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[Grond0]

 

Swiftblade has been joined by her lover Ajantis and another paladin Avaunis.

 

With four paladins, a fighter/cleric and a thief/mage, all with good alignments in the party, we must surely have the support of all the righteous gods. 

Remember that those beloved by the gods tend to die early ...

[wing]

Almost forgot, whatsisname the Cowled Wizard in the Umar Hills gave us the Wyvern's Tail morningstar and had a Sword of Flame in one of his chests. I noticed he even has dialog saying he'll reward you with a morningstar rather than the usual short sword, so Randomiser must add a little dialog for situations like that. Nice job, Wisp! We turned up the Ring of the Ram somewhere in there too.

 

After last night's fumbling, the trio were careful and effective this morning. In the cache next to the Hitchhiker Shadow we found the Amulet of Spell Warding and the Saving Grace +3. We procured Amaunator's holy symbol, getting one flamestrike in the process, then rested in the shadow of the Shadow Dragon before buffing with II and Rage for Sneezy, Stoneskins for Sleepy, and Chant, Haste, and Resist Fear for everyone. The Shadow Altar was immediately destroyed with a Sunstone Bullet while Patrick was Spooked by Sleepy and Dopey got in the Shade Lord's face. I'm not sure how effective the Spook was, since all the Shade Lord did before his death was Spellstrike Sleepy. A couple of +2 Arrows and a whack from the FoA were enough to kill him and thence Patrick. He kindly rewarded us with the Gauntlets of Fumbling, while Patrick dropped us the +2 warhammer, Aishideena. Reporting our success to the mayor turned up the Book of Infinite Spells (Fireball-Invisibility-Farsight-Stinking Cloud-Spell Turning!! where we left it)

 

After Umar, we travelled to the Bridge District to solve the Skinner Murders. The Undead were lured upstairs to Kitthix and a Skeleton, next came the Rune Assassins, one trying and failing to backstab Sneezy. In place of the Gesen Shaft we found the Ring of Lockpicks. The northern party in the Bridge District suffered from lots of spell disruption via FoA and arrows and were in posession of the Ring of Djinni Summoning and Ripper +2. We told Aegisfield about Reijek, then went to upgrade the Berserker Horn, then went to take on Mencar and his gang. Brought in our brand new Berserker, a couple skellies, and Kitthix, then Chanted, Hasted, Stoneskinned, and engaged. Sorcerous Amon looks to be wearing the Cloak of Reflection, so Lightning Bolts are out.

 

Wanting to give them a smidgen of a fair fight Sneezy provoked Mencar, then she and Dopey smashed Amon. Brennan Riesling was hemmed in by Kitthix and two skellies while the Berserker Occupied Mencar for a moment. Sneezy and Dopey moved to Pooky, who got a confusion on Sneezy just before dying. Brennan, Mencar, and Samulev finished off the summons and were finished in turn by arrows and a Confused but still angry Sneezy while a Web was tossed towards them to keep them from meleeing the ranged characters. It was over quickly.

 

Mencar and Smaulev had the Large Shield +4 vs Missiles, a 2HSword +1 (not cursed and berserking), a warhammer +1, and the Cloak of the Sewers, Brennan had his usual Ring of Invisibility, and Amon had the Cloak of Reflection. We stopped by the Bridge District again to meet Gracen, then talked to Aran and had Cromwell make up some Ankheg Plate for Dopey. I wasn't sure if he would be able to use it, but as it is non-metal he is now much better protected. Headed to the Government district to talk to Sarles and see if I'll be able to get rid of Neb's head come the time, apparently not. Checked in with Jerlia and Unger Hilldark, then headed to Umar.

 

Got the first Ranger Stronghold Quest, so we did that before talking to Gorje, then went and whacked Neb. He had foolishly hidden the Armor of the Deep Night behind a painting rather than wearing it, so he was easily finished and four child spirits were released from their curse. Dopey switched the Ankheg Plate for AotDN so that he can stealth again, as I hadn't realized plate would prevent that. The culmination of the Sir Sarles quest rewarded us with the Shadow Thief Armor, wonder why the Temple of Helm has been hanging onto that...

 

We went to clear some of the Graveyard while waiting for nightfall, hoping to find some handy items before retrieving the Dawn Ring, but an expedition to the Southern Tombs proved to be ill-fated. Sneezy's Barbarian Rage protects against Hold but not Web, so when I dropped one on top of her to freeze her attackers in place and let her escape it didn't work out so well. Sneezy died and Dopey was slightly level drained by a Wight, then they were pursued into one of the side rooms by a Skeleton Warrior. A tense battle was fought inside before the Warrior fell. They then stealthed, grabbed Sneezy's gear, and fled to a temple for Resurrection and the Dawn Ring.

 

Talked to Travin, then went to visit Borinall. Sleepy got his best backstab yet here, a modest 55 damage. No trouble at all, so we returned the ring and then went to see if the next Ranger quest would trigger yet. Hadn't happened, so decided to take a break and plan what to do next. The Planar Sphere is off limits, but maybe the Prison, Windspear, or perhaps the Unseeing Eye.

 

Stats:

 

Dopey, Archer 12, 119 HP, 335 kills, Shade Lord

Sneezy, Barbarian 13, 161 HP, 85 kills, Bone Golem

Sleepy, Mage 11/ Thief 13, 67 HP, 17 kills, Crypt King

[Aasim]

Kira, 11th BG2 update

 

A rather short session saw Freedom scroll being written down. This spell with Spell Revisions is hugely buffed. Not only does it remove Imprionment/Maze, but it removes every bad status effect there is. From Charm to Petrification, Confusion to Maze - it counters all.

Definitely worth a slot, even if not as fun as some other stuff available.

 

Fighting Mind Flayers had one fairly close death chance. Kira has (had) 16 INT. One point lower, he'd die to a simple luck of 3 criticals.

 

Be that as it may, Korgan took the blow instead and died. That's fine since Flayers don't chunk. Apperantly, SCS (or Questpack) slightly beefed up Master Brain. 1st time I actually saw his Remove magic doing something - he dispelled us all!

(The creature with Globe of Blades is our Planetar. He's cool.)

