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[Blackraven]

I'm sorry about that Epsil0

[Alaestr]

Tough random encounters. I find every one of them very anticlimatic. Keep up the spirit and hope to see your party in bg2 soon!

[Grond0]

Hard luck Alaestr - those random parties using SCS are pretty vicious .

[Grimwald the Wise]

Hard luck Epsil0

[Gate70]

Sorry to hear that Epsil0

 

Talon Zogas and Talon Nirkhas attack as Blaggerd heads past the Temple of Talos, becoming the first two victims of the nights endeavours. A rakshasa is next, his goblins dropping four arrows of fire which is enough to fry a sea troll.

 

Time for an experiment. Only one effective weapon here

 

A door at the Crooked Crane resists some hefty kicks so Blaggerd vents his frustration on a group of orog slavers before heading into the Tanners shop. Two ghasts, two rune assassins and a bone golem prove to be tough going and extra healing potions (4+5 I think) are used.

 

Some risks are taken against hobgoblin shamans, Blaggerd failing to be held. Grabbing the Lilacor sword sees him reach level 12, and from there Captain Haegan and his nearby slavers are vanquished. A sewer cloak troll regeneration is enough to see Blaggerd face the slaver wizards with Bala's poisoned axe.

 

One of the mages somehow casts a skulltrap but that tips further into the blackguards favour. Blaggerd is only slighty wounded at the end and quickly stops poison when descending some steps. He feels rejuvenated on exiting the slaver ship, perhaps as a result of absorbing health from the door guard.

 

& that concludes a rather subdued evening (where I clicked the safe options in various dialogues before thinking I should have gone the Blaggerd route).

[Blackraven]

@Gate70, interesting stuff. What did you do to make Blaggerd immune to the Vampiric Mist's attacks?
Also, does Bala's Axe lower MR (instead of imposing a spellfailure penalty) in your setup?

[Grond0]

I would guess that Blaggerd is wearing the Amulet of Power, but not actually immune to attack by the vampiric mists - the shadows enslaved to his will as a result of evil paladin turning, however, would be a different matter ...

[Grond0]

Durin the Deathless - dwarf kensai (update 2)

 

Durin started off by doing Mae'Var's tasks.  His summons drained some of Rayic's spells and Stonefire prevented him from completing any more once Durin came into melee range.  Retrieving a traitor's dagger took him to level 14 before he invaded the guild and punished Mae'Var.

 

Returning to the Slums he went through the sewers to the slaver ship.  He was surprised to find a hostile mage arriving in the end room there - that must have been the result of one of the guards running away scared while beating up Captain Haegan - but had no problems beating him up anyway.  Reporting to Hendak got him to level 15.

 

He was now able to break down the doors to Kangaxx and the City Gates lich using DUHM and was soon the proud owner of the Ring of Gaxx.  

 

After quickly improving his looks, thanks to some local pirates, he headed for the de'Arnise Hold.  There were no problems there and he emerged to talk to Nalia a level 16 kensai.  He accepted the stronghold, though is unlikely to do anything with it.

 

Durin tracked down some illithium held by Neb and taught him a quick lesson - so quick he didn't even have time to appreciate it had started.  Sir Sarles wasn't impressed by an alloy replacement, but the Temple of Helm were.  Durin got some easy money by tracking down a relic for the Temple of Lathander before finally getting around to paying Gaelan Bayle.  That took him to level 17, allowing him to swap the Claw of Kazgaroth for his newly acquired ring +2, while still keeping his minimum desired standard spell saving throw of -3 (protecting against chaos and symbol spells).

 

It didn't take him long to dispose of Lassal and the Guild Contact on the way to sort out a nest of vampires.  He kept at range there for all the vampires except Tanova - she was about to die in a sunfire while trying to cast true sight, but Kitthix webbed her first!  He got to level 18 there before going to confront Bodhi.  The intention was to do that with just Ras, but Durin couldn't find that in his backpack!  I can't remember the last time Ras was used but it was some time ago.  I thought I'd been pretty careful about not losing it, but obviously not careful enough .  I had checked that nothing was dropped when getting the stakes from Aran Linvail, but double-checked that and also looked at the Ore Merchant, Gaelan Bayle and Temple of Lathander as other places where things are added to inventory and could potentially have displaced Ras.  If one of those was to blame, Ras has evaporated since then, though I think Durin had only rested once or twice since getting the illithium ore.  That's a major set-back to his long-term ambitions as Ras would have been his best summons against powerful enemies like dragons and Melissan.

