently, the old paladin was so immersed in his work that he neglected his duties as father and husband. Keldorn's wife admits to cheating on him, so he goes to confront her lover. After meeting this man face to face, Keldorn realizes that the blame lies with himself and goes back to apologize to his wife. He promises that helping Tyrus will be his final quest and takes a few days off to sort things out with his family.

To pass the time, Tyrus decides to look into hiring the artist Sarles for the Temple of Helm since his house is nearby. Unfortunately, he only wants to work with pure illithium, an exceptionally rare metal. After some investigating, the party tracks the last illithium shipment in the city to a duergar who somehow lost it again. Sensing where this is going and not wanting to needlessly delay his search for Imoen, Tyrus goes back to the ore merchant and asks her to make a forgery, hoping that it will satisfy the eccentric artist. Unfortunately, he sees through the ruse and refuses to cooperate, but things still work out since the High Watcher of Helm thinks the fake illithium lump makes a satisfactory substitute for the commissioned statue.

While Keldorn is away, Nalia takes the opportunity to "liberate" a few potions and scrolls from several Amnish soldiers who are guarding Waukeen's Promenade. Her lucky streak doesn't last and she eventually gets caught. By the way, I really like how failing a single pickpocket attempt no longer turns the whole damn city hostile. This was something that always bugged me in the original game. Thankfully, Nalia is able to talk her way out of the mess, courtesy of Rogue Rebalancing.





In the morning, Keldorn rejoins the party just as two messengers appear. One bears ill news for Anomen, his sister is dead and he needs to return home immediately. The other one informs Nalia that her father is to be buried at the local cemetery later that day. Since Anomen's home is nearby, Tyrus takes the party there first. As it turns out, Anomen's father is a bitter old drunkard who blames the not-quite-yet knight for his sister's death. He urges his son to take revenge and kill a merchant who supposedly orchestrated her murder. However, Tyrus and Keldorn manage to convince Anomen to take the matter to the proper authorities instead of seeking revenge.

The party then heads for the cemetery to attend the funeral of the late Lord de'Arnise. Among the attendees Tyrus finds Isaea Roenal, the nobleman with whom Nalia had an arranged marriage. This chump still clings to that premise and wants to claim the de'Arnise castle for himself. He swears revenge after Nalia rebukes his advances once again. That night at the docks, Tyrus locates a Shadow Thief named Mook and agrees to help her guard an incoming shipment. Shortly thereafter, the group is attacked by a powerful vampire who kills the thief before anyone can react. Tyrus heads back to report this to Aran but the group is ambushed by three more vampires.





The creatures were originally chasing after some other Shadow Thief but they suddenly decide to attack the party instead. Their claws drain a few levels from Aerie and Anomen while Tyrus shrugs off their assault thanks to his berserker rage. After our knight-in-training drops a Holy Smite on their heads, two vampires are blinded and quickly fall to Keldorn and Tyrus' swords. Back at the thief guild, Aran doesn't seem too upset over Mook's demise and sends the party to deal with some traitors. He also mentions that one of Gaelan's fences has gone missing and asks Tyrus to look into the matter if he finds the time.

At Gaelan's house, Tyrus discovers some clues which indicate that the missing fence has recently visited the Five Flagons inn which, conveniently, is the party's next destination. In one of the rooms on the inn's upper floor the party discovers the fence's journal. Since he's an elf, his journal is of course written in elvish, making it entirely useless to Tyrus. Fortunately, Aerie is able to translate the relevant bits and Tyrus learns that the fence was actually an elven spy keeping tabs on someone at the cemetery. In the adjacent room, the party finds two Shadow Thief traitors and deals with them along with their contact. On the way back to the docks, the group gets ambushed by three Rakshasa who are apparently after the Flail of Ages.





They don't last long against Keldorn and Tyrus, though their Cloudkill hurts Aerie and Nalia pretty badly. Back at the thief guild, Aran is pleased with the group's progress and sends them to carry out one final task. They are to defeat Bodhi, the head vampiress who lurks somewhere in the crypts beneath the city's graveyard. Sensing that taking out a den full of vampires won't be an easy task, Tyrus leads the party to an inn so that everyone can get some proper rest and rearrange their spells.


Party overview:

Tyrus - Berserker(11)
Keldorn - Inquisitor(11)
Anomen - Fighter(7)/Cleric(13)
Yoshimo - Bounty Hunter(13)
Aerie - Illusionist(11)
Nalia - Skald(13)

Modifié par Thailog, 08 avril 2011 - 04:11 .