 

Despite his dispels, he's still worthless however. Korgan beat him to a pulp.

 

We also saved Vithal before exiting. I asked him for some more treasure (he gave Simulacrum and ADHW in addition to Rod of Absorption), and then let him be.

 

Upon exiting the Underdark, Edwin gained level 18, choosing Dragon's Breath as his 1st HLA. Him and Xan tested out how high-level magic works agaist a group in a wilderness area. Just fine it seems.

 

Next victims were Githyanki in search for Vorpal sword piece. Nobody wields it, but Vorpal+Sarevok is a sight to behold, hence they had to die.

 

We forged a lot of items, including Equilizer (with IR it's +4), Wave, Gesen, and are going to kill Thaxy next.

[corey_russell]

My condolences to the recently departed. Best of luck to the remaining runs.

[Blackraven]

Impressive progress Aasim. (Haven't even fully caught up with everything you've posted. Will do so tomorrow. It's late here.)
Epsil0, condolences I agree with Aasim that Tactics-style Arnise Keep is crazy. I just checked and apparently I'm playing with Tactics Remix as well. Might skip the Keep entirely then...

Norgath, Dwarven Bounty Hunter (update 3)
 

The Dwarf's first action as master of his own guildhouse was to instruct his thieves to undertake high-risk activities for maxmimum profit (though his house would not engage in slave trade). He also had a run-in with a few old friends of Mae'Var's who were out for vengeance, but they would discover that they had plied their trade on the wrong person. His nightly escapades in the city taught the Dwarf that the Shadow Thieves' rivals, whoever they be, availed themselves of vampires to sway Shadow Thieves into their ranks. He was glad to help his confrere Sansuki in the Bridge District when two or three Vampires attacked the thief for refusing to join them.

 

Unfortunately Norgath couldn't stay in Athkatla at all times to deal with the vampire invasion; he had business awaiting him elsewhere as well. First off there was Trademeet, plagued by animal attacks from Druids, and by interrupted commerce due to Djinns monopolizing the market. The Dwarf agreed to investigate the Druids and to bring the Djinns the head of a Rakshasa they were after so that they would leave the town. Both jobs took him into the wilds outside Trademeet. The area was infested with Trolls (including the dangerous spellcasting Spirit variant) and Spiders. Traps, Kitthix, the occasional backstab, and a good supply of acid arrows helped Norgath overcome these foes. But then he met a foe he could not overcome: an (aTweaked) Elder Earth Elemental. It enjoyed an innate ability to go (undetectably) invisible and it hit like a truck while being immune to Norgath's +2 weapons. The Dwarf saw himself pretty much forced to travel to Watcher's Keep and pick up the overpriced Short Sword of Mask +4.

Ironically, when he returned after a short stop in Athkatla on guild business, he found out that he didn't even need his new blade. A lot of traps softened the creature up, and an Efreeti from a bottle he'd nicked from one of the Djinns in Trademeet, initially merely used to lure the monster to the traps, actually finished the Elemental off for him. Deeper in the forest, Norgath and Kitthix wiped out more trolls and hostile druids, until they came upon a bridge full of Spores and Myconids. Kitthix helped with some of the fungi before she left the prime material plane for that day. It meant the Dwarf was going to be on his own against a horde. Fire was used to reach the Spore Colonies so that they could be backstabbed. The rogue then had to deal with a number of Trolls to finally clear the bridge. On the other side of it there were two buildings Norgath wanted to enter but before he could, he was attacked by more monsters coming for him from a second bridge: Shambling Mounds and Sword Spiders. With a potion of speed he outran the opposition, allowing easy backstabs. After he crossed the second bridge, he exterminated more fungi before they would overtake the place as they had done with the first bridge. He also took out a number of grizzly bears and taught a bunch of Shadow Druids that they should have learnt to cast faster.

Norgath met Cernd, a Druid from a more moderate circle than the Shadow Druids that were incontrol of the Grove, told his temporary ally to quaff an invisibility potion of his, and had him challenge Faldorn the Shadow Druid matriarch for leadership over the Grove. Invisible Cernd made Faldorn waste all her Improved Invisibilities before he sent his Insects to plague her. He then summoned Fire Elementals and Woodland Beings to his aid, shapeshifted into Greater Werewolf form, and defeated his opponent.

Still curious about the two buildings he had seen before, an Ogre Tower and a cottage, Norgath returned to take a peek. In the tower he found an enchanted scimitar that increased the pace with which he could attack; he started wielding it in his off hand in spite of being unversed in the use of scimitars. In the cottage he encountered three Rakshasa shapeshifters, including the one the Djinni in Trademeet wanted dead. A very hard battle awaited the Dwarf. The Rakshasa had different AoE spells that could have held or poisoned him, or render him unconscious. Things didn't go that badly for Norgath, but nevertheless the creatures had all kinds of magical and innate defenses that made it extremely difficult to hurt them (Mirror Images, Stoneskins, PfMW, immunity to Norgath's arrows), they dispelled the Dwarf's potion buffs, and they threw plenty of damaging spells at him: Magic Missiles, Melf's Acid Arrows, Fireballs, Sunfires. Norgath took three healing breaks outside (where they refused to follow him for some reason) before he would find the creatures low enough on spells to enable him to take them down in melee.

 

Back in Trademeet a statue was raised in Norgath's honor, ample reward was received (and appropriated from the merchants), the tanner that had escaped his clutches in Athkatla was slain as was his associate, and a family feud over the Mantle of Waukeen was put to rest by retrieving it from a tomb and handing it to the town's High Merchant. The latter feat hadn't been as easily accomplished as it should have, and Norgath was long angry with himself for what he considered a lack of professionalism. The Dwarf hadn't rested (so no summons) and was unbuffed and unprepared for what awaited him. The vault that contained the artifact was inhabited by two Skeleton Warriors, one of which capable of animating skeletons. Sloppy positioning soon saw Norgath surrounded by an ever-growing host of undead, with nowhere to go, and with the two Skeleton Warriors pounding away at him. The Dwarf went invisible and buffed with haste, defense and fire resistance potions. He would then expend all his potions of explosions and oils of fiery burning on the undead, and inbetween the bombings (while his aura was turbid), he tried to hit the undead spawning Skeleton Warrior. This proven strategy - in his earlier adventuring days Norgath had used it a couple of times to good effect when cornered - saved the day for him. All in all his excursion to Trademeet had been a rewarding experience, the Dwarf realized on his way back to Athkatla as he admired his new belt (Inertial Barrier), the Efreet bottle, his scimitar and a new shortbow that requiered no ammunition. And he hadn't even counted all his gold yet.