 

After resting, the efreeti and Kitthix provided cover against Bodhi allowing Durin to ponder his next move.

[Gate70]

Yes Blaggerd had the amulet equipped but Blackguards are immune to level drain anyway. He wasn't immune to attack, but the turned shadows were.

 

Lassal is an easy victim as none of his abilities could affect Blaggerd. Gracen went down like a sack of potatoes and Blaggerd lines up his next recipe.

 

Find the hidden door in the Crooked Crane.

Drink a potion of Frost Giant Strength.

Use a Protection from Undead scroll.

Bash the door.

Cast DUHM, strength 25.

Set about the lich inside with Lilacor.

Add an oil of speed as aura clears.

Pick up the lich loot.

Bash the nearby chest.

Stash the loot in the container while taking the long sword.

Head to the Docks, outrunning an ambush.

Bash the door there (about 5 seconds before DUHM expires).

Head to the Bridge district.

Use a Protection from Petrification scroll.

Bash the door there.

Kill the lich, grab the bones.

Head to the Temple district, into the sewers and the old tunnels.

Kill the lich, grab the bones.

Return to the Docks.

Run past the minotaurs.

Kill Kangaxx, taking care to stop after each hit when badly wounded then near death.

Switch to unidentified long sword, and kill the lich.

Switch back to Lilacor and kill the minotaurs as the oil of speed wears off. 5 turns, 4 liches and stored loot when funds next run low.

[Gate70]

Blaggerd makes a wrong move, almost reaching the vampire nest before remembering to report in about Gracen. With the remaining buffs wasted he decides to rest and identify a few trinkets including his bludgeoning staff +2. On his return to the vampire nest he quickly obtains a replacement staff mace from Haz and reaches level 13 (additional 0.5apr is nice but unbuffed saving throws better at -2/-0/-1/-2/1. Perhaps a greater ghoul may still get a lucky strike so he decides to augment this with PfE, Chant or Aid whenever they show up.

 

Tanova is a worry (the only defence against maze is a quick kill), the initial plan stumbling as a fledgling vampire arrives to block Blaggerd and allowing Tanova to cast PfMW. Blaggerd retreats, killing the fledgling and using two Gaxx hastes a short while later to try and finish Tanova to no effect. She has simmied so Blaggerd retreats and rests as the odds of maze are increasing rapidly. On his return a hasted Mace of Disruption does the trick but with only 975xp gained Blaggerd goes invisible and scouts around to find the real Tanova. She starts to cast True Sight so Blaggerd grabs the opportunity to apply another haste and mace her dirty aura.

 

The remaining undead are no threat, and Blaggerd gives Lassal a second thrashing as promised, with a stake topping. Bodhi turns up and is almost dead within two hits but hangs around for another 5 so she can inflict some damage to Blaggerd too.

 

Two can play at that game.

 

Next task? Pack up some gear for an earlyish trip to Spellhold.

[Gate70]

Blaggerd packs a couple of extra items (Shield of Balduran and Ring of Air Control) for emergencies, meaning he cannot afford the Harmonium Halberd without breaking into his unidentified reserves. Might as well report in to Aran Linvail.

 

Valen, Parisa and Del are waiting at Brynnlaw and soon wish they hadn't bothered. A fine looking strumpet (her words) called Ginia is helped to avoid the liklihood of Saemon Havarian not turning up later, then Chremy is smeared across several steps and tamped down for good measure. It's a bloodthirsty job but a few more deaths can always be squeezed in.

 

Sanik falls for the old "assassin in the tavern" routine, Blaggerd in turn makes sure the assassin takes a nasty fall after revealing the name of his employer to be Guildmistress Busya. Blaggerd heads to the Guild House, quickly arranges for a sleeping draught then kills the sleeping guards before going in search of Busya. Her pet mage manages two lightning bolts but poison and Bala's axe finish off both him and his misled image.

 

Blaggerd is dual-wielding simply to be able to carry items so another store visit is in order before visiting Perth the Adept. 6 hasty poison Bala attacks per round plus an offhand poison Stonefire attack means the hapless mage takes 6 hits in rapid succession and doesn't survive the round. The first turn of a magical book page sees Wyvern Call appear. Blaggerd decides this can his overgrown and lovably poisonous familiar.

 

On to Spellhold where Irenicus and Bodhi are encountered and Imoen is told to make her own way home.

[Gate70]

Speed bump encountered in Spellhold maze, sharing poisoned attacks around a group of umber hulks proving to be a folly instead of killing one off at a time. The first group are barely killed and the second group race in a moment later. After using an absorb health and an extra healing potion (6?), Blaggerd retreats to the central area and re-buffs before returning to finish the job.