[Thailog]

Chronicles of Tyrus the Berserker, part 5


The party descends into the crypts and mashes up some spiders led by a drow priestess. Nearby, Tyrus spots Arledrian, the missing Shadow Thief fence who is apparently engaged in a battle with some vampires. The group assists him in dispatching the creatures and Anomen heals his wounds afterward. In gratitude, he gives Tyrus an enchanted silver dagger which was crafted specifically to fight vampires. How convenient.

Clearing out the vampire lair turns out to be less dangerous than expected. This is largely thanks to Spell Revision's take on Negative Plane Protection which now lasts 1 turn/level. Coupled with Chaotic Commands, that is more than enough to give Tyrus and Keldorn an edge against the bloodsuckers. Things get even easier after Anomen recovers a Mace of Disruption from the vampires' blood pool.





After all vampires are slaughtered and staked their mistress finally makes an appearance. She taunts Tyrus that the Shadow Thieves are merely using him as a tool and even reveals her own connection to Irenicus to him. Upon hearing this, Tyrus goes berserk and attacks, forcing Bodhi into a retreat. Back at the thief guild, he confronts Aran about Bodhi's ramblings and the Shadowmaster confirms the thieves' involved in Tyrus' and Imoen's capture. Naturally, Aran downplays his own role in the events and offers to take the party to the island where Imoen is currently being held as penance. Since the group has some money to spare, Tyrus decides to thoroughly restock before embarking on such a long journey.

After purchasing some magical items and spell scrolls at Waukeen's Promenade the party gets some proper rest at the most expensive rooms of the Mithrest Inn. Next morning, as they prepare to depart for the docks, two messengers appear. Hm, do these guys always work in pairs or something? Anyhow, one of them tells Aerie that her uncle wants to see her while the other informs Anomen that the time for his test has come. The party stops by the circus where Quayle asks them to help one of his friends at the local theater. However, Tyrus has more pressing matters on his mind right now and ignores the gnome's request. The group proceeds to the Temple District where Anomen passes his test and becomes a full-fledged Priest of Helm, courtesy of the NPC Kitpack.





However, there is no time to celebrate as long as Imoen isn't safe. The party makes some final preparations and departs for Spellhold. After a few days, the ship arrives at the island of Brynnlaw, where the treacherous captain Saemon delivers the group right into the hands of some vampires. Tyrus flies into a rage which protects him from the vampires' charm and level drain and takes on the creatures alone. Keldorn, being immune to charm due to his Inquisitor training, joins in and the assailants soon fall. Sime, the party's Shadow Thief escort, goes after Saemon while Tyrus takes his group to the local tavern. They arrive just in time to save a man named Sanik from an assassin.





He claims to know a way into Spellhold but asks Tyrus to rescue his girlfriend, Claire, from the local brothel owner in return. The group fulfills this task without breaking a sweat and shuts the place down in the process. Reunited with Claire, Sanik explains that there are two ways to enter Spellhold. One involves acquiring a special wardstone from a Cowled Wizard, and the other being sent to the facility by a local pirate lord. As Yoshimo claims to know the latter, Tyrus lets him make the appropriate arrangements and the party enters the asylum.

Tyrus finds Imoen among the inmates, however, she seems to have been through a lot and barely recognizes him. Irenicus makes an appearance soon after and announces that Yoshimo has been his pawn all along. Apparently, the rogue has put something into the party's recent meal which allows Irenicus to overpower everyone with a mere gesture.

When Tyrus awakes, he is trapped inside a glass container and forced into a lucid dream. Within it, he encounters a vision of Bhaal and has to sacrifice a point of his dexterity in order to defeat it. In reality, Irenicus has drained Tyrus' of his divine essence which takes away his Bhaalpowers. Weakened, Tyrus and his party are thrown into a dungeon to perform for Irenicus' twisted sister, Bodhi. In this desperate situation, a glimmer of hope remains. Imoen is here and she seems to be better now. Tyrus gladly lets her rejoin the party and the two immediately start hatching an escape plan.


Party overview:

Tyrus - Berserker(12)
Keldorn - Inquisitor(11)
Anomen - Fighter(7)/Priest of Helm(15)
Imoen - Bounty Hunter(11)
Aerie - Illusionist(12)
Nalia - Skald(14)

Modifié par Thailog, 08 avril 2011 - 05:36 .

[Jeff W]

Thailog wrote...

In my experience it works pretty well.

I've had several partymembers die during the BG1 part of my game and they never got chunked beyond resurrection.

Yeah, I'm sure it works, but it removes an element of danger from the game.