 

Back in the city Norgath went on his way to check on his subordinates at the guild house, but was accosted by a Necromancer that begged him to release a friend of his from captivity in the orange building where he had brought a poisoned man a week or two before, a Harper compound it turned out to be. The Dwarf agreed and even did a commission for the Harpers, slaying two mages and their pets, in order to be allowed access. Inside the building he looted some chests and finished off three Spectral Harpists before he found the wizard's friend, purportedly turned into a bird. This proved to be a front. With some form of magical trickery the bird transformed into an Assassin that was apparently ordered by the Harpers to kill the Necromancer. Norgath tried to stop the Assassin but failed to slay her before she dispatched the wizard.

The Bounty Hunter spent most of his time in the city trading and doing a number of smaller commissions. Investigation of the case of a man who had been buried alive yielded him nothing but a pair of silver pantaloons (no boots of grounding because Reti escaped). In the Copper Coronet Norgath briefly interrupted Joluv's black lotus trip to purchase the Scarlet Ninja-To (future investment). He indebted the Radiant Heart by ridding the city of a group of fallen Paladins. In the Den of the Seven Vales he relied on his traps and summons to deal with a group of adventurers led by a rather rude Dwarf. For Hendak he delivered on his promise to remove the Slaver base. Near it, Lilarcor the ranting sword was acquired. Inside the compund, special traps held most of the slavers so that they could be slain with no difficulty, but Norgath himself ran into a trap as well (with AI on, he rushed over it to go and finish off a slaver). Improved Kitthix helped the Dwarf against two mages. Another mission, undertaken on behalf of the Temple of Helm, was the pursuit of pure illithium for the sculptor Sir Sarles. When such extremely precious material proved unavailable in the requested quantity, Norgath tried to con the artist but failed. The church was pleased anyway with Norgath's effort, not knowing that the latter had remained silent about a lead to a possible source of true illithium ore, in the Umar Hills.

The Dwarf decided that that was going to be his next destination, but first he had some more guild business to attend to. First of all he went Vampire hunting one night with Arkanis Gath, Ryokoi and two more colleagues. The party of five encountered six Vampires in the slums. Norgath slew two, not a bad score at all. The Bounty Hunter then met Aran Linvail, Athkatla's guildmaster. It cost him 15k GP and more help against the rivaling guild, but in return he received an enchanted necklace and an enchanted ring, a promise to be brought to Irenicus, and the time to decide when to deal with the rivals of the guild and when to travel to Irenicus. Cromwell forged Linvail's ring and a ring of regeneration into the Ring of Preservation +2.

 

As mentioned above, Norgath's prospective next destinations are Imnesvale and the Umar Hills. He's still level 15, but would be level 19 if I had leveled him up, and a bit less than 350k XP shy from level 21 and Maze traps.

[Aasim]

Kira, 12th BG2 update

 

Thaxy was next. With our buffs, summons and Planetar, this was very easy.

 

Korgan equiped his anti-dragon gear (Dragon Shield + Dragon helm = immunity to Wing bufffet) and killed him in few rounds.

 

Now, to assemble Crom Fayr since Korgan doesn't have pips in any +3 or higher weapon yet available. I only needed the Hammer, so off to Ilithid hideout. Korgan got INT drained to death once, but other than that no trouble here.

 

Kira gained his 2nd HLA. With Refinements, Rogues loose on Use Any Item, but gain "Use scrolls". He can now cast spells from scrolls. 

 

Forged Crom. This is IR version of the mighty hammer. The biggest change is that it can be used as a throwing weapon, when it attacks slower but has a chance for a small AoE stun.

 

Now, Bodhi. Upper floor had little challenge, but below was a different battle alltogether. Kira ventures in invisible and drops the holy water into the pool.

 

 

Invisibilit won't fool Bodhi, who approaches, gives dialogue and sends a bat swarm on Kira. He retreats, and now I send summons to block the door. Edwin and Xan start tossing AoE.

 

Three Dragon's breaths later, she gives her wounded dialogue. Great.

 

Then a disaster happens. Planetar dies, and vampire mages come to my party.

Edwin and Xan use PFMW.

 

Few rounds later, our constitution is drained, and the two mages are dead. Bodhi is nowhere to be seen.

 

I summon what's available still, Kitthix and Sword Spiders.

Unfortunately, and invisible vampire slipped through, and kills  Xan. Bodhi kills Korgan with constitution drain.

I lost my dps.

 

Kira kills the vampire, and Viconia ressurects Xan. All of Korgan's equpiment is near Bodhi, so I'm reluctant to raise him - I also have no more NPP castings, so I decide to leave Korgan dead for now to avoid chunking possibility.

 

With little damage left, it was back to basics of BG1 combat. Kira equips Gesen bow, Xan +3 Dart of returning, Viccy Blesses us, we drink potion for a bit of THAC0 boost, Edwin runs in circles around her, she turns to bat form, and we (after about 2 minutes of hitting her) finally kill her. I revive Korgan so he doesn't loose the quest XP and pierce her with a stake.

 

Reward - scrolls of ADHW and  Symbol Death (both to be sold) and Cutthroat. Decent enough sword for Kira.

[Grimwald the Wise]

 

 

 

Remember that those beloved by the gods tend to die early ...

 

 

That certainly happened to Keldorn and Aerie!

[Aasim]

Kira, 13th BG2 update

 

Now I needed more money, so I went to wrap things up with slavers. We do our prebuff downstairs, haste everyone, and run past the guards on the bottom floor (Questpack changes the bottom floor battle a bit).

Kira disarms the traps, but cleric exposes us.

Run!