 

A yuan-ti mage takes 2 doses of poison and a Bala hit, but still manages to cast three spells before perishing. Bob (the wyvern summon) makes an ignomious first appearance, killed almost immediately by a lightning bolt from a kobold witch doctor, so it is left to Blaggerd to stand alone.

 

On to a group of undead, the greater mummy there hitting Blaggerd with ease so a switch to sewer rat form ensues and the mummy has it's toes badly nibbled until Blaggerd returns and maces it without being able to destroy it as undead. This area has really slowed Blaggerd down so he goes to read some blasphemy from an ancient tome at a nearby altar. The creatures summoned here are of no concern, and Blaggerd returns to find there are no further undead other than a vampire with a dodgy handshake.

 

The final part of this area almost catches Blaggerd out again and he is forced to run before killing a yuan-ti champion. Switching to sewer jelly shape is a near-fatal mistake, with the remaining yuan-ti mage hitting with lightning bolts and Magic Missiles. Blaggerd is forced to drink 3 more potions (7-9?) because he cannot return to human form quickly enough, and once he does the battle is rapidly concluded in his favour.

 

Not a great experience but Blaggerd lives to fight another day.

[Gate70]

The second part of Spellhold maze doesn't take too long for Blaggerd thanks to the boot dispensing machine. Irenicus is less than pleased to see Blaggerd again, but unlike the recently deceased Lonk he is able to shrug off a poisoned Bala axe attack. Blaggerd retreats, summons up Bob the wyvern and decides to use an arrow of dispelling from range. It hits and Blaggerd switches to arrows of acid only to find Irenicus knows when to depart.

 

Blaggerd and Bob out-murder the murderers and look for the nearest exit.

[Alaestr]

The adventures of a mighty spellsword resume! 

 

Bonaventura, the bloodthirsty Berserker/Mage. Update No. 4 and finale. 

 

What is left before leaving for Brynnlaw: Windspear Hills dungeon, two dragons, planar prison, thieves guild maze and killing Aran, Unseeing Eye, planar sphere. Not much, but hopefully enough to acquire a few HLAs before Spellhold. 

 

With Ring of Gaxx on his ring, Bonaventura traveled to Windspear Hills with intent of rescuing a daughter of some local baron when I realized I would probably need some form of protection from level drain. Sir Sarles, here comes the brute! On his way to kill Neb, Bona paid Rune Assassins a visit. Nothing dangerous those chaps at that moment. Bona killed Neb, forged Mace of Disruption + 2, took fake illithium from an Ore Merchant, collected a bounty for Neb, presented the fake ore to Sir Sarles, was caught on the ruse, tried returning the sad lump to the temple, but the appropriate dialogue was missing, so I just turned my hero to other tasks. 

 

Windspear Hills dungeon began with a nasty raskshasa, who not only managed to cast PfMW, was immune to normal weapons, he also succeeded at dispelling Bona with an accurate secret word followed by breach. Well, I didn't cover Bona's buffs with SI:Abjuration and that thing happened. Thankfully I had Rage on him and the enemy's PfMW ran out and the warrior could hit him with FoA. Kobolds were no problem, because the spellsword approached them with Fire Shield Red on, and damage was effectively halved.

 

Bona opened the secret doors to alcoves full of Orc Archers with combo: potion of fire giant strength and DUHM. No big golem this time, a bunch of vampires were quite a colorful pack: ancient and elder vampires. The reformed berserker bashed some undead faces with IMoD, while SI:E, Rage and GoI protected from any nastiness vampires might throw at him (I didn't remember if these kind of vampires cast any spells). While doing a dirty work for Samia, Bona dinged to level 16th mage. Samia's encounter went surprisingly smooth. The initial onslaught saw the party's mage dead and rest soon followed after Bona silenced them all with Namarra. Golems were killed with Sling of Everard using the secret entrance as a chokepoint which Adamantine Golem couldn't pass. Conster I tried to dispel at first but it turned out an assault with 9 attacks per round finished the mage in nearly 2 rounds after his PfMW wore off. 