[Jeff W]

Started a new scs 2 game, Elf Sorcerer again...

No Robe of Vecna this time and probably no hlas/watcher's keep in soa. Not 100% decided on that. So with Vhailor's Helm and Robe of Vecna gone, I was feeling more power hungry than usual...



Mmmmm, cheese... it's still possible to win this battle with no reloads pretty much straight out of chateau irenicus even in SCS II. Normally, I don't like to curbstomp opponents like this, but I just felt like using Staff of the Magi this game.

Btw, party members didn't die in fight. I am toting them around while I solo for awhile so that they gain quest xp. Not sure about final party, but it will likely be hero + 1-3 of edwin, vic, aerie, jan, haer' dalis. Jan will at least be toted around and project image resurrected for thief duties as needed.

[Thailog]

Chronicles of Tyrus the Berserker, part 6


Tyrus is still weak from Irenicus' experiments and he has a feeling that simple healing spells won't cut it this time. He needs to reclaim what the mage stole from him, if he is to be better. Meanwhile, Imoen scouts the area and discovers a stairway leading out but the party needs to find something that belonged to the builder of this place in order to access it. The group starts exploring the nearby rooms disposing of a Rakshasa and a pack of mephits in the process. Aerie notices some sort of portal in their room and Tyrus activates it, thinking it might be a way out. However, the portal transports several monsters into the room instead, including a Pit Fiend.

It appears that only Tyrus' and Anomen's +3 weapons are able to hurt the beast and the aura of fear which it projects would have sent Imoen and Aerie into panic were it not for Nalia's battlesong. With joint effort, Tyrus and Anomen bring the fiend to its knees, with the rest of the party busy dodging its fireballs. However, it uses a Wish spell to heal itself completely. Damn.





Anomen switches to Holy Smites while Aerie and Nalia fire off a volley of Magic Missiles. Only a few of the spells manage to penetrate the fiend's magic resistance until Tyrus lands a critical hit which finally sends the beast back to the Nine Hells. For his trouble, he receives a doomed armor from a genie. Yay.

After dispatching some Yuan-Ti and picking up a ring of regeneration, the group moves to the next chamber. They discover a magical book which summons monsters whenever a page is turned, a perfect place for Imoen to try out her snares. As expected, they perform very well, and the party receives a few scrolls along with a Ring of Free Action for their trouble. The party disposes of some kobolds and mephits while Anomen shows the full extent of Helm's power to a group of lowly undead.

The group finally discovers the resting place of the asylum's builder and put the vampire out of his misery. On the way back, they get ambushed by Umber Hulks and Aerie falls overwhelmed by their assault. After the creatures are dispatched, Anomen casts Resurrection to restore the avariel to life and then uses Wondrous Recall to get back a few Mass Cures with which he patches up the rest of the party.

On the next floor, the group deals with a pack of Yuan-Ti, some trolls and a bunch of minotaurs before reaching a strange room filled with odd paintings. Imoen spots some traps on them but is unable to disarm them. Anomen volunteers to retrieve the pictures after casting Death Ward and Chaotic Commands on himself. This turns out to be a wise choice when he fails his save against a disintegrate trap, whose effects are stopped by Death Ward. With the paintings in hand, the group returns to the Yuan-Ti room and releases several monsters from their rooms, reclaiming a powerful two handed sword and a magical katana in the process.

In a nearby room, Tyrus gets a pair of Boots of Speed from a strange machine which exchanges mithril tokens for magical items. After disposing of some golems, the group reaches a dead end, so they backtrack to the room with the paintings. Nearby, they get ambushed by Bodhi and several vampires, including a freshly turned Sime. She taunts Tyrus into attacking and the berserker flies into a rage. However, this time, it feels different than usual and he completely loses control of himself.





When he comes to, Imoen informs him that he had transformed into the Slayer, an avatar of their late father, Bhaal. Apparently, this scared Bodhi so much that she ran away like a little girl which gives the group another chance to reach the exit. In the next chamber, the party is made subject to several tests by the spirits of the asylum's former caretakers. They pass and are allowed to leave, only to run into the treacherous Saemon Havarian. He seems unusually friendly this time and suggests that it would be wiser to enlist the aid of the asylum's other inmates against Irenicus than to face him alone. Tyrus doesn't trust the turncoat, but right now, any help would be appreciated so he goes for it.