 

We take defensive position near the bottom end of the battlefield, as Remove magic dispels us all apart Xan. Edwin tosses a Dragon's breath, while Xan summons his Planetar. Koshi is killed immidiately.

 

Without buffs, we hide in the little room and see what happens, Edwin throwing DB or ADHW.

Enemies start dying.

 

2x Secret Word on Sion, few electric arrows from Gesen, and Sion is PW:Stunned. He never regained movement.

Planetar also killed Keta.

 

With that done, Kira disarms the traps there, we pick the loot (will sell everything), toss an ADHW on the bottom floor Constructs and should be fighting Liches soon, since one important item is still to be aquired - Ring of Gaxx.

[Aasim]

Kira, 14th BG2 update

 

Some good news - Ring of Gaxx is aquired.

Korgan and Planetars were used to kill Elemental and Grave Lich.

No trouble there.

 

Kangaxx was a bit tougher, however. Apperantly new SCS revises him a lot. He uses much less Trap the Soul, but casts much more other spells. Kira had a rough spot when he got tagged for Finger of Death. I decided to risk and use his Evasion to buff the saves up - worked, even if at -3...

 

Some bad news is that Edwin got chunked by Dragon Breath! Totaly my mistake - I had kid and wife in workroom, got distracted, moved Kira away but completely forgot about huge AoE of the spell. Edwin failed the save, got blasted for more than 100 damage and he's gone - chunked for the 2nd time. This time transition won't help anymore. Sigh...

 

Some rounds later, we finally got the bastard. Ring is now on Kira's finger, and he won't be taking it off.

 

We continue as a quartet now. I'm unsure about ToB, I definitely want Sarevok, and I might just dual him to a mage...if I ever get that far.

[Grimwald the Wise]

 

 

 

Remember that those beloved by the gods tend to die early ...

 

 

Certainly true in this game. Went to the Hall of Knowledge in the Avaunis quest and very quickly died. Drain on intelligence I think.

 

Tried it a few times with the same result. According to the darkest day walkthrough, it is easy. It certainly doesn't look that way. I think that it might be if I knew the tactics to use. Perhaps web would sort them out before they can cast their spells, but to me it is not straightforward at all.

 

Next time I will do a few more of TDD quests and TOD quest before this one.

 

EDIT

 

Found a way to beat it, but walkthrough was quite misleading. Made it sound like a walkover, which it wasn't.

 

Stats at time of death:

 

 

Back to the beginning now.

[Blackraven]

Sorry Grimwald, experimenting with quests added by mods can be dangerous in no-reload runs... Better luck with your next hero (or villain)
(BTW those stats look godly, except for the AC)

[Aasim]

Kira, 14th and final BG2 update

 

Killing the Gaxx, I go to mop up shadow thieves. Loosing Edwin was very costly - he got all the best scrolls, including Chain Contingency  - this means no CC for Xan until ToB. Thieves got money, and we're feeling very powerful even witout our conjurer. It lasted long, but with our 2 celestials (Deva and Planetar) things got bloody quickly for the thieves. They're very low-leveled and present no threat.

 

Then Firkraag, as the final battle before Sundanesselar. No problem here - Kira got breached once, but drank a Fire res potion and all was dandy.

 

 

No trouble in the Elven city as well. Celestials tank, while Korgan throws his hammer and Kira shoots his bow.

 

I got quite lucky vs the mage there; with Xan's Planetar vorpalizing him.

 

Irenicus was pathetic. He summoned, and summoned, even managed to confuse Korgan once, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. Died while casting Prismatic Spray.

 

To Hell we go, to get Kira's black soul back.

There we aquire two nice items; Blackrazor (mostly unchanged by IR) and Cloak of Bravery - much better than vanilla counterpart

 

Hell Rewards (+2 DEX is from Questpack Hell Trials)

 

Due to Xan not having Chain Contingency (such a powerful spell), as soon as the battle starts we retreat to let summons hold the demons, which started by opening gates.

All hell breaks loose rather quickly now.

The moment I hear Slayer casting a longish spell - Xan turns on PfMW. Everybody else runs away. In between demons and Time Stop melee whacking, I choose demons.

 

Xan survived. Planetar gets vorpalized. Deva is still there somewhere. Viconia casts her Storm of Vengeance, Xan ADHW  + Dragon Breath (DB hurt Slayer a lot, apperantly he had no fire protection - too bad Xan has no more fire spells...)

 

Slayer's 2nd and final time stop - PfMW + Spiders thwart it. Yey! Korgan is succubus-charmed and they're chasing him to drain his levels. Bastards. He's chasing Kira around.

 

Kira does the Slayer's Planetar. Ho-ho!

 

Now Xan summons his 2nd Planetar; which kills Korgan. I'm fine with that - he's recoverable.

Viconia runs around trying to evade demons, while Kira kills whatever is near him.

 

Few rounds later (and few succubus/Pit Fiends less) we regroup. Xan summons more Spiders.

Slayer is busy with the Planetar. Victory is rather close now.

 

Kira does the demons. Viconia raises Korgan, he equips his weapons, and Kira tanks the Slayer until he finally gives up. Fin!

[Aasim]

Kira, 1st ToB update

 

ToB started ugly. I couldn't rest for some reason. Now I had to fight Illasera without high leveled buffs, using what's left in Xan's and Vic's spellbook. No planetars or devas, not even a stoneskin.

 

Oh well. Kira rushes to Illasera as soon as she shows up, this makes her go ethereal for a while, so she's out of the battle for a few rounds - we use that to kill the fighters unmolested. Xan and Viconia go far north, since Illasera can kill very quickly with her arrows.

 

With Kira on top of her as soon as she shows up, Illasera is completely neutralized. Her flunkies fall to Korgan, and left alone in melee she's nothing.

 

We adopt Sarevok and Cernd. Sarevok will remain single-classed fighter, and Xan will be my only mage. Cernd is a Totemic Druid (I have PhordsDruidkit mod, so it's slightly different - he no longer summons Spirit animals, but "identifies" himself with one - in his case, Fairy (Fairy: +1 CHA, 10% MR, from level 14  +1 CHA, 5% MR, Immune to charm).