 

Quick trip to Temple Ruins saw Shadow Dragon meeting his demise. The preparations included  adjustments to the spellbook: True Sight and PfMW, 2xII, 3xStoneskins, 2xMord's swords, IH, SI:Abj, SI:Div. Potions: potion of invincibility. Contingencies: minor sequencer: MI+Blur; PfMW, True Sight, Tenser's. Bona dual wielded FoA and IMoD. With True Sight online, Shadow Dragon's breath was not at all effective. The dragon didn't even attempt to breath anyway (I find it suspicious - AI bug?). The lizard attempted to remove magic my character, but both tries were futile and the monster soon fell (monstrous 480 hps !). I also tried out the dragon sword, but was disappointed with damage it was providing (I guess melee characters can use its protection from fear and dispel illusion).

 

Aran & Co bit the dust with a help of Glabrezu (it is a killing machine).

 

In the planar prison Bona died to the Maze spell cast by Warden. I was of the impression Warden doesn't have Maze in his spellbook and was painfully reminded that he does. I relied on Bona's excellent saving throws during the last update and was caught off guard by this maze spell. The fact that I didn't see what kind of spell it was (a pillar obstructed the view) and heard only the sound cue (which I didn't recognize) didn't help to remind me about the maze. GG, Warden, my friend. See you all next time with a fresh new character.

[Blackraven]

Sorry about Bona's fall. Yet another Maze death... Pity you didn't notice it was Maze coming your way. Berserker rage would have been a great solution there.

[Grond0]

Durin the DeathlessDead - dwarf kensai (3rd and final update)

 

Durin had found the vampire HQ a little tricky to complete owing to the need to stay at range against vampires - who moved quicker than he did.  Although he was never actually attacked, he thought some boots of speed would come in handy and therefore headed for the Temple Sewers to sort out Mekrath.  After Kitthix eventually succeeded in webbing Mekrath, Durin disposed of the yuan-ti guards with the help of the efreeti's stinking cloud and a first use of Namarra's silence.

 

Before leaving the area to go to the Planar Prison though he sorted out Gaius and the rest of Tarnor's gang before going to investigate the Unseeing Eye. He got to level 19 by re-forming the bridge, before defeating some beholders with a first use of Necklace fireballs.  Surprisingly, there was no lich underground when he first arrived there, but running round some other undead soon made it appear.  Durin was stunned by a symbol there - unfortunate given his saving throw of -3 theoretically gave him an automatic save .  That's a long-lasting spell and, though Durin might well have been able to survive the attacks of just the lich, once it summoned an efreeti his doom was sealed.

[Blackraven]

Ay Grond0, first the long distance Maze, now a Symbol Stun that doesn't seem to allow a save. It's as if the game is conspiring against your Kensais. Am very sorry about that...

[corey_russell]

Sorry to hear that Grond0 - is this a bug or not? Can you do tests in your install to see if it is? Btw I strongly advise pro undead scroll for those undead in the beholder's lair - they don't symbol you then! I've had a character get killed there as well, to a stun I think...

[Grond0]

The saving throws are a long-standing issue - I'm sure you remember me raising it on occasion before.  Even in vanilla there are occasional oddities where the saving throw shown in the character record varies with no obvious cause.  I suspect it may be to do with the order things are equipped in as that often causes inconsistency in the game, although it's clearly not a simple issue like, for example, equipping Carsomyr before other items to maximise MR.

 

I agree I could have used a scroll on those undead, but that seemed like overkill as a lich on its own should have been pretty much helpless against Durin at that level - and it goes against the grain a bit to protect against the occasional possibility that the game will cheat ...

[Aasim]

@Blackraven, Epsil0, Alaestr - sorry about the recent demise(s) of your PCs. That Bounty Hunter looked very promising, Blackraven...I'm pretty much amazed how you did Irenicus in Hell (well, not "him" but the demons there are a pain).

 

@ Grond0

Have you tried using ToBex to fix that saving throw issues? I never seem to have those, and I always use it. 

Fwiw, here's something that might interest you - effect application order.

[Grond0]

Thanks for the information Aasim.  I don't have ToBex in my current installation, though I have used it in the past.  Perhaps I'll try putting it back in next time I update it.

[Blackraven]

@Blackraven, Epsil0, Alaestr - sorry about the recent demise(s) of your PCs. That Bounty Hunter looked very promising, Blackraven...I'm pretty much amazed how you did Irenicus in Hell (well, not "him" but the demons there are a pain).

I'm going to try again soon I think. Norgath's death was very unnecessary and mostly the result of my rusty knowledge of SCS/Ascension ToB. 

As to Hell, the demons can be done with lots of patience and high movement speed. It's Irenicus tameness that still puzzles me. A next contender for the Throne of Bhaal might not be so lucky.