Upstairs, the party faces off against Lonk the Sane who turns out to be the most powerful mage that they have encountered so far. His initial contingency contains a Horrid Wilting which nearly kills Imoen and Aerie. He then casts Time Stop and imprisons Anomen. Even Keldorn's dispel magic seems to have very little effect on this uber-gnome. He also cheats a bit by using Protection from Magic Weapons in a contingency a nanosecond after Aerie breaches his Absolute Immunity. As far as I know, players can't do this, so I find it highly unfair. He then tries to stall the party with a Teleport Field, however, he forgot that he is not immune to normal weapons now so Imoen and the enraged Tyrus finally bring Lonk down using some plain darts and a mundane two-hander.

The battle with Irenicus is even more difficult. Keldorn's Dispel Magic doesn't even seem to scratch him. Also, he is constantly putting up some sort of protection spells, whenever one expires a contingency/trigger/sequencer kicks in and casts another. Using Improved Alacrity, Irenicus summons a Fallen Planetar and then kills Imoen, Aerie and two asylum mages with a Wail of the Banshee.





Half of the party is taken out and only Tyrus can deal with the Planetar since it requires a +3 weapon to hit. Sigh. Using an Oil of Speed and a Potion of Clarity, Tyrus somehow manages to bring down the fallen celestial but then another Horrid Wilting from Irenicus kills Nalia and badly injures him and Keldorn. Tyrus quaffs a potion of invisibility and retreats, hoping that Keldorn can stall Irenicus long enough for him to heal up. The paladin ends up fighting a copy of Imoen while Tyrus heals and quaffs potions of Magic Shielding and Fire Resistance, still invisible. Meanwhile, Irenicus kills Keldorn with a Finger of Death and summons some Sword Spiders.

With his whole party down, Tyrus decides to go all out. He quaffs potions of Magic Protection, Storm Giant Strength, goes berserk and then engages Irenicus one last time. He actually manages to hit the mage, who seems to have finally ran out of Protection from Magic Weapons. However, he still has a few stoneskins left. Irenicus pelts Tyrus with Fire and Acid Arrows but the berserker is unrelenting, having decided to either avenge his friends or go out in a blaze of glory. In the end, it pays off, and Irenicus finally yields after his last stoneskin crumbles. Of course, he teleports away, leaving Tyrus to deal with Yoshimo and his merry band of assassins. The berserker summons the last of his strength and cuts through the traitor and his associates. It's finally over.

Slowly, Tyrus picks up the gear of his fallen friends and stashes it into his bag of holding. As he tries to go up the stairs, some invisible force prevents him from doing that and a strange voice start ringing inside his head - "You must gather your party before venturing forth!". Hm, it seems that Spell Revisions somehow changed the way Imprisonment works and Tyrus is forced to dismiss Anomen from the party in order to continue. Upstairs, he meets up with Saemon again and, being too tired to argue, accepts his offer to take him to the surface. He makes it to the Temple of Umberlee and raises his friends. After everyone rests up, they go back to the asylum where Aerie releases Anomen using a Freedom scroll. Tyrus treats everyone to a round of drinks at the tavern while Saemon informs them of his latest scheme.


Party overview:

Tyrus - Berserker(13)
Keldorn - Inquisitor(12)
Anomen - Fighter(7)/Priest of Helm(16)
Imoen - Bounty Hunter(13)
Aerie - Illusionist(13)
Nalia - Skald(15)

Modifié par Thailog, 09 avril 2011 - 11:32 .

[Wierdo]

Wow, and epic battle Thailog! I thought that you were a goner for sure!

[Thailog]

Wierdo wrote...

Wow, and epic battle Thailog! I thought that you were a goner for sure!

Hehe, after Nalia died and Tyrus and Keldorn got so badly wounded, I had pretty much resigned to losing. However, I didn't want to make it easy for Jon boy and figured I might as well go out in style. [smilie]http://social.bioware.com/images/forum/emoticons/cool.png[/smilie]

So I basically used Keldorn as a distraction, went invisible, gulped down everything that seemed useful from my potion case and then started madly hacking away at Irenicus. Frankly, I was kinda surprised when he finally gave in. In hindsight, the potions of Magic Shielding and Magic Protection were crucial here, as was the properly timed use of invisibility potions to escape some of his spells which had a longer casting time.

Anyway, I think the biggest mistake was that I wasn't properly prepared since I didn't actually expect Spellhold Irenicus (and certainly not Lonk!) to be that much of a threat. In the original game, this battle is super easy and feels more like an extended cutscene. However, SCSII certainly changes that and I didn't even install the "Improved Irenicus" component!

Modifié par Thailog, 10 avril 2011 - 05:21 .