 

Currently they've killed the vampires in the Saradush dungeon (I had to trigger autosave, since "monsters are near" prevent save as well! I hope this will be gone when I restart the game....) and are currenty standing in front of the entrance to prison. This is the place where my berserker died once - the longest I ever came in No-reload games.

[Grond0]

Congratulations on completing SoA Aasim - but I'm expecting much more yet from Kira .

[Aasim]

Congratulations on completing SoA Aasim - but I'm expecting much more yet from Kira .

Thanx. So am I.

 

 

 This is the place where my berserker died once - the longest I ever came in No-reload games.

And it's done! Kira  broke my previous record!

 

The big battle here is Gromnir and his pet mages/medusa/other annoying stuff.

We get in invisible and focus medusa first. Took a while, and due to overcrowdedness, Viccy died. She did manage to summon a Deva to keep mages busy for a while.

 

Xan got hit by some arrows and had spell failure on him, thus I waited for the icon to pass before he did anything. Unfortunately, mages summoned demons and Djinni, which pawned my Deva.

One of the Karun the Black brothers pulled out Wish-Double lenght Alacrity+Time stop. He killed Xan. No Planetar now.   Demons are on to Cernd who can't move anymore.

 

Cernd dies next. Gromnir punches right thorugh him.

 

Meanwhile, Kira, Korgan and Sarevok deal with the minor troops. Turning their attention to mages, Sarevok is downed by a Prismatic Spray. It's Kira and Korgan now.

 

Luckily, the mages have no more high level spells to cast. One by one they die, and faced with a -18 AC Kira and 23 strenght Korgan with a stunning hammer, Gromnir dies as well.

 

[wing]

Onward Aasim, to glory and (possibly) Godhood!

 

Two and a Half-Orc - Update 5

 

While waiting for the next Ranger Stronghold quest to trigger we decided to go finish off the Skin Dancer, once there we were immediately waylaid by Delon to tell us to come back. Raissa was restored, then some Orogs were killed and Madulf and Atta freed. We decided to take another stab at the Windspear Hills next, having only cleared the first level earlier. We entered the archer ambush stealthed then Dopey, wearing the Girdle of Piercing and Boots of Avoidance, picked off every archer. Their attack rolls were coming in with a -8 penalty, so he was pretty safe. we then got up on the sides of the next pit and Sneezy lured the small golems in and shut the door. The Clay and Stone Golems were finished with the Staff of Curing and the Staff Spear, respectively. Sneezy then carefully meleed the Iron Golem with the FoA, since we had no heavily enchanted reach weapons (an oversight that will be corrected soon)

 

The big undead group got a Web and a Death Fog, which took care of a couple Ghasts and not much else. The Mummies got FoA + Arrows, the Vampires got the same + Rage since we have no Daystar. Their chest yielded the Stiletto of Demarchness and the Well room held the Amulet of Life Preservation. the tomb of King Strohm had the Dragonscale Shield and the Sling of Arvoreen. Samia failed to appear with her group and proved to be lurking in her original position. Sneezy dispatched of her in single combat while Entangle, Kitthix, and a pair of Skeletons occupied the rest of the group. To be on the safe side Sleepy tossed in a Panic, a Fireball, a Web, and a couple Remove Magics. The results were very pleasing.

 

Tazok, Digdag, and co. were eliminated with simple Haste and auto attack, giving us no trouble. They had the Harp of Discord and a 2HSword of Berserking, as well as Blackblood. The Golem stash contained the Horn of Silence (it seems to be my day for instruments) and the Giant Hair Crossbow. Had a chat with Firkraag after leaving Kitthix and some hasted Skeletons upstairs, then returned to put the hurt on Conster. Interestingly, he used PfNW rather than PfMW (perhaps because he was initially surrounded by summons?) so the FoA and some +1 arrows ended him before he could get a spell off. Delon met us outside the dungeon and summoned us to the Umar Hills once again, so off we went.

 

Never having done the Ranger quests before I've tried to be cautious, but I had a moment of panic when Dopey was scouting stealthed in the dungeon and got targeted with Paralyze by the Glabrezu. I equipped Arbane just in case and ran him away, and he seemed to make it. A first usage of Improved Haste (Everyone levelled in the Windspear Hills) on Sneezy meant a Raging and dangerous barbarian confronted the demon, and it quickly fell. The Imp by Umar herself was pulled away and killed, and Umar's only threatening tactic, a Mislead, was quickly dispelled by Sleepy's Detect Illusions skill. She provided us with a Robe of Fire Resistance (Sleepy has been naked thus far in the game) as well as some AC6 Bracers and some useful scrolls. On the way out a Dryad handed Dopey his very own pet Moon Dog, which i look forward to using to help us in combat. I'm hoping the MoD is in the Crypt still, going to see if I can sneak in and grab it before getting too involved with Thaxy.

 

We decided to stop by WK and see what we could score in the way of equipment. Sister Garlena didn't have any significant magical items, so we went inside the top floor. The Archivist's room held Wands of Cursing and Sleep, but no more. We found a whole mess of trolls in the next room. We pulled one, then on the second try they all came so Sneezy stood in the doorway to take them on one by one. A Spirit Troll snuck by though, and drained Sleepy down to 3 Str before he went invisible and let Dopey take a few hits. Sneezy in the meantime killed the other four trolls by herself and then came to help finish the Spirit troll. We came upon a Ring of Antivenom in the next room, as well as some +2 chainmail. 

 

On to the statue room, where a pair of Vampiric Wraiths were met with rage and Remove Fear. They still managed to Level Drain Dopey and Sleepy a bit, but were defeated. Sneezy then donned his new Ring of Antivenom and confronted a Poison Mist, a Wandering Horror, and then a pack of Mustard Jellies. We found a Wand of the Heavens and some +3 ammunition in the fireplace room, then Sleepy ALMOST stepped on a trap before detecting it! We found a Horn in one of the chests there, as well as some slippers and a tinderbox. When Dopey went to open the next door he found a Devil Shade standing on the other side, so he ran back to Sneezy while she enraged. Turned out to be TWO Devil Shades, and just as we finished two Shadow Fiends appeared from nowhere, one of them quickly hitting and Holding Sleepy! Dopey ran over and used his RoAC on Sleepy to prevent him from being drained and chunked while Sneezy took on the shades. The remaining Devil Shade remained firmly fixated on Dopey, who was running (and I was freaking out until i remembered we had some Oils of Speed) all over the building trying to get away. He finally managed to lock it in a room and circled around while Sneezy fniished the Shadow Fiends. She and Sleepy headed towards the big doors as well, planning to go outside and take a rest, only to find another Devil Shade waiting there! We summoned a Djinni with the Ring to distract it, then ran outside.