 

@ Grond0

Have you tried using ToBex to fix that saving throw issues? I never seem to have those, and I always use it. 

Fwiw, here's something that might interest you - effect application order.

 

Do you have any tips for Grond0 (and me) regarding install order? Last time I installed it, I had issues with non-warriors getting warrior HP rolls at leveling up, a problem that I only managed to solve by uninstalling Tobex.

[Aasim]

As per install order, I use something among these lines:

1) ToBex

2) Ascension

3) Fixpack

4) BGT

5) 1PP (I only use Avatars/colour scheme/better spell graphics/fixes)

6) quests, items, kits, spells, Unfinished Business and the like (I started to avoid NPC mods since a lot of them modify baldur.bcs - the main game script, thus having a lot of those can slow the game down).

7) any mod that messes with Detectable stats and isn't SCS (Questpack, Rogue Rebalancing, Refinements)

8) BG2 Tweaks

9) SCS

10) aTweaks

11) WorldMap mods,  Widescreen and Generalized Biffing

 

I'm making a fresh install now, should be back in action soon I hope - I found a marvelous dwarf thief portrait, so that's likely to be my next protag (I only need to decide if a fighter-thief or a swashbuckler).

[corey_russell]

Corarcher Update:

 

Corarcher has finished the Temple quests. The Sir Sarles one was a bit trickier than normal, since we have made most of the NPCs in the Government hostile due to a failed pick-pocket. Thus, Hanna made Misty invisible, then Misty ran and did the talking then used an invis potion to get back to the waiting party - she had to do this twice. Illuthium was obtained to forge the IMoD, which immediately went to Misty. Though Forrest as a ranger has no level drain immunity, however he does have the Daystar, and the Azuredge, so he still normally does quite well vs. undead, not to mention being protected by the shield of Harmony.

 

The guarded compound was dealt with as well. Surprisingly, it was the summons downstairs that proved the hardest to deal with, with Misty the halfling fighter even dying. But the team won neverthless - RoR got her back to speed - a few buffs used, most going to Corarcher. We went invisible, and de-trapped the two traps - well tried to except Hanna, in her attempt to de-trap triggered a dispel illusion trap - we know it's that because it made Ketta appear. The party promptly got to work - the non magic users worked on Ketta, with Hanna, Joshua and Cernd casting things like greater malison, chaos, and insect plague. I was supposed to cast emotion too, but Hanna was dying so worked on keeping her in one piece - which we did. The only enemy caster who avoided the plague was the cleric - so he immediately got hit with insects, and two rounds of two sets of magic missiles by Hanna and Joshua - that was too much for him, and the last enemy fell shortly there-after - no deaths!

 

Hanna then used her swashbuckler skills to de-trap and loot the place, with Joshua the Jester doing a great job IDing everything. Hanna will use the Celestial Fury, with a few of the helmets being upgrades - Coarcher finally replaced his rather bad helmet of infravision with the helmet of defense - despite two ring of Gaxxs and the helmet of defense, his save vs. spell is still only 5. He is using the shadow armor too, so has great AC despite not being able to wear metal armor.

 

The party dealt with Tanova the safe way - lots and lots of summons. We will delve into the 2nd level of the vampire lair next session.

[corey_russell]

Another Corarcher Update:

 

Well Corarcher wanted to go to Brynnlaw, but he didn't have the gold he wanted before doing so. So instead he cleared out Firkraag's Lair. The Lair itself was very smooth for the team. I forgot to buff vs. Conster, but immediately Cernd put death ward on Corarcher - good thing as shortly there-after Conster tried to do FoD on Coarcher. However, that failed, and Conster had a heck of a time trying to doing anything with all the damage the firetooth crossbow was doing to him, and he fell.

 

The team felt tough enough to take down Firkraag not too many buffs, except resist fear and fire. I had 3 fire elementals and 2 skeletal warriors assisting. Forgot to set traps, woops , oh well. I did talk to him while he was blue circle, and then the battle began. The battle was doing well, except Hanna died (but not chunked). At one point Firkraag was beating on Coracher (understandably so, Firkraag probably didn't like Coracher's called shots). I then realized I forgot a critical buff - haste! Joshua casts that on Coracher, and Coracher is badly hurt, so Cernd does RoR heal on Coracher and Coracher moves away - Firkraag lost interest and is near death - not surprisingly, with the haste Firkraag fell shortly there-after.

 

We don't really need anything Firkraag has, we mainly did it because we had inventory space, as well as this way saves us a return trip.

 

 

After selling, we will be going to Brynnlaw to free Imoen.