[Thailog]

Chronicles of Tyrus the Berserker, part 7


It turns out that Saemon's ship was sabotaged so he wants to steal the one belonging to the pirate lord. He asks Tyrus to get him the signal horn which will open the flood gates and allow the ship to exit the harbor. It's currently in the possession of the pirate lord's mistress so Saemon advises the group to sneak into her home at night and nab it. The party rests until nightfall and Tyrus has another surreal dream. This time, a vision of Imoen appears and shows him how to control the power of the Slayer. Tyrus can now transform into Bhaal's avatar at will but at a steep price. Each time he uses the ability he will sink deeper into Bhaal's taint and may eventually lose control of himself in the end.

During the night, the party breaks into the house of the pirate lord's mistress, grabs the horn and helps Saemon dispatch of some goons tha were guarding the ship. After the way out is clear, Saemon rewards Tyrus with a magical blade and promises to take him to Irenicus. However, the voyage comes to an abrupt end when the ship is boarded by a pack of Githyanki. They demand the blade back and attack the group after Saemon puts all the blame on Tyrus and teleports away. Interestingly, SCSII turns this cutscene into an actual battle and things can get pretty rough if the party doesn't react quickly.





After the ship breaks appart, the group is captured by Sahuagin, a race of evil fish people. They believe that Tyrus is destined to save their city and the king recruits him into his service. Unfortunately for him, the party is simply looking for a way out, so Tyrus double-crosses the king and sides with the rebel leader in exchange for safe passage. After claiming the throne, the ursurper gives the party a magical rope and thy descend to the Underdark.

After a short chat with some duergar merchants, Tyrus learns that Irenicus and Bodhi have indeed passed this way. One of the merchants mentions that some mage has been magically imprisoned nearby so Aerie uses another Freedom scroll to release him. As it turns out, he is studying other planes of existence and asks for the party to retrieve his spellbook. While searching for it, the they run into a drow raiding party.





The drow wield powerful magic and it takes several of Keldorn's dispels to bring them all down. From their bodies, the party recovers some exceptionally sturdy drowcraft armor. A bit further up, the group gets rid of some myconids and discovers a deep gnome settlement. It seems that they've accidentally unearthed an evil creature and desperately beg the party for help. The monster turns out to be a Balor, a powerful demon who seems to be immune to +2 weapons and below, so only Tyrus' and Anomen's weapons are working against it. Fortunately, Keldorn kept the Impaler spear from the fish city so he manages to lend a hand as well.





The demon appears to be fairly cunning, it stuns Nalia and then teleports over to her bypassing the frontliners. Aerie pelts it with Magic Missiles but they are stopped by the fiend's magic resistance. She then casts Haste on Tyrus and Keldorn who get heavily injured by the Balor's fire shield but manage to bring the demon down, just as it was about to finish off Nalia. The gnome leader is thankful and gives the group a light gem which opens a path to the lair of a powerful creature who may be inclined to help them.

Before leaving, Tyrus reclaims the spellbook of the imprisoned mage from the innkeeper. The wizard is still willing to enter the portals and asks for the party to protect him while he searches the planes for magical items. They do so and receive a scroll of Incendiary Cloud, the Skull of Death and the Rod of Absorption for their trouble after some negotiations. To the west, Imoen spots a passage that could lead to the surface and Tyrus thinks it may be worth investigating.


Party overview:

Tyrus - Berserker(14)
Keldorn - Inquisitor(13)
Anomen - Fighter(7)/Priest of Helm(17)
Imoen - Bounty Hunter(14)
Aerie - Illusionist(14)
Nalia - Skald(16)

[Yield]

man, u play this alot
you're using inquisitor dispel x2 or x1,5?
keep going!

Modifié par Yield, 10 avril 2011 - 02:37 .

[Jeff W]

Thailog wrote...

Chronicles of Tyrus the Berserker, part 7


The demon appears to be fairly cunning, it stuns Nalia and then teleports over to her bypassing the frontliners. Aerie pelts it with Magic Missiles but they are stopped by the fiend's magic resistance. She then casts Haste on Tyrus and Keldorn who get heavily injured by the Balor's fire shield but manage to bring the demon down, just as it was about to finish off Nalia. The gnome leader is thankful and gives the group a light gem which opens a path to the lair of a powerful creature who may be inclined to help them.

The new teleport at will for demons is the scariest feature in SCS II, especially in a no reload. The high level mages can cast Summon Fiend, too... including the 1st group of Cowled Wizard Enforcers. Did you face the demon in the guarded compound before coming to spellhold?