 

After Restoration and a rest we ventured back in, only to find another Devil Shade waiting. It managed to interrupt Sneezy's Rage (there's a mod that makes innate abilities uninterruptible but i forget what it is) and at that point Dopey had had enough. He grabbed the +3 arrows and killed the Shade in a flash, giving Sneezy time to recast Rage and take on some regular Shadow Fiends. At that point I decided someone faster and less fragile would make a better scout against enemies that can see through Invisibility, so a Hasted and Invisible barbarian was sent ahead. She found lots more Shadow Fiends but no sign of a Devil Shade, tripped a trap just past here, but made her save so I will continue not to know what that is. At this point Sneezy rages before we open the next door, so we did that and a Spellhaunt died before it could do a thing (another thing that I don't know what it does) We found more ritual notes and a +2 small shield, then decided to go wake up the Lich. 

 

The first Statue fight was nerve-wracking. We summoned a pile of Skeletons and Kitthix, buffed with everything we had, and laid down an Entangle, but the Statues wiped away our summons quickly and one of the casters managed to get off a Creeping Doom that Sneezy was too slow to dodge, it then spread to the entire party. Cerberus was summoned a little ways into the fight, after the first melee Statue fell, and Sleepy and Dopey did an incredible job disrupting almost every other spell the two casters tried. The only one they got off after that was a FoD targeted on Sneezy, who just happened to be wearing the Amulet of Life Preservation and made her save. She was forced to go into Sewers' Troll Form to regenerate some of the damage before we finished off the last caster, the other having run out of spells and fallen in melee with her and Cerberus. Sneezy's generally poor outlook at that point was further darkened when she picked up not Foebane but a simple +2 bastard sword. (The Sling of Erinnes, which no one is proficient in, did little to lighten the mood)

 

The Item Randomizer forces all of the statues to appear regardless of level in order to make sure no items are lost, so we decided that fight is far beyond our skills and headed back to Athkatla.

 

Stats:

 

Dopey, Archer 13, 122 HP, 446 kills - Shade Lord

Sleepy, Mage 12/ Thief 13, 68 HP, 29 kills - Crypt King (still)

Sneezy, Barb 14, 164 HP, 189 kills - Statue 

[Blackraven]

Wow Aasim, fine work! Congrats and keep it up!
 

Norgath, Dwarven Bounty Hunter (update 4)

 

Rather than traveling straight to Imnesvale, Norgath decided to first see to a few nightly tasks he had agreed to perform for Aran Linvail because, conveniently, the sun had just set. The first task consisted in protecting his friend Mook  (a smuggler who worked not for Norgath's guildhouse but for the nearby headquarters), so that the lass could do her job without vampiric intervention. A Vampire did show up though, and it instantly slew the poor girl. It only fed Norgath's deep contempt for the foul creatures. This one summoned a Giant Rat swarm before it would fall to Norgath's backstabs and a trap he'd all but forgotten about (that trap had been placed before to see if it would do anything against Xzar's killer). The rats were sturdier than any rat he'd ever laid eyes on, requiring various hits while dealing respectable damage themselves, and they afflicted the Dwarf with a disease that drained his health. Norgath did prevail over the rats, but the experience taught him two things: (1) some of the Vampires had special abilities, and (2) his backstabs were insufficiently damaging for quick disposal of enemies. Both things worried him. Another, less problematic task that Norgath performed was the retrieval of information about the rivaling guild. The guild turned out to be established in the Graveyard District, very fitting considering the number of Vampires it had in its service.

Linvail was pleased with Norgath's work, but seemed to a bit too trusting of Norgath capabilities: he asked the Dwarf to clear out the entire rivaling guild on his own! Norgath declined, at least for the time being and decided to look up Roger in the sewers in hopes of buying a batch of Potions of Freedom from the fence. Unfortunately Roger had no such potions in stock, meaning that for the time being Norgath would have to make do with only one Potion of Freedom he still had. (This was a bit of a setback, because I'm hesitant to rely on Arbane's Sword in the Umar Hills. According to NearInfinity the blade protects against "Hold 1" and "Paralysis", and I don't know what that means exactly. Ideally Hold 1 would be some kind of umbrella term which includes Stun, but I cannot be sure of that.)

Before he left the sewers he ran into a gang of thugs he decided to ensnare from different angles. Unfortunately two stray Goblins spoilt part of the plan. Remaining traps did help in convincing the ruffians to change their tune, and Kitthix' poisoning of Gaius the Mage was a welcome sight as well. Two Clerics however showed true staying power, and one of them, Zorl, gave Norgath a bit of a scare with (I think) a Slay Living. (Thankfully the Dwarf, keeping his potions of extra healing at the ready, saved against spell twice to avoid more damage.) Zorl and the other eventually succumbed to Norgath's repeated backstabs. A hard-hitting Aerial Servant could not prevent that.

With all enemies defeated, the time finally arrived for Norgath to visit Imnesvale. He had friendly dealings with some of the townsfolk, earning himself a Beljuril Gem, the goodwill of a band of friendly monsters, and from a Cowled Wizard he received Ilbratha for dispatching a Killer Mimic and a Stone Golem. (I don't know whether the save vs breath was necessary with Arbane's Sword equipped.) The true reason he had traveled to Imnesvale however, were the deaths and disappearances of people in the Umar Hills.

Norgath encountered the area infested with Shadows (including canine variants) and Wraiths. The darkness greatly facilitated backstabbing but again the Dwarf found his damage output lacking (both with the Short Sword of Mask, which due to its +4 enchantment should give the best minimum results, and with the Black Cat's Claw, his +2 Ninja-To, a slashing weapon). This wasn't a huge deal in his encounters with the relatively weak shadow creatures, but it could give him trouble against stronger creatures. Norgath hadn't forgotten about the Vampire in Athkatla's Docks District.

Inside the Temple Ruins, where according to a Werewolf the root of the evil that had the area in its grasp was to be found, Norgath rescued Mazzy (who promptly rewarded him with her Short Sword of Arvoreen before she left for Trademeet) and dealt with more shadowy creatures, although one of them, a Wraith, managed to level-drain him. Norgath restored himself with a scroll, and I decided to level him up before he would rest, because I saw him at 40k XP from level 21, meaning that Maze Traps would soon be his. Also, the Hold Traps wouldn't be of much use in the Temple Ruins where most if not all enemies would be immune to Hold. Furthermore, the extra HP would be welcome because of the resistance he would meet (and the risk of seeing PW: Stuns thrown at him). The level 16 and 20 weapon proficiency pips went to Staves and Two-Handed Weapon Style. This wasn't a planned decision, but it's always good to have a blunt proficiency, and besides Norgath's backstabs had been quite underwhelming... With the Staff of Striking, his backstabs (formerly in the 35-60 range) improved significantly as two Skeleton Warriors would find. The Dwarf solved the Amanautor rituals riddle, ignored a chamber opposite a pool of fire (which would surely house a Lich, a Greater Mummy or two, and two Skeleton Warriors) and he brought Amuana and his guardians their doll needed to gain safe conduct to and past a Shadow Dragon. Norgath also had to cross a room with letters on the floor in order to find part of a symbol of Amaunator that would open an exit door to the Shadow Dragon's lair. However in the corridor leading to said room, a Lich, two Greater Mummies, and two Skeleton Warriors awaited him. Norgath retreated to set a few (regular) traps and to summon Kitthix who he made (improved) invisible with the Ring of Air Control, to see what the Lich would do. Dwarf and Spider approached the enemy. Kitthix engaged them, Norgath slew a Skeleton Warrior with a backstab and sent Ras in as well. A second Skeleton Warrior fell to the Dwarf's traps, which marked an important point for Norgath: he reached level 21.

All of a sudden he had no less than five Maze traps at his disposal. And to be honest, timing couldn't have been better. While Norgath summoned his Efreeti to see it set one of the Greater Mummies aflame before it froze and panicked due to Mummy Fear, the Lich gated in two Glabrezus one after the other. These  aTweaked Glabrezus are pretty scary: their Remove Magic could rid Norgath of all of his potion buffs, and one or two hits could bring Norgath below 80 HP and thus make him susceptible to PW:Stun. Therefore Norgath's first uses of his Maze traps were purely defensive. He would outrun the Glabrezus with an oil of speed, set a Maze trap before the demons would teleport without error toward him, and maze them. Thus he survived the two demons before they'd be unsummoned. One of the Greater Mummies was backstabbed to death, the other fell to the Flamestrike traps on the lettered floor. Thus only Norgath and the Lich remained. A potion of Stone Form helped the Dwarf survive two ADHWs and a Wail of the Banshee, even after he was greater Malisoned by the Lich. By then the latter had ran out of its best spells including protective ones (many of which had been wasted long before on Kitthix, Ras, and the Efreeti), and Norgath prevailed. Then it was time for Thaxy. Norgath placed a few remaining regular traps by the door (safety measure), and then rested to get his summons and all his traps back. When he got up he threw a Maze trap at the dragon to see it disappear. Norgath then placed his five regular thief traps on the spot where Thaxy would reappear. Much to his surprise, the five traps sufficed to slay the Dragon. (I definitely expected that more was going to be required, hence the extra traps by the door, and the resting to get the summons back.) Norgath returned the way he came (leaving the Shade Lord for when Level Drain immunity has been obtained) and traveled back to Athkatla where Cromwell upgraded Mazzy's sword for future usage, and forged the Shadow Dragon Scale armor for the Dwarf. It cost him 20 grand, but I think it's worth it.

Here are screenshots of his Character Record (the red 18 CON is due to the still equipped Claw of Kazgaroth), and his inventory screen, for an impression of his stats and gear. DI, ST, FT and LP are all maxed at 100, MS is 155 and the other thieving skills are undeveloped.

[corey_russell]

Congrats Aasim! Here's hoping you can keep up the focus for ToB. Don't get imprisoned by Abazigal.

[corey_russell]

Looks like your run is going pretty good Blackraven! By the way, Picenon often used Namuraa for backstabs - it does more damage than a standard long sword (D12 I think), but Staffs for backstabs are good too. I used the Staff of Rhynn a ton for backstabs with Picenon, my solo fighter/thief.

[Aasim]

Tnx all.

 

 

 Don't get imprisoned by Abazigal.

I won't, pinky promise .

[wing]

Two and a Half-Orc - Update 6

 

The Randomizer has moved such useful items as the Shield of Balduran, Robe of Vecna, and Ribald's AC3 Bracers, so we have little to spend our 70k gold on. For lack of direction, we decide to take a peek in the Temple Sewers and see if we can't find a little adventure. (Thinking of Mekrath and the Planar Prison) Only one problem, a nasty group of fellows are in the way. Dopey patiently teases a couple of True Seeings out of Gaius before we begin summoning and buffing. A Djinni, a pair of skeletons (I eagerly await Skeleton Warriors) Kitthix, and Cerberus are brought to aid us and we all get Bless, Chant, Haste, Invis 10' Radius, and Remove Fear. In addition Dopey gets II and Sneezy gets Improved Haste. Sleepy creeps behing Gaius while Dopey starts casting Summon Insects, causing Tarnor the Hatchetman to give his spiel. 

 

Sleepy don't always backstab, but when he does...

 

Sneezy lets out a grim chuckle as pieces of Gaius rain down around her and Sleepy darts off to add some protections and distance himself from the fighters. Skeletons, Cerberus, and Kitthix move in as the Djinni casts Stinking Cloud and Sneezy goes all-out on Rengaard. Gaius' magical defenses belatedly spring to action, drawing a glance from the combatants as globes of magic and crackling energy spring up around... nothing. Zorl manages to get off a few buffs and Flame Strike Sleepy before falling to Dopey's arrows. Rengaard too explodes in pieces as a direct result of the FoA being applied to his head. Draug Fea succumbs to Stinking Cloud and Gallchobair is effectively neutralized by being forced into melee with Sneezy. Tarnor is busily chopping his way through summons while his gang falls to pieces around him and Sleepy uses his Ring of Spell Turning to help with that feeling of vulnerability. Gallchobair too explodes in a spray of gore and Sneezy moves on to finish Tarnor. Dopey notices a secret door next to him but focuses on the fight and leaves mysteries for later. Sleepy catches one of Tarnor's axes and runs to drink some minor healing potions before returning to toss a crossbow bolt his way. By the time he can drink a potion though, Sneezy and Dopey have chunked him and he just catches a glimpse of Draug Fea suffering the same fate. Satisfied with themselves, the trio and their allies retreat to let the noxious cloud dissipate before moving in to see what loot the enemy party has left them. 

 

Draug Fea was hanging onto the Dwarven Thrower, while Gallchobair had a pair of Boots of Speed and the Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy. Standard enchanted plate,Hangard's Axe, some +2 small shields, and a Helm of Charm Protection round out the loot, meaning Dopey is now faster and more mentally stable. In Mekrath's lair some mephits are mopped up before Dopey trots off on a scouting trip. Rather than the expected salamanders, umber hulks and a minotaur await us in the bedroom. In the case of the confusing umber hulks, simpler is better. IH'd and Raged, Sneezy charges in. She downs four hulks and the minotaur before her rage ends, allowing the last to spitefully confuse her before it too crumples to the ground. Sleepy and Dopey quickly hide in case the confused barbarian heads in their direction, but she simply stands motionless, likely lost in contemplation of Faerun's complex pantheon of gods. 

 

After a ransacking Mekrath's house (turning up the Necklace of Form Stability, a scroll of Mordaniken's Sword, and at long last some headgear for Sleepy in the form of the Pearly White Ioun Stone) we talk to the master of the house and realize we haven't spoken to Raelis Shai, so we head to the Bridge District, killing a naughty imp and his earthy friend on the way. In the Bridge District Tanova shows her ancient and withered face, causing Sleepy to quickly Haste and Sneezy (who hates Vampires, she really does) to go into a rage. Tanova and pals are offed before some summoned skeletons can even engage, and Dopey adds another level and a few more HP. A chat with Raelis later we are back in Mekrath's home and when he offers us no more than a slave for his mirror we take compensation from his broken corpse. The chest containing the Portal Gem also holds a handy Dragonslayer Helm, and the Rod of Resurrection is compensation indeed, so we head back to the Five Flagons. (I was stoked to find that from his upstairs balcony in the Bridge District you can just barely reach the area transition, meaning you don't have to go all the way back through the sewers)

 

We enter the Planar Prison buffed with II and Haste. One Yaun-Ti gets his PfMW off but the other explodes in pieces before it can cast. Aawil is engaged in melee by Dopey while Sleepy takes on a bounty hunter with the short sword of backstabbing and Sneezy grabs a nonmagical flail to chip away at the mage's Stoneskins. In short order the initial group of Bounty Hunters is finished off and their corpses searched for a very rich reward. Among other things we find Methlids Harp, the Rod of Lordly Might, the Staff of Earth, Melodic Chain and the Metaspell Influence Amulet (at long last)

 

There's a scary moment when Dopey and Sneezy are both rendered unconcious by the Gith, leaving Sleepy to critically miss a backstab and then helplessly run in circles hoping her Stoneskins will hold out long enough for the others to wake. They do, but barely. Sneezy leaps to her feet with fire in her eyes and charges the Gith, smashing him and then the rest with Dopey's help. The remainder of the Prison goes smoothly, the wyvern falls to arrows, while the Master of Thralls has his hands full with a Berserker from the Horn and Kitthix and Sneezy's attacks. The Warden seems unsettled after his thralls betray him, and chases Dopey down only to be ambushed in his turn. His mirrors are dispelled by Sleepy's detect skill and his spells interrupted by the FoA. His HP falls so fast that his Mislead Conntingency fires right after he's already dead leaving the party time to pick up a Staff of Air, the Rod of Smiting, the Hammer of Thunderbolts (!) and Necardan's Crossbow.

 

In nearly game-ending moment of idiocy I decide to Web an Umber Hulk group and let Dopey go shooting, resulting in him getting confused and dropped to 13 HP by meleeing Hulks before he receives an RoR heal ala Corey_Russell and turns his arrows on Sneezy as she comes to his rescue. She endures their stinging bite to clear Dopey's attackers and then flees until he regains his senses. At this point I suspect I should stop since I'm making poor choices, so we free the troupe and take a break.

 

Stats

 

Dopey, Archer 14, 125 HP, 476 kills - Shade Lord

Sleepy, Mage 12/ Thief 14, 69 HP, 30 kills - Crypt King

Sneezy, Barb 15, 167 HP, 235 kills - Statue

[corey_russell]

Fascinating report, Wing. Do I have some sort of trademark on RoR heals,and never knew? Guess I need to watch for trademark infringement...

[wing]

Corey, you're just the guy whose runs I first read about it in, and who I thought of when I did it. I didn't know you could do that before I read your posts.

[Blackraven]

Looks like your run is going pretty good Blackraven! By the way, Picenon often used Namuraa for backstabs - it does more damage than a standard long sword (D12 I think), but Staffs for backstabs are good too. I used the Staff of Rhynn a ton for backstabs with Picenon, my solo fighter/thief.

 

Thanks Corey! That's a good tip. Namarra deals 1d8 +4 damage (just as much as Usuno's Blade which I considered trying to acquire (much more difficult though...). Norgath never picked up Namarra and will now probably focus on Staves, including the not yet purchased Staff of Rhynn, for backstabbing purposes, but it's something to remember. 

Btw will we be witnessing some action from you anytime soon?

[Grond0]

one or two hits could bring Norgath below 80 HP and thus make him susceptible to PW:Stun. 

This may just have been a typo, but just in case I'll mention that you need 90 HPs to avoid being stunned